Plasma Unesterified Fatty‐Acid Profile Is Dramatically and Acutely Changed under Ischemic Stroke in the Mouse Model

Although plasma biomarkers would facilitate rapid and accurate diagnosis of ischemic stroke for immediate treatment, no such biomarkers have been developed to date. In the present study, we tested our hypothesis that plasma unesterified fatty acids (FFA) are altered at early stages of acute ischemic stroke. Plasma was collected from mice 2 h after the permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAo) onset, as well as from sham operated and control animals. After 2 h, pMCAo significantly changed the plasma FFA profile with the most dramatic 2‐ to 3‐fold relative increase in very long n‐3 and n‐6 FFA including 20:4n‐6, 22:4n‐6, 22:5n‐6, and 22:6n‐3. Changes in the plasma FFA profile are consistent with FFA liberation from brain phospholipid hydrolyzed under ischemic insult. These results identify, for the first time, the plasma FFA profile as a potential biomarker for an early ischemic stroke within the therapeutic window for thrombolytic treatment. Further studies are required to confirm its specificity and sensitivity in clinical settings.     

Relationship between strength of organic sorbate interactions in NOM and hydration effect on sorption

According to a recent conceptual model for hydration-assisted sorption of organic compounds in natural organic matter (NOM), certain polar moieties of dry NOM are unavailable for compound sorption due to strong intra- and intermolecular NOM interactions. Water molecules solvate these moieties creating new sorption sites at solvated contacts. It is expected that the greater a compound's ability to undergo specific interactions with NOM, the greater will be the hydration-assisted sorption effect, because penetration of compounds into solvated contacts must involve competition with water at the solvated contact. To test this model, we compare the hydration effect on sorption kinetics and equilibrium for 4 compounds with differing abilities to undergo specific interactions with NOM. Sorption measured on Pahokee peat in aqueous systems was fast compared with n-hexadecane (dry) systems. No concentration effect on attainment of sorption equilibrium was observed. m-Nitrophenol exhibited the greatest hydration-assisted sorption effect, benzyl alcohol showed an intermediate effect and acetophenone and nitrobenzene showed no hydration-assisted sorption, on an activity scale. The extent of hydration-assisted sorption effect correlates with compound ability to undergo specific interactions. These results support the conceptual model and demonstrate the importance of polar NOM noncovalent links in organizing the NOM phase and in controlling the hydration effect on sorption of organic compounds.     

Decoupled stochastic parallel gradient descent optimization for adaptive optics: integrated approach for wave-front sensor information fusion

A new adaptive wave-front control technique and system architectures that offer fast adaptation convergence even for high-resolution adaptive optics is described. This technique is referred to as decoupled stochastic parallel gradient descent (D-SPGD). D-SPGD is based on stochastic parallel gradient descent optimization of performance metrics that depend on wave-front sensor data. The fast convergence rate is achieved through partial decoupling of the adaptive system's control channels by incorporating spatially distributed information from a wave-front sensor into the model-free optimization technique. D-SPGD wave-front phase control can be applied to a general class of adaptive optical systems. The efficiency of this approach is analyzed numerically by considering compensation of atmospheric-turbulence-induced phase distortions with use of both low-resolution (127 control channels) and high-resolution (256 x 256 control channels) adaptive systems. Results demonstrate that phase distortion compensation can be achieved during only 10-20 iterations. The efficiency of adaptive wave-front correction with D-SPGD is practically independent of system resolution.     

Effect of periodic background loss on grating spectra

The effect of periodic loss on the performance of refractive-index gratings has been studied in detail. It is shown that the loss periodicity and relative phase strongly affects the symmetry of the reflection, transmission, and loss spectra. This asymmetry is explained successfully through consideration of the overlap between the standing-wave intensity distribution and the periodic loss pattern.     

Optimal filtering for polynomial system states with polynomial multiplicative noise

In this paper, the optimal filtering problem for polynomial system states with polynomial multiplicative noise over linear observations is treated proceeding from the general expression for the stochastic Ito differential of the optimal estimate and the error variance. As a result, the Ito differentials for the optimal estimate and error variance corresponding to the stated filtering problem are first derived. The procedure for obtaining a closed system of the filtering equations for any polynomial state with polynomial multiplicative noise over linear observations is then established, which yields the explicit closed form of the filtering equations in the particular cases of a linear state equation with linear multiplicative noise and a bilinear state equation with bilinear multiplicative noise. In the example, performance of the designed optimal filter is verified for a quadratic state with a quadratic multiplicative noise over linear observations against the optimal filter for a quadratic state with a state‐independent noise and a conventional extended Kalman–Bucy filter. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the controllability of switching linear systems

This note presents a necessary and sufficient condition for small time controllability of a linear switching system (that is, a collection of linear time-invariant control systems, where a trajectory is any concatenation of trajectories of the individual systems). This result extends the controllability condition recently obtained for unconstrained linear switching systems to the case of control which is constrained in a cone.     

Stability radius of an efficient solution of a vector problem of integer linear programming in the Gölder metric

A vector (multicriterion) problem of integer linear programming is considered on a finite set of feasible solutions. A metric l_p, 1 ≤ p ≤ ∞, is defined on the parameter space of the problem. A formula of the maximum permissible level of perturbations is obtained for the parameters that preserve the efficiency (Pareto optimality) of a given solution. Necessary and sufficient conditions of two types of stability of the problem are obtained as corollaries. This work has been carried out with financial support from the Belgosuniversity within the framework of the Intercollegiate Program “Fundamental and Applied Investigations” (project No. 492/28). __________ Translated from Kibernetika I Sistemnyi Analiz, No. 4, pp. 175–181, July–August 2006.     

A preferential semantics for causal reasoning about action

One of the principal concerns in the research area of Reasoning about Action is determining the ramifications of actions in changing environments. A particular tendency emerging in recent literature endorses the explicit incorporation of causal knowledge in logic-based action theories. It is argued that causal extensions not only enhance the expressive power of theories of action, but may also provide more concise and intuitive representations. This paper investigates semantics for causal reasoning about action and change. It does so by exploring the role of several fundamental underlying principles, such as the Principle of Minimal Change and the Principle of Causal Change. This work culminates in a general unifying semantics for a class of action theories represented by a number of recent and influential approaches – in particular, the causal relationship approach of Thielscher and the causal systems with fixed-points suggested by McCain and Turner. The unifying augmented preferential semantics, emerging as a result of this study, captures both Principles of Change and shows their clear and distinct roles.     

Identification of the Sex Pheromone of the Currant Shoot Borer Lampronia capitella

Under an artificial light:dark cycle, females of Lampronia capitella were observed calling, with extended terminal abdominal segments, during the first 2 hr of the photoperiod. Extracts of terminal abdominal segments from females elicited large electroantennographic responses from male antennae. Gas chromatography with electroantennographic detection revealed three active peaks. Based on comparison of retention times and mass spectra of synthetic standards, these compounds were identified as (Z,Z)-9,11-tetradecadienol and the corresponding acetate and aldehyde. The electroantennographic activity of the four geometric isomers of all three compounds was investigated, and the respective (Z,Z)-isomer was found to be the most active in all cases. Aldehydes generally elicited larger antennal responses than alcohols, whereas acetates were the least active compounds. A subtractive trapping assay in the field, based on a 13:26:100 micrograms mixture of (Z,Z)-9,11-tetradecadienal, (Z,Z)-9,11-tetradecadienyl acetate, and (Z,Z)-9,11-tetradecadienol confirmed that all three compounds are pheromone components. Subtraction of (Z,Z)-9,11-tetradecadienol from the blend completely eliminated its attractiveness, whereas the other two-component blends showed reduced activity. This is the first pheromone identification from the monotrysian superfamily Incurvarioidea, confirming that the common pheromones among ditrysian moths (long-chain fatty acid derivatives comprising alcohols, acetates, and aldehydes with one or more double bonds) is not an autapomorphy of Ditrysia, but a synapomorphy of the more advanced heteroneuran lineages.