Progressive scoliosis with vertebral rotation after lumbar intervertebral disc herniation in a 10-year-old girl

A case report of a 10-year old girl with a herniated disc is presented. The most significant symptoms were progressive scoliosis with a flat back and paravertebral muscle spasm. An absent H reflex on the left and an increased latency of the somatosensory-evoked potentials of the left posterior tibial nerve were found. The computed tomographic scan of the lumbar spine showed a large central left-sided disc protrusion at the L5-S1 level. Our case presents the youngest patient with documented intervertebral disc herniation and the only one with severe scoliosis and vertebral rotation. The curve was not structural because it improved with surgery and an orthosis was not necessary.     

Camera calibration in sport event scenarios

The main goal of this paper is the design of a novel and robust methodology for calibrating cameras from a single image in sport scenarios, such as a soccer field, or a basketball or tennis court. In these sport scenarios, the only references we use to calibrate the camera are the lines and circles delimiting the different regions. The first problem we address is the extraction of image primitives, including the challenging problems of shaded regions and lens distortion. From these primitives, we automatically recognise the location of the sport court in the scene by estimating the homography which matches the actual court with its projection onto the image. This is achieved even when only a few primitives are available. Finally, from this homography, we recover the camera calibration parameters. In particular, we estimate the focal length as well as the position and orientation in the 3D space. We present some experiments on models and real courts which illustrate the accuracy of the proposed methodology.     

A branch and bound algorithm for extracting smallest minimal unsatisfiable subformulas

Explaining the causes of infeasibility of Boolean formulas has practical applications in numerous fields, such as artificial intelligence (repairing inconsistent knowledge bases), formal verification (abstraction refinement and unbounded model checking), and electronic design (diagnosing and correcting infeasibility). Minimal unsatisfiable subformulas (MUSes) provide useful insights into the causes of infeasibility. An unsatisfiable formula often has many MUSes. Based on the application domain, however, MUSes with specific properties might be of interest. In this paper, we tackle the problem of finding a smallest-cardinality MUS (SMUS) of a given formula. An SMUS provides a succinct explanation of infeasibility and is valuable for applications that are heavily affected by the size of the explanation. We present (1) a baseline algorithm for finding an SMUS, founded on earlier work for finding all MUSes, and (2) a new branch-and-bound algorithm called Digger that computes a strong lower bound on the size of an SMUS and splits the problem into more tractable subformulas in a recursive search tree. Using two benchmark suites, we experimentally compare Digger to the baseline algorithm and to an existing incomplete genetic algorithm approach. Digger is shown to be faster in nearly all cases. It is also able to solve far more instances within a given runtime limit than either of the other approaches.     

Preliminary evaluation of biogenic amines content in Chilean young varietal wines by HPLC

Biogenic amines are organic nitrogenous compounds produced in wines mainly during malolactic fermentation. Its presence is a health risk for sensitive individuals and it could negatively affect the wine quality. The objective of this work was to determine the biogenic amines content in Chilean young varietal wines. For that, a liquid chromatographic method with pre-column derivatization was optimized and validated to achieve a reliable quantification of the most important biogenic amines in wines, i.e. histamine, tyramine, spermine, spermidine, putrescine, cadaverine and phenylethylamine. Using a face-centered central composite design derivatization and chromatographic conditions were optimized. Derivatization with dansyl chloride showed an optimum yield for all biogenic amines at 60 °C during 60 min. These derivatives were optimally separated with a C₁₈ YMC-Pack ODS-A column set a 40 °C using a mobile phase composed of acetonitrile and water under gradient conditions. An effective separation and quantification of the biogenic amines was achieved in 40 min using ultraviolet detection at 254 nm. Validation was established according to ICH guidelines, calibrations in matrix fitted a linear regression model with R² > 0.997. Repeatability (n = 6) and intermediate precision (n = 3) in matrix showed RSD values <2.34% and <3.16%, respectively. This method was applied to determine for the first time the biogenic amines content in Chilean wines. Twenty-seven samples of young varietal wines, i.e. Cabernet Sauvignon (n = 9), Merlot (n = 8) and Carménère (n = 10) were analyzed finding a biogenic amines content from 18.12 to 39.84 mg L^-1, where putrescine showed the highest concentration in all grape varieties. No significant difference was found between grapes varieties regarding total biogenic amines content (P = 0.7842, df = 26). Along with putrescine, histamine and tyramine were the most abundant biogenic amines but similar levels were also observed with spermidine.     

Thermal Analysis of Non-linear Convective–Radiative Hyperbolic Lumped Systems with Simultaneous Variation of Temperature-Dependent Specific Heat and Surface Emissivity by MsDTM and BPES

With the advent of temperatures near absolute zero, it is often claimed that at very low temperatures the effect of thermal wave propagation must be included by the hyperbolic heat conduction equation (HHCE). In this paper the non-linear convective–radiative HHCE is investigated. Opposite to common numerical analyses, analytical expressions are obtained for the temperature variations by the multi-step differential transformation method. Some conclusions about alteration of the specific heat of the material, temperature steeping, and Vernotte number have been formulated.     

Analysis of Site-Specific Phosphorylation of PTEN by Using Enzyme-Catalyzed Expressed Protein Ligation

The activity and localization of PTEN, a tumor suppressor lipid phosphatase that converts the phospholipid PIP3 to PIP2, is governed in part by phosphorylation on a cluster of four Ser and Thr residues near the C terminus. Prior enzymatic characterization of the four monophosphorylated (1p) PTENs by using classical expressed protein ligation (EPL) was complicated by the inclusion of a non-native Cys at the ligation junction (aa379), which may alter the properties of the semisynthetic protein. Here, we apply subtiligase-mediated EPL to create wt 1p-PTENs. These PTENs are more autoinhibited than previously appreciated, consistent with the role of Tyr379 in driving autoinhibition. Alkaline phosphatase sensitivity analysis revealed that these autoinhibited 1p conformations are kinetically labile. In contrast to the Cys mutant 1p-PTENs, which are poorly recognized by an anti-phospho-PTEN antibody, three of the four wt 1p-PTENs are recognized by a commonly used anti-phospho-PTEN antibody.     

Boubaker polynomials expansion scheme (BPES) solution to Boltzmann diffusion equation in the case of strongly anisotropic neutral particles forward–backward scattering

A polynomial expansion scheme is used to solve Boltzmann neutron transport equation in the case of strongly anisotropic neutral particles forward–backward scattering.     

Dynamic imaging and modelling of multilayer deposition of gold paste tailings

Surface deposition of paste or thickened tailings is increasing contemplated as an alternative to conventional slurry deposition. One important challenge in managing paste is to predict the evolving geometry of the tailings stack during deposition. This study dynamically images multilayer deposition of paste in flows in flume and axisymmetric flows. Each layer is left to self-weight consolidate for a day before the next layer is placed. It is found that both the steady-state profiles and the dynamic flows can be modelled as a Bingham fluid using equations developed from lubrication theory. Yield stress and viscosity were determined using rheometry and slump tests. It is shown that the yield stress obtained from the slump test may overestimate the yield stress of significance to flow deposition; namely that yield stress that characterizes when the tailings stop flowing. The lubrication theory equations show that the overall angle of a tailings deposit at steady-state is dependant on the scale of the flow, which may explain the discrepancy between laboratory flume angles and field angles noted in practice.     

Using computer models to understand the roles of tissue structureand membrane dynamics in arrhythmogenesis

The merging of hypotheses and techniques from physics, mathematics, biomedical engineering, cardiology, and computer science is helping to form increasingly more realistic computer models of the heart. These models complement experimental and clinical studies that seek to elucidate the mechanisms of arrhythmogenesis and improve pharmacological and electrical therapies. This paper reviews the current state of the art of computer models for investigating normal and abnormal conduction in cardiac muscle. A brief introduction to the mathematical foundations of continuous (monodomain and bidomain) and discrete tissue structure models and to ionic current based and FitzHugh-Nagumo membrane models is presented. The paper summarizes some of the recent contributions in validating tissue structure models, modeling unidirectional block and reentry in a 1-D loop, and applying generic spiral wave theory to cardiac arrhythmias