Binary Replacement Technique for Application Programming Interface Level Simulation

International audienceDesign of complex embedded software requires ingenious solutions to many architectural problems. One such solution that would be a crucial catalyst in designing scalable and customized embedded software, is developed by API (Application Programming Interface) level simulator. The use of API level simulator has been gaining wide acceptance due to its design and verification efficiency by enabling parallel development in multiple software layers. However, there are two major bottlenecks in realizing practical systems: source code modification and recompilation of the target software. The paper proposes a novel simulation technique to resolve these two critical issues. The proposed technique makes it possible to replace any part of the target binary without modifying its source code and recompiling it

Association between nasal shedding and fever that influenza A (H3N2) induces in dogs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Avian origin canine influenza virus was reported in Korea. The dog to dog contact transmission of the avian origin canine influenza virus (CIV) H3N2 and CIV H3N8 was shown by experimental contact transmission. This study was focused on viral excretion and fever in order to elucidate the epidemiological associations which might be helpful to control the disease transmissions in CIV outbreak in dogs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An influenza seronegative 10-week-old Beagle dog was experimentally inoculated with the canine influenza virus A/canine/01/2007, subtype H3N2. Eight hours after inoculation, the infected dog was cohoused with seven uninfected Beagle dogs. Clinical signs including fever were recorded for 14 days post inoculation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The infected dog and four of seven contact dogs in the study showed clinical signs (sneezing, nasal discharge and coughing) during the study. Viral shedding occurred in all of the animals tested and began on 1 to 6 DPI in dogs with clinical signs. Elevated body temperatures above 39.5°C (geometric mean temperature of 39.86°C±0.49) were observed in all symptomatic dogs. The mean viral titer during fever was 2.99 log EID₅₀/ml, which was significantly higher than the viral titer detected in the non fever.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The data show that contact dogs with a canine influenza infected dog shed different levels of virus in their nasal excretions and demonstrate that clinical signs, including fever, significantly correlate with the viral shedding.</p

MG-63 Cell Proliferation with Static or Dynamic Compressive Stimulation on an Auxetic PLGA Scaffold

The effect of dynamic compressive stimulation on MG-63 cell proliferation on an auxetic PLGA scaffold was investigated. The estimated Poisson ratio of the prepared auxetic scaffold specimens was approximately (−)0.07, while the Poisson ratio estimated for conventional scaffold specimens was (+)0.12 under 10% strain compression on average. Three stimulus groups were examined: control (no stimulation), static compression, and dynamic compression. In preparation for proliferation testing, cells were seeded at 2.2 × 105 cells/80 μL on each scaffold specimen. The average proliferation rates of the static and dynamic groups were higher than those of the control group: 13.4% and 25.5% higher at culture day 1, 34.7% and 56.2% at culture day 3, and 17.5% and 43.0% at culture day 5, respectively. The static and dynamic group results at culture day 5 were significantly different (p<0.01). Moreover, proliferation rate of the dynamic stimulation group was 1.22 times higher than that of the static group (p<0.01). Conclusively, proliferation of osteoblast-like cells was enhanced through compressive stimulation, but the enhancement was maximal with dynamic compressive stimulation of auxetic scaffolds

Promoting ecosystem and human health in urban areas using green infrastructure: A literature review

Europe is a highly urbanised continent. The consequent loss and degradation of urban and peri-urban green space could adversely affect ecosystems as well as human health and well-being. The aim of this paper is to formulate a conceptual framework of associations between urban green space and ecosystem and human health. Through an interdisciplinary literature review the concepts of Green Infrastructure, ecosystem health, and human health and well-being are discussed. The possible contributions of urban and peri-urban green space systems, or Green Infrastructure, on both ecosystem and human health are critically reviewed. Finally, based on a synthesis of the literature a conceptual framework is presented. The proposed conceptual framework highlights many dynamic factors, and their complex interactions, affecting ecosystem health and human health in urban areas. This framework forms the context into which extant and new research can be placed. In this way it forms the basis for a new interdisciplinary research agenda

Assessing the Effect of Disturbances on Ectomycorrhiza Diversity

Ectomycorrhiza (ECM) communities can be described on a species level or on a larger scale at an ecosystem level. Here we show that the species level approach of successional processes in ECM communities is not appropriate for understanding the diversity patterns of ECM communities at contaminated sites. An ecosystem based approach improves predictability since different biotic and abiotic factors are included. However, it still does not take into account the hierarchical structure of the ecosystem. We suggest that diversity patterns of ECMs communities in forests can best be investigated at three levels. This hypothetical approach for investigation can be tested at sites of secondary succession in areas contaminated with metals. Once the diversity patterns are appropriately described by a hierarchical ecosystem approach, to the species level is used to explain these patterns by populational and ecotoxicological mechanisms

A Comparison of Cepstral Coefficients and Spectral Moments in the Classification of Romanian Fricatives

In this paper we explore two methods for the classification of fricatives. First, for the coding of the speech, we compared two sets of acoustic measures obtained from a corpus of Romanian fricatives: (a) spectral moments and (b) cepstral coefficients. Second, we compared two methods of determining the regions of the segments from which the measures would be extracted. In the first method, the phonetic segments were divided into three regions of approximately equal duration. In the second method, Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) were used to divide each segment into three regions such that the variances of the measures within each region were minimized. The corpus we analyzed consists of 3674 plain and palatalized word-final fricatives from four places of articulation, produced by 31 native speakers of Romanian (20 females). We used logistic regression to classify fricatives by place, voicing, palatalization status, and gender. We found that cepstral coefficients reliably outperformed spectral moments in all classification tasks, and that using regions determined by HMM yielded slightly higher correct classification rates than using regions of equal duration

Signal recognition particle (SRP)- mediated targeting and Sec-dependent translocation of an extracellular E. coli protein.

Hemoglobin protease (Hbp) is a hemoglobin-degrading protein that is secreted by a human pathogenic Escherichia coli strain via the autotransporter mechanism. Little is known about the earliest steps in autotransporter secretion, i.e. the targeting to and translocation across the inner membrane. Here, we present evidence that Hbp interacts with the signal recognition particle (SRP) and the Sec-translocon early during biogenesis. Furthermore, Hbp requires a functional SRP targeting pathway and Sec-translocon for optimal translocation across the inner membrane. SecB is not required for targeting of Hbp but can compensate to some extent for the lack of SRP. Hbp is synthesized with an unusually long signal peptide that is remarkably conserved among a subset of autotransporters. We propose that these autotransporters preferentially use the cotranslational SRP/Sec route to avoid adverse effects of the exposure of their mature domains in the cytoplasm