Weighted Operator Precedence Languages

In the last years renewed investigation of operator precedence languages (OPL) led to discover important properties thereof: OPL are closed with respect to all major operations, are characterized, besides the original grammar family, in terms of an automata family (OPA) and an MSO logic; furthermore they significantly generalize the well-known visibly pushdown languages (VPL). In another area of research, quantitative models of systems are also greatly in demand. In this paper, we lay the foundation to marry these two research fields. We introduce weighted operator precedence automata and show how they are both strict extensions of OPA and weighted visibly pushdown automata. We prove a Nivat-like result which shows that quantitative OPL can be described by unweighted OPA and very particular weighted OPA. In a Büchi-like theorem, we show that weighted OPA are expressively equivalent to a weighted MSO-logic for OPL

On the Origins of Three-Dimensionality And Unsteadiness in the Laminar Separation Bubble

We analyse the three-dimensional non-parallel instability mechanisms responsible for transition to turbulence in regions of recirculating steady laminar two-dimensional incompressible separation bubble ®ow in a twofold manner. First, we revisit the problem of Tollmien{Schlichting (TS)-like disturbances and we demonstrate, for the ­ rst time for this type of ®ow, excellent agreement between the parabolized stabil- ity equation results and those of independently performed direct numerical simula- tions. Second, we perform a partial-derivative eigenvalue problem stability analysis by discretizing the two spatial directions on which the basic ®ow depends, precluding TS-like waves from entering the calculation domain. A new two-dimensional set of global ampli­ ed instability modes is thus discovered. In order to prove earlier topo- logical conjectures about the ®ow structural changes occurring prior to the onset of bubble unsteadiness, we reconstruct the total ®ow­ eld by linear superposition of the steady two-dimensional basic ®ow and the new most-ampli­ ed global eigenmodes. In the parameter range investigated, the result is a bifurcation into a three-dimensional ®ow­ eld in which the separation line remains una¬ected while the primary reattach- ment line becomes three dimensional, in line with the analogous result of a multitude of experimental observations

Changes of Body Weight and Inflammatory Markers after 12-Week Intervention Trial: Results of a Double-Blind, Placebo-Control Pilot Study

∙ The authors have no financial conflicts of interest. Purpose: Low grade inflammation is a well-known characteristic in obese subjects. We investigated body weight changes and inflammatory markers after 12week intervention trial. Materials and Methods: Twenty-six obese subjects were enrolled and 19 (13 men and 6 women) completed the study. Sibutramine is an FDA-approved drug for body weight control; therefore, we chose this drug as the standard treatment medication in this study. Patients were randomly allocated to receive an anti-inflammatory agent (Diacerein treatment group; n = 12) or placebo (n = 7) for 12 weeks. Anthropometry, body proportion by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and metabolic parameters at the beginning and end of study were measured and compared. Results: The treatment group had a tendency towards more reduction in anthropometry as compared to the placebo group, in body weight reduction (- 7.0 kg vs.- 4.6 kg), body mass index (- 2.51 kg/m 2 vs.- 1.59 kg/m 2), and waist circumference (- 7.3 cm vs.- 4.4 cm). These reductions were not statistically significant

Intelligente Vernetzung zur autonomen Fräsbearbeitung von Strukturbauteilen - Ergebnisbericht des BMBF Verbundprojektes TensorMill

Digitalisierte Prozesse können zukünftig zu einer intelligenten Fertigung beitragen, um den Herausforderungen einer intelligent vernetzten, autonomen Fertigung von sicherheitsrelevanten Integralbauteilen zu begegnen. Die Herausforderungen hierbei liegen insbesondere in der Aufzeichnung und Extraktion von nutzerrelevanten Daten zur Steigerung der Produktivität bei der Fertigung von sicherheitsrelevanten Integralbauteilen für die Luft- und Raumfahrtbranche. An diesem Punkt hat das Verbundforschungsprojekt „TensorMill“ angesetzt. Ziel des Projekts war es, die Produktivität in der spanenden Fertigung sicherheitsrelevanter Integralbauteile durch die Entwicklung und den Aufbau einer intelligent, vernetzten, autonomen Fertigung zu erhöhen und die Prozesssicherheit zu verbessern. Die intelligente Fertigung soll dabei in der Lage sein, auf möglichst viele Situationen im Fertigungsprozess mit Hilfe von künstlicher Intelligenz (KI) zu reagieren. Für die Implementierung der KI-basierten Lösungen sind im Projekt fortschrittliche Methoden und Vorgehensweisen entstanden, welche es ermöglichen, die Daten von Produktionsmitteln in einer einfachen Form nutzbar zu machen, damit diese einen Mehrwert für Hersteller und Anwender bringen. Die aufbereiteten Daten dienten schließlich der Umsetzung von KI-basierten Lösungen zur prozessparallelen Qualitätsprognose und Werkzeugzustandserkennung. Darüber hinaus wurde ein entwickeltes cyber-physisches Spannsystem entwickelt, um neuartige Ansätze zur Abdrängungskompensation und Echtzeitbewertung der Prozessstabilität zu erforschen

The SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics' resources: focus on curated databases

The SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (www.isb-sib.ch) provides world-class bioinformatics databases, software tools, services and training to the international life science community in academia and industry. These solutions allow life scientists to turn the exponentially growing amount of data into knowledge. Here, we provide an overview of SIB's resources and competence areas, with a strong focus on curated databases and SIB's most popular and widely used resources. In particular, SIB's Bioinformatics resource portal ExPASy features over 150 resources, including UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, ENZYME, PROSITE, neXtProt, STRING, UniCarbKB, SugarBindDB, SwissRegulon, EPD, arrayMap, Bgee, SWISS-MODEL Repository, OMA, OrthoDB and other databases, which are briefly described in this article

Imatinib for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic malignant KIT-positive gastrointestinal stromal tumours: An open-label Belgian trial

Background :Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) are the most common mesenchymal tumours of the gastrointestinal tract They are defined immunohistologically as KIT positive tumours. The only effective treatment for malignant GIST was surgery until 2000. Imatinib mesylate (STI571, Glivec®) has shown substantial anticancer activity in patients with metastatic or unresectable GIST. Patients and methods :57 patients who were diagnosed with unresectable or metastatic malignant GIST were entered into this study. The patients were given 400 mg Glivec orally once daily. The dose could be increased to 600 mg orally once daily and then to 400 mg twice daily if tumour progression was noticed. Daily treatment was interrupted or dose was decreased only in the case of limiting toxicities. We evaluated the tumour response and the safety of the drug. Results :85% of GIST patients showed a partial response or stable disease after 8 weeks of treatment with imatinib. The main side effects were nausea, vomiting, anorexia, skin rash, periorbital oedema and diarrhea. Conclusion :This study confirms that imatinib is an active agent against malignant GIST with manageable toxicities.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Caf1A usher possesses a Caf1 subunit-like domain that is crucial for Caf1 fibre secretion

The chaperone/usher pathway controls assembly of fibres of adhesive organelles of Gram-negative bacteria. The final steps of fibre assembly and fibre translocation to the cell surface are co-ordinated by the outer membrane proteins, ushers. Ushers consist of several soluble periplasmic domains and a single transmembrane beta-barrel. Here we report isolation and structural/functional characterization of a novel middle domain of the Caf1A usher from Yersinia pestis. The isolated UMD (usher middle domain) is a highly soluble monomeric protein capable of autonomous folding. A 2.8 angstrom (1 angstrom = 0.1 nm) resolution crystal structure of UMD revealed that this domain has an immunoglobulin-like fold similar to that of donor-strand-complemented Caf1 fibre subunit. Moreover, these proteins displayed significant structural similarity. Although UMD is in the middle of the predicted amphipathic beta-barrel of Caf1A, the usher still assembled in the membrane in the absence of this domain. UMD did not bind Caf1M-Caf1 complexes, but its presence was shown to be essential for Caf1 fibre secretion. The study suggests that UMD may play the role of a subunit-substituting protein (dummy subunit), plugging or priming secretion through the channel in the Caf1A usher. Comparison of isolated UMD with the recent strcture of the corresponding domain of PapC usher revealed high similarity of the core structures, suggesting a universal structural adaptation of FGL (F(1)G(1) long) and FGS (F(1)G(1) short) chaperone/usher pathways for the secretion of different types of fibres. The functional role of two topologically different states of this plug domain suggested by structural and biochemical results is discussed