Mapping the 5-50-kDa fraction of human amniotic fluid proteins by 2-DE and ESI-MS

This report presents a proteomic analysis and provides a reference map of the 5-50-kDa components of normal amniotic fluid collected in gestational weeks 16-18. Early amniocentesis samples were pooled and proteins with molecular mass lower than albumin were separated by gel filtration chromatography. The 2-DE protocol was optimized for the separation of the small proteins and peptides in the fraction of interest. A total of 132 Coomassie blue-stained protein spots were analyzed, following in-gel tryptic digestion, by ESI-MS/MS and 49 different gene products were identified. The treatment with alkaline phosphatase caused the shift of the phosphoisoforms of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-1 and of the N-terminal osteopontin fragment. Of the 33 full-length proteins identified in the 2-DE profile, 23 had not been previously detected in the amniotic fluid and, of these, 22 are not present in the human plasma proteome under physiological conditions. Fragments of 16 larger proteins were identified and the sequence coverage data revealed that several correspond to autonomous domains that may have biological roles on their own. Several of the detected proteins and peptides appear to be involved in critical regulatory processes associated with placentation and early development, thus representing potential markers of various physiological or pathological conditions.     

Empirical Identification in the Mixed Logit Model: Analysing the Effect of Data Richness

The flexible structure of the mixed logit (ML) model is at the root of the difficulties associated to its estimation. Major problems are parameter identification and the distinction between different substitution patterns. In this paper we focus on the empirical identification problem and investigate the effect of low information richness in the data on the capability of estimating a correct ML model (i.e. with identifiable parameters and free of confounding effects). In particular, we analyse to which extent the empirical identification problem depends on the variability of the data among alternatives, on the degree of heterogeneity of the taste parameters, on the dimension of the sample and on the number of choice tasks for each individual. To test for information richness of the data and its effect on the capability of the ML model to reproduce random heterogeneity in tastes, a collection of datasets was generated varying systematically (a) the standard deviation (SD) of the distribution of travel time differences between the two alternatives, (b) the SD of the random parameter, (c) the number of choice tasks for each individual and (d) the number of individuals in relation to the number of choice tasks. Then, several ML models allowing for random travel time parameters were estimated using different number of draws and results were compared in terms of model goodness of fit and, also, on the capability of reproducing the real parameters used to generate each dataset. Our results suggest that identification problems depend only on the (low) variability of the associated data and disappear as the richness of the data associated to the random parameter increases. However, rich enough data only allows obtaining good statistics but the estimated parameters do not always reproduce the correct values, as the capability of the ML to reproduce random heterogeneity depends on the random parameter distribution (degree of variability and symmetry). Moreover, the capability of the ML to reproduce random heterogeneity increases when more than one choice is available for each individual and the effect of sample size on the empirical identification reduces considerably.     

On the evaluation of one-dimensional Cauchy principal value integrals by rules based on cubic spline interpolation

In this note we consider the numerical evaluation of one dimensional Cauchy principal value integrals of the form $$\rlap{--} \smallint _a^b \frac{{k(x)f(x)}}{{x - \lambda }}dx, a< \lambda< b,$$ by rules obtained by “subtracting out” the singularity and then applying product quadratures based on cubic spline interpolation at equally spaced nodes. Convergence results are established for Hölder continuous functions of order, μ, 0<μ≤1, and asymptotic rates are obtained for functionsf≠C ^k [a, b],k=1, 2, 3 or 4. Some comparisons with other methods and numerical examples are also given.     

Standard Linux for embedded real-time robotics and manufacturing control systems

The main goal of the research presented in this paper is to evaluate the possibility of using standard Linux for embedded real-time applications in robotics and manufacturing as a consequence of dramatic improvements in hardware computing power and free software quality in the last few years. After an accurate analysis of the problems related to make Linux, a native Unix-like fair kernel, real-time, laboratory tests showed that a large variety of applications (up to 1 KHz) can be implemented using Linux and commercial-of-the-shelf hardware. Practical examples of the control systems of an unmanned surface vessel used for robotics research and of a marking machine for steelworks are reported and discussed.     

Dielectrical performance of high-k yttrium copper titanate thin films for electronic applications

The increasing constraints in the miniaturization of modern electronic devices is driving the search for new high-k dielectric materials. Rare-earth transition metal oxides are very interesting because of the large values of dielectric constant observed in bulk samples. Here, we report on a comparison among the dielectric properties of yttrium copper titanate (YCTO) thin films and those of commonly used dielectrics such as SiO₂ and MgO, grown in similar device structures. The YCTO permittivity was found to depend strongly on the oxygen pressure during deposition and can reach values even higher than those reported in bulk YCTO with good performances in terms of losses.     

Compatibility in Interpretation of Relations in EuroWordNet

This paper describes how the Euro WordNet project established a maximum level of consensus in the interpretation of relations, without loosing the possibility of encoding language-specific lexicalizations. Problematic cases arise due to the fact that each site re-used different resources and because the core vocabulary of the wordnets show complex properties. Many of these cases are discussed with respect to language internal and equivalence relations. Possible solutions are given in the form of additional criteria.     

Utility payments in Ukraine: Affordability,subsidies and arrears

The transition from a planned economy to a market economy has caused considerable hardship for the people of Eastern Europe. One important aspect of the social costs of transition is access to, and the affordability of, basic services like electricity, heat and water, which under communism had been supplied fairly cheaply and abundantly. This paper provides evidence on this issue from the Ukraine Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (ULMS). The paper identifies considerable differences in both access and affordability between different localities in Ukraine.     

Evolution of oxygen reduction current and biofilm on stainless steels cathodically polarised in natural aerated seawater

The aim of a series of works recently performed at ISMAR was to provide new useful information for a better understanding of the mechanisms by which bacteria settlement causes corrosion on Stainless Steels (SS) and similar active-passive alloys exposed to seawater. In this work, the evolutions of cathodic current, bacteria population, and electronic structure of the passive layer were investigated on SS samples polarised at fixed potentials during their exposure to natural seawater. It was found that, during the first phase of biofilm growth, cathodic current increase is proportional to the number of settled bacteria at each fixed potential. However, the proportionality factor between settled bacteria and cathodic current depends on imposed potential. In particular, the proportionality factor strongly decreases when the potential is increased above a critical value close to −150 mV Ag/AgCl. This effect seems to be correlated with the electronic structure of the passive layer. Indeed, the outer part of the passive layer on tested SS was found to behave like a conductor at potentials more active than −150 mV Ag/AgCl, and like an n-type semiconductor at more noble potentials.     

Automatic analysis of the difference image for unsupervised changedetection

One of the main problems related to unsupervised change detection methods based on the “difference image” lies in the lack of efficient automatic techniques for discriminating between changed and unchanged pixels in the difference image. Such discrimination is usually performed by using empirical strategies or manual trial-and-error procedures, which affect both the accuracy and the reliability of the change-detection process. To overcome such drawbacks, in this paper, the authors propose two automatic techniques (based on the Bayes theory) for the analysis of the difference image. One allows an automatic selection of the decision threshold that minimizes the overall change detection error probability under the assumption that pixels in the difference image are independent of one another. The other analyzes the difference image by considering the spatial-contextual information included in the neighborhood of each pixel. In particular, an approach based on Markov Random Fields (MRFs) that exploits interpixel class dependency contexts is presented. Both proposed techniques require the knowledge of the statistical distributions of the changed and unchanged pixels in the difference image. To perform an unsupervised estimation of the statistical terms that characterize these distributions, they propose an iterative method based on the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm. Experimental results confirm the effectiveness of both proposed techniques