Genetic and Epigenomic Modifiers of Diabetic Neuropathy

Diabetic neuropathy (DN), the most common chronic and progressive complication of diabetes mellitus (DM), strongly affects patients’ quality of life. DN could be present as peripheral, autonomous or, clinically also relevant, uremic neuropathy. The etiopathogenesis of DN is multifactorial, and genetic components play a role both in its occurrence and clinical course. A number of gene polymorphisms in candidate genes have been assessed as susceptibility factors for DN, and most of them are linked to mechanisms such as reactive oxygen species production, neurovascular impairments and modified protein glycosylation, as well as immunomodulation and inflammation. Different epigenomic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone modifications and non-coding RNA action have been studied in DN, which also underline the importance of “metabolic memory” in DN appearance and progression. In this review, we summarize most of the relevant data in the field of genetics and epigenomics of DN, hoping they will become significant for diagnosis, therapy and prevention of DN.     

Probability-based current dipole localization from biomagneticfields

Focal biomagnetic sources are described as pointlike current dipoles. The dipole parameters, position, and moment coordinates are commonly determined from biomagnetic data using iterative nonlinear optimization algorithms such as the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. However, even for single-dipole sources, mislocalizations can occur due to side minima of the cost function or due to a wrong choice of the start vector. This can be shown by introducing a cost function where the independent variables are only the position coordinates instead of position and moment coordinates. This dimensional reduction-which is also possible for multiple dipole sources-is achieved by calculating the cost function at each position with the position and data-dependent, optimum dipole moments. The authors call these dipoles with-in a least squares sense-optimum moments, locally optimal dipoles. The visualization of such a single-dipole cost function and of the iteration steps of the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm show why mislocalizations cannot be avoided. Therefore, the authors propose an alternative noniterative localization algorithm for single-dipole sources without this drawback. It uses localization probabilities calculated by means of the locally optimal dipoles. Besides the determination of the dipole parameters, the proposed algorithm furnishes a reliable error for each localization. Its effectiveness is shown with simulated and real patient data     

Performance-Analyse und -Optimierung in der Softwareentwicklung

Nicht-funktionale Anforderungen an ein Softwaresystem beschreiben Aspekte, die nicht direkt die Funktionalit?t, wie sie der Benutzer sieht, betreffen.     

Agens Faber: Toward a Theory of Artefacts for MAS

Human intelligence has evolved along with the use of more and more sophisticated tools, allowing Homo Faber (from Homo Habilis to Homo Sapiens Sapiens) to cope with environment changes, as well as to adapt the environment to his needs. Analogously, in this seminal paper we introduce the notion of Agens Faber, conveying the idea that agent intelligence should not be considered as separated by the agent ability to perceive and affect the environment—and so, that agent intelligence is strictly related to the artefacts that enable, mediate and govern any agent (intelligent) activity.

Along this line, we first discuss the notion of artefact for MAS in general, then we try to devise out the admissible / required / desirable features of an artefact for MAS. We elaborate on the many sorts of possible relations between agents and artefacts, focusing in particular on the issue of the rational exploitation of artefacts, and also rough out a possible taxonomy of artefacts for MAS.     

The Electrochemistry of Liposomes

This review aims to summarize the current state of research concerning the interaction of electrodes with liposomes suspended in solutions. Main attention is given to the complex mechanism of adhesion and spreading of liposomes on mercury electrodes. That mechanism can be studied with the help of chronoamperometry, where each adhesion-spreading event appears as a capacitive current spike. Integration of these spikes produces charge versus time transients that can be modeled and simulated, revealing the details of the multi-step adhesion-spreading process. Whereas the number of spikes per time mirrors the macro-kinetics, the analysis of the time behavior of each spike mirrors the micro-kinetics of each adhesion-spreading event. The reviewed studies show that this approach provides a new tool to study the properties of liposome membranes. The adhesion-spreading of liposomes on mercury electrodes has strong similarities to the process of vesicle fusion, which makes these studies a biomimetic model allowing one to deduce the effects of foreign molecules in bilayer membranes.