Phylogenetic relationship within Fusarium sambucinum Fuckel sensu lato, determined from ribosomal RNA sequences

The importance of abnormalities of function and epididymis structure in the etiology of male infertility is still not well understood. We studied 52 individuals distributed in five age groups: fetuses, children, adolescents, adults and the elderly. The region of the body of epididymis was obtained by autopsy and immediately fixed by immersion in a solution of 10% buffered formaldehyde, embedded in paraffin and histologically prepared. The samples were observed under an optic microscope. Test-points were counted in 12 random microscopic fields with the M42 test-system. The following stereological parameters were determined: ductal area, volumetric densities (Vv) of the duct, smooth muscle, connective tissue, epithelial duct and blood vessels. The main results distinguished by those whose averages were statistically significant (p < 0.05), showed that the ductal area is 9.7 times greater in the adolescent/adult/elderly group than the children's group. The Vv of the lumen of the epididymis duct occupies 11.7% of the epididymis body in the fetal period, 5.3% in the child and in individuals after puberty this figures reaches more than 15%. The Vv of smooth muscle occupies 28.3% of the body of the epididymis in the fetus and 35.9% in children, but after puberty this figures stays around 22%. The Vv of the connective tissue occupies 26% in prenatal life, 37% in children, and after puberty these figures range from 21 to 27.5%. Comparing the results of the adult group with that of the elderly group there is an increase in the volumetric density of the connective tissue by 18.1%. In conclusion, the epididymal duct area and the Vv of the ductal lumen, smooth muscle and connective tissue were significant comparing the different groups. However, the quantitative relative differences of the duct's epithelium and the blood vessels were not significant comparing these groups. The study of quantitative aspects of the normal human epididymis can increase our knowledge about male fertility.     

Accurate estimation of environment parameters from ultrasonic data

This paper describes a robust and accurate ultrasonic sensing system for a mobile robot. The system continuously updates a local map of the environment in which obstacles are represented by straight lines or points in a robot centered coordinate frame. The presented algorithms use a Kalman filter for the reduction of the noise in the ultrasonic data and use a systematical error correction (‘bundle correction’) to reduce the uncertainty in obstacle direction. Experiments are carried out in simulation and with a real mobile robot system. Results show that the accuracy with which line parameters can be estimated is in the order of 1 degree for the orientation and about 2 cm for the position. The effect of the bundle correction is significant and maximal when the robot approaches walls under a small angle.     

An investigation of seated postural stability

Results of tests undertaken to identify which measures of seated posture control are most effective in two areas, distinguishing differences in the x and y direction control strategies for a given task and distinguishing differences in overall control strategies for pairs of different tasks, are presented. The test platform, calibration tests, test protocol, and data analysis method are described. The results of statistical analyses performed on the data are summarized     

Gain control in reflex pathways

Summary form only given. A series of experiments was undertaken to determine the gain of the stretch reflex in decerebrate cats. Stretches are applied through a servo-controlled motor that receives length and velocity feedback which are adjusted so that it behaves like a spring of a particular stiffness. As the stiffness decreases the gain of the reflex increases until the stiffness is made much less than the intrinsic muscle stiffness. Under these conditions small brief pulses can elicit shortening of 1 mm or more and reflex forces that are larger than the force produced by the stretch itself. This suggests that the gain in the reflex is 1 or more at low frequencies. It is concluded that muscle control systems are adaptive and time-varying to accomplish the various tasks required by the organism. Although under some conditions the reflex gain is on the order of one, measurement of gain is compounded by a number of nonlinearities, and the value of these nonlinearities in various tasks remains to be determined     

An electrical network approach to the analysis of semiconductordevices

A simple electrical network is used to represent the five differential equations describing basic phenomena in one-dimensional semiconductor devices. Both standard and integrated approaches for solving transport equations are developed. Also, an electrical network equivalent for the nonlinear Poisson equation was derived. It allows students to better understand the physical phenomena and the process of computer simulation of such semiconductor devices     

Using spreadsheets in introductory EE courses

Ways in which spreadsheet programs can be used to introduce practical considerations in introductory electrical engineering courses are discussed. Examples are presented which show that spreadsheets can be used to predict and/or minimize the errors due to loading, the availability of only standard resistor values, and resistor tolerances. The circuits considered in these examples were selected to be as simple as possible. These examples could be used in the first semester of sophomore credits. They illustrate trade-offs, performance criteria, and nonunique solutions, and are intended to illustrate the power of spreadsheet programs. In the first example, a macro is used to implement a simple iterative optimization procedure. In the second example, minimization is done by exhaustive search using the table lookup capabilities of the spreadsheet. In the final example, the spreadsheet's random number generator is used to perform a Monte Carlo analysis