The ventral premotor cortex (VPM) and resistance to interference.

The authors tested a patient suffering from a circumscribed lesion of the right frontal operculum (FO) in 3 experiments of visual attention involving spatial orienting, maintenance of task-relevant priorities, and control of interference from new and old task-irrelevant items. The authors found that spatial orienting and active maintenance of priorities were intact, but there were difficulties in controlling interference from new and old irrelevant items. These results suggest that the FO is necessary for the direct control of interference, but its lesion alone is not enough to disturb spatial orienting processes or active maintenance of task priorities. The authors discuss the results in light of a hybrid cognitive model of attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Monitoring of ethylene by a pulsed quantum cascade laser

We report on the development and performance of a gas sensor based on a quantum cascade laser operating at a wavelength of approximately 10 microns to measure ethylene (C2H4) concentrations by use of a rotational component of the fundamental nu 7 band. The laser is thermoelectrically cooled and operates in a pulsed mode. The influence of pulse-to-pulse fluctuations is minimized by use of a reference beam and a single detector with time discriminating electronics. Gas absorption is recorded in a 100-m optical path-length astigmatic Herriott cell. With a 10-kHz pulse repetition rate and an 80-s total acquisition time, a noise equivalent sensitivity of 30 parts per billion has been demonstrated. The sensor has been applied to monitor C2H4 in vehicle exhaust as well as in air collected in a high-traffic urban tunnel.     

An intestinal surgery simulator: real-time collision processing and visualization

This research work is aimed toward the development of a VR-based trainer for colon cancer removal. It enables the surgeons to interactively view and manipulate the concerned virtual organs as during a real surgery. First, we present a method for animating the small intestine and the mesentery (the tissue that connects it to the main vessels) in real-time, thus enabling user interaction through virtual surgical tools during the simulation. We present a stochastic approach for fast collision detection in highly deformable, self-colliding objects. A simple and efficient response to collisions is also introduced in order to reduce the overall animation complexity. Second, we describe a new method based on generalized cylinders for fast rendering of the intestine. An efficient curvature detection method, along with an adaptive sampling algorithm, is presented. This approach, while providing improved tessellation without the classical self-intersection problem, also allows for high-performance rendering thanks to the new 3D skinning feature available in recent GPUs. The rendering algorithm is also designed to ensure a guaranteed frame rate. Finally, we present the quantitative results of the simulations and describe the qualitative feedback obtained from the surgeons.     

Spectral evolution in dynamic networks

We introduce and study the spectral evolution model, which characterizes the growth of large networks in terms of the eigenvalue decomposition of their adjacency matrices: In large networks, changes over time result in a change of a graph’s spectrum, leaving the eigenvectors unchanged. We validate this hypothesis for several large social, collaboration, rating, citation, and communication networks. Following these observations, we introduce two link prediction algorithms based on the learning of the changes to a network’s spectrum. These new link prediction methods generalize several common graph kernels that can be expressed as spectral transformations. The first method is based on reducing the link prediction problem to a one-dimensional curve-fitting problem which can be solved efficiently. The second algorithm extrapolates a network’s spectrum to predict links. Both algorithms are evaluated on fifteen network datasets for which edge creation times are known.     

Embedded holonic fault diagnosis of complex transportation systems

The use of electronic equipment and embedded computing technologies in modern complex transportation systems continues to grow in a highly competitive market, in which product maintainability and availability is vital. These technological advances also make fault diagnosis and maintenance interventions much more challenging, since these operations require a deep understanding of the entire system. This paper proposes a holonic cooperative fault diagnosis approach, along with a generic architecture, to increase the embedded diagnosis capabilities of complex transportation systems. This concept is applied to the fault diagnosis of door systems of a railway transportation system.     

Potential of diffuse scatterer interferometry for monitoring CO2 storage sites in European contexts (land cover types)

This article proposes to test the feasibility of long-term surface deformation monitoring based on synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry on carbon dioxide (CO₂) storage sites with land cover representative of potential European injection sites (agricultural or forests with minimum built-up land cover). Because no operational injection site is currently active in Europe, a SAR data set (based on EnviSAT–ASAR spaceborne data) is simulated by combining SAR scenes acquired over a potential future European injection site with deformation measurements from SAR analysis carried out on the In-Salah (Algeria) CO₂ injection demonstrator site. The study shows that under such conditions, both persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) and diffuse scatterer (DS) interferometry appear insufficient to provide a sufficiently dense measurement network to characterize surface deformation correctly. Alternative solutions, to be investigated in further studies, include the use of data archives with shorter acquisition time spans (e.g. Sentinel-1 data when available) or installation of corner reflectors. The cost of the latter mixed space/ground solution must be evaluated with respect to conventional ground-based measurement methods in the proposed context.     

Nutritive Substitution of Zinc by Cadmium and Cobalt in Phytoplankton Isolated from the Lower Great Lakes

Low ambient concentrations of trace metals including Zn may limit phytoplankton productivity in the North American Great Lakes. The microalgae Chlorella sp. UTCC 522 (Chlorophyta) and Cyclotella sp. UTCC 520 (Heterokontophyta), indigenous to the Great Lakes, were assayed for their Zn requirement and the ability for Co and Cd to metabolically substitute for Zn under conditions in which Zn bioavailability was limiting cell growth. Bioassays were conducted in the laboratory using chemically defined media and the metal buffer EDTA to control the free-ion concentrations of Zn²⁺ (10^−15.3−10⁻¹⁰ mol/L), Cd²⁺ (10^−15.1−10⁻¹⁰ mol/L), and Co²⁺ (10⁻¹⁴−10⁻¹⁰ mol/L). Influence of the metals on the phytoplankton was measured by the effect on specific growth rate. Both microalgae required Zn and could use Co and Cd as Zn substitutes; Cd was used less-effectively, although to a greater extent by the diatom Cyclotella than by the chlorophyte, Chlorella. The observed ability of the phytoplankton to use Cd and Co as Zn substitutes suggests that microalgae play an important role in the geochemical cycling of Zn, Cd and Co in large lakes, and the mobilization of Cd in lake ecosystems impacted by pollution.     

Software transactional memories: an approach for multicore programming

The recent advance of multicore architectures and the deployment of multiprocessors as the mainstream computing platforms have given rise to a new concurrent programming impetus. Software transactional memories (STM) are one of the most promising approaches to take up this challenge. The aim of a STM system is to discharge the application programmer from the management of synchronization when he/she has to write multiprocess programs. His/her task is to decompose his/her program into a set of sequential tasks that access shared objects, and to decompose each task in atomic units of computation. The management of the required synchronization is ensured by the associated STM system. This paper presents two existing STM systems, and a new one based on time-window mechanism. The paper, which focuses mainly on STM principles, has an introductory and survey flavor.     

Four-week short chain fructo-oligosaccharides ingestion leads to increasing fecal bifidobacteria and cholesterol excretion in healthy elderly volunteers

Background  

Short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (scFOS) are increasingly used in human diet for their prebiotic properties. We aimed at investigating the effects of scFOS ingestion on the colonic microflora and oro-fecal transit time in elderly healthy humans.