Hierarchical refinement of skills and skill application for autonomous robots

One of the major goals in designing learning robots is to let these robots develop useful skills over time. These skills are not only related to physical actions of the robot, but also to the coordination of activities, communication with humans, and active sensing. Throughout this paper, the interdependency between these different kinds of skills is analyzed. For the case of elementary action skills and coordination skills, methods for inegration of skill application and refinement are developed. It is shown that this integration has the potential to support long-term learning and autonomous experimentation.     

Different Involvement of Vimentin during Invasion by Listeria monocytogenes at the Blood–Brain and the Blood–Cerebrospinal Fluid Barriers In Vitro

The human central nervous system (CNS) is separated from the blood by distinct cellular barriers, including the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and the blood–cerebrospinal fluid (CFS) barrier (BCSFB). Whereas at the center of the BBB are the endothelial cells of the brain capillaries, the BCSFB is formed by the epithelium of the choroid plexus. Invasion of cells of either the BBB or the BCSFB is a potential first step during CNS entry by the Gram-positive bacterium Listeria monocytogenes (Lm). Lm possesses several virulence factors mediating host cell entry, such as the internalin protein family—including internalin (InlA), which binds E-cadherin (Ecad) on the surface of target cells, and internalin B (InlB)—interacting with the host cell receptor tyrosine kinase Met. A further family member is internalin (InlF), which targets the intermediate filament protein vimentin. Whereas InlF has been shown to play a role during brain invasion at the BBB, its function during infection at the BCSFB is not known. We use human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMEC) and human choroid plexus epithelial papilloma (HIBCPP) cells to investigate the roles of InlF and vimentin during CNS invasion by Lm. Whereas HBMEC present intracellular and surface vimentin (besides Met), HIBCPP cells do not express vimentin (except Met and Ecad). Treatment with the surface vimentin modulator withaferin A (WitA) inhibited invasion of Lm into HBMEC, but not HIBCPP cells. Invasion of Lm into HBMEC and HIBCPP cells is, however, independent of InlF, since a deletion mutant of Lm lacking InlF did not display reduced invasion rates.     

The explanatory power of citations: a new approach to unpacking impact in science

Scientometrics - Citation analysis has been applied to map the landscape of scientific disciplines and to assess the impact of publications. However, it is limited in that it assumes all citations...     

Bestimmung der Alkoholergiebigkeit von Getreidearten und polarimetrische St?rkebestimmung

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Actinomycin D binding to single-stranded DNA: sequence specificity and hemi-intercalation model from fluorescence and 1H NMR spectroscopy

Various in vitro studies have shown that delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major psychoactive component of marijuana, has a variety of inhibitory effects on immune functions including effects on macrophages. The present studies have examined the mechanism of THC's effects on tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), a major macrophage-produced cytokine and an important mediator involved in cytokine networks and in host defense mechanisms. Exposure of macrophages to medium containing THC has resulted in low levels of soluble TNF-alpha protein and reduced TNF-alpha bioactivity in the culture supernatant. However, THC did not inhibit the levels of LPS-induced TNF-alpha mRNA and intracellular TNF-alpha precursor protein, had only a weak effect on expression of membrane-bound TNF-alpha, but suppressed TNF-alpha maturation/secretion by macrophages. The higher the THC concentration in the medium during TNF-alpha induction, the greater the amount of intracellular TNF-alpha precursors that accumulated in the activated macrophages and the less mature TNF-alpha was released from the cells. Data suggest that TNF-alpha production by macrophages was altered greatly by exposure to THC at the levels of TNF-alpha precursor maturation and secretion.     

Acrylamide in heated potato products – analytics and formation routes

Acrylamide is a highly polar, water‐soluble molecule with low, but significant volatility. Most common methods for determination of acrylamide are high performance liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐MS‐MS), gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) after bromination, GC‐MS without and LC‐MS after derivatisation with mercaptobenzoic acid. The different clean‐up procedures used are presented and the advantages and disadvantages of the individual methods are discussed. Acrylamide is formed during food preparation if free asparagine and reducing sugars are present, water activity is low and the product temperature exceeds 100 °C. The influence of different parameters on acrylamide formation in model systems is discussed. In fried potatoes the greatest amount of acrylamide is formed from asparagine and reducing sugars. Alternative routes of formation, as for example via acrolein and acrylic acid are much less important.