The isolation from a unicellular organism, Dictyostelium discoideum, of a highly-related cdc2 gene with characteristics of the PCTAIRE subfamily

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is known to induce the dispersion of epithelial cells, as scatter factor. On the other hand, cadherins play a crucial role in connecting cells together. Two groups of cadherins are involved in epithelial cell adhesion, those locating in adherens junctions (AJ) and in desmosomes. Here, we examined the effect of HGF on the function of these cadherins in keratinocyte cell lines F and 308R, which expressed E- and P-cadherin in AJ (referred to as AJ cadherins) and desmoplakin in desmosomes. In the presence of HGF, these cells spread more extensively than in control cultures and their associations apparently loosened. However, they maintained cell-cell contacts where cadherins and desmoplakin concentrated, although the level of the concentration was reduced by HGF treatment. When antibodies to E- and P-cadherins were added to cultures of these cells without HGF, AJ cadherins were redistributed into non-junctional areas of the cells, but desmoplakin still localized at cell-cell boundaries. When HGF was added together with anti-AJ cadherin antibodies to the cultures, cell-cell contacts were now disrupted. In these cultures, not only AJ cadherins but also desmoplakin were lost at cell-cell contact sites, indicating that HGF can disrupt desmosomal cell-cell adhesion when AJ cadherins are inactive. These results suggest that, although HGF cannot block cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion when the entire cadherin system is intact, it might modulate the activities of cadherins, especially, of desmosomal cadherins.     

The Failure of the Strong Pumping Lemma for Multiple Context-Free Languages

Seki et al. (Theor. Comput. Sci. 88(2):191–229, 1991) showed that every m-multiple context-free language L is weakly 2m-iterative in the sense that either L is finite or L contains a subset of the form \(\{ u_{0} w_{1}^{i} u_{1} \cdots w_{2m}^{i} u_{2m} \mid i \in \mathbb {N}\}\) , where w ₁?w _2n ≠ε. Whether every m-multiple context-free language L is 2m-iterative, that is to say, whether all but finitely many elements z of L can be written as z=u ₀ w ₁ u ₁?w _2m u _2m with w ₁?w _2m ≠ε and \(\{ u_{0} w_{1}^{i} u_{1} \cdots w_{2m}^{i} u_{2m} \mid i \in \mathbb {N}\} \subseteq L\) , has been open. We show that there is a 3-multiple context-free language that is not k-iterative for any k.     

TWC LOGD: A portal for linked open government data ecosystems

International open government initiatives are releasing an increasing volume of raw government datasets directly to citizens via the Web. The transparency resulting from these releases not only creates new application opportunities but also imposes new burdens inherent to large-scale distributed data integration, collaborative data manipulation and transparent data consumption. The Tetherless World Constellation (TWC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has developed the Semantic Web-based TWC LOGD portal to support the deployment of linked open government data (LOGD). The portal is both an open source infrastructure supporting linked open government data production and consumption and a vibrant community portal that educates and serves the growing international open government community of developers, data curators and end users. This paper motivates and introduces the TWC LOGD Portal and highlights innovative aspects and lessons learned.     

Facial expression recognition based on Haar-like feature detection

In this paper we propose a novel approach for facial feature detection in color image sequences using Haar-like classifiers. The feature extraction is initialized without manual input and has the capability to fulfill the real time requirement. For facial expression recognition, we use geometrical measurement and simple texture analysis in detecting facial regions based on the prior detected facial feature points. For expression classification we used a three layer feed forward artificial neural network. The efficiency of the suggested approach is demonstrated under real world conditions. The text was submitted by the authors in English. Axel Panning was born in Magdeburg, Germany, in 1980. He received his Masters Degree (Dipl.-Ing.) in Computer Science at the University of Magdeburg, Germany, in 2006. He is currently working on a PhD thesis focusing on image processing, tracking, and pattern recognition. Ayoub K. Al-Hamadi was born in Yemen in 1970. He received his Masters Degree (Dipl.-Ing.) in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology in 1997 and his PhD in Technical Computer Science at the Ottovon-Guericke-University of Magdeburg, Germany, in 2001. Since 2002 he has been Assistant Professor and Junior-Research-Group-Leader at the Institute for Electronics, Signal Processing, and Communications at the Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg. His research work concentrates on the field of image processing, tracking analysis, pattern recognition, and artificial neural networks. Dr. Al-Hamadi is the author of more than 60 articles. Robert Niese was born in Halberstadt, Germany, in 1977. He received his Masters Degree (Dipl.-Ing.) with distinction in computer science at the Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Germany, in 2004. He gathered broad experience in several international internship investigations on medical image and data analysis, including MRI, CT, and EEG. He is currently working at Magdeburg University on his PhD thesis, which focuses on 3D, image processing, tracking, and pattern recognition. Robert Niese is the author of more than 15 publications. Bernd Michaelis was born in Magdeburg, Germany, in 1947. He received a Masters Degree in Electronic Engineering from the Technische Hochschule Magdeburg in 1971 and his first PhD in 1974. Between 1974 and 1980 he worked at the Technische Hochschule Magdeburg and was granted a second doctoral degree in 1980. In 1993 he became Professor of Technical Computer Science at the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg. His research work concentrates on the field of image processing, artificial neural networks, pattern recognition, processor architectures, and microcomputers. Professor Michaelis is the author of more than 200 papers.     

使用Visual Studio Team Test进行单元测试

简介 最新发布的Visual Studio Test System（VSTS）包含了一套用于Visual Studio Team Test的完整功能。Team Test是Visual Studio集成的单元测试框架，它支持：     

PZT components derived from polysulphone spinning process

The present paper deals with the development of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) fibres, pearls and fibre fragments, for their use as active phase in piezocomposites. As new a approach, the green ceramic components are shaped by polysulphone spinning, allowing for effective and flexible forming over a wide range of different geometries and sizes. The correlation between processing parameters, e.g. the slurry composition, nozzle size and operation velocity, and the resultant shape of ceramic components is analysed. Sintered piezoceramic parts show a dense microstructure. Performance data are evaluated on PZT/epoxy composites. Measurement results of strain, polarisation and piezoelectric coupling are given and discussed. The developed PZT components are seen as key for the creation of smart and lightweight structural components. Further, free formed PZT components open new design approaches for sensing and actuating devices and ultrasound transducers.     

Electrochemical performance and modeling of lithium‐sulfur batteries with varying carbon to sulfur ratios

Lithium‐sulfur batteries have attracted much research interest because of their high theoretical energy density and low‐cost raw materials. While the electrodes are composed of readily available materials, the processes that occur within the cell are complex, and the electrochemical performance of these batteries is very sensitive to a number of cell processing parameters. Herein, a simple electrochemical model will be used to predict, with quantitative agreement, the electrochemical properties of lithium‐sulfur cathodes with varying carbon to sulfur ratios. The discharge capacity and the polarization were very similar for the lowest sulfur loadings, while above 23.2 wt% sulfur the gravimetric capacity dropped significantly, and there was an increase in the cell polarization. In addition, a transition in the electrode morphology, from well dispersed to aggregated sulfur at the surface, will be reflected in the change in a critical model parameter demonstrating the sensitivity and functionality of even this simple model in predicting complex behavior in the lithium‐sulfur cells.     

Porous Perovskite Fibers – Preparation by Wet Phase Inversion Spinning and Catalytic Activity

Porous perovskite (LaMnO₃) fibers were prepared by means of wet phase inversion spinning. The influence of different spinning procedures, slurry and coagulation bath composition on fiber shape and pore morphology was studied. The catalytic activity of the prepared fibers was tested for carbon monoxide oxidation as a model reaction in a differential recycle reactor. The results revealed that by suitable choice of process conditions porous catalytically active fibers can be prepared. Catalytic measurements confirmed that the catalytic fibers exhibit an open structure that allows full utilization of the catalytically active surface without intraparticle diffusional limitations.     

Investigations of electrochemical double layer capacitor (EDLC) materials – a comparison of test methods

A comparison between various methods for determining the capacitance and resistance of electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLC) with cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), galvanostatic charge‐discharge methods and cell voltage jump experiments are presented. Therefore, a commercially available electrochemical double layer capacitor was used. For the validation of the screw cell measurements the electrode foils were isolated and extracted from the commercial capacitor. The results support the adequacy of the screw cell tests for electrode materials on a laboratory scale. The comparison of methods shows in part strong differences. The reasons will therefore be discussed. Consequently, the determination of specific values requires methods which respect the influence of the actual tests or measurement frequency and exhibit the importance of an internationally accepted specification for electrochemical double layer capacitors material investigation.     

Characteristics of wet‐spun and thermally treated poly acrylonitrile fibers

The performance of carbon fibers depends on the quality of the precursor and the conditions of the thermal treatment. In detail, for a PAN precursor fiber the viscosity of a spinning dope and the draw ratio during the spinning process needs to be considered. Through wet spinning, different types of PAN precursor fibers with defined spinning parameters, including solid content, solvent content in a bath, and especially draw ratio resulting in defined cross section diameters, were fabricated and analyzed with tensile tests, density investigations, SEM, TGA‐MS, FTIR, and XRD. The results show that the mechanical properties of the fibers correlate to crystallinity. The cross section diameter is strongly related to the morphology of the fibers after thermal treatment. By extending the postdrawing of PAN fibers high tenacities were obtained at the cost of the cross section shape. In addition, TGA measurements reveal trapped residues of the wet spinning process as well as show several chemical reactions takes place at the same time at different temperatures. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43698.