Fair‐Weather Friends: Evidence of Lipoxin Dysregulation in Neurodegeneration

Lipoxins (LXs) are autacoids, specialized proresolving lipid mediators (SPMs) acting locally in a paracrine or autocrine fashion. They belong to a complex superfamily of dietary small polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)–metabolites, which direct potent cellular responses to resolve inflammation and restore tissue homeostasis. Together, these SPM activities have been intensely studied in systemic inflammation and acute injury or infection, but less is known about LX signaling and activities in the central nervous system. LXs are derived from arachidonic acid, an omega‐6 PUFA. In addition to well‐established roles in systemic inflammation resolution, they have increasingly become implicated in regulating neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative processes. In particular, chronic inflammation plays a central role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) etiology, and dysregulated LX production and activities have been reported in a variety of AD rodent models and clinical tissue samples, yet with complex and sometimes conflicting results. In addition, reduced LX production following retinal injury has been reported recently by the authors, and an intriguing direct neuronal activity promoting survival and homeostasis in retinal and cortical neurons is demonstrated. Here, the authors review and clarify this growing literature and suggest new research directions to further elaborate the role of lipoxins in neurodegeneration.     

Case Study-Based Challenges of Quality Concrete Finishing for Architecturally Complex Structures

This paper focuses on the procedure utilized in the construction of tilt-up irregular concrete panels that are constructed on-site using concrete slabs and wooden formwork. The case study required high-quality concrete finishing. The erection and installation procedure called for a maximum panel-to-panel joint tolerance of 1.27?cm (0.5?in.), often 90° joints between panels. To meet precision requirements, the casting slabs were leveled and flattened with laser screed technology and smoothed with chemical solutions. To ensure that the final result met expectations, a mock-up model was built using different types of materials and to simulate site constraints. The architectural design is a composition of precast concrete panels like “Lego” pieces assembled similarly to a jigsaw puzzle. The unique construction process required a state-of-the-art analysis to produce the set quality. Quality conditions as set by the owner included creating a smooth concrete surface on all panels while avoiding damages and reducing equipment and material costs. The proposed methodology is described through its implementation on the case study, which is also described in this paper.     

Time jitter analysis of 1-bit sigma-delta synthesizer

This letter presents a general analysis of time jitter in sigma-delta synthesizer. One of the practical applications of 1-bit sigma-delta systems is a generation of high-resolution local oscillator (LO) signals. In order to generate LO signals, one may use a single-bit sigma-delta technique to encode sine waves. Today, direct generation of high-frequency sine wave using a clock with higher frequency, is possible. In this letter, we will analyze different LO signal generators and develop a practical way of computation to decide how to choose the best configuration under minimum degradation of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the output.     

Abnormalities in plasma and red blood cell fatty acid profiles of patients with colorectal cancer

Intravenous injection of stearoyl vanillylamide (C18-VA), a nonpungent capsaicin (CAP) analog, enhances adrenaline secretion significantly and as effectively as CAP in rats. Because swimming capacity was enhanced by CAP in mice due to CAP-induced adrenal catecholamine secretion, we investigated the effects of oral administration of C18-VA on swimming capacity using an adjustable-current water pool. Male Std ddY 6-wk-old mice were fed a commercial diet for this study and one group was orally administered C18-VA via a stomach tube. Treated mice were able to swim longer before exhaustion than the control mice (62.9 +/- 5.6 vs. 49.6 +/- 7. 0 min, P < 0.05). The swimming capacity of two groups administered C18-VA (0.02 and 0.033 mmol/kg) was significantly greater than that of those administered vehicle alone, (P < 0.05). Substance P concentration in cerebrospinal fluid, which is involved in pain transmission and is the first direct measure of pungency, was not affected by C18-VA administration. In an experiment examining the effects of C18-VA on serum adrenaline concentration, adrenaline was significantly greater in C18-VA treated mice than in controls at 2-h post-dose (C18-VA group, 26.09 +/- 2.82; control group 13.29 +/- 0. 96 microg/L, P < 0.01). In a separate study free fatty acids in serum were elevated in treated mice at 2-h post-dose (P < 0.01). While serum glucose concentration was not affected. These results suggest that C18-VA increased swimming capacity of mice via adrenaline release, independent of pungency. In addition, the present study suggests the usefulness of its application to humans.     

Uncertainty modeling and robust minimax LQR control of multivariable nonlinear systems with application to hypersonic flight

For a class of multi‐input and multi‐output nonlinear uncertainty systems, a novel approach to design a nonlinear controller using minimax linear quadratic regulator (LQR) control is proposed. The proposed method combines a feedback linearization method with the robust minimax LQR approach in the presence of time‐varying uncertain parameters. The uncertainties, which are assumed to satisfy a certain integral quadratic constraint condition, do not necessarily satisfy a generalized matching condition. The procedure consists of feedback linearization of the nominal model and linearization of the remaining nonlinear uncertain terms with respect to each individual uncertainty at a local operating point. This two‐stage linearization process, followed by a robust minimax LQR control design, provides a robustly stable closed loop system. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an application study is provided for a flight control problem of an air‐breathing hypersonic flight vehicle (AHFV), where the outputs to be controlled are the longitudinal velocity and altitude, and the control variables are the throttle setting and elevator deflection. The proposed method is used to derive a linearized uncertainty model for the longitudinal motion dynamics of the AHFV first, and then a robust minimax LQR controller is designed, which is based on this uncertainty model. The controller is synthesized considering seven uncertain aerodynamic and inertial parameters. The stability and performance of the synthesized controller is evaluated numerically via single scenario simulations for particular cruise conditions as well as a Monte‐Carlo type simulation based on numerous cases. It is observed that the control scheme proposed in this paper performs better, especially from the aspect of robustness to large ranges of uncertainties, than some controller design schemes previously published in the literature. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society     

Effect of the add-back process on the free amino acid pool of potatoes

Summary The major losses in nitrogen and free amino acids (FAA) of the potato during the add-back (A-B) process were in the pre-cooking and mash-mixing steps (Fig. 1). These losses were due to leaching of nitrogen compounds into the processing water and heating.The FAA pool of the potato is composed mainly of the amides (asparagine and glutamine), aspartic and glutamic acids (approx. 53%). These amino acids were degraded substantially during the add-back process. There was also a significant loss in valine, threonine, serine, leucine, phenylalanine, and arginine, but no change in -aminobutyric acid (GABA).

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Einfluß des Add-Back Prozesses auf die freie Aminosäuremenge von Kartoffeln

Zusammenfassung Die Hauptverluste an Stickstoff und freien Aminosäuren werden bei der Kartoffel während des Add-back-Prozesses (A-B) beim Vorkochen und bei der Zerkleinerung (Abb. 1) festgestellt. Die Verluste sind durch das Auswaschen der Stickstoffverbindungen mit dem für die Herstellung erforderlichen Wasser und durch die Erhitzung bedingt. Die freien Aminosäuren der Kartoffel setzen sich im wesentlichen aus Amiden (Asparagin und Glutamin), Asparagin- und Glutaminsäuren (ca. 53%) zusammen. Die Amisnosäuren werden hauptsächlich während des Add-Back-Prozesses abgebaut. Ebenso nehmen Valin, Threonin, Serin, Leucin, Phenylalanin und Arginin im Verlauf des Prozesses signifikant ab, jedoch veränderte sich der -Aminobuttersäuregehalt (GABA) nicht.

     

Thermoluminescence Dating and the Problem of Geochemical Evolution of Sediments — A Case Study: The Mousterian Levels at Hayonim

The thermoluminescence dating of burnt flints has become a major tool in the elaboration of the chronology of human settlements of the last half a million years. The reliability of an age estimate depends to a great extent on the accuracy with which the internal and external radiation dose rates prevailing during the duration of burial can be determined. While determining the internal dose rate is relatively straightforward, the same cannot be said of the external, particularly if the sediment surrounding the flints is mineralogically heterogeneous or has undergone diagenetic changes during prolonged burial. In this article we show some examples of the problems confronted when one attempts to determine the external dose rates experienced by flints buried in a relatively heterogeneous environment of sediments, such as those sampled at the Middle Paleolithic occupation levels at Hayonim (Israel) which show evidence of past mineralogical evolution. The impact of changes produced by leaching and chemical reactions between the components of hearth ashes on the radioisotopic composition of the sediment and consequently the environmental dose rates were examined by subjecting several distinct sediment layers to thorough mineralogical, radiochemical, and dosimetric analyses. The problems of external dose-rate determinations in mineralogically heterogeneous sediments are examined, particularly in those consisting of variable amounts of siliceous aggregates, apatite, and other phosphorus-rich minerals produced by diagenetic reactions with bone residues.     

Recent progress in road and lane detection: a survey

The problem of road or lane perception is a crucial enabler for advanced driver assistance systems. As such, it has been an active field of research for the past two decades with considerable progress made in the past few years. The problem was confronted under various scenarios, with different task definitions, leading to usage of diverse sensing modalities and approaches. In this paper we survey the approaches and the algorithmic techniques devised for the various modalities over the last 5 years. We present a generic break down of the problem into its functional building blocks and elaborate the wide range of proposed methods within this scheme. For each functional block, we describe the possible implementations suggested and analyze their underlying assumptions. While impressive advancements were demonstrated at limited scenarios, inspection into the needs of next generation systems reveals significant gaps. We identify these gaps and suggest research directions that may bridge them.