Methods and Apparatus for Determining a Path in a Communication Network

United States Patent Filing No:United States Patent Filing No:United States Patent Filing No:Typically paths are provisioned in a network with a margin which allows for component variations and failures in the network and so on. By providing more information about the requirements of the link in a path request, it is possible to more efficiently calculate a route for the path through the network. The efficiency gain allows greater network utilization which in turn saves costs for the network service provider

Fructose transport-deficient Staphylococcus aureus reveals important role of epithelial glucose transporters in limiting sugar-driven bacterial growth in airway surface liquid.

Hyperglycaemia as a result of diabetes mellitus or acute illness is associated with increased susceptibility to respiratory infection with Staphylococcus aureus. Hyperglycaemia increases the concentration of glucose in airway surface liquid (ASL) and promotes the growth of S. aureus in vitro and in vivo. Whether elevation of other sugars in the blood, such as fructose, also results in increased concentrations in ASL is unknown and whether sugars in ASL are directly utilised by S. aureus for growth has not been investigated. We obtained mutant S. aureus JE2 strains with transposon disrupted sugar transport genes. NE768(fruA) exhibited restricted growth in 10 mM fructose. In H441 airway epithelial-bacterial co-culture, elevation of basolateral sugar concentration (5-20 mM) increased the apical growth of JE2. However, sugar-induced growth of NE768(fruA) was significantly less when basolateral fructose rather than glucose was elevated. This is the first experimental evidence to show that S. aureus directly utilises sugars present in the ASL for growth. Interestingly, JE2 growth was promoted less by glucose than fructose. Net transepithelial flux of D-glucose was lower than D-fructose. However, uptake of D-glucose was higher than D-fructose across both apical and basolateral membranes consistent with the presence of GLUT1/10 in the airway epithelium. Therefore, we propose that the preferential uptake of glucose (compared to fructose) limits its accumulation in ASL. Pre-treatment with metformin increased transepithelial resistance and reduced the sugar-dependent growth of S. aureus. Thus, epithelial paracellular permeability and glucose transport mechanisms are vital to maintain low glucose concentration in ASL and limit bacterial nutrient sources as a defence against infection

Synthesis and characterisation of controllably functionalised polyaniline nanofibres

A novel method for functionalising solution based polyaniline (PAni) nanofibres is reported whereby the degree of side-chain attachment can be controllably altered. The covalent attachment of functional side-groups to the surface of PAni nanostructures is achieved by post-polymerisation reflux in the presence of a nucleophile and the functionalised nanomaterial can be purified by simple centrifugation. The technique is therefore easily scalable. We demonstrate that control over the extent of side-chain attachment can be achieved simply by altering the amount of nucleophile added during reflux. We provide evidence that covalently attached carboxlate side-chains influence the doping mechanism of polyaniline and can be used to introduce self-doping behaviour. Acid functionalised nanofibres remain redox active and retain their optical switching capabilities in response to changes in the local chemical environment, thus making them suitable for adaptive sensing applications

Plasticity of the human visual system after retinal gene therapy in patients with Leber's congenital amaurosis.

Much of our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying plasticity in the visual cortex in response to visual impairment, vision restoration, and environmental interactions comes from animal studies. We evaluated human brain plasticity in a group of patients with Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA), who regained vision through gene therapy. Using non-invasive multimodal neuroimaging methods, we demonstrated that reversing blindness with gene therapy promoted long-term structural plasticity in the visual pathways emanating from the treated retina of LCA patients. The data revealed improvements and normalization along the visual fibers corresponding to the site of retinal injection of the gene therapy vector carrying the therapeutic gene in the treated eye compared to the visual pathway for the untreated eye of LCA patients. After gene therapy, the primary visual pathways (for example, geniculostriate fibers) in the treated retina were similar to those of sighted control subjects, whereas the primary visual pathways of the untreated retina continued to deteriorate. Our results suggest that visual experience, enhanced by gene therapy, may be responsible for the reorganization and maturation of synaptic connectivity in the visual pathways of the treated eye in LCA patients. The interactions between the eye and the brain enabled improved and sustained long-term visual function in patients with LCA after gene therapy

Recurrent Modification of a Conserved Cis-Regulatory Element Underlies Fruit Fly Pigmentation Diversity

The development of morphological traits occurs through the collective action of networks of genes connected at the level of gene expression. As any node in a network may be a target of evolutionary change, the recurrent targeting of the same node would indicate that the path of evolution is biased for the relevant trait and network. Although examples of parallel evolution have implicated recurrent modification of the same gene and cis-regulatory element (CRE), little is known about the mutational and molecular paths of parallel CRE evolution. In Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies, the Bric-à-brac (Bab) transcription factors control the development of a suite of sexually dimorphic traits on the posterior abdomen. Female-specific Bab expression is regulated by the dimorphic element, a CRE that possesses direct inputs from body plan (ABD-B) and sex-determination (DSX) transcription factors. Here, we find that the recurrent evolutionary modification of this CRE underlies both intraspecific and interspecific variation in female pigmentation in the melanogaster species group. By reconstructing the sequence and regulatory activity of the ancestral Drosophila melanogaster dimorphic element, we demonstrate that a handful of mutations were sufficient to create independent CRE alleles with differing activities. Moreover, intraspecific and interspecific dimorphic element evolution proceeded with little to no alterations to the known body plan and sex-determination regulatory linkages. Collectively, our findings represent an example where the paths of evolution appear biased to a specific CRE, and drastic changes in function were accompanied by deep conservation of key regulatory linkages. © 2013 Rogers et al

Psychological determinants of whole-body endurance performance

Background: No literature reviews have systematically identified and evaluated research on the psychological determinants of endurance performance, and sport psychology performance-enhancement guidelines for endurance sports are not founded on a systematic appraisal of endurance-specific research. Objective: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify practical psychological interventions that improve endurance performance and to identify additional psychological factors that affect endurance performance. Additional objectives were to evaluate the research practices of included studies, to suggest theoretical and applied implications, and to guide future research. Methods: Electronic databases, forward-citation searches, and manual searches of reference lists were used to locate relevant studies. Peer-reviewed studies were included when they chose an experimental or quasi-experimental research design, a psychological manipulation, endurance performance as the dependent variable, and athletes or physically-active, healthy adults as participants. Results: Consistent support was found for using imagery, self-talk, and goal setting to improve endurance performance, but it is unclear whether learning multiple psychological skills is more beneficial than learning one psychological skill. The results also demonstrated that mental fatigue undermines endurance performance, and verbal encouragement and head-to-head competition can have a beneficial effect. Interventions that influenced perception of effort consistently affected endurance performance. Conclusions: Psychological skills training could benefit an endurance athlete. Researchers are encouraged to compare different practical psychological interventions, to examine the effects of these interventions for athletes in competition, and to include a placebo control condition or an alternative control treatment. Researchers are also encouraged to explore additional psychological factors that could have a negative effect on endurance performance. Future research should include psychological mediating variables and moderating variables. Implications for theoretical explanations of endurance performance and evidence-based practice are described

Expert tool users show increased differentiation between visual representations of hands and tools

The idea that when we use a tool we incorporate it into the neural representation of our body (embodiment) has been a major inspiration for philosophy, science and engineering. While theoretically appealing, there is little direct evidence for tool embodiment at the neural level. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in male and female human subjects, we investigated whether expert tool users (London litter pickers: n=7) represent their expert tool more like a hand (neural embodiment) or less like a hand (neural differentiation), as compared to a group of tool novices (n=12). During fMRI scans, participants viewed first-person videos depicting grasps performed by either a hand, litter picker or a non-expert grasping tool. Using representational similarity analysis, differences in the representational structure of hands and tools were measured within occipitotemporal (OTC). Contrary to the neural embodiment theory, we find that the experts group represent their own tool less like a hand (not more) relative to novices. Using a case-study approach, we further replicated this effect, independently, in 5 of the 7 individual expert litter pickers, as compared to the novices. An exploratory analysis in left parietal cortex, a region implicated in visuomotor representations of hands and tools, also indicated that experts do not visually represent their tool more similar to hands, compared to novices. Together, our findings suggest that extensive tool use leads to an increased neural differentiation between visual representations of hands and tools. This evidence provides an important alternative framework to the prominent tool embodiment theory

Molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the evolution of form and function in the amniote jaw.

The amniote jaw complex is a remarkable amalgamation of derivatives from distinct embryonic cell lineages. During development, the cells in these lineages experience concerted movements, migrations, and signaling interactions that take them from their initial origins to their final destinations and imbue their derivatives with aspects of form including their axial orientation, anatomical identity, size, and shape. Perturbations along the way can produce defects and disease, but also generate the variation necessary for jaw evolution and adaptation. We focus on molecular and cellular mechanisms that regulate form in the amniote jaw complex, and that enable structural and functional integration. Special emphasis is placed on the role of cranial neural crest mesenchyme (NCM) during the species-specific patterning of bone, cartilage, tendon, muscle, and other jaw tissues. We also address the effects of biomechanical forces during jaw development and discuss ways in which certain molecular and cellular responses add adaptive and evolutionary plasticity to jaw morphology. Overall, we highlight how variation in molecular and cellular programs can promote the phenomenal diversity and functional morphology achieved during amniote jaw evolution or lead to the range of jaw defects and disease that affect the human condition

Blood pressure and cholesterol level checks as dynamic interrelated screening examinations

This study analysed the determinants of screening uptake for blood pressure and cholesterol level checks. Furthermore, it investigated the presence of possible spillover effects from one type of cardiovascular screening to another type of cardiovascular screening. A dynamic random effects bivariate panel probit model with initial conditions (Wooldridge-type estimator) was adopted for the estimation. The outcome variables were the participation in blood pressure and cholesterol level checks by individuals in a given year. The balanced panel sample of 21,138 observations was constructed from 1,626 individuals from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) between 1996 and 2008. The analysis showed the significance of past screening behaviour for both cardiovascular screening examinations. For both cardiovascular screening examinations state dependence exist. The study also shows a significant spillover effect of the cholesterol level check on the blood pressure check and vice versa. Also a poorer health status led to a higher uptake for both types of screening examinations. Changes in recommendations have to consider the fact that taking part in one type of cardiovascular screening examination can influence the decision to take part in the other type of cardiovascular screening examination

Marine epibiosis. II. Reduced fouling on Polysyncraton lacazei (Didemnidae, Tunicata) and proposal of an antifouling potential index

Polysyncraton lacazei is a colonial tunicate (family didemnidae) living in the NW-mediterranean rocky sublitoral. A thorough scanning of numerous colonies revealed that in spite of an apparently heavy local fouling pressure only one fouling species — a kamptozoan — is encountered with some regularity on Polysyncraton. We try to define the epibiotic situation of sessile marine organisms as composed of four epibiotic parameters: longevity or exposure time (A), epibiont load (E), colonizer pool (CP) and fouling-period (FP). Subsequently, these factors are combined to propose an “Antifouling Potential” index: AFP=(1−E/CP)×A/(FP+A). This index is intended to permit evaluating the relative antifouling defense potency to be expected in a given organism in a given epibiotic situation and to compare different cases of epibiosis and fouling