Environments for sonic ecologies

This paper outlines a current lack of consideration for the environmental context of Evolutionary Algorithms used for the generation of music. We attempt to readdress this balance by outlining the benefits of developing strong coupling strategies between agent and en- vironment. It goes on to discuss the relationship between artistic process and the viewer and suggests a placement of the viewer and agent in a shared environmental context to facilitate understanding of the artistic process and a feeling of participation in the work. The paper then goes on to outline the installation ‘Excuse Me and how it attempts to achieve a level of Sonic Ecology through the use of a shared environmental context

Geographical variation in serological responses to recombinant Pneumocystis jirovecii major surface glycoprotein antigens

AbstractThe use of recombinant fragments of the major surface glycoprotein (Msg) of Pneumocystis jirovecii has proven useful for studying serological immune responses of blood donors and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive (HIV+) patients. Here, we have used ELISA to measure antibody titres to Msg fragments (MsgA, MsgB, MsgC1, MsgC3, MsgC8 and MsgC9 in sera isolated in the USA (n=200 and Spain (n=326), to determine whether geographical location affects serological responses to these antigens. Blood donors from Seville exhibited a significantly greater antibody titre to MsgC8, and significantly lower responses to MsgC3 and MsgC9, than did Cincinnati (USA) donors. Spanish blood donors (n=162 also exhibited elevated responses to MsgC1, MsgC8 and MsgC9 as compared with Spanish HIV+ (n=patients. HIV+ patients who had Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP+) exhibited a higher response to MsgC8 than did HIV+ PcP- patients. These data show that geographical location plays a role in responsiveness to Msg fragments. Additionally, these fragments have utility in differentiating HIV+ PcP and HIV+ PcP+ among patient populations

Hospital Virtual: Sistema de información clínica y telecuidado de pacientes VIH/SIDA basado en tecnologías Web 2.0

Este artículo describe el desarrollo de un nuevo sistema de información clínica y telecuidado de pacientes VIH/SIDA que se encuentra implantado en rutina clínica dentro del Servicio de Enfermedades Infecciosas del Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. El proyecto surge ante la necesidad de unificar el sistema de información departamental del servicio y un sistema de telemedicina instalado en el hospital en 2004. Para ello se han diseñado e implementado nuevas bases de datos y dos sistemas específicos para uso de profesionales y pacientes. Además, se ha realizado una integración con el Sistema de Información del Hospital (HIS) permitiendo el acceso a todos los datos requeridos de los pacientes desde una única aplicación. Este nuevo sistema está al servicio de más de 70 profesionales sanitarios que realizan una media de 150 consultas al día disponiendo de información clínica de más de 8000 pacientes

5'-methylthioadenosine modulates the inflammatory response to endotoxin in mice and in rat hepatocytes

5'-methylthioadenosine (MTA) is a nucleoside generated from S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) during polyamine synthesis. Recent evidence indicates that AdoMet modulates in vivo the production of inflammatory mediators. We have evaluated the anti-inflammatory properties of MTA in bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenged mice, murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells, and isolated rat hepatocytes treated with pro-inflammatory cytokines. MTA administration completely prevented LPS-induced lethality. The life-sparing effect of MTA was accompanied by the suppression of circulating tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), inducible NO synthase (iNOS) expression, and by the stimulation of IL-10 synthesis. These responses to MTA were also observed in LPS-treated RAW 264.7 cells. MTA prevented the transcriptional activation of iNOS by pro-inflammatory cytokines in isolated hepatocytes, and the induction of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) in RAW 264.7 cells. MTA inhibited the activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), c-jun phosphorylation, inhibitor kappa B alpha (IkappaBalpha) degradation, and nuclear factor kappaB (NFkappaB) activation, all of which are signaling pathways related to the generation of inflammatory mediators. These effects were independent of the metabolic conversion of MTA into AdoMet and the potential interaction of MTA with the cAMP signaling pathway, central to the anti-inflammatory actions of its structural analog adenosine. In conclusion, these observations demonstrate novel immunomodulatory properties for MTA that may be of value in the management of inflammatory diseases

Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV. The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b, leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W' boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters