Highly potent germination inhibitors in aqueous eluate of fruits of Bishop's weed (Ammi majus L.) and avoidance of autoinhibition

The aqueous eluate from fruits ofAmmi majus (Bishop's weed, Umbelliferae) remarkably inhibited germination of adjacent seeds ofAnastatica hierochuntica, lettuce, or tomato but had no effect on intact fruits ofAmmi. Similar inhibition was found in dark or in light, except that seeds ofA. hierochuntica were significantly more inhibited in the dark than in the light. Xanthotoxin was isolated, identified, and found to account for about a sixth of the inhibitory activity of the eluate. After fruits ofAmmi were submerged in a large volume of water for 4 days, the fruits still exuded enough inhibitors to prevent germination ofA. hierochuntica, lettuce, or tomato. Data support also the proposal that the phytotoxins are compartmentalized between the inner and the outer fruit envelopes. The inner layer excludes inhibitors from the embryo and autotoxicity is thus avoided, whereas the outer one ensures a gradual liberation of the phytotoxic compounds. This, as well as the high reactivity of the eluate, the high densities ofAmmi fruits in nature, and their relatively limited annual germination, suggest chemical inhibition of neighboring plant species other thanAmmi. Hence, in addition to their chemical protection against predators of either lower or higher organisms, furanocoumarins in fruits ofAmmi majus may contribute to its success as a weed.     

Relation between erythrocyte free protoporphyrins and usual iron intake in a group of University of Buenos Aires students

In order to analyze the interrelationships between free erythrocyte protoporphyrins and the usual iron intake in adult students, biochemical, and hematological values, and dietary daily intake, obtained using the recall method during seven days, were studied. Hematocrit (Hto.), hemoglobin (Hb) and free erythrocyte protoporphyrins (FEP) were determined in a group of 145 female university students, healthy according to the standard parameters of the Buenos Aires University Health Department. Mean iron intake was 23.0 +/- 1.5 mg per day, about 44% being provided by animal sources; 74.5% of the population was within the recommended daily intake according to FAO/WHO; only 0.7% of the population did not cover protein requirements while 35% did not cover energy needs. Hto. and Hb were below normal levels in 7.8% of the population when compared with standards according to ICNND. To obtain information about normal values to FEP, expressed as microgram/100 ml red cells (FEP% r.c.) and FEP/Hb ratio, the group of students with adequate intake of energy and proteins who had normal values for Hb and Hto. was selected. This group, including 94 women, had a mean FEP% r.c. of 15.71 +/- 7.26 and a mean FEP/Hb ratio of 0.44 +/- 0.21. There was observed an inverse correlation between FEP% r.c. and FEP/Hb with total iron intake (r = 0.80 and r = 0.78, respectively) and between FEP% r.c. and Hb concentration (r = 0.81). These results confirm the usefulness of the free erythrocyte protoporphyrins determination as a good index of iron stores and usual intake of this population.     

A review of the unique features of HDL apoproteins

The human plasma high density lipoproteins (HDL) are a heterogeneous ensemble of five proteins associated with both neutral and polar lipids. The sequences of all five proteins are known. ApoA-I and apoA-II are the major protein components; apoC-I, apoC-II and apoC-III are the minor protein components. All these apoproteins spontaneously recombine with phospholipids to give stable lipid-protein complexes and freely exchange between the two major HDL subclasses, HDL₂ and HDL₃. In addition, ApoC-I, apoC-II, and apoC-III exchange between HDL and very low density lipoproteins. Furthermore, certain HDL apoproteins are activators for plasma enzymes that are important in lipid metabolism. ApoA-I and apoC-I activate lecithin/cholesterol acyltransferase; apoC-II is an activator of lipoprotein lipase. The regions of apoC-I and apoC-II that are involved in the activation of these enzymes have been localized with synthetic peptides. Studies of synthetic and native fragments of apoA-II, apoC-I, apoC-II, and apoC-III as well as model lipid-binding peptides have identified specific regions with structural features common to lipid-binding proteins. These special properties, which include helical potential, sequences with a critical amphipathic length, and high hydrophobicity of the nonpolar side of the amphipathic helix, are the determinants of HDL structure and metabolism.     

Approximate similarity search for online multimedia services on distributed CPU–GPU platforms

Similarity search in high-dimensional spaces is a pivotal operation for several database applications, including online content-based multimedia services. With the increasing popularity of multimedia applications, these services are facing new challenges regarding (1) the very large and growing volumes of data to be indexed/searched and (2) the necessity of reducing the response times as observed by end-users. In addition, the nature of the interactions between users and online services creates fluctuating query request rates throughout execution, which requires a similarity search engine to adapt to better use the computation platform and minimize response times. In this work, we address these challenges with Hypercurves, a flexible framework for answering approximate k-nearest neighbor (kNN) queries for very large multimedia databases. Hypercurves executes in hybrid CPU–GPU environments and is able to attain massive query-processing rates through the cooperative use of these devices. Hypercurves also changes its CPU–GPU task partitioning dynamically according to the observed load, aiming for optimal response times. In our empirical evaluation, dynamic task partitioning reduced query response times by approximately 50 % compared to the best static task partition. Due to a probabilistic proof of equivalence to the sequential kNN algorithm, the CPU–GPU execution of Hypercurves in distributed (multi-node) environments can be aggressively optimized, attaining superlinear scalability while still guaranteeing, with high probability, results at least as good as those from the sequential algorithm.     

Linear Chain Ferromagnetic Charge Transfer Compounds

Charge transfer complexes possessing a … DADA … structure with both the donor, D, and acceptor, A, being S = 1/2 radicals may exhibit cooperative magnetic phenomena. The complex [Fe(C₅Me₅)₂]⁺·[TCNQ]⁻· exhibits metamagnetic behavior. The similarly structured [TCNE]⁻· and [C₄(CN)₆]⁻· complexes are ferromagnets, whereas the [DDQ]⁻· salt is a paramagnet. The high temperature magnetic susceptibility obeys the Curie-Weiss expression with θ = + 30, + 30, and + 3 for the [TCNE]⁻·, [C₄(CN)₆]⁻·, and [TCNQ]⁻· salts, respectively. The ferromagnetic [TCNE]⁻· salt exhibits zero field Zeeman split ⁵⁷Fe Mossbauer spectra with an internal field of 425.6 kOe at 4.23 K. After reviewing the current papers discussing ferromagnetism in molecular (organic) compounds, a qualitative model consistent with the necessary bulk spin alignment required for a ferromagnet is presented.     

Design of simulator training: a comparative study of Swedish dynamic decision-making training facilities

Cognition, Technology & Work - Simulator training is becoming increasingly important for training of time-critical and dynamic situations. Hence, how simulator training in such domains is...     

An Integrated Approach to Locality-Conscious Processor Allocation and Scheduling of Mixed-Parallel Applications

Complex parallel applications can often be modeled as directed acyclic graphs of coarse-grained application tasks with dependences. These applications exhibit both task and data parallelism, and combining these two (also called mixed parallelism) has been shown to be an effective model for their execution. In this paper, we present an algorithm to compute the appropriate mix of task and data parallelism required to minimize the parallel completion time (makespan) of these applications. In other words, our algorithm determines the set of tasks that should be run concurrently and the number of processors to be allocated to each task. The processor allocation and scheduling decisions are made in an integrated manner and are based on several factors such as the structure of the task graph, the runtime estimates and scalability characteristics of the tasks, and the intertask data communication volumes. A locality-conscious scheduling strategy is used to improve intertask data reuse. Evaluation through simulations and actual executions of task graphs derived from real applications and synthetic graphs shows that our algorithm consistently generates schedules with a lower makespan as compared to Critical Path Reduction (CPR) and Critical Path and Allocation (CPA), two previously proposed scheduling algorithms. Our algorithm also produces schedules that have a lower makespan than pure task- and data-parallel schedules. For task graphs with known optimal schedules or lower bounds on the makespan, our algorithm generates schedules that are closer to the optima than other scheduling approaches.     

Mobile wireless network system simulation

This paper describes an advanced simulation environment which is used to examine, validate, and predict the performance of mobile wireless network systems. This simulation environment overcomes many of the limitations found with analytical models, experimentation, and other commercial network simulators available on the market today. We identify a set of components which make up mobile wireless systems and describe a set of flexible modules which can be used to model the various components and their integration. These models are developed using the Maisie simulation language. By modeling the various components and their integration, this simulation environment is able to accurately predict the performance bottlenecks of a multimedia wireless network system being developed at UCLA, determine the trade-off point between the various bottlenecks, and provide performance measurements and validation of algorithms which are not possible through experimentation and too complex for analysis.This work was supported in part by the Advanced Research Projects Agency, ARPA/CSTO, under Contract J-FBI-93-112 Computer Aided Design of High Performance Wireless Networked Systems, and by ARPA/CSTO under Contract DABT-63-94-C-0080 TransparentVirtual Mobile Environment.This paper was in part presented at the ACM Mobile Computing and Networking Conference (Mobicom '95), Berkeley, California, 14–15 November 1995.     

Incremental value of prognostic testing in patients with known or suspected ischemic heart disease: a basis for optimal utilization of exercise technetium-99m sestamibi myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the incremental prognostic implications of normal and equivocal exercise technetium-99m (Tc-99m) sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and sought to determine its incremental prognostic value, impact on patient management and cost implications. BACKGROUND: The prognostic implications of Tc-99m sestamibi SPECT are not well defined, and risk stratification using this test has not been explored. METHODS: We studied 1,702 patients referred for exercise Tc-99m sestamibi SPECT who were followed up for a mean (+/- SD) of 20 +/- 5 months. Patients with previous percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass surgery were excluded. The SPECT studies were assessed using semiquantitative visual analysis. Cardiac death and myocardial infarction were considered "hard" events, and coronary angioplasty and bypass surgery > 60 days after testing were considered "soft" events. RESULTS: Of the 1,702 patients studied, 1,131 had normal or equivocal scan results. A total of 10 events occurred in this group (1 cardiac death and 1 myocardial infarction [0.2% hard events]; 4 coronary angioplasty and 4 bypass surgery procedures [0.7% soft events]). The rates of hard events and referral to catheterization after SPECT were similarly low in patients with a low (< 0.15), intermediate (0.15 to 0.85) and high (> 0.85) post-exercise treadmill test (ETT) likelihood of coronary artery disease. With respect to scan type, patients with normal, probably normal or equivocal scan results had similarly low hard event rates. In the 571 patients with abnormal scan results, there were 43 hard events (7.5%) and 42 soft events (7.4%) (p < 0.001 vs. 1,131 patients with normal scan results for both). When the complete spectrum of scan responses was considered, SPECT provided incremental prognostic value in all patient subgroups analyzed. However, the nuclear scan was cost-effective only in patients with interpretable exercise ECG responses and an intermediate to high post-ETT likelihood of coronary artery disease and in those with uninterpretable exercise ECG responses and an intermediate to high pre-ETT likelihood of coronary artery disease. CONCLUSIONS: Normal or equivocal exercise Tc-99m sestamibi study results are associated with a benign prognosis, even in patients with a high likelihood of coronary artery disease. Although incremental prognostic value is added by nuclear testing in all patient subgroups, a testing strategy incorporating nuclear testing proved to be cost-effective only in the groups with an intermediate to high likelihood of coronary artery disease before scanning.     

Exciton Formation Dynamics and Band-Like Free Charge-Carrier Transport in 2D Metal Halide Perovskite Semiconductors

Metal halide perovskite (MHP) semiconductors have driven a revolution in optoelectronic technologies over the last decade, in particular for high-efficiency photovoltaic applications. Low-dimensional MHPs presenting electronic confinement have promising additional prospects in light emission and quantum technologies. However, the optimisation of such applications requires a comprehensive understanding of the nature of charge carriers and their transport mechanisms. This study employs a combination of ultrafast optical and terahertz spectroscopy to investigate phonon energies, charge-carrier mobilities, and exciton formation in 2D (PEA)₂PbI₄ and (BA)₂PbI₄ (where PEA is phenylethylammonium and BA is butylammonium). Temperature-dependent measurements of free charge-carrier mobilities reveal band transport in these strongly confined semiconductors, with surprisingly high in-plane mobilities. Enhanced charge-phonon coupling is shown to reduce charge-carrier mobilities in (BA)₂PbI₄ with respect to (PEA)₂PbI₄. Exciton and free charge-carrier dynamics are disentangled by simultaneous monitoring of transient absorption and THz photoconductivity. A sustained free charge-carrier population is observed, surpassing the Saha equation predictions even at low temperature. These findings provide new insights into the temperature-dependent interplay of exciton and free-carrier populations in 2D MHPs. Furthermore, such sustained free charge-carrier population and high mobilities demonstrate the potential of these semiconductors for applications such as solar cells, transistors, and electrically driven light sources.