Bioethanol from Germinated Grains.

The most well-known way to produce bioethanol is by the enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation of starch. In a new project “BioConcens” (2007) sponsored by DARCOF (DAnish Research Center for Organic Food and farming) one aim is to develop a combined ethanol and biogas production for use in organic farming using starch containing biomass. Natural enzymes from cereals will be used for hydrolysis of starch to glucose in accordance with technology in brewing technology. Commercial enzymes are often produced from gene-modified organisms and will therefore not be used in the suggested organic context or process. A preliminary study was performed in which grains of wheat, rye, and barley were germinated using traditional methods applied in malting for beer production. During malting the amylase enzymes present in the grain are activated (autoamylolytic effect). Three steps were applied in the malting process; steeping, germination, and drying of the grains. After malting the grains were milled and mixed with water to 13% DM, cooked at 57.5C for 2 hours (to activate the enzymes), and cooled to 30C before adding Bakers Yeast. The results of this study indicate that efficient hydrolysis of starch can be achieved by activation of autoamylolytic enzymes in cereal grains after a malting process. The ethanol yields obtained in the autoamylolytic hydrolysis was comparable (or slightly higher) to that of reference experiments using commercial enzymes (amylases). The highest ethanol yield was obtained with wheat (0.34 g/g DM grain), followed by barley (0.31 g/g DM grain), and rye (0.29 g/g DM grain)

DropMAE: Masked Autoencoders with Spatial-Attention Dropout for Tracking Tasks

In this paper, we study masked autoencoder (MAE) pretraining on videos for matching-based downstream tasks, including visual object tracking (VOT) and video object segmentation (VOS). A simple extension of MAE is to randomly mask out frame patches in videos and reconstruct the frame pixels. However, we find that this simple baseline heavily relies on spatial cues while ignoring temporal relations for frame reconstruction, thus leading to sub-optimal temporal matching representations for VOT and VOS. To alleviate this problem, we propose DropMAE, which adaptively performs spatial-attention dropout in the frame reconstruction to facilitate temporal correspondence learning in videos. We show that our DropMAE is a strong and efficient temporal matching learner, which achieves better finetuning results on matching-based tasks than the ImageNet-based MAE with 2× faster pre-training speed. Moreover, we also find that motion diversity in pre-training videos is more important than scene diversity for improving the performance on VOT and VOS. Our pre-trained DropMAE model can be directly loaded in existing ViT-based trackers for fine-tuning without further modifications. Notably, DropMAE sets new state-of-the-art performance on 8 out of 9 highly competitive video tracking and segmentation datasets. Our code and pre-trained models are available at https://github.com/jimmy-dq/DropMAE.git

Quantum Sine(h)-Gordon Model and Classical Integrable Equations

We study a family of classical solutions of modified sinh-Gordon equation, $\partial_z\partial_{{\bar z}} \eta-\re^{2\eta}+p(z)\,p({\bar z})\ \re^{-2\eta}=0$with$p(z)=z^{2\alpha}-s^{2\alpha}$. We show that certain connection coefficients for solutions of the associated linear problem coincide with the$Q$-function of the quantum sine-Gordon$(\alpha>0)$or sinh-Gordon$(\alpha<-1)$ models.Comment: 35 pages, 3 figure

A remote anomaly detection system for Slocum underwater gliders

Marine Autonomous Systems (MAS) operating at sea beyond visual line of sight need to be self-reliant, as any malfunction could lead to loss or pose a risk to other sea users. In the absence of fully automated on-board control and fault detection tools, MAS are piloted and monitored by experts, resulting in high operational costs and limiting the scale of observational fleets that can be deployed simultaneously. Hence, an effective anomaly detection system is fundamental to increase fleet capacity and reliability. In this study, an on-line, remote fault detection system is developed for underwater gliders. Two alternative methods are analysed using time series data: feedforward deep neural networks estimating the glider’s vertical velocity and an autoencoder. The systems are trained using field data from four baseline deployments of Slocum gliders and tested on six deployments of vehicles suffering from adverse behaviour. The methods are able to successfully detect a range of anomalies in the near real time data streams, whilst being able to generalise to different glider configurations. The autoencoder’s error in reconstructing the original signals is the clearest indicator of anomalies. Thus, the autoencoder is a prime candidate to be included into an all-encompassing condition monitoring system for MAS

Gene array analysis of mandibular condyle under mechanical strain

published_or_final_versio

Electrostatically gated membrane permeability in inorganic protocells

Although several strategies are now available to produce functional microcompartments analogous to primitive cell-like structures, little progress has been made in generating protocell constructs with self-controlled membrane permeability. Here we describe the preparation of water-dispersible colloidosomes based on silica nanoparticles and delineated by a continuous semipermeable inorganic membrane capable of self-activated, electrostatically gated permeability. We use crosslinking and covalent grafting of a pH-responsive copolymer to generate an ultrathin elastic membrane that exhibits selective release and uptake of small molecules. This behaviour, which depends on the charge of the copolymer coronal layer, serves to trigger enzymatic dephosphorylation reactions specifically within the protocell aqueous interior. This system represents a step towards the design and construction of alternative types of artificial chemical cells and protocell models based on spontaneous processes of inorganic self-organization

Echinoderms have bilateral tendencies

Echinoderms take many forms of symmetry. Pentameral symmetry is the major form and the other forms are derived from it. However, the ancestors of echinoderms, which originated from Cambrian period, were believed to be bilaterians. Echinoderm larvae are bilateral during their early development. During embryonic development of starfish and sea urchins, the position and the developmental sequence of each arm are fixed, implying an auxological anterior/posterior axis. Starfish also possess the Hox gene cluster, which controls symmetrical development. Overall, echinoderms are thought to have a bilateral developmental mechanism and process. In this article, we focused on adult starfish behaviors to corroborate its bilateral tendency. We weighed their central disk and each arm to measure the position of the center of gravity. We then studied their turning-over behavior, crawling behavior and fleeing behavior statistically to obtain the center of frequency of each behavior. By joining the center of gravity and each center of frequency, we obtained three behavioral symmetric planes. These behavioral bilateral tendencies might be related to the A/P axis during the embryonic development of the starfish. It is very likely that the adult starfish is, to some extent, bilaterian because it displays some bilateral propensity and has a definite behavioral symmetric plane. The remainder of bilateral symmetry may have benefited echinoderms during their evolution from the Cambrian period to the present

Unsupervised anomaly detection for underwater gliders using generative adversarial networks

An effective anomaly detection system is critical for marine autonomous systems operating in complex and dynamic marine environments to reduce operational costs and achieve concurrent large-scale fleet deployments. However, developing an automated fault detection system remains challenging for several reasons including limited data transmission via satellite services. Currently, most anomaly detection for marine autonomous systems, such as underwater gliders, rely on intensive analysis by pilots. This study proposes an unsupervised anomaly detection system using bidirectional generative adversarial networks guided by assistive hints for marine autonomous systems with time series data collected by multiple sensors. In this study, the anomaly detection system for a fleet of underwater gliders is trained on two healthy deployment datasets and tested on other nine deployment datasets collected by a selection of vehicles operating in a range of locations and environmental conditions. The system is successfully applied to detect anomalies in the nine test deployments, which include several different types of anomalies as well as healthy behaviour. Also, a sensitivity study of the data decimation settings suggests the proposed system is robust for Near Real-Time anomaly detection for underwater gliders

Asexual expansion of Toxoplasma gondii merozoites is distinct from tachyzoites and entails expression of non-overlapping gene families to attach, invade, and replicate within feline enterocytes

© 2015 Hehl et al.; licensee BioMed Central. Background: The apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is cosmopolitan in nature, largely as a result of its highly flexible life cycle. Felids are its only definitive hosts and a wide range of mammals and birds serve as intermediate hosts. The latent bradyzoite stage is orally infectious in all warm-blooded vertebrates and establishes chronic, transmissible infections. When bradyzoites are ingested by felids, they transform into merozoites in enterocytes and expand asexually as part of their coccidian life cycle. In all other intermediate hosts, however, bradyzoites differentiate exclusively to tachyzoites, and disseminate extraintestinally to many cell types. Both merozoites and tachyzoites undergo rapid asexual population expansion, yet possess different effector fates with respect to the cells and tissues they develop in and the subsequent stages they differentiate into. Results: To determine whether merozoites utilize distinct suites of genes to attach, invade, and replicate within feline enterocytes, we performed comparative transcriptional profiling on purified tachyzoites and merozoites. We used high-throughput RNA-Seq to compare the merozoite and tachyzoite transcriptomes. 8323 genes were annotated with sequence reads across the two asexually replicating stages of the parasite life cycle. Metabolism was similar between the two replicating stages. However, significant stage-specific expression differences were measured, with 312 transcripts exclusive to merozoites versus 453 exclusive to tachyzoites. Genes coding for 177 predicted secreted proteins and 64 membrane- associated proteins were annotated as merozoite-specific. The vast majority of known dense-granule (GRA), microneme (MIC), and rhoptry (ROP) genes were not expressed in merozoites. In contrast, a large set of surface proteins (SRS) was expressed exclusively in merozoites. Conclusions: The distinct expression profiles of merozoites and tachyzoites reveal significant additional complexity within the T. gondii life cycle, demonstrating that merozoites are distinct asexual dividing stages which are uniquely adapted to their niche and biological purpose

Tofacitinib in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis and Metabolic Syndrome: A Post hoc Analysis of Phase 3 Studies

Objective: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of concurrent risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. This post hoc analysis explored key efficacy and safety endpoints in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and MetS treated with tofacitinib. Methods: Tofacitinib 5 and 10 mg twice daily and placebo data were pooled from two Phase 3 studies (OPAL Broaden [12 months; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT01877668]; OPAL Beyond [6 months; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT01882439]); patients received one background conventional synthetic disease‐modifying antirheumatic drug. Patients were stratified by baseline presence/absence of MetS. Efficacy and safety were reported to month 3 (tofacitinib and placebo) and 6 (tofacitinib only). Efficacy outcomes included: American College of Rheumatology (ACR)20/50/70, Health Assessment Questionnaire‐Disability Index (HAQ‐DI) response, Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI)75 response, and enthesitis/dactylitis resolution rates; and changes from baseline (Δ) in C‐reactive protein, HAQ‐DI, Patient’s/Physician’s Global Assessment of Arthritis, and patient‐reported outcomes. Safety outcomes included treatment‐emergent all‐causality adverse events (AEs), Δ in lipid/hepatic values, and liver parameter increases. Results: Of 710 patients, 41.4% (n = 294) had baseline MetS. All efficacy outcomes improved with both tofacitinib doses versus placebo, to month 3; tofacitinib efficacy was consistent to month 6, regardless of MetS status. MetS did not appear to affect the incidence of AEs or Δ in lipid/hepatic values with tofacitinib up to month 3 or 6. Arterial thromboembolism and myocardial infarction (adjudicated major adverse cardiovascular events) were each reported once in tofacitinib‐treated patients with MetS. Conclusion: Regardless of baseline MetS status, tofacitinib showed greater efficacy versus placebo in patients with active PsA. The tofacitinib safety profile appeared similar in patients with versus without MetS