Computer-based determination of size and shape in living cells

Measurement of cell volume in living epithelial cells has become an important technique in studies of membrane transport processes that function in cell volume regulation. Planimetry of video images of optical sections enables the measurement of the cross sectional area of each section. Cell volume is calculated from the measured area of each section and the known focus displacements. In the past the measurement of cross section area has been done by manual positioning of a cursor superimposed on the video image. Each experiment generates approximately 200 images in which two or more cells may be analysed. We have developed a computer-based method that uses one image as a template, and allows automated area determination of successive images by template matching and digital image processing. This new method is comparable to the older method in speed and accuracy, but requires much less effort from the experimenter.     

Modelling and management of smart microgrid for rural electrification in sub-saharan Africa: The case of Nigeria

Access to electricity is still a challenge in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, over 70% of the rural dwellers do not have access to electricity. The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential of a smart microgrid for off-grid rural electrification in Nigeria. A combination of design thinking and model-based design methodology is employed to select a suitable microgrid configuration and to develop a smart microgrid model. A system consisting of a solar photovoltaic array, battery energy storage and a diesel generator is selected, and the model is developed in Simulink. Demand data from 10 rural communities in Nigeria are used to validate the performance of the model and the potential for demand management is considered. The use of energy efficient light bulbs is found to reduce the peak electricity demand of the case study communities by 42 to 76%. Combining the proposed system with the use of LED bulbs makes the system to have 56 to 81% less net present cost than a system with a diesel generator alone and incandescent light bulbs. The proposed smart microgrid is found to be more suitable for off-grid rural electrification in Nigeria than diesel generators which are currently used for off-grid electrification in Nigeria.     

Graphic applications of the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML)

The Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) is a language for representing document structure. This paper discusses ways in which the SGML language might be used to represent graphic as well as textual contents of a document. By using SGML markup for both graphics and text, a document processing application can achieve a more uniform treatment and tighter coupling between these two types of materials.     

Plane stress deformation zones at crack tips in polycarbonate

The plastic deformation produced crack tips in polycarbonate (PC) films stretched in tension, has been characterized by optical and transmission electron microscopy. An extensive and diffuse region of deformation is formed in unannealed specimens. Within this zone the ratio (v _f) of local film thickness to the (undeformed) thickness far away from the crack varies gradually both along and across the zone. The minimum ratio of 0.5 occurs at the crack tip. In contrast to this behaviour, films annealed for a short time just below the glass transition temperature T _g showed a highly localized response, the plastic strain being confined to a well-defined flame shaped deformation zone (DZ) ahead of the crack. Within most of this DZ, v _f is constant at 0.7, rising to 1 over a distance of 10 m at the zone tip, and falling to 0.5 over a distance of 4 m around the crack tip. Bi-refringence measurements show that a high degree of molecular orientation occurs within the zone. These experiments support the idea that an increase in the localization of the plastic strain response upon annealing below T _g is responsible for the embrittlement of PC by such heat treatment.     

Label-free imaging of semiconducting and metallic carbon nanotubes in cells and mice using transient absorption microscopy

As interest in the potential biomedical applications of carbon nanotubes increases, there is a need for methods that can image nanotubes in live cells, tissues and animals. Although techniques such as Raman, photoacoustic and near-infrared photoluminescence imaging have been used to visualize nanotubes in biological environments, these techniques are limited because nanotubes provide only weak photoluminescence and low Raman scattering and it remains difficult to image both semiconducting and metallic nanotubes at the same time. Here, we show that transient absorption microscopy offers a label-free method to image both semiconducting and metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes in vitro and in vivo, in real time, with submicrometre resolution. By using appropriate near-infrared excitation wavelengths, we detect strong transient absorption signals with opposite phases from semiconducting and metallic nanotubes. Our method separates background signals generated by red blood cells and this allows us to follow the movement of both types of nanotubes inside cells and in the blood circulation and organs of mice without any significant damaging effects.     

The copula: a tool for simulating speckle dynamics

Use of a copula for generating a sequence of correlated speckle patterns is introduced. The chief characteristic of this algorithm is that it generates a continuous speckle sequence with a specified evolution of the correlation and does so with just two arrays of random numbers. Thus, physically realistic temporally varying speckle patterns with proper first- and second-order statistics are easily realized. We illustrate use of the algorithm for generating sequences with prescribed Gaussian, exponential, and equal-interval correlations and demonstrate how correlation times can be specified independently. This approach to generating sequences of random realizations with prescribed correlations should prove useful in modeling such phenomena as dynamic light scatter, flow-dependent laser speckle contrast, and propagation of spatial coherence.     

Viscous Open Data: The Roles of Intermediaries in an Open Data Ecosystem

Open data have the potential to improve the governance of universities as public institutions. In addition, open data are likely to increase the quality, efficacy and efficiency of the research and analysis of higher education systems by providing a shared empirical base for critical interrogation and reinterpretation. Drawing on research conducted by the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries project, and using an ecosystems approach, this research paper considers the supply, demand and use of open data as well as the roles of intermediaries in the governance of South African public higher education. It shows that government's higher education database is a closed and isolated data source in the data ecosystem; and that the open data that are made available by government is inaccessible and rarely used. In contrast, government data made available by data intermediaries in the ecosystem are being used by key stakeholders. Intermediaries are found to play several important roles in the ecosystem: (i) they increase the accessibility and utility of data; (ii) they may assume the role of a “keystone species” in a data ecosystem; and (iii) they have the potential to democratize the impacts and use of open data. The article concludes that despite poor data provision by government, the public university governance open data ecosystem has evolved because intermediaries in the ecosystem have reduced the viscosity of government data. Further increasing the fluidity of government open data will improve access and ensure the sustainability of open data supply in the ecosystem.     

The wabush mines fire

How could a five-million-dollar fire occur in a seemingly low hazard industry? The author discusses one such fire and examines the lessons learned from it. It takes careful study to determine if well-known fire protection principles are being violated.     

Gender bias in journals of gender studies

The causes of gender bias favoring men in scientific and scholarly systems are complex and related to overall gender relationships in most of the countries of the world. An as yet unanswered question is whether in research publication gender bias is equally distributed over scientific disciplines and fields or if that bias reflects a closer relation to the subject matter. We expected less gender bias with respect to subject matter, and so analysed 14 journals of gender studies using several methods and indicators. The results confirm our expectation: the very high position of women in co-operation is striking; female scientists are relatively overrepresented as first authors in articles. Collaboration behaviour in gender studies differs from that of authors in PNAS. The pattern of gender studies reflects associations between authors of different productivity, or ??masters?? and ??apprentices?? but the PNAS pattern reflects associations between authors of roughly the same productivity, or ??peers??. It would be interesting to extend the analysis of these three-dimensional collaboration patterns further, to see whether a similar characterization holds, what it might imply about the patterns of authorship in different areas, what those patterns might imply about the role of collaboration, and whether there are differences between females and males in collaboration patterns.