New exact solutions of the Tzitzéica-type equations in non-linear optics using the expa function method

One specific class of non-linear evolution equations, known as the Tzitzéica-type equations, has received great attention from a group of researchers involved in non-linear science. In this article, new exact solutions of the Tzitzéica-type equations arising in non-linear optics, including the Tzitzéica, Dodd–Bullough–Mikhailov and Tzitzéica–Dodd–Bullough equations, are obtained using the exp_a function method. The integration technique actually suggests a useful and reliable method to extract new exact solutions of a wide range of non-linear evolution equations.     

Quasi-static compressive behaviour of aluminium cenosphere syntactic foams

In this paper, cenosphere particles embedded in AA2014 aluminium matrix are used to fabricate syntactic foam by stir casting method. The particle size is about 100?µm and foam density is about 1990?kg?m^?3. Compression tests at strain rate 0.001/s are performed on foam samples to characterise their mechanical properties which are then used in numerical analysis on commercial finite element analysis software ABAQUS/CAE with isotropic elastic-plastic material model. Experimental and numerical results show good conformity in deformation behaviour with elastic and plateau zones showing average deviations less than 5% and 20%, respectively. Foams showed high yield stress and energy absorption capabilities that can be useful in making blast and impact resistant structures.     

On Cost Aware Cloudlet Placement for Mobile Edge Computing

As accessing computing resources from the remote cloud inherently incurs high end-to-end (E2E) delay for mobile users, cloudlets, which are deployed at the edge of a network, can potentially mitigate this problem. Although some research works focus on allocating workloads among cloudlets, the cloudlet placement aiming to minimize the deployment cost (i.e., consisting of both the cloudlet cost and average E2E delay cost) has not been addressed effectively so far. The locations and number of cloudlets have a crucial impact on both the cloudlet cost in the network and average E2E delay of users. Therefore, in this paper, we propose the Cost Aware cloudlet PlAcement in moBiLe Edge computing (CAPABLE) strategy, where both the cloudlet cost and average E2E delay are considered in the cloudlet placement. To solve this problem, a Lagrangian heuristic algorithm is developed to achieve the suboptimal solution. After cloudlets are placed in the network, we also design a workload allocation scheme to minimize the E2E delay between users and their cloudlets by considering the user mobility. The performance of CAPABLE has been validated by extensive simulations.      

Finding all hops shortest paths

In this letter, we introduce and investigate a new problem referred to as the All Hops Shortest Paths (AHSP) problem. The AHSP problem involves selecting, for all hop counts, the shortest paths from a given source to any other node in a network. We derive a tight lower bound on the worst-case computational complexities of the optimal comparison-based solutions to AHSP.     

Cytokine profiles of stimulated blood lymphocytes in asthmatic and healthy adolescents across the school year

T cell cytokines play an important role in mediating airway inflammation in asthma. The predominance of a Th2 cytokine profile, particularly interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-5, is associated with the pathogenesis and course of asthma. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that a stressful life event alters the pattern of cytokine release in asthmatic individuals. Thirteen healthy controls and 21 asthmatic adolescents gave blood samples three times over a semester: midsemester, during the week of final examinations, and 2-3 weeks after examinations. Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), IL-2, IL-4, and IL-5 were measured from supernatants of cells stimulated with PHA/PMA for 24 h. Cells from asthmatic subjects released significantly more IL-5 during the examination and postexamination periods, whereas cells from healthy controls released significantly more IL-2 during the midsemester and examination periods, thereby indicating a bias for a Th2-like pattern in asthmatics and a Th1-like pattern in healthy controls. IL-4 and IL-5 production showed a marked decrease during and after examinations in healthy controls, whereas this decline was absent in asthmatics. The ratios of IFN-gamma:IL-4 and IFN-gamma:IL-5 also revealed significant changes in the profile of cytokine release across the semester. These results indicate differential cytokine responses in asthmatics that may become pronounced during periods of cellular activation.     

Amplified primer extension assay for psoralen photoproducts provides a sensitive assay for a (CG)6TA(CG)2(TG)8 Z-DNA torsionally tuned probe: preferential psoralen photobinding to one strand of a B-Z junction

An amplified primer extension assay has been developed for quantitatively mapping the sites of psoralen photoaddition to DNA. This assay was applied to a torsionally tuned Z-DNA-probe that was specifically designed for the primer extension assay. The torsionally tuned Z-DNA forming sequence, (CG)6TA(CG)2(TG)8, forms Z-DNA in vitro at negative superhelical density: sigma = -0.05. The internal 5'-TA dinucleotide was reactive to psoralen when it existed as B-DNA. Upon the formation of Z-DNA, the internal 5'-TA no longer photobound psoralen. The torsionally tuned sequence was synthesized as an EcoRI fragment such that, when Z-DNA formed, the central 5'-AATT of the EcoRI sites was part of the B-Z junctions. The 5'-AATT sequence was not reactive with psoralen when it existed as B-DNA. When the 5'-AATT sequence existed as a B-Z junction, one strand of each junction became hyperreactive to psoralen. The TT directly 5' to the B-DNA-Z-DNA junction photobound psoralen in a strand-specific fashion. Quantitation of the relative rate of psoralen photobinding to the internal 5'-TA and the 5'-AATT at the B-Z junctions provides relationships that are characteristic of the level of supercoiling in DNA.