The Dostoevsky Machine in Georgetown: scientific translation in the Cold War.

PubMed

Gordin, Michael D

2016-04-01

Machine Translation (MT) is now ubiquitous in discussions of translation. The roots of this phenomenon - first publicly unveiled in the so-called 'Georgetown-IBM Experiment' on 9 January 1954 - displayed not only the technological utopianism still associated with dreams of a universal computer translator, but was deeply enmeshed in the political pressures of the Cold War and a dominating conception of scientific writing as both the goal of machine translation as well as its method. Machine translation was created, in part, as a solution to a perceived crisis sparked by the massive expansion of Soviet science. Scientific prose was also perceived as linguistically simpler, and so served as the model for how to turn a language into a series of algorithms. This paper follows the rise of the Georgetown program - the largest single program in the world - from 1954 to the (as it turns out, temporary) collapse of MT in 1964.

Bean Soup Translation: Flexible, Linguistically-Motivated Syntax for Machine Translation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mehay, Dennis Nolan

2012-01-01

Machine translation (MT) systems attempt to translate texts from one language into another by translating words from a "source language" and rearranging them into fluent utterances in a "target language." When the two languages organize concepts in very different ways, knowledge of their general sentence structure, or…

Translation: Aids, Robots, and Automation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andreyewsky, Alexander

1981-01-01

Examines electronic aids to translation both as ways to automate it and as an approach to solve problems resulting from shortage of qualified translators. Describes the limitations of robotic MT (Machine Translation) systems, viewing MAT (Machine-Aided Translation) as the only practical solution and the best vehicle for further automation. (MES)

Adaptation of machine translation for multilingual information retrieval in the medical domain.

PubMed

Pecina, Pavel; Dušek, Ondřej; Goeuriot, Lorraine; Hajič, Jan; Hlaváčová, Jaroslava; Jones, Gareth J F; Kelly, Liadh; Leveling, Johannes; Mareček, David; Novák, Michal; Popel, Martin; Rosa, Rudolf; Tamchyna, Aleš; Urešová, Zdeňka

2014-07-01

We investigate machine translation (MT) of user search queries in the context of cross-lingual information retrieval (IR) in the medical domain. The main focus is on techniques to adapt MT to increase translation quality; however, we also explore MT adaptation to improve effectiveness of cross-lingual IR. Our MT system is Moses, a state-of-the-art phrase-based statistical machine translation system. The IR system is based on the BM25 retrieval model implemented in the Lucene search engine. The MT techniques employed in this work include in-domain training and tuning, intelligent training data selection, optimization of phrase table configuration, compound splitting, and exploiting synonyms as translation variants. The IR methods include morphological normalization and using multiple translation variants for query expansion. The experiments are performed and thoroughly evaluated on three language pairs: Czech-English, German-English, and French-English. MT quality is evaluated on data sets created within the Khresmoi project and IR effectiveness is tested on the CLEF eHealth 2013 data sets. The search query translation results achieved in our experiments are outstanding - our systems outperform not only our strong baselines, but also Google Translate and Microsoft Bing Translator in direct comparison carried out on all the language pairs. The baseline BLEU scores increased from 26.59 to 41.45 for Czech-English, from 23.03 to 40.82 for German-English, and from 32.67 to 40.82 for French-English. This is a 55% improvement on average. In terms of the IR performance on this particular test collection, a significant improvement over the baseline is achieved only for French-English. For Czech-English and German-English, the increased MT quality does not lead to better IR results. Most of the MT techniques employed in our experiments improve MT of medical search queries. Especially the intelligent training data selection proves to be very successful for domain adaptation of MT. Certain improvements are also obtained from German compound splitting on the source language side. Translation quality, however, does not appear to correlate with the IR performance - better translation does not necessarily yield better retrieval. We discuss in detail the contribution of the individual techniques and state-of-the-art features and provide future research directions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Translation of Japanese Noun Compounds at Super-Function Based MT System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xin; Ren, Fuji; Kuroiwa, Shingo

Noun compounds are frequently encountered construction in nature language processing (NLP), consisting of a sequence of two or more nouns which functions syntactically as one noun. The translation of noun compounds has become a major issue in Machine Translation (MT) due to their frequency of occurrence and high productivity. In our previous studies on Super-Function Based Machine Translation (SFBMT), we have found that noun compounds are very frequently used and difficult to be translated correctly, the overgeneration of noun compounds can be dangerous as it may introduce ambiguity in the translation. In this paper, we discuss the challenges in handling Japanese noun compounds in an SFBMT system, we present a shallow method for translating noun compounds by using a word level translation dictionary and target language monolingual corpus.

A Conjoint Analysis Framework for Evaluating User Preferences in Machine Translation

PubMed Central

Kirchhoff, Katrin; Capurro, Daniel; Turner, Anne M.

2013-01-01

Despite much research on machine translation (MT) evaluation, there is surprisingly little work that directly measures users’ intuitive or emotional preferences regarding different types of MT errors. However, the elicitation and modeling of user preferences is an important prerequisite for research on user adaptation and customization of MT engines. In this paper we explore the use of conjoint analysis as a formal quantitative framework to assess users’ relative preferences for different types of translation errors. We apply our approach to the analysis of MT output from translating public health documents from English into Spanish. Our results indicate that word order errors are clearly the most dispreferred error type, followed by word sense, morphological, and function word errors. The conjoint analysis-based model is able to predict user preferences more accurately than a baseline model that chooses the translation with the fewest errors overall. Additionally we analyze the effect of using a crowd-sourced respondent population versus a sample of domain experts and observe that main preference effects are remarkably stable across the two samples. PMID:24683295

Preliminary study of online machine translation use of nursing literature: quality evaluation and perceived usability

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Japanese nurses are increasingly required to read published international research in clinical, educational, and research settings. Language barriers are a significant obstacle, and online machine translation (MT) is a tool that can be used to address this issue. We examined the quality of Google Translate® (English to Japanese and Korean to Japanese), which is a representative online MT, using a previously verified evaluation method. We also examined the perceived usability and current use of online MT among Japanese nurses. Findings Randomly selected nursing abstracts were translated and then evaluated for intelligibility and usability by 28 participants, including assistants and research associates from nursing universities throughout Japan. They answered a questionnaire about their online MT use. From simple comparison of mean scores between two language pairs, translation quality was significantly better, with respect to both intelligibility and usability, for Korean-Japanese than for English-Japanese. Most respondents perceived a language barrier. Online MT had been used by 61% of the respondents and was perceived as not useful enough. Conclusion Nursing articles translated from Korean into Japanese by an online MT system could be read at an acceptable level of comprehension, but the same could not be said for English-Japanese translations. Respondents with experience using online MT used it largely to grasp the overall meanings of the original text. Enrichment in technical terms appeared to be the key to better usability. Users will be better able to use MT outputs if they improve their foreign language proficiency as much as possible. Further research is being conducted with a larger sample size and detailed analysis. PMID:23151362

Interlingual Machine Translation: Prospects and Setbacks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Acikgoz, Firat; Sert, Olcay

2006-01-01

This study, in an attempt to rise above the intricacy of "being informed on the verge of globalization," is founded on the premise that Machine Translation (MT) applications searching for an ideal key to find a universal foundation for all natural languages have a restricted say over the translation process at various discourse levels. Our paper…

An Evaluative Study of Machine Translation in the EFL Scenario of Saudi Arabia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Tuwayrish, Raneem Khalid

2016-01-01

Artificial Intelligence or AI as it is popularly known and its corollary, Machine Translation (MT) have long engaged scientists, thinkers and linguists alike in the twenty first century. However, the wider question that lies in the relation between technology and translation is, What does technology do to language? This is an important question in…

Machine translation project alternatives analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bajis, Catherine J.; Bedford, Denise A. D.

1993-01-01

The Machine Translation Project consists of several components, two of which, the Project Plan and the Requirements Analysis, have already been delivered. The Project Plan details the overall rationale, objectives and time-table for the project as a whole. The Requirements Analysis compares a number of available machine translation systems, their capabilities, possible configurations, and costs. The Alternatives Analysis has resulted in a number of conclusions and recommendations to the NASA STI program concerning the acquisition of specific MT systems and related hardware and software.

Unsupervised quality estimation model for English to German translation and its application in extensive supervised evaluation.

PubMed

Han, Aaron L-F; Wong, Derek F; Chao, Lidia S; He, Liangye; Lu, Yi

2014-01-01

With the rapid development of machine translation (MT), the MT evaluation becomes very important to timely tell us whether the MT system makes any progress. The conventional MT evaluation methods tend to calculate the similarity between hypothesis translations offered by automatic translation systems and reference translations offered by professional translators. There are several weaknesses in existing evaluation metrics. Firstly, the designed incomprehensive factors result in language-bias problem, which means they perform well on some special language pairs but weak on other language pairs. Secondly, they tend to use no linguistic features or too many linguistic features, of which no usage of linguistic feature draws a lot of criticism from the linguists and too many linguistic features make the model weak in repeatability. Thirdly, the employed reference translations are very expensive and sometimes not available in the practice. In this paper, the authors propose an unsupervised MT evaluation metric using universal part-of-speech tagset without relying on reference translations. The authors also explore the performances of the designed metric on traditional supervised evaluation tasks. Both the supervised and unsupervised experiments show that the designed methods yield higher correlation scores with human judgments.

Climbing the Tower of Babel: Perfecting Machine Translation

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-16

Center) used MT tools to translate extraordinary numbers of Russian technical documents. 10 For the Air Force, the manpower and time savings were...recognition.htm. Granted, this number is tempered by the rules of a specific language that would disallow specific word orderings, or mandate particular word...sequences, (e.g., in English, prepositions can only be followed by articles, etc) but the overall numbers convey the complexity of the machine

Use of Online Machine Translation for Nursing Literature: A Questionnaire-Based Survey

PubMed Central

Anazawa, Ryoko; Ishikawa, Hirono; Takahiro, Kiuchi

2013-01-01

Background: The language barrier is a significant obstacle for nurses who are not native English speakers to obtain information from international journals. Freely accessible online machine translation (MT) offers a possible solution to this problem. Aim: To explore how Japanese nursing professionals use online MT and perceive its usability in reading English articles and to discuss what should be considered for better utilisation of online MT lessening the language barrier. Method: In total, 250 randomly selected assistants and research associates at nursing colleges across Japan answered a questionnaire examining the current use of online MT and perceived usability among Japanese nurses, along with the number of articles read in English and the perceived language barrier. The items were rated on Likert scales, and t-test, ANOVA, chi-square test, and Spearman’s correlation were used for analyses. Results: Of the participants, 73.8% had used online MT. More than half of them felt it was usable. The language barrier was strongly felt, and academic degrees and English proficiency level were associated factors. The perceived language barrier was related to the frequency of online MT use. No associated factor was found for the perceived usability of online MT. Conclusion: Language proficiency is an important factor for optimum utilisation of MT. A need for education in the English language, reading scientific papers, and online MT training was indicated. Cooperation with developers and providers of MT for the improvement of their systems is required. PMID:23459140

Experiments with Cross-Language Information Retrieval on a Health Portal for Psychology and Psychotherapy.

PubMed

Andrenucci, Andrea

2016-01-01

Few studies have been performed within cross-language information retrieval (CLIR) in the field of psychology and psychotherapy. The aim of this paper is to to analyze and assess the quality of available query translation methods for CLIR on a health portal for psychology. A test base of 100 user queries, 50 Multi Word Units (WUs) and 50 Single WUs, was used. Swedish was the source language and English the target language. Query translation methods based on machine translation (MT) and dictionary look-up were utilized in order to submit query translations to two search engines: Google Site Search and Quick Ask. Standard IR evaluation measures and a qualitative analysis were utilized to assess the results. The lexicon extracted with word alignment of the portal's parallel corpus provided better statistical results among dictionary look-ups. Google Translate provided more linguistically correct translations overall and also delivered better retrieval results in MT.

Improving Domain-specific Machine Translation by Constraining the Language Model

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-07-01

performance. To make up for the lack of parallel training data, one assumption is that more monolingual target language data should be used in building the...target language model. Prior work on domain-specific MT has focused on training target language models with monolingual 2 domain-specific data...showed that the using a large dictionary extracted from medical domain documents in a statistical MT system to generalize the training data significantly

An Investigation of the Relationship Between Automated Machine Translation Evaluation Metrics and User Performance on an Information Extraction Task

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

parameter dimension between the two models). 93 were tested.3 Model 1 log( pHits 1− pHits ) = α + β1 ∗ MetricScore (6.6) The results for each of the...505.67 oTERavg .357 .13 .007 log( pHits 1− pHits ), that is, log-odds of correct task performance, of 2.79 over the intercept only model. All... pHits 1− pHits ) = −1.15− .418× I[MT=2] − .527× I[MT=3] + 1.78×METEOR+ 1.28×METEOR × I[MT=2] + 1.86×METEOR × I[MT=3] (6.7) Model 3 log( pHits 1− pHits

Using Linguistic Knowledge in Statistical Machine Translation

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

on newswire test data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 3.4 Arabic to English MT results for Arabic morphological segmentation, measured on...web test data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 3.5 Recombination Results. Percentage of sentences with mis-combined words...scores for syntactic reordering of the Spoken Language Domain. 90 5.1 Normalized likelihood of the test set alignments without decision trees, and then

Speech Processing and Recognition (SPaRe)

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

results in the areas of automatic speech recognition (ASR), speech processing, machine translation (MT), natural language processing ( NLP ), and...Processing ( NLP ), Information Retrieval (IR) 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: UNCLASSIFED 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT 18. NUMBER OF PAGES 19a. NAME...Figure 9, the IOC was only expected to provide document submission and search; automatic speech recognition (ASR) for English, Spanish, Arabic , and

Divergence Measures Tool:An Introduction with Brief Tutorial

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-01

in detecting differences across a wide range of Arabic -language text files (they varied by genre, domain, spelling variation, size, etc.), our...other. 2 These measures have been put to many uses in natural language processing ( NLP ). In the evaluation of machine translation (MT...files uploaded into the tool must be .txt files in ASCII or UTF-8 format. • This tool has been tested on English and Arabic script**, but should

Multilingual Information Retrieval in Thoracic Radiology: Feasibility Study

PubMed Central

Castilla, André Coutinho; Furuie, Sérgio Shiguemi; Mendonça, Eneida A.

2014-01-01

Most of essential information contained on Electronic Medical Record is stored as text, imposing several difficulties on automated data extraction and retrieval. Natural language processing is an approach that can unlock clinical information from free texts. The proposed methodology uses the specialized natural language processor MEDLEE developed for English language. To use this processor on Portuguese medical texts, chest x-ray reports were Machine Translated into English. The result of serial coupling of MT an NLP is tagged text which needs further investigation for extracting clinical findings. The objective of this experiment was to investigate normal reports and reports with device description on a set of 165 chest x-ray reports. We obtained sensitivity and specificity of 1 and 0.71 for the first condition and 0.97 and 0.97 for the second respectively. The reference was formed by the opinion of two radiologists. The results of this experiment indicate the viability of extracting clinical findings from chest x-ray reports through coupling MT and NLP. PMID:17911745

Machine Translation and Other Translation Technologies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melby, Alan

1996-01-01

Examines the application of linguistic theory to machine translation and translator tools, discusses the use of machine translation and translator tools in the real world of translation, and addresses the impact of translation technology on conceptions of language and other issues. Findings indicate that the human mind is flexible and linguistic…

Drosophila mitochondrial transcription factor B1 modulates mitochondrial translation but not transcription or DNA copy number in Schneider cells.

PubMed

Matsushima, Yuichi; Adán, Cristina; Garesse, Rafael; Kaguni, Laurie S

2005-04-29

We report the cloning and molecular analysis of Drosophila mitochondrial transcription factor (d-mtTF) B1. An RNA interference (RNAi) construct was designed that reduces expression of d-mtTFB1 to 5% of its normal level in Schneider cells. In striking contrast with our previous study on d-mtTFB2, we found that RNAi knock-down of d-mtTFB1 does not change the abundance of specific mitochondrial RNA transcripts, nor does it affect the copy number of mitochondrial DNA. In a corollary manner, overexpression of d-mtTFB1 did not increase either the abundance of mitochondrial RNA transcripts or mitochondrial DNA copy number. Our data suggest that, unlike d-mtTFB2, d-mtTFB1 does not have a critical role in either transcription or regulation of the copy number of mitochondrial DNA. Instead, because we found that RNAi knockdown of d-mtTFB1 reduces mitochondrial protein synthesis, we propose that it serves its primary role in modulating translation. Our work represents the first study to document the role of mtTFB1 in vivo and establishes clearly functional differences between mtTFB1 and mtTFB2.

Vibration Damping Analysis of Lightweight Structures in Machine Tools

PubMed Central

Aggogeri, Francesco; Borboni, Alberto; Merlo, Angelo; Pellegrini, Nicola; Ricatto, Raffaele

2017-01-01

The dynamic behaviour of a machine tool (MT) directly influences the machining performance. The adoption of lightweight structures may reduce the effects of undesired vibrations and increase the workpiece quality. This paper aims to present and compare a set of hybrid materials that may be excellent candidates to fabricate the MT moving parts. The selected materials have high dynamic characteristics and capacity to dampen mechanical vibrations. In this way, starting from the kinematic model of a milling machine, this study evaluates a number of prototypes made of Al foam sandwiches (AFS), Al corrugated sandwiches (ACS) and composite materials reinforced by carbon fibres (CFRP). These prototypes represented the Z-axis ram of a commercial milling machine. The static and dynamical properties have been analysed by using both finite element (FE) simulations and experimental tests. The obtained results show that the proposed structures may be a valid alternative to the conventional materials of MT moving parts, increasing machining performance. In particular, the AFS prototype highlighted a damping ratio that is 20 times greater than a conventional ram (e.g., steel). Its application is particularly suitable to minimize unwanted oscillations during high-speed finishing operations. The results also show that the CFRP structure guarantees high stiffness with a weight reduced by 48.5%, suggesting effective applications in roughing operations, saving MT energy consumption. The ACS structure has a good trade-off between stiffness and damping and may represent a further alternative, if correctly evaluated. PMID:28772653

Application of statistical machine translation to public health information: a feasibility study.

PubMed

Kirchhoff, Katrin; Turner, Anne M; Axelrod, Amittai; Saavedra, Francisco

2011-01-01

Accurate, understandable public health information is important for ensuring the health of the nation. The large portion of the US population with Limited English Proficiency is best served by translations of public-health information into other languages. However, a large number of health departments and primary care clinics face significant barriers to fulfilling federal mandates to provide multilingual materials to Limited English Proficiency individuals. This article presents a pilot study on the feasibility of using freely available statistical machine translation technology to translate health promotion materials. The authors gathered health-promotion materials in English from local and national public-health websites. Spanish versions were created by translating the documents using a freely available machine-translation website. Translations were rated for adequacy and fluency, analyzed for errors, manually corrected by a human posteditor, and compared with exclusively manual translations. Machine translation plus postediting took 15-53 min per document, compared to the reported days or even weeks for the standard translation process. A blind comparison of machine-assisted and human translations of six documents revealed overall equivalency between machine-translated and manually translated materials. The analysis of translation errors indicated that the most important errors were word-sense errors. The results indicate that machine translation plus postediting may be an effective method of producing multilingual health materials with equivalent quality but lower cost compared to manual translations.

Application of statistical machine translation to public health information: a feasibility study

PubMed Central

Turner, Anne M; Axelrod, Amittai; Saavedra, Francisco

2011-01-01

Objective Accurate, understandable public health information is important for ensuring the health of the nation. The large portion of the US population with Limited English Proficiency is best served by translations of public-health information into other languages. However, a large number of health departments and primary care clinics face significant barriers to fulfilling federal mandates to provide multilingual materials to Limited English Proficiency individuals. This article presents a pilot study on the feasibility of using freely available statistical machine translation technology to translate health promotion materials. Design The authors gathered health-promotion materials in English from local and national public-health websites. Spanish versions were created by translating the documents using a freely available machine-translation website. Translations were rated for adequacy and fluency, analyzed for errors, manually corrected by a human posteditor, and compared with exclusively manual translations. Results Machine translation plus postediting took 15–53 min per document, compared to the reported days or even weeks for the standard translation process. A blind comparison of machine-assisted and human translations of six documents revealed overall equivalency between machine-translated and manually translated materials. The analysis of translation errors indicated that the most important errors were word-sense errors. Conclusion The results indicate that machine translation plus postediting may be an effective method of producing multilingual health materials with equivalent quality but lower cost compared to manual translations. PMID:21498805

Research in Chinese-English Machine Translation. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, William S-Y.; And Others

This report documents results of a two-year effort toward the study and investigation of the design of a prototype system for Chinese-English machine translation in the general area of physics. Previous work in Chinese-English machine translation is reviewed. Grammatical considerations in machine translation are discussed and detailed aspects of…

The AFRL MITLL WMT16 News Translation Task System: We put NMT in your MT Rescoring so you can MT while you MT

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-08-07

of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Association for Compu- tational Linguistics (Volume 1: Long Papers), Pro- ceedings of the ACL , Long Papers, pages...Pro- ceedings of the 54th Annual Conference of the As- sociation of Computational Linguistics ( ACL 2016), Berlin, Germany, August. Association for...translation. In Proceedings of the 45th Annual Meeting of the ACL on Interactive Poster and Demonstration Sessions, ACL ’07, pages 177–180. Minh-Thang Luong

Structural basis for ribosome protein S1 interaction with RNA in trans-translation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

PubMed

Fan, Yi; Dai, Yazhuang; Hou, Meijing; Wang, Huilin; Yao, Hongwei; Guo, Chenyun; Lin, Donghai; Liao, Xinli

2017-05-27

Ribosomal protein S1 (RpsA), the largest 30S protein in ribosome, plays a significant role in translation and trans-translation. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the C-terminus of RpsA is known as tuberculosis drug target of pyrazinoic acid, which inhibits the interaction between MtRpsA and tmRNA in trans-translation. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the interaction of MtRpsA with tmRNA remains unknown. We herein analyzed the interaction of the C-terminal domain of MtRpsA with three RNA fragments poly(A), sMLD and pre-sMLD. NMR titration analysis revealed that the RNA binding sites on MtRpsA CTD are mainly located in the β2, β3 and β5 strands and the adjacent L3 loop of the S1 domain. Fluorescence experiments determined the MtRpsA CTD binding to RNAs are in the micromolar affinity range. Sequence analysis also revealed conserved residues in the mapped RNA binding region. Residues L304, V305, G308, F310, H322, I323, R357 and I358 were verified to be the key residues influencing the interaction between MtRpsA CTD and pre-sMLD. Molecular docking further confirmed that the poly(A)-like sequence and sMLD of tmRNA are all involved in the protein-RNA interaction, through charged interaction and hydrogen bonds. The results will be beneficial for designing new anti-tuberculosis drugs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Drosophila nuclear factor DREF regulates the expression of the mitochondrial DNA helicase and mitochondrial transcription factor B2 but not the mitochondrial translation factor B1

PubMed Central

Fernández-Moreno, Miguel A.; Hernández, Rosana; Adán, Cristina; Roberti, Marina; Bruni, Francesco; Polosa, Paola Loguercio; Cantatore, Palmiro; Matsushima, Yuichi; Kaguni, Laurie S.; Garesse, Rafael

2016-01-01

DREF [DRE (DNA replication-related element)-binding factor] controls the transcription of numerous genes in Drosophila, many involved in nuclear DNA (nDNA) replication and cell proliferation, three in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) replication and two in mtDNA transcription termination. In this work, we have analysed the involvement of DREF in the expression of the known remaining genes engaged in the minimal mtDNA replication (d-mtDNA helicase) and transcription (the activator d-mtTFB2) machineries and of a gene involved in mitochondrial mRNA translation (d-mtTFB1). We have identified their transcriptional initiation sites and DRE sequences in their promoter regions. Gel-shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays demonstrate that DREF interacts in vitro and in vivo with the d-mtDNA helicase and d-mtTFB2, but not with the d-mtTFB1 promoters. Transient transfection assays in Drosophila S2 cells with mutated DRE motifs and truncated promoter regions show that DREF controls the transcription of d-mtDNA helicase and d-mtTFB2, but not that of d-mtTFB1. RNA interference of DREF in S2 cells reinforces these results showing a decrease in the mRNA levels of d-mtDNA helicase and d-mtTFB2 and no changes in those of the d-mtTFB1. These results link the genetic regulation of nuclear DNA replication with the genetic control of mtDNA replication and transcriptional activation in Drosophila. PMID:23916463

Mitochondrial genes are altered in blood early in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Lunnon, Katie; Keohane, Aoife; Pidsley, Ruth; Newhouse, Stephen; Riddoch-Contreras, Joanna; Thubron, Elisabeth B; Devall, Matthew; Soininen, Hikka; Kłoszewska, Iwona; Mecocci, Patrizia; Tsolaki, Magda; Vellas, Bruno; Schalkwyk, Leonard; Dobson, Richard; Malik, Afshan N; Powell, John; Lovestone, Simon; Hodges, Angela

2017-05-01

Although mitochondrial dysfunction is a consistent feature of Alzheimer's disease in the brain and blood, the molecular mechanisms behind these phenomena are unknown. Here we have replicated our previous findings demonstrating reduced expression of nuclear-encoded oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) subunits and subunits required for the translation of mitochondrial-encoded OXPHOS genes in blood from people with Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. Interestingly this was accompanied by increased expression of some mitochondrial-encoded OXPHOS genes, namely those residing closest to the transcription start site of the polycistronic heavy chain mitochondrial transcript (MT-ND1, MT-ND2, MT-ATP6, MT-CO1, MT-CO2, MT-C03) and MT-ND6 transcribed from the light chain. Further we show that mitochondrial DNA copy number was unchanged suggesting no change in steady-state numbers of mitochondria. We suggest that an imbalance in nuclear and mitochondrial genome-encoded OXPHOS transcripts may drive a negative feedback loop reducing mitochondrial translation and compromising OXPHOS efficiency, which is likely to generate damaging reactive oxygen species. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diverse Peptide Hormones Affecting Root Growth Identified in the Medicago truncatula Secreted Peptidome.

PubMed

Patel, Neha; Mohd-Radzman, Nadiatul A; Corcilius, Leo; Crossett, Ben; Connolly, Angela; Cordwell, Stuart J; Ivanovici, Ariel; Taylor, Katia; Williams, James; Binos, Steve; Mariani, Michael; Payne, Richard J; Djordjevic, Michael A

2018-01-01

Multigene families encoding diverse secreted peptide hormones play important roles in plant development. A need exists to efficiently elucidate the structures and post-translational-modifications of these difficult-to-isolate peptide hormones in planta so that their biological functions can be determined. A mass spectrometry and bioinformatics approach was developed to comprehensively analyze the secreted peptidome of Medicago hairy root cultures and xylem sap. We identified 759 spectra corresponding to the secreted products of twelve peptide hormones including four CEP ( C -TERMINALLY E NCODED P EPTIDE), two CLE ( CL V3/ E NDOSPERM SURROUNDING REGION RELATED) and six XAP ( X YLEM SAP A SSOCIATED P EPTIDE) peptides. The MtCEP1, MtCEP2, MtCEP5 and MtCEP8 peptides identified differed in post-translational-modifications. Most were hydroxylated at conserved proline residues but some MtCEP1 derivatives were tri-arabinosylated. In addition, many CEP peptides possessed unexpected N - and C -terminal extensions. The pattern of these extensions suggested roles for endo- and exoproteases in CEP peptide maturation. Longer than expected, hydroxylated and homogeneously modified mono- and tri-arabinosylated CEP peptides corresponding to their in vivo structures were chemically synthesized to probe the effect of these post-translational-modifications on function. The ability of CEP peptides to elevate root nodule number was increased by hydroxylation at key positions. MtCEP1 peptides with N -terminal extensions or with tri-arabinosylation modification, however, were unable to impart increased nodulation. The MtCLE5 and MtCLE17 peptides identified were of precise size, and inhibited main root growth and increased lateral root number. Six XAP peptides, each beginning with a conserved DY sulfation motif, were identified including MtXAP1a, MtXAP1b, MtXAP1c, MtXAP3, MtXAP5 and MtXAP7. MtXAP1a and MtXAP5 inhibited lateral root emergence. Transcriptional analyses demonstrated peptide hormone gene expression in the root vasculature and tip. Since hairy roots can be induced on many plants, their corresponding root cultures may represent ideal source materials to efficiently identify diverse peptide hormones in vivo in a broad range of species. © 2018 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

The mitochondrial outer membrane protein MDI promotes local protein synthesis and mtDNA replication.

PubMed

Zhang, Yi; Chen, Yong; Gucek, Marjan; Xu, Hong

2016-05-17

Early embryonic development features rapid nuclear DNA replication cycles, but lacks mtDNA replication. To meet the high-energy demands of embryogenesis, mature oocytes are furnished with vast amounts of mitochondria and mtDNA However, the cellular machinery driving massive mtDNA replication in ovaries remains unknown. Here, we describe a Drosophila AKAP protein, MDI that recruits a translation stimulator, La-related protein (Larp), to the mitochondrial outer membrane in ovaries. The MDI-Larp complex promotes the synthesis of a subset of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial proteins by cytosolic ribosomes on the mitochondrial surface. MDI-Larp's targets include mtDNA replication factors, mitochondrial ribosomal proteins, and electron-transport chain subunits. Lack of MDI abolishes mtDNA replication in ovaries, which leads to mtDNA deficiency in mature eggs. Targeting Larp to the mitochondrial outer membrane independently of MDI restores local protein synthesis and rescues the phenotypes of mdi mutant flies. Our work suggests that a selective translational boost by the MDI-Larp complex on the outer mitochondrial membrane might be essential for mtDNA replication and mitochondrial biogenesis during oogenesis. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Machine Translation Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bajis, Katie

1993-01-01

The characteristics and capabilities of existing machine translation systems were examined and procurement recommendations were developed. Four systems, SYSTRAN, GLOBALINK, PC TRANSLATOR, and STYLUS, were determined to meet the NASA requirements for a machine translation system. Initially, four language pairs were selected for implementation. These are Russian-English, French-English, German-English, and Japanese-English.

Investigation of tool wear and surface roughness on machining of titanium alloy with MT-CVD cutting tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maity, Kalipada; Pradhan, Swastik

2018-04-01

In this study, machining of titanium alloy (grade 5) is carried out using MT-CVD coated cutting tool. Titanium alloys possess superior strength-to-weight ratio with good corrosion resistance. Most of the industries used titanium alloy for the manufacturing of various types of lightweight components. The parts made from Ti-6Al-4V largely used in aerospace, biomedical, automotive and marine sectors. The conventional machining of this material is very difficult, due to low thermal conductivity and high chemical reactivity properties. To achieve a good surface finish with minimum tool wear of cutting tool, the machining is carried out using MT-CVD coated cutting tool. The experiment is carried out using of Taguchi L27 array layout with three cutting variables and levels. To find out the optimum parametric setting desirability function analysis (DFA) approach is used. The analysis of variance is studied to know the percentage contribution of each cutting variables. The optimum parametric setting results calculated from DFA were validated through the confirmation test.

Evaluation of next generation mtGenome sequencing using the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM)☆

PubMed Central

Parson, Walther; Strobl, Christina; Huber, Gabriela; Zimmermann, Bettina; Gomes, Sibylle M.; Souto, Luis; Fendt, Liane; Delport, Rhena; Langit, Reina; Wootton, Sharon; Lagacé, Robert; Irwin, Jodi

2013-01-01

Insights into the human mitochondrial phylogeny have been primarily achieved by sequencing full mitochondrial genomes (mtGenomes). In forensic genetics (partial) mtGenome information can be used to assign haplotypes to their phylogenetic backgrounds, which may, in turn, have characteristic geographic distributions that would offer useful information in a forensic case. In addition and perhaps even more relevant in the forensic context, haplogroup-specific patterns of mutations form the basis for quality control of mtDNA sequences. The current method for establishing (partial) mtDNA haplotypes is Sanger-type sequencing (STS), which is laborious, time-consuming, and expensive. With the emergence of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies, the body of available mtDNA data can potentially be extended much more quickly and cost-efficiently. Customized chemistries, laboratory workflows and data analysis packages could support the community and increase the utility of mtDNA analysis in forensics. We have evaluated the performance of mtGenome sequencing using the Personal Genome Machine (PGM) and compared the resulting haplotypes directly with conventional Sanger-type sequencing. A total of 64 mtGenomes (>1 million bases) were established that yielded high concordance with the corresponding STS haplotypes (<0.02% differences). About two-thirds of the differences were observed in or around homopolymeric sequence stretches. In addition, the sequence alignment algorithm employed to align NGS reads played a significant role in the analysis of the data and the resulting mtDNA haplotypes. Further development of alignment software would be desirable to facilitate the application of NGS in mtDNA forensic genetics. PMID:23948325

Statistical machine translation for biomedical text: are we there yet?

PubMed

Wu, Cuijun; Xia, Fei; Deleger, Louise; Solti, Imre

2011-01-01

In our paper we addressed the research question: "Has machine translation achieved sufficiently high quality to translate PubMed titles for patients?". We analyzed statistical machine translation output for six foreign language - English translation pairs (bi-directionally). We built a high performing in-house system and evaluated its output for each translation pair on large scale both with automated BLEU scores and human judgment. In addition to the in-house system, we also evaluated Google Translate's performance specifically within the biomedical domain. We report high performance for German, French and Spanish -- English bi-directional translation pairs for both Google Translate and our system.

Quantum neural network based machine translator for Hindi to English.

PubMed

Narayan, Ravi; Singh, V P; Chakraverty, S

2014-01-01

This paper presents the machine learning based machine translation system for Hindi to English, which learns the semantically correct corpus. The quantum neural based pattern recognizer is used to recognize and learn the pattern of corpus, using the information of part of speech of individual word in the corpus, like a human. The system performs the machine translation using its knowledge gained during the learning by inputting the pair of sentences of Devnagri-Hindi and English. To analyze the effectiveness of the proposed approach, 2600 sentences have been evaluated during simulation and evaluation. The accuracy achieved on BLEU score is 0.7502, on NIST score is 6.5773, on ROUGE-L score is 0.9233, and on METEOR score is 0.5456, which is significantly higher in comparison with Google Translation and Bing Translation for Hindi to English Machine Translation.

Quantum Neural Network Based Machine Translator for Hindi to English

PubMed Central

Singh, V. P.; Chakraverty, S.

2014-01-01

This paper presents the machine learning based machine translation system for Hindi to English, which learns the semantically correct corpus. The quantum neural based pattern recognizer is used to recognize and learn the pattern of corpus, using the information of part of speech of individual word in the corpus, like a human. The system performs the machine translation using its knowledge gained during the learning by inputting the pair of sentences of Devnagri-Hindi and English. To analyze the effectiveness of the proposed approach, 2600 sentences have been evaluated during simulation and evaluation. The accuracy achieved on BLEU score is 0.7502, on NIST score is 6.5773, on ROUGE-L score is 0.9233, and on METEOR score is 0.5456, which is significantly higher in comparison with Google Translation and Bing Translation for Hindi to English Machine Translation. PMID:24977198

Second Evaluation of the SYSTRAN Automatic Translation System. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Slype, Georges

The machine translation system SYSTRAN was assessed for translation quality and system productivity. The test was carried out on translations from English to French dealing with food science and technology. Machine translations were compared to manual translations of the same texts. SYSTRAN was found to be a useful system of information…

Mitochondrial transcription: Lessons from mouse models

PubMed Central

Peralta, Susana; Wang, Xiao; Moraes, Carlos T.

2012-01-01

Mammalian mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a circular double-stranded DNA genome of ∼ 16.5 kilobase pairs (kb) that encodes 13 catalytic proteins of the ATP-producing oxidative phosphorylation system (OXPHOS), and the rRNAs and tRNAs required for the translation of the mtDNA transcripts. All the components needed for transcription and replication of the mtDNA are, therefore, encoded in the nuclear genome, as are the remaining components of the OXPHOS system and the mitochondrial translation machinery. Regulation of mtDNA gene expression is very important for modulating the OXPHOS capacity in response to metabolic requirements and in pathological processes. The combination of in vitro and in vivo studies has allowed the identification of the core machinery required for basal mtDNA transcription in mammals and a few proteins that regulate mtDNA transcription. Specifically, the generation of knockout mouse strains in the last several years, has been key to understanding the basis of mtDNA transcription in vivo. However, it is well accepted that many components of the transcription machinery are still unknown and little is known about mtDNA gene expression regulation under different metabolic requirements or disease processes. In this review we will focus on how the creation of knockout mouse models and the study of their phenotypes have contributed to the understanding of mitochondrial transcription in mammals. PMID:22120174

Exploring the Further Integration of Machine Translation in English-Chinese Cross Language Information Access

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Dan; He, Daqing

2012-01-01

Purpose: This paper seeks to examine the further integration of machine translation technologies with cross language information access in providing web users the capabilities of accessing information beyond language barriers. Machine translation and cross language information access are related technologies, and yet they have their own unique…

Dictionary Based Machine Translation from Kannada to Telugu

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sindhu, D. V.; Sagar, B. M.

2017-08-01

Machine Translation is a task of translating from one language to another language. For the languages with less linguistic resources like Kannada and Telugu Dictionary based approach is the best approach. This paper mainly focuses on Dictionary based machine translation for Kannada to Telugu. The proposed methodology uses dictionary for translating word by word without much correlation of semantics between them. The dictionary based machine translation process has the following sub process: Morph analyzer, dictionary, transliteration, transfer grammar and the morph generator. As a part of this work bilingual dictionary with 8000 entries is developed and the suffix mapping table at the tag level is built. This system is tested for the children stories. In near future this system can be further improved by defining transfer grammar rules.

Distribution and threshold expression of the tRNA[sup Lys] mutation in skeletal muscle of patients with myoclonic epilepsy and ragged-red fibers (MERRF)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boulet, L.; Karpati, G.; Shoubridge, E.A.

1992-12-01

The authors investigated the distribution and expression of mutant mtDNAs carrying the A-to-G mutation at position 8344 in the tRNA[sup Lys] gene in the skeletal muscle of four patients with myoclonus epilepsy and ragged-red fibers (MERRF). The proportion of mutant genomes was greater than 80% of total mtDNAs in muscle samples of all patients and was associated with a decrease in the activity of cytochrome c oxidase (COX). The vast majority of myoblasts, cloned from the satellite-cell population in the same muscles, were homoplasmic for the mutation. The overall proportion of mutant mtDNAs in this population was similar to thatmore » in differentiated muscle, suggesting that the ratio of mutant to wild-type mtDNAs in skeletal muscle is determined either in the ovum or during early development and changes little with age. Translation of all mtDNA-encoded genes was severely depressed in homoplasmic mutant myoblast clones but not in heteroplasmic or wild-type clones. The threshold for biochemical expression of the mutation was determined in heteroplasmic myotubes formed by fusion of different proportions of mutant and wild-type myoblasts. The magnitude of the decrease in translation in myotubes containing mutant mtDNAs was protein specific. Complex I and IV subunits were more affected than complex V subunits, and there was a rough correlation with both protein size and number of lysine residues. Approximately 15% wild-type mtDNAs restored translation and COX activity to near normal levels. These results show that the A-to-G substitution in tRNA[sup Lys] is a functionally recessive mutation that can be rescued by intraorganellar complementation with a small proportion of wild-type mtDNAs and explain the steep threshold for expression of the MERRF clinical phenotype. 40 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs.« less

A Comparative Study of "Google Translate" Translations: An Error Analysis of English-to-Persian and Persian-to-English Translations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghasemi, Hadis; Hashemian, Mahmood

2016-01-01

Both lack of time and the need to translate texts for numerous reasons brought about an increase in studying machine translation with a history spanning over 65 years. During the last decades, Google Translate, as a statistical machine translation (SMT), was in the center of attention for supporting 90 languages. Although there are many studies on…

Sequoyah Foreign Language Translation System - Business Case Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-12-01

Interactive Natural Dialogue System (S-MINDS)..................................................................20 j. Voice Response Translator ( VRT ...20 Figure 8. U.S. Marine Military Policeman Demonstrating VRT (From: Ref. U.S...www.languagerealm.com/Files/usmc_mt_test_2004.pdf. 21 j. Voice Response Translator ( VRT ) The VRT is a S2S human language translation device that uses

Feasibility Study on Fully Automatic High Quality Translation: Volume II. Final Technical Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lehmann, Winifred P.; Stachowitz, Rolf

This second volume of a two-volume report on a fully automatic high quality translation (FAHQT) contains relevant papers contributed by specialists on the topic of machine translation. The papers presented here cover such topics as syntactical analysis in transformational grammar and in machine translation, lexical features in translation and…

Parameterizing Phrase Based Statistical Machine Translation Models: An Analytic Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cer, Daniel

2011-01-01

The goal of this dissertation is to determine the best way to train a statistical machine translation system. I first develop a state-of-the-art machine translation system called Phrasal and then use it to examine a wide variety of potential learning algorithms and optimization criteria and arrive at two very surprising results. First, despite the…

Expression of metallothionein protein in the lungs of Wistar rats and C57 and DBA mice exposed to cadmium oxide fumes.

PubMed

McKenna, I M; Gordon, T; Chen, L C; Anver, M R; Waalkes, M P

1998-12-01

Chronic exposure to inhaled cadmium (Cd) has been shown to induce lung tumors in rats (Wistar strain) but not in mice (NMRI strain). The protein metallothionein (MT) plays an important role in Cd detoxification, and it has been suggested that differential inducibility of pulmonary MT may lead to interspecies susceptibility differences to inhaled Cd. Interstrain differences in the pulmonary response of the MT gene to Cd stimuli have not been examined in rats or mice. We compared pulmonary MT expression in Wistar Furth (WF) rats with that in DBA and C57 mice, following a single 3-h exposure to CdO fumes containing 1 mg Cd/m3. Induction of the MT gene was assessed by the levels of MT-I and MT-II transcripts, MT-protein content, and number of MT-labeled alveolar and bronchiolar epithelial cells immediately after Cd exposure and 1, 3, and 5 days later. Control animals were exposed to air/argon furnace gases. We observed differential intra- and interspecies inducibility of the MT gene in the lung following Cd inhalation. DBA mice exhibited greater levels of MT-mRNA, mainly for the MT-I isoform, MT-protein content, and number of MT positive cells relative to C57 mice. WF rats showed lower transcription and translation responses of the MT gene upon Cd stimuli than C57 mice. The present results, in concert with our previous findings of higher lung cell proliferation in Cd-exposed C57 relative to DBA mice, predict greater susceptibility of C57 to the carcinogenic effects of inhaled Cd. Furthermore, the low transcriptional and translation responses of the MT gene to Cd stimuli in WF rats might explain the higher susceptibility of this rat strain to develop malignant lung tumors after chronic exposure to Cd via inhalation. Parallel to our findings in mice, differences in the responsiveness of lung MT gene may exist across rat strains. Thus intraspecies genetic variability in pulmonary MT may influence the susceptibility of rats or mice to lung carcinogenesis induced by inhalation of Cd compounds. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

Variant forms of mitochondrial translation products in yeast: evidence for location of determinants on mitochondrial DNA.

PubMed

Douglas, M G; Butow, R A

1976-04-01

Products of mitochondrial protein synthesis in yeast have been labeled in vivo with 35SO42-. More than 20 polypeptide species fulfilling the criteria of mitochondrial translation products have been detected by analysis on sodium dodecyl sulfate-exponential polyacrylamide slab gels. A comparison of mitochondrial translation products in two wild-type strains has revealed variant forms of some polypeptide species which show genetic behavior consistent with the location of their structural genes on mtDNA. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of performing genetic analysis on putative gene products of mtDNA in wild-type yeast by direct examination of the segregation and recombination behavior of specific polypeptide species.

An Evaluation of Output Quality of Machine Translation (Padideh Software vs. Google Translate)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Azer, Haniyeh Sadeghi; Aghayi, Mohammad Bagher

2015-01-01

This study aims to evaluate the translation quality of two machine translation systems in translating six different text-types, from English to Persian. The evaluation was based on criteria proposed by Van Slype (1979). The proposed model for evaluation is a black-box type, comparative and adequacy-oriented evaluation. To conduct the evaluation, a…

Adding Statistical Machine Translation Adaptation to Computer-Assisted Translation

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

are automatically searched and used to suggest possible translations; (2) spell-checkers; (3) glossaries; (4) dictionaries ; (5) alignment and...matching against TMs to propose translations; spell-checking, glossary, and dictionary look-up; support for multiple file formats; regular expressions...on Telecommunications. Tehran, 2012, 822–826. Bertoldi, N.; Federico, M. Domain Adaptation for Statistical Machine Translation with Monolingual

Defects in Mitochondrial Fatty Acid Synthesis Result in Failure of Multiple Aspects of Mitochondrial Biogenesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

PubMed Central

Kursu, V. A. Samuli; Pietikäinen, Laura P.; Fontanesi, Flavia; Aaltonen, Mari J.; Suomi, Fumi; Nair, Remya Raghavan; Schonauer, Melissa S.; Dieckmann, Carol L.; Barrientos, Antoni; Hiltunen, J. Kalervo; Kastaniotis, Alexander J.

2014-01-01

Summary Mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis (mtFAS) shares acetyl-CoA with the Krebs cycle as a common substrate and is required for the production of octanoic acid (C8) precursors of lipoic acid (LA) in mitochondria. MtFAS is a conserved pathway essential for respiration. In a genetic screen in Saccharomyces cerevisiae designed to further elucidate the physiological role of mtFAS, we isolated mutants with defects in mitochondrial post-translational gene expression processes, indicating a novel link to mitochondrial gene expression and respiratory chain biogenesis. In our ensuing analysis, we show that mtFAS, but not lipoylation per se, is required for respiratory competence. We demonstrate that mtFAS is required for mRNA splicing, mitochondrial translation and respiratory complex assembly, and provide evidence that not LA per se, but fatty acids longer than C8 play a role in these processes. We also show that mtFAS- and LA-deficient strains suffer from a mild heme deficiency that may contribute to the respiratory complex assembly defect. Based on our data and previously published information, we propose a model implicating mtFAS as a sensor for mitochondrial acetyl-CoA availability and a coordinator of nuclear and mitochondrial gene expression by adapting the mitochondrial compartment to changes in the metabolic status of the cell. PMID:24102902

Defects in mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis result in failure of multiple aspects of mitochondrial biogenesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

PubMed

Kursu, V A Samuli; Pietikäinen, Laura P; Fontanesi, Flavia; Aaltonen, Mari J; Suomi, Fumi; Raghavan Nair, Remya; Schonauer, Melissa S; Dieckmann, Carol L; Barrientos, Antoni; Hiltunen, J Kalervo; Kastaniotis, Alexander J

2013-11-01

Mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis (mtFAS) shares acetyl-CoA with the Krebs cycle as a common substrate and is required for the production of octanoic acid (C8) precursors of lipoic acid (LA) in mitochondria. MtFAS is a conserved pathway essential for respiration. In a genetic screen in Saccharomyces cerevisiae designed to further elucidate the physiological role of mtFAS, we isolated mutants with defects in mitochondrial post-translational gene expression processes, indicating a novel link to mitochondrial gene expression and respiratory chain biogenesis. In our ensuing analysis, we show that mtFAS, but not lipoylation per se, is required for respiratory competence. We demonstrate that mtFAS is required for mRNA splicing, mitochondrial translation and respiratory complex assembly, and provide evidence that not LA per se, but fatty acids longer than C8 play a role in these processes. We also show that mtFAS- and LA-deficient strains suffer from a mild haem deficiency that may contribute to the respiratory complex assembly defect. Based on our data and previously published information, we propose a model implicating mtFAS as a sensor for mitochondrial acetyl-CoA availability and a co-ordinator of nuclear and mitochondrial gene expression by adapting the mitochondrial compartment to changes in the metabolic status of the cell. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Machine Translation as a Model for Overcoming Some Common Errors in English-into-Arabic Translation among EFL University Freshmen

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

El-Banna, Adel I.; Naeem, Marwa A.

2016-01-01

This research work aimed at making use of Machine Translation to help students avoid some syntactic, semantic and pragmatic common errors in translation from English into Arabic. Participants were a hundred and five freshmen who studied the "Translation Common Errors Remedial Program" prepared by the researchers. A testing kit that…

Efficient Embedded Decoding of Neural Network Language Models in a Machine Translation System.

PubMed

Zamora-Martinez, Francisco; Castro-Bleda, Maria Jose

2018-02-22

Neural Network Language Models (NNLMs) are a successful approach to Natural Language Processing tasks, such as Machine Translation. We introduce in this work a Statistical Machine Translation (SMT) system which fully integrates NNLMs in the decoding stage, breaking the traditional approach based on [Formula: see text]-best list rescoring. The neural net models (both language models (LMs) and translation models) are fully coupled in the decoding stage, allowing to more strongly influence the translation quality. Computational issues were solved by using a novel idea based on memorization and smoothing of the softmax constants to avoid their computation, which introduces a trade-off between LM quality and computational cost. These ideas were studied in a machine translation task with different combinations of neural networks used both as translation models and as target LMs, comparing phrase-based and [Formula: see text]-gram-based systems, showing that the integrated approach seems more promising for [Formula: see text]-gram-based systems, even with nonfull-quality NNLMs.

Machine Translation in the German Classroom: Detection, Reaction, Prevention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steding, Soren

2009-01-01

There are many websites today that offer free machine translations and although beginning students of German are not always proficient enough to judge the quality of these translations or to fully understand certain translation results, they use these services nonetheless for their assignments. The problem for the educator is to distinguish…

The AFRL-MITLL WMT16 News-Translation Task Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-08-11

English -Russian systems (shown in Table 8), we used this factored input with no separation limit. 2.7.1 Discussion We examined the effect of verb...teams participated in the Russian– English and English –Russian news translation tasks. Our ma- chine translation (MT) systems represent improve- ments...language modelling data. For the English –Russian translation task we experimented with morphology generation techniques to im- prove translation quality

Quantifying the Efficiency of a Translator: The Effect of Syntactical and Literal Written Translations on Language Comprehension Using the Machine Translation System FALCon

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCulloh, Ian A.; Morton, Jillian; Jantzi, Jennifer K.; Rodriguez, Amy M.; Graham, John

2008-01-01

This study introduces a new method of evaluating human comprehension in the context of machine translation using a language translation program known as the FALCon (Forward Area Language Converter). The participants include 48 freshmen from the United States Military Academy enrolled in the General Psychology course, PL100. Results of this study…

Soviet Patent Bulletin Processing: A Particular Application of Machine Translation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bostad, Dale A.

1985-01-01

Describes some of the processes involved in the data structure manipulation and machine translation of a specific text form, namely, Soviet patent bulletins. The effort to modify this system in order to do specialized processing and translation is detailed. (Author/SED)

Automatic translation among spoken languages

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walter, Sharon M.; Costigan, Kelly

1994-01-01

The Machine Aided Voice Translation (MAVT) system was developed in response to the shortage of experienced military field interrogators with both foreign language proficiency and interrogation skills. Combining speech recognition, machine translation, and speech generation technologies, the MAVT accepts an interrogator's spoken English question and translates it into spoken Spanish. The spoken Spanish response of the potential informant can then be translated into spoken English. Potential military and civilian applications for automatic spoken language translation technology are discussed in this paper.

Extensive frameshift at all AGG and CCC codons in the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene of Perkinsus marinus (Alveolata; Dinoflagellata).

PubMed

Masuda, Isao; Matsuzaki, Motomichi; Kita, Kiyoshi

2010-10-01

Diverse mitochondrial (mt) genetic systems have evolved independently of the more uniform nuclear system and often employ modified genetic codes. The organization and genetic system of dinoflagellate mt genomes are particularly unusual and remain an evolutionary enigma. We determined the sequence of full-length cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) mRNA of the earliest diverging dinoflagellate Perkinsus and show that this gene resides in the mt genome. Apparently, this mRNA is not translated in a single reading frame with standard codon usage. Our examination of the nucleotide sequence and three-frame translation of the mRNA suggest that the reading frame must be shifted 10 times, at every AGG and CCC codon, to yield a consensus COX1 protein. We suggest two possible mechanisms for these translational frameshifts: a ribosomal frameshift in which stalled ribosomes skip the first bases of these codons or specialized tRNAs recognizing non-triplet codons, AGGY and CCCCU. Regardless of the mechanism, active and efficient machinery would be required to tolerate the frameshifts predicted in Perkinsus mitochondria. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of translational frameshifts in protist mitochondria and, by far, is the most extensive case in mitochondria.

Low intracellular iron increases the stability of matriptase-2.

PubMed

Zhao, Ningning; Nizzi, Christopher P; Anderson, Sheila A; Wang, Jiaohong; Ueno, Akiko; Tsukamoto, Hidekazu; Eisenstein, Richard S; Enns, Caroline A; Zhang, An-Sheng

2015-02-13

Matriptase-2 (MT2) is a type II transmembrane serine protease that is predominantly expressed in hepatocytes. It suppresses the expression of hepatic hepcidin, an iron regulatory hormone, by cleaving membrane hemojuvelin into an inactive form. Hemojuvelin is a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) co-receptor. Here, we report that MT2 is up-regulated under iron deprivation. In HepG2 cells stably expressing the coding sequence of the MT2 gene, TMPRSS6, incubation with apo-transferrin or the membrane-impermeable iron chelator, deferoxamine mesylate salt, was able to increase MT2 levels. This increase did not result from the inhibition of MT2 shedding from the cells. Rather, studies using a membrane-permeable iron chelator, salicylaldehyde isonicotinoyl hydrazone, revealed that depletion of cellular iron was able to decrease the degradation of MT2 independently of internalization. We found that lack of the putative endocytosis motif in its cytoplasmic domain largely abolished the sensitivity of MT2 to iron depletion. Neither acute nor chronic iron deficiency was able to alter the association of Tmprss6 mRNA with polyribosomes in the liver of rats indicating a lack of translational regulation by low iron levels. Studies in mice showed that Tmprss6 mRNA was not regulated by iron nor the BMP-mediated signaling with no evident correlation with either Bmp6 mRNA or Id1 mRNA, a target of BMP signaling. These results suggest that regulation of MT2 occurs at the level of protein degradation rather than by changes in the rate of internalization and translational or transcriptional mechanisms and that the cytoplasmic domain of MT2 is necessary for its regulation. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Low Intracellular Iron Increases the Stability of Matriptase-2*

PubMed Central

Zhao, Ningning; Nizzi, Christopher P.; Anderson, Sheila A.; Wang, Jiaohong; Ueno, Akiko; Tsukamoto, Hidekazu; Eisenstein, Richard S.; Enns, Caroline A.; Zhang, An-Sheng

2015-01-01

Matriptase-2 (MT2) is a type II transmembrane serine protease that is predominantly expressed in hepatocytes. It suppresses the expression of hepatic hepcidin, an iron regulatory hormone, by cleaving membrane hemojuvelin into an inactive form. Hemojuvelin is a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) co-receptor. Here, we report that MT2 is up-regulated under iron deprivation. In HepG2 cells stably expressing the coding sequence of the MT2 gene, TMPRSS6, incubation with apo-transferrin or the membrane-impermeable iron chelator, deferoxamine mesylate salt, was able to increase MT2 levels. This increase did not result from the inhibition of MT2 shedding from the cells. Rather, studies using a membrane-permeable iron chelator, salicylaldehyde isonicotinoyl hydrazone, revealed that depletion of cellular iron was able to decrease the degradation of MT2 independently of internalization. We found that lack of the putative endocytosis motif in its cytoplasmic domain largely abolished the sensitivity of MT2 to iron depletion. Neither acute nor chronic iron deficiency was able to alter the association of Tmprss6 mRNA with polyribosomes in the liver of rats indicating a lack of translational regulation by low iron levels. Studies in mice showed that Tmprss6 mRNA was not regulated by iron nor the BMP-mediated signaling with no evident correlation with either Bmp6 mRNA or Id1 mRNA, a target of BMP signaling. These results suggest that regulation of MT2 occurs at the level of protein degradation rather than by changes in the rate of internalization and translational or transcriptional mechanisms and that the cytoplasmic domain of MT2 is necessary for its regulation. PMID:25550162

4. CARPENTER AND MACHINE SHOP AT EAST GREY ROCK MINE, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

4. CARPENTER AND MACHINE SHOP AT EAST GREY ROCK MINE, LOOKING EAST. THIS IS SAID TO BE THE OLDEST MINE BUILDING LEFT ON BUTTE HILL. SHIV WHEELS FROM VARIOUS LOCATIONS AROUND THE HILL ARE ALSO VISIBLE - Butte Mineyards, Butte, Silver Bow County, MT

A translator and simulator for the Burroughs D machine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roberts, J.

1972-01-01

The D Machine is described as a small user microprogrammable computer designed to be a versatile building block for such diverse functions as: disk file controllers, I/O controllers, and emulators. TRANSLANG is an ALGOL-like language, which allows D Machine users to write microprograms in an English-like format as opposed to creating binary bit pattern maps. The TRANSLANG translator parses TRANSLANG programs into D Machine microinstruction bit patterns which can be executed on the D Machine simulator. In addition to simulation and translation, the two programs also offer several debugging tools, such as: a full set of diagnostic error messages, register dumps, simulated memory dumps, traces on instructions and groups of instructions, and breakpoints.

A Character Level Based and Word Level Based Approach for Chinese-Vietnamese Machine Translation.

PubMed

Tran, Phuoc; Dinh, Dien; Nguyen, Hien T

2016-01-01

Chinese and Vietnamese have the same isolated language; that is, the words are not delimited by spaces. In machine translation, word segmentation is often done first when translating from Chinese or Vietnamese into different languages (typically English) and vice versa. However, it is a matter for consideration that words may or may not be segmented when translating between two languages in which spaces are not used between words, such as Chinese and Vietnamese. Since Chinese-Vietnamese is a low-resource language pair, the sparse data problem is evident in the translation system of this language pair. Therefore, while translating, whether it should be segmented or not becomes more important. In this paper, we propose a new method for translating Chinese to Vietnamese based on a combination of the advantages of character level and word level translation. In addition, a hybrid approach that combines statistics and rules is used to translate on the word level. And at the character level, a statistical translation is used. The experimental results showed that our method improved the performance of machine translation over that of character or word level translation.

ER-mitochondria contacts couple mtDNA synthesis with mitochondrial division in human cells.

PubMed

Lewis, Samantha C; Uchiyama, Lauren F; Nunnari, Jodi

2016-07-15

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) encodes RNAs and proteins critical for cell function. In human cells, hundreds to thousands of mtDNA copies are replicated asynchronously, packaged into protein-DNA nucleoids, and distributed within a dynamic mitochondrial network. The mechanisms that govern how nucleoids are chosen for replication and distribution are not understood. Mitochondrial distribution depends on division, which occurs at endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-mitochondria contact sites. These sites were spatially linked to a subset of nucleoids selectively marked by mtDNA polymerase and engaged in mtDNA synthesis--events that occurred upstream of mitochondrial constriction and division machine assembly. Our data suggest that ER tubules proximal to nucleoids are necessary but not sufficient for mtDNA synthesis. Thus, ER-mitochondria contacts coordinate licensing of mtDNA synthesis with division to distribute newly replicated nucleoids to daughter mitochondria. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Quantifying the Efficiency of a Translator: The Effect of Syntactical and Literal Written Translations on Language Comprehension Using the Machine Translation System FALCon (Foreign Area Language Converter)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCulloh, Ian A.; Morton, Jillian; Jantzi, Jennifer K.; Rodriguez, Amy M.; Graham, John

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study is to introduce a new method of evaluating human comprehension in the context of machine translation using a language translation program known as the FALCon (Forward Area Language Converter). The FALCon works by converting documents into digital images via scanner, and then converting those images to electronic text by…

English to Sanskrit Machine Translation Using Transfer Based approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pathak, Ganesh R.; Godse, Sachin P.

2010-11-01

Translation is one of the needs of global society for communicating thoughts and ideas of one country with other country. Translation is the process of interpretation of text meaning and subsequent production of equivalent text, also called as communicating same meaning (message) in another language. In this paper we gave detail information on how to convert source language text in to target language text using Transfer Based Approach for machine translation. Here we implemented English to Sanskrit machine translator using transfer based approach. English is global language used for business and communication but large amount of population in India is not using and understand the English. Sanskrit is ancient language of India most of the languages in India are derived from Sanskrit. Sanskrit can be act as an intermediate language for multilingual translation.

The Integration of Project-Based Methodology into Teaching in Machine Translation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madkour, Magda

2016-01-01

This quantitative-qualitative analytical research aimed at investigating the effect of integrating project-based teaching methodology into teaching machine translation on students' performance. Data was collected from the graduate students in the College of Languages and Translation, at Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi…

Chunk Alignment for Corpus-Based Machine Translation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Jae Dong

2011-01-01

Since sub-sentential alignment is critically important to the translation quality of an Example-Based Machine Translation (EBMT) system, which operates by finding and combining phrase-level matches against the training examples, we developed a new alignment algorithm for the purpose of improving the EBMT system's performance. This new…

The evolution and practical application of machine translation system (1)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tominaga, Isao; Sato, Masayuki

This paper describes a development, practical applicatioin, problem of a system, evaluation of practical system, and development trend of machine translation. Most recent system contains next four problems. 1) the vagueness of a text, 2) a difference of the definition of the terminology between different language, 3) the preparing of a large-scale translation dictionary, 4) the development of a software for the logical inference. Machine translation system is already used practically in many industry fields. However, many problems are not solved. The implementation of an ideal system will be after 15 years. Also, this paper described seven evaluation items detailedly. This English abstract was made by Mu system.

A Character Level Based and Word Level Based Approach for Chinese-Vietnamese Machine Translation

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Chinese and Vietnamese have the same isolated language; that is, the words are not delimited by spaces. In machine translation, word segmentation is often done first when translating from Chinese or Vietnamese into different languages (typically English) and vice versa. However, it is a matter for consideration that words may or may not be segmented when translating between two languages in which spaces are not used between words, such as Chinese and Vietnamese. Since Chinese-Vietnamese is a low-resource language pair, the sparse data problem is evident in the translation system of this language pair. Therefore, while translating, whether it should be segmented or not becomes more important. In this paper, we propose a new method for translating Chinese to Vietnamese based on a combination of the advantages of character level and word level translation. In addition, a hybrid approach that combines statistics and rules is used to translate on the word level. And at the character level, a statistical translation is used. The experimental results showed that our method improved the performance of machine translation over that of character or word level translation. PMID:27446207

Advances in the understanding of mitochondrial DNA as a pathogenic factor in inflammatory diseases

PubMed Central

Boyapati, Ray K.; Tamborska, Arina; Dorward, David A.; Ho, Gwo-Tzer

2017-01-01

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has many similarities with bacterial DNA because of their shared common ancestry. Increasing evidence demonstrates mtDNA to be a potent danger signal that is recognised by the innate immune system and can directly modulate the inflammatory response. In humans, elevated circulating mtDNA is found in conditions with significant tissue injury such as trauma and sepsis and increasingly in chronic organ-specific and systemic illnesses such as steatohepatitis and systemic lupus erythematosus. In this review, we examine our current understanding of mtDNA-mediated inflammation and how the mechanisms regulating mitochondrial homeostasis and mtDNA release represent exciting and previously under-recognised important factors in many human inflammatory diseases, offering many new translational opportunities. PMID:28299196

Sls1p is a membrane-bound regulator of transcription-coupled processes involved in Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondrial gene expression.

PubMed Central

Bryan, Anthony C; Rodeheffer, Matthew S; Wearn, Christopher M; Shadel, Gerald S

2002-01-01

Mitochondrial translation is largely membrane-associated in S. cerevisiae. Recently, we discovered that the matrix protein Nam1p binds the amino-terminal domain of yeast mtRNA polymerase to couple translation and/or RNA-processing events to transcription. To gain additional insight into these transcription-coupled processes, we performed a genetic screen for genes that suppress the petite phenotype of a point mutation in mtRNA polymerase (rpo41-R129D) when overexpressed. One suppressor identified in this screen was SLS1, which encodes a mitochondrial membrane protein required for assembly of respiratory-chain enzyme complexes III and IV. The mtRNA-processing defects associated with the rpo41-R129D mutation were corrected in the suppressed strain, linking Sls1p to a pathway that includes mtRNA polymerase and Nam1p. This was supported by the observation that SLS1 overexpression rescued the petite phenotype of a NAM1 null mutation. In contrast, overexpression of Nam1p did not rescue the petite phenotype of a SLS1 null mutation, indicating that Nam1p and Sls1p are not functionally redundant but rather exist in an ordered pathway. On the basis of these data, a model in which Nam1p coordinates the delivery of newly synthesized transcripts to the membrane, where Sls1p directs or regulates their subsequent handling by membrane-bound factors involved in translation, is proposed. PMID:11805046

Advancement in Productivity of Arabic into English Machine Translation Systems from 2008 to 2013

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abu-Al-Sha'r, Awatif M.; AbuSeileek, Ali F.

2013-01-01

This paper attempts to compare between the advancements in the productivity of Arabic into English Machine Translation Systems between two years, 2008 and 2013. It also aims to evaluate the progress achieved by various systems of Arabic into English electronic translation between the two years. For tracing such advancement, a comparative analysis…

Ausdruckskraft und Regelmaessigkeit: Was Esperanto fuer automatische Uebersetzung geeignet macht (Expressiveness and Formal Regularity: What Makes Esperanto Suitable for Machine Translation).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schubert, Klaus

1988-01-01

Describes DLT, the multilingual machine translation system that uses Esperanto as an intermediate language in which substantial portions of the translation subprocesses are carried out. The criteria for choosing an intermediate language and the reasons for preferring Esperanto over other languages are explained. (Author/DJD)

Parallel loss of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and mtDNA-encoded tRNAs in Cnidaria.

PubMed

Haen, Karri M; Pett, Walker; Lavrov, Dennis V

2010-10-01

Unlike most animal mitochondrial (mt) genomes, which encode a set of 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs) sufficient for mt protein synthesis, those of cnidarians have only retained one or two tRNA genes. Whether the missing cnidarian mt-tRNA genes relocated outside the main mt chromosome or were lost remains unclear. It is also unknown what impact the loss of tRNA genes had on other components of the mt translational machinery. Here, we explored the nuclear genome of the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis for the presence of mt-tRNA genes and their corresponding mt aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (mt-aaRS). We detected no candidates for mt-tRNA genes and only two mt-aaRS orthologs. At the same time, we found that all but one cytosolic aaRS appear to be targeted to mitochondria. These results indicate that the loss of mt-tRNAs in Cnidaria is genuine and occurred in parallel with the loss of nuclear-encoded mt-aaRS. Our phylogenetic analyses of individual aaRS revealed that although the nearly total loss of mt-aaRS is rare, aaRS gene deletion and replacement have occurred throughout the evolution of Metazoa.

Machine vs. human translation of SNOMED CT terms.

PubMed

Schulz, Stefan; Bernhardt-Melischnig, Johannes; Kreuzthaler, Markus; Daumke, Philipp; Boeker, Martin

2013-01-01

In the context of past and current SNOMED CT translation projects we compare three kinds of SNOMED CT translations from English to German by: (t1) professional medical translators; (t2) a free Web-based machine translation service; (t3) medical students. 500 SNOMED CT fully specified names from the (English) International release were randomly selected. Based on this, German translations t1, t2, and t3 were generated. A German and an Austrian physician rated the translations for linguistic correctness and content fidelity. Kappa for inter-rater reliability was 0.4 for linguistic correctness and 0.23 for content fidelity. Average ratings of linguistic correctness did not differ significantly between human translation scenarios. Content fidelity was rated slightly better for student translators compared to professional translators. Comparing machine to human translation, the linguistic correctness differed about 0.5 scale units in favour of the human translation and about 0.25 regarding content fidelity, equally in favour of the human translation. The results demonstrate that low-cost translation solutions of medical terms may produce surprisingly good results. Although we would not recommend low-cost translation for producing standardized preferred terms, this approach can be useful for creating additional language-specific entry terms. This may serve several important use cases. We also recommend testing this method to bootstrap a crowdsourcing process, by which term translations are gathered, improved, maintained, and rated by the user community.

Modeling and prediction of human word search behavior in interactive machine translation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Duo; Yu, Bai; Ma, Bin; Ye, Na

2017-12-01

As a kind of computer aided translation method, Interactive Machine Translation technology reduced manual translation repetitive and mechanical operation through a variety of methods, so as to get the translation efficiency, and played an important role in the practical application of the translation work. In this paper, we regarded the behavior of users' frequently searching for words in the translation process as the research object, and transformed the behavior to the translation selection problem under the current translation. The paper presented a prediction model, which is a comprehensive utilization of alignment model, translation model and language model of the searching words behavior. It achieved a highly accurate prediction of searching words behavior, and reduced the switching of mouse and keyboard operations in the users' translation process.

Translation Analysis on Civil Engineering Text Produced by Machine Translator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutopo, Anam

2018-02-01

Translation is extremely needed in communication since people have serious problem in the language used. Translation activity is done by the person in charge for translating the material. Translation activity is also able to be done by machine. It is called machine translation, reflected in the programs developed by programmer. One of them is Transtool. Many people used Transtool for helping them in solving the problem related with translation activities. This paper wants to deliver how important is the Transtool program, how effective is Transtool program and how is the function of Transtool for human business. This study applies qualitative research. The sources of data were document and informant. This study used documentation and in dept-interviewing as the techniques for collecting data. The collected data were analyzed by using interactive analysis. The results of the study show that, first; Transtool program is helpful for people in translating the civil engineering text and it functions as the aid or helper, second; the working of Transtool software program is effective enough and third; the result of translation produced by Transtool is good for short and simple sentences and not readable, not understandable and not accurate for long sentences (compound, complex and compound complex) thought the result is informative. The translated material must be edited by the professional translator.

Our Policies, Their Text: German Language Students' Strategies with and Beliefs about Web-Based Machine Translation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Kelsey D.; Heidrich, Emily

2013-01-01

Most educators are aware that some students utilize web-based machine translators for foreign language assignments, however, little research has been done to determine how and why students utilize these programs, or what the implications are for language learning and teaching. In this mixed-methods study we utilized surveys, a translation task,…

Differential responses in dorsal visual cortex to motion and disparity depth cues

PubMed Central

Arnoldussen, David M.; Goossens, Jeroen; van den Berg, Albert V.

2013-01-01

We investigated how interactions between monocular motion parallax and binocular cues to depth vary in human motion areas for wide-field visual motion stimuli (110 × 100°). We used fMRI with an extensive 2 × 3 × 2 factorial blocked design in which we combined two types of self-motion (translational motion and translational + rotational motion), with three categories of motion inflicted by the degree of noise (self-motion, distorted self-motion, and multiple object-motion), and two different view modes of the flow patterns (stereo and synoptic viewing). Interactions between disparity and motion category revealed distinct contributions to self- and object-motion processing in 3D. For cortical areas V6 and CSv, but not the anterior part of MT+ with bilateral visual responsiveness (MT+/b), we found a disparity-dependent effect of rotational flow and noise: When self-motion perception was degraded by adding rotational flow and moderate levels of noise, the BOLD responses were reduced compared with translational self-motion alone, but this reduction was cancelled by adding stereo information which also rescued the subject's self-motion percept. At high noise levels, when the self-motion percept gave way to a swarm of moving objects, the BOLD signal strongly increased compared to self-motion in areas MT+/b and V6, but only for stereo in the latter. BOLD response did not increase for either view mode in CSv. These different response patterns indicate different contributions of areas V6, MT+/b, and CSv to the processing of self-motion perception and the processing of multiple independent motions. PMID:24339808

Tubulin C-terminal Post-translational Modifications Do Not Occur in Wood Forming Tissue of Populus

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hu, Hao; Gu, Xi; Xue, Liang-Jiao

Cortical microtubules (MTs) are evolutionarily conserved cytoskeletal components with specialized roles in plants, including regulation of cell wall biogenesis. MT functions and dynamics are dictated by the composition of their monomeric subunits, α- (TUA) and β-tubulins (TUB), which in animals and protists are subject to both transcriptional regulation and post-translational modifications (PTM). While spatiotemporal regulation of tubulin gene expression has been reported in plants, whether and to what extent tubulin PTMs occur in these species remain poorly understood. We chose the woody perennial Populus for investigation of tubulin PTMs in this study, with a particular focus on developing xylem wheremore » high tubulin transcript levels support MT-dependent secondary cell wall deposition. Mass spectrometry and immunodetection concurred that detyrosination, non-tyrosination and glutamylation were essentially absent in tubulins isolated from wood-forming tissues of P. deltoides and P. tremula ×alba. Label-free quantification of tubulin isotypes and RNA-Seq estimation of tubulin transcript abundance were largely consistent with transcriptional regulation. However, two TUB isotypes were detected at noticeably lower levels than expected based on RNA-Seq transcript abundance in both Populus species. These findings led us to conclude that MT composition during wood formation depends exclusively on transcriptional and, to a lesser extent, translational regulation of tubulin isotypes.« less

Tubulin C-terminal Post-translational Modifications Do Not Occur in Wood Forming Tissue of Populus

DOE PAGES

Hu, Hao; Gu, Xi; Xue, Liang-Jiao; ...

2016-10-13

Cortical microtubules (MTs) are evolutionarily conserved cytoskeletal components with specialized roles in plants, including regulation of cell wall biogenesis. MT functions and dynamics are dictated by the composition of their monomeric subunits, α- (TUA) and β-tubulins (TUB), which in animals and protists are subject to both transcriptional regulation and post-translational modifications (PTM). While spatiotemporal regulation of tubulin gene expression has been reported in plants, whether and to what extent tubulin PTMs occur in these species remain poorly understood. We chose the woody perennial Populus for investigation of tubulin PTMs in this study, with a particular focus on developing xylem wheremore » high tubulin transcript levels support MT-dependent secondary cell wall deposition. Mass spectrometry and immunodetection concurred that detyrosination, non-tyrosination and glutamylation were essentially absent in tubulins isolated from wood-forming tissues of P. deltoides and P. tremula ×alba. Label-free quantification of tubulin isotypes and RNA-Seq estimation of tubulin transcript abundance were largely consistent with transcriptional regulation. However, two TUB isotypes were detected at noticeably lower levels than expected based on RNA-Seq transcript abundance in both Populus species. These findings led us to conclude that MT composition during wood formation depends exclusively on transcriptional and, to a lesser extent, translational regulation of tubulin isotypes.« less

Machine Aids to Translation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brinkmann, Karl-Heinz

1981-01-01

Describes the TEAM Program System of the Siemens Language Services Department, particularly the main features of its terminology data bank. Discusses criteria to which stored terminology must conform and methods of data bank utilization. Concludes by summarizing the consequences that machine-aided translation development has had for the…

Machine Translation: The Alternative for the 21st Century?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cribb, V. Michael

2000-01-01

Outlines a scenario for the future of Teaching English as a Second or Other Languages that has seldom, if ever been considered in academic discussion: that advances in and availability of quality machine translation could mitigate the need for English language learning. (Author/VWL)

A Survey of Statistical Machine Translation

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-04-01

methods are notoriously sen- sitive to domain differences, however, so the move to informal text is likely to present many interesting challenges ...Och, Christoph Tillman, and Hermann Ney. Improved alignment models for statistical machine translation. In Proc. of EMNLP- VLC , pages 20–28, Jun 1999

A MOOC on Approaches to Machine Translation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Costa-jussà, Mart R.; Formiga, Lluís; Torrillas, Oriol; Petit, Jordi; Fonollosa, José A. R.

2015-01-01

This paper describes the design, development, and analysis of a MOOC entitled "Approaches to Machine Translation: Rule-based, statistical and hybrid", and provides lessons learned and conclusions to be taken into account in the future. The course was developed within the Canvas platform, used by recognized European universities. It…

Development of German-English Machine Translation System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lehmann, Winifred P.; Stachowitz, Rolf

This report documents efforts over a five-month period toward completion of a pilot system for machine translation of German scientific and technical literature into English. The report is divided into three areas: grammar formalism, programming, and linguistics. Work on grammar formalism concentrated mainly on increasing the power of the…

MACHINE TRANSLATION RESEARCH DURING THE PAST TWO YEARS.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LEHMANN, W.P.

THE AUTHOR RECOUNTS THE RISE IN IMPORTANCE OF MACHINE TRANSLATION, WHICH TOGETHER WITH LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING COMPRISE THE MAJOR FIELDS OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS. MUCH OF THE RECENT THEORETICAL WORK ON LANGUAGE DEALS WITH THE PROBLEM OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SURFACE SYNTACTIC STRUCTURE OF LANGUAGE AND THE UNDERLYING STRUCTURE. THE…

Heterozygous SSBP1 start loss mutation co-segregates with hearing loss and the m.1555A>G mtDNA variant in a large multigenerational family.

PubMed

Kullar, Peter J; Gomez-Duran, Aurora; Gammage, Payam A; Garone, Caterina; Minczuk, Michal; Golder, Zoe; Wilson, Janet; Montoya, Julio; Häkli, Sanna; Kärppä, Mikko; Horvath, Rita; Majamaa, Kari; Chinnery, Patrick F

2018-01-01

The m.1555A>G mtDNA variant causes maternally inherited deafness, but the reasons for the highly variable clinical penetrance are not known. Exome sequencing identified a heterozygous start loss mutation in SSBP1, encoding the single stranded binding protein 1 (SSBP1), segregating with hearing loss in a multi-generational family transmitting m.1555A>G, associated with mtDNA depletion and multiple deletions in skeletal muscle. The SSBP1 mutation reduced steady state SSBP1 levels leading to a perturbation of mtDNA metabolism, likely compounding the intra-mitochondrial translation defect due to m.1555A>G in a tissue-specific manner. This family demonstrates the importance of rare trans-acting genetic nuclear modifiers in the clinical expression of mtDNA disease. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.

A Double-Sided Linear Primary Permanent Magnet Vernier Machine

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present a new double-sided linear primary permanent magnet (PM) vernier (DSLPPMV) machine, which can offer high thrust force, low detent force, and improved power factor. Both PMs and windings of the proposed machine are on the short translator, while the long stator is designed as a double-sided simple iron core with salient teeth so that it is very robust to transmit high thrust force. The key of this new machine is the introduction of double stator and the elimination of translator yoke, so that the inductance and the volume of the machine can be reduced. Hence, the proposed machine offers improved power factor and thrust force density. The electromagnetic performances of the proposed machine are analyzed including flux, no-load EMF, thrust force density, and inductance. Based on using the finite element analysis, the characteristics and performances of the proposed machine are assessed. PMID:25874250

A double-sided linear primary permanent magnet vernier machine.

PubMed

Du, Yi; Zou, Chunhua; Liu, Xianxing

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present a new double-sided linear primary permanent magnet (PM) vernier (DSLPPMV) machine, which can offer high thrust force, low detent force, and improved power factor. Both PMs and windings of the proposed machine are on the short translator, while the long stator is designed as a double-sided simple iron core with salient teeth so that it is very robust to transmit high thrust force. The key of this new machine is the introduction of double stator and the elimination of translator yoke, so that the inductance and the volume of the machine can be reduced. Hence, the proposed machine offers improved power factor and thrust force density. The electromagnetic performances of the proposed machine are analyzed including flux, no-load EMF, thrust force density, and inductance. Based on using the finite element analysis, the characteristics and performances of the proposed machine are assessed.

Machine-Aided Translation: From Terminology Banks to Interactive Translation Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenfield, Concetta C.; Serain, Daniel

The rapid growth of the need for technical translations in recent years has led specialists to utilize computer technology to improve the efficiency and quality of translation. The two approaches considered were automatic translation and terminology banks. Since the results of fully automatic translation were considered unsatisfactory by various…

Chinese-English Machine Translation System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, William S-Y; And Others

The report documents results of a two-year R&D effort directed at the completion of a prototype system for Chinese-English machine translation of S&T literature. The system, designated QUINCE, accepts Chinese input exactly as printed, with no pre-editing of any kind, and produces English output on experimental basis. Coding of Chinese text via…

Development of Chinese-English Machine Translation System. Fnal Technical Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, William S-Y; Chan, Stephen W.

The report documents progress and results of a 2-1/3 year effort to further the prototype Chinese-English Machine Translation System. Additional rules were incorporated into the existing grammar for Chinese analysis and interlingual transfer, with emphasis on the latter. CHIDIC was updated and revised. Approximately 16,000 new entries were added…

Exploring Local Public Health Workflow in the Context of Automated Translation Technologies

PubMed Central

Mandel, Hannah; Turner, Anne M.

2013-01-01

Despite the growing limited English proficiency (LEP) population in the US, and federal regulations requiring multilingual health information be available for LEP individuals, there is a lack of available high quality multilingual health promotion materials. The costs and personnel time associated with creating high quality translations serve as barriers to their creation, especially in resource limited public health settings. To explore the potential adoption of novel machine translation and document dissemination technologies for improving the creation and sharing of translated public health materials, we interviewed key health department personnel in Washington State. We analyzed translation workflow, elucidated key themes regarding public health translation work, and assessed attitudes towards electronic document exchange and machine translation. Public health personnel expressed the need for human quality assurance and oversight, but appreciated the potential of novel information technologies to assist in the production and dissemination of translated materials for public health practice. PMID:24551385

Anchoring plant metallothioneins to the inner face of the plasma membrane of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells leads to heavy metal accumulation.

PubMed

Ruta, Lavinia Liliana; Lin, Ya-Fen; Kissen, Ralph; Nicolau, Ioana; Neagoe, Aurora Daniela; Ghenea, Simona; Bones, Atle M; Farcasanu, Ileana Cornelia

2017-01-01

In this study we engineered yeast cells armed for heavy metal accumulation by targeting plant metallothioneins to the inner face of the yeast plasma membrane. Metallothioneins (MTs) are cysteine-rich proteins involved in the buffering of excess metal ions, especially Cu(I), Zn(II) or Cd(II). The cDNAs of seven Arabidopsis thaliana MTs (AtMT1a, AtMT1c, AtMT2a, AtMT2b, AtMT3, AtMT4a and AtMT4b) and four Noccaea caerulescens MTs (NcMT1, NcMT2a, NcMT2b and NcMT3) were each translationally fused to the C-terminus of a myristoylation green fluorescent protein variant (myrGFP) and expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. The myrGFP cassette introduced a yeast myristoylation sequence which allowed directional targeting to the cytosolic face of the plasma membrane along with direct monitoring of the intracellular localization of the recombinant protein by fluorescence microscopy. The yeast strains expressing plant MTs were investigated against an array of heavy metals in order to identify strains which exhibit the (hyper)accumulation phenotype without developing toxicity symptoms. Among the transgenic strains which could accumulate Cu(II), Zn(II) or Cd(II), but also non-canonical metal ions, such as Co(II), Mn(II) or Ni(II), myrGFP-NcMT3 qualified as the best candidate for bioremediation applications, thanks to the robust growth accompanied by significant accumulative capacity.

Generalizing Word Lattice Translation

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-02-01

demonstrate substantial gains for Chinese-English and Arabic -English translation. Keywords: word lattice translation, phrase-based and hierarchical...introduce in reordering models. Our experiments evaluating the approach demonstrate substantial gains for Chinese-English and Arabic -English translation. 15...gains for Chinese-English and Arabic -English translation. 1 Introduction When Brown and colleagues introduced statistical machine translation in the

Real English: A Translator to Enable Natural Language Man-Machine Conversation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gautin, Harvey

This dissertation presents a pragmatic interpreter/translator called Real English to serve as a natural language man-machine communication interface in a multi-mode on-line information retrieval system. This multi-mode feature affords the user a library-like searching tool by giving him access to a dictionary, lexicon, thesaurus, synonym table,…

Web-Based Machine Translation as a Tool for Promoting Electronic Literacy and Language Awareness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Lawrence

2006-01-01

This article addresses a pervasive problem of concern to teachers of many foreign languages: the use of Web-Based Machine Translation (WBMT) by students who do not understand the complexities of this relatively new tool. Although networked technologies have greatly increased access to many language and communication tools, WBMT is still…

Foreign Developments in Information Processing and Machine Translation, No. 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1960-09-29

technicians] (Sestier (A.) -- La Traduction automatfguT"" des textes ecrits scJQntifiqaes ej^J^chplc^es dxun langage~ dans__un’"*""* ’’^t^’T^^i...are more and more comprehensible to others than machine translation technicians will result. Sketch of a proaram. This outline of work xtfiich will

The Strictly Aerobic Yeast Yarrowia lipolytica Tolerates Loss of a Mitochondrial DNA-Packaging Protein

PubMed Central

Bakkaiova, Jana; Arata, Kosuke; Matsunobu, Miki; Ono, Bungo; Aoki, Tomoyo; Lajdova, Dana; Nebohacova, Martina; Nosek, Jozef; Miyakawa, Isamu

2014-01-01

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is highly compacted into DNA-protein structures termed mitochondrial nucleoids (mt-nucleoids). The key mt-nucleoid components responsible for mtDNA condensation are HMG box-containing proteins such as mammalian mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) and Abf2p of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To gain insight into the function and organization of mt-nucleoids in strictly aerobic organisms, we initiated studies of these DNA-protein structures in Yarrowia lipolytica. We identified a principal component of mt-nucleoids in this yeast and termed it YlMhb1p (Y. lipolytica mitochondrial HMG box-containing protein 1). YlMhb1p contains two putative HMG boxes contributing both to DNA binding and to its ability to compact mtDNA in vitro. Phenotypic analysis of a Δmhb1 strain lacking YlMhb1p resulted in three interesting findings. First, although the mutant exhibits clear differences in mt-nucleoids accompanied by a large decrease in the mtDNA copy number and the number of mtDNA-derived transcripts, its respiratory characteristics and growth under most of the conditions tested are indistinguishable from those of the wild-type strain. Second, our results indicate that a potential imbalance between subunits of the respiratory chain encoded separately by nuclear DNA and mtDNA is prevented at a (post)translational level. Third, we found that mtDNA in the Δmhb1 strain is more prone to mutations, indicating that mtHMG box-containing proteins protect the mitochondrial genome against mutagenic events. PMID:24972935

Age-Related Mitochondrial DNA Depletion and the Impact on Pancreatic Beta Cell Function

PubMed Central

Nile, Donna L.; Brown, Audrey E.; Kumaheri, Meutia A.; Blair, Helen R.; Heggie, Alison; Miwa, Satomi; Cree, Lynsey M.; Payne, Brendan; Chinnery, Patrick F.; Brown, Louise; Gunn, David A.; Walker, Mark

2014-01-01

Type 2 diabetes is characterised by an age-related decline in insulin secretion. We previously identified a 50% age-related decline in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number in isolated human islets. The purpose of this study was to mimic this degree of mtDNA depletion in MIN6 cells to determine whether there is a direct impact on insulin secretion. Transcriptional silencing of mitochondrial transcription factor A, TFAM, decreased mtDNA levels by 40% in MIN6 cells. This level of mtDNA depletion significantly decreased mtDNA gene transcription and translation, resulting in reduced mitochondrial respiratory capacity and ATP production. Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion was impaired following partial mtDNA depletion, but was normalised following treatment with glibenclamide. This confirms that the deficit in the insulin secretory pathway precedes K+ channel closure, indicating that the impact of mtDNA depletion is at the level of mitochondrial respiration. In conclusion, partial mtDNA depletion to a degree comparable to that seen in aged human islets impaired mitochondrial function and directly decreased insulin secretion. Using our model of partial mtDNA depletion following targeted gene silencing of TFAM, we have managed to mimic the degree of mtDNA depletion observed in aged human islets, and have shown how this correlates with impaired insulin secretion. We therefore predict that the age-related mtDNA depletion in human islets is not simply a biomarker of the aging process, but will contribute to the age-related risk of type 2 diabetes. PMID:25532126

Age-related mitochondrial DNA depletion and the impact on pancreatic Beta cell function.

PubMed

Nile, Donna L; Brown, Audrey E; Kumaheri, Meutia A; Blair, Helen R; Heggie, Alison; Miwa, Satomi; Cree, Lynsey M; Payne, Brendan; Chinnery, Patrick F; Brown, Louise; Gunn, David A; Walker, Mark

2014-01-01

Type 2 diabetes is characterised by an age-related decline in insulin secretion. We previously identified a 50% age-related decline in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number in isolated human islets. The purpose of this study was to mimic this degree of mtDNA depletion in MIN6 cells to determine whether there is a direct impact on insulin secretion. Transcriptional silencing of mitochondrial transcription factor A, TFAM, decreased mtDNA levels by 40% in MIN6 cells. This level of mtDNA depletion significantly decreased mtDNA gene transcription and translation, resulting in reduced mitochondrial respiratory capacity and ATP production. Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion was impaired following partial mtDNA depletion, but was normalised following treatment with glibenclamide. This confirms that the deficit in the insulin secretory pathway precedes K+ channel closure, indicating that the impact of mtDNA depletion is at the level of mitochondrial respiration. In conclusion, partial mtDNA depletion to a degree comparable to that seen in aged human islets impaired mitochondrial function and directly decreased insulin secretion. Using our model of partial mtDNA depletion following targeted gene silencing of TFAM, we have managed to mimic the degree of mtDNA depletion observed in aged human islets, and have shown how this correlates with impaired insulin secretion. We therefore predict that the age-related mtDNA depletion in human islets is not simply a biomarker of the aging process, but will contribute to the age-related risk of type 2 diabetes.

Advocate: A Distributed Architecture for Speech-to-Speech Translation

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-01

tecture, are either wrapped natural-language processing ( NLP ) components or objects developed from scratch using the architecture’s API. GATE is...framework, we put together a demonstration Arabic -to- English speech translation system using both internally developed ( Arabic speech recognition and MT...conditions of our Arabic S2S demonstration system described earlier. Once again, the data size was varied and eighty identical requests were

Machine Translation-Supported Cross-Language Information Retrieval for a Consumer Health Resource

PubMed Central

Rosemblat, Graciela; Gemoets, Darren; Browne, Allen C.; Tse, Tony

2003-01-01

The U.S. National Institutes of Health, through its National Library of Medicine, developed ClinicalTrials.gov to provide the public with easy access to information on clinical trials on a wide range of conditions or diseases. Only English language information retrieval is currently supported. Given the growing number of Spanish speakers in the U.S. and their increasing use of the Web, we anticipate a significant increase in Spanish-speaking users. This study compares the effectiveness of two common cross-language information retrieval methods using machine translation, query translation versus document translation, using a subset of genuine user queries from ClinicalTrials.gov. Preliminary results conducted with the ClinicalTrials.gov search engine show that in our environment, query translation is statistically significantly better than document translation. We discuss possible reasons for this result and we conclude with suggestions for future work. PMID:14728236

Combining MEDLINE and publisher data to create parallel corpora for the automatic translation of biomedical text

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Most of the institutional and research information in the biomedical domain is available in the form of English text. Even in countries where English is an official language, such as the United States, language can be a barrier for accessing biomedical information for non-native speakers. Recent progress in machine translation suggests that this technique could help make English texts accessible to speakers of other languages. However, the lack of adequate specialized corpora needed to train statistical models currently limits the quality of automatic translations in the biomedical domain. Results We show how a large-sized parallel corpus can automatically be obtained for the biomedical domain, using the MEDLINE database. The corpus generated in this work comprises article titles obtained from MEDLINE and abstract text automatically retrieved from journal websites, which substantially extends the corpora used in previous work. After assessing the quality of the corpus for two language pairs (English/French and English/Spanish) we use the Moses package to train a statistical machine translation model that outperforms previous models for automatic translation of biomedical text. Conclusions We have built translation data sets in the biomedical domain that can easily be extended to other languages available in MEDLINE. These sets can successfully be applied to train statistical machine translation models. While further progress should be made by incorporating out-of-domain corpora and domain-specific lexicons, we believe that this work improves the automatic translation of biomedical texts. PMID:23631733

Gain Modulation as a Mechanism for Coding Depth from Motion Parallax in Macaque Area MT

PubMed Central

Kim, HyungGoo R.; Angelaki, Dora E.

2017-01-01

Observer translation produces differential image motion between objects that are located at different distances from the observer's point of fixation [motion parallax (MP)]. However, MP can be ambiguous with respect to depth sign (near vs far), and this ambiguity can be resolved by combining retinal image motion with signals regarding eye movement relative to the scene. We have previously demonstrated that both extra-retinal and visual signals related to smooth eye movements can modulate the responses of neurons in area MT of macaque monkeys, and that these modulations generate neural selectivity for depth sign. However, the neural mechanisms that govern this selectivity have remained unclear. In this study, we analyze responses of MT neurons as a function of both retinal velocity and direction of eye movement, and we show that smooth eye movements modulate MT responses in a systematic, temporally precise, and directionally specific manner to generate depth-sign selectivity. We demonstrate that depth-sign selectivity is primarily generated by multiplicative modulations of the response gain of MT neurons. Through simulations, we further demonstrate that depth can be estimated reasonably well by a linear decoding of a population of MT neurons with response gains that depend on eye velocity. Together, our findings provide the first mechanistic description of how visual cortical neurons signal depth from MP. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Motion parallax is a monocular cue to depth that commonly arises during observer translation. To compute from motion parallax whether an object appears nearer or farther than the point of fixation requires combining retinal image motion with signals related to eye rotation, but the neurobiological mechanisms have remained unclear. This study provides the first mechanistic account of how this interaction takes place in the responses of cortical neurons. Specifically, we show that smooth eye movements modulate the gain of responses of neurons in area MT in a directionally specific manner to generate selectivity for depth sign from motion parallax. We also show, through simulations, that depth could be estimated from a population of such gain-modulated neurons. PMID:28739582

Understanding and Writing G & M Code for CNC Machines

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loveland, Thomas

2012-01-01

In modern CAD and CAM manufacturing companies, engineers design parts for machines and consumable goods. Many of these parts are cut on CNC machines. Whether using a CNC lathe, milling machine, or router, the ideas and designs of engineers must be translated into a machine-readable form called G & M Code that can be used to cut parts to precise…

Duplication of Drosophila melanogaster mitochondrial EF-Tu: pre-adaptation to T-arm truncation and exclusion of bulky aminoacyl residues.

PubMed

Sato, Aya; Suematsu, Takuma; Aihara, Koh-Ki; Kita, Kiyoshi; Suzuki, Tsutomu; Watanabe, Kimitsuna; Ohtsuki, Takashi; Watanabe, Yoh-Ichi

2017-03-07

Translation elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) delivers aminoacyl-tRNA (aa-tRNA) to ribosomes in protein synthesis. EF-Tu generally recognizes aminoacyl moieties and acceptor- and T-stems of aa-tRNAs. However, nematode mitochondrial (mt) tRNAs frequently lack all or part of the T-arm that is recognized by canonical EF-Tu. We previously reported that two distinct EF-Tu species, EF-Tu1 and EF-Tu2, respectively, recognize mt tRNAs lacking T-arms and D-arms in the mitochondria of the chromadorean nematode Caenorhabditis elegans C. elegans EF-Tu2 specifically recognizes the seryl moiety of serylated D-armless tRNAs. Mitochondria of the enoplean nematode Trichinella possess three structural types of tRNAs: T-armless tRNAs, D-armless tRNAs, and cloverleaf tRNAs with a short T-arm. Trichinella mt EF-Tu1 binds to all three types and EF-Tu2 binds only to D-armless Ser-tRNAs, showing an evolutionary intermediate state from canonical EF-Tu to chromadorean nematode (e.g. C. elegans ) EF-Tu species. We report here that two EF-Tu species also participate in Drosophila melanogaster mitochondria. Both D. melanogaster EF-Tu1 and EF-Tu2 bound to cloverleaf and D-armless tRNAs. D. melanogaster EF-Tu1 has the ability to recognize T-armless tRNAs that do not evidently exist in D. melanogaster mitochondria, but do exist in related arthropod species. In addition, D. melanogaster EF-Tu2 preferentially bound to aa-tRNAs carrying small amino acids, but not to aa-tRNAs carrying bulky amino acids. These results suggest that the Drosophila mt translation system could be another intermediate state between the canonical and nematode mitochondria-type translation systems. © 2017 The Author(s); published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

Increased mitochondrial DNA deletions and copy number in transfusion-dependent thalassemia

PubMed Central

Calloway, Cassandra

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND. Iron overload is the primary cause of morbidity in transfusion-dependent thalassemia. Increase in iron causes mitochondrial dysfunction under experimental conditions, but the occurrence and significance of mitochondrial damage is not understood in patients with thalassemia. METHODS. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to nuclear DNA copy number (Mt/N) and frequency of the common 4977-bp mitochondrial deletion (ΔmtDNA4977) were quantified using a quantitative PCR assay on whole blood samples from 38 subjects with thalassemia who were receiving regular transfusions. RESULTS. Compared with healthy controls, Mt/N and ΔmtDNA4977 frequency were elevated in thalassemia (P = 0.038 and P < 0.001, respectively). ΔmtDNA4977 was increased in the presence of either liver iron concentration > 15 mg/g dry-weight or splenectomy, with the highest levels observed in subjects who had both risk factors (P = 0.003). Myocardial iron (MRI T2* < 20 ms) was present in 0%, 22%, and 46% of subjects with ΔmtDNA4977 frequency < 20, 20–40, and > 40/1 × 107 mtDNA, respectively (P = 0.025). Subjects with Mt/N values below the group median had significantly lower Matsuda insulin sensitivity index (5.76 ± 0.53) compared with the high Mt/N group (9.11 ± 0.95, P = 0.008). CONCLUSION. Individuals with transfusion-dependent thalassemia demonstrate age-related increase in mtDNA damage in leukocytes. These changes are markedly amplified by splenectomy and are associated with extrahepatic iron deposition. Elevated mtDNA damage in blood cells may predict the risk of iron-associated organ damage in thalassemia. FUNDING. This project was supported by Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland Institutional Research Award and by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, NIH, through UCSF-CTSI grant UL1 TR000004. PMID:27583305

The extremely divergent maternally- and paternally-transmitted mitochondrial genomes are co-expressed in somatic tissues of two freshwater mussel species with doubly uniparental inheritance of mtDNA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Breton, Sophie; Bouvet, Karim; Auclair, Gabrielle; Ghazal, Stephanie; Sietman, Bernard E.; Johnson, Nathan A.; Bettinazzi, Stefano; Dtewart, Donald T.; Guerra, Davide

2017-01-01

Freshwater mussel species with doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI) of mtDNA are unique because they are naturally heteroplasmic for two extremely divergent mtDNAs with ~50% amino acid differences for protein-coding genes. The paternally-transmitted mtDNA (or M mtDNA) clearly functions in sperm in these species, but it is still unknown whether it is transcribed when present in male or female soma. In the present study, we used PCR and RT-PCR to detect the presence and expression of the M mtDNA in male and female somatic and gonadal tissues of the freshwater mussel species Venustaconcha ellipsiformis and Utterbackia peninsularis (Unionidae). This is the first study demonstrating that the M mtDNA is transcribed not only in male gonads, but also in male and female soma in freshwater mussels with DUI. Because of the potentially deleterious nature of heteroplasmy, we suggest the existence of different mechanisms in DUI species to deal with this possibly harmful situation, such as silencing mechanisms for the M mtDNA at the transcriptional, post-transcriptional and/or post-translational levels. These hypotheses will necessitate additional studies in distantly-related DUI species that could possess different mechanisms of action to deal with heteroplasmy.

Complete mitochondrial genome of the saddleback clownfish Amphiprion polymnus (Pisces: Perciformes, Pomacentridae).

PubMed

Li, Jian-Long; Liu, Min; Hu, Xue-Yi

2016-01-01

The complete mitochondrial (mt) genome of the saddleback clownfish Amphiprion polymnus was obtained in this study. The circular mtDNA molecule was 16,804 bp in size and the overall nucleotide composition of the H-strand was 29.59% A, 25.93% T, 15.44% G and 29.04% C, with an A + T bias. The complete mitogenome encoded 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNAs, 22 tRNAs and 1 control region (D-loop), with the gene arrangement and translation direction basically identical to other typical vertebrate mitogenomes. We found A. polymnus (KJ101554) and A. bicinctus (JQ030887) had the same length in the protein-coding gene ND5 with 1869 bp, while the ND5 in A. ocellaris (AP006017) was 3 bp less than that of A. polymnus and A. bicinctus. Both structures of ND5, however, could translate to amino acid successfully.

The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Eimeria magna (Apicomplexa: Coccidia).

PubMed

Tian, Si-Qin; Cui, Ping; Fang, Su-Fang; Liu, Guo-Hua; Wang, Chun-Ren; Zhu, Xing-Quan

2015-01-01

In the present study, we determined the complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence of Eimeria magna from rabbits for the first time, and compared its gene contents and genome organizations with that of seven Eimeria spp. from domestic chickens. The size of the complete mt genome sequence of E. magna is 6249 bp, which consists of 3 protein-coding genes (cytb, cox1 and cox3), 12 gene fragments for the large subunit (LSU) rRNA, and 7 gene fragments for the small subunit (SSU) rRNA, without transfer RNA genes, in accordance with that of Eimeria spp. from chickens. The putative direction of translation for three genes (cytb, cox1 and cox3) was the same as those of Eimeria species from domestic chickens. The content of A + T is 65.16% for E. magna mt genome (29.73% A, 35.43% T, 17.09 G and 17.75% C). The E. magna mt genome sequence provides novel mtDNA markers for studying the molecular epidemiology and population genetics of Eimeria spp. and has implications for the molecular diagnosis and control of rabbit coccidiosis.

Evolution of Replication Machines

PubMed Central

Yao, Nina Y.; O'Donnell, Mike E.

2016-01-01

The machines that decode and regulate genetic information require the translation, transcription and replication pathways essential to all living cells. Thus, it might be expected that all cells share the same basic machinery for these pathways that were inherited from the primordial ancestor cell from which they evolved. A clear example of this is found in the translation machinery that converts RNA sequence to protein. The translation process requires numerous structural and catalytic RNAs and proteins, the central factors of which are homologous in all three domains of life, bacteria, archaea and eukarya. Likewise, the central actor in transcription, RNA polymerase, shows homology among the catalytic subunits in bacteria, archaea and eukarya. In contrast, while some “gears” of the genome replication machinery are homologous in all domains of life, most components of the replication machine appear to be unrelated between bacteria and those of archaea and eukarya. This review will compare and contrast the central proteins of the “replisome” machines that duplicate DNA in bacteria, archaea and eukarya, with an eye to understanding the issues surrounding the evolution of the DNA replication apparatus. PMID:27160337

Improving Statistical Machine Translation Through N-best List Re-ranking and Optimization

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-27

of Master of Science in Cyber Operations Jordan S. Keefer, B.S.C.S. Second Lieutenant, USAF March 2014 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: APPROVED FOR PUBLIC...Atlantic Trade Organization NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology NL natural language NSF National Science Foundation ix Acronym Definition...the machine translation problem. In 1964 the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), 4 Dr. Leland Haworth, commissioned a research team to

Extracting Date/Time Expressions in Super-Function Based Japanese-English Machine Translation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sasayama, Manabu; Kuroiwa, Shingo; Ren, Fuji

Super-Function Based Machine Translation(SFBMT) which is a type of Example-Based Machine Translation has a feature which makes it possible to expand the coverage of examples by changing nouns into variables, however, there were problems extracting entire date/time expressions containing parts-of-speech other than nouns, because only nouns/numbers were changed into variables. We describe a method for extracting date/time expressions for SFBMT. SFBMT uses noun determination rules to extract nouns and a bilingual dictionary to obtain correspondence of the extracted nouns between the source and the target languages. In this method, we add a rule to extract date/time expressions and then extract date/time expressions from a Japanese-English bilingual corpus. The evaluation results shows that the precision of this method for Japanese sentences is 96.7%, with a recall of 98.2% and the precision for English sentences is 94.7%, with a recall of 92.7%.

Argonne Braille Project

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grunwald, A.

1977-07-01

Development of a braille machine is summarized. It is noted that the machine has reached the stage where development of the system appears both possible and desirable. Sections are included containing papers on computer translation and auxiliary equipment, and on letters and awards in recognition of the braille machine development. (JRD)

A Double-Edged Sword: The Merits and the Policy Implications of Google Translate in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mundt, Klaus; Groves, Michael

2016-01-01

Machine translation, specifically Google Translate, is freely available, and is improving in its ability to provide grammatically accurate translations. This development has the potential to provoke a major transformation in the internationalization process at universities, since students may be, in the future, able to use technology to circumvent…

On-Demand Associative Cross-Language Information Retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geraldo, André Pinto; Moreira, Viviane P.; Gonçalves, Marcos A.

This paper proposes the use of algorithms for mining association rules as an approach for Cross-Language Information Retrieval. These algorithms have been widely used to analyse market basket data. The idea is to map the problem of finding associations between sales items to the problem of finding term translations over a parallel corpus. The proposal was validated by means of experiments using queries in two distinct languages: Portuguese and Finnish to retrieve documents in English. The results show that the performance of our proposed approach is comparable to the performance of the monolingual baseline and to query translation via machine translation, even though these systems employ more complex Natural Language Processing techniques. The combination between machine translation and our approach yielded the best results, even outperforming the monolingual baseline.

A Wavelet Bicoherence-Based Quadratic Nonlinearity Feature for Translational Axis Condition Monitoring

PubMed Central

Li, Yong; Wang, Xiufeng; Lin, Jing; Shi, Shengyu

2014-01-01

The translational axis is one of the most important subsystems in modern machine tools, as its degradation may result in the loss of the product qualification and lower the control precision. Condition-based maintenance (CBM) has been considered as one of the advanced maintenance schemes to achieve effective, reliable and cost-effective operation of machine systems, however, current vibration-based maintenance schemes cannot be employed directly in the translational axis system, due to its complex structure and the inefficiency of commonly used condition monitoring features. In this paper, a wavelet bicoherence-based quadratic nonlinearity feature is proposed for translational axis condition monitoring by using the torque signature of the drive servomotor. Firstly, the quadratic nonlinearity of the servomotor torque signature is discussed, and then, a biphase randomization wavelet bicoherence is introduced for its quadratic nonlinear detection. On this basis, a quadratic nonlinearity feature is proposed for condition monitoring of the translational axis. The properties of the proposed quadratic nonlinearity feature are investigated by simulations. Subsequently, this feature is applied to the real-world servomotor torque data collected from the X-axis on a high precision vertical machining centre. All the results show that the performance of the proposed feature is much better than that of original condition monitoring features. PMID:24473281

Learning Machine, Vietnamese Based Human-Computer Interface.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Northwest Regional Educational Lab., Portland, OR.

The sixth session of IT@EDU98 consisted of seven papers on the topic of the learning machine--Vietnamese based human-computer interface, and was chaired by Phan Viet Hoang (Informatics College, Singapore). "Knowledge Based Approach for English Vietnamese Machine Translation" (Hoang Kiem, Dinh Dien) presents the knowledge base approach,…

In silico prediction of post-translational modifications.

PubMed

Liu, Chunmei; Li, Hui

2011-01-01

Methods for predicting protein post-translational modifications have been developed extensively. In this chapter, we review major post-translational modification prediction strategies, with a particular focus on statistical and machine learning approaches. We present the workflow of the methods and summarize the advantages and disadvantages of the methods.

Agomelatine: mechanism of action and pharmacological profile in relation to antidepressant properties

PubMed Central

Guardiola-Lemaitre, B; De Bodinat, C; Delagrange, P; Millan, M J; Munoz, C; Mocaër, E

2014-01-01

Agomelatine behaves both as a potent agonist at melatonin MT1 and MT2 receptors and as a neutral antagonist at 5-HT2C receptors. Accumulating evidence in a broad range of experimental procedures supports the notion that the psychotropic effects of agomelatine are due to the synergy between its melatonergic and 5-hydroxytryptaminergic effects. The recent demonstration of the existence of heteromeric complexes of MT1 and MT2 with 5-HT2C receptors at the cellular level may explain how these two properties of agomelatine translate into a synergistic action that, for example, leads to increases in hippocampal proliferation, maturation and survival through modulation of multiple cellular pathways (increase in trophic factors, synaptic remodelling, glutamate signalling) and key targets (early genes, kinases). The present review focuses on the pharmacological properties of this novel antidepressant. Its mechanism of action, strikingly different from that of conventional classes of antidepressants, opens perspectives towards a better understanding of the physiopathological bases underlying depression. PMID:24724693

The evolutionary history of Saccharomyces species inferred from completed mitochondrial genomes and revision in the ‘yeast mitochondrial genetic code’

PubMed Central

Szabóová, Dana; Bielik, Peter; Poláková, Silvia; Šoltys, Katarína; Jatzová, Katarína; Szemes, Tomáš

2017-01-01

Abstract The yeast Saccharomyces are widely used to test ecological and evolutionary hypotheses. A large number of nuclear genomic DNA sequences are available, but mitochondrial genomic data are insufficient. We completed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing from Illumina MiSeq reads for all Saccharomyces species. All are circularly mapped molecules decreasing in size with phylogenetic distance from Saccharomyces cerevisiae but with similar gene content including regulatory and selfish elements like origins of replication, introns, free-standing open reading frames or GC clusters. Their most profound feature is species-specific alteration in gene order. The genetic code slightly differs from well-established yeast mitochondrial code as GUG is used rarely as the translation start and CGA and CGC code for arginine. The multilocus phylogeny, inferred from mtDNA, does not correlate with the trees derived from nuclear genes. mtDNA data demonstrate that Saccharomyces cariocanus should be assigned as a separate species and Saccharomyces bayanus CBS 380T should not be considered as a distinct species due to mtDNA nearly identical to Saccharomyces uvarum mtDNA. Apparently, comparison of mtDNAs should not be neglected in genomic studies as it is an important tool to understand the origin and evolutionary history of some yeast species. PMID:28992063

Traduccion automatica mediante el ordenador (Automatic Translation Using a Computer).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bueno, Julian L.

This report on machine translation contains a brief history of the field; a description of the processes involved; a discussion of systems currently in use, including three software packages on the market (Teaching Assistant, Translate, and Globalink); reflections on implications for teaching; observations of results obtained when elements of…

An Overall Perspective of Machine Translation with Its Shortcomings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akbari, Alireza

2014-01-01

The petition for language translation has strikingly augmented recently due to cross-cultural communication and exchange of information. In order to communicate well, text should be translated correctly and completely in each field such as legal documents, technical texts, scientific texts, publicity leaflets, and instructional materials. In this…

A nitrogen-dependent switch in the high affinity ammonium transport in Medicago truncatula.

PubMed

Straub, Daniel; Ludewig, Uwe; Neuhäuser, Benjamin

2014-11-01

Ammonium transporters (AMTs) are crucial for the high affinity primary uptake and translocation of ammonium in plants. In the model legume Medicago truncatula, the genomic set of AMT-type ammonium transporters comprises eight members. Only four genes were abundantly expressed in young seedlings, both in roots and shoots. While the expression of all AMTs in the shoot was not affected by the nitrogen availability, the dominating MtAMT1;1 gene was repressed by nitrogen in roots, despite that cellular nitrogen concentrations were far above deficiency levels. A contrasting de-repression by nitrogen was observed for MtAMT1;4 and MtAMT2;1, which were both expressed at intermediate level. Weak expression was found for MtAMT1;2 and MtAMT2;3, while the other AMTs were not detected in young seedlings. When expressed from their endogenous promoters, translational fusion proteins of MtAMT1;1 and MtAMT2;1 with green fluorescent protein were co-localized in the plasma membrane of rhizodermal cells, but also detected in cortical root layers. Both transporter proteins similarly functionally complemented a yeast strain that is deficient in high affinity ammonium transport, both at acidic and neutral pH. The uptake into yeast mediated by these transporters saturated with Km AMT1;1 = 89 µM and Km AMT2;1 = 123 µM, respectively. When expressed in oocytes, MtAMT1;1 mediated much larger (15)N-ammonium uptake than MtAMT2;1, but NH4 (+) currents were only recorded for MtAMT1;1. These currents saturated with a voltage-dependent Km = 90 µM at -80 mV. The cellular localization and regulation of the AMTs suggests that MtAMT1;1 encodes the major high affinity ammonium transporter gene in low nitrogen grown young M. truncatula roots and despite the similar localization and substrate affinity, MtAMT2;1 appears functionally distinct and more important at higher nitrogen supply.

Discriminative feature-rich models for syntax-based machine translation.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dixon, Kevin R.

This report describes the campus executive LDRD %E2%80%9CDiscriminative Feature-Rich Models for Syntax-Based Machine Translation,%E2%80%9D which was an effort to foster a better relationship between Sandia and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). The primary purpose of the LDRD was to fund the research of a promising graduate student at CMU; in this case, Kevin Gimpel was selected from the pool of candidates. This report gives a brief overview of Kevin Gimpel's research.

Body Metaphors: Some Implications for Movement Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Carol-Lynne

1987-01-01

Images of one's body, shared consciously or unconsciously by teacher and student, significantly influence all aspects of movement education including instructional philosophy, curriculum, and method. Discussed are the metaphors of body as beast, as machine, as objet d'art, and as child and how these metaphors affect instruction. (MT)

The Landscape of mtDNA Modifications in Cancer: A Tale of Two Cities.

PubMed

Hertweck, Kate L; Dasgupta, Santanu

2017-01-01

Mitochondria from normal and cancerous cells represent a tale of two cities, wherein both execute similar processes but with different cellular and molecular effects. Given the number of reviews currently available which describe the functional implications of mitochondrial mutations in cancer, this article focuses on documenting current knowledge in the abundance and distribution of somatic mitochondrial mutations, followed by elucidation of processes which affect the fate of mutations in cancer cells. The conclusion includes an overview of translational implications for mtDNA mutations, as well as recommendations for future research uniting mitochondrial variants and tumorigenesis.

International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology. LXXV. Nomenclature, Classification, and Pharmacology of G Protein-Coupled Melatonin Receptors

PubMed Central

Delagrange, Philippe; Krause, Diana N.; Sugden, David; Cardinali, Daniel P.; Olcese, James

2010-01-01

The hormone melatonin (5-methoxy-N-acetyltryptamine) is synthesized primarily in the pineal gland and retina, and in several peripheral tissues and organs. In the circulation, the concentration of melatonin follows a circadian rhythm, with high levels at night providing timing cues to target tissues endowed with melatonin receptors. Melatonin receptors receive and translate melatonin's message to influence daily and seasonal rhythms of physiology and behavior. The melatonin message is translated through activation of two G protein-coupled receptors, MT1 and MT2, that are potential therapeutic targets in disorders ranging from insomnia and circadian sleep disorders to depression, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. This review summarizes the steps taken since melatonin's discovery by Aaron Lerner in 1958 to functionally characterize, clone, and localize receptors in mammalian tissues. The pharmacological and molecular properties of the receptors are described as well as current efforts to discover and develop ligands for treatment of a number of illnesses, including sleep disorders, depression, and cancer. PMID:20605968

Influence of phthiocerol dimycocerosate on CD4(+) T cell priming and persistence during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

PubMed

Pinto, Rachel; Nambiar, Jonathan K; Leotta, Lisa; Counoupas, Claudio; Britton, Warwick J; Triccas, James A

2016-07-01

The characterisation of mycobacterial factors that influence or modulate the host immune response may aid the development of more efficacious TB vaccines. We have previously reported that Mycobacterium tuberculosis deficient in export of Phthiocerol Dimycocerosates (DIM) (MT103(ΔdrrC)) is more attenuated than wild type M. tuberculosis and provides sustained protective immunity compared to the existing BCG vaccine. Here we sought to define the correlates of immunity associated with DIM deficiency by assessing the impact of MT103(ΔdrrC) delivery on antigen presenting cell (APC) function and the generation of CD4(+) T cell antigen-specific immunity. MT103(ΔdrrC) was a potent activator of bone marrow derived dendritic cells, inducing significantly greater expression of CD86 and IL-12p40 compared to BCG or the MT103 parental strain. This translated to an increased ability to initiate early in vivo priming of antigen-specific CD4(+) T cells compared to BCG with enhanced release of IFN-γ and TNF upon antigen-restimulation. The heightened immunity induced by MT103(ΔdrrC) correlated with greater persistence within the spleen compared to BCG, however both MT103(ΔdrrC) and BCG were undetectable in the lung at 70 days post-vaccination. In immunodeficient RAG (-/-) mice, MT103(ΔdrrC) was less virulent than the parental MT103 strain, yet MT103(ΔdrrC) infected mice succumbed more rapidly compared to BCG-infected animals. These results suggest that DIM translocation plays a role in APC stimulation and CD4(+) T cell activation during M. tuberculosis infection and highlights the potential of DIM-deficient strains as novel TB vaccine candidates. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Searching to Translate and Translating to Search: When Information Retrieval Meets Machine Translation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ture, Ferhan

2013-01-01

With the adoption of web services in daily life, people have access to tremendous amounts of information, beyond any human's reading and comprehension capabilities. As a result, search technologies have become a fundamental tool for accessing information. Furthermore, the web contains information in multiple languages, introducing another barrier…

Development of German-English Machine Translation System. Final Technical Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lehmann, Winfred P.; Stachowitz, Rolf A.

This report describes work on a pilot system for a fully automatic, high-quality translation of German scientific and technical text into English and gives the results of an experiment designed to show the system's capability to produce quality mechanical translation. The areas considered were: (1) grammar formalism, mainly involving the addition…

ON THE QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF THE TERMINOLOGY OF A VOCABULARY.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

KRAVETS, L.G.

THE CREATION OF AN INDUSTRIAL SYSTEM OF MACHINE TRANSLATION WITH AUTOMATIC INDEXING OF THE TRANSLATED MATERIALS PRESUMES THE DEVELOPMENT OF DICTIONARIES WHICH PROVIDE FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF KEY WORDS AND WORD COMBINATIONS, FOLLOWED BY THEIR TRANSLATION INTO THE DESCRIPTORS OF THE SEARCH LANGUAGE. THREE SIGNS WHICH SHOW THAT A GIVEN WORD IS A…

CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation). PEPNet Tipsheet

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larson, Judy, Comp.

1999-01-01

Communication Access Realtime Translation--(CART)--is the instant translation of the spoken word into English text performed by a CART reporter using a stenotype machine, notebook computer and realtime software. The text is then displayed on a computer monitor or other display device for the student who is deaf or hard of hearing to read. This…

Thymidine kinase and mtDNA depletion in human cardiomyopathy: epigenetic and translational evidence for energy starvation

PubMed Central

Koczor, Christopher A.; Torres, Rebecca A.; Fields, Earl J.; Boyd, Amy; He, Stanley; Patel, Nilamkumar; Lee, Eva K.; Samarel, Allen M.

2013-01-01

This study addresses how depletion of human cardiac left ventricle (LV) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and epigenetic nuclear DNA methylation promote cardiac dysfunction in human dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) through regulation of pyrimidine nucleotide kinases. Samples of DCM LV and right ventricle (n = 18) were obtained fresh at heart transplant surgery. Parallel samples from nonfailing (NF) controls (n = 12) were from donor hearts found unsuitable for clinical use. We analyzed abundance of mtDNA and nuclear DNA (nDNA) using qPCR. LV mtDNA was depleted in DCM (50%, P < 0.05 each) compared with NF. No detectable change in RV mtDNA abundance occurred. DNA methylation and gene expression were determined using microarray analysis (GEO accession number: GSE43435). Fifty-seven gene promoters exhibited DNA hypermethylation or hypomethylation in DCM LVs. Among those, cytosolic thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) was hypermethylated. Expression arrays revealed decreased abundance of the TK1 mRNA transcript with no change in transcripts for other relevant thymidine metabolism enzymes. Quantitative immunoblots confirmed decreased TK1 polypeptide steady state abundance. TK1 activity remained unchanged in DCM samples while mitochondrial thymidine kinase (TK2) activity was significantly reduced. Compensatory TK activity was found in cardiac myocytes in the DCM LV. Diminished TK2 activity is mechanistically important to reduced mtDNA abundance and identified in DCM LV samples here. Epigenetic and genetic changes result in changes in mtDNA and in nucleotide substrates for mtDNA replication and underpin energy starvation in DCM. PMID:23695887

The Music Therapy Session Assessment Scale (MT-SAS): Validation of a new tool for music therapy process evaluation.

PubMed

Raglio, Alfredo; Gnesi, Marco; Monti, Maria Cristina; Oasi, Osmano; Gianotti, Marta; Attardo, Lapo; Gontero, Giulia; Morotti, Lara; Boffelli, Sara; Imbriani, Chiara; Montomoli, Cristina; Imbriani, Marcello

2017-11-01

Music therapy (MT) interventions are aimed at creating and developing a relationship between patient and therapist. However, there is a lack of validated observational instruments to consistently evaluate the MT process. The purpose of this study was the validation of Music Therapy Session Assessment Scale (MT-SAS), designed to assess the relationship between therapist and patient during active MT sessions. Videotapes of a single 30-min session per patient were considered. A pilot study on the videotapes of 10 patients was carried out to help refine the items, define the scoring system and improve inter-rater reliability among the five raters. Then, a validation study on 100 patients with different clinical conditions was carried out. The Italian MT-SAS was used throughout the process, although we also provide an English translation. The final scale consisted of 7 binary items accounting for eye contact, countenance, and nonverbal and sound-music communication. In the pilot study, raters were found to share an acceptable level of agreement in their assessments. Explorative factorial analysis disclosed a single homogeneous factor including 6 items (thus supporting an ordinal total score), with only the item about eye contact being unrelated to the others. Moreover, the existence of 2 different archetypal profiles of attuned and disattuned behaviours was highlighted through multiple correspondence analysis. As suggested by the consistent results of 2 different analyses, MT-SAS is a reliable tool that globally evaluates sonorous-musical and nonverbal behaviours related to emotional attunement and empathetic relationship between patient and therapist during active MT sessions. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Fortran-P Translator: Towards Automatic Translation of Fortran 77 Programs for Massively Parallel Processors

DOE PAGES

O'keefe, Matthew; Parr, Terence; Edgar, B. Kevin; ...

1995-01-01

Massively parallel processors (MPPs) hold the promise of extremely high performance that, if realized, could be used to study problems of unprecedented size and complexity. One of the primary stumbling blocks to this promise has been the lack of tools to translate application codes to MPP form. In this article we show how applications codes written in a subset of Fortran 77, called Fortran-P, can be translated to achieve good performance on several massively parallel machines. This subset can express codes that are self-similar, where the algorithm applied to the global data domain is also applied to each subdomain. Wemore » have found many codes that match the Fortran-P programming style and have converted them using our tools. We believe a self-similar coding style will accomplish what a vectorizable style has accomplished for vector machines by allowing the construction of robust, user-friendly, automatic translation systems that increase programmer productivity and generate fast, efficient code for MPPs.« less

Learning molecular energies using localized graph kernels.

PubMed

Ferré, Grégoire; Haut, Terry; Barros, Kipton

2017-03-21

Recent machine learning methods make it possible to model potential energy of atomic configurations with chemical-level accuracy (as calculated from ab initio calculations) and at speeds suitable for molecular dynamics simulation. Best performance is achieved when the known physical constraints are encoded in the machine learning models. For example, the atomic energy is invariant under global translations and rotations; it is also invariant to permutations of same-species atoms. Although simple to state, these symmetries are complicated to encode into machine learning algorithms. In this paper, we present a machine learning approach based on graph theory that naturally incorporates translation, rotation, and permutation symmetries. Specifically, we use a random walk graph kernel to measure the similarity of two adjacency matrices, each of which represents a local atomic environment. This Graph Approximated Energy (GRAPE) approach is flexible and admits many possible extensions. We benchmark a simple version of GRAPE by predicting atomization energies on a standard dataset of organic molecules.

Learning molecular energies using localized graph kernels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferré, Grégoire; Haut, Terry; Barros, Kipton

2017-03-01

Recent machine learning methods make it possible to model potential energy of atomic configurations with chemical-level accuracy (as calculated from ab initio calculations) and at speeds suitable for molecular dynamics simulation. Best performance is achieved when the known physical constraints are encoded in the machine learning models. For example, the atomic energy is invariant under global translations and rotations; it is also invariant to permutations of same-species atoms. Although simple to state, these symmetries are complicated to encode into machine learning algorithms. In this paper, we present a machine learning approach based on graph theory that naturally incorporates translation, rotation, and permutation symmetries. Specifically, we use a random walk graph kernel to measure the similarity of two adjacency matrices, each of which represents a local atomic environment. This Graph Approximated Energy (GRAPE) approach is flexible and admits many possible extensions. We benchmark a simple version of GRAPE by predicting atomization energies on a standard dataset of organic molecules.

Tinnitus in patients with hearing loss due to mitochondrial DNA pathogenic variants.

PubMed

Lechowicz, Urszula; Pollak, Agnieszka; Raj-Koziak, Danuta; Dziendziel, Beata; Skarżyński, Piotr Henryk; Skarżyński, Henryk; Ołdak, Monika

2018-06-23

Tinnitus described as individual perception of phantom sound constitutes a significant medical problem and has become an essential subject of many studies conducted worldwide. In the study, we aimed to examine the prevalence of tinnitus among Polish hearing loss (HL) patients with identified mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variants. Among the selected group of unrelated HL patients with known mtDNA pathogenic variants, two questionnaires were conducted, i.e. Tinnitus Handicap Inventory translated into Polish (THI-POL) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for measuring subjectively perceived tinnitus loudness, distress, annoyance and possibility of coping with this condition (VASs). Pathogenic mtDNA variants were detected with real-time PCR and sequencing of the whole mtDNA. This is the first extensive tinnitus characterization using THI-POL and VASs questionnaires in HL patients due to mtDNA variants. We have established the prevalence of tinnitus among the studied group at 23.5%. We found that there are no statistically significant differences in the prevalence of tinnitus and its characteristic features between HL patients with known HL mtDNA variants and the general Polish population. In Polish HL patients with tinnitus, m.7511T>C was significantly more frequent than in patients without tinnitus. We observed that the prevalence of tinnitus is lower in Polish patients with m.1555A>G as compared to other available data. Our data suggest that the mtDNA variants causative of HL may affect tinnitus development but this effect seems to be ethnic-specific.

Mitochondrial dysfunction in migraine.

PubMed

Yorns, William R; Hardison, H Huntley

2013-09-01

Migraine is the most frequent type of headache in children. In the 1980s, scientists first hypothesized a connection between migraine and mitochondrial (mt) disorders. More recent studies have suggested that at least some subtypes of migraine may be related to a mt defect. Different types of evidence support a relationship between mitochondria (mt) and migraine: (1) Biochemical evidence: Abnormal mt function translates into high intracellular penetration of Ca(2+), excessive production of free radicals, and deficient oxidative phosphorylation, which ultimately causes energy failure in neurons and astrocytes, thus triggering migraine mechanisms, including spreading depression. The mt markers of these events are low activity of superoxide dismutase, activation of cytochrome-c oxidase and nitric oxide, high levels of lactate and pyruvate, and low ratios of phosphocreatine-inorganic phosphate and N-acetylaspartate-choline. (2) Morphologic evidence: mt abnormalities have been shown in migraine sufferers, the most characteristic ones being direct observation in muscle biopsy of ragged red and cytochrome-c oxidase-negative fibers, accumulation of subsarcolemmal mt, and demonstration of giant mt with paracrystalline inclusions. (3) Genetic evidence: Recent studies have identified specific mutations responsible for migraine susceptibility. However, the investigation of the mtDNA mutations found in classic mt disorders (mt encephalomyopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes, myoclonus epilepsy with ragged red fibers, Kearns-Sayre syndrome, and Leber hereditary optic neuropathy) has not demonstrated any association. Recently, 2 common mtDNA polymorphisms (16519C→T and 3010G→A) have been associated with pediatric cyclic vomiting syndrome and migraine. Also, POLG mutations (eg, p.T851 A, p.N468D, p.Y831C, p.G517V, and p.P163S) can cause disease through impaired replication of mtDNA, including migraine. Further studies to investigate the relationship between mtDNA and migraine will require very large sample sizes to obtain statistically significant results. (4) Therapeutic evidence: Several agents that have a positive effect on mt metabolism have shown to be effective in the treatment of migraines. The agents include riboflavin (B2), coenzyme Q10, magnesium, niacin, carnitine, topiramate, and lipoic acid. Further study is warranted to learn how mt interact with other factors to cause migraines. This will facilitate the development of new and more specific treatments that will reduce the frequency or severity or both of this disease. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Inc.

A Bayesian model averaging method for improving SMT phrase table

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duan, Nan

2013-03-01

Previous methods on improving translation quality by employing multiple SMT models usually carry out as a second-pass decision procedure on hypotheses from multiple systems using extra features instead of using features in existing models in more depth. In this paper, we propose translation model generalization (TMG), an approach that updates probability feature values for the translation model being used based on the model itself and a set of auxiliary models, aiming to alleviate the over-estimation problem and enhance translation quality in the first-pass decoding phase. We validate our approach for translation models based on auxiliary models built by two different ways. We also introduce novel probability variance features into the log-linear models for further improvements. We conclude our approach can be developed independently and integrated into current SMT pipeline directly. We demonstrate BLEU improvements on the NIST Chinese-to-English MT tasks for single-system decodings.

The Application of Curve Fitting on the Voltammograms of Various Isoforms of Metallothioneins–Metal Complexes

PubMed Central

Merlos Rodrigo, Miguel Angel; Molina-López, Jorge; Jimenez Jimenez, Ana Maria; Planells Del Pozo, Elena; Adam, Pavlina; Eckschlager, Tomas; Zitka, Ondrej; Richtera, Lukas; Adam, Vojtech

2017-01-01

The translation of metallothioneins (MTs) is one of the defense strategies by which organisms protect themselves from metal-induced toxicity. MTs belong to a family of proteins comprising MT-1, MT-2, MT-3, and MT-4 classes, with multiple isoforms within each class. The main aim of this study was to determine the behavior of MT in dependence on various externally modelled environments, using electrochemistry. In our study, the mass distribution of MTs was characterized using MALDI-TOF. After that, adsorptive transfer stripping technique with differential pulse voltammetry was selected for optimization of electrochemical detection of MTs with regard to accumulation time and pH effects. Our results show that utilization of 0.5 M NaCl, pH 6.4, as the supporting electrolyte provides a highly complicated fingerprint, showing a number of non-resolved voltammograms. Hence, we further resolved the voltammograms exhibiting the broad and overlapping signals using curve fitting. The separated signals were assigned to the electrochemical responses of several MT complexes with zinc(II), cadmium(II), and copper(II), respectively. Our results show that electrochemistry could serve as a great tool for metalloproteomic applications to determine the ratio of metal ion bonds within the target protein structure, however, it provides highly complicated signals, which require further resolution using a proper statistical method, such as curve fitting. PMID:28287470

MBASIC batch processor architectural overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reynolds, S. M.

1978-01-01

The MBASIC (TM) batch processor, a language translator designed to operate in the MBASIC (TM) environment is described. Features include: (1) a CONVERT TO BATCH command, usable from the ready mode; and (2) translation of the users program in stages through several levels of intermediate language and optimization. The processor is to be designed and implemented in both machine-independent and machine-dependent sections. The architecture is planned so that optimization processes are transparent to the rest of the system and need not be included in the first design implementation cycle.

Assessments of cellular melatonin receptor signaling pathways: β-arrestin recruitment, receptor internalization, and impedance variations.

PubMed

Dupré, Clémence; Bruno, Olivier; Bonnaud, Anne; Giganti, Adeline; Nosjean, Olivier; Legros, Céline; Boutin, Jean A

2018-01-05

Melatonin receptors belong to the family of G-protein coupled receptors. Agonist-induced receptor activation is terminated with the recruitment of β-arrestin, which leads to receptor internalization. Furthermore, agonist binding induces a shift in cellular shape that translates into a change in the electric impedance of the cell. In the present study, we employed engineered cells to study these internalization-related processes in the context of the two melatonin receptors, MT 1 and MT 2 . To assess these three receptor internalization-related functions and validate the results, we employed four classical ligands of melatonin receptors: the natural agonist melatonin; the super-agonist 2-iodo-melatonin and the two antagonists luzindole and 4-phenyl-2-propionamidotetralin. The assessments confirmed the nature of the agonistic ligands but showed that 4-phenyl-2-propionamidotetralin, a described antagonist, is a biased partial agonist at MT 2 with poorer affinity for MT 1 . The methods are now available to be applied to any receptor system for which multiple signaling pathways must be evaluated for new molecules. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Animal Mitochondrial DNA as We Do Not Know It: mt-Genome Organization and Evolution in Nonbilaterian Lineages

PubMed Central

Pett, Walker

2016-01-01

Abstract Animal mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is commonly described as a small, circular molecule that is conserved in size, gene content, and organization. Data collected in the last decade have challenged this view by revealing considerable diversity in animal mitochondrial genome organization. Much of this diversity has been found in nonbilaterian animals (phyla Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Placozoa, and Porifera), which, from a phylogenetic perspective, form the main branches of the animal tree along with Bilateria. Within these groups, mt-genomes are characterized by varying numbers of both linear and circular chromosomes, extra genes (e.g. atp9, polB, tatC), large variation in the number of encoded mitochondrial transfer RNAs (tRNAs) (0–25), at least seven different genetic codes, presence/absence of introns, tRNA and mRNA editing, fragmented ribosomal RNA genes, translational frameshifting, highly variable substitution rates, and a large range of genome sizes. This newly discovered diversity allows a better understanding of the evolutionary plasticity and conservation of animal mtDNA and provides insights into the molecular and evolutionary mechanisms shaping mitochondrial genomes. PMID:27557826

CLIR Experiments at Maryland for TREC-2002: Evidence Combination for Arabic-English Retrieval

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-01-01

translation resources of three types (machine translation lexicons, a printed bilingual dictionary that had been manually rekeyed, and translation...on both the term list and the collection). • The Salmone Arabic-to-English dictionary , which was made available for use in the TREC-CLIR track by...Tufts University. No translation preference information is provided in this dictionary , but it does include rich markup describing morphology and part

The complete mitochondrial genome of Setaria digitata (Nematoda: Filarioidea): Mitochondrial gene content, arrangement and composition compared with other nematodes.

PubMed

Yatawara, Lalani; Wickramasinghe, Susiji; Rajapakse, R P V J; Agatsuma, Takeshi

2010-09-01

In the present study, we determined the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome sequence (13,839bp) of parasitic nematode Setaria digitata and its structure and organization compared with Onchocerca volvulus, Dirofilaria immitis and Brugia malayi. The mt genome of S. digitata is slightly larger than the mt genomes of other filarial nematodes. S. digitata mt genome contains 36 genes (12 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNAs and 2 ribosomal RNAs) that are typically found in metazoans. This genome contains a high A+T (75.1%) content and low G+C content (24.9%). The mt gene order for S. digitata is the same as those for O. volvulus, D. immitis and B. malayi but it is distinctly different from other nematodes compared. The start codons inferred in the mt genome of S. digitata are TTT, ATT, TTG, ATG, GTT and ATA. Interestingly, the initiation codon TTT is unique to S. digitata mt genome and four protein-coding genes use this codon as a translation initiation codon. Five protein-coding genes use TAG as a stop codon whereas three genes use TAA and four genes use T as a termination codon. Out of 64 possible codons, only 57 are used for mitochondrial protein-coding genes of S. digitata. T-rich codons such as TTT (18.9%), GTT (7.9%), TTG (7.8%), TAT (7%), ATT (5.7%), TCT (4.8%) and TTA (4.1%) are used more frequently. This pattern of codon usage reflects the strong bias for T in the mt genome of S. digitata. In conclusion, the present investigation provides new molecular data for future studies of the comparative mitochondrial genomics and systematic of parasitic nematodes of socio-economic importance. 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Clinical Outcome After Mechanical Thrombectomy in Non-elderly Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke in the Anterior Circulation: Primary Admission Versus Patients Referred from Remote Hospitals.

PubMed

Pfaff, J; Pham, M; Herweh, C; Wolf, M; Ringleb, P A; Schönenberger, S; Bendszus, M; Möhlenbruch, M

2017-06-01

Stroke networks have been installed to increase access to advanced stroke specific treatments like mechanical thrombectomy (MT). This concept often requires patients to be transferred to a comprehensive stroke center (CSC) offering MT. Do patient referral, transportation, and logistic effort translate into clinical outcomes comparable to patients admitted primarily to the CSC? We categorized 112 patients with acute ischemic stroke in the anterior circulation, who received MT at our institution, into primary admissions (A) and referrals from either local (B) or regional (C) hospitals, assessed the clinical outcome, and tested the impact of distance and delay of transportation from the referring remote hospital. The median time from symptom onset to initial CT was similar in all groups (p = 0,939). Patients who were transferred to the CSC had significantly increasing median time between initial CT and MT (in minutes (interquartile range [IQR]); A: 83 [68-120]; B: 174 [159-208]; C: 220 [181-235]; p < 0.001) and median time between onset to MT (in minutes [IQR]; A: 178 [150-210]; B: 274 [238-349]; C: 293 [256-329]; p < 0.001). After 90 days of MT there was no significant difference in clinical outcome (modified Rankin Scale ≤ 2) between primary admitted and referred patients (p = 0.502). Clinical outcome in patients who received MT after transfer from either local or regional remote hospitals was not significantly worse than in patients primarily admitted to the CSC. In the event of an acute ischemic stroke patients living in urban or rural areas should, despite a possible delay, have access to MT.

Differences in the epigenetic regulation of MT-3 gene expression between parental and Cd+2 or As+3 transformed human urothelial cells

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Studies have shown that metallothionein 3 (MT-3) is not expressed in normal urothelium or in the UROtsa cell line, but is expressed in urothelial cancer and in tumors generated from the UROtsa cells that have been transformed by cadmium (Cd+2) or arsenite (As+3).The present study had two major goals. One, to determine if epigenetic modifications control urothelial MT-3 gene expression and if regulation is altered by malignant transformation by Cd+2 or As+3. Two, to determine if MT-3 expression might translate clinically as a biomarker for malignant urothelial cells released into the urine. Results The histone deacetylase inhibitor MS-275 induced MT-3 mRNA expression in both parental UROtsa cells and their transformed counterparts. The demethylating agent, 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-AZC) had no effect on MT-3 mRNA expression. ChIP analysis showed that metal-responsive transformation factor-1 (MTF-1) binding to metal response elements (MRE) elements of the MT-3 promoter was restricted in parental UROtsa cells, but MTF-1 binding to the MREs was unrestricted in the transformed cell lines. Histone modifications at acetyl H4, trimethyl H3K4, trimethyl H3K27, and trimethyl H3K9 were compared between the parental and transformed cell lines in the presence and absence of MS-275. The pattern of histone modifications suggested that the MT-3 promoter in the Cd+2 and As+3 transformed cells has gained bivalent chromatin structure, having elements of being "transcriptionally repressed" and "transcription ready", when compared to parental cells. An analysis of MT-3 staining in urinary cytologies showed that a subset of both active and non-active patients with urothelial cancer shed positive cells in their urine, but that control patients only rarely shed MT-3 positive cells. Conclusion The MT-3 gene is silenced in non-transformed urothelial cells by a mechanism involving histone modification of the MT-3 promoter. In contrast, transformation of the urothelial cells with either Cd+2 or As+3 modified the chromatin of the MT-3 promoter to a bivalent state of promoter readiness. Urinary cytology for MT-3 positive cells would not improve the diagnosis of urothelial cancer, but might have potential as a biomarker for tumor progression. PMID:21303554

Translations on USSR Resources, Number 767.

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-01-19

photography and so on). The amount of data obtained as a result of additional surveys makes it possible to evaluate the intensity and configuration...machine tools , chemical products, refrigerators, as well as potatoes and products of livestock breeding. The Kazakh SSR made an enormous leap in its...of the fuel and water power resources of Georgia, Azerbaydzhan and Armenia. Petroleum, transport and electrical machine building, machine tool

Conquering Language Babel in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minichino, Mario; Berson, Michael J.

2012-01-01

This article is an exploration of the available applications for speech to speech real-time translation software for use in the classroom. Three different types of machine language translation (MLT) software and devices are reviewed for their features and practical application in secondary education classrooms.

Learning molecular energies using localized graph kernels

DOE PAGES

Ferré, Grégoire; Haut, Terry Scot; Barros, Kipton Marcos

2017-03-21

We report that recent machine learning methods make it possible to model potential energy of atomic configurations with chemical-level accuracy (as calculated from ab initio calculations) and at speeds suitable for molecular dynamics simulation. Best performance is achieved when the known physical constraints are encoded in the machine learning models. For example, the atomic energy is invariant under global translations and rotations; it is also invariant to permutations of same-species atoms. Although simple to state, these symmetries are complicated to encode into machine learning algorithms. In this paper, we present a machine learning approach based on graph theory that naturallymore » incorporates translation, rotation, and permutation symmetries. Specifically, we use a random walk graph kernel to measure the similarity of two adjacency matrices, each of which represents a local atomic environment. This Graph Approximated Energy (GRAPE) approach is flexible and admits many possible extensions. Finally, we benchmark a simple version of GRAPE by predicting atomization energies on a standard dataset of organic molecules.« less

Learning molecular energies using localized graph kernels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ferré, Grégoire; Haut, Terry Scot; Barros, Kipton Marcos

We report that recent machine learning methods make it possible to model potential energy of atomic configurations with chemical-level accuracy (as calculated from ab initio calculations) and at speeds suitable for molecular dynamics simulation. Best performance is achieved when the known physical constraints are encoded in the machine learning models. For example, the atomic energy is invariant under global translations and rotations; it is also invariant to permutations of same-species atoms. Although simple to state, these symmetries are complicated to encode into machine learning algorithms. In this paper, we present a machine learning approach based on graph theory that naturallymore » incorporates translation, rotation, and permutation symmetries. Specifically, we use a random walk graph kernel to measure the similarity of two adjacency matrices, each of which represents a local atomic environment. This Graph Approximated Energy (GRAPE) approach is flexible and admits many possible extensions. Finally, we benchmark a simple version of GRAPE by predicting atomization energies on a standard dataset of organic molecules.« less

The AFRL MITLL WMT15 System: Theres More than OneWay to Decode It!

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-25

pages 376– 380 , Baltimore, Maryland, USA, June. Associ- ation for Computational Linguistics. Jacob Devlin, Rabih Zbib, Zhongqiang Huang, Thomas Lamar...LL/AFRL IWSLT-2014 MT system. In Pro- ceedings of the 11th International Workshop on Spo - ken Language Translation (IWSLT’14), Lake Tahoe, California

The Evaluation and Systems Analysis of the SYSTRAN Machine Translation System

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-01-01

DiFondi (IRDT) I. KIY *0*01 (Cu.wMu. .~ .‘~~.. lid. it a....Wp .11 id.iiSiIp Op e4.Sk s~~S.,) Machine Traca lation Evaluation scan Dictionary Update S...ntic Expression Dictionary Update *55? **Ct fCMi~ uw * lid. It -- p Sdsffl~~ Sr Sidsi ,~~~Siv) This report is the product of contractual effort to...translated end then corrected by a b ilingu.ai. exper t in each field. two types of corrections were considered iaplweatabi e, stan dictionary update and

Teaching Translation and Interpreting 2: Insights, Aims, Visions. [Selection of] Papers from the Second Language International Conference (Elsinore, Denmark, June 4-6, 1993).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dollerup, Cay, Ed.; Lindegaard, Annette, Ed.

This selection of papers starts with insights into multi- and plurilingual settings, then proceeds to discussions of aims for practical work with students, and ends with visions of future developments within translation for the mass media and the impact of machine translation. Papers are: "Interpreting at the European Commission";…

Actes des Journees de linguistique (Proceedings of the Linguistics Conference) (6th, 1992).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brousseau, Martin, Ed.; And Others

Papers, all in French, presented at a conference on linguistics include: "Machine Translation: Historic Aspects" (Ghada Attieh); "Translation and Conditioning" (Stephanie Bedard); "Semantic or Pre-Semantic Structures? From Perception to Causation" (Denise Belanger); "Presentation of Poetry Sung in Maroc"…

Optical-Fiber-Welding Machine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goss, W. C.; Mann, W. A.; Goldstein, R.

1985-01-01

Technique yields joints with average transmissivity of 91.6 percent. Electric arc passed over butted fiber ends to melt them together. Maximum optical transmissivity of joint achieved with optimum choice of discharge current, translation speed, and axial compression of fibers. Practical welding machine enables delicate and tedious joining operation performed routinely.

Translations on North Korea No. 622

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-10-13

Pyongyang Power Station 5 July Electric Factory Hamhung Machine Tool Factory Kosan Plastic Pipe Factory Sog’wangea Plastic Pipe Factory 8...August Factory Double Chollima Hamhung Disabled Veterans’ Plastic Goods Factory Mangyongdae Machine Tool Factory Kangso Coal Mine Tongdaewon Garment...21 Jul 78 p 4) innovating in machine tool production (NC 21 Jul 78 p 2) in 40 days of the 蔴 days of combat" raised coal production 10 percent

Translations on Eastern Europe Political, Sociological, and Military Affairs No. 1482.

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-12-06

Soviet deliveries of complete industrial installations have become the basis of new sectors of Polish industry: machine - tool building, automotive...develop mutually advan- tageous cooperation. Poland has become an important supplier of industrial equipment and machines , and also of seagoing ships...to the USSR. Every fifth ship that sails under the Soviet flag has been built by Polish shipbuilders. We have supplied machines and equipment for

Creation of a Machine File and Subsequent Computer-Assisted Production of Publishing Outputs, Including a Translation Journal and an Index.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buckland, Lawrence F.; Weaver, Vance

Reported are the findings of the Uspekhi experiment in creating a labeled machine file, as well as sample products of this system - an article from a scientific journal and an index page. Production cost tables are presented for the machine file, primary journals, and journal indexes. Comparisons were made between the 1965 predicted costs and the…

Complete mitochondrial genome of the orange clownfish Amphiprion percula (Pisces: Perciformes, Pomacentridae).

PubMed

Tao, Yong; Li, Jian-Long; Liu, Min; Hu, Xue-Yi

2016-01-01

In this study we determined the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome of the orange clownfish Amphiprion percula. The circular mtDNA molecule was 16,645 bp in size and the overall nucleotide composition of the H-strand was 29.20% A, 25.80% T, 16.03% G and 28.98% C, with an A + T bias. The complete mitogenome encoded 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNAs, 22 tRNAs and 1 control region (D-loop), with the gene arrangement and translation direction basically identical to other typical vertebrate mitogenomes. The similarity of the complete mitogenomes between A. percula and A. ocellaris (AP006017) was 95.60%, clearly different at molecular level.

HiVy automated translation of stateflow designs for model checking verification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pingree, Paula

2003-01-01

tool set enables model checking of finite state machines designs. This is acheived by translating state-chart specifications into the input language of the Spin model checker. An abstract syntax of hierarchical sequential automata (HSA) is provided as an intermediate format tool set.

Maintenance and integrity of the mitochondrial genome: a plethora of nuclear genes in the budding yeast.

PubMed

Contamine, V; Picard, M

2000-06-01

Instability of the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) is a general problem from yeasts to humans. However, its genetic control is not well documented except in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. From the discovery, 50 years ago, of the petite mutants by Ephrussi and his coworkers, it has been shown that more than 100 nuclear genes directly or indirectly influence the fate of the rho(+) mtDNA. It is not surprising that mutations in genes involved in mtDNA metabolism (replication, repair, and recombination) can cause a complete loss of mtDNA (rho(0) petites) and/or lead to truncated forms (rho(-)) of this genome. However, most loss-of-function mutations which increase yeast mtDNA instability act indirectly: they lie in genes controlling functions as diverse as mitochondrial translation, ATP synthase, iron homeostasis, fatty acid metabolism, mitochondrial morphology, and so on. In a few cases it has been shown that gene overexpression increases the levels of petite mutants. Mutations in other genes are lethal in the absence of a functional mtDNA and thus convert this petite-positive yeast into a petite-negative form: petite cells cannot be recovered in these genetic contexts. Most of the data are explained if one assumes that the maintenance of the rho(+) genome depends on a centromere-like structure dispensable for the maintenance of rho(-) mtDNA and/or the function of mitochondrially encoded ATP synthase subunits, especially ATP6. In fact, the real challenge for the next 50 years will be to assemble the pieces of this puzzle by using yeast and to use complementary models, especially in strict aerobes.

Genes for cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, URF2, and three tRNAs in Drosophila mitochondrial DNA.

PubMed Central

Clary, D O; Wolstenholme, D R

1983-01-01

Genes for URF2, tRNAtrp, tRNAcys, tRNAtyr and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) have been identified within a sequenced segment of the Drosophila yakuba mtDNA molecule. The five genes are arranged in the order given. Transcription of the tRNAcys and tRNAtyr genes is in the same direction as replication, while transcription of the URF2, tRNAtrp and COI genes is in the opposite direction. A similar arrangement of these genes is found in mammalian mtDNA except that in the latter, the tRNAala and tRNAasn genes are located between the tRNAtrp and tRNAcys genes. Also, a sequence found between the tRNAasn and tRNAcys genes in mammalian mtDNA, which is associated with the initiation of second strand DNA synthesis, is not found in this region of the D. yakuba mtDNA molecule. As the D. yakuba COI gene lacks a standard translation initiation codon, we consider the possibility that the quadruplet ATAA may serve this function. As in other D. yakuba mitochondrial polypeptide genes, AGA codons in the URF2 and COI genes do not correspond in position to arginine-specifying codons in the equivalent genes of mouse and yeast mtDNAs, but do most frequently correspond to serine-specifying codons. PMID:6314262

Some Problems in German to English Machine Translation

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-12-01

fron Benanti^e is a slippery business, especially when I have just clalwsd to subscribe to the idea that the structure of an utterance is intinately...from the English translation on page 15, the example paragraph can be divided Into elm 134 sections. These diviaions can be characterized at

Mitochondrial gene therapy improves respiration, biogenesis, and transcription in G11778A Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy and T8993G Leigh's syndrome cells.

PubMed

Iyer, Shilpa; Bergquist, Kristen; Young, Kisha; Gnaiger, Erich; Rao, Raj R; Bennett, James P

2012-06-01

Many incurable mitochondrial disorders result from mutant mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and impaired respiration. Leigh's syndrome (LS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder of infants, and Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) causes blindness in young adults. Treatment of LHON and LS cells harboring G11778A and T8993G mutant mtDNA, respectively, by >90%, with healthy donor mtDNA complexed with recombinant human mitochondrial transcription factor A (rhTFAM), improved mitochondrial respiration by ∼1.2-fold in LHON cells and restored >50% ATP synthase function in LS cells. Mitochondrial replication, transcription, and translation of key respiratory genes and proteins were increased in the short term. Increased NRF1, TFAMB1, and TFAMA expression alluded to the activation of mitochondrial biogenesis as a mechanism for improving mitochondrial respiration. These results represent the development of a therapeutic approach for LHON and LS patients in the near future.

The effects of mitochondrial genotype on hypoxic survival and gene expression in a hybrid population of the killifish, Fundulus heteroclitus

PubMed Central

Flight, Patrick A.; Nacci, Diane; Champlin, Denise; Whitehead, Andrew; Rand, David M.

2012-01-01

The physiological link between oxygen availability and mitochondrial function is well established. However, whether or not fitness variation is associated with mitochondrial genotypes in the field remains a contested topic in evolutionary biology. In this study we draw on a population of the teleost fish, Fundulus heteroclitus, where functionally distinct subspecies hybridize, likely as a result of past glacial events. We had two specific aims: 1) to determine the effect of mtDNA genotype on survivorship of male and female fish under hypoxic stress; 2) to determine the effect of hypoxic stress, sex and mtDNA genotype on gene expression. We found an unexpected and highly significant effect of sex on survivorship under hypoxic conditions, but no significant effect of mtDNA genotype. Gene expression analyses revealed hundreds of transcripts differentially regulated by sex and hypoxia. Mitochondrial transcripts and other predicted pathways were among those influenced by hypoxic stress, and a transcript corresponding to the mtDNA control region was the most highly suppressed transcript under conditions of hypoxia. An RT-PCR experiment on the control region was consistent with microarray results. Effects of mtDNA sequence variation on genome expression were limited, however a potentially important epistasis between mtDNA sequence and expression of a nuclear-encoded mitochondrial translation protein was discovered. Overall, these results confirm that mitochondrial regulation is a major component of hypoxia tolerance and further suggest that purifying selection has been the predominant selective force on mitochondrial genomes in these two subspecies. PMID:21980951

Phosphorylation of interleukin (IL)-24 is required for mediating its anti-cancer activity.

PubMed

Panneerselvam, Janani; Shanker, Manish; Jin, Jiankang; Branch, Cynthia D; Muralidharan, Ranganayaki; Zhao, Yan D; Chada, Sunil; Munshi, Anupama; Ramesh, Rajagopal

2015-06-30

Interleukin (IL)-24 is a tumor suppressor/cytokine gene that undergoes post-translational modifications (PTMs). Glycosylation and ubiquitination are important for IL-24 protein stabilization and degradation respectively. Little is known about IL-24 protein phosphorylation and its role in IL-24-mediated anti-tumor activities. In this study we conducted molecular studies to determine whether IL-24 phosphorylation is important for IL-24-mediated anti-cancer activity.Human H1299 lung tumor cell line that was stably transfected with a doxycycline (DOX)-inducible (Tet-on) plasmid vector carrying the cDNA of IL-24-wild-type (IL-24wt) or IL-24 with all five phosphorylation sites replaced (IL-24mt) was used in the present study. Inhibition of tumor cell proliferation, cell migration and invasion, and induction of G2/M cell cycle arrest was observed in DOX-induced IL-24wt-expressing cells but not in IL-24mt-expressing cells. Secretion of IL-24mt protein was greatly reduced compared to IL-24wt protein. Further, IL-24wt and IL-24mt proteins markedly differed in their subcellular organelle localization. IL-24wt but not IL-24mt inhibited the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. SiRNA-mediated AKT knockdown and overexpression of myristolyated AKT protein confirmed that IL-24wt but not IL-24mt mediated its anti-cancer activity by inhibiting the AKT signaling pathway.Our results demonstrate that IL-24 phosphorylation is required for inhibiting the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway and exerting its anti-cancer activities.

The impacts of permafrost thaw on land-atmosphere greenhouse gas exchange

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hayes, Daniel J; Kicklighter, David W.; McGuire, A. David

2014-01-01

Permafrost thaw and the subsequent mobilization of carbon stored in previously frozen soil organic matter (SOM) would be a strong positive feedback to climate1. As the northern permafrost region experiences double the rate of warming as the rest of the Earth2, the vast amount of carbon in permafrost soils3 is vulnerable to thaw, decomposition and release as atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHG). Here, we employ a process-based model simulation experiment to assess the net effect of this so-called permafrost carbon feedback (PCF) in recent decades. Results show a wide-spread increase in the depth to permafrost between 1990 and 2006, with simulatedmore » active layer thickness (ALT) capturing the mean and spatial variability of the observational data. Analysis of the simulation experiment provides an estimate of a 2.8 mm/yr increase in permafrost depth, which translates to 281 TgC/yr thawed from previously frozen SOM. Overall, we estimate a net GHG forcing of 534 MtCO2eq/yr directly tied to ALT dynamics, while accounting for CO2 (562 MtCO2eq/yr) and CH4 (52 MtCO2eq/yr) release as well as CO2 uptake by vegetation (-80 MtCO2eq/yr). This net forcing represents a significant factor in the estimated 640 MtCO2eq/yr pan-arctic GHG source4, and an additional 6.9% contribution on top of the combined 7792 MtCO2eq/yr fossil fuel emissions from the eight Arctic nations over this time period5.« less

Simple Machines Curriculum. [Teachers' Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anoka-Hennepin Independent School District No. 11, Coon Rapids, MN.

This manual provides suggestions for investigating simple machines and the teaching of certain basic concepts which pertain to them. Many of the lessons are designed to be used with the commercially available LEGO kits, in an effort to teach concepts in a way in which students must translate pictures shown in two dimension into three-dimensional…

Visible Machine Learning for Biomedicine.

PubMed

Yu, Michael K; Ma, Jianzhu; Fisher, Jasmin; Kreisberg, Jason F; Raphael, Benjamin J; Ideker, Trey

2018-06-14

A major ambition of artificial intelligence lies in translating patient data to successful therapies. Machine learning models face particular challenges in biomedicine, however, including handling of extreme data heterogeneity and lack of mechanistic insight into predictions. Here, we argue for "visible" approaches that guide model structure with experimental biology. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Machine learning classifier for identification of damaging missense mutations exclusive to human mitochondrial DNA-encoded polypeptides.

PubMed

Martín-Navarro, Antonio; Gaudioso-Simón, Andrés; Álvarez-Jarreta, Jorge; Montoya, Julio; Mayordomo, Elvira; Ruiz-Pesini, Eduardo

2017-03-07

Several methods have been developed to predict the pathogenicity of missense mutations but none has been specifically designed for classification of variants in mtDNA-encoded polypeptides. Moreover, there is not available curated dataset of neutral and damaging mtDNA missense variants to test the accuracy of predictors. Because mtDNA sequencing of patients suffering mitochondrial diseases is revealing many missense mutations, it is needed to prioritize candidate substitutions for further confirmation. Predictors can be useful as screening tools but their performance must be improved. We have developed a SVM classifier (Mitoclass.1) specific for mtDNA missense variants. Training and validation of the model was executed with 2,835 mtDNA damaging and neutral amino acid substitutions, previously curated by a set of rigorous pathogenicity criteria with high specificity. Each instance is described by a set of three attributes based on evolutionary conservation in Eukaryota of wildtype and mutant amino acids as well as coevolution and a novel evolutionary analysis of specific substitutions belonging to the same domain of mitochondrial polypeptides. Our classifier has performed better than other web-available tested predictors. We checked performance of three broadly used predictors with the total mutations of our curated dataset. PolyPhen-2 showed the best results for a screening proposal with a good sensitivity. Nevertheless, the number of false positive predictions was too high. Our method has an improved sensitivity and better specificity in relation to PolyPhen-2. We also publish predictions for the complete set of 24,201 possible missense variants in the 13 human mtDNA-encoded polypeptides. Mitoclass.1 allows a better selection of candidate damaging missense variants from mtDNA. A careful search of discriminatory attributes and a training step based on a curated dataset of amino acid substitutions belonging exclusively to human mtDNA genes allows an improved performance. Mitoclass.1 accuracy could be improved in the future when more mtDNA missense substitutions will be available for updating the attributes and retraining the model.

National Machine Guarding Program: Part 1. Machine safeguarding practices in small metal fabrication businesses.

PubMed

Parker, David L; Yamin, Samuel C; Brosseau, Lisa M; Xi, Min; Gordon, Robert; Most, Ivan G; Stanley, Rodney

2015-11-01

Metal fabrication workers experience high rates of traumatic occupational injuries. Machine operators in particular face high risks, often stemming from the absence or improper use of machine safeguarding or the failure to implement lockout procedures. The National Machine Guarding Program (NMGP) was a translational research initiative implemented in conjunction with two workers' compensation insures. Insurance safety consultants trained in machine guarding used standardized checklists to conduct a baseline inspection of machine-related hazards in 221 business. Safeguards at the point of operation were missing or inadequate on 33% of machines. Safeguards for other mechanical hazards were missing on 28% of machines. Older machines were both widely used and less likely than newer machines to be properly guarded. Lockout/tagout procedures were posted at only 9% of machine workstations. The NMGP demonstrates a need for improvement in many aspects of machine safety and lockout in small metal fabrication businesses. © 2015 The Authors. American Journal of Industrial Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cytochrome C oxydase deficiency: SURF1 gene investigation in patients with Leigh syndrome.

PubMed

Maalej, Marwa; Kammoun, Thouraya; Alila-Fersi, Olfa; Kharrat, Marwa; Ammar, Marwa; Felhi, Rahma; Mkaouar-Rebai, Emna; Keskes, Leila; Hachicha, Mongia; Fakhfakh, Faiza

2018-03-18

Leigh syndrome (LS) is a rare progressive neurodegenerative disorder occurring in infancy. The most common clinical signs reported in LS are growth retardation, optic atrophy, ataxia, psychomotor retardation, dystonia, hypotonia, seizures and respiratory disorders. The paper reported a manifestation of 3 Tunisian patients presented with LS syndrome. The aim of this study is the MT[HYPHEN]ATP6 and SURF1 gene screening in Tunisian patients affected with classical Leigh syndrome and the computational investigation of the effect of detected mutations on its structure and functions by clinical and bioinformatics analyses. After clinical investigations, three Tunisian patients were tested for mutations in both MT-ATP6 and SURF1 genes by direct sequencing followed by in silico analyses to predict the effects of sequence variation. The result of mutational analysis revealed the absence of mitochondrial mutations in MT-ATP6 gene and the presence of a known homozygous splice site mutation c.516-517delAG in sibling patients added to the presence of a novel double het mutations in LS patient (c.752-18 A > C/c. c.751 + 16G > A). In silico analyses of theses intronic variations showed that it could alters splicing processes as well as SURF1 protein translation. Leigh syndrome (LS) is a rare progressive neurodegenerative disorder occurring in infancy. The most common clinical signs reported in LS are growth retardation, optic atrophy, ataxia, psychomotor retardation, dystonia, hypotonia, seizures and respiratory disorders. The paper reported a manifestation of 3 Tunisian patients presented with LS syndrome. The aim of this study is MT-ATP6 and SURF1 genes screening in Tunisian patients affected with classical Leigh syndrome and the computational investigation of the effect of detected mutations on its structure and functions. After clinical investigations, three Tunisian patients were tested for mutations in both MT-ATP6 and SURF1 genes by direct sequencing followed by in silico analysis to predict the effects of sequence variation. The result of mutational analysis revealed the absence of mitochondrial mutations in MT-ATP6 gene and the presence of a known homozygous splice site mutation c.516-517delAG in sibling patients added to the presence of a novel double het mutations in LS patient (c.752-18 A>C/ c.751+16G>A). In silico analysis of theses intronic vaiations showed that it could alters splicing processes as well as SURF1 protein translation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Higher impact of female than male migration on population structure in large mammals.

PubMed

Tiedemann, R; Hardy, O; Vekemans, X; Milinkovitch, M C

2000-08-01

We simulated large mammal populations using an individual-based stochastic model under various sex-specific migration schemes and life history parameters from the blue whale and the Asian elephant. Our model predicts that genetic structure at nuclear loci is significantly more influenced by female than by male migration. We identified requisite comigration of mother and offspring during gravidity and lactation as the primary cause of this phenomenon. In addition, our model predicts that the common assumption that geographical patterns of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) could be translated into female migration rates (Nmf) will cause biased estimates of maternal gene flow when extensive male migration occurs and male mtDNA haplotypes are included in the analysis.

Mitochondrial genome of the tomato clownfish Amphiprion frenatus (Pomacentridae, Amphiprioninae).

PubMed

Ye, Le; Hu, Jing; Wu, Kaichang; Wang, Yu; Li, Jianlong

2016-01-01

The complete mitochondrial (mt) genome of the tomato clownfish Amphiprion frenatus was obtained in this study. The circular mtDNA molecule was 16,774 bp in size and the overall nucleotide composition of the H-strand was 29.72% A, 25.81% T, 15.38% G and 29.09% C, with an A + T bias. The complete mitogenome encoded 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNAs, 22 tRNAs and a control region (D-loop), with the gene arrangement and translation direction basically identical to other typical vertebrate mitogenomes. The D-loop included termination associated sequence (TAS), central conserved domain (CCD) and conserved sequence block (CSB), and was composed of 6 complete continuity tandem repeat units and an imperfect tandem repeat unit.

Classifying publications from the clinical and translational science award program along the translational research spectrum: a machine learning approach.

PubMed

Surkis, Alisa; Hogle, Janice A; DiazGranados, Deborah; Hunt, Joe D; Mazmanian, Paul E; Connors, Emily; Westaby, Kate; Whipple, Elizabeth C; Adamus, Trisha; Mueller, Meridith; Aphinyanaphongs, Yindalon

2016-08-05

Translational research is a key area of focus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as demonstrated by the substantial investment in the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program. The goal of the CTSA program is to accelerate the translation of discoveries from the bench to the bedside and into communities. Different classification systems have been used to capture the spectrum of basic to clinical to population health research, with substantial differences in the number of categories and their definitions. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the CTSA program and of translational research in general is hampered by the lack of rigor in these definitions and their application. This study adds rigor to the classification process by creating a checklist to evaluate publications across the translational spectrum and operationalizes these classifications by building machine learning-based text classifiers to categorize these publications. Based on collaboratively developed definitions, we created a detailed checklist for categories along the translational spectrum from T0 to T4. We applied the checklist to CTSA-linked publications to construct a set of coded publications for use in training machine learning-based text classifiers to classify publications within these categories. The training sets combined T1/T2 and T3/T4 categories due to low frequency of these publication types compared to the frequency of T0 publications. We then compared classifier performance across different algorithms and feature sets and applied the classifiers to all publications in PubMed indexed to CTSA grants. To validate the algorithm, we manually classified the articles with the top 100 scores from each classifier. The definitions and checklist facilitated classification and resulted in good inter-rater reliability for coding publications for the training set. Very good performance was achieved for the classifiers as represented by the area under the receiver operating curves (AUC), with an AUC of 0.94 for the T0 classifier, 0.84 for T1/T2, and 0.92 for T3/T4. The combination of definitions agreed upon by five CTSA hubs, a checklist that facilitates more uniform definition interpretation, and algorithms that perform well in classifying publications along the translational spectrum provide a basis for establishing and applying uniform definitions of translational research categories. The classification algorithms allow publication analyses that would not be feasible with manual classification, such as assessing the distribution and trends of publications across the CTSA network and comparing the categories of publications and their citations to assess knowledge transfer across the translational research spectrum.

Dealing with an Unconventional Genetic Code in  Mitochondria: The Biogenesis and Pathogenic  Defects of the 5-Formylcytosine Modification in  Mitochondrial tRNAMet.

PubMed

Van Haute, Lindsey; Powell, Christopher A; Minczuk, Michal

2017-03-02

Human mitochondria contain their own genome, which uses an unconventional genetic code. In addition to the standard AUG methionine codon, the single mitochondrial tRNA Methionine (mt-tRNAMet) also recognises AUA during translation initiation and elongation. Post-transcriptional modifications of tRNAs are important for structure, stability, correct folding and aminoacylation as well as decoding. The unique 5-formylcytosine (f5C) modification of position 34 in mt-tRNAMet has been long postulated to be crucial for decoding of unconventional methionine codons and efficient mitochondrial translation. However, the enzymes responsible for the formation of mitochondrial f5C have been identified only recently. The first step of the f5C pathway consists of methylation of cytosine by NSUN3. This is followed by further oxidation by ABH1. Here, we review the role of f5C, the latest breakthroughs in our understanding of the biogenesis of this unique mitochondrial tRNA modification and its involvement in human disease.

PC-assisted translation of photogrammetric papers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Güthner, Karlheinz; Peipe, Jürgen

A PC-based system for machine translation of photogrammetric papers from the English into the German language and vice versa is described. The computer-assisted translating process is not intended to create a perfect interpretation of a text but to produce a rough rendering of the content of a paper. Starting with the original text, a continuous data flow is effected into the translated version by means of hardware (scanner, personal computer, printer) and software (OCR, translation, word processing, DTP). An essential component of the system is a photogrammetric microdictionary which is being established at present. It is based on several sources, including e.g. the ISPRS Multilingual Dictionary.

Influence of Crack-Tip Configurations on the Fracture Response of 0.04-Inch Thick 2024-T3 Aluminum Alloy Sheet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnston, William M.; Newman, James C. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

A series of fracture tests were conducted on Middle-crack tension M(T) and compact tension C(T) specimens to determine the effects of specimen type, specimen width, notch tip sharpness and buckling on the fracture behavior of cracked thin sheet (0.04 inch thick) 2024-T3 aluminum alloy material. A series of M(T) specimens were tested with three notch tip configurations: (1) a fatigue pre-cracked notch, (2) a 0.010-inch-diameter wire electrical discharge machined (EDM) notch, and (3) a EDM notch sharpened with a razor blade. The test procedures are discussed and the experimental results for failure stress, load vs. crack extension and the material stress-strain response are reported.

The Linguistic Core Approach to StructuredTranslation and Analysis of Low Resource Languages

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-09-02

grammars from no training data and partial training data (as given by GFL). We are now anno - tating GFL for English, Portuguese, Chinese and...translation. In Proc. EMNLP, 2014. [20] F. Drewes, H.- J . Kreowski, and A. Habel. Hyperedge replacement graph grammars. Handbook of Graph Grammars, 1:95–162...tory, Jena, 2015. [41] B. Jones, J . Andreas, D. Bauer, K-M. Hermann, and K. Knight. Semantics- based machine translation with hyperedge replacement

UNITRAN (UNIversal TRANslator): A Principle-Based Approach to Machine Translation.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-12-01

C*TENDONOSLA*) C*YENDO NOS LA *))) 0 %4 APPENDIX D. TRANSLATION SYSTEM PARAMETERS 222 0 1 :MERGES I ((A EL LADO DE ) (AL-.LADO- DE )) ((ACERCA DE ...not only permits a language to be de - ’Slocuim’s system ( 1994a) relies on a separate set of context-free language-specific rules for each source and...requirements as small subject domain, narrow linguistic coverage, and enormous lexical entries (as found in exclusively semantic-based systems). Thus

Getting America Ready for Japanese Science and Technology Held at Washington, DC on 7-8 February 1985.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-05-15

TRANSLATION: A LONG-TERM SOLUTION MACHINE TRANSLATIONS: DEVELOPMENTS AND PROSPECTS 96 Robert A. Russell, Assistant Professor, Department of Asian and...chairman of the board of WCC, Chicago. He is a member of the Japanese National Automatic Translation Telephone Development Committee. 1 ROBERT A. RUSSELL...redussol- Westerism through indexing enineiring student to trai- speaking M Ono"e langisage. 067 pubfiahang-some in services. said Robert W. Gib- law

Selective hypertrophy of the quadriceps musculature after 14 weeks of isokinetic and conventional resistance training.

PubMed

Matta, Thiago Torres; Nascimento, Francisco Xavier; Trajano, Gabriel S; Simão, Roberto; Willardson, Jeffrey Michael; Oliveira, Liliam Fernandes

2017-03-01

One of the fundamental adaptations observed with resistance training (RT) is muscle hypertrophy. Conventional and isokinetic machines provide different forms of mechanical stress, and it is possible that these two training modes could promote differing degrees of hypertrophic adaptations. There is a lack of data comparing the selective hypertrophy of the quadriceps musculature after training with a conventional knee extension machine versus an isokinetic machine. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the selective hypertrophy of the quadriceps musculature and knee extension maximal isometric torque after 14 weeks of conventional versus isokinetic RT. Thirty-five men were assigned to three groups: control group and training groups (conventional and isokinetic) performed three sets of unilateral knee extensions per session with a progressive loading scheme twice a week. Prior to and following the intervention, maximal isometric knee extensor torque was measured using an isokinetic dynamometer, and muscle thickness (MT) of quadriceps femoris muscles was assessed via ultrasound. The results indicated non-uniform changes in MT between the muscles that comprise the quadriceps femoris group. For the conventional group, significantly greater increases in rectus femoris thickness were evident versus all other quadriceps muscles (14%). For the isokinetic group, increases in RF thickness (11%) were significantly greater in comparison with the vastus intermedius only. Although the muscle thickness did not increase for all the quadriceps femoris muscles, the relative rectus femoris adaptation suggested a selective hypertrophy favouring this portion. © 2015 Scandinavian Society of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Bombsights and Adding Machines: Translating Wartime Technology into Peacetime Sales

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tremblay, Michael

2010-01-01

On 10 February 1947, A.C. Buehler, the president of the Victor Adding Machine Company presented Norden Bombsight #4120 to the Smithsonian Institute. This sight was in service on board the Enola Gay when it dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Through this public presentation, Buehler forever linked his company to the Norden Bombsight, the…

Protein synthesis in sperm: dialog between mitochondria and cytoplasm.

PubMed

Gur, Yael; Breitbart, Haim

2008-01-30

Ejaculated sperm are capable of using mRNAs transcripts for protein translation during the final maturation steps before fertilization. In a capacitation-dependent process, nuclear-encoded mRNAs are translated by mitochondrial-type ribosomes while the cytoplasmic translation machinery is not involved. Our findings suggest that new proteins are synthesized to replace degraded proteins while swimming and waiting in the female reproductive tract before fertilization, or produced due to the specific needs of the capacitating spermatozoa. In addition, a growing number of articles have reported evidence for the correlation of nuclear-encoded mRNA and protein synthesis in somatic mitochondria. It is known that all of the proteins necessary for the replication, transcription and translation of the genes encoded in mtDNA are now encoded in the nuclear genome. This genetic investment is far out of proportion to the number of proteins involved, as there have been multiple movements and duplications of genes. However, the evolutionary retention (or secondary uptake) of the mitochondrial machinery for translation of nuclear-encoded mRNAs may shed light on this paradox.

Actes des Journees de Linguistique (Proceedings of the Linguistics Conference) (11th, Quebec, Canada, March 20-21, 1997).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caouette, Claudine, Ed.; Larrivee, Pierre, Ed.

English translations of articles in French in this issue include these: "Discourse Reported in the Print Media"; "Comparison of Register in Quebec and French Speakers"; "Method of Description of Specialized Verbs in View of Machine Translation Applications"; "Dialectal Areas in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande…

The Circle of Meaning: From Translation to Paraphrasing and Back

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madnani, Nitin

2010-01-01

The preservation of meaning between inputs and outputs is perhaps the most ambitious and, often, the most elusive goal of systems that attempt to process natural language. Nowhere is this goal of more obvious importance than for the tasks of machine translation and paraphrase generation. Preserving meaning between the input and the output is…

Towards Automatically Aligning German Compounds with English Word Groups in an Example-Based Translation System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Daniel; Alexa, Melina

As part of the development of a completely sub-symbolic machine translation system, a method for automatically identifying German compounds was developed. Given a parallel bilingual corpus, German compounds are identified along with their English word groupings by statistical processing alone. The underlying principles and the design process are…

Effects of mirror therapy on motor and sensory recovery in chronic stroke: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Wu, Ching-Yi; Huang, Pai-Chuan; Chen, Yu-Ting; Lin, Keh-Chung; Yang, Hsiu-Wen

2013-06-01

To compare the effects of mirror therapy (MT) versus control treatment (CT) on movement performance, motor control, sensory recovery, and performance of activities of daily living in people with chronic stroke. Single-blinded, randomized controlled trial. Four hospitals. Outpatients with chronic stroke (N=33) with mild to moderate motor impairment. The MT group (n=16) received upper extremity training involving repetitive bimanual, symmetrical movement practice, in which the individual moves the affected limb while watching the reflective illusion of the unaffected limb's movements from a mirror. The CT group received task-oriented upper extremity training. The intensity for both groups was 1.5 hours/day, 5 days/week, for 4 weeks. The Fugl-Meyer Assessment; kinematic variables, including reaction time, normalized movement time, normalized total displacement, joint recruitment, and maximum shoulder-elbow cross-correlation; the Revised Nottingham Sensory Assessment; the Motor Activity Log; and the ABILHAND questionnaire. The MT group performed better in the overall (P=.01) and distal part (P=.04) Fugl-Meyer Assessment scores and demonstrated shorter reaction time (P=.04), shorter normalized total displacement (P=.04), and greater maximum shoulder-elbow cross-correlation (P=.03). The Revised Nottingham Sensory Assessment temperature scores improved significantly more in the MT group than in the CT group. No significant differences on the Motor Activity Log and the ABILHAND questionnaire were found immediately after MT or at follow-up. The application of MT after stroke might result in beneficial effects on movement performance, motor control, and temperature sense, but may not translate into daily functions in the population with chronic stroke. Copyright © 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of a Machine-Vision System for Recording of Force Calibration Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heamawatanachai, Sumet; Chaemthet, Kittipong; Changpan, Tawat

This paper presents the development of a new system for recording of force calibration data using machine vision technology. Real time camera and computer system were used to capture images of the reading from the instruments during calibration. Then, the measurement images were transformed and translated to numerical data using optical character recognition (OCR) technique. These numerical data along with raw images were automatically saved to memories as the calibration database files. With this new system, the human error of recording would be eliminated. The verification experiments were done by using this system for recording the measurement results from an amplifier (DMP 40) with load cell (HBM-Z30-10kN). The NIMT's 100-kN deadweight force standard machine (DWM-100kN) was used to generate test forces. The experiments setup were done in 3 categories; 1) dynamics condition (record during load changing), 2) statics condition (record during fix load), and 3) full calibration experiments in accordance with ISO 376:2011. The captured images from dynamics condition experiment gave >94% without overlapping of number. The results from statics condition experiment were >98% images without overlapping. All measurement images without overlapping were translated to number by the developed program with 100% accuracy. The full calibration experiments also gave 100% accurate results. Moreover, in case of incorrect translation of any result, it is also possible to trace back to the raw calibration image to check and correct it. Therefore, this machine-vision-based system and program should be appropriate for recording of force calibration data.

Massive programmed translational jumping in mitochondria

PubMed Central

Lang, B. Franz; Jakubkova, Michaela; Hegedusova, Eva; Daoud, Rachid; Forget, Lise; Brejova, Brona; Vinar, Tomas; Kosa, Peter; Fricova, Dominika; Nebohacova, Martina; Griac, Peter; Tomaska, Lubomir; Burger, Gertraud; Nosek, Jozef

2014-01-01

Programmed translational bypassing is a process whereby ribosomes “ignore” a substantial interval of mRNA sequence. Although discovered 25 y ago, the only experimentally confirmed example of this puzzling phenomenon is expression of the bacteriophage T4 gene 60. Bypassing requires translational blockage at a “takeoff codon” immediately upstream of a stop codon followed by a hairpin, which causes peptidyl-tRNA dissociation and reassociation with a matching “landing triplet” 50 nt downstream, where translation resumes. Here, we report 81 translational bypassing elements (byps) in mitochondria of the yeast Magnusiomyces capitatus and demonstrate in three cases, by transcript analysis and proteomics, that byps are retained in mitochondrial mRNAs but not translated. Although mitochondrial byps resemble the bypass sequence in the T4 gene 60, they utilize unused codons instead of stops for translational blockage and have relaxed matching rules for takeoff/landing sites. We detected byp-like sequences also in mtDNAs of several Saccharomycetales, indicating that byps are mobile genetic elements. These byp-like sequences lack bypassing activity and are tolerated when inserted in-frame in variable protein regions. We hypothesize that byp-like elements have the potential to contribute to evolutionary diversification of proteins by adding new domains that allow exploration of new structures and functions. PMID:24711422

Translations from Kommunist, Number 13, September 1978

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-10-30

programmed machine tool here is merely a component of a more complex reprogrammable technological system. This includes the robot machine tools with...sufficient possibilities for changing technological operations and processes and automated technological lines. 52 The reprogrammable automated sets will...simulate the possibilities of such sets. A new technological level will be developed in industry related to reprogrammable automated sets, their design

National machine guarding program: Part 1. Machine safeguarding practices in small metal fabrication businesses

PubMed Central

Yamin, Samuel C.; Brosseau, Lisa M.; Xi, Min; Gordon, Robert; Most, Ivan G.; Stanley, Rodney

2015-01-01

Background Metal fabrication workers experience high rates of traumatic occupational injuries. Machine operators in particular face high risks, often stemming from the absence or improper use of machine safeguarding or the failure to implement lockout procedures. Methods The National Machine Guarding Program (NMGP) was a translational research initiative implemented in conjunction with two workers' compensation insures. Insurance safety consultants trained in machine guarding used standardized checklists to conduct a baseline inspection of machine‐related hazards in 221 business. Results Safeguards at the point of operation were missing or inadequate on 33% of machines. Safeguards for other mechanical hazards were missing on 28% of machines. Older machines were both widely used and less likely than newer machines to be properly guarded. Lockout/tagout procedures were posted at only 9% of machine workstations. Conclusions The NMGP demonstrates a need for improvement in many aspects of machine safety and lockout in small metal fabrication businesses. Am. J. Ind. Med. 58:1174–1183, 2015. © 2015 The Authors. American Journal of Industrial Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:26332060

Support vector machine and mel frequency Cepstral coefficient based algorithm for hand gestures and bidirectional speech to text device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balbin, Jessie R.; Padilla, Dionis A.; Fausto, Janette C.; Vergara, Ernesto M.; Garcia, Ramon G.; Delos Angeles, Bethsedea Joy S.; Dizon, Neil John A.; Mardo, Mark Kevin N.

2017-02-01

This research is about translating series of hand gesture to form a word and produce its equivalent sound on how it is read and said in Filipino accent using Support Vector Machine and Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient analysis. The concept is to detect Filipino speech input and translate the spoken words to their text form in Filipino. This study is trying to help the Filipino deaf community to impart their thoughts through the use of hand gestures and be able to communicate to people who do not know how to read hand gestures. This also helps literate deaf to simply read the spoken words relayed to them using the Filipino speech to text system.

Coordinating Council. Second Meeting: International Acquisitions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

The theme of this NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program Coordinating Council was International Acquisitions. Included are both visuals for presentations and reports on discussions related to the topics. Presentations were made on the following topics: Coordination council organization international plan, STI global network, International aerospace climate, Foreign exchange program, Foreign activities RMS & AIAA, NASA translation program, A.F. machine translation system, and CIRC cooperation.

Reading Strategies in a L2: A Study on Machine Translation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karnal, Adriana Riess; Pereira, Vera Vanmacher

2015-01-01

This article aims at understanding cognitive strategies which are involved in reading academic texts in English as a L2/FL. Specifically, we focus on reading comprehension when a text is read either using Google translator or not. From this perspective we must consider the reading process in its complexity not only as a decoding process. We follow…

Induction of dsRNA-activated protein kinase links mitochondrial unfolded protein response to the pathogenesis of intestinal inflammation.

PubMed

Rath, Eva; Berger, Emanuel; Messlik, Anja; Nunes, Tiago; Liu, Bo; Kim, Sandy C; Hoogenraad, Nick; Sans, Miquel; Sartor, R Balfour; Haller, Dirk

2012-09-01

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) feature multiple cellular stress responses, including endoplasmic reticulum (ER) unfolded protein responses (UPRs). UPRs represent autoregulatory pathways that adjust organelle capacity to cellular demand. A similar mechanism, mitochondrial UPR (mtUPR), has been described for mitochondria. ER UPR in intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) contributes to the development of intestinal inflammation, and since mitochondrial alterations and dysfunction are implicated in the pathogenesis of IBDs, the authors characterised mtUPR in the context of intestinal inflammation. Truncated ornithine transcarbamylase was used to selectively induce mtUPR in a murine IEC line. Dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) was administered to PKR (double-stranded-RNA-activated protein kinase) knockout mice to induce IEC stress in vivo and to test for their susceptibility to DSS-induced colitis. Expression levels of the mitochondrial chaperone chaperonin 60 (CPN60) and PKR were quantified in IECs from patients with IBDs and from murine models of colitis using immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis. Selective mtUPR induction by truncated ornithine transcarbamylase transfection triggered the phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF) 2α and cJun through the recruitment of PKR. Using pharmacological inhibitors and small inhibitory RNA, the authors identified mtUPR-induced eIF2α phosphorylation and transcription factor activation (cJun/AP1) as being dependent on the activities of the mitochondrial protease ClpP and the cytoplasmic kinase PKR. Pkr(-/-) mice failed to induce CPN60 in IECs upon DSS treatment at early time points and subsequently showed an almost complete resistance to DSS-induced colitis. Under inflammatory conditions, primary IECs from patients with IBDs and two murine models of colitis exhibited a strong induction of the mtUPR marker protein CPN60 associated with enhanced expression of PKR. PKR integrates mtUPR into the disease-relevant ER UPR via eIF2α phosphorylation and AP1 activation. Induction of mtUPR and PKR was observed in IECs from murine models and patients with IBDs. The authors' results indicate that PKR might link mitochondrial stress to intestinal inflammation.

Flexible Endian Adjustment for Cross Architecture Binary Translation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Tong; Liu, Bo; Guan, Haibing; Liang, Alei

Different architectures and/or ISA (Instruction Set Architecture) representations hold different data arranging formats in the memory. Therefore, the adjustment of byte packing order (endianness) is indispensable in cross- architecture binary translation if the source and target machines are of heterogeneous endianness, which may otherwise cause system failure. The issue is inconspicuous but may lead to significant performance bottleneck. This paper investigates the key aspects of endianness and finds several solutions to endian adjustment for cross-architecture binary translation. In particular, it considers the two principal methods of this field - byte swapping and address swizzling, and gives a comparison of them in our DBT (Dynamic Binary Translator) - CrossBit.

Aircraft Icing Handbook. Volume 3

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-03-01

Measurement," Harvard-Mt. Washington Icing Research Report, 1976-1947,L U. S. Air Materiel Command, Tech. Rept. No. 5676, 82. Findeisen , W...34Meteorological-Physical Limitations of Icing on the Atmosphere," NACA TM 885, 1939. 83. Findeisen , W., "Meteorological Commentary on D (air) 1209, Icing...November 1972, pp. 2603-2616. 58. Findeisen , W., "The Thermometric Ice Warning Indicator," (Translation) Project No. M992-B, University of Michigan

Translation lexicon acquisition from bilingual dictionaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doermann, David S.; Ma, Huanfeng; Karagol-Ayan, Burcu; Oard, Douglas W.

2001-12-01

Bilingual dictionaries hold great potential as a source of lexical resources for training automated systems for optical character recognition, machine translation and cross-language information retrieval. In this work we describe a system for extracting term lexicons from printed copies of bilingual dictionaries. We describe our approach to page and definition segmentation and entry parsing. We have used the approach to parse a number of dictionaries and demonstrate the results for retrieval using a French-English Dictionary to generate a translation lexicon and a corpus of English queries applied to French documents to evaluation cross-language IR.

An artificial molecular machine that builds an asymmetric catalyst

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Bo, Guillaume; Gall, Malcolm A. Y.; Kuschel, Sonja; De Winter, Julien; Gerbaux, Pascal; Leigh, David A.

2018-05-01

Biomolecular machines perform types of complex molecular-level tasks that artificial molecular machines can aspire to. The ribosome, for example, translates information from the polymer track it traverses (messenger RNA) to the new polymer it constructs (a polypeptide)1. The sequence and number of codons read determines the sequence and number of building blocks incorporated into the biomachine-synthesized polymer. However, neither control of sequence2,3 nor the transfer of length information from one polymer to another (which to date has only been accomplished in man-made systems through template synthesis)4 is easily achieved in the synthesis of artificial macromolecules. Rotaxane-based molecular machines5-7 have been developed that successively add amino acids8-10 (including β-amino acids10) to a growing peptide chain by the action of a macrocycle moving along a mono-dispersed oligomeric track derivatized with amino-acid phenol esters. The threaded macrocycle picks up groups that block its path and links them through successive native chemical ligation reactions11 to form a peptide sequence corresponding to the order of the building blocks on the track. Here, we show that as an alternative to translating sequence information, a rotaxane molecular machine can transfer the narrow polydispersity of a leucine-ester-derivatized polystyrene chain synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization12 to a molecular-machine-made homo-leucine oligomer. The resulting narrow-molecular-weight oligomer folds to an α-helical secondary structure13 that acts as an asymmetric catalyst for the Juliá-Colonna epoxidation14,15 of chalcones.

Multiple-try differential evolution adaptive Metropolis for efficient solution of highly parameterized models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eric, L.; Vrugt, J. A.

2010-12-01

Spatially distributed hydrologic models potentially contain hundreds of parameters that need to be derived by calibration against a historical record of input-output data. The quality of this calibration strongly determines the predictive capability of the model and thus its usefulness for science-based decision making and forecasting. Unfortunately, high-dimensional optimization problems are typically difficult to solve. Here we present our recent developments to the Differential Evolution Adaptive Metropolis (DREAM) algorithm (Vrugt et al., 2009) to warrant efficient solution of high-dimensional parameter estimation problems. The algorithm samples from an archive of past states (Ter Braak and Vrugt, 2008), and uses multiple-try Metropolis sampling (Liu et al., 2000) to decrease the required burn-in time for each individual chain and increase efficiency of posterior sampling. This approach is hereafter referred to as MT-DREAM. We present results for 2 synthetic mathematical case studies, and 2 real-world examples involving from 10 to 240 parameters. Results for those cases show that our multiple-try sampler, MT-DREAM, can consistently find better solutions than other Bayesian MCMC methods. Moreover, MT-DREAM is admirably suited to be implemented and ran on a parallel machine and is therefore a powerful method for posterior inference.

Man-machine analysis of translation and work tasks of Skylab films

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morrow, J. R.; Boelter, J.

1978-01-01

Selected film segments were digitized. An efficiency of translation scale was developed, and each of 200 segments of film were rated with regard to the astronauts translation characteristics. Results indicated that in general the astronauts were able to acclimate themselves to the zero g environment quite well. Results also indicated that astronauts tended to translate in 1 g orientations when in the experimental compartment and the wardroom which were architecturally 1 g. However, when the astronauts were in the forward compartment, which was zero g oriented, they began to translate more frequently in a zero g manner. There appeared to be improvements in translation across time. These improvements appeared more so in the forward compartment than in the wardroom or the experimental compartment. Possible changes in the architecture of the wardroom and the experimental compartment were suggested in order to improve translation within these compartments.

EXACT2: the semantics of biomedical protocols

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The reliability and reproducibility of experimental procedures is a cornerstone of scientific practice. There is a pressing technological need for the better representation of biomedical protocols to enable other agents (human or machine) to better reproduce results. A framework that ensures that all information required for the replication of experimental protocols is essential to achieve reproducibility. Methods We have developed the ontology EXACT2 (EXperimental ACTions) that is designed to capture the full semantics of biomedical protocols required for their reproducibility. To construct EXACT2 we manually inspected hundreds of published and commercial biomedical protocols from several areas of biomedicine. After establishing a clear pattern for extracting the required information we utilized text-mining tools to translate the protocols into a machine amenable format. We have verified the utility of EXACT2 through the successful processing of previously 'unseen' (not used for the construction of EXACT2) protocols. Results The paper reports on a fundamentally new version EXACT2 that supports the semantically-defined representation of biomedical protocols. The ability of EXACT2 to capture the semantics of biomedical procedures was verified through a text mining use case. In this EXACT2 is used as a reference model for text mining tools to identify terms pertinent to experimental actions, and their properties, in biomedical protocols expressed in natural language. An EXACT2-based framework for the translation of biomedical protocols to a machine amenable format is proposed. Conclusions The EXACT2 ontology is sufficient to record, in a machine processable form, the essential information about biomedical protocols. EXACT2 defines explicit semantics of experimental actions, and can be used by various computer applications. It can serve as a reference model for for the translation of biomedical protocols in natural language into a semantically-defined format. PMID:25472549

The complexity of translationally invariant low-dimensional spin lattices in 3D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bausch, Johannes; Piddock, Stephen

2017-11-01

In this theoretical paper, we consider spin systems in three spatial dimensions and consider the computational complexity of estimating the ground state energy, known as the local Hamiltonian problem, for translationally invariant Hamiltonians. We prove that the local Hamiltonian problem for 3D lattices with face-centered cubic unit cells and 4-local translationally invariant interactions between spin-3/2 particles and open boundary conditions is QMAEXP-complete, where QMAEXP is the class of problems which can be verified in exponential time on a quantum computer. We go beyond a mere embedding of past hard 1D history state constructions, for which the local spin dimension is enormous: even state-of-the-art constructions have local dimension 42. We avoid such a large local dimension by combining some different techniques in a novel way. For the verifier circuit which we embed into the ground space of the local Hamiltonian, we utilize a recently developed computational model, called a quantum ring machine, which is especially well suited for translationally invariant history state constructions. This is encoded with a new and particularly simple universal gate set, which consists of a single 2-qubit gate applied only to nearest-neighbour qubits. The Hamiltonian construction involves a classical Wang tiling problem as a binary counter which translates one cube side length into a binary description for the encoded verifier input and a carefully engineered history state construction that implements the ring machine on the cubic lattice faces. These novel techniques allow us to significantly lower the local spin dimension, surpassing the best translationally invariant result to date by two orders of magnitude (in the number of degrees of freedom per coupling). This brings our models on par with the best non-translationally invariant construction.

Discovery of numerous novel small genes in the intergenic regions of the Escherichia coli O157:H7 Sakai genome

PubMed Central

Hücker, Sarah M.; Ardern, Zachary; Goldberg, Tatyana; Schafferhans, Andrea; Bernhofer, Michael; Vestergaard, Gisle; Nelson, Chase W.; Schloter, Michael; Rost, Burkhard; Scherer, Siegfried

2017-01-01

In the past, short protein-coding genes were often disregarded by genome annotation pipelines. Transcriptome sequencing (RNAseq) signals outside of annotated genes have usually been interpreted to indicate either ncRNA or pervasive transcription. Therefore, in addition to the transcriptome, the translatome (RIBOseq) of the enteric pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain Sakai was determined at two optimal growth conditions and a severe stress condition combining low temperature and high osmotic pressure. All intergenic open reading frames potentially encoding a protein of ≥ 30 amino acids were investigated with regard to coverage by transcription and translation signals and their translatability expressed by the ribosomal coverage value. This led to discovery of 465 unique, putative novel genes not yet annotated in this E. coli strain, which are evenly distributed over both DNA strands of the genome. For 255 of the novel genes, annotated homologs in other bacteria were found, and a machine-learning algorithm, trained on small protein-coding E. coli genes, predicted that 89% of these translated open reading frames represent bona fide genes. The remaining 210 putative novel genes without annotated homologs were compared to the 255 novel genes with homologs and to 250 short annotated genes of this E. coli strain. All three groups turned out to be similar with respect to their translatability distribution, fractions of differentially regulated genes, secondary structure composition, and the distribution of evolutionary constraint, suggesting that both novel groups represent legitimate genes. However, the machine-learning algorithm only recognized a small fraction of the 210 genes without annotated homologs. It is possible that these genes represent a novel group of genes, which have unusual features dissimilar to the genes of the machine-learning algorithm training set. PMID:28902868

Microtubule Depolymerization as a Driver for Chromosome Motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McIntosh, Richard

2014-03-01

Microtubules (MTs) are rigid polymers of the protein, tubulin, which function as intracellular struts. They are also tracks along which motor enzymes can run, carrying cargo to specific cellular locations. Most MTs are dynamic; they assemble and disassemble rapidly, particularly during cell division when the cell forms the ``mitotic spindle,'' a machine that organizes the duplicated chromosomes into a planar disk, then pulls the duplicate copies apart, moving them to opposite ends of the cell. This process is necessary for the daughter cells to have a full complement of DNA. The mitotic spindle is a labile framework that exerts several kinds of forces on the chromosomes to move them in well organized ways. It contains many motor enzymes that contribute to spindle formation, but genetic evidence shows that the motors that attach to chromosomes and might contribute to chromosome motion are dispensable for normal mitosis. Apparently MT dynamics can also serve as a motor and is an important source of force for chromosome motion. We have studied this process and find that MTs can be coupled to a load by specific spindle proteins so that MT depolymerization can exert substantial force. With the yeast protein, Dam1, a single MT can generate 30 pN, about 5-fold more than is generated by a motor enzyme like kinesin or myosin. The resulting motions are processive, so a depolymerizing MT can carry its load for many micrometers. However, Dam1 is found only in fungi. We have therefore sought other proteins that can serve as analogous couplers. Several MT-dependent motor enzymes can do the job in ways that do not require ATP, their normal source of energy. Some non-motor MT-associated proteins will also work, e.g., the kinetochore proteins NDC80 and CENP-F. Data will be presented that show the strengths and weaknesses of each coupler, allowing some generalization about how the mitotic machinery works. Supported by NIH GM033787.

Analyzing Array Manipulating Programs by Program Transformation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cornish, J. Robert M.; Gange, Graeme; Navas, Jorge A.; Schachte, Peter; Sondergaard, Harald; Stuckey, Peter J.

2014-01-01

We explore a transformational approach to the problem of verifying simple array-manipulating programs. Traditionally, verification of such programs requires intricate analysis machinery to reason with universally quantified statements about symbolic array segments, such as "every data item stored in the segment A[i] to A[j] is equal to the corresponding item stored in the segment B[i] to B[j]." We define a simple abstract machine which allows for set-valued variables and we show how to translate programs with array operations to array-free code for this machine. For the purpose of program analysis, the translated program remains faithful to the semantics of array manipulation. Based on our implementation in LLVM, we evaluate the approach with respect to its ability to extract useful invariants and the cost in terms of code size.

A 1024×768-12μm Digital ROIC for uncooled microbolometer FPAs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eminoglu, Selim

2017-02-01

This paper reports the development of a new digital microbolometer Readout Integrated Circuit (D-ROIC), called MT10212BD. It has a format of 1024 × 768 (XGA) and a pixel pitch of 12μm. MT10212BD is Mikro Tasarim's second 12μm pitch microbolometer ROIC, which is developed specifically for surface micro machined microbolometer detector arrays with small pixel pitch using high-TCR pixel materials, such as VOx and a Si. MT10212BD has an alldigital system on-chip architecture, which generates programmable timing and biasing, and performs 14-bit analog to digital conversion (ADC). The signal processing chain in the ROIC is composed of pixel bias circuitry, integrator based programmable gain amplifier followed by column parallel ADC circuitry. MT10212BD has a serial programming interface that can be used to configure the programmable ROIC features and to load the Non-Uniformity-Correction (NUC) date to the ROIC. MT10212BD has a total of 8 high-speed serial digital video outputs, which can be programmed to operate in the 2, 4, and 8-output modes and can support frames rates above 60 fps. The high-speed serial digital outputs supports data rates as high as 400 Mega-bits/s, when operated at 50 MHz system clock frequency. There is an on-chip phase-locked-loop (PLL) based timing circuitry to generate the high speed clocks used in the ROIC. The ROIC is designed to support pixel resistance values ranging from 30KΩ to 90kΩ, with a nominal value of 60KΩ. The ROIC has a globally programmable gain in the column readout, which can be adjusted based on the detector resistance value.

Inducing Multilingual Text Analysis Tools via Robust Projection across Aligned Corpora

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-01-01

monolingual dictionary - derived list of canonical roots would resolve ambiguity re- garding which is the appropriate target. � Many of the errors are...system and set of algorithms for automati- cally inducing stand-alone monolingual part-of-speech taggers, base noun-phrase bracketers, named-entity...corpora has tended to focus on their use in translation model training for MT rather than on monolingual applications. One exception is bilin- gual parsing

Machine-Assisted Translation in West Germany

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-03-04

the Ger- man, English , French or Russian languages are recorded, where it is known that they have been used in translation or teaching assignments...German literary language encompasses about 300,000 words, English about 600,000, and the vocabulary of a person of average education is about...Terminology Recording and Evaluation Method ) was developed in the language service of the Siemens company in Munich as an aid for in-house application

The clinical maze of mitochondrial neurology

PubMed Central

DiMauro, Salvatore; Schon, Eric A.; Carelli, Valerio; Hirano, Michio

2014-01-01

Mitochondrial diseases involve the respiratory chain, which is under the dual control of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The complexity of mitochondrial genetics provides one explanation for the clinical heterogeneity of mitochondrial diseases, but our understanding of disease pathogenesis remains limited. Classification of Mendelian mitochondrial encephalomyopathies has been laborious, but whole-exome sequencing studies have revealed unexpected molecular aetiologies for both typical and atypical mitochondrial disease phenotypes. Mendelian mitochondrial defects can affect five components of mitochondrial biology: subunits of respiratory chain complexes (direct hits); mitochondrial assembly proteins; mtDNA translation; phospholipid composition of the inner mitochondrial membrane; or mitochondrial dynamics. A sixth category—defects of mtDNA maintenance—combines features of Mendelian and mitochondrial genetics. Genetic defects in mitochondrial dynamics are especially important in neurology as they cause optic atrophy, hereditary spastic paraplegia, and Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease. Therapy is inadequate and mostly palliative, but promising new avenues are being identified. Here, we review current knowledge on the genetics and pathogenesis of the six categories of mitochondrial disorders outlined above, focusing on their salient clinical manifestations and highlighting novel clinical entities. An outline of diagnostic clues for the various forms of mitochondrial disease, as well as potential therapeutic strategies, is also discussed. PMID:23835535

Sulfur Modifications of the Wobble U34 in tRNAs and their Intracellular Localization in Eukaryotic Cells

PubMed Central

Nakai, Yumi; Nakai, Masato; Yano, Takato

2017-01-01

The wobble uridine (U34) of transfer RNAs (tRNAs) for two-box codon recognition, i.e., tRNALysUUU, tRNAGluUUC, and tRNAGlnUUG, harbor a sulfur- (thio-) and a methyl-derivative structure at the second and fifth positions of U34, respectively. Both modifications are necessary to construct the proper anticodon loop structure and to enable them to exert their functions in translation. Thio-modification of U34 (s2U34) is found in both cytosolic tRNAs (cy-tRNAs) and mitochondrial tRNAs (mt-tRNAs). Although l-cysteine desulfurase is required in both cases, subsequent sulfur transfer pathways to cy-tRNAs and mt-tRNAs are different due to their distinct intracellular locations. The s2U34 formation in cy-tRNAs involves a sulfur delivery system required for the biosynthesis of iron-sulfur (Fe/S) clusters and certain resultant Fe/S proteins. This review addresses presumed sulfur delivery pathways for the s2U34 formation in distinct intracellular locations, especially that for cy-tRNAs in comparison with that for mt-tRNAs. PMID:28218716

Sulfur Modifications of the Wobble U34 in tRNAs and their Intracellular Localization in Eukaryotic Cells.

PubMed

Nakai, Yumi; Nakai, Masato; Yano, Takato

2017-02-18

The wobble uridine (U 34 ) of transfer RNAs (tRNAs) for two-box codon recognition, i.e., tRNA Lys UUU , tRNA Glu UUC , and tRNA Gln UUG , harbor a sulfur- (thio-) and a methyl-derivative structure at the second and fifth positions of U 34 , respectively. Both modifications are necessary to construct the proper anticodon loop structure and to enable them to exert their functions in translation. Thio-modification of U 34 (s²U 34 ) is found in both cytosolic tRNAs (cy-tRNAs) and mitochondrial tRNAs (mt-tRNAs). Although l-cysteine desulfurase is required in both cases, subsequent sulfur transfer pathways to cy-tRNAs and mt-tRNAs are different due to their distinct intracellular locations. The s²U 34 formation in cy-tRNAs involves a sulfur delivery system required for the biosynthesis of iron-sulfur (Fe/S) clusters and certain resultant Fe/S proteins. This review addresses presumed sulfur delivery pathways for the s²U 34 formation in distinct intracellular locations, especially that for cy-tRNAs in comparison with that for mt-tRNAs.

A regulatory network-based approach dissects late maturation processes related to the acquisition of desiccation tolerance and longevity of Medicago truncatula seeds.

PubMed

Verdier, Jerome; Lalanne, David; Pelletier, Sandra; Torres-Jerez, Ivone; Righetti, Karima; Bandyopadhyay, Kaustav; Leprince, Olivier; Chatelain, Emilie; Vu, Benoit Ly; Gouzy, Jerome; Gamas, Pascal; Udvardi, Michael K; Buitink, Julia

2013-10-01

In seeds, desiccation tolerance (DT) and the ability to survive the dry state for prolonged periods of time (longevity) are two essential traits for seed quality that are consecutively acquired during maturation. Using transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling together with a conditional-dependent network of global transcription interactions, we dissected the maturation events from the end of seed filling to final maturation drying during the last 3 weeks of seed development in Medicago truncatula. The network revealed distinct coexpression modules related to the acquisition of DT, longevity, and pod abscission. The acquisition of DT and dormancy module was associated with abiotic stress response genes, including late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) genes. The longevity module was enriched in genes involved in RNA processing and translation. Concomitantly, LEA polypeptides accumulated, displaying an 18-d delayed accumulation compared with transcripts. During maturation, gulose and stachyose levels increased and correlated with longevity. A seed-specific network identified known and putative transcriptional regulators of DT, including ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE3 (MtABI3), MtABI4, MtABI5, and APETALA2/ ETHYLENE RESPONSE ELEMENT BINDING PROTEIN (AtAP2/EREBP) transcription factor as major hubs. These transcriptional activators were highly connected to LEA genes. Longevity genes were highly connected to two MtAP2/EREBP and two basic leucine zipper transcription factors. A heat shock factor was found at the transition of DT and longevity modules, connecting to both gene sets. Gain- and loss-of-function approaches of MtABI3 confirmed 80% of its predicted targets, thereby experimentally validating the network. This study captures the coordinated regulation of seed maturation and identifies distinct regulatory networks underlying the preparation for the dry and quiescent states.

A Regulatory Network-Based Approach Dissects Late Maturation Processes Related to the Acquisition of Desiccation Tolerance and Longevity of Medicago truncatula Seeds1[C][W][OPEN

PubMed Central

Verdier, Jerome; Lalanne, David; Pelletier, Sandra; Torres-Jerez, Ivone; Righetti, Karima; Bandyopadhyay, Kaustav; Leprince, Olivier; Chatelain, Emilie; Vu, Benoit Ly; Gouzy, Jerome; Gamas, Pascal; Udvardi, Michael K.; Buitink, Julia

2013-01-01

In seeds, desiccation tolerance (DT) and the ability to survive the dry state for prolonged periods of time (longevity) are two essential traits for seed quality that are consecutively acquired during maturation. Using transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling together with a conditional-dependent network of global transcription interactions, we dissected the maturation events from the end of seed filling to final maturation drying during the last 3 weeks of seed development in Medicago truncatula. The network revealed distinct coexpression modules related to the acquisition of DT, longevity, and pod abscission. The acquisition of DT and dormancy module was associated with abiotic stress response genes, including late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) genes. The longevity module was enriched in genes involved in RNA processing and translation. Concomitantly, LEA polypeptides accumulated, displaying an 18-d delayed accumulation compared with transcripts. During maturation, gulose and stachyose levels increased and correlated with longevity. A seed-specific network identified known and putative transcriptional regulators of DT, including ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE3 (MtABI3), MtABI4, MtABI5, and APETALA2/ ETHYLENE RESPONSE ELEMENT BINDING PROTEIN (AtAP2/EREBP) transcription factor as major hubs. These transcriptional activators were highly connected to LEA genes. Longevity genes were highly connected to two MtAP2/EREBP and two basic leucine zipper transcription factors. A heat shock factor was found at the transition of DT and longevity modules, connecting to both gene sets. Gain- and loss-of-function approaches of MtABI3 confirmed 80% of its predicted targets, thereby experimentally validating the network. This study captures the coordinated regulation of seed maturation and identifies distinct regulatory networks underlying the preparation for the dry and quiescent states. PMID:23929721

Association Rule-based Predictive Model for Machine Failure in Industrial Internet of Things

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwon, Jung-Hyok; Lee, Sol-Bee; Park, Jaehoon; Kim, Eui-Jik

2017-09-01

This paper proposes an association rule-based predictive model for machine failure in industrial Internet of things (IIoT), which can accurately predict the machine failure in real manufacturing environment by investigating the relationship between the cause and type of machine failure. To develop the predictive model, we consider three major steps: 1) binarization, 2) rule creation, 3) visualization. The binarization step translates item values in a dataset into one or zero, then the rule creation step creates association rules as IF-THEN structures using the Lattice model and Apriori algorithm. Finally, the created rules are visualized in various ways for users’ understanding. An experimental implementation was conducted using R Studio version 3.3.2. The results show that the proposed predictive model realistically predicts machine failure based on association rules.

Machinability of Al 6061 Deposited with Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aldwell, Barry; Kelly, Elaine; Wall, Ronan; Amaldi, Andrea; O'Donnell, Garret E.; Lupoi, Rocco

2017-10-01

Additive manufacturing techniques such as cold spray are translating from research laboratories into more mainstream high-end production systems. Similar to many additive processes, finishing still depends on removal processes. This research presents the results from investigations into aspects of the machinability of aluminum 6061 tubes manufactured with cold spray. Through the analysis of cutting forces and observations on chip formation and surface morphology, the effect of cutting speed, feed rate, and heat treatment was quantified, for both cold-sprayed and bulk aluminum 6061. High-speed video of chip formation shows changes in chip form for varying material and heat treatment, which is supported by the force data and quantitative imaging of the machined surface. The results shown in this paper demonstrate that parameters involved in cold spray directly impact on machinability and therefore have implications for machining parameters and strategy.

Machine Learning Approaches for Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry.

PubMed

Dwyer, Dominic B; Falkai, Peter; Koutsouleris, Nikolaos

2018-05-07

Machine learning approaches for clinical psychology and psychiatry explicitly focus on learning statistical functions from multidimensional data sets to make generalizable predictions about individuals. The goal of this review is to provide an accessible understanding of why this approach is important for future practice given its potential to augment decisions associated with the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of people suffering from mental illness using clinical and biological data. To this end, the limitations of current statistical paradigms in mental health research are critiqued, and an introduction is provided to critical machine learning methods used in clinical studies. A selective literature review is then presented aiming to reinforce the usefulness of machine learning methods and provide evidence of their potential. In the context of promising initial results, the current limitations of machine learning approaches are addressed, and considerations for future clinical translation are outlined.

An introduction to quantum machine learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schuld, Maria; Sinayskiy, Ilya; Petruccione, Francesco

2015-04-01

Machine learning algorithms learn a desired input-output relation from examples in order to interpret new inputs. This is important for tasks such as image and speech recognition or strategy optimisation, with growing applications in the IT industry. In the last couple of years, researchers investigated if quantum computing can help to improve classical machine learning algorithms. Ideas range from running computationally costly algorithms or their subroutines efficiently on a quantum computer to the translation of stochastic methods into the language of quantum theory. This contribution gives a systematic overview of the emerging field of quantum machine learning. It presents the approaches as well as technical details in an accessible way, and discusses the potential of a future theory of quantum learning.

Natural Language Processing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chowdhury, Gobinda G.

2003-01-01

Discusses issues related to natural language processing, including theoretical developments; natural language understanding; tools and techniques; natural language text processing systems; abstracting; information extraction; information retrieval; interfaces; software; Internet, Web, and digital library applications; machine translation for…

UNIVERSAL TRANSLATOR,

DTIC Science & Technology

all languages with the aid of electron machines is being derived to show how easy it would be to decode even ’dead’ languages, and languages of the foginess of Andromeda , if such a language ever existed. (Author)

Machine Learning and Radiology

PubMed Central

Wang, Shijun; Summers, Ronald M.

2012-01-01

In this paper, we give a short introduction to machine learning and survey its applications in radiology. We focused on six categories of applications in radiology: medical image segmentation, registration, computer aided detection and diagnosis, brain function or activity analysis and neurological disease diagnosis from fMR images, content-based image retrieval systems for CT or MRI images, and text analysis of radiology reports using natural language processing (NLP) and natural language understanding (NLU). This survey shows that machine learning plays a key role in many radiology applications. Machine learning identifies complex patterns automatically and helps radiologists make intelligent decisions on radiology data such as conventional radiographs, CT, MRI, and PET images and radiology reports. In many applications, the performance of machine learning-based automatic detection and diagnosis systems has shown to be comparable to that of a well-trained and experienced radiologist. Technology development in machine learning and radiology will benefit from each other in the long run. Key contributions and common characteristics of machine learning techniques in radiology are discussed. We also discuss the problem of translating machine learning applications to the radiology clinical setting, including advantages and potential barriers. PMID:22465077

Loss of the mitochondrial protein-only ribonuclease P complex causes aberrant tRNA processing and lethality in Drosophila.

PubMed

Sen, Aditya; Karasik, Agnes; Shanmuganathan, Aranganathan; Mirkovic, Elena; Koutmos, Markos; Cox, Rachel T

2016-07-27

Proteins encoded by mitochondrial DNA are translated using mitochondrially encoded tRNAs and rRNAs. As with nuclear encoded tRNAs, mitochondrial tRNAs must be processed to become fully functional. The mitochondrial form of ribonuclease P (mt:RNase P) is responsible for 5'-end maturation and is comprised of three proteins; mitochondrial RNase P protein (MRPP) 1 and 2 together with proteinaceous RNase P (PRORP). However, its mechanism and impact on development is not yet known. Using homology searches, we have identified the three proteins composing Drosophila mt:RNase P: Mulder (PRORP), Scully (MRPP2) and Roswell (MRPP1). Here, we show that each protein is essential and localizes with mitochondria. Furthermore, reducing levels of each causes mitochondrial deficits, which appear to be due at least in part to defective mitochondrial tRNA processing. Overexpressing two members of the complex, Mulder and Roswell, is also lethal, and in the case of Mulder, causes abnormal mitochondrial morphology. These data are the first evidence that defective mt:RNase P causes mitochondrial dysfunction, lethality and aberrant mitochondrial tRNA processing in vivo, underscoring its physiological importance. This in vivo mt:RNase P model will advance our understanding of how loss of mitochondrial tRNA processing causes tissue failure, an important aspect of human mitochondrial disease. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research 2016. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

Using seismically constrained magnetotelluric inversion to recover velocity structure in the shallow lithosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moorkamp, M.; Fishwick, S.; Jones, A. G.

2015-12-01

Typical surface wave tomography can recover well the velocity structure of the upper mantle in the depth range between 70-200km. For a successful inversion, we have to constrain the crustal structure and assess the impact on the resulting models. In addition,we often observe potentially interesting features in the uppermost lithosphere which are poorly resolved and thus their interpretationhas to be approached with great care.We are currently developing a seismically constrained magnetotelluric (MT) inversion approach with the aim of better recovering the lithospheric properties (and thus seismic velocities) in these problematic areas. We perform a 3D MT inversion constrained by a fixed seismic velocity model from surface wave tomography. In order to avoid strong bias, we only utilize information on structural boundaries to combine these two methods. Within the region that is well resolved by both methods, we can then extract a velocity-conductivity relationship. By translating the conductivitiesretrieved from MT into velocities in areas where the velocity model is poorly resolved, we can generate an updated velocity model and test what impactthe updated velocities have on the predicted data.We test this new approach using a MT dataset acquired in central Botswana over the Okwa terrane and the adjacent Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe Cratons togetherwith a tomographic models for the region. Here, both datasets have previously been used to constrain lithospheric structure and show some similarities.We carefully asses the validity of our results by comparing with observations and petrophysical predictions for the conductivity-velocity relationship.

The structure of Medicago truncatula δ 1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase provides new insights into regulation of proline biosynthesis in plants

DOE PAGES

Ruszkowski, Milosz; Nocek, Boguslaw; Forlani, Giuseppe; ...

2015-10-30

The two pathways for proline biosynthesis in higher plants share the last step, the conversion of δ 1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) to L-proline, which is catalyzed by P5C reductase (P5CR, EC 1.5.1.2) with the use of NAD(P)H as a coenzyme. There is increasing amount of evidence to suggest a complex regulation of P5CR activity at the post-translational level, yet the molecular basis of these mechanisms is unknown. Here we report the three-dimensional structure of the P5CR enzyme from the model legume Medicago truncatula (Mt). The crystal structures of unliganded MtP5CR decamer, and its complexes with the products NAD +, NADP +, andmore » L-proline were refined using x-ray diffraction data (at 1.7, 1.85, 1.95, and 2.1 Å resolution, respectively). Based on the presented structural data, the coenzyme preference for NADPH over NADH was explained, and NADPH is suggested to be the only coenzyme used by MtP5CR in vivo. Moreover, the insensitivity of MtP5CR to feed-back inhibition by proline, revealed by enzymatic analysis, was correlated with structural features. Additionally, a mechanism for the modulation of enzyme activity by chloride anions is discussed, as well as the rationale for the possible development of effective enzyme inhibitors.« less

The complete nucleotide sequence of the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) mitochondrial genome.

PubMed

Kim, K S; Lee, S E; Jeong, H W; Ha, J H

1998-10-01

The complete nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial genome of the domestic dog, Canis familiaris, was determined. The length of the sequence was 16,728 bp; however, the length was not absolute due to the variation (heteroplasmy) caused by differing numbers of the repetitive motif, 5'-GTACACGT(A/G)C-3', in the control region. The genome organization, gene contents, and codon usage conformed to those of other mammalian mitochondrial genomes. Although its features were unknown, the "CTAGA" duplication event which followed the translational stop codon of the COII gene was not observed in other mammalian mitochondrial genomes. In order to determine the possible differences between mtDNAs in carnivores, two rRNA and 13 protein-coding genes from the cat, dog, and seal were compared. The combined molecular differences, in two rRNA genes as well as in the inferred amino acid sequences of the mitochondrial 13 protein-coding genes, suggested that there is a closer relationship between the dog and the seal than there is between either of these species and the cat. Based on the molecular differences of the mtDNA, the evolutionary divergence between the cat, the dog, and the seal was dated to approximately 50 +/- 4 million years ago. The degree of difference between carnivore mtDNAs varied according to the individual protein-coding gene applied, showing that the evolutionary relationships of distantly related species should be presented in an extended study based on ample sequence data like complete mtDNA molecules. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

Translations on North Korea, Number 508

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-02-14

wildly were quiet, and here on the secret camp of Mt Paektu there overflowed the rays of the gracious love of the Party Center. The gracious...sunbeams of the Party Center—which illuminated and revealed the whole of the secret camp on the thickly wooded ground of glory where the great leader...shone brightly until they reached every corner of their lives and penetrated every window of the secret camp. Inside the log cabin which served as the

Breaking the language barrier: machine assisted diagnosis using the medical speech translator.

PubMed

Starlander, Marianne; Bouillon, Pierrette; Rayner, Manny; Chatzichrisafis, Nikos; Hockey, Beth Ann; Isahara, Hitoshi; Kanzaki, Kyoko; Nakao, Yukie; Santaholma, Marianne

2005-01-01

In this paper, we describe and evaluate an Open Source medical speech translation system (MedSLT) intended for safety-critical applications. The aim of this system is to eliminate the language barriers in emergency situation. It translates spoken questions from English into French, Japanese and Finnish in three medical subdomains (headache, chest pain and abdominal pain), using a vocabulary of about 250-400 words per sub-domain. The architecture is a compromise between fixed-phrase translation on one hand and complex linguistically-based systems on the other. Recognition is guided by a Context Free Grammar Language Model compiled from a general unification grammar, automatically specialised for the domain. We present an evaluation of this initial prototype that shows the advantages of this grammar-based approach for this particular translation task in term of both reliability and use.

Machine-aided indexing at NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Silvester, June P.; Genuardi, Michael T.; Klingbiel, Paul H.

1994-01-01

This report describes the NASA Lexical Dictionary (NLD), a machine-aided indexing system used online at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI). This system automatically suggests a set of candidate terms from NASA's controlled vocabulary for any designated natural language text input. The system is comprised of a text processor that is based on the computational, nonsyntactic analysis of input text and an extensive knowledge base that serves to recognize and translate text-extracted concepts. The functions of the various NLD system components are described in detail, and production and quality benefits resulting from the implementation of machine-aided indexing at CASI are discussed.

Experiments in balance with a 2D one-legged hopping machine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raibert, M. H.; Brown, H. B., Jr.

1984-03-01

The ability to balance is important to the mobility obtained by legged creatures found in nature, and may someday lead to versatile legged vehicles. In order to study the role of balance in legged locomotion and to develop appropriate control strategies, a 2D hopping machine was constructed for experimentation. The machine has one leg on which it hops and runs, making balance a prime consideration. Control of the machine's locomotion was decomposed into three separate parts: a vertical height control part, a horizontal velocity part, and an angular attitude control part. Experiments showed that the three part control scheme, while very simple to implement, was powerful enough to permit the machine to hop in place, to run at a desired rate, to translate from place to place, and to leap over obstacles. Results from modeling and computer simulation of a similar one-legged device are described by Raibert (1983).

Full-band error control and crack-free surface fabrication techniques for ultra-precision fly cutting of large-aperture KDP crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, F. H.; Wang, S. F.; An, C. H.; Wang, J.; Xu, Q.

2017-06-01

Large-aperture potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystals are widely used in the laser path of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) systems. The most common method of manufacturing half-meter KDP crystals is ultra-precision fly cutting. When processing KDP crystals by ultra-precision fly cutting, the dynamic characteristics of the fly cutting machine and fluctuations in the fly cutting environment are translated into surface errors at different spatial frequency bands. These machining errors should be suppressed effectively to guarantee that KDP crystals meet the full-band machining accuracy specified in the evaluation index. In this study, the anisotropic machinability of KDP crystals and the causes of typical surface errors in ultra-precision fly cutting of the material are investigated. The structures of the fly cutting machine and existing processing parameters are optimized to improve the machined surface quality. The findings are theoretically and practically important in the development of high-energy laser systems in China.

Air-Bearing-Piston Suspension System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mullen, Donald; Bishop, Stephen J.

1992-01-01

Suspension system based on air-bearing piston holds up steel ball against gravitation while allowing ball to translate vertically and rotate freely. System designed to simulate effect of microgravity on ball. Applicable to suppression of vibrations and delicate machining processes.

Method and system for assembling miniaturized devices

DOEpatents

Montesanti, Richard C.; Klingmann, Jeffrey L.; Seugling, Richard M.

2013-03-12

An apparatus for assembling a miniaturized device includes a manipulator system including six manipulators operable to position and orient components of the miniaturized device with submicron precision and micron-level accuracy. The manipulator system includes a first plurality of motorized axes, a second plurality of manual axes, and force and torque and sensors. Each of the six manipulators includes at least one translation stage, at least one rotation stage, tooling attached to the at least one translation stage or the at least one rotation stage, and an attachment mechanism disposed at a distal end of the tooling and operable to attach at least a portion of the miniaturized device to the tooling. The apparatus also includes an optical coordinate-measuring machine (OCMM) including a machine-vision system, a laser-based distance-measuring probe, and a touch probe. The apparatus also includes an operator control system coupled to the manipulator system and the OCMM.

Changes in nuclear receptor corepressor RIP140 do not influence mitochondrial content in the cortex.

PubMed

Herbst, Eric A F; Bonen, Arend; Holloway, Graham P

2015-10-01

Changes in nuclear receptor interacting protein 140 (RIP140) influences mitochondrial content in skeletal muscle; however, the translation of these findings to the brain has not been investigated. The present study examined the impact of overexpressing and ablating RIP140 on mitochondrial content in muscle and the cortex through examining mRNA, mtDNA, and mitochondrial protein content. Our results show that changes in RIP140 expression significantly alters markers of mitochondrial content in skeletal muscle but not the brain.

TU-FG-BRB-08: Challenges, Limitations and Future Outlook Towards Clinical Translation of Proton Acoustic Range Verification

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yousefi, S; Ahmad, M; Xiang, L

Purpose: To report our investigations of proton acoustic imaging, including computer simulations and preliminary experimental studies at clinical facilities. The ultimate achievable accuracy, sensitivity and clinical translation challenges are discussed. Methods: The acoustic pulse due to pressure rise was estimated using finite element model. Since the ionoacoustic pulse is highly dependent on the proton pulse width and energy, multiple pulse widths were studied. Based on the received signal spectrum at piezoelectric ultrasound transducer with consideration of random thermal noise, maximum spatial resolution of the proton-acoustic imaging modality was calculated. The simulation studies defined the design specifications of the system tomore » detect proton acoustic signal from Hitachi and Mevion clinical machines. A 500 KHz hydrophone with 100 dB amplification was set up in a water tank placed in front of the proton nozzle A 40 MHz data acquisition was synchronized by a trigger signal provided by the machine. Results: Given 30–800 mGy dose per pulse at the Bragg peak, the minimum number of protons detectable by the proton acoustic technique was on the order of 10×10^6 per pulse. The broader pulse widths produce signal with lower acoustic frequencies, with 10 µs pulses producing signals with frequency less than 100 kHz. As the proton beam pulse width increases, a higher dose rate is required to measure the acoustic signal. Conclusion: We have established the minimal detection limit for protonacoustic range validation for a variety of pulse parameters. Our study indicated practical proton-acoustic range verification can be feasible with a pulse shorter than 10 µs, 5×10^6 protons/pulse, 50 nA beam current and a highly sensitive ultrasonic transducer. The translational challenges into current clinical machines include proper magnetic shielding of the measurement equipment, providing a clean trigger signal from the proton machine, providing a shorter proton beam pulse and higher dose per pulse.« less

Are we there yet?

PubMed

Cristianini, Nello

2010-05-01

Statistical approaches to Artificial Intelligence are behind most success stories of the field in the past decade. The idea of generating non-trivial behaviour by analysing vast amounts of data has enabled recommendation systems, search engines, spam filters, optical character recognition, machine translation and speech recognition, among other things. As we celebrate the spectacular achievements of this line of research, we need to assess its full potential and its limitations. What are the next steps to take towards machine intelligence? 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Breaking the Language Barrier

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Preparation for the Apollo Soyuz mission entailed large-scale informational exchange that was accomplished by a computerized translation system. Based on this technology of commercial machine translation, a system known as SYSTRAN II was developed by LATSEC, Inc. and the World Translation Company of Canada. This system increases the output of a human translator by five to eight times, affording cost savings by allowing a large increase in document production without hiring additional people. Extra savings accrue from automatic production of camera-ready copy. Applications include translation of service manuals, proposals and tenders, planning studies, catalogs, list of parts and prices, textbooks, technical reports and education/training materials. System is operational for six language pairs. Systran users include Xerox Corporation, General Motors of Canada, Bell Northern Research of Canada, the U.S. Air Force and the European Commission. The company responsible for the production of SYSTRAN II has changed its name to SYSTRAN.

Machine learning and radiology.

PubMed

Wang, Shijun; Summers, Ronald M

2012-07-01

In this paper, we give a short introduction to machine learning and survey its applications in radiology. We focused on six categories of applications in radiology: medical image segmentation, registration, computer aided detection and diagnosis, brain function or activity analysis and neurological disease diagnosis from fMR images, content-based image retrieval systems for CT or MRI images, and text analysis of radiology reports using natural language processing (NLP) and natural language understanding (NLU). This survey shows that machine learning plays a key role in many radiology applications. Machine learning identifies complex patterns automatically and helps radiologists make intelligent decisions on radiology data such as conventional radiographs, CT, MRI, and PET images and radiology reports. In many applications, the performance of machine learning-based automatic detection and diagnosis systems has shown to be comparable to that of a well-trained and experienced radiologist. Technology development in machine learning and radiology will benefit from each other in the long run. Key contributions and common characteristics of machine learning techniques in radiology are discussed. We also discuss the problem of translating machine learning applications to the radiology clinical setting, including advantages and potential barriers. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier B.V.

E-TIF: An Electronic Terminology Interchange Format.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melby, Alan

1995-01-01

Emphasizes the importance of terminology in an age of machine-based translation systems. Discusses differences between lexicography and terminology. Concludes with an argument for a new system based on the Text Encoding Initiative-based notions of elements and attributes. (CFR)

Drosophila growth cones: a genetically tractable platform for the analysis of axonal growth dynamics.

PubMed

Sánchez-Soriano, Natalia; Gonçalves-Pimentel, Catarina; Beaven, Robin; Haessler, Ulrike; Ofner-Ziegenfuss, Lisa; Ballestrem, Christoph; Prokop, Andreas

2010-01-01

The formation of neuronal networks, during development and regeneration, requires outgrowth of axons along reproducible paths toward their appropriate postsynaptic target cells. Axonal extension occurs at growth cones (GCs) at the tips of axons. GC advance and navigation requires the activity of their cytoskeletal networks, comprising filamentous actin (F-actin) in lamellipodia and filopodia as well as dynamic microtubules (MTs) emanating from bundles of the axonal core. The molecular mechanisms governing these two cytoskeletal networks, their cross-talk, and their response to extracellular signaling cues are only partially understood, hindering our conceptual understanding of how regulated changes in GC behavior are controlled. Here, we introduce Drosophila GCs as a suitable model to address these mechanisms. Morphological and cytoskeletal readouts of Drosophila GCs are similar to those of other models, including mammals, as demonstrated here for MT and F-actin dynamics, axonal growth rates, filopodial structure and motility, organizational principles of MT networks, and subcellular marker localization. Therefore, we expect fundamental insights gained in Drosophila to be translatable into vertebrate biology. The advantage of the Drosophila model over others is its enormous amenability to combinatorial genetics as a powerful strategy to address the complexity of regulatory networks governing axonal growth. Thus, using pharmacological and genetic manipulations, we demonstrate a role of the actin cytoskeleton in a specific form of MT organization (loop formation), known to regulate GC pausing behavior. We demonstrate these events to be mediated by the actin-MT linking factor Short stop, thus identifying an essential molecular player in this context.

IDO inhibits a tryptophan sufficiency signal that stimulates mTOR

PubMed Central

Metz, Richard; Rust, Sonja; DuHadaway, James B.; Mautino, Mario R.; Munn, David H.; Vahanian, Nicholas N.; Link, Charles J.; Prendergast, George C.

2012-01-01

Tryptophan catabolism by indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) alters inflammation and favors T-cell tolerance in cancer, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. The integrated stress response kinase GCN2, a sensor of uncharged tRNA that is activated by amino acid deprivation, is recognized as an important effector of the IDO pathway. However, in a mouse model of inflammatory carcinogenesis, ablation of Gcn2 did not promote resistance against tumor development like the absence of IDO does, implying the existence of additional cancer-relevant pathways that operate downstream of IDO. Addressing this gap in knowledge, we report that the IDO-mediated catabolism of tryptophan also inhibits the immunoregulatory kinases mTOR and PKC-Θ, along with the induction of autophagy. These effects were relieved specifically by tryptophan but also by the experimental agent 1-methyl-D-tryptophan (D-1MT, also known as NLG8189), the latter of which reversed the inhibitory signals generated by IDO with higher potency. Taken together, our results implicate mTOR and PKC-Θ in IDO-mediated immunosuppressive signaling, and they provide timely insights into the unique mechanism of action of D-1MT as compared with traditional biochemical inhibitors of IDO. These findings are important translationally, because they suggest broader clinical uses for D-1MT against cancers that overexpress any tryptophan catabolic enzyme (IDO, IDO2 or TDO). Moreover, they define mTOR and PKC-Θ as candidate pharmacodynamic markers for D-1MT responses in patients recruited to ongoing phase IB/II cancer trials, addressing a current clinical need. PMID:23264892

Identification of the polypeptides encoded in the unassigned reading frames 2, 4, 4L, and 5 of human mitochondrial DNA.

PubMed Central

Mariottini, P; Chomyn, A; Riley, M; Cottrell, B; Doolittle, R F; Attardi, G

1986-01-01

In previous work, antibodies prepared against chemically synthesized peptides predicted from the DNA sequence were used to identify the polypeptides encoded in three of the eight unassigned reading frames (URFs) of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). In the present study, this approach has been extended to other human mtDNA URFs. In particular, antibodies directed against the NH2-terminal octapeptide of the putative URF2 product specifically precipitated component 11 of the HeLa cell mitochondrial translation products, the reaction being inhibited by the specific peptide. Similarly, antibodies directed against the COOH-terminal nonapeptide of the putative URF4 product reacted specifically with components 4 and 5, and antibodies against a COOH-terminal heptapeptide of the presumptive URF4L product reacted specifically with component 26. Antibodies against the NH2-terminal heptapeptide of the putative product of URF5 reacted with component 1, but only to a marginal extent; however, the results of a trypsin fingerprinting analysis of component 1 point strongly to this component as being the authentic product of URF5. The polypeptide assignments to the mtDNA URFs analyzed here are supported by the relative electrophoretic mobilities of proteins 11, 4-5, 26, and 1, which are those expected for the molecular weights predicted from the DNA sequence for the products of URF2, URF4, URF4L, and URF5, respectively. With the present assignment, seven of the eight human mtDNA URFs have been shown to be expressed in HeLa cells. Images PMID:3456601

Development and Adaptation of A Control System for Optimization of Single and Multiple Operation Machining

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-06-01

015C 0151 015*: 0152 0154 0155 015* 0157 015C 015S OUC 2010 2011 2012 2006 2^li «14 2ol5 2016 2017 C c c lul3 2018 2019 20*1...AHN: AMXPE-MT Rock Island Arsenal Rock Island, IL 61201 2 Director USAMC Intern Training Center AHN: AMXMC-ITC-PPE Red River Army Depot Texarkana ...River Army Depot ATTN: AMXRR-KM Texarkana , TX 75501 1 Commander Sacramento Army Depot ATTN: AMXSA-MME-LB Sacramento, CA 95813 1 Commander

Improving outcomes for hospital patients with critical bleeding requiring massive transfusion: the Australian and New Zealand Massive Transfusion Registry study methodology.

PubMed

Oldroyd, J C; Venardos, K M; Aoki, N J; Zatta, A J; McQuilten, Z K; Phillips, L E; Andrianopoulos, N; Cooper, D J; Cameron, P A; Isbister, J P; Wood, E M

2016-10-06

The Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) Massive Transfusion (MT) Registry (MTR) has been established to improve the quality of care of patients with critical bleeding (CB) requiring MT (≥ 5 units red blood cells (RBC) over 4 h). The MTR is providing data to: (1) improve the evidence base for transfusion practice by systematically collecting data on transfusion practice and clinical outcomes; (2) monitor variations in practice and provide an opportunity for benchmarking, and feedback on practice/blood product use; (3) inform blood supply planning, inventory management and development of future clinical trials; and (4) measure and enhance translation of evidence into policy and patient blood management guidelines. The MTR commenced in 2011. At each participating site, all eligible patients aged ≥18 years with CB from any clinical context receiving MT are included using a waived consent model. Patient information and clinical coding, transfusion history, and laboratory test results are extracted for each patient's hospital admission at the episode level. Thirty-two hospitals have enrolled and 3566 MT patients have been identified across Australia and New Zealand between 2011 and 2015. The majority of CB contexts are surgical, followed by trauma and gastrointestinal haemorrhage. Validation studies have verified that the definition of MT used in the registry correctly identifies 94 % of CB events, and that the median time of transfusion for the majority of fresh products is the 'product event issue time' from the hospital blood bank plus 20 min. Data linkage between the MTR and mortality databases in Australia and New Zealand will allow comparisons of risk-adjusted mortality estimates across different bleeding contexts, and between countries. Data extracts will be examined to determine if there are differences in patient outcomes according to transfusion practice. The ratios of blood components (e.g. FFP:RBC) used in different types of critical bleeding will also be investigated. The MTR is generating data with the potential to have an impact on management and policy decision-making in CB and MT and provide benchmarking and monitoring tools for immediate application.

Multilevel Analysis in Analyzing Speech Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guddattu, Vasudeva; Krishna, Y.

2011-01-01

The speech produced by human vocal tract is a complex acoustic signal, with diverse applications in phonetics, speech synthesis, automatic speech recognition, speaker identification, communication aids, speech pathology, speech perception, machine translation, hearing research, rehabilitation and assessment of communication disorders and many…

Strategies, Language Transfer and the Simulation of the Second Language Learner's Mental Operations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Mike Sharwood

1979-01-01

An attempt is made to describe second language behavior and language transfer in cybernetic terms. This should make it possible to translate language into machine language and to clarify psycholinguistic explanations of second language performance. (PMJ)

Syndecan-1 alterations during the tumorigenic progression of human colonic Caco-2 cells induced by human Ha-ras or polyoma middle T oncogenes.

PubMed Central

Levy, P.; Munier, A.; Baron-Delage, S.; Di Gioia, Y.; Gespach, C.; Capeau, J.; Cherqui, G.

1996-01-01

The products of ras and src proto-oncogenes are frequently activated in a constitutive state in human colorectal cancer. In this study we attempted to establish whether the tumorigenic progression induced by oncogenic activation of p21ras and pp60c-src in human colonic Caco-2 cells is associated with specific alterations of syndecan-1, a membrane-anchored proteoglycan playing a role in cell-matrix interaction and neoplastic growth control. To this end, we used Caco-2 cells made highly tumorigenic by transfection with an activated (Val 12) human Ha-ras gene or with the polyoma middle T (Py-MT) oncogene, a constitutive activator of pp60c-src tyrosine kinase activity. Compared with control vector-transfected Caco-2 cells, both oncogene-transfected cell lines (1) contained smaller amounts of membrane-anchored PGs; (2) exhibited decreased syndecan-1 expression at the protein but not the mRNA level; (3) synthesized 35S-labelled syndecan-1 with decreased specific activity; (4) produced a syndecan-1 ectodomain with a lower molecular mass and reduced GAG chain size and sulphation; and (5) expressed heparanase degradative activity. These results show that the dramatic activation of the tumorigenic potential induced by oncogenic p21ras or Py-MT/pp60c-src in Caco-2 cells is associated with marked alterations of syndecan-1 expression at the translational and post-translational levels. Images Figure 2 PMID:8695359

Palmitoylation of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) is increased for familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-linked SOD1 mutants.

PubMed

Antinone, Sarah E; Ghadge, Ghanashyam D; Lam, Tukiet T; Wang, Lijun; Roos, Raymond P; Green, William N

2013-07-26

Mutations in Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (mtSOD1) cause familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS), a neurodegenerative disease resulting from motor neuron degeneration. Here, we demonstrate that wild type SOD1 (wtSOD1) undergoes palmitoylation, a reversible post-translational modification that can regulate protein structure, function, and localization. SOD1 palmitoylation was confirmed by multiple techniques, including acyl-biotin exchange, click chemistry, cysteine mutagenesis, and mass spectrometry. Mass spectrometry and cysteine mutagenesis demonstrated that cysteine residue 6 was the primary site of palmitoylation. The palmitoylation of FALS-linked mtSOD1s (A4V and G93A) was significantly increased relative to that of wtSOD1 expressed in HEK cells and a motor neuron cell line. The palmitoylation of FALS-linked mtSOD1s (G93A and G85R) was also increased relative to that of wtSOD1 when assayed from transgenic mouse spinal cords. We found that the level of SOD1 palmitoylation correlated with the level of membrane-associated SOD1, suggesting a role for palmitoylation in targeting SOD1 to membranes. We further observed that palmitoylation occurred predominantly on disulfide-reduced as opposed to disulfide-bonded SOD1, suggesting that immature SOD1 is the primarily palmitoylated species. Increases in SOD1 disulfide bonding and maturation with increased copper chaperone for SOD1 expression caused a decrease in wtSOD1 palmitoylation. Copper chaperone for SOD1 overexpression decreased A4V palmitoylation less than wtSOD1 and had little effect on G93A mtSOD1 palmitoylation. These findings suggest that SOD1 palmitoylation occurs prior to disulfide bonding during SOD1 maturation and that palmitoylation is increased when disulfide bonding is delayed or decreased as observed for several mtSOD1s.

Ex-vivo machine perfusion for kidney preservation.

PubMed

Hamar, Matyas; Selzner, Markus

2018-06-01

Machine perfusion is a novel strategy to decrease preservation injury, improve graft assessment, and increase organ acceptance for transplantation. This review summarizes the current advances in ex-vivo machine-based kidney preservation technologies over the last year. Ex-vivo perfusion technologies, such as hypothermic and normothermic machine perfusion and controlled oxygenated rewarming, have gained high interest in the field of organ preservation. Keeping kidney grafts functionally and metabolically active during the preservation period offers a unique chance for viability assessment, reconditioning, and organ repair. Normothermic ex-vivo kidney perfusion has been recently translated into clinical practice. Preclinical results suggest that prolonged warm perfusion appears superior than a brief end-ischemic reconditioning in terms of renal function and injury. An established standardized protocol for continuous warm perfusion is still not available for human grafts. Ex-vivo machine perfusion represents a superior organ preservation method over static cold storage. There is still an urgent need for the optimization of the perfusion fluid and machine technology and to identify the optimal indication in kidney transplantation. Recent research is focusing on graft assessment and therapeutic strategies.

Maternal RNA regulates Aurora C kinase during mouse oocyte maturation in a translation-independent fashion.

PubMed

Balboula, Ahmed Z; Blengini, Cecilia S; Gentilello, Amanda S; Takahashi, Masashi; Schindler, Karen

2017-06-01

During oocyte meiotic maturation, Aurora kinase C (AURKC) is required to accomplish many critical functions including destabilizing erroneous kinetochore-microtubule (K-MT)attachments and regulating bipolar spindle assembly. How localized activity of AURKC is regulated in mammalian oocytes, however, is not fully understood. Female gametes from many species, including mouse, contain stores of maternal transcripts that are required for downstream developmental events. We show here that depletion of maternal RNA in mouse oocytes resulted in impaired meiotic progression, increased incidence of chromosome misalignment and abnormal spindle formation at metaphase I (Met I), and cytokinesis defects. Importantly, depletion of maternal RNA perturbed the localization and activity of AURKC within the chromosomal passenger complex (CPC). These perturbations were not observed when translation was inhibited by cycloheximide (CHX) treatment. These results demonstrate a translation-independent function of maternal RNA to regulate AURKC-CPC function in mouse oocytes. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Society for the Study of Reproduction. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Walking robot: A design project for undergraduate students

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

The design and construction of the University of Maryland walking machine was completed during the 1989 to 1990 academic year. It was required that the machine be capable of completing a number of tasks including walking a straight line, turning to change direction, and manuevering over an obstacle such as a set of stairs. The machine consists of two sets of four telescoping legs that alternately support the entire structure. A gear box and crank arm assembly is connected to the leg sets to provide the power required for the translational motion of the machine. By retracting all eight legs, the robot comes to rest on a central Bigfoot support. Turning is accomplished by rotating this machine about this support. The machine can be controlled by using either a user-operated remote tether or the onboard computer for the execution of control commands. Absolute encoders are attached to all motors to provide the control computer with information regarding the status of the motors. Long and short range infrared sensors provide the computer with feedback information regarding the machine's position relative to a series of stripes and reflectors. These infrared sensors simulate how the robot might sense and gain information about the environment of Mars.

Biallelic Mutations in MRPS34 Lead to Instability of the Small Mitoribosomal Subunit and Leigh Syndrome.

PubMed

Lake, Nicole J; Webb, Bryn D; Stroud, David A; Richman, Tara R; Ruzzenente, Benedetta; Compton, Alison G; Mountford, Hayley S; Pulman, Juliette; Zangarelli, Coralie; Rio, Marlene; Boddaert, Nathalie; Assouline, Zahra; Sherpa, Mingma D; Schadt, Eric E; Houten, Sander M; Byrnes, James; McCormick, Elizabeth M; Zolkipli-Cunningham, Zarazuela; Haude, Katrina; Zhang, Zhancheng; Retterer, Kyle; Bai, Renkui; Calvo, Sarah E; Mootha, Vamsi K; Christodoulou, John; Rötig, Agnes; Filipovska, Aleksandra; Cristian, Ingrid; Falk, Marni J; Metodiev, Metodi D; Thorburn, David R

2017-08-03

The synthesis of all 13 mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-encoded protein subunits of the human oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system is carried out by mitochondrial ribosomes (mitoribosomes). Defects in the stability of mitoribosomal proteins or mitoribosome assembly impair mitochondrial protein translation, causing combined OXPHOS enzyme deficiency and clinical disease. Here we report four autosomal-recessive pathogenic mutations in the gene encoding the small mitoribosomal subunit protein, MRPS34, in six subjects from four unrelated families with Leigh syndrome and combined OXPHOS defects. Whole-exome sequencing was used to independently identify all variants. Two splice-site mutations were identified, including homozygous c.321+1G>T in a subject of Italian ancestry and homozygous c.322-10G>A in affected sibling pairs from two unrelated families of Puerto Rican descent. In addition, compound heterozygous MRPS34 mutations were identified in a proband of French ancestry; a missense (c.37G>A [p.Glu13Lys]) and a nonsense (c.94C>T [p.Gln32 ∗ ]) variant. We demonstrated that these mutations reduce MRPS34 protein levels and the synthesis of OXPHOS subunits encoded by mtDNA. Examination of the mitoribosome profile and quantitative proteomics showed that the mitochondrial translation defect was caused by destabilization of the small mitoribosomal subunit and impaired monosome assembly. Lentiviral-mediated expression of wild-type MRPS34 rescued the defect in mitochondrial translation observed in skin fibroblasts from affected subjects, confirming the pathogenicity of MRPS34 mutations. Our data establish that MRPS34 is required for normal function of the mitoribosome in humans and furthermore demonstrate the power of quantitative proteomic analysis to identify signatures of defects in specific cellular pathways in fibroblasts from subjects with inherited disease. Copyright © 2017 American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

MetaJC++: A flexible and automatic program transformation technique using meta framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beevi, Nadera S.; Reghu, M.; Chitraprasad, D.; Vinodchandra, S. S.

2014-09-01

Compiler is a tool to translate abstract code containing natural language terms to machine code. Meta compilers are available to compile more than one languages. We have developed a meta framework intends to combine two dissimilar programming languages, namely C++ and Java to provide a flexible object oriented programming platform for the user. Suitable constructs from both the languages have been combined, thereby forming a new and stronger Meta-Language. The framework is developed using the compiler writing tools, Flex and Yacc to design the front end of the compiler. The lexer and parser have been developed to accommodate the complete keyword set and syntax set of both the languages. Two intermediate representations have been used in between the translation of the source program to machine code. Abstract Syntax Tree has been used as a high level intermediate representation that preserves the hierarchical properties of the source program. A new machine-independent stack-based byte-code has also been devised to act as a low level intermediate representation. The byte-code is essentially organised into an output class file that can be used to produce an interpreted output. The results especially in the spheres of providing C++ concepts in Java have given an insight regarding the potential strong features of the resultant meta-language.

Mechanically Compliant Electronic Materials for Wearable Photovoltaics and Human-Machine Interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Connor, Timothy Francis, III

Applications of stretchable electronic materials for human-machine interfaces are described herein. Intrinsically stretchable organic conjugated polymers and stretchable electronic composites were used to develop stretchable organic photovoltaics (OPVs), mechanically robust wearable OPVs, and human-machine interfaces for gesture recognition, American Sign Language Translation, haptic control of robots, and touch emulation for virtual reality, augmented reality, and the transmission of touch. The stretchable and wearable OPVs comprise active layers of poly-3-alkylthiophene:phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (P3AT:PCBM) and transparent conductive electrodes of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and devices could only be fabricated through a deep understanding of the connection between molecular structure and the co-engineering of electronic performance with mechanical resilience. The talk concludes with the use of composite piezoresistive sensors two smart glove prototypes. The first integrates stretchable strain sensors comprising a carbon-elastomer composite, a wearable microcontroller, low energy Bluetooth, and a 6-axis accelerometer/gyroscope to construct a fully functional gesture recognition glove capable of wirelessly translating American Sign Language to text on a cell phone screen. The second creates a system for the haptic control of a 3D printed robot arm, as well as the transmission of touch and temperature information.

Lysine acetylation sites prediction using an ensemble of support vector machine classifiers.

PubMed

Xu, Yan; Wang, Xiao-Bo; Ding, Jun; Wu, Ling-Yun; Deng, Nai-Yang

2010-05-07

Lysine acetylation is an essentially reversible and high regulated post-translational modification which regulates diverse protein properties. Experimental identification of acetylation sites is laborious and expensive. Hence, there is significant interest in the development of computational methods for reliable prediction of acetylation sites from amino acid sequences. In this paper we use an ensemble of support vector machine classifiers to perform this work. The experimentally determined acetylation lysine sites are extracted from Swiss-Prot database and scientific literatures. Experiment results show that an ensemble of support vector machine classifiers outperforms single support vector machine classifier and other computational methods such as PAIL and LysAcet on the problem of predicting acetylation lysine sites. The resulting method has been implemented in EnsemblePail, a web server for lysine acetylation sites prediction available at http://www.aporc.org/EnsemblePail/. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

NASA's online machine aided indexing system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Silvester, June P.; Genuardi, Michael T.; Klingbiel, Paul H.

1993-01-01

This report describes the NASA Lexical Dictionary, a machine aided indexing system used online at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Center for Aerospace Information (CASI). This system is comprised of a text processor that is based on the computational, non-syntactic analysis of input text, and an extensive 'knowledge base' that serves to recognize and translate text-extracted concepts. The structure and function of the various NLD system components are described in detail. Methods used for the development of the knowledge base are discussed. Particular attention is given to a statistically-based text analysis program that provides the knowledge base developer with a list of concept-specific phrases extracted from large textual corpora. Production and quality benefits resulting from the integration of machine aided indexing at CASI are discussed along with a number of secondary applications of NLD-derived systems including on-line spell checking and machine aided lexicography.

Dynamic survey of mitochondria by ubiquitin

PubMed Central

Escobar-Henriques, Mafalda; Langer, Thomas

2014-01-01

Ubiquitin is a post-translational modifier with proteolytic and non-proteolytic roles in many biological processes. At mitochondria, it performs regulatory homeostatic functions and contributes to mitochondrial quality control. Ubiquitin is essential for mitochondrial fusion, regulates mitochondria-ER contacts, and participates in maternal mtDNA inheritance. Under stress, mitochondrial dysfunction induces ubiquitin-dependent responses that involve mitochondrial proteome remodeling and culminate in organelle removal by mitophagy. In addition, many ubiquitin-dependent mechanisms have been shown to regulate innate immune responses and xenophagy. Here, we review the emerging roles of ubiquitin at mitochondria. PMID:24569520

Electrophoretic Deformation of Individual Transfer RNA Molecules Reveals Their Identity.

PubMed

Henley, Robert Y; Ashcroft, Brian Alan; Farrell, Ian; Cooperman, Barry S; Lindsay, Stuart M; Wanunu, Meni

2016-01-13

It has been hypothesized that the ribosome gains additional fidelity during protein translation by probing structural differences in tRNA species. We measure the translocation kinetics of different tRNA species through ∼3 nm diameter synthetic nanopores. Each tRNA species varies in the time scale with which it is deformed from equilibrium, as in the translocation step of protein translation. Using machine-learning algorithms, we can differentiate among five tRNA species, analyze the ratios of tRNA binary mixtures, and distinguish tRNA isoacceptors.

A Grammar Library for Information Structure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Song, Sanghoun

2014-01-01

This dissertation makes substantial contributions to both the theoretical and computational treatment of information structure, with an eye toward creating natural language processing applications such as multilingual machine translation systems. The aim of the present dissertation is to create a grammar library of information structure for the…

CDISC SHARE, a Global, Cloud-based Resource of Machine-Readable CDISC Standards for Clinical and Translational Research

PubMed Central

Hume, Samuel; Chow, Anthony; Evans, Julie; Malfait, Frederik; Chason, Julie; Wold, J. Darcy; Kubick, Wayne; Becnel, Lauren B.

2018-01-01

The Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) is a global non-profit standards development organization that creates consensus-based standards for clinical and translational research. Several of these standards are now required by regulators for electronic submissions of regulated clinical trials’ data and by government funding agencies. These standards are free and open, available for download on the CDISC Website as PDFs. While these documents are human readable, they are not amenable to ready use by electronic systems. CDISC launched the CDISC Shared Health And Research Electronic library (SHARE) to provide the standards metadata in machine-readable formats to facilitate the automated management and implementation of the standards. This paper describes how CDISC SHARE’S standards can facilitate collecting, aggregating and analyzing standardized data from early design to end analysis; and its role as a central resource providing information systems with metadata that drives process automation including study setup and data pipelining. PMID:29888049

A Brain-Machine Interface Operating with a Real-Time Spiking Neural Network Control Algorithm.

PubMed

Dethier, Julie; Nuyujukian, Paul; Eliasmith, Chris; Stewart, Terry; Elassaad, Shauki A; Shenoy, Krishna V; Boahen, Kwabena

2011-01-01

Motor prostheses aim to restore function to disabled patients. Despite compelling proof of concept systems, barriers to clinical translation remain. One challenge is to develop a low-power, fully-implantable system that dissipates only minimal power so as not to damage tissue. To this end, we implemented a Kalman-filter based decoder via a spiking neural network (SNN) and tested it in brain-machine interface (BMI) experiments with a rhesus monkey. The Kalman filter was trained to predict the arm's velocity and mapped on to the SNN using the Neural Engineering Framework (NEF). A 2,000-neuron embedded Matlab SNN implementation runs in real-time and its closed-loop performance is quite comparable to that of the standard Kalman filter. The success of this closed-loop decoder holds promise for hardware SNN implementations of statistical signal processing algorithms on neuromorphic chips, which may offer power savings necessary to overcome a major obstacle to the successful clinical translation of neural motor prostheses.

ATST telescope mount: telescope of machine tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeffers, Paul; Stolz, Günter; Bonomi, Giovanni; Dreyer, Oliver; Kärcher, Hans

2012-09-01

The Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) will be the largest solar telescope in the world, and will be able to provide the sharpest views ever taken of the solar surface. The telescope has a 4m aperture primary mirror, however due to the off axis nature of the optical layout, the telescope mount has proportions similar to an 8 meter class telescope. The technology normally used in this class of telescope is well understood in the telescope community and has been successfully implemented in numerous projects. The world of large machine tools has developed in a separate realm with similar levels of performance requirement but different boundary conditions. In addition the competitive nature of private industry has encouraged development and usage of more cost effective solutions both in initial capital cost and thru-life operating cost. Telescope mounts move relatively slowly with requirements for high stability under external environmental influences such as wind buffeting. Large machine tools operate under high speed requirements coupled with high application of force through the machine but with little or no external environmental influences. The benefits of these parallel development paths and the ATST system requirements are being combined in the ATST Telescope Mount Assembly (TMA). The process of balancing the system requirements with new technologies is based on the experience of the ATST project team, Ingersoll Machine Tools who are the main contractor for the TMA and MT Mechatronics who are their design subcontractors. This paper highlights a number of these proven technologies from the commercially driven machine tool world that are being introduced to the TMA design. Also the challenges of integrating and ensuring that the differences in application requirements are accounted for in the design are discussed.

The psychosocial impact of the environmental damage caused by the MT Merapi eruption on survivors in Indonesia.

PubMed

Warsini, Sri; Buettner, Petra; Mills, Jane; West, Caryn; Usher, Kim

2014-12-01

The eruption of Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano in 2010 caused extensive environmental degradation. Settlements and hundreds of hectares of farmlands were buried under volcanic ash. Until now, there has been no research on the psychosocial impact of living in an environment damaged by a volcanic eruption. We studied and compared the psychosocial impact of environmental damage on volcano survivors from two subdistricts-Cangkringan and Pakem. Cangkringan survivors affected by the 2010 eruption continue to live in a damaged environment. The Pakem subdistrict was damaged by eruptions of Mt Merapi in the 1990s but there is no recent damage to their environment. The Indonesian-Environmental Distress Scale (I-EDS), a translated revision of the original Environmental Distress Scale (EDS), was used to collect data. Exploratory statistical methods and multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to examine the relative contributions of demographic variables on the psychosocial impact of living in an environment damaged by volcanic eruption. A total of 348 survivors of the Mt Merapi eruption participated in the survey. The mean I-EDS score for Cangkringan district was 15.8 (SD 1.6; range 11.8-19.8) compared to 14.6 (SD 1.3; range 11.8-18.3) for Pakem district (P < 0.001). This result was confirmed by multiple linear regression analysis showing further that older respondents (P < 0.001), unemployed and retired respondents (P = 0.007), and respondents with no formal school education (P = 0.037) had lower I-EDS scores compared to the respective reference groups. Survivors of the Mt Merapi eruption who continue to live in the environment damaged by the 2010 volcanic eruption experience environmental distress. Relevant interventions should target those from low sosioeconomic groups to deal with the distress.

Insights into the transcriptional and translational mechanisms of linear organellar chromosomes in the box jellyfish Alatina alata (Cnidaria: Medusozoa: Cubozoa).

PubMed

Kayal, Ehsan; Bentlage, Bastian; Collins, Allen G

2016-09-01

In most animals, the mitochondrial genome is characterized by its small size, organization into a single circular molecule, and a relative conservation of the number of encoded genes. In box jellyfish (Cubozoa, Cnidaria), the mitochondrial genome is organized into 8 linear mito-chromosomes harboring between one and 4 genes each, including 2 extra protein-coding genes: mt-polB and orf314. Such an organization challenges the traditional view of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) expression in animals. In this study, we investigate the pattern of mitochondrial gene expression in the box jellyfish Alatina alata, as well as several key nuclear-encoded molecular pathways involved in the processing of mitochondrial gene transcription. Read coverage of DNA-seq data is relatively uniform for all 8 mito-chromosomes, suggesting that each mito-chromosome is present in equimolar proportion in the mitochondrion. Comparison of DNA and RNA-seq based assemblies indicates that mito-chromosomes are transcribed into individual transcripts in which the beginning and ending are highly conserved. Expression levels for mt-polB and orf314 are similar to those of other mitochondrial-encoded genes, which provides further evidence for them having functional roles in the mitochondrion. Survey of the transcriptome suggests recognition of the mitochondrial tRNA-Met by the cytoplasmic aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase counterpart and C-to-U editing of the cytoplasmic tRNA-Trp after import into the mitochondrion. Moreover, several mitochondrial ribosomal proteins appear to be lost. This study represents the first survey of mitochondrial gene expression of the linear multi-chromosomal mtDNA in box jellyfish (Cubozoa). Future exploration of small RNAs and the proteome of the mitochondrion will test the hypotheses presented herein.

Industrial machine systems risk assessment: a critical review of concepts and methods.

PubMed

Etherton, John R

2007-02-01

Reducing the risk of work-related death and injury to machine operators and maintenance personnel poses a continuing occupational safety challenge. The risk of injury from machinery in U.S. workplaces is high. Between 1992 and 2001, there were, on average, 520 fatalities per year involving machines and, on average, 3.8 cases per 10,000 workers of nonfatal caught-in-running-machine injuries involving lost workdays. A U.S. task group recently developed a technical reference guideline, ANSI B11 TR3, "A Guide to Estimate, Evaluate, & Reduce Risks Associated with Machine Tools," that is intended to bring machine tool risk assessment practice in the United States up to or above the level now required by the international standard, ISO 14121. The ANSI guideline emphasizes identifying tasks and hazards not previously considered, particularly those associated with maintenance; and it further emphasizes teamwork among line workers, engineers, and safety professionals. The value of this critical review of concepts and methods resides in (1) its linking current risk theory to machine system risk assessment and (2) its exploration of how various risk estimation tools translate into risk-informed decisions on industrial machine system design and use. The review was undertaken to set the stage for a field evaluation study on machine risk assessment among users of the ANSI B11 TR3 method.

Translating an AI application from Lisp to Ada: A case study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Gloria J.

1991-01-01

A set of benchmarks was developed to test the performance of a newly designed computer executing both Lisp and Ada. Among these was AutoClassII -- a large Artificial Intelligence (AI) application written in Common Lisp. The extraction of a representative subset of this complex application was aided by a Lisp Code Analyzer (LCA). The LCA enabled rapid analysis of the code, putting it in a concise and functionally readable form. An equivalent benchmark was created in Ada through manual translation of the Lisp version. A comparison of the execution results of both programs across a variety of compiler-machine combinations indicate that line-by-line translation coupled with analysis of the initial code can produce relatively efficient and reusable target code.

Characterization of tub4P287L, a β‐tubulin mutant, revealed new aspects of microtubule regulation in shade

PubMed Central

Yu, Jie; Qiu, Hong; Liu, Xin; Wang, Meiling; Gao, Yongli; Chory, Joanne

2015-01-01

Abstract When sun plants, such as Arabidopsis thaliana, are under canopy shade, elongation of stems/petioles will be induced as one of the most prominent responses. Plant hormones mediate the elongation growth. However, how environmental and hormonal signals are translated into cell expansion activity that leads to the elongation growth remains elusive. Through forward genetic study, we identified shade avoidance2 (sav2) mutant, which contains a P287L mutation in β‐TUBULIN 4. Cortical microtubules (cMTs) play a key role in anisotropic cell growth. Hypocotyls of sav2 are wild type‐like in white light, but are short and highly swollen in shade and dark. We showed that shade not only induces cMT rearrangement, but also affects cMT stability and dynamics of plus ends. Even though auxin and brassinosteroids are required for shade‐induced hypocotyl elongation, they had little effect on shade‐induced rearrangement of cMTs. Blocking auxin transport suppressed dark phenotypes of sav2, while overexpressing EB1b‐GFP, a microtubule plus‐end binding protein, rescued sav2 in both shade and dark, suggesting that tub4P287L represents a unique type of tubulin mutation that does not affect cMT function in supporting cell elongation, but may affect the ability of cMTs to respond properly to growth promoting stimuli. PMID:25899068

Defective Expression of the Mitochondrial-tRNA Modifying Enzyme GTPBP3 Triggers AMPK-Mediated Adaptive Responses Involving Complex I Assembly Factors, Uncoupling Protein 2, and the Mitochondrial Pyruvate Carrier.

PubMed

Martínez-Zamora, Ana; Meseguer, Salvador; Esteve, Juan M; Villarroya, Magda; Aguado, Carmen; Enríquez, J Antonio; Knecht, Erwin; Armengod, M-Eugenia

2015-01-01

GTPBP3 is an evolutionary conserved protein presumably involved in mitochondrial tRNA (mt-tRNA) modification. In humans, GTPBP3 mutations cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with lactic acidosis, and have been associated with a defect in mitochondrial translation, yet the pathomechanism remains unclear. Here we use a GTPBP3 stable-silencing model (shGTPBP3 cells) for a further characterization of the phenotype conferred by the GTPBP3 defect. We experimentally show for the first time that GTPBP3 depletion is associated with an mt-tRNA hypomodification status, as mt-tRNAs from shGTPBP3 cells were more sensitive to digestion by angiogenin than tRNAs from control cells. Despite the effect of stable silencing of GTPBP3 on global mitochondrial translation being rather mild, the steady-state levels and activity of Complex I, and cellular ATP levels were 50% of those found in the controls. Notably, the ATPase activity of Complex V increased by about 40% in GTPBP3 depleted cells suggesting that mitochondria consume ATP to maintain the membrane potential. Moreover, shGTPBP3 cells exhibited enhanced antioxidant capacity and a nearly 2-fold increase in the uncoupling protein UCP2 levels. Our data indicate that stable silencing of GTPBP3 triggers an AMPK-dependent retrograde signaling pathway that down-regulates the expression of the NDUFAF3 and NDUFAF4 Complex I assembly factors and the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC), while up-regulating the expression of UCP2. We also found that genes involved in glycolysis and oxidation of fatty acids are up-regulated. These data are compatible with a model in which high UCP2 levels, together with a reduction in pyruvate transport due to the down-regulation of MPC, promote a shift from pyruvate to fatty acid oxidation, and to an uncoupling of glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation. These metabolic alterations, and the low ATP levels, may negatively affect heart function.

Translations on Eastern Europe Scientific Affairs, Number 560

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-10-04

Miklos Szilagyi . TAPNEG; prepares digitalized printed wiring diagram control punch tape on an ADMAP-2 graphing machine with reflection on the x axis...FOKAL 16 KE; BME, Dr Zsolt Illyefalvi-Vitez; BME, Dr Miklos Szilagyi . TESTOP-10; the program provides measurement and diagnostics for logic cards

Natural Language Processing: Toward Large-Scale, Robust Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haas, Stephanie W.

1996-01-01

Natural language processing (NLP) is concerned with getting computers to do useful things with natural language. Major applications include machine translation, text generation, information retrieval, and natural language interfaces. Reviews important developments since 1987 that have led to advances in NLP; current NLP applications; and problems…

A Novel Approach to Creating Disambiguated Multilingual Dictionaries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boguslavsky, Igor; Cardenosa, Jesus; Gallardo, Carolina

2009-01-01

Multilingual lexicons are needed in various applications, such as cross-lingual information retrieval, machine translation, and some others. Often, these applications suffer from the ambiguity of dictionary items, especially when an intermediate natural language is involved in the process of the dictionary construction, since this language adds…

Konnen Computer das Sprachproblem losen (Can Computers Solve the Language Problem)?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zeilinger, Michael

1972-01-01

Various computer applications in linguistics, primarily speech synthesis and machine translation, are reviewed. Although the computer proves useful for statistics, dictionary building and programmed instruction, the promulgation of a world auxiliary language is considered a more human and practical solution to the international communication…

Chapter 16: text mining for translational bioinformatics.

PubMed

Cohen, K Bretonnel; Hunter, Lawrence E

2013-04-01

Text mining for translational bioinformatics is a new field with tremendous research potential. It is a subfield of biomedical natural language processing that concerns itself directly with the problem of relating basic biomedical research to clinical practice, and vice versa. Applications of text mining fall both into the category of T1 translational research-translating basic science results into new interventions-and T2 translational research, or translational research for public health. Potential use cases include better phenotyping of research subjects, and pharmacogenomic research. A variety of methods for evaluating text mining applications exist, including corpora, structured test suites, and post hoc judging. Two basic principles of linguistic structure are relevant for building text mining applications. One is that linguistic structure consists of multiple levels. The other is that every level of linguistic structure is characterized by ambiguity. There are two basic approaches to text mining: rule-based, also known as knowledge-based; and machine-learning-based, also known as statistical. Many systems are hybrids of the two approaches. Shared tasks have had a strong effect on the direction of the field. Like all translational bioinformatics software, text mining software for translational bioinformatics can be considered health-critical and should be subject to the strictest standards of quality assurance and software testing.

Translating state-of-the-art spinal cord MRI techniques to clinical use: A systematic review of clinical studies utilizing DTI, MT, MWF, MRS, and fMRI

PubMed Central

Martin, Allan R.; Aleksanderek, Izabela; Cohen-Adad, Julien; Tarmohamed, Zenovia; Tetreault, Lindsay; Smith, Nathaniel; Cadotte, David W.; Crawley, Adrian; Ginsberg, Howard; Mikulis, David J.; Fehlings, Michael G.

2015-01-01

Background A recent meeting of international imaging experts sponsored by the International Spinal Research Trust (ISRT) and the Wings for Life Foundation identified 5 state-of-the-art MRI techniques with potential to transform the field of spinal cord imaging by elucidating elements of the microstructure and function: diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), magnetization transfer (MT), myelin water fraction (MWF), MR spectroscopy (MRS), and functional MRI (fMRI). However, the progress toward clinical translation of these techniques has not been established. Methods A systematic review of the English literature was conducted using MEDLINE, MEDLINE-in-Progress, Embase, and Cochrane databases to identify all human studies that investigated utility, in terms of diagnosis, correlation with disability, and prediction of outcomes, of these promising techniques in pathologies affecting the spinal cord. Data regarding study design, subject characteristics, MRI methods, clinical measures of impairment, and analysis techniques were extracted and tabulated to identify trends and commonalities. The studies were assessed for risk of bias, and the overall quality of evidence was assessed for each specific finding using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) framework. Results A total of 6597 unique citations were identified in the database search, and after full-text review of 274 articles, a total of 104 relevant studies were identified for final inclusion (97% from the initial database search). Among these, 69 studies utilized DTI and 25 used MT, with both techniques showing an increased number of publications in recent years. The review also identified 1 MWF study, 11 MRS studies, and 8 fMRI studies. Most of the studies were exploratory in nature, lacking a priori hypotheses and showing a high (72%) or moderately high (20%) risk of bias, due to issues with study design, acquisition techniques, and analysis methods. The acquisitions for each technique varied widely across studies, rendering direct comparisons of metrics invalid. The DTI metric fractional anisotropy (FA) had the strongest evidence of utility, with moderate quality evidence for its use as a biomarker showing correlation with disability in several clinical pathologies, and a low level of evidence that it identifies tissue injury (in terms of group differences) compared with healthy controls. However, insufficient evidence exists to determine its utility as a sensitive and specific diagnostic test or as a tool to predict clinical outcomes. Very low quality evidence suggests that other metrics also show group differences compared with controls, including DTI metrics mean diffusivity (MD) and radial diffusivity (RD), the diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) metric mean kurtosis (MK), MT metrics MT ratio (MTR) and MT cerebrospinal fluid ratio (MTCSF), and the MRS metric of N-acetylaspartate (NAA) concentration, although these results were somewhat inconsistent. Conclusions State-of-the-art spinal cord MRI techniques are emerging with great potential to improve the diagnosis and management of various spinal pathologies, but the current body of evidence has only showed limited clinical utility to date. Among these imaging tools DTI is the most mature, but further work is necessary to standardize and validate its use before it will be adopted in the clinical realm. Large, well-designed studies with a priori hypotheses, standardized acquisition methods, detailed clinical data collection, and robust automated analysis techniques are needed to fully demonstrate the potential of these rapidly evolving techniques. PMID:26862478

University of Maryland walking robot: A design project for undergraduate students

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Olsen, Bob; Bielec, Jim; Hartsig, Dave; Oliva, Mani; Grotheer, Phil; Hekmat, Morad; Russell, David; Tavakoli, Hossein; Young, Gary; Nave, Tom

1990-01-01

The design and construction required that the walking robot machine be capable of completing a number of tasks including walking in a straight line, turning to change direction, and maneuvering over an obstable such as a set of stairs. The machine consists of two sets of four telescoping legs that alternately support the entire structure. A gear-box and crank-arm assembly is connected to the leg sets to provide the power required for the translational motion of the machine. By retracting all eight legs, the robot comes to rest on a central Bigfoot support. Turning is accomplished by rotating the machine about this support. The machine can be controlled by using either a user operated remote tether or the on-board computer for the execution of control commands. Absolute encoders are attached to all motors (leg, main drive, and Bigfoot) to provide the control computer with information regarding the status of the motors (up-down motion, forward or reverse rotation). Long and short range infrared sensors provide the computer with feedback information regarding the machine's relative position to a series of stripes and reflectors. These infrared sensors simulate how the robot might sense and gain information about the environment of Mars.

Dependency Structures for Statistical Machine Translation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bach, Nguyen

2012-01-01

Dependency structures represent a sentence as a set of dependency relations. Normally the dependency structures from a tree connect all the words in a sentence. One of the most defining characters of dependency structures is the ability to bring long distance dependency between words to local dependency structures. Another the main attraction of…

Application of Social Network Analysis Techniques to Machine Translated Documents

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

Mandela, por la nueva Asamblea nacional sudafricana. La Comisión electoral independiente , una gigantesca maquinaria administrativa con unos 300.000...seat perpetration 2 surpassed 1 ultramoderno 1 recount 3 party 1 sellar 1 posting 1 suspended 1 urns 1 regions 1 president 2 south_african 1

Sensory Aids for the Blind.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Academy of Sciences - National Research Council, Washington, DC. Committee on Prosthetics Research and Development.

The problems of providing sensory aids for the blind are presented and a report on the present status of aids discusses direct translation and recognition reading machines as well as mobility aids. Aspects of required research considered are the following: assessment of needs; vision, audition, taction, and multimodal communication; reading aids,…

An Operational System for Subject Switching between Controlled Vocabularies: A Computational Linguistics Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silvester, June P.; And Others

This report describes a new automated process that pioneers full-scale operational use of subject switching by the NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Facility. The subject switching process routinely translates machine-readable subject terms from one controlled vocabulary into the…

Temporal Sequences Quantify the Contributions of Individual Fixations in Complex Perceptual Matching Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Busey, Thomas; Yu, Chen; Wyatte, Dean; Vanderkolk, John

2013-01-01

Perceptual tasks such as object matching, mammogram interpretation, mental rotation, and satellite imagery change detection often require the assignment of correspondences to fuse information across views. We apply techniques developed for machine translation to the gaze data recorded from a complex perceptual matching task modeled after…

A visual programming environment for the Navier-Stokes computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tomboulian, Sherryl; Crockett, Thomas W.; Middleton, David

1988-01-01

The Navier-Stokes computer is a high-performance, reconfigurable, pipelined machine designed to solve large computational fluid dynamics problems. Due to the complexity of the architecture, development of effective, high-level language compilers for the system appears to be a very difficult task. Consequently, a visual programming methodology has been developed which allows users to program the system at an architectural level by constructing diagrams of the pipeline configuration. These schematic program representations can then be checked for validity and automatically translated into machine code. The visual environment is illustrated by using a prototype graphical editor to program an example problem.

An information-carrying and knowledge-producing molecular machine. A Monte-Carlo simulation.

PubMed

Kuhn, Christoph

2012-02-01

The concept called Knowledge is a measure of the quality of genetically transferred information. Its usefulness is demonstrated quantitatively in a Monte-Carlo simulation on critical steps in a origin of life model. The model describes the origin of a bio-like genetic apparatus by a long sequence of physical-chemical steps: it starts with the presence of a self-replicating oligomer and a specifically structured environment in time and space that allow for the formation of aggregates such as assembler-hairpins-devices and, at a later stage, an assembler-hairpins-enzyme device-a first translation machine.

Health Informatics via Machine Learning for the Clinical Management of Patients.

PubMed

Clifton, D A; Niehaus, K E; Charlton, P; Colopy, G W

2015-08-13

To review how health informatics systems based on machine learning methods have impacted the clinical management of patients, by affecting clinical practice. We reviewed literature from 2010-2015 from databases such as Pubmed, IEEE xplore, and INSPEC, in which methods based on machine learning are likely to be reported. We bring together a broad body of literature, aiming to identify those leading examples of health informatics that have advanced the methodology of machine learning. While individual methods may have further examples that might be added, we have chosen some of the most representative, informative exemplars in each case. Our survey highlights that, while much research is taking place in this high-profile field, examples of those that affect the clinical management of patients are seldom found. We show that substantial progress is being made in terms of methodology, often by data scientists working in close collaboration with clinical groups. Health informatics systems based on machine learning are in their infancy and the translation of such systems into clinical management has yet to be performed at scale.

Fast femtosecond laser ablation for efficient cutting of sintered alumina substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oosterbeek, Reece N.; Ward, Thomas; Ashforth, Simon; Bodley, Owen; Rodda, Andrew E.; Simpson, M. Cather

2016-09-01

Fast, accurate cutting of technical ceramics is a significant technological challenge because of these materials' typical high mechanical strength and thermal resistance. Femtosecond pulsed lasers offer significant promise for meeting this challenge. Femtosecond pulses can machine nearly any material with small kerf and little to no collateral damage to the surrounding material. The main drawback to femtosecond laser machining of ceramics is slow processing speed. In this work we report on the improvement of femtosecond laser cutting of sintered alumina substrates through optimisation of laser processing parameters. The femtosecond laser ablation thresholds for sintered alumina were measured using the diagonal scan method. Incubation effects were found to fit a defect accumulation model, with Fth,1=6.0 J/cm2 (±0.3) and Fth,∞=2.5 J/cm2 (±0.2). The focal length and depth, laser power, number of passes, and material translation speed were optimised for ablation speed and high quality. Optimal conditions of 500 mW power, 100 mm focal length, 2000 μm/s material translation speed, with 14 passes, produced complete cutting of the alumina substrate at an overall processing speed of 143 μm/s - more than 4 times faster than the maximum reported overall processing speed previously achieved by Wang et al. [1]. This process significantly increases processing speeds of alumina substrates, thereby reducing costs, making femtosecond laser machining a more viable option for industrial users.

Gesture-Controlled Interfaces for Self-Service Machines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cohen, Charles J.; Beach, Glenn

2006-01-01

Gesture-controlled interfaces are software- driven systems that facilitate device control by translating visual hand and body signals into commands. Such interfaces could be especially attractive for controlling self-service machines (SSMs) for example, public information kiosks, ticket dispensers, gasoline pumps, and automated teller machines (see figure). A gesture-controlled interface would include a vision subsystem comprising one or more charge-coupled-device video cameras (at least two would be needed to acquire three-dimensional images of gestures). The output of the vision system would be processed by a pure software gesture-recognition subsystem. Then a translator subsystem would convert a sequence of recognized gestures into commands for the SSM to be controlled; these could include, for example, a command to display requested information, change control settings, or actuate a ticket- or cash-dispensing mechanism. Depending on the design and operational requirements of the SSM to be controlled, the gesture-controlled interface could be designed to respond to specific static gestures, dynamic gestures, or both. Static and dynamic gestures can include stationary or moving hand signals, arm poses or motions, and/or whole-body postures or motions. Static gestures would be recognized on the basis of their shapes; dynamic gestures would be recognized on the basis of both their shapes and their motions. Because dynamic gestures include temporal as well as spatial content, this gesture- controlled interface can extract more information from dynamic than it can from static gestures.

Measurement of aspheric mirror by nanoprofiler using normal vector tracing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitayama, Takao; Shiraji, Hiroki; Yamamura, Kazuya; Endo, Katsuyoshi

2016-09-01

Aspheric or free-form optics with high accuracy are necessary in many fields such as third-generation synchrotron radiation and extreme-ultraviolet lithography. Therefore the demand of measurement method for aspherical or free-form surface with nanometer accuracy increases. Purpose of our study is to develop a non-contact measurement technology for aspheric or free-form surfaces directly with high repeatability. To achieve this purpose we have developed threedimensional Nanoprofiler which detects normal vectors of sample surface. The measurement principle is based on the straightness of laser light and the accurate motion of rotational goniometers. This machine consists of four rotational stages, one translational stage and optical head which has the quadrant photodiode (QPD) and laser source. In this measurement method, we conform the incident light beam to reflect the beam by controlling five stages and determine the normal vectors and the coordinates of the surface from signal of goniometers, translational stage and QPD. We can obtain three-dimensional figure from the normal vectors and their coordinates by surface reconstruction algorithm. To evaluate performance of this machine we measure a concave aspheric mirror with diameter of 150 mm. As a result we achieve to measure large area of 150mm diameter. And we observe influence of systematic errors which the machine has. Then we simulated the influence and subtracted it from measurement result.

A hybrid feature selection algorithm integrating an extreme learning machine for landslide susceptibility modeling of Mt. Woomyeon, South Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vasu, Nikhil N.; Lee, Seung-Rae

2016-06-01

An ever-increasing trend of extreme rainfall events in South Korea owing to climate change is causing shallow landslides and debris flows in mountains that cover 70% of the total land area of the nation. These catastrophic, gravity-driven processes cost the government several billion KRW (South Korean Won) in losses in addition to fatalities every year. The most common type of landslide observed is the shallow landslide, which occurs at 1-3 m depth, and may mobilize into more catastrophic flow-type landslides. Hence, to predict potential landslide areas, susceptibility maps are developed in a geographical information system (GIS) environment utilizing available morphological, hydrological, geotechnical, and geological data. Landslide susceptibility models were developed using 163 landslide points and an equal number of nonlandslide points in Mt. Woomyeon, Seoul, and 23 landslide conditioning factors. However, because not all of the factors contribute to the determination of the spatial probability for landslide initiation, and a simple filter or wrapper-based approach is not efficient in identifying all of the relevant features, a feedback-loop-based hybrid algorithm was implemented in conjunction with a learning scheme called an extreme learning machine, which is based on a single-layer, feed-forward network. Validation of the constructed susceptibility model was conducted using a testing set of landslide inventory data through a prediction rate curve. The model selected 13 relevant conditioning factors out of the initial 23; and the resulting susceptibility map shows a success rate of 85% and a prediction rate of 89.45%, indicating a good performance, in contrast to the low success and prediction rate of 69.19% and 56.19%, respectively, as obtained using a wrapper technique.

AMS 4.0: consensus prediction of post-translational modifications in protein sequences.

PubMed

Plewczynski, Dariusz; Basu, Subhadip; Saha, Indrajit

2012-08-01

We present here the 2011 update of the AutoMotif Service (AMS 4.0) that predicts the wide selection of 88 different types of the single amino acid post-translational modifications (PTM) in protein sequences. The selection of experimentally confirmed modifications is acquired from the latest UniProt and Phospho.ELM databases for training. The sequence vicinity of each modified residue is represented using amino acids physico-chemical features encoded using high quality indices (HQI) obtaining by automatic clustering of known indices extracted from AAindex database. For each type of the numerical representation, the method builds the ensemble of Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) pattern classifiers, each optimising different objectives during the training (for example the recall, precision or area under the ROC curve (AUC)). The consensus is built using brainstorming technology, which combines multi-objective instances of machine learning algorithm, and the data fusion of different training objects representations, in order to boost the overall prediction accuracy of conserved short sequence motifs. The performance of AMS 4.0 is compared with the accuracy of previous versions, which were constructed using single machine learning methods (artificial neural networks, support vector machine). Our software improves the average AUC score of the earlier version by close to 7 % as calculated on the test datasets of all 88 PTM types. Moreover, for the selected most-difficult sequence motifs types it is able to improve the prediction performance by almost 32 %, when compared with previously used single machine learning methods. Summarising, the brainstorming consensus meta-learning methodology on the average boosts the AUC score up to around 89 %, averaged over all 88 PTM types. Detailed results for single machine learning methods and the consensus methodology are also provided, together with the comparison to previously published methods and state-of-the-art software tools. The source code and precompiled binaries of brainstorming tool are available at http://code.google.com/p/automotifserver/ under Apache 2.0 licensing.

A simulator study on information requirements for precision hovering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lemons, J. L.; Dukes, T. A.

1975-01-01

A fixed base simulator study of an advanced helicopter instrument display utilizing translational acceleration, velocity and position information is reported. The simulation involved piloting a heavy helicopter using the Integrated Trajectory Error Display (ITED) in a precision hover task. The test series explored two basic areas. The effect on hover accuracy of adding acceleration information was of primary concern. Also of interest was the operators' ability to use degraded information derived from less sophisticated sources. The addition of translational acceleration to a display containing velocity and position information did not appear to improve the hover performance significantly. However, displayed acceleration information seemed to increase the damping of the man machine system. Finally, the pilots could use translational information synthesized from attitude and angular acceleration as effectively as perfect acceleration.

Integrated machine learning, molecular docking and 3D-QSAR based approach for identification of potential inhibitors of trypanosomal N-myristoyltransferase.

PubMed

Singh, Nidhi; Shah, Priyanka; Dwivedi, Hemlata; Mishra, Shikha; Tripathi, Renu; Sahasrabuddhe, Amogh A; Siddiqi, Mohammad Imran

2016-11-15

N-Myristoyltransferase (NMT) catalyzes the transfer of myristate to the amino-terminal glycine of a subset of proteins, a co-translational modification involved in trafficking substrate proteins to membrane locations, stabilization and protein-protein interactions. It is a studied and validated pre-clinical drug target for fungal and parasitic infections. In the present study, a machine learning approach, docking studies and CoMFA analysis have been integrated with the objective of translation of knowledge into a pipelined workflow towards the identification of putative hits through the screening of large compound libraries. In the proposed pipeline, the reported parasitic NMT inhibitors have been used to develop predictive machine learning classification models. Simultaneously, a TbNMT complex model was generated to establish the relationship between the binding mode of the inhibitors for LmNMT and TbNMT through molecular dynamics simulation studies. A 3D-QSAR model was developed and used to predict the activity of the proposed hits in the subsequent step. The hits classified as active based on the machine learning model were assessed as the potential anti-trypanosomal NMT inhibitors through molecular docking studies, predicted activity using a QSAR model and visual inspection. In the final step, the proposed pipeline was validated through in vitro experiments. A total of seven hits have been proposed and tested in vitro for evaluation of dual inhibitory activity against Leishmania donovani and Trypanosoma brucei. Out of these five compounds showed significant inhibition against both of the organisms. The common topmost active compound SEW04173 belongs to a pyrazole carboxylate scaffold and is anticipated to enrich the chemical space with enhanced potency through optimization.

Unexpected sequences and structures of mtDNA required for efficient transcription from the first heavy-strand promoter

PubMed Central

Uchida, Akira; Murugesapillai, Divakaran; Kastner, Markus; Wang, Yao; Lodeiro, Maria F; Prabhakar, Shaan; Oliver, Guinevere V; Arnold, Jamie J; Maher, L James; Williams, Mark C; Cameron, Craig E

2017-01-01

Human mtDNA contains three promoters, suggesting a need for differential expression of the mitochondrial genome. Studies of mitochondrial transcription have used a reductionist approach, perhaps masking differential regulation. Here we evaluate transcription from light-strand (LSP) and heavy-strand (HSP1) promoters using templates that mimic their natural context. These studies reveal sequences upstream, hypervariable in the human population (HVR3), and downstream of the HSP1 transcription start site required for maximal yield. The carboxy-terminal tail of TFAM is essential for activation of HSP1 but not LSP. Images of the template obtained by atomic force microscopy show that TFAM creates loops in a discrete region, the formation of which correlates with activation of HSP1; looping is lost in tail-deleted TFAM. Identification of HVR3 as a transcriptional regulatory element may contribute to between-individual variability in mitochondrial gene expression. The unique requirement of HSP1 for the TFAM tail may enable its regulation by post-translational modifications. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.27283.001 PMID:28745586

The Role of Mitochondria in Cancer Induction, Progression and Changes in Metabolism.

PubMed

Rogalinska, Malgorzata

2016-01-01

Mitochondria play important roles as energetic centers. Mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) were found in several diseases, including cancers. Studies on cytoplasmic hybrids (cybrids) confirm that directed mutation introduced into mtDNA could be a reason for cancer induction. Mitochondria could also be a factor linking cancer transformation and progression. The importance of mitochondria in cancer also confirms their involvement in the resistance to treatment. Resistance to treatment of cancer cells can frequently be a reason for glycolysis acceleration. It could be explained by cancer cells' high proliferation index and high energy request. The involvement of mitochondria in metabolic disturbances of several metabolic diseases, including cancers, was reported. These data confirm that cancer induction, as well as cancer progression, could have metabolic roots. The aberrant products observed in prostate cells involved in the Krebs cycle could promote cancer progression. These multiple relationships between alterations on a genetic level translated into disturbances in cellular metabolism and their potential relation with epigenetic control of gene expression make cancerogenesis more complicated and prognoses' success in studies on cancer etiology more distant in time.

Effect of Dimension and Shape of Magnet on the Performance AC Generator with Translation Motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Indriani, A.; Dimas, S.; Hendra

2018-02-01

The development of power plants using the renewable energy sources is very rapid. Renewable energy sources used solar energy, wind energy, ocean wave energy and other energy. All of these renewable energy sources require a processing device or a change of motion system to become electrical energy. One processing device is a generator which have work principle of converting motion (mechanical) energy into electrical energy with rotary shaft, blade and other motion components. Generator consists of several types of rotation motion and linear motion (translational). The generator have components such as rotor, stator and anchor. In the rotor and stator having magnet and winding coil as an electric generating part of the electric motion force. Working principle of AC generator with linear motion (translation) also apply the principle of Faraday that is using magnetic induction which change iron magnet to produce magnetic flux. Magnetic flux is captured by the stator to be converted into electrical energy. Linear motion generators consist of linear induction machine, wound synchronous machine field, and permanent magnet synchronous [1]. Performance of synchronous generator of translation motion is influenced by magnet type, magnetic shape, coil winding, magnetic and coil spacing and others. In this paper focus on the neodymium magnet with varying shapes, number of coil windings and gap of magnetic distances. This generator work by using pneumatic mechanism (PLTGL) for power plants system. Result testing of performance AC generator translation motion obtained that maximum voltage, current and power are 63 Volt for diameter winding coil 0.15 mm, number of winding coil 13000 and distance of magnet 20 mm. For effect shape of magnet, maximum voltage happen on rectangle magnet 30x20x5 mm with 4.64 Volt. Voltage and power on effect of diameter winding coil is 14.63 V and 17.82 W at the diameter winding coil 0.7 and number of winding coil is 1260 with the distance of magnet 25 mm.

Actes des Journees de linguistique (Proceedings of the Linguistics Conference) (9th, 1995).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Audette, Julie, Ed.; And Others

Papers (entirely in French) presented at the conference on linguistics include these topics: language used in the legislature of New Brunswick; cohesion in the text of Arabic-speaking language learners; automatic adverb recognition; logic of machine translation in teaching revision; expansion in physics texts; discourse analysis and the syntax of…

ELNET--The Electronic Library Database System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, Shirley V.

1991-01-01

ELNET (Electronic Library Network), a Japanese language database, allows searching of index terms and free text terms from articles and stores the full text of the articles on an optical disc system. Users can order fax copies of the text from the optical disc. This article also explains online searching and discusses machine translation. (LRW)

A Morphological Analyzer for Vocalized or Not Vocalized Arabic Language

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El Amine Abderrahim, Med; Breksi Reguig, Fethi

This research has been to show the realization of a morphological analyzer of the Arabic language (vocalized or not vocalized). This analyzer is based upon our object model for the Arabic Natural Language Processing (NLP) and can be exploited by NLP applications such as translation machine, orthographical correction and the search for information.

Translingual Fine-Grained Morphosyntactic Analysis and Its Application to Machine Translation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drabek, Elliott Franco

2009-01-01

English and a small set of other languages have a wealth of available linguistic knowledge resources and annotated language data, but the great majority of the world's languages have little or none. This dissertation describes work which leverages the detailed and accurate morphosyntactic analyses available for English to improve analytical…

Automated implementation of rule-based expert systems with neural networks for time-critical applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramamoorthy, P. A.; Huang, Song; Govind, Girish

1991-01-01

In fault diagnosis, control and real-time monitoring, both timing and accuracy are critical for operators or machines to reach proper solutions or appropriate actions. Expert systems are becoming more popular in the manufacturing community for dealing with such problems. In recent years, neural networks have revived and their applications have spread to many areas of science and engineering. A method of using neural networks to implement rule-based expert systems for time-critical applications is discussed here. This method can convert a given rule-based system into a neural network with fixed weights and thresholds. The rules governing the translation are presented along with some examples. We also present the results of automated machine implementation of such networks from the given rule-base. This significantly simplifies the translation process to neural network expert systems from conventional rule-based systems. Results comparing the performance of the proposed approach based on neural networks vs. the classical approach are given. The possibility of very large scale integration (VLSI) realization of such neural network expert systems is also discussed.

Linguistic steganography on Twitter: hierarchical language modeling with manual interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Alex; Blunsom, Phil; Ker, Andrew D.

2014-02-01

This work proposes a natural language stegosystem for Twitter, modifying tweets as they are written to hide 4 bits of payload per tweet, which is a greater payload than previous systems have achieved. The system, CoverTweet, includes novel components, as well as some already developed in the literature. We believe that the task of transforming covers during embedding is equivalent to unilingual machine translation (paraphrasing), and we use this equivalence to de ne a distortion measure based on statistical machine translation methods. The system incorporates this measure of distortion to rank possible tweet paraphrases, using a hierarchical language model; we use human interaction as a second distortion measure to pick the best. The hierarchical language model is designed to model the speci c language of the covers, which in this setting is the language of the Twitter user who is embedding. This is a change from previous work, where general-purpose language models have been used. We evaluate our system by testing the output against human judges, and show that humans are unable to distinguish stego tweets from cover tweets any better than random guessing.

Structural and functional features of lysine acetylation of plant and animal tubulins.

PubMed

Rayevsky, Alexey V; Sharifi, Mohsen; Samofalova, Dariya A; Karpov, Pavel A; Blume, Yaroslav B

2017-10-10

The study of the genome and the proteome of different species and representatives of distinct kingdoms, especially detection of proteome via wide-scaled analyses has various challenges and pitfalls. Attempts to combine all available information together and isolate some common features for determination of the pathway and their mechanism of action generally have a highly complicated nature. However, microtubule (MT) monomers are highly conserved protein structures, and microtubules are structurally conserved from Homo sapiens to Arabidopsis thaliana. The interaction of MT elements with microtubule-associated proteins and post-translational modifiers is fully dependent on protein interfaces, and almost all MT modifications are well described except acetylation. Crystallography and interactome data using different approaches were combined to identify conserved proteins important in acetylation of microtubules. Application of computational methods and comparative analysis of binding modes generated a robust predictive model of acetylation of the ϵ-amino group of Lys40 in α-tubulins. In turn, the model discarded some probable mechanisms of interaction between elements of interest. Reconstruction of unresolved protein structures was carried out with modeling by homology to the existing crystal structure (PDBID: 1Z2B) from B. taurus using Swiss-model server, followed by a molecular dynamics simulation. Docking of the human tubulin fragment with Lys40 into the active site of α-tubulin acetyltransferase, reproduces the binding mode of peptidomimetic from X-ray structure (PDBID: 4PK3). © 2017 International Federation for Cell Biology.

Automation of the consensus guidelines in diabetes care: potential impact on clinical inertia.

PubMed

Albisser, A Michael; Inhaber, Francine

2010-01-01

To propose that automation of the consensus guidelines and mandated targets (CG&MT) in glycemia, hemoglobin A1c, and body weight will facilitate optimal clinical management of patients with diabetes. (1) A simplified method for capturing diabetes outcomes at home was devised, (2) relevant portions of the CG&MT were translated into computer code and automated, and (3) algorithms were applied to transform data from self-monitoring of blood glucose into circadian profiles and hemoglobin A1c levels. (4) The resulting procedures were integrated into a USB memory drive for use by health-care providers at the point of care. For input from patients, a simple form is used to capture data on diabetes outcomes, including blood glucose measurements before and after meals and at bedtime, medication, and lifestyle events in a structured fashion. At each encounter with a health-care provider, the patient's data are transferred into the device and become available to assist in identifying deviations from mandated targets, potential risks of hypoglycemia, and necessary prescription changes. Preliminary observations during a 2 1/2-year period from a community support group dedicated to glycemic control on 20 unselected patients (10 with and 10 without use of the device) are summarized. With use of the automated information, the health professional is supported at the point of care to achieve better, safer outcomes and practice evidence-based medicine entirely in lockstep with the CG&MT. This automation helps to overcome clinical inertia.

Fluctuations in protein synthesis from a single RNA template: stochastic kinetics of ribosomes.

PubMed

Garai, Ashok; Chowdhury, Debashish; Ramakrishnan, T V

2009-01-01

Proteins are polymerized by cyclic machines called ribosomes, which use their messenger RNA (mRNA) track also as the corresponding template, and the process is called translation. We explore, in depth and detail, the stochastic nature of the translation. We compute various distributions associated with the translation process; one of them--namely, the dwell time distribution--has been measured in recent single-ribosome experiments. The form of the distribution, which fits best with our simulation data, is consistent with that extracted from the experimental data. For our computations, we use a model that captures both the mechanochemistry of each individual ribosome and their steric interactions. We also demonstrate the effects of the sequence inhomogeneities of real genes on the fluctuations and noise in translation. Finally, inspired by recent advances in the experimental techniques of manipulating single ribosomes, we make theoretical predictions on the force-velocity relation for individual ribosomes. In principle, all our predictions can be tested by carrying out in vitro experiments.

Failed upregulation of TFAM protein and mitochondrial DNA in oxidatively deficient fibers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease locomotor muscle.

PubMed

Konokhova, Yana; Spendiff, Sally; Jagoe, R Thomas; Aare, Sudhakar; Kapchinsky, Sophia; MacMillan, Norah J; Rozakis, Paul; Picard, Martin; Aubertin-Leheudre, Mylène; Pion, Charlotte H; Bourbeau, Jean; Hepple, Russell T; Taivassalo, Tanja

2016-01-01

Low mitochondrial content and oxidative capacity are well-established features of locomotor muscle dysfunction, a prevalent and debilitating systemic occurrence in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although the exact cause is not firmly established, physical inactivity and oxidative stress are among the proposed underlying mechanisms. Here, we assess the impact of COPD pathophysiology on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) integrity, biogenesis, and cellular oxidative capacity in locomotor muscle of COPD patients and healthy controls. We hypothesized that the high oxidative stress environment of COPD muscle would yield a higher presence of deletion-containing mtDNA and oxidative-deficient fibers and impaired capacity for mitochondrial biogenesis. Vastus lateralis biopsies were analyzed from 29 COPD patients and 19 healthy age-matched controls for the presence of mtDNA deletions, levels of oxidatively damaged DNA, mtDNA copy number, and regulators of mitochondrial biogenesis as well the proportion of oxidative-deficient fibers (detected histologically as cytochrome c oxidase-deficient, succinate dehydrogenase positive (COX(-)/SDH(+) )). Additionally, mtDNA copy number and mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) content were measured in laser captured COX(-)SDH(+) and normal single fibers of both COPD and controls. Compared to controls, COPD muscle exhibited significantly higher levels of oxidatively damaged DNA (8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) levels = 387 ± 41 vs. 258 ± 21 pg/mL) and higher prevalence of mtDNA deletions (74 vs. 15 % of subjects in each group), which was accompanied by a higher abundance of oxidative-deficient fibers (8.0 ± 2.1 vs. 1.5 ± 0.4 %). Interestingly, COPD patients with mtDNA deletions had higher levels of 8-OHdG (457 ± 46 pg/mL) and longer smoking history (66.3 ± 7.5 years) than patients without deletions (197 ± 29 pg/mL; 38.0 ± 7.3 years). Transcript levels of regulators of mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative metabolism were upregulated in COPD compared to controls. However, single fiber analyses of COX(-)/SDH(+) and normal fibers exposed an impairment in mitochondrial biogenesis in COPD; in healthy controls, we detected a marked upregulation of mtDNA copy number and TFAM protein in COX(-)/SDH(+) compared to normal fibers, reflecting the expected compensatory attempt by the oxidative-deficient cells to increase energy levels; in contrast, they were similar between COX(-)/SDH(+) and normal fibers in COPD patients. Taken together, these findings suggest that although the signaling factors regulating mitochondrial biogenesis are increased in COPD muscle, impairment in the translation of these signals prevents the restoration of normal oxidative capacity. Single fiber analyses provide the first substantive evidence that low muscle oxidative capacity in COPD cannot be explained by physical inactivity alone and is likely driven by the disease pathophysiology.

Programming and Tuning a Quantum Annealing Device to Solve Real World Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perdomo-Ortiz, Alejandro; O'Gorman, Bryan; Fluegemann, Joseph; Smelyanskiy, Vadim

2015-03-01

Solving real-world applications with quantum algorithms requires overcoming several challenges, ranging from translating the computational problem at hand to the quantum-machine language to tuning parameters of the quantum algorithm that have a significant impact on the performance of the device. In this talk, we discuss these challenges, strategies developed to enhance performance, and also a more efficient implementation of several applications. Although we will focus on applications of interest to NASA's Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the methods and concepts presented here apply to a broader family of hard discrete optimization problems, including those that occur in many machine-learning algorithms.

A method to track rotational motion for use in single-molecule biophysics.

PubMed

Lipfert, Jan; Kerssemakers, Jacob J W; Rojer, Maylon; Dekker, Nynke H

2011-10-01

The double helical nature of DNA links many cellular processes such as DNA replication, transcription, and repair to rotational motion and the accumulation of torsional strain. Magnetic tweezers (MTs) are a single-molecule technique that enables the application of precisely calibrated stretching forces to nucleic acid tethers and to control their rotational motion. However, conventional magnetic tweezers do not directly monitor rotation or measure torque. Here, we describe a method to directly measure rotational motion of particles in MT. The method relies on attaching small, non-magnetic beads to the magnetic beads to act as fiducial markers for rotational tracking. CCD images of the beads are analyzed with a tracking algorithm specifically designed to minimize crosstalk between translational and rotational motion: first, the in-plane center position of the magnetic bead is determined with a kernel-based tracker, while subsequently the height and rotation angle of the bead are determined via correlation-based algorithms. Evaluation of the tracking algorithm using both simulated images and recorded images of surface-immobilized beads demonstrates a rotational resolution of 0.1°, while maintaining a translational resolution of 1-2 nm. Example traces of the rotational fluctuations exhibited by DNA-tethered beads confined in magnetic potentials of varying stiffness demonstrate the robustness of the method and the potential for simultaneous tracking of multiple beads. Our rotation tracking algorithm enables the extension of MTs to magnetic torque tweezers (MTT) to directly measure the torque in single molecules. In addition, we envision uses of the algorithm in a range of biophysical measurements, including further extensions of MT, tethered particle motion, and optical trapping measurements.

Advances in natural language processing.

PubMed

Hirschberg, Julia; Manning, Christopher D

2015-07-17

Natural language processing employs computational techniques for the purpose of learning, understanding, and producing human language content. Early computational approaches to language research focused on automating the analysis of the linguistic structure of language and developing basic technologies such as machine translation, speech recognition, and speech synthesis. Today's researchers refine and make use of such tools in real-world applications, creating spoken dialogue systems and speech-to-speech translation engines, mining social media for information about health or finance, and identifying sentiment and emotion toward products and services. We describe successes and challenges in this rapidly advancing area. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The measurement of an aspherical mirror by three-dimensional nanoprofiler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tokuta, Yusuke; Okita, Kenya; Okuda, Kohei; Kitayama, Takao; Nakano, Motohiro; Nakatani, Shun; Kudo, Ryota; Yamamura, Kazuya; Endo, Katsuyoshi

2015-09-01

Aspherical optical elements with high accuracy are important in several fields such as third-generation synchrotron radiation and extreme-ultraviolet lithography. Then the demand of measurement method for aspherical or free-form surface with nanometer resolution is rising. Our purpose is to develop a non-contact profiler to measure free-form surfaces directly with repeatability of figure error of less than 1 nm PV. To achieve this purpose we have developed three-dimensional Nanoprofiler which traces normal vectors of sample surface. The measurement principle is based on the straightness of LASER light and the accuracy of a rotational goniometer. This machine consists of four rotational stages, one translational stage and optical head which has the quadrant photodiode (QPD) and LASER head at optically equal position. In this measurement method, we conform the incident light beam to reflect the beam by controlling five stages and determine the normal vectors and the coordinates of the surface from signal of goniometers, translational stage and QPD. We can obtain three-dimensional figure from the normal vectors and the coordinates by a reconstruction algorithm. To evaluate performance of this machine we measure a concave aspherical mirror ten times. From ten results we calculate measurement repeatability, and we evaluate measurement uncertainty to compare the result with that measured by an interferometer. In consequence, the repeatability of measurement was 2.90 nm (σ) and the difference between the two profiles was +/-20 nm. We conclude that the two profiles was correspondent considering systematic errors of each machine.

Software Independent Verification and Validation (SIV&V) Simplified

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-12-01

Configuration Item I/O Input/Output I2V2 Independent Integrated Verification and Validation IBM International Business Machines ICD Interface...IPT Integrated Product Team IRS Interface Requirements Specification ISD Integrated System Diagram ITD Integrated Test Description ITP ...programming languages such as COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) (Codasyl committee 1960), and FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslator) ( IBM 1952) (Robat 11

The Visual Uncertainty Paradigm for Controlling Screen-Space Information in Visualization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dasgupta, Aritra

2012-01-01

The information visualization pipeline serves as a lossy communication channel for presentation of data on a screen-space of limited resolution. The lossy communication is not just a machine-only phenomenon due to information loss caused by translation of data, but also a reflection of the degree to which the human user can comprehend visual…

State-based verification of RTCP-nets with nuXmv

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biernacka, Agnieszka; Biernacki, Jerzy; Szpyrka, Marcin

2015-12-01

The paper deals with an algorithm of translation of RTCP-nets' (real-time coloured Petri nets) coverability graphs into nuXmv state machines. The approach enables users to verify RTCP-nets with model checking techniques provided by the nuXmv tool. Full details of the algorithm are presented and an illustrative example of the approach usefulness is provided.

Finding Relevant Data in a Sea of Languages

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-26

full machine-translated text , unbiased word clouds , query-biased word clouds , and query-biased sentence...and information retrieval to automate language processing tasks so that the limited number of linguists available for analyzing text and spoken...the crime (stock market). The Cross-LAnguage Search Engine (CLASE) has already preprocessed the documents, extracting text to identify the language

Decoding the non-stationary neuron spike trains by dual Monte Carlo point process estimation in motor Brain Machine Interfaces.

PubMed

Liao, Yuxi; Li, Hongbao; Zhang, Qiaosheng; Fan, Gong; Wang, Yiwen; Zheng, Xiaoxiang

2014-01-01

Decoding algorithm in motor Brain Machine Interfaces translates the neural signals to movement parameters. They usually assume the connection between the neural firings and movements to be stationary, which is not true according to the recent studies that observe the time-varying neuron tuning property. This property results from the neural plasticity and motor learning etc., which leads to the degeneration of the decoding performance when the model is fixed. To track the non-stationary neuron tuning during decoding, we propose a dual model approach based on Monte Carlo point process filtering method that enables the estimation also on the dynamic tuning parameters. When applied on both simulated neural signal and in vivo BMI data, the proposed adaptive method performs better than the one with static tuning parameters, which raises a promising way to design a long-term-performing model for Brain Machine Interfaces decoder.

Nanomedicine: Tiny Particles and Machines Give Huge Gains

PubMed Central

Tong, Sheng; Fine, Eli J.; Lin, Yanni; Cradick, Thomas J.; Bao, Gang

2014-01-01

Nanomedicine is an emerging field that integrates nanotechnology, biomolecular engineering, life sciences and medicine; it is expected to produce major breakthroughs in medical diagnostics and therapeutics. Nano-scale structures and devices are compatible in size with proteins and nucleic acids in living cells. Therefore, the design, characterization and application of nano-scale probes, carriers and machines may provide unprecedented opportunities for achieving a better control of biological processes, and drastic improvements in disease detection, therapy, and prevention. Recent advances in nanomedicine include the development of nanoparticle-based probes for molecular imaging, nano-carriers for drug/gene delivery, multi-functional nanoparticles for theranostics, and molecular machines for biological and medical studies. This article provides an overview of the nanomedicine field, with an emphasis on nanoparticles for imaging and therapy, as well as engineered nucleases for genome editing. The challenges in translating nanomedicine approaches to clinical applications are discussed. PMID:24297494

Fast torsional waves and strong magnetic field within the Earth's core.

PubMed

Gillet, Nicolas; Jault, Dominique; Canet, Elisabeth; Fournier, Alexandre

2010-05-06

The magnetic field inside the Earth's fluid and electrically conducting outer core cannot be directly probed. The root-mean-squared (r.m.s.) intensity for the resolved part of the radial magnetic field at the core-mantle boundary is 0.3 mT, but further assumptions are needed to infer the strength of the field inside the core. Recent diagnostics obtained from numerical geodynamo models indicate that the magnitude of the dipole field at the surface of a fluid dynamo is about ten times weaker than the r.m.s. field strength in its interior, which would yield an intensity of the order of several millitesla within the Earth's core. However, a 60-year signal found in the variation in the length of day has long been associated with magneto-hydrodynamic torsional waves carried by a much weaker internal field. According to these studies, the r.m.s. strength of the field in the cylindrical radial direction (calculated for all length scales) is only 0.2 mT, a figure even smaller than the r.m.s. strength of the large-scale (spherical harmonic degree n

Characterization of mercury bioremediation by transgenic bacteria expressing metallothionein and polyphosphate kinase.

PubMed

Ruiz, Oscar N; Alvarez, Derry; Gonzalez-Ruiz, Gloriene; Torres, Cesar

2011-08-12

The use of transgenic bacteria has been proposed as a suitable alternative for mercury remediation. Ideally, mercury would be sequestered by metal-scavenging agents inside transgenic bacteria for subsequent retrieval. So far, this approach has produced limited protection and accumulation. We report here the development of a transgenic system that effectively expresses metallothionein (mt-1) and polyphosphate kinase (ppk) genes in bacteria in order to provide high mercury resistance and accumulation. In this study, bacterial transformation with transcriptional and translational enhanced vectors designed for the expression of metallothionein and polyphosphate kinase provided high transgene transcript levels independent of the gene being expressed. Expression of polyphosphate kinase and metallothionein in transgenic bacteria provided high resistance to mercury, up to 80 μM and 120 μM, respectively. Here we show for the first time that metallothionein can be efficiently expressed in bacteria without being fused to a carrier protein to enhance mercury bioremediation. Cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry analyzes revealed that the mt-1 transgenic bacteria accumulated up to 100.2 ± 17.6 μM of mercury from media containing 120 μM Hg. The extent of mercury remediation was such that the contaminated media remediated by the mt-1 transgenic bacteria supported the growth of untransformed bacteria. Cell aggregation, precipitation and color changes were visually observed in mt-1 and ppk transgenic bacteria when these cells were grown in high mercury concentrations. The transgenic bacterial system described in this study presents a viable technology for mercury bioremediation from liquid matrices because it provides high mercury resistance and accumulation while inhibiting elemental mercury volatilization. This is the first report that shows that metallothionein expression provides mercury resistance and accumulation in recombinant bacteria. The high accumulation of mercury in the transgenic cells could present the possibility of retrieving the accumulated mercury for further industrial applications.

Characterization of mercury bioremediation by transgenic bacteria expressing metallothionein and polyphosphate kinase

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background The use of transgenic bacteria has been proposed as a suitable alternative for mercury remediation. Ideally, mercury would be sequestered by metal-scavenging agents inside transgenic bacteria for subsequent retrieval. So far, this approach has produced limited protection and accumulation. We report here the development of a transgenic system that effectively expresses metallothionein (mt-1) and polyphosphate kinase (ppk) genes in bacteria in order to provide high mercury resistance and accumulation. Results In this study, bacterial transformation with transcriptional and translational enhanced vectors designed for the expression of metallothionein and polyphosphate kinase provided high transgene transcript levels independent of the gene being expressed. Expression of polyphosphate kinase and metallothionein in transgenic bacteria provided high resistance to mercury, up to 80 μM and 120 μM, respectively. Here we show for the first time that metallothionein can be efficiently expressed in bacteria without being fused to a carrier protein to enhance mercury bioremediation. Cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry analyzes revealed that the mt-1 transgenic bacteria accumulated up to 100.2 ± 17.6 μM of mercury from media containing 120 μM Hg. The extent of mercury remediation was such that the contaminated media remediated by the mt-1 transgenic bacteria supported the growth of untransformed bacteria. Cell aggregation, precipitation and color changes were visually observed in mt-1 and ppk transgenic bacteria when these cells were grown in high mercury concentrations. Conclusion The transgenic bacterial system described in this study presents a viable technology for mercury bioremediation from liquid matrices because it provides high mercury resistance and accumulation while inhibiting elemental mercury volatilization. This is the first report that shows that metallothionein expression provides mercury resistance and accumulation in recombinant bacteria. The high accumulation of mercury in the transgenic cells could present the possibility of retrieving the accumulated mercury for further industrial applications. PMID:21838857

The neural basis of form and form-motion integration from static and dynamic translational Glass patterns: A rTMS investigation.

PubMed

Pavan, Andrea; Ghin, Filippo; Donato, Rita; Campana, Gianluca; Mather, George

2017-08-15

A long-held view of the visual system is that form and motion are independently analysed. However, there is physiological and psychophysical evidence of early interaction in the processing of form and motion. In this study, we used a combination of Glass patterns (GPs) and repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) to investigate in human observers the neural mechanisms underlying form-motion integration. GPs consist of randomly distributed dot pairs (dipoles) that induce the percept of an oriented stimulus. GPs can be either static or dynamic. Dynamic GPs have both a form component (i.e., orientation) and a non-directional motion component along the orientation axis. GPs were presented in two temporal intervals and observers were asked to discriminate the temporal interval containing the most coherent GP. rTMS was delivered over early visual area (V1/V2) and over area V5/MT shortly after the presentation of the GP in each interval. The results showed that rTMS applied over early visual areas affected the perception of static GPs, but the stimulation of area V5/MT did not affect observers' performance. On the other hand, rTMS was delivered over either V1/V2 or V5/MT strongly impaired the perception of dynamic GPs. These results suggest that early visual areas seem to be involved in the processing of the spatial structure of GPs, and interfering with the extraction of the global spatial structure also affects the extraction of the motion component, possibly interfering with early form-motion integration. However, visual area V5/MT is likely to be involved only in the processing of the motion component of dynamic GPs. These results suggest that motion and form cues may interact as early as V1/V2. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Human settlement history between Sunda and Sahul: a focus on East Timor (Timor-Leste) and the Pleistocenic mtDNA diversity.

PubMed

Gomes, Sibylle M; Bodner, Martin; Souto, Luis; Zimmermann, Bettina; Huber, Gabriela; Strobl, Christina; Röck, Alexander W; Achilli, Alessandro; Olivieri, Anna; Torroni, Antonio; Côrte-Real, Francisco; Parson, Walther

2015-02-14

Distinct, partly competing, "waves" have been proposed to explain human migration in(to) today's Island Southeast Asia and Australia based on genetic (and other) evidence. The paucity of high quality and high resolution data has impeded insights so far. In this study, one of the first in a forensic environment, we used the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM) for generating complete mitogenome sequences via stand-alone massively parallel sequencing and describe a standard data validation practice. In this first representative investigation on the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation of East Timor (Timor-Leste) population including >300 individuals, we put special emphasis on the reconstruction of the initial settlement, in particular on the previously poorly resolved haplogroup P1, an indigenous lineage of the Southwest Pacific region. Our results suggest a colonization of southern Sahul (Australia) >37 kya, limited subsequent exchange, and a parallel incubation of initial settlers in northern Sahul (New Guinea) followed by westward migrations <28 kya. The temporal proximity and possible coincidence of these latter dispersals, which encompassed autochthonous haplogroups, with the postulated "later" events of (South) East Asian origin pinpoints a highly dynamic migratory phase.

A Bag of Concepts Approach for Biomedical Document Classification Using Wikipedia Knowledge.

PubMed

Mouriño-García, Marcos A; Pérez-Rodríguez, Roberto; Anido-Rifón, Luis E

2017-01-01

The ability to efficiently review the existing literature is essential for the rapid progress of research. This paper describes a classifier of text documents, represented as vectors in spaces of Wikipedia concepts, and analyses its suitability for classification of Spanish biomedical documents when only English documents are available for training. We propose the cross-language concept matching (CLCM) technique, which relies on Wikipedia interlanguage links to convert concept vectors from the Spanish to the English space. The performance of the classifier is compared to several baselines: a classifier based on machine translation, a classifier that represents documents after performing Explicit Semantic Analysis (ESA), and a classifier that uses a domain-specific semantic an- notator (MetaMap). The corpus used for the experiments (Cross-Language UVigoMED) was purpose-built for this study, and it is composed of 12,832 English and 2,184 Spanish MEDLINE abstracts. The performance of our approach is superior to any other state-of-the art classifier in the benchmark, with performance increases up to: 124% over classical machine translation, 332% over MetaMap, and 60 times over the classifier based on ESA. The results have statistical significance, showing p-values < 0.0001. Using knowledge mined from Wikipedia to represent documents as vectors in a space of Wikipedia concepts and translating vectors between language-specific concept spaces, a cross-language classifier can be built, and it performs better than several state-of-the-art classifiers. Schattauer GmbH.

A Bag of Concepts Approach for Biomedical Document Classification Using Wikipedia Knowledge*. Spanish-English Cross-language Case Study.

PubMed

Mouriño-García, Marcos A; Pérez-Rodríguez, Roberto; Anido-Rifón, Luis E

2017-10-26

The ability to efficiently review the existing literature is essential for the rapid progress of research. This paper describes a classifier of text documents, represented as vectors in spaces of Wikipedia concepts, and analyses its suitability for classification of Spanish biomedical documents when only English documents are available for training. We propose the cross-language concept matching (CLCM) technique, which relies on Wikipedia interlanguage links to convert concept vectors from the Spanish to the English space. The performance of the classifier is compared to several baselines: a classifier based on machine translation, a classifier that represents documents after performing Explicit Semantic Analysis (ESA), and a classifier that uses a domain-specific semantic annotator (MetaMap). The corpus used for the experiments (Cross-Language UVigoMED) was purpose-built for this study, and it is composed of 12,832 English and 2,184 Spanish MEDLINE abstracts. The performance of our approach is superior to any other state-of-the art classifier in the benchmark, with performance increases up to: 124% over classical machine translation, 332% over MetaMap, and 60 times over the classifier based on ESA. The results have statistical significance, showing p-values < 0.0001. Using knowledge mined from Wikipedia to represent documents as vectors in a space of Wikipedia concepts and translating vectors between language-specific concept spaces, a cross-language classifier can be built, and it performs better than several state-of-the-art classifiers.

Automated document analysis system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Black, Jeffrey D.; Dietzel, Robert; Hartnett, David

2002-08-01

A software application has been developed to aid law enforcement and government intelligence gathering organizations in the translation and analysis of foreign language documents with potential intelligence content. The Automated Document Analysis System (ADAS) provides the capability to search (data or text mine) documents in English and the most commonly encountered foreign languages, including Arabic. Hardcopy documents are scanned by a high-speed scanner and are optical character recognized (OCR). Documents obtained in an electronic format bypass the OCR and are copied directly to a working directory. For translation and analysis, the script and the language of the documents are first determined. If the document is not in English, the document is machine translated to English. The documents are searched for keywords and key features in either the native language or translated English. The user can quickly review the document to determine if it has any intelligence content and whether detailed, verbatim human translation is required. The documents and document content are cataloged for potential future analysis. The system allows non-linguists to evaluate foreign language documents and allows for the quick analysis of a large quantity of documents. All document processing can be performed manually or automatically on a single document or a batch of documents.

Performance evaluation of various classifiers for color prediction of rice paddy plant leaf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Amandeep; Singh, Maninder Lal

2016-11-01

The food industry is one of the industries that uses machine vision for a nondestructive quality evaluation of the produce. These quality measuring systems and softwares are precalculated on the basis of various image-processing algorithms which generally use a particular type of classifier. These classifiers play a vital role in making the algorithms so intelligent that it can contribute its best while performing the said quality evaluations by translating the human perception into machine vision and hence machine learning. The crop of interest is rice, and the color of this crop indicates the health status of the plant. An enormous number of classifiers are available to solve the purpose of color prediction, but choosing the best among them is the focus of this paper. Performance of a total of 60 classifiers has been analyzed from the application point of view, and the results have been discussed. The motivation comes from the idea of providing a set of classifiers with excellent performance and implementing them on a single algorithm for the improvement of machine vision learning and, hence, associated applications.

MT3825BA: a 384×288-25µm ROIC for uncooled microbolometer FPAs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eminoglu, Selim; Gulden, M. Ali; Bayhan, Nusret; Incedere, O. Samet; Soyer, S. Tuncer; Ustundag, Cem M. B.; Isikhan, Murat; Kocak, Serhat; Turan, Ozge; Yalcin, Cem; Akin, Tayfun

2014-06-01

This paper reports the development of a new microbolometer Readout Integrated Circuit (ROIC) called MT3825BA. It has a format of 384 × 288 and a pixel pitch of 25μm. MT3825BA is Mikro-Tasarim's second microbolometer ROIC product, which is developed specifically for resistive surface micro-machined microbolometer detector arrays using high-TCR pixel materials, such as VOx and a-Si. MT3825BA has a system-on-chip architecture, where all the timing, biasing, and pixel non-uniformity correction (NUC) operations in the ROIC are applied using on-chip circuitry simplifying the use and system integration of this ROIC. The ROIC is designed to support pixel resistance values ranging from 30 KΩ to 100 KΩ. MT3825BA is operated using conventional row based readout method, where pixels in the array are read out in a row-by-row basis, where the applied bias for each pixel in a given row is updated at the beginning of each line period according to the applied line based NUC data. The NUC data is applied continuously in a row-by-row basis using the serial programming interface, which is also used to program user configurable features of the ROIC, such as readout gain, integration time, and number of analog video outputs. MT3825BA has a total of 4 analog video outputs and 2 analog reference outputs, placed at the top and bottom of the ROIC, which can be programmed to operate in the 1, 2, and 4-output modes, supporting frames rates well above 60 fps at a 3 MHz pixel output rate. The pixels in the array are read out with respect to reference pixels implemented above and below actual array pixels. The bias voltage of the pixels can be programmed over a 1.0 V range to compensate for the changes in the detector resistance values due to the variations coming from the manufacturing process or changes in the operating temperature. The ROIC has an on-chip integrated temperature sensor with a sensitivity of better than 5 mV / K, and the output of the temperature sensor can be read out the output as part of the analog video stream. MT3825BA can be used to build a microbolometer FPAs with an NETD value below 100 mK using a microbolometer detector array fabrication technology with a detector resistance value up to 100 KΩ, a high TCR value (< 2 % / K), and a sufficiently low pixel thermal conductance (Gth ≤ 20 nW / K). MT3825BA measures 13.0 mm × 13.5 mm and is fabricated on 200 mm CMOS wafers. The microbolometer ROIC wafers are engineered to have flat surface finish to simplify the wafer level detector fabrication and wafer level vacuum packaging (WLVP). The ROIC runs on 3.3 V analog and 1.8 V digital supplies, and dissipates less than 85 mW in the 2-output mode at 30 fps. Mikro-Tasarim provides tested ROIC wafers and offers compact test electronics and software for its ROIC customers to shorten their FPA and camera development cycles.

Impact and Estimation of Balance Coordinate System Rotations and Translations in Wind-Tunnel Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toro, Kenneth G.; Parker, Peter A.

2017-01-01

Discrepancies between the model and balance coordinate systems lead to biases in the aerodynamic measurements during wind-tunnel testing. The reference coordinate system relative to the calibration coordinate system at which the forces and moments are resolved is crucial to the overall accuracy of force measurements. This paper discusses sources of discrepancies and estimates of coordinate system rotation and translation due to machining and assembly differences. A methodology for numerically estimating the coordinate system biases will be discussed and developed. Two case studies are presented using this methodology to estimate the model alignment. Examples span from angle measurement system shifts on the calibration system to discrepancies in actual wind-tunnel data. The results from these case-studies will help aerodynamic researchers and force balance engineers to better the understand and identify potential differences in calibration systems due to coordinate system rotation and translation.

Translation of Genotype to Phenotype by a Hierarchy of Cell Subsystems.

PubMed

Yu, Michael Ku; Kramer, Michael; Dutkowski, Janusz; Srivas, Rohith; Licon, Katherine; Kreisberg, Jason; Ng, Cherie T; Krogan, Nevan; Sharan, Roded; Ideker, Trey

2016-02-24

Accurately translating genotype to phenotype requires accounting for the functional impact of genetic variation at many biological scales. Here we present a strategy for genotype-phenotype reasoning based on existing knowledge of cellular subsystems. These subsystems and their hierarchical organization are defined by the Gene Ontology or a complementary ontology inferred directly from previously published datasets. Guided by the ontology's hierarchical structure, we organize genotype data into an "ontotype," that is, a hierarchy of perturbations representing the effects of genetic variation at multiple cellular scales. The ontotype is then interpreted using logical rules generated by machine learning to predict phenotype. This approach substantially outperforms previous, non-hierarchical methods for translating yeast genotype to cell growth phenotype, and it accurately predicts the growth outcomes of two new screens of 2,503 double gene knockouts impacting DNA repair or nuclear lumen. Ontotypes also generalize to larger knockout combinations, setting the stage for interpreting the complex genetics of disease.

Stochastic Modeling of Sediment Connectivity for Reconstructing Sand Fluxes and Origins in the Unmonitored Se Kong, Se San, and Sre Pok Tributaries of the Mekong River

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmitt, R. J. P.; Bizzi, S.; Castelletti, A. F.; Kondolf, G. M.

2018-01-01

Sediment supply to rivers, subsequent fluvial transport, and the resulting sediment connectivity on network scales are often sparsely monitored and subject to major uncertainty. We propose to approach that uncertainty by adopting a stochastic method for modeling network sediment connectivity, which we present for the Se Kong, Se San, and Sre Pok (3S) tributaries of the Mekong. We quantify how unknown properties of sand sources translate into uncertainty regarding network connectivity by running the CASCADE (CAtchment Sediment Connectivity And DElivery) modeling framework in a Monte Carlo approach for 7,500 random realizations. Only a small ensemble of realizations reproduces downstream observations of sand transport. This ensemble presents an inverse stochastic approximation of the magnitude and variability of transport capacity, sediment flux, and grain size distribution of the sediment transported in the network (i.e., upscaling point observations to the entire network). The approximated magnitude of sand delivered from each tributary to the Mekong is controlled by reaches of low transport capacity ("bottlenecks"). These bottlenecks limit the ability to predict transport in the upper parts of the catchment through inverse stochastic approximation, a limitation that could be addressed by targeted monitoring upstream of identified bottlenecks. Nonetheless, bottlenecks also allow a clear partitioning of natural sand deliveries from the 3S to the Mekong, with the Se Kong delivering less (1.9 Mt/yr) and coarser (median grain size: 0.4 mm) sand than the Se San (5.3 Mt/yr, 0.22 mm) and Sre Pok (11 Mt/yr, 0.19 mm).

Claims-Based Authentication for a Web-Based Enterprise

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-07-01

authority must use known and registered (or in specific cases defined ) certificate revocation and currency-checking software . B. Translation of...Machines and services are issued software certificates that contain the public key with the private key generated and remaining in hardware...publicly available) information. A hardware token that contains the certificate is preferred to software -only certificates. For enterprise users

Information Sciences Assessment for Asia and Australasia

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-16

entertainment and home services - Machine Translation for international cooperation - NLU + Affective Computing for education - Intelligent Optimization for...into an emotion. ETTS, embedded Mandarin, music retrieval. Also, research in areas of computer graphics, digital media processing  Intelligent...many from outside China, 40% in phase 2 Sales volume in 2007 130 * 100 million RMB SAP (1st), CITI, AIG, EDS, Capgemini, ILOG, Infosys, HCL, Sony

Computer-Aided Transcription in the Courts. Executive Summary. National Center Publication No. R-0058.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for State Courts, Williamsburg, VA.

This report summarizes the findings of the Computer-Aided Transcription (CAT) Project, which conducted a 14-month study of the technology and use of computer systems for translating into English the shorthand notes taken by court reporters on stenotype machines. Included are the state of the art of CAT at the end of 1980 and anticipated future…

Enacting the Semantic Web: Ontological Orderings, Negotiated Standards, and Human-Machine Translations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCarthy, Matthew T.

2017-01-01

Artificial intelligence (AI) that is based upon semantic search has become one of the dominant means for accessing information in recent years. This is particularly the case in mobile contexts, as search-based AI are embedded in each of the major mobile operating systems. The implications are such that information is becoming less a matter of…

Optimal Achievable Encoding for Brain Machine Interface

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-12-22

dictionary-based encoding approach to translate a visual image into sequential patterns of electrical stimulation in real time , in a manner that...including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and...networks, and by applying linear decoding to complete recorded populations of retinal ganglion cells for the first time . Third, we developed a greedy

Impact of Machine-Translated Text on Entity and Relationship Extraction

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-01

20 1 1. Introduction Using social network analysis tools is an important asset in...semantic modeling software to automatically build detailed network models from unstructured text. Contour imports unstructured text and then maps the text...onto an existing ontology of frames at the sentence level, using FrameNet, a structured language model, and through Semantic Role Labeling ( SRL

Articles on Practical Cybernetics. Computer-Developed Computers; Heuristics and Modern Sciences; Linguistics and Practice; Cybernetics and Moral-Ethical Considerations; and Men and Machines at the Chessboard.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berg, A. I.; And Others

Five articles which were selected from a Russian language book on cybernetics and then translated are presented here. They deal with the topics of: computer-developed computers, heuristics and modern sciences, linguistics and practice, cybernetics and moral-ethical considerations, and computer chess programs. (Author/JY)

Software Testbed for Developing and Evaluating Integrated Autonomous Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-01

EUROPA planning system for plan generation. The adaptive controller executes the new plan, using augmented, hierarchical finite state machines to...using the Internet Communications Engine ( ICE ), an object-oriented toolkit for building distributed applications. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1...ANML model is translated into the New Domain Definition Language (NDDL) and sent to NASA???s EUROPA planning system for plan generation. The adaptive

The Writing of Chinese Characters by CFL Learners: Can Writing on Facebook and Using Machine Translation Help?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Qi; Lu, Zhouxiang

2014-01-01

The current study investigates the applications of the pinyin input system, a Chinese word processing method, for writing on Facebook in order to help CFL (Chinese as a foreign language) learners from two Irish universities to improve their handwriting in Chinese characters on paper. The data were collected from writing activities conducted over…

A Semisupervised Support Vector Machines Algorithm for BCI Systems

PubMed Central

Qin, Jianzhao; Li, Yuanqing; Sun, Wei

2007-01-01

As an emerging technology, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) bring us new communication interfaces which translate brain activities into control signals for devices like computers, robots, and so forth. In this study, we propose a semisupervised support vector machine (SVM) algorithm for brain-computer interface (BCI) systems, aiming at reducing the time-consuming training process. In this algorithm, we apply a semisupervised SVM for translating the features extracted from the electrical recordings of brain into control signals. This SVM classifier is built from a small labeled data set and a large unlabeled data set. Meanwhile, to reduce the time for training semisupervised SVM, we propose a batch-mode incremental learning method, which can also be easily applied to the online BCI systems. Additionally, it is suggested in many studies that common spatial pattern (CSP) is very effective in discriminating two different brain states. However, CSP needs a sufficient labeled data set. In order to overcome the drawback of CSP, we suggest a two-stage feature extraction method for the semisupervised learning algorithm. We apply our algorithm to two BCI experimental data sets. The offline data analysis results demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm. PMID:18368141

A coordination theory for intelligent machines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Fei-Yue; Saridis, George N.

1990-01-01

A formal model for the coordination level of intelligent machines is established. The framework of the coordination level investigated consists of one dispatcher and a number of coordinators. The model called coordination structure has been used to describe analytically the information structure and information flow for the coordination activities in the coordination level. Specifically, the coordination structure offers a formalism to (1) describe the task translation of the dispatcher and coordinators; (2) represent the individual process within the dispatcher and coordinators; (3) specify the cooperation and connection among the dispatcher and coordinators; (4) perform the process analysis and evaluation; and (5) provide a control and communication mechanism for the real-time monitor or simulation of the coordination process. A simple procedure for the task scheduling in the coordination structure is presented. The task translation is achieved by a stochastic learning algorithm. The learning process is measured with entropy and its convergence is guaranteed. Finally, a case study of the coordination structure with three coordinators and one dispatcher for a simple intelligent manipulator system illustrates the proposed model and the simulation of the task processes performed on the model verifies the soundness of the theory.

TOOTHPASTEV6.11.3

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sankel, David J.; Clair, Aaron B. St.; Langsfield, Joshua D.

2006-11-01

Toothpaste is a graphical user interface and Computer Aided Drafting/Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) software package used to plan tool paths for Galil Motion Control hardware. The software is a tool for computer controlled dispensing of materials. The software may be used for solid freeform fabrication of components or the precision printing of inks. Mathematical calculations are used to produce a set of segments and arcs that when coupled together will fill space. The paths of the segments and arcs are then translated into a machine language that controls the motion of motors and translational stages to produce tool paths in three dimensions.more » As motion begins material(s) are dispensed or printed along the three-dimensional pathway.« less

Man-machine analysis of translation and work tasks of Skylab films

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hosler, W. W.; Boelter, J. G.; Morrow, J. R., Jr.; Jackson, J. T.

1979-01-01

An objective approach to determine the concurrent validity of computer-graphic models is real time film analysis. This technique was illustrated through the procedures and results obtained in an evaluation of translation of Skylab mission astronauts. The quantitative analysis was facilitated by the use of an electronic film analyzer, minicomputer, and specifically supportive software. The uses of this technique for human factors research are: (1) validation of theoretical operator models; (2) biokinetic analysis; (3) objective data evaluation; (4) dynamic anthropometry; (5) empirical time-line analysis; and (6) consideration of human variability. Computer assisted techniques for interface design and evaluation have the potential for improving the capability for human factors engineering.

Investigation of roughing machining simulation by using visual basic programming in NX CAM system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hafiz Mohamad, Mohamad; Nafis Osman Zahid, Muhammed

2018-03-01

This paper outlines a simulation study to investigate the characteristic of roughing machining simulation in 4th axis milling processes by utilizing visual basic programming in NX CAM systems. The selection and optimization of cutting orientation in rough milling operation is critical in 4th axis machining. The main purpose of roughing operation is to approximately shape the machined parts into finished form by removing the bulk of material from workpieces. In this paper, the simulations are executed by manipulating a set of different cutting orientation to generate estimated volume removed from the machine parts. The cutting orientation with high volume removal is denoted as an optimum value and chosen to execute a roughing operation. In order to run the simulation, customized software is developed to assist the routines. Operations build-up instructions in NX CAM interface are translated into programming codes via advanced tool available in the Visual Basic Studio. The codes is customized and equipped with decision making tools to run and control the simulations. It permits the integration with any independent program files to execute specific operations. This paper aims to discuss about the simulation program and identifies optimum cutting orientations for roughing processes. The output of this study will broaden up the simulation routines performed in NX CAM systems.

Technology for Large-Scale Translation of Clinical Practice Guidelines: A Pilot Study of the Performance of a Hybrid Human and Computer-Assisted Approach.

PubMed

Van de Velde, Stijn; Macken, Lieve; Vanneste, Koen; Goossens, Martine; Vanschoenbeek, Jan; Aertgeerts, Bert; Vanopstal, Klaar; Vander Stichele, Robert; Buysschaert, Joost

2015-10-09

The construction of EBMPracticeNet, a national electronic point-of-care information platform in Belgium, began in 2011 to optimize quality of care by promoting evidence-based decision making. The project involved, among other tasks, the translation of 940 EBM Guidelines of Duodecim Medical Publications from English into Dutch and French. Considering the scale of the translation process, it was decided to make use of computer-aided translation performed by certificated translators with limited expertise in medical translation. Our consortium used a hybrid approach, involving a human translator supported by a translation memory (using SDL Trados Studio), terminology recognition (using SDL MultiTerm terminology databases) from medical terminology databases, and support from online machine translation. This resulted in a validated translation memory, which is now in use for the translation of new and updated guidelines. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the performance of the hybrid human and computer-assisted approach in comparison with translation unsupported by translation memory and terminology recognition. A comparison was also made with the translation efficiency of an expert medical translator. We conducted a pilot study in which two sets of 30 new and 30 updated guidelines were randomized to one of three groups. Comparable guidelines were translated (1) by certificated junior translators without medical specialization using the hybrid method, (2) by an experienced medical translator without this support, and (3) by the same junior translators without the support of the validated translation memory. A medical proofreader who was blinded for the translation procedure, evaluated the translated guidelines for acceptability and adequacy. Translation speed was measured by recording translation and post-editing time. The human translation edit rate was calculated as a metric to evaluate the quality of the translation. A further evaluation was made of translation acceptability and adequacy. The average number of words per guideline was 1195 and the mean total translation time was 100.2 minutes/1000 words. No meaningful differences were found in the translation speed for new guidelines. The translation of updated guidelines was 59 minutes/1000 words faster (95% CI 2-115; P=.044) in the computer-aided group. Revisions due to terminology accounted for one third of the overall revisions by the medical proofreader. Use of the hybrid human and computer-aided translation by a non-expert translator makes the translation of updates of clinical practice guidelines faster and cheaper because of the benefits of translation memory. For the translation of new guidelines, there was no apparent benefit in comparison with the efficiency of translation unsupported by translation memory (whether by an expert or non-expert translator).

Technology for Large-Scale Translation of Clinical Practice Guidelines: A Pilot Study of the Performance of a Hybrid Human and Computer-Assisted Approach

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background The construction of EBMPracticeNet, a national electronic point-of-care information platform in Belgium, began in 2011 to optimize quality of care by promoting evidence-based decision making. The project involved, among other tasks, the translation of 940 EBM Guidelines of Duodecim Medical Publications from English into Dutch and French. Considering the scale of the translation process, it was decided to make use of computer-aided translation performed by certificated translators with limited expertise in medical translation. Our consortium used a hybrid approach, involving a human translator supported by a translation memory (using SDL Trados Studio), terminology recognition (using SDL MultiTerm terminology databases) from medical terminology databases, and support from online machine translation. This resulted in a validated translation memory, which is now in use for the translation of new and updated guidelines. Objective The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the performance of the hybrid human and computer-assisted approach in comparison with translation unsupported by translation memory and terminology recognition. A comparison was also made with the translation efficiency of an expert medical translator. Methods We conducted a pilot study in which two sets of 30 new and 30 updated guidelines were randomized to one of three groups. Comparable guidelines were translated (1) by certificated junior translators without medical specialization using the hybrid method, (2) by an experienced medical translator without this support, and (3) by the same junior translators without the support of the validated translation memory. A medical proofreader who was blinded for the translation procedure, evaluated the translated guidelines for acceptability and adequacy. Translation speed was measured by recording translation and post-editing time. The human translation edit rate was calculated as a metric to evaluate the quality of the translation. A further evaluation was made of translation acceptability and adequacy. Results The average number of words per guideline was 1195 and the mean total translation time was 100.2 minutes/1000 words. No meaningful differences were found in the translation speed for new guidelines. The translation of updated guidelines was 59 minutes/1000 words faster (95% CI 2-115; P=.044) in the computer-aided group. Revisions due to terminology accounted for one third of the overall revisions by the medical proofreader. Conclusions Use of the hybrid human and computer-aided translation by a non-expert translator makes the translation of updates of clinical practice guidelines faster and cheaper because of the benefits of translation memory. For the translation of new guidelines, there was no apparent benefit in comparison with the efficiency of translation unsupported by translation memory (whether by an expert or non-expert translator). PMID:26453372

Compiler writing system detail design specification. Volume 2: Component specification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthur, W. J.

1974-01-01

The logic modules and data structures composing the Meta-translator module are desribed. This module is responsible for the actual generation of the executable language compiler as a function of the input Meta-language. Machine definitions are also processed and are placed as encoded data on the compiler library data file. The transformation of intermediate language in target language object text is described.

Evaluating SPLASH-2 Applications Using MapReduce

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Shengkai; Xiao, Zhiwei; Chen, Haibo; Chen, Rong; Zhang, Weihua; Zang, Binyu

MapReduce has been prevalent for running data-parallel applications. By hiding other non-functionality parts such as parallelism, fault tolerance and load balance from programmers, MapReduce significantly simplifies the programming of large clusters. Due to the mentioned features of MapReduce above, researchers have also explored the use of MapReduce on other application domains, such as machine learning, textual retrieval and statistical translation, among others.

Deep Gate Recurrent Neural Network

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-11-22

Schmidhuber. A system for robotic heart surgery that learns to tie knots using recurrent neural networks. In IEEE International Conference on...tasks, such as Machine Translation (Bahdanau et al. (2015)) or Robot Reinforcement Learning (Bakker (2001)). The main idea behind these networks is to...and J. Peters. Reinforcement learning in robotics : A survey. The International Journal of Robotics Research, 32:1238–1274, 2013. ISSN 0278-3649. doi

Toward Determining the Comprehensibility of Machine Translations

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

responses to a stimulus (Macmillan and Creelman , 1991). It has been applied in areas such as lie detection (truth/lie), inspection (ac- ceptable...1-1/(2N) (Macmil- lan and Creelman , 1991). Negative values, which usually indicate response confusion, were eliminated. The results of...Macmillan, Neil and C. Douglas Creelman . (1991). Detection theory: A User’s guide. Cambridge Univer- sity Press, pp. 10 &125. Marchant

Radioactive hot cell access hole decontamination machine

DOEpatents

Simpson, William E.

1982-01-01

Radioactive hot cell access hole decontamination machine. A mobile housing has an opening large enough to encircle the access hole and has a shielding door, with a door opening and closing mechanism, for uncovering and covering the opening. The housing contains a shaft which has an apparatus for rotating the shaft and a device for independently translating the shaft from the housing through the opening and access hole into the hot cell chamber. A properly sized cylindrical pig containing wire brushes and cloth or other disks, with an arrangement for releasably attaching it to the end of the shaft, circumferentially cleans the access hole wall of radioactive contamination and thereafter detaches from the shaft to fall into the hot cell chamber.

Selectivity to Translational Egomotion in Human Brain Motion Areas

PubMed Central

Pitzalis, Sabrina; Sdoia, Stefano; Bultrini, Alessandro; Committeri, Giorgia; Di Russo, Francesco; Fattori, Patrizia; Galletti, Claudio; Galati, Gaspare

2013-01-01

The optic flow generated when a person moves through the environment can be locally decomposed into several basic components, including radial, circular, translational and spiral motion. Since their analysis plays an important part in the visual perception and control of locomotion and posture it is likely that some brain regions in the primate dorsal visual pathway are specialized to distinguish among them. The aim of this study is to explore the sensitivity to different types of egomotion-compatible visual stimulations in the human motion-sensitive regions of the brain. Event-related fMRI experiments, 3D motion and wide-field stimulation, functional localizers and brain mapping methods were used to study the sensitivity of six distinct motion areas (V6, MT, MST+, V3A, CSv and an Intra-Parietal Sulcus motion [IPSmot] region) to different types of optic flow stimuli. Results show that only areas V6, MST+ and IPSmot are specialized in distinguishing among the various types of flow patterns, with a high response for the translational flow which was maximum in V6 and IPSmot and less marked in MST+. Given that during egomotion the translational optic flow conveys differential information about the near and far external objects, areas V6 and IPSmot likely process visual egomotion signals to extract information about the relative distance of objects with respect to the observer. Since area V6 is also involved in distinguishing object-motion from self-motion, it could provide information about location in space of moving and static objects during self-motion, particularly in a dynamically unstable environment. PMID:23577096

Using Ontologies to Formalize Services Specifications in Multi-Agent Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Breitman, Karin Koogan; Filho, Aluizio Haendchen; Haeusler, Edward Hermann

2004-01-01

One key issue in multi-agent systems (MAS) is their ability to interact and exchange information autonomously across applications. To secure agent interoperability, designers must rely on a communication protocol that allows software agents to exchange meaningful information. In this paper we propose using ontologies as such communication protocol. Ontologies capture the semantics of the operations and services provided by agents, allowing interoperability and information exchange in a MAS. Ontologies are a formal, machine processable, representation that allows to capture the semantics of a domain and, to derive meaningful information by way of logical inference. In our proposal we use a formal knowledge representation language (OWL) that translates into Description Logics (a subset of first order logic), thus eliminating ambiguities and providing a solid base for machine based inference. The main contribution of this approach is to make the requirements explicit, centralize the specification in a single document (the ontology itself), at the same that it provides a formal, unambiguous representation that can be processed by automated inference machines.

Firmness prediction in Prunus persica 'Calrico' peaches by visible/short-wave near infrared spectroscopy and acoustic measurements using optimised linear and non-linear chemometric models.

PubMed

Lafuente, Victoria; Herrera, Luis J; Pérez, María del Mar; Val, Jesús; Negueruela, Ignacio

2015-08-15

In this work, near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and an acoustic measure (AWETA) (two non-destructive methods) were applied in Prunus persica fruit 'Calrico' (n = 260) to predict Magness-Taylor (MT) firmness. Separate and combined use of these measures was evaluated and compared using partial least squares (PLS) and least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) regression methods. Also, a mutual-information-based variable selection method, seeking to find the most significant variables to produce optimal accuracy of the regression models, was applied to a joint set of variables (NIR wavelengths and AWETA measure). The newly proposed combined NIR-AWETA model gave good values of the determination coefficient (R(2)) for PLS and LS-SVM methods (0.77 and 0.78, respectively), improving the reliability of MT firmness prediction in comparison with separate NIR and AWETA predictions. The three variables selected by the variable selection method (AWETA measure plus NIR wavelengths 675 and 697 nm) achieved R(2) values 0.76 and 0.77, PLS and LS-SVM. These results indicated that the proposed mutual-information-based variable selection algorithm was a powerful tool for the selection of the most relevant variables. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

Biomarkers of Eating Disorders Using Support Vector Machine Analysis of Structural Neuroimaging Data: Preliminary Results

PubMed Central

Cerasa, Antonio; Castiglioni, Isabella; Salvatore, Christian; Funaro, Angela; Martino, Iolanda; Alfano, Stefania; Donzuso, Giulia; Perrotta, Paolo; Gioia, Maria Cecilia; Gilardi, Maria Carla; Quattrone, Aldo

2015-01-01

Presently, there are no valid biomarkers to identify individuals with eating disorders (ED). The aim of this work was to assess the feasibility of a machine learning method for extracting reliable neuroimaging features allowing individual categorization of patients with ED. Support Vector Machine (SVM) technique, combined with a pattern recognition method, was employed utilizing structural magnetic resonance images. Seventeen females with ED (six with diagnosis of anorexia nervosa and 11 with bulimia nervosa) were compared against 17 body mass index-matched healthy controls (HC). Machine learning allowed individual diagnosis of ED versus HC with an Accuracy ≥ 0.80. Voxel-based pattern recognition analysis demonstrated that voxels influencing the classification Accuracy involved the occipital cortex, the posterior cerebellar lobule, precuneus, sensorimotor/premotor cortices, and the medial prefrontal cortex, all critical regions known to be strongly involved in the pathophysiological mechanisms of ED. Although these findings should be considered preliminary given the small size investigated, SVM analysis highlights the role of well-known brain regions as possible biomarkers to distinguish ED from HC at an individual level, thus encouraging the translational implementation of this new multivariate approach in the clinical practice. PMID:26648660

Biochar and the other COP21 agenda: the 4/1000 Initiative and climate solution right under our feet.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaspard, J., II; Burchell, A.; Shields, F.; Beierwaltes, W.; Parks, D.; Ranney, S.

2016-12-01

Anthropogenic activities have altered the global carbon cycle. Restoring degraded lands and increasing soil carbon will play an important role in addressing the challenges of food security, drought and mitigating anthropogenic emissions. Regenerative soil practices are crucial to limiting global temperature increase to 2°C (3.6°F)." To achieve this, scientists, policy makers and the business sector face a collaborative challenge of judiciously implementing solutions that work, are profitable and need to be included in every nation's climate toolbox. High-quality biochar provides an intriguing carbon management strategy. To understand temperature variation, feedstock properties and to produce biochar with reproducible and tunable properties, our thermal conversion kilns use advanced control technology to enable a slow pyrolysis process that is: (i) "feedstock-blind" (drought and pest-killed trees, agricultural waste, construction residue, etc.) and (ii) resilient to feedstock properties (moisture, composition). The result is a high-quality, stable biochar with a high carbon content, a well-defined pore structure that promotes water retention and microbe integration, desired ionic properties and thousand year residence times. Cost of production has reached a point that now assures profitability for specialty high-quality biochar sold to target drought, turf growth, plant disease suppression, adsorption of heavy metals from polluted waters, adsorption of excess phosphorus and nitrates in streams and lakes, production of durable construction materials and other industrial applications. Given published estimates of 1.5 - 2.9 MT CO2e/ MT biochar applied to soils, this translates to less than $20 /MT CO2 sequestered - and less the carbon-offset prices being discussed. This suggests commercial biochar strategies may be sufficiently economically attractive to now incentivize important agriculture, forest and grassland carbon storage policy decisions.

Transfer RNA and human disease.

PubMed

Abbott, Jamie A; Francklyn, Christopher S; Robey-Bond, Susan M

2014-01-01

Pathological mutations in tRNA genes and tRNA processing enzymes are numerous and result in very complicated clinical phenotypes. Mitochondrial tRNA (mt-tRNA) genes are "hotspots" for pathological mutations and over 200 mt-tRNA mutations have been linked to various disease states. Often these mutations prevent tRNA aminoacylation. Disrupting this primary function affects protein synthesis and the expression, folding, and function of oxidative phosphorylation enzymes. Mitochondrial tRNA mutations manifest in a wide panoply of diseases related to cellular energetics, including COX deficiency (cytochrome C oxidase), mitochondrial myopathy, MERRF (Myoclonic Epilepsy with Ragged Red Fibers), and MELAS (mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes). Diseases caused by mt-tRNA mutations can also affect very specific tissue types, as in the case of neurosensory non-syndromic hearing loss and pigmentary retinopathy, diabetes mellitus, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Importantly, mitochondrial heteroplasmy plays a role in disease severity and age of onset as well. Not surprisingly, mutations in enzymes that modify cytoplasmic and mitochondrial tRNAs are also linked to a diverse range of clinical phenotypes. In addition to compromised aminoacylation of the tRNAs, mutated modifying enzymes can also impact tRNA expression and abundance, tRNA modifications, tRNA folding, and even tRNA maturation (e.g., splicing). Some of these pathological mutations in tRNAs and processing enzymes are likely to affect non-canonical tRNA functions, and contribute to the diseases without significantly impacting on translation. This chapter will review recent literature on the relation of mitochondrial and cytoplasmic tRNA, and enzymes that process tRNAs, to human disease. We explore the mechanisms involved in the clinical presentation of these various diseases with an emphasis on neurological disease.

Metallothionein Isoform Expression in Benign and Malignant Thyroid Lesions.

PubMed

Wojtczak, Beata; Pula, Bartosz; Gomulkiewicz, Agnieszka; Olbromski, Mateusz; Podhorska-Okolow, Marzena; Domoslawski, Paweł; Bolanowski, Marek; Daroszewski, Jacek; Dziegiel, Piotr

2017-09-01

Metallothioneins (MTs) are involved in numerous cell processes such as binding and transport of zinc and copper ions, differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis, therefore contributing to carcinogenesis. Scarce data exist on their expression in benign and malignant lesions of the thyroid. mRNA expression of functional isoforms of MT genes (MT1A, MT1B, MT1E, MT1F, MT1G, MT1H, MT1X, MT2A, MT4) was studied in 17 nodular goiters (NG), 12 follicular adenomas (FA) and 26 papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC). One-way ANOVA revealed significant differences in mRNA expression levels of MT1A (p<0.05), MT1E (p<0.005), MT1F (p<0.0001), MT1G (p<0.005), MT1X (p<0.0005) and MT2A (p<0.005) in the analyzed samples. Post hoc analysis confirmed a significantly lower expression of MT1A mRNA in PTC compared to NG (p<0.05). Significant down-regulation was also noted for other MT isoforms in PTC in comparison to NG: MT1E (p<0.05), MT1F (p<0.0001), MT1G (p<0.005), MT1X (p<0.0005) and MT2A (p<0.05). In addition, significant down-regulation of MT1F and MT1G in FA compared to NG was observed (p<0.005 and p<0.05, respectively). Expression of functional MT isoforms may contribute to thyroid carcinogenesis and potentially serve as a diagnostic marker in distinguishing benign and malignant lesions. Copyright© 2017, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.

Atrazine sorption by hydroxy-interlayered clays and their organic complexes.

PubMed

Indraratne, Srimathie P; Farenhorst, Annemieke; Goh, Tee Boon

2008-01-01

This study examined the sorption of atrazine by hydroxy-Fe interlayered montmorillonite (FeMt) and its hydroquinone (FeMtHQ), citrate (FeMtCt) and catechol (FeMtCC) complexes as well as by hydroxy-Al interlayered montmorillonite (AlMt) and its hydroquinone (AlMtHQ) and citrate (AlMtCt) complexes. Found among the clays were sorption distribution coefficients (K(d)) ranging from 24 to 123 mL g(-1) and maximum sorption (M) ranging from 2.2 to 16.8 microg g(-1). Both K(d) and M decreased in the order of FeMtCC > FeMtHQ > AlMtHQ > (AlMt = FeMt) > (AlMtCt = FeMtCt). The pH was negatively correlated with both K(d) (r = -0.90, p < 0.001) and M (r = -0.81, p < 0.001). When interlayered clays were associated with humified material (FeMtCC, FeMtHQ, AlMtHQ), both K(d) (r > 0.96, p < 0.01) and M (r > 0.94, p < 0.01) were highly positively correlated with total organic C and alkali-soluble C. However, clays with non-humified organic compounds (FeMtCt and AlMtCt) sorbed less atrazine than clays without any organic C (FeMt and AlMt). This suggests that functional groups of Fe-OH and Al-OH in FeMt and AlMt reduced the available sorption sites for atrazine by making complexes with citrate ions while forming FeMtCt and AlMtCt. The atrazine was sorbed through the hydrophobic interactions with organic compound surfaces as well as through H-bonding and ionic bonding with clay-mineral surfaces.

The MtDMI2-MtPUB2 Negative Feedback Loop Plays a Role in Nodulation Homeostasis1[OPEN

PubMed Central

Deng, Jie; Zhu, Fugui; Lu, Zheng

2018-01-01

DOES NOT MAKE INFECTION 2 (MtDMI2) is a Leu rich repeat-type receptor kinase required for signal transduction in the Medicago truncatula/Sinorhizobium meliloti symbiosis pathway. However, the mechanisms through which MtDMI2 participates in nodulation homeostasis are poorly understood. In this study, we identified MtPUB2—a novel plant U-box (PUB)–type E3 ligase—and showed that it interacts with MtDMI2. MtDMI2 and MtPUB2 accumulation were shown to be similar in various tissues. Roots of plants in which MtPUB2 was silenced by RNAi (MtPUB2-RNAi plants) exhibited impaired infection threads, fewer nodules, and shorter primary root lengths compared to those of control plants transformed with empty vector. Using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, we showed that MtDMI2 phosphorylates MtPUB2 at Ser-316, Ser-421, and Thr-488 residues. When MtPUB2-RNAi plants were transformed with MtPUB2S421D, which mimics the phosphorylated state, MtDMI2 was persistently ubiquitinated and degraded by MtPUB2S421D, resulting in fewer nodules than observed in MtPUB2/MtPUB2-RNAi-complemented plants. However, MtPUB2S421A/MtPUB2-RNAi-complemented plants showed no MtPUB2 ubiquitination activity, and their nodulation phenotype was similar to that of MtPUB2-RNAi plants transformed with empty vector. Further studies demonstrated that these proteins form a negative feedback loop of the prey (MtDMI2)-predator (MtPUB2) type. Our results suggest that the MtDMI2-MtPUB2 negative feedback loop, which displays crosstalk with the long-distance autoregulation of nodulation via MtNIN, plays an important role in nodulation homeostasis. PMID:29440269

Machine Translation Based Data Augmentation for Cantonese Keyword Spotting (Author’s Manuscript)

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-19

for the key- word k at the specific threshold t is defined as ATWV (k, t) = 1− PFR(k, t)− C · PFA (k, t) (1) where C = 999.9 is a constant, PFR and... PFA are probabil- ities of miss and false accept, respectively. MTWV is com- puted as a maximal ATWV over all possible values of t. 4. RESULTS In this

A Formal Model of Ambiguity and its Applications in Machine Translation

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

structure indicates linguisti- cally implausible segmentation that might be generated using dictionary - driven approaches...derivation. As was done in the monolingual case, the functions LHS, RHSi, RHSo and υ can be extended to a derivation δ. D(q) where q ∈V denotes the... monolingual parses. My algorithm runs more efficiently than O(n6) with many grammars (including those that required using heuristic search with other parsers

Parsing and Tagging of Bilingual Dictionary

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-09-01

LAMP-TR-106 CAR-TR-991 CS-TR-4529 UMIACS-TR-2003-97 PARSING ANS TAGGING OF BILINGUAL DICTIONARY Huanfeng Ma1,2, Burcu Karagol-Ayan1,2, David... dictionaries hold great potential as a source of lexical resources for training and testing automated systems for optical character recognition, machine...translation, and cross-language information retrieval. In this paper, we describe a system for extracting term lexicons from printed bilingual dictionaries

Translations on USSR Science and Technology Physical Sciences and Technology No. 7

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-02-28

cybernetics. [Answer] Immediately after the war , when the restoration of the national economy, which had been wrecked by the enemy, was started, Soviet...cyberneticization of economics and science will be developed at accelerated rates. 8545 CSO: 1870 CYBERNETICS, COMPUTERS AND AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGY...working storage of the machine exceeds 64 thousand alpha-numeric characters. Communication with the external world is effected by means of a main

Computer Generation of Natural Language from a Deep Conceptual Base

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-01-01

It would be useful to have machines which could read scientific documents, newspaper articles , novels, etc., and translate them into other...preparing abstracts :or articles and in headline writing (at least in those cases in which headlines are used as an indication of article content...above), a definite or indefinite article is attached to the noun phrase. The selection of color and size adjectives is made in .. fashion

Predicting Mouse Liver Microsomal Stability with “Pruned” Machine Learning Models and Public Data

PubMed Central

Perryman, Alexander L.; Stratton, Thomas P.; Ekins, Sean; Freundlich, Joel S.

2015-01-01

Purpose Mouse efficacy studies are a critical hurdle to advance translational research of potential therapeutic compounds for many diseases. Although mouse liver microsomal (MLM) stability studies are not a perfect surrogate for in vivo studies of metabolic clearance, they are the initial model system used to assess metabolic stability. Consequently, we explored the development of machine learning models that can enhance the probability of identifying compounds possessing MLM stability. Methods Published assays on MLM half-life values were identified in PubChem, reformatted, and curated to create a training set with 894 unique small molecules. These data were used to construct machine learning models assessed with internal cross-validation, external tests with a published set of antitubercular compounds, and independent validation with an additional diverse set of 571 compounds (PubChem data on percent metabolism). Results “Pruning” out the moderately unstable/moderately stable compounds from the training set produced models with superior predictive power. Bayesian models displayed the best predictive power for identifying compounds with a half-life ≥1 hour. Conclusions Our results suggest the pruning strategy may be of general benefit to improve test set enrichment and provide machine learning models with enhanced predictive value for the MLM stability of small organic molecules. This study represents the most exhaustive study to date of using machine learning approaches with MLM data from public sources. PMID:26415647

Predicting Mouse Liver Microsomal Stability with "Pruned" Machine Learning Models and Public Data.

PubMed

Perryman, Alexander L; Stratton, Thomas P; Ekins, Sean; Freundlich, Joel S

2016-02-01

Mouse efficacy studies are a critical hurdle to advance translational research of potential therapeutic compounds for many diseases. Although mouse liver microsomal (MLM) stability studies are not a perfect surrogate for in vivo studies of metabolic clearance, they are the initial model system used to assess metabolic stability. Consequently, we explored the development of machine learning models that can enhance the probability of identifying compounds possessing MLM stability. Published assays on MLM half-life values were identified in PubChem, reformatted, and curated to create a training set with 894 unique small molecules. These data were used to construct machine learning models assessed with internal cross-validation, external tests with a published set of antitubercular compounds, and independent validation with an additional diverse set of 571 compounds (PubChem data on percent metabolism). "Pruning" out the moderately unstable / moderately stable compounds from the training set produced models with superior predictive power. Bayesian models displayed the best predictive power for identifying compounds with a half-life ≥1 h. Our results suggest the pruning strategy may be of general benefit to improve test set enrichment and provide machine learning models with enhanced predictive value for the MLM stability of small organic molecules. This study represents the most exhaustive study to date of using machine learning approaches with MLM data from public sources.

Low Birth Weight: A Descriptive Study of Risk Factors

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-01-07

abruption Dx on admit MT Placenta previa Yes Placenta previa Dx complete/partial MT Smoking Yes Tobacco use this pregnancy MT Heavy alcohol use Yes...Multiple Gestation MT Urinary tract infection MT *Anemia MT Fetal anomalies MT Abruptio placentae MT Placenta previa MT Smoking MT Alcohol use...categories: (a) problems with the placenta , (b) problems with the pregnant woman herself, (c) problems with the fetus itself, or (d) any

Wireless Cortical Brain-Machine Interface for Whole-Body Navigation in Primates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajangam, Sankaranarayani; Tseng, Po-He; Yin, Allen; Lehew, Gary; Schwarz, David; Lebedev, Mikhail A.; Nicolelis, Miguel A. L.

2016-03-01

Several groups have developed brain-machine-interfaces (BMIs) that allow primates to use cortical activity to control artificial limbs. Yet, it remains unknown whether cortical ensembles could represent the kinematics of whole-body navigation and be used to operate a BMI that moves a wheelchair continuously in space. Here we show that rhesus monkeys can learn to navigate a robotic wheelchair, using their cortical activity as the main control signal. Two monkeys were chronically implanted with multichannel microelectrode arrays that allowed wireless recordings from ensembles of premotor and sensorimotor cortical neurons. Initially, while monkeys remained seated in the robotic wheelchair, passive navigation was employed to train a linear decoder to extract 2D wheelchair kinematics from cortical activity. Next, monkeys employed the wireless BMI to translate their cortical activity into the robotic wheelchair’s translational and rotational velocities. Over time, monkeys improved their ability to navigate the wheelchair toward the location of a grape reward. The navigation was enacted by populations of cortical neurons tuned to whole-body displacement. During practice with the apparatus, we also noticed the presence of a cortical representation of the distance to reward location. These results demonstrate that intracranial BMIs could restore whole-body mobility to severely paralyzed patients in the future.

Compact Microscope Imaging System with Intelligent Controls

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McDowell, Mark

2004-01-01

The figure presents selected views of a compact microscope imaging system (CMIS) that includes a miniature video microscope, a Cartesian robot (a computer- controlled three-dimensional translation stage), and machine-vision and control subsystems. The CMIS was built from commercial off-the-shelf instrumentation, computer hardware and software, and custom machine-vision software. The machine-vision and control subsystems include adaptive neural networks that afford a measure of artificial intelligence. The CMIS can perform several automated tasks with accuracy and repeatability . tasks that, heretofore, have required the full attention of human technicians using relatively bulky conventional microscopes. In addition, the automation and control capabilities of the system inherently include a capability for remote control. Unlike human technicians, the CMIS is not at risk of becoming fatigued or distracted: theoretically, it can perform continuously at the level of the best human technicians. In its capabilities for remote control and for relieving human technicians of tedious routine tasks, the CMIS is expected to be especially useful in biomedical research, materials science, inspection of parts on industrial production lines, and space science. The CMIS can automatically focus on and scan a microscope sample, find areas of interest, record the resulting images, and analyze images from multiple samples simultaneously. Automatic focusing is an iterative process: The translation stage is used to move the microscope along its optical axis in a succession of coarse, medium, and fine steps. A fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the image is computed at each step, and the FFT is analyzed for its spatial-frequency content. The microscope position that results in the greatest dispersal of FFT content toward high spatial frequencies (indicating that the image shows the greatest amount of detail) is deemed to be the focal position.

Ten-dimensional anthropomorphic arm control in a human brain-machine interface: difficulties, solutions, and limitations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wodlinger, B.; Downey, J. E.; Tyler-Kabara, E. C.; Schwartz, A. B.; Boninger, M. L.; Collinger, J. L.

2015-02-01

Objective. In a previous study we demonstrated continuous translation, orientation and one-dimensional grasping control of a prosthetic limb (seven degrees of freedom) by a human subject with tetraplegia using a brain-machine interface (BMI). The current study, in the same subject, immediately followed the previous work and expanded the scope of the control signal by also extracting hand-shape commands from the two 96-channel intracortical electrode arrays implanted in the subject’s left motor cortex. Approach. Four new control signals, dictating prosthetic hand shape, replaced the one-dimensional grasping in the previous study, allowing the subject to control the prosthetic limb with ten degrees of freedom (three-dimensional (3D) translation, 3D orientation, four-dimensional hand shaping) simultaneously. Main results. Robust neural tuning to hand shaping was found, leading to ten-dimensional (10D) performance well above chance levels in all tests. Neural unit preferred directions were broadly distributed through the 10D space, with the majority of units significantly tuned to all ten dimensions, instead of being restricted to isolated domains (e.g. translation, orientation or hand shape). The addition of hand shaping emphasized object-interaction behavior. A fundamental component of BMIs is the calibration used to associate neural activity to intended movement. We found that the presence of an object during calibration enhanced successful shaping of the prosthetic hand as it closed around the object during grasping. Significance. Our results show that individual motor cortical neurons encode many parameters of movement, that object interaction is an important factor when extracting these signals, and that high-dimensional operation of prosthetic devices can be achieved with simple decoding algorithms. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01364480.

Inter-species pathway perturbation prediction via data-driven detection of functional homology.

PubMed

Hafemeister, Christoph; Romero, Roberto; Bilal, Erhan; Meyer, Pablo; Norel, Raquel; Rhrissorrakrai, Kahn; Bonneau, Richard; Tarca, Adi L

2015-02-15

Experiments in animal models are often conducted to infer how humans will respond to stimuli by assuming that the same biological pathways will be affected in both organisms. The limitations of this assumption were tested in the IMPROVER Species Translation Challenge, where 52 stimuli were applied to both human and rat cells and perturbed pathways were identified. In the Inter-species Pathway Perturbation Prediction sub-challenge, multiple teams proposed methods to use rat transcription data from 26 stimuli to predict human gene set and pathway activity under the same perturbations. Submissions were evaluated using three performance metrics on data from the remaining 26 stimuli. We present two approaches, ranked second in this challenge, that do not rely on sequence-based orthology between rat and human genes to translate pathway perturbation state but instead identify transcriptional response orthologs across a set of training conditions. The translation from rat to human accomplished by these so-called direct methods is not dependent on the particular analysis method used to identify perturbed gene sets. In contrast, machine learning-based methods require performing a pathway analysis initially and then mapping the pathway activity between organisms. Unlike most machine learning approaches, direct methods can be used to predict the activation of a human pathway for a new (test) stimuli, even when that pathway was never activated by a training stimuli. Gene expression data are available from ArrayExpress (accession E-MTAB-2091), while software implementations are available from http://bioinformaticsprb.med.wayne.edu?p=50 and http://goo.gl/hJny3h. christoph.hafemeister@nyu.edu or atarca@med.wayne.edu. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. Published by Oxford University Press 2014. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.

Organic bioelectronics for electronic-to-chemical translation in modulation of neuronal signaling and machine-to-brain interfacing.

PubMed

Larsson, Karin C; Kjäll, Peter; Richter-Dahlfors, Agneta

2013-09-01

A major challenge when creating interfaces for the nervous system is to translate between the signal carriers of the nervous system (ions and neurotransmitters) and those of conventional electronics (electrons). Organic conjugated polymers represent a unique class of materials that utilizes both electrons and ions as charge carriers. Based on these materials, we have established a series of novel communication interfaces between electronic components and biological systems. The organic electronic ion pump (OEIP) presented in this review is made of the polymer-polyelectrolyte system poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). The OEIP translates electronic signals into electrophoretic migration of ions and neurotransmitters. We demonstrate how spatio-temporally controlled delivery of ions and neurotransmitters can be used to modulate intracellular Ca(2+) signaling in neuronal cells in the absence of convective disturbances. The electronic control of delivery enables strict control of dynamic parameters, such as amplitude and frequency of Ca(2+) responses, and can be used to generate temporal patterns mimicking naturally occurring Ca(2+) oscillations. To enable further control of the ionic signals we developed the electrophoretic chemical transistor, an analog of the traditional transistor used to amplify and/or switch electronic signals. Finally, we demonstrate the use of the OEIP in a new "machine-to-brain" interface by modulating brainstem responses in vivo. This review highlights the potential of communication interfaces based on conjugated polymers in generating complex, high-resolution, signal patterns to control cell physiology. We foresee widespread applications for these devices in biomedical research and in future medical devices within multiple therapeutic areas. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Organic Bioelectronics-Novel Applications in Biomedicine. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Correction of the consequences of mitochondrial 3243A>G mutation in the MT-TL1 gene causing the MELAS syndrome by tRNA import into mitochondria

PubMed Central

Karicheva, Olga Z.; Kolesnikova, Olga A.; Schirtz, Tom; Vysokikh, Mikhail Y.; Mager-Heckel, Anne-Marie; Lombès, Anne; Boucheham, Abdeldjalil; Krasheninnikov, Igor A.; Martin, Robert P.; Entelis, Nina; Tarassov, Ivan

2011-01-01

Mutations in human mitochondrial DNA are often associated with incurable human neuromuscular diseases. Among these mutations, an important number have been identified in tRNA genes, including 29 in the gene MT-TL1 coding for the tRNALeu(UUR). The m.3243A>G mutation was described as the major cause of the MELAS syndrome (mitochondrial encephalomyopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes). This mutation was reported to reduce tRNALeu(UUR) aminoacylation and modification of its anti-codon wobble position, which results in a defective mitochondrial protein synthesis and reduced activities of respiratory chain complexes. In the present study, we have tested whether the mitochondrial targeting of recombinant tRNAs bearing the identity elements for human mitochondrial leucyl-tRNA synthetase can rescue the phenotype caused by MELAS mutation in human transmitochondrial cybrid cells. We demonstrate that nuclear expression and mitochondrial targeting of specifically designed transgenic tRNAs results in an improvement of mitochondrial translation, increased levels of mitochondrial DNA-encoded respiratory complexes subunits, and significant rescue of respiration. These findings prove the possibility to direct tRNAs with changed aminoacylation specificities into mitochondria, thus extending the potential therapeutic strategy of allotopic expression to address mitochondrial disorders. PMID:21724600

Correction of the consequences of mitochondrial 3243A>G mutation in the MT-TL1 gene causing the MELAS syndrome by tRNA import into mitochondria.

PubMed

Karicheva, Olga Z; Kolesnikova, Olga A; Schirtz, Tom; Vysokikh, Mikhail Y; Mager-Heckel, Anne-Marie; Lombès, Anne; Boucheham, Abdeldjalil; Krasheninnikov, Igor A; Martin, Robert P; Entelis, Nina; Tarassov, Ivan

2011-10-01

Mutations in human mitochondrial DNA are often associated with incurable human neuromuscular diseases. Among these mutations, an important number have been identified in tRNA genes, including 29 in the gene MT-TL1 coding for the tRNA(Leu(UUR)). The m.3243A>G mutation was described as the major cause of the MELAS syndrome (mitochondrial encephalomyopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes). This mutation was reported to reduce tRNA(Leu(UUR)) aminoacylation and modification of its anti-codon wobble position, which results in a defective mitochondrial protein synthesis and reduced activities of respiratory chain complexes. In the present study, we have tested whether the mitochondrial targeting of recombinant tRNAs bearing the identity elements for human mitochondrial leucyl-tRNA synthetase can rescue the phenotype caused by MELAS mutation in human transmitochondrial cybrid cells. We demonstrate that nuclear expression and mitochondrial targeting of specifically designed transgenic tRNAs results in an improvement of mitochondrial translation, increased levels of mitochondrial DNA-encoded respiratory complexes subunits, and significant rescue of respiration. These findings prove the possibility to direct tRNAs with changed aminoacylation specificities into mitochondria, thus extending the potential therapeutic strategy of allotopic expression to address mitochondrial disorders.

Mansonella ozzardi mitogenome and pseudogene characterisation provides new perspectives on filarial parasite systematics and CO-1 barcoding.

PubMed

Crainey, James Lee; Marín, Michel Abanto; Silva, Túllio Romão Ribeiro da; de Medeiros, Jansen Fernandes; Pessoa, Felipe Arley Costa; Santos, Yago Vinícius; Vicente, Ana Carolina Paulo; Luz, Sérgio Luiz Bessa

2018-04-18

Despite the broad distribution of M. ozzardi in Latin America and the Caribbean, there is still very little DNA sequence data available to study this neglected parasite's epidemiology. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences, especially the cytochrome oxidase (CO1) gene's barcoding region, have been targeted successfully for filarial diagnostics and for epidemiological, ecological and evolutionary studies. MtDNA-based studies can, however, be compromised by unrecognised mitochondrial pseudogenes, such as Numts. Here, we have used shot-gun Illumina-HiSeq sequencing to recover the first complete Mansonella genus mitogenome and to identify several mitochondrial-origin pseudogenes. Mitogenome phylogenetic analysis placed M. ozzardi in the Onchocercidae "ONC5" clade and suggested that Mansonella parasites are more closely related to Wuchereria and Brugia genera parasites than they are to Loa genus parasites. DNA sequence alignments, BLAST searches and conceptual translations have been used to compliment phylogenetic analysis showing that M. ozzardi from the Amazon and Caribbean regions are near-identical and that previously reported Peruvian M. ozzardi CO1 reference sequences are probably of pseudogene origin. In addition to adding a much-needed resource to the Mansonella genus's molecular tool-kit and providing evidence that some M. ozzardi CO1 sequence deposits are pseudogenes, our results suggest that all Neotropical M. ozzardi parasites are closely related.

NeuroRex: A Clinical Neural Interface Roadmap for EEG-based Brain Machine Interfaces to a Lower Body Robotic Exoskeleton*

PubMed Central

Contreras-Vidal, Jose L.; Grossman, Robert G.

2013-01-01

In this communication, a translational clinical brain-machine interface (BMI) roadmap for an EEG-based BMI to a robotic exoskeleton (NeuroRex) is presented. This multi-faceted project addresses important engineering and clinical challenges: It addresses the validation of an intelligent, self-balancing, robotic lower-body and trunk exoskeleton (Rex) augmented with EEG-based BMI capabilities to interpret user intent to assist a mobility-impaired person to walk independently. The goal is to improve the quality of life and health status of wheelchair-bounded persons by enabling standing and sitting, walking and backing, turning, ascending and descending stairs/curbs, and navigating sloping surfaces in a variety of conditions without the need for additional support or crutches. PMID:24110003

Making extreme computations possible with virtual machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reuter, J.; Chokoufe Nejad, B.; Ohl, T.

2016-10-01

State-of-the-art algorithms generate scattering amplitudes for high-energy physics at leading order for high-multiplicity processes as compiled code (in Fortran, C or C++). For complicated processes the size of these libraries can become tremendous (many GiB). We show that amplitudes can be translated to byte-code instructions, which even reduce the size by one order of magnitude. The byte-code is interpreted by a Virtual Machine with runtimes comparable to compiled code and a better scaling with additional legs. We study the properties of this algorithm, as an extension of the Optimizing Matrix Element Generator (O'Mega). The bytecode matrix elements are available as alternative input for the event generator WHIZARD. The bytecode interpreter can be implemented very compactly, which will help with a future implementation on massively parallel GPUs.

A proposal of an architecture for the coordination level of intelligent machines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beard, Randall; Farah, Jeff; Lima, Pedro

1993-01-01

The issue of obtaining a practical, structured, and detailed description of an architecture for the Coordination Level of Center for Intelligent Robotic Systems for Sapce Exploration (CIRSSE) Testbed Intelligent Controller is addressed. Previous theoretical and implementation works were the departure point for the discussion. The document is organized as follows: after this introductory section, section 2 summarizes the overall view of the Intelligent Machine (IM) as a control system, proposing a performance measure on which to base its design. Section 3 addresses with some detail implementation issues. An hierarchic petri-net with feedback-based learning capabilities is proposed. Finally, section 4 is an attempt to address the feedback problem. Feedback is used for two functions: error recovery and reinforcement learning of the correct translations for the petri-net transitions.

A multi-frame soft x-ray pinhole imaging diagnostic for single-shot applicationsa)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wurden, G. A.; Coffey, S. K.

2012-10-01

For high energy density magnetized target fusion experiments at the Air Force Research Laboratory FRCHX machine, obtaining multi-frame soft x-ray images of the field reversed configuration (FRC) plasma as it is being compressed will provide useful dynamics and symmetry information. However, vacuum hardware will be destroyed during the implosion. We have designed a simple in-vacuum pinhole nosecone attachment, fitting onto a Conflat window, coated with 3.2 mg/cm2 of P-47 phosphor, and covered with a thin 50-nm aluminum reflective overcoat, lens-coupled to a multi-frame Hadland Ultra intensified digital camera. We compare visible and soft x-ray axial images of translating (˜200 eV) plasmas in the FRX-L and FRCHX machines in Los Alamos and Albuquerque.

Molecular Dynamics Study of Crystalline Swelling of Montmorillonite as Affected by Interlayer Cation Hydration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Hongliang; Song, Shaoxian; Dong, Xianshu; Min, Fanfei; Zhao, Yunliang; Peng, Chenliang; Nahmad, Yuri

2018-04-01

Swelling of montmorillonite (Mt) is an important factor for many industrial applications. In this study, crystalline swelling of alkali-metal- and alkaline-earth-metal-Mt has been studied through energy optimization and molecular dynamics simulations using the clay force field by Materials Studio 8.0. The delamination and exfoliation of Mt are primarily realized by crystalline swelling caused by the enhanced interlayer cation hydration. The initial position of the interlayer cations and water molecules is the dominated factor for the accuracy of the Mt simulations. Crystalline swelling can be carried out in alkali-metal-Mt and Mg-Mt but with difficulty in Ca-Mt, Sr-Mt and Ba-Mt. The crystalline swelling capacity values are in the order Na-Mt > K-Mt > Cs-Mt > Mg-Mt. This order of crystalline swelling of Mt in the same group can be attributed to the differences between the interlayer cation hydration strengths. In addition, the differences in the crystalline swelling between the alkali-metal-Mt and alkaline-earth-metal-Mt can be primarily attributed to the valence of the interlayer cations.

LOOP IIId of the HCV IRES is essential for the structural rearrangement of the 40S-HCV IRES complex

PubMed Central

Angulo, Jenniffer; Ulryck, Nathalie; Deforges, Jules; Chamond, Nathalie; Lopez-Lastra, Marcelo; Masquida, Benoît; Sargueil, Bruno

2016-01-01

As obligatory intracellular parasites, viruses rely on cellular machines to complete their life cycle, and most importantly they recruit the host ribosomes to translate their mRNA. The Hepatitis C viral mRNA initiates translation by directly binding the 40S ribosomal subunit in such a way that the initiation codon is correctly positioned in the P site of the ribosome. Such a property is likely to be central for many viruses, therefore the description of host-pathogen interaction at the molecular level is instrumental to provide new therapeutic targets. In this study, we monitored the 40S ribosomal subunit and the viral RNA structural rearrangement induced upon the formation of the binary complex. We further took advantage of an IRES viral mutant mRNA deficient for translation to identify the interactions necessary to promote translation. Using a combination of structure probing in solution and molecular modeling we establish a whole atom model which appears to be very similar to the one obtained recently by cryoEM. Our model brings new information on the complex, and most importantly reveals some structural rearrangement within the ribosome. This study suggests that the formation of a ‘kissing complex’ between the viral RNA and the 18S ribosomal RNA locks the 40S ribosomal subunit in a conformation proficient for translation. PMID:26626152

Medical Entomology Studies - X. A Revision of the Subgenus Pseudoficalbia of the Genus Uranotaenia in Southeast Asia (Diptera: Culicidae) (Contributions of the American Entomological Institute. Volume 14, Number 3)

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-01-01

rindo, Mt. Goza, Shirahama, Sonai , Yashigawa, Uehara. Ishigaki Island: Arakawa, Kabira, Mt. Banna, Mt. Maeshi, Yarabu, Yoshiwara. Bohart (1959...Mt. Goza, Shirahama, Sonai , Uehara. Ishiga ki Island: Arakawa, Mt. Banna, Mt. Kawara, Mt. Maeshi, Mt. Omoto, Yarabu Peninsula, Yoshiwara. Bohart

Assessment of the information content of patterns: an algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daemi, M. Farhang; Beurle, R. L.

1991-12-01

A preliminary investigation confirmed the possibility of assessing the translational and rotational information content of simple artificial images. The calculation is tedious, and for more realistic patterns it is essential to implement the method on a computer. This paper describes an algorithm developed for this purpose which confirms the results of the preliminary investigation. Use of the algorithm facilitates much more comprehensive analysis of the combined effect of continuous rotation and fine translation, and paves the way for analysis of more realistic patterns. Owing to the volume of calculation involved in these algorithms, extensive computing facilities were necessary. The major part of the work was carried out using an ICL 3900 series mainframe computer as well as other powerful workstations such as a RISC architecture MIPS machine.

Compiling global name-space programs for distributed execution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koelbel, Charles; Mehrotra, Piyush

1990-01-01

Distributed memory machines do not provide hardware support for a global address space. Thus programmers are forced to partition the data across the memories of the architecture and use explicit message passing to communicate data between processors. The compiler support required to allow programmers to express their algorithms using a global name-space is examined. A general method is presented for analysis of a high level source program and along with its translation to a set of independently executing tasks communicating via messages. If the compiler has enough information, this translation can be carried out at compile-time. Otherwise run-time code is generated to implement the required data movement. The analysis required in both situations is described and the performance of the generated code on the Intel iPSC/2 is presented.

Molecular mimicry between protein and tRNA.

PubMed

Nakamura, Y

2001-01-01

Mimicry is a sophisticated development in animals, fish, and plants that allows them to fool others by imitating a shape or color for diverse purposes, such as to prey, evade, lure, pollinate, or threaten. This is not restricted to the macro-world, but extends to the micro-world as molecular mimicry. Recent advances in structural and molecular biology uncovered a set of translation factors that resembles a tRNA shape and, in one case, even mimics a tRNA function for deciphering the genetic code. Nature must have evolved this art of molecular mimicry between protein and ribonucleic acid by using different protein structures until the translation factors sat in the cockpit of a ribosome machine, on behalf of tRNA, and achieved diverse actions. Structural, functional, and evolutionary aspects of molecular mimicry will be discussed.

Precision Timed Infrastructure: Design Challenges

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-19

timing constructs Clock synchronization and communication PRET Machines Other Platforms Fig. 1. Conceptual overview of translation steps between...2002. [3] A. Benveniste and G. Berry. The Synchronous Approach to Reactive and Real- Time Systems. Proceedings of the IEEE, 79(9):1270–1282, 1991. [4] D...and E. Lee. A programming model for time - synchronized distributed real- time systems. In Real Time and Embedded Technology and Applications Symposium, 2007. RTAS’07. 13th IEEE, pages

Translations on USSR Science and Technology, Physical Sciences and Technology, Number 16

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-08-05

34INVESTIGATION OF SPLITTING OF LIGHT NUCLEI WITH HIGH-ENERGY y -RAYS WITH THE METHOD OF WILSON’S CHAMBER OPERATING IN POWERFUL BEAMS OF ELECTRONIC...boast high reliability, high speed, and extremely modest power requirements. Information oh the Screen Visual display devices greatly facilitate...area of application of these units Includes navigation, control of power systems, machine tools, and manufac- turing processes. Th» ^»abilities of

AGARD Flight Test Instrumentation Series. Volume 18. Microprocessor Applications in Airborne Flight Test Instrumentation

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-02-01

flowcharting . 3. ProEram Codin in HLL. This stage consists of transcribing the previously designed program into R an t at can be translated into the machine...specified conditios 7. Documentation. Program documentation is necessary for user information, for maintenance, and for future applications. Flowcharts ...particular CP U. Asynchronous. Operating without reference to an overall timing source. BASIC. Beginners ’ All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code; a widely

Translations on USSR Science and Technology, Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences, Number 15

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-11-16

processed. By applying systems theory to synthesis of complex man-machine systems we form ergatic organisms which not only have external and internal...without exception (and this is extremely important to emphasize) as a complex , integral formation, which through various traditions has acquired a...and outputs of the whole, which has a complex internal organization and structure, which we can no longer ignore in our analysis. Thus analysis and

Translations on Environmental Quality, Number 129.

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-01-27

agricultural procedures have not led to acidity in rivers in other parts of the country with similar soil conditions. Finally, the leaders of the project...Rosenqvist’s report gives interesting points of view concerning the conditions in the soil and the acidic precipitation, but the report builds on a series...bones, eggshells and poultry skin, used tires, waste gasoline, used cardboard, machine and engine noise, gas stench and toxic sprays, were right away

Statistical Machine Translation of Japanese

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

hiragana and katakana) syllabaries…………………….. 20 3.2 Sample Japanese sentence showing kanji and kana……………………... 21 3.5 Japanese formality example...syllabary. 19 Figure 3.1. Japanese kana syllabaries, hiragana for native Japanese words, word endings, and particles, and katakana for foreign...Figure 3.2. Simple Japanese sentence showing the use of kanji, hiragana , and katakana. Kanji is used for nouns and verb, adjective, and

JPRS report: Science and technology. Central Eurasia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1994-05-01

Translated articles cover the following topics: optimal systems to detect and classify moving objects; multiple identification of optical readings in multisensor information and measurement system; method of first integrals in synthesis of optimal control; study of the development of turbulence in the region of a break above a triangular wing; electroerosion machining in aviation engine construction; and cumulation of a flat shock wave in a tube by a thin parietal gas layer of lower density.

Good Applications for Crummy Machine Translation

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-07-01

number of rewriting rules for transfer and generation processes is around 800, and it will be increased in the coming few months. The dictionary ...this time to do other useful tasks), as well as the time for the second dictionary update (on the grounds that these new or modified entrie., are not...little more than provide word-processing functionality, dictionary access and so on, but as time goes on, one might imagine functionality that begins to

UMass at TREC 2002: Cross Language and Novelty Tracks

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-01-01

resources – stemmers, dictionaries , machine translation, and an acronym database. We found that proper names were extremely important in this year’s queries...data by manually annotating 48 additional topics. 1. Cross Language Track We submitted one monolingual run and four cross-language runs. For the... monolingual run, the technology was essentially the same as the system we used for TREC 2001. For the cross-language run, we integrated some new

Good Applications for Crummy Machine Translation

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-01-01

for transfer and generation processes is around 800, and it will be increased in the coming few months. The dictionary contains about 16,000 items at...time to do other useful tasks), as well as the time for the second dictionary update (on the grounds that these new or modified entries are not intended...might do little more than provide word-processing functionality, dictionary access and so on, but as time goes on, one might imagine functionality

2. BUILDING MT76A AND MT76B FROM STREET, BUILDING MT76A IN ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

2. BUILDING MT-76-A AND MT-76-B FROM STREET, BUILDING MT-76-A IN FOREGROUND - Fort Keogh, Livestock & Range Research Station, 3 miles west of Miles City on U.S. Highway 10, Miles City, Custer County, MT

Arsenic trioxide (ATO) influences the gene expression of metallothioneins in human glioblastoma cells.

PubMed

Falnoga, Ingrid; Zelenik Pevec, Andreja; Šlejkovec, Zdenka; Žnidarič, Magda Tušek; Zajc, Irena; Mlakar, Simona Jurković; Marc, Janja

2012-12-01

Arsenic trioxide (As(2)O(3); ATO, TRISENOX®) is used to treat patients with refractory or relapsed acute promyelocytic leukaemia while its application for treatment of solid cancers like glioblastoma is still under evaluation. In the present study, we investigated the interaction of arsenic trioxide with metallothionein (MT) isoforms as a possible (protective response) resistance of glioblastoma cells to arsenic-induced cytotoxicity. Special attention was focused on MT3, the isoform expressed mainly in the brain. MT3 has low metal inducibility, fast metal binding/releasing properties and outstanding neuronal inhibitory activity. The human astrocytoma (glioblastoma) cell line U87 MG was treated with 0.6, 2 and 6-7 μM arsenic (equivalent to 0.3, 1 and 3-3.5 μM As(2)O(3)) for 12, 24 or 48 h and gene expression for different MT isoforms, namely MT2A, MT1A, MT1F, MT1X, MT1E and MT3, was measured by real time qPCR using SYBR Green I and Taqman® gene expression assays. TfR, 18S rRNA, GAPDH and AB were tested as reference genes, and the last two evaluated to be appropriate in conditions of low (GAPDH) and high (AB) arsenic exposure. The gene expression of MT3 gene was additionally tested and confirmed by restriction enzyme analysis with PvuII. In the given conditions the mRNAs of six MT isoforms were identified in human glioblastoma cell line U87 MG. Depending on arsenic exposure conditions, an increase or decrease of MT gene expression was observed for each isoform, with the highest increase for isoforms MT1X, MT1F and MT2A mRNA (up to 13-fold) and more persistent decreases for MT1A, MT1E and MT3 mRNA. Despite the common assumption of the noninducibility of MT3, the evident MT3 mRNA increase was observed during high As exposure (up to 4-fold). In conclusion, our results clearly demonstrate the influence of As on MT isoform gene expression. The MT1X, MT1F and MT2A increase could represent brain tumour acquired resistance to As cytotoxicity while the MT3 increase is more enigmatic, with its possible involvement in arsenic-related induction of type II cell death.

Automatic selection of atomic fingerprints and reference configurations for machine-learning potentials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Imbalzano, Giulio; Anelli, Andrea; Giofré, Daniele; Klees, Sinja; Behler, Jörg; Ceriotti, Michele

2018-06-01

Machine learning of atomic-scale properties is revolutionizing molecular modeling, making it possible to evaluate inter-atomic potentials with first-principles accuracy, at a fraction of the costs. The accuracy, speed, and reliability of machine learning potentials, however, depend strongly on the way atomic configurations are represented, i.e., the choice of descriptors used as input for the machine learning method. The raw Cartesian coordinates are typically transformed in "fingerprints," or "symmetry functions," that are designed to encode, in addition to the structure, important properties of the potential energy surface like its invariances with respect to rotation, translation, and permutation of like atoms. Here we discuss automatic protocols to select a number of fingerprints out of a large pool of candidates, based on the correlations that are intrinsic to the training data. This procedure can greatly simplify the construction of neural network potentials that strike the best balance between accuracy and computational efficiency and has the potential to accelerate by orders of magnitude the evaluation of Gaussian approximation potentials based on the smooth overlap of atomic positions kernel. We present applications to the construction of neural network potentials for water and for an Al-Mg-Si alloy and to the prediction of the formation energies of small organic molecules using Gaussian process regression.

When Machines Think: Radiology's Next Frontier.

PubMed

Dreyer, Keith J; Geis, J Raymond

2017-12-01

Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and deep learning are terms now seen frequently, all of which refer to computer algorithms that change as they are exposed to more data. Many of these algorithms are surprisingly good at recognizing objects in images. The combination of large amounts of machine-consumable digital data, increased and cheaper computing power, and increasingly sophisticated statistical models combine to enable machines to find patterns in data in ways that are not only cost-effective but also potentially beyond humans' abilities. Building an AI algorithm can be surprisingly easy. Understanding the associated data structures and statistics, on the other hand, is often difficult and obscure. Converting the algorithm into a sophisticated product that works consistently in broad, general clinical use is complex and incompletely understood. To show how these AI products reduce costs and improve outcomes will require clinical translation and industrial-grade integration into routine workflow. Radiology has the chance to leverage AI to become a center of intelligently aggregated, quantitative, diagnostic information. Centaur radiologists, formed as a synergy of human plus computer, will provide interpretations using data extracted from images by humans and image-analysis computer algorithms, as well as the electronic health record, genomics, and other disparate sources. These interpretations will form the foundation of precision health care, or care customized to an individual patient. © RSNA, 2017.

Machines first, humans second: on the importance of algorithmic interpretation of open chemistry data.

PubMed

Clark, Alex M; Williams, Antony J; Ekins, Sean

2015-01-01

The current rise in the use of open lab notebook techniques means that there are an increasing number of scientists who make chemical information freely and openly available to the entire community as a series of micropublications that are released shortly after the conclusion of each experiment. We propose that this trend be accompanied by a thorough examination of data sharing priorities. We argue that the most significant immediate benefactor of open data is in fact chemical algorithms, which are capable of absorbing vast quantities of data, and using it to present concise insights to working chemists, on a scale that could not be achieved by traditional publication methods. Making this goal practically achievable will require a paradigm shift in the way individual scientists translate their data into digital form, since most contemporary methods of data entry are designed for presentation to humans rather than consumption by machine learning algorithms. We discuss some of the complex issues involved in fixing current methods, as well as some of the immediate benefits that can be gained when open data is published correctly using unambiguous machine readable formats. Graphical AbstractLab notebook entries must target both visualisation by scientists and use by machine learning algorithms.

Development and Evaluation of Heartbeat: A Machine Perfusion Heart Preservation System.

PubMed

Li, Yongnan; Zeng, Qingdong; Liu, Gang; Du, Junzhe; Gao, Bingren; Wang, Wei; Zheng, Zhe; Hu, Shengshou; Ji, Bingyang

2017-11-01

Static cold storage is accompanied with a partial safe ischemic interval for donor hearts. In this current study, a machine perfusion system was built to provide a better preservation for the donor heart and assessment for myocardial function. Chinese mini-swine (weight 30-35 kg, n = 16) were randomly divided into HTK, Celsior, and Heartbeat groups. All donor hearts were respectively preserved for 8 hours under static cold storage or machine perfusion. The perfusion solution is aimed to maintain its homeostasis based on monitoring the Heartbeat group. The ultrastructure of myocardium suggests better myocardial protection in the Heartbeat group compared with HTK or Celsior-preserved hearts. The myocardial and coronary artery structural and functional integrity was evaluated by immunofluorescence and Western blots in the Heartbeat. In the Heartbeat group, donor hearts maintained a high adenosine triphosphate level. Bcl-2 and Beclin-1 protein demonstrates high expression in the Celsior group. The Heartbeat system can be used to preserve donor hearts, and it could guarantee the myocardial and endothelial function of hearts during machine perfusion. Translating Heartbeat into clinical practice, it is such as to impact on donor heart preservation for cardiac transplantation. © 2017 International Center for Artificial Organs and Transplantation and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Contrasting expression of membrane metalloproteinases, MT1-MMP and MT3-MMP, suggests distinct functions in skeletal development.

PubMed

Yang, Maozhou; Zhang, Bingbing; Zhang, Liang; Gibson, Gary

2008-07-01

Membrane-type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) is the most ubiquitous and widely studied of the membrane-type metalloproteinases (MT-MMPs). It was thus surprising to find no published data on chicken MT1-MMP. We report here the characterization of the chicken gene. Its low sequence identity with the MT1-MMP genes of other species, high GC content, and divergent catalytic domain explains the absence of data and our difficulties in characterizing the gene. The absence of structural features in the chicken gene that have been suggested to be critical for the activation of MMP-2 by MT1-MMP; for the effect of MT1-MMP on cell migration and for the recycling of MT1-MMP suggest these features are either not essential or that MT1-MMP does not perform these functions in chickens. Comparison of the expression of chicken MT1-MMP with MT3-MMP and with MMP-2 and MMP-13 has confirmed the previously recognized co-expression of MT1-MMP with MMP-2 and MMP-13 in fibrous and vascular tissues, particularly those surrounding the developing long bones in other species. By contrast, MT3-MMP expression differs markedly from that of MT1-MMP and of both MMP-2 and MMP-13. MT3-MMP is expressed by chondrocytes of the developing articular surface. Similar expression patterns of this group of MT-MMPs and MMPs have been observed in mouse embryos and suggest distinct and specific functions for MT1-MMP and MT3-MMP in skeletal development.

Cytoplasmic transfer of heritable elements other than mtDNA from SAMP1 mice into mouse tumor cells suppresses their ability to form tumors in C57BL6 mice.

PubMed

Shimizu, Akinori; Tani, Haruna; Takibuchi, Gaku; Ishikawa, Kaori; Sakurazawa, Ryota; Inoue, Takafumi; Hashimoto, Tetsuo; Nakada, Kazuto; Takenaga, Keizo; Hayashi, Jun-Ichi

2017-11-04

In a previous study, we generated transmitochondrial P29mtSAMP1 cybrids, which had nuclear DNA from the C57BL6 (referred to as B6) mouse strain-derived P29 tumor cells and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) exogenously-transferred from the allogeneic strain SAMP1. Because P29mtSAMP1 cybrids did not form tumors in syngeneic B6 mice, we proposed that allogeneic SAMP1 mtDNA suppressed tumor formation of P29mtSAMP1 cybrids. To test this hypothesis, current study generated P29mt(sp)B6 cybrids carrying all genomes (nuclear DNA and mtDNA) from syngeneic B6 mice by eliminating SAMP1 mtDNA from P29mtSAMP1 cybrids and reintroducing B6 mtDNA. However, the P29mt(sp)B6 cybrids did not form tumors in B6 mice, even though they had no SAMP1 mtDNA, suggesting that SAMP1 mtDNA is not involved in tumor suppression. Then, we examined another possibility of whether SAMP1 mtDNA fragments potentially integrated into the nuclear DNA of P29mtSAMP1 cybrids are responsible for tumor suppression. We generated P29 H (sp)B6 cybrids by eliminating nuclear DNA from P29mt(sp)B6 cybrids and reintroducing nuclear DNA with no integrated SAMP1 mtDNA fragment from mtDNA-less P29 cells resistant to hygromycin in selection medium containing hygromycin. However, the P29 H (sp)B6 cybrids did not form tumors in B6 mice, even though they carried neither SAMP1 mtDNA nor nuclear DNA with integrated SAMP1 mtDNA fragments. Moreover, overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and bacterial infection were not involved in tumor suppression. These observations suggest that tumor suppression was caused not by mtDNA with polymorphic mutations or infection of cytozoic bacteria but by hypothetical heritable cytoplasmic elements other than mtDNA from SAMP1 mice. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using Support Vector Machine to identify imaging biomarkers of neurological and psychiatric disease: a critical review.

PubMed

Orrù, Graziella; Pettersson-Yeo, William; Marquand, Andre F; Sartori, Giuseppe; Mechelli, Andrea

2012-04-01

Standard univariate analysis of neuroimaging data has revealed a host of neuroanatomical and functional differences between healthy individuals and patients suffering a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Significant only at group level however these findings have had limited clinical translation, and recent attention has turned toward alternative forms of analysis, including Support-Vector-Machine (SVM). A type of machine learning, SVM allows categorisation of an individual's previously unseen data into a predefined group using a classification algorithm, developed on a training data set. In recent years, SVM has been successfully applied in the context of disease diagnosis, transition prediction and treatment prognosis, using both structural and functional neuroimaging data. Here we provide a brief overview of the method and review those studies that applied it to the investigation of Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder, presymptomatic Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease and autistic spectrum disorder. We conclude by discussing the main theoretical and practical challenges associated with the implementation of this method into the clinic and possible future directions. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Development of using the digital projection method to measure the contact angle of ball screw

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Chun-Jen; Jywe, Wenyuh; Liu, Yu-Chun; Jwo, Hsin-Hong

The ball screw frequently used to drive or translate the parts on the precision machine, such as machine tool and motorized stage. Therefore they were most frequently used on the precision machine, semiconductor equipment, medical instrument and aero industry. The main parts of ball screw are screw, ball and nut. The contact angle between the screw, ball and nut will affect the performance (include loading and noise) and lifecycle of a ball screw. If the actual contact angle and the designed contact angle are not the same, the friction between the ball, screw and nut will increase and it will result in the thermal increase and lifecycle decrease. This paper combines the traditional profile projector and commercial digital camera to build an imaging based and noncontact measurements system. It can implement the contact angle measurement quickly and accurately. Three different pitch angles of ball screws were completed tests in this paper. The angle resolution of this measurement system is about 0.001 degree and its accuracy is about 0.05 degree.

Examining the specific contributions of individual Arabidopsis metallothioneins to copper distribution and metal tolerance.

PubMed

Guo, Woei-Jiun; Meetam, Metha; Goldsbrough, Peter B

2008-04-01

Metallothioneins (MTs) are small cysteine-rich proteins found in various eukaryotes. Plant MTs are classified into four types based on the arrangement of cysteine residues. To determine whether all four types of plant MTs function as metal chelators, six Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) MTs (MT1a, MT2a, MT2b, MT3, MT4a, and MT4b) were expressed in the copper (Cu)- and zinc (Zn)-sensitive yeast mutants, Deltacup1 and Deltazrc1 Deltacot1, respectively. All four types of Arabidopsis MTs provided similar levels of Cu tolerance and accumulation to the Deltacup1 mutant. The type-4 MTs (MT4a and MT4b) conferred greater Zn tolerance and higher accumulation of Zn than other MTs to the Deltazrc1 Deltacot1 mutant. To examine the functions of MTs in plants, we studied Arabidopsis plants that lack MT1a and MT2b, two MTs that are expressed in phloem. The lack of MT1a, but not MT2b, led to a 30% decrease in Cu accumulation in roots of plants exposed to 30 mum CuSO(4). Ectopic expression of MT1a RNA in the mt1a-2 mt2b-1 mutant restored Cu accumulation in roots. The mt1a-2 mt2b-1 mutant had normal metal tolerance. However, when MT deficiency was combined with phytochelatin deficiency, growth of the mt1a-2 mt2b-1 cad1-3 triple mutant was more sensitive to Cu and cadmium compared to the cad1-3 mutant. Together these results provide direct evidence for functional contributions of MTs to plant metal homeostasis. MT1a, in particular, plays a role in Cu homeostasis in the roots under elevated Cu. Moreover, MTs and phytochelatins function cooperatively to protect plants from Cu and cadmium toxicity.

Dedicated Pediatricians in Emergency Department: Shorter Waiting Times and Lower Costs

PubMed Central

Melo, Manuel Rocha; Ferreira-Magalhães, Manuel; Flor-Lima, Filipa; Rodrigues, Mariana; Severo, Milton; Almeida-Santos, Luis; Caldas-Afonso, Alberto; Barros, Pedro Pita; Ferreira, António

2016-01-01

Background Dedicated pediatricians in emergency departments (EDs) may be beneficial, though no previous studies have assessed the related costs and benefits/harms. We aimed to evaluate the net benefits and costs of dedicated emergency pediatricians in a pediatric ED. Methods Cost-consequences analysis of visits to a pediatric ED of a tertiary hospital. Two pediatric ED Medical Teams (MT) were compared: MT-A (May–September 2012), with general pediatrics physicians only; and MT-B (May–September 2013), with emergency dedicated pediatricians. The main outcomes analyzed were relevant clinical outcomes, patient throughput time and costs. Results We included 8,694 children in MT-A and 9,417 in MT-B. Medication use in the ED increased from 42.3% of the children in MT-A to 49.6% in MT-B; diagnostic tests decreased from 24.2% in MT-A to 14.3% in MT-B. Hospitalization increased from 1.3% in MT-A to 3.0% in MT-B; however, there was no significant difference in diagnosis-related group relative weight of hospitalized children in MT-A and MT-B (MT-A, 0.979; MT-B, 1.075). No differences were observed in ED readmissions or in patients leaving without being seen by a physician. The patient throughput time was significantly shorter in MT-B, with faster times to first medical observation. Within the cost domains analyzed, the total expenditures per children observed in the ED were 16% lower in MT-B: 37.87 euros in MT-A; 31.97 euros in MT-B. Conclusion The presence of dedicated emergency pediatricians in a pediatric ED was associated with significantly lower waiting times in the ED, reduced costs, and similar clinical outcomes. PMID:27564093

SU-F-T-457: A Filmless Method for Measurement of Couch Translation Per Gantry Rotation and Couch Speed for Tomotherapy Using ArcCheck

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, B; Wong, R; Geng, H

Purpose: To develop a filmless methodology based on an ArcCheck for QA measurement of the couch translation per gantry rotation and couch speed of a Tomotherapy unit. Methods: Two test plans recommended by TG148 were chosen for this study. A helical plan with 1 cm field size opened the leaves for 180 degrees at the 2nd, 7th and 12th of total 13 rotations and was used to verify if the couch travelled the expected distance per gantry rotation. The other test plan was a static plan with the gantry at 0°, 1cm field width and constant couch movement speed ofmore » 0.5mm/s. It was used for couch speed measurement. The ArcCheck was isocentrically set up and recorded movie files which took a snapshot exposure every 50ms. Due to the spiral pattern of diodes distribution, when one of the diodes of the ArcCheck located at the beam center, the dose profile as measured by the row of diodes which surrounded the center diode should have a symmetrical pattern. We divided the profile into left half A and right half B. Then a shape parameter was defined as S=Σ|(A−B)|/Σ(A+B). By searching the local minimum of S parameter, the beam center at different time could be located. The machine trajectory log data were also collected and analyzed for comparison. Results: The mean value of measured couch translation and couch speed by ArcCheck had less than 0.05% deviation from the planned values. For couch speed measurement, our result showed a mean value of 0.5002 with an uncertainty ±0.0031, which agreed very well with both the plan setting of 0.5 mm/s and the machine log data of 0.5005 mm/s. Conclusion: Couch translation measured using ArcCheck is accurate and comparable to the film-based measurement. This filmless method also provides a convenient and independent way for measuring couch speed.« less

Normal and impaired charge transport in biological systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, John H.; Villagrán, Martha Y. Suárez; Maric, Sladjana; Briggs, James M.

2015-03-01

We examine the physics behind some of the causes (e.g., hole migration and localization that cause incorrect base pairing in DNA) and effects (due to amino acid replacements affecting mitochondrial charge transport) of disease-implicated point mutations, with emphasis on mutations affecting mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). First we discuss hole transport and localization in DNA, including some of our quantum mechanical modeling results, as they relate to certain mutations in cancer. Next, we give an overview of electron and proton transport in the mitochondrial electron transport chain, and how such transport can become impaired by mutations implicated in neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and other major illnesses. In particular, we report on our molecular dynamics (MD) studies of a leucine→arginine amino acid replacement in ATP synthase, encoded by the T→G point mutation at locus 8993 of mtDNA. This mutation causes Leigh syndrome, a devastating maternally inherited neuromuscular disorder, and has been found to trigger rapid tumor growth in prostate cancer cell lines. Our MD results suggest, for the first time, that this mutation adversely affects water channels that transport protons to and from the c-ring of the rotary motor ATP synthase, thus impairing the ability of the motor to produce ATP. Finally, we discuss possible future research topics for biological physics, such as mitochondrial complex I, a large proton-pumping machine whose physics remains poorly understood.

75 FR 43556 - TA-W-73,381, MT Rail Link, Inc., Missoula, MT; TA-W-73,381A, Billings, MT; TA-W-73,381B, Laurel...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-26

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration TA-W-73,381, MT Rail Link, Inc., Missoula, MT; TA-W-73,381A, Billings, MT; TA-W-73,381B, Laurel, MT; TA-W-73,381C, Livingston, MT; TA-W-73... Helena, Montana. The amended notice applicable to TA-W-73,381 is hereby issued as follows: All workers of...

Remote Control by Inter-Enzyme Allostery: A Novel Paradigm for Regulation of the Shikimate Pathway.

PubMed

Munack, Steffi; Roderer, Kathrin; Ökvist, Mats; Kamarauskaite, Jurate; Sasso, Severin; van Eerde, André; Kast, Peter; Krengel, Ute

2016-03-27

DAHP synthase and chorismate mutase catalyze key steps in the shikimate biosynthetic pathway en route to aromatic amino acids. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, chorismate mutase (MtCM; Rv0948c), located at the branch point toward phenylalanine and tyrosine, has poor activity on its own. However, it is efficiently activated by the first enzyme of the pathway, DAHP synthase (MtDS; Rv2178c), through formation of a non-covalent MtCM-MtDS complex. Here, we show how MtDS serves as an allosteric platform for feedback regulation of both enzymes, using X-ray crystallography, small-angle X-ray scattering, size-exclusion chromatography, and multi-angle light scattering. Crystal structures of the fully inhibited MtDS and the allosterically down-regulated MtCM-MtDS complex, solved at 2.8 and 2.7Å, respectively, reveal how effector binding at the internal MtDS subunit interfaces regulates the activity of MtDS and MtCM. While binding of all three metabolic end products to MtDS shuts down the entire pathway, the binding of phenylalanine jointly with tyrosine releases MtCM from the MtCM-MtDS complex, hence suppressing MtCM activation by 'inter-enzyme allostery'. This elegant regulatory principle, invoking a transient allosteric enzyme interaction, seems to be driven by dynamics and is likely a general strategy used by nature. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

mtDNAmanager: a Web-based tool for the management and quality analysis of mitochondrial DNA control-region sequences

PubMed Central

Lee, Hwan Young; Song, Injee; Ha, Eunho; Cho, Sung-Bae; Yang, Woo Ick; Shin, Kyoung-Jin

2008-01-01

Background For the past few years, scientific controversy has surrounded the large number of errors in forensic and literature mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data. However, recent research has shown that using mtDNA phylogeny and referring to known mtDNA haplotypes can be useful for checking the quality of sequence data. Results We developed a Web-based bioinformatics resource "mtDNAmanager" that offers a convenient interface supporting the management and quality analysis of mtDNA sequence data. The mtDNAmanager performs computations on mtDNA control-region sequences to estimate the most-probable mtDNA haplogroups and retrieves similar sequences from a selected database. By the phased designation of the most-probable haplogroups (both expected and estimated haplogroups), mtDNAmanager enables users to systematically detect errors whilst allowing for confirmation of the presence of clear key diagnostic mutations and accompanying mutations. The query tools of mtDNAmanager also facilitate database screening with two options of "match" and "include the queried nucleotide polymorphism". In addition, mtDNAmanager provides Web interfaces for users to manage and analyse their own data in batch mode. Conclusion The mtDNAmanager will provide systematic routines for mtDNA sequence data management and analysis via easily accessible Web interfaces, and thus should be very useful for population, medical and forensic studies that employ mtDNA analysis. mtDNAmanager can be accessed at . PMID:19014619

Molecular, dynamic, and structural origin of inhomogeneous magnetization transfer in lipid membranes.

PubMed

Swanson, Scott D; Malyarenko, Dariya I; Fabiilli, Mario L; Welsh, Robert C; Nielsen, Jon-Fredrik; Srinivasan, Ashok

2017-03-01

To elucidate the dynamic, structural, and molecular properties that create inhomogeneous magnetization transfer (ihMT) contrast. Amphiphilic lipids, lamellar phospholipids with cholesterol, and bovine spinal cord (BSC) specimens were examined along with nonlipid systems. Magnetization transfer (MT), enhanced MT (eMT, obtained with double-sided radiofrequency saturation), ihMT (MT - eMT), and dipolar relaxation, T 1D , were measured at 2.0 and 11.7 T. The amplitude of ihMT ratio (ihMTR) is positively correlated with T 1D values. Both ihMTR and T 1D increase with increasing temperature in BSC white matter and in phospholipids and decrease with temperature in other lipids. Changes in ihMTR with temperature arise primarily from alterations in MT rather than eMT. Spectral width of MT, eMT, and ihMT increases with increasing carbon chain length. Concerted motions of phospholipids in white matter decrease proton spin diffusion leading to increased proton T 1D times and increased ihMT amplitudes, consistent with decoupling of Zeeman and dipolar spin reservoirs. Molecular specificity and dynamic sensitivity of ihMT contrast make it a suitable candidate for probing myelin membrane disorders. Magn Reson Med 77:1318-1328, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Combining Afferent Stimulation and Mirror Therapy for Improving Muscular, Sensorimotor, and Daily Functions After Chronic Stroke: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study.

PubMed

Lee, Ya-yun; Lin, Keh-chung; Wu, Ching-yi; Liao, Ching-hua; Lin, Jui-chi; Chen, Chia-ling

2015-10-01

Mirror therapy (MT) combined with mesh glove (MG) afferent stimulation (MT + MG) has been suggested as an effective intervention for motor recovery in patients with stroke. This study aimed to further determine the treatment effects of the MT + MG approach on muscular properties, sensorimotor functions, and daily function. This was a single-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Forty-eight participants with chronic stroke were recruited from medical centers and were randomly assigned to the MT, MT + MG, and MT with sham MG stimulation (MT + sham) groups. The intervention consisted of 1.5 hrs/day, 5 days/wk for 4 wks. Primary outcomes were the Fugl-Meyer Assessment and muscular properties (muscle tone and stiffness). Secondary outcomes included measures of sensorimotor and daily functions. Compared with the MT and MT + sham groups, the MT + MG group demonstrated improved muscular properties. The MT + MG and MT + sham groups showed greater improvement in manual dexterity and daily function than the MT group did. No beneficial effects on the Fugl-Meyer Assessment and other sensorimotor outcomes were found for the MT + MG group. Although no significant group differences were found in the Fugl-Meyer Assessment, MT + MG induced distinctive effects on muscular properties, manual dexterity, and daily function.

The efficacy of manual therapy and exercise for treating non-specific neck pain: A systematic review.

PubMed

Hidalgo, Benjamin; Hall, Toby; Bossert, Jean; Dugeny, Axel; Cagnie, Barbara; Pitance, Laurent

2017-11-06

To review and update the evidence for different forms of manual therapy (MT) and exercise for patients with different stages of non-specific neck pain (NP). MEDLINE, Cochrane-Register-of-Controlled-Trials, PEDro, EMBASE. A qualitative systematic review covering a period from January 2000 to December 2015 was conducted according to updated-guidelines. Specific inclusion criteria only on RCTs were used; including differentiation according to stages of NP (acute - subacute [ASNP] or chronic [CNP]), as well as sub-classification based on type of MT interventions: MT1 (HVLA manipulation); MT2 (mobilization and/or soft-tissue-techniques); MT3 (MT1 + MT2); and MT4 (Mobilization-with-Movement). In each sub-category, MT could be combined or not with exercise and/or usual medical care. Initially 121 studies were identified for potential inclusion. Based on qualitative and quantitative evaluation criteria, 23 RCTs were identified for review. Evidence for ASNP: MODERATE-evidence: In favour of (i) MT1 to the cervical spine (Cx) combined with exercises when compared to MT1 to the thoracic spine (Tx) combined with exercises; (ii) MT3 to the Cx and Tx combined with exercise compared to MT2 to the Cx with exercise or compared to usual medical care for pain and satisfaction with care from short to long-term. Evidence for CNP: STRONG-evidence: Of no difference of efficacy between MT2 at the symptomatic Cx level(s) in comparison to MT2 on asymptomatic Cx level(s) for pain and function. MODERATE to STRONG-evidence: In favour of MT1 and MT3 on Cx and Tx with exercise in comparison to exercise or MT alone for pain, function, satisfaction with care and general-health from short to moderate-terms. MODERATE-evidence: In favour (i) of MT1 as compared to MT2 and MT4, all applied to the Cx, for neck mobility, and pain in the very short term; (ii) of MT2 using sof-tissue-techniques to the Cx and Tx or MT3 to the Cx and Tx in comparison to no-treatment in the short-term for pain and disability. This systematic review updates the evidence for MT combined or not with exercise and/or usual medical care for different stages of NP and provides recommendations for future studies. Two majors points could be highlighted, the first one is that combining different forms of MT with exercise is better than MT or exercise alone, and the second one is that mobilization need not be applied at the symptomatic level(s) for improvements of NP patients. These both points may have clinical implications for reducing the risk involved with some MT techniques applied to the cervical spine.

A multi-frame soft x-ray pinhole imaging diagnostic for single-shot applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wurden, G. A.; Coffey, S. K.

2012-10-15

For high energy density magnetized target fusion experiments at the Air Force Research Laboratory FRCHX machine, obtaining multi-frame soft x-ray images of the field reversed configuration (FRC) plasma as it is being compressed will provide useful dynamics and symmetry information. However, vacuum hardware will be destroyed during the implosion. We have designed a simple in-vacuum pinhole nosecone attachment, fitting onto a Conflat window, coated with 3.2 mg/cm{sup 2} of P-47 phosphor, and covered with a thin 50-nm aluminum reflective overcoat, lens-coupled to a multi-frame Hadland Ultra intensified digital camera. We compare visible and soft x-ray axial images of translating ({approx}200more » eV) plasmas in the FRX-L and FRCHX machines in Los Alamos and Albuquerque.« less

HGML: a hypertext guideline markup language.

PubMed Central

Hagerty, C. G.; Pickens, D.; Kulikowski, C.; Sonnenberg, F.

2000-01-01

Existing text-based clinical practice guidelines can be difficult to put into practice. While a growing number of such documents have gained acceptance in the medical community and contain a wealth of valuable information, the time required to digest them is substantial. Yet the expressive power, subtlety and flexibility of natural language pose challenges when designing computer tools that will help in their application. At the same time, formal computer languages typically lack such expressiveness and the effort required to translate existing documents into these languages may be costly. We propose a method based on the mark-up concept for converting text-based clinical guidelines into a machine-operable form. This allows existing guidelines to be manipulated by machine, and viewed in different formats at various levels of detail according to the needs of the practitioner, while preserving their originally published form. PMID:11079898

The NATO thesaurus project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krueger, Jonathan

1990-01-01

This document describes functionality to be developed to support the NATO technical thesaurus. Described are the specificity of the thesaurus structure and function; the distinction between the thesaurus information and its representation in a given online, machine readable, or printed form; the enhancement of the thesaurus with the assignment of COSATI codes (fields and groups) to posting terms, the integration of DTIC DRIT and NASA thesauri related terminology, translation of posting terms into French; and the provision of a basis for system design.

(M-CAT) Minor Caliber Weapons Trainer MK-19, 40mm Machine Gun

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-07-24

microprocessor chip with an Intel 387 math coprocessor. The Nova 620 is a digital time base corrector. It is used to time base correct the video data...the circuit. After filtering, the horizontal and vertical position signals are converted to digital values by the Data Translation (DTX-311) analog...from the computer. Each frame of the video disk is individually digitized as to target size, location, and range. The guns azimuth and elevation are

Learning for Semantic Parsing and Natural Language Generation Using Statistical Machine Translation Techniques

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-08-01

In this domain, queries typically show a deeply nested structure, which makes the semantic parsing task rather challenging , e.g.: What states border...only 80% of the GEOQUERY queries are semantically tractable, which shows that GEOQUERY is indeed a more challenging domain than ATIS. Note that none...a particularly challenging task, because of the inherent ambiguity of natural languages on both sides. It has inspired a large body of research. In

IFLA General Conference, 1991. Division of Special Libraries Services: Section of Social Science Libraries; Section of Geography and Map Libraries; Section of Biological and Medical Sciences Libraries; Section of Art Libraries. Booklet 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, The Hague (Netherlands).

The 10 papers in this booklet were presented at meetings of 4 sections within the Division of Special Libraries: (1) "Information Ensurance of a Scientist" (V. Matveyev, USSR); (2) "Linguistic Barriers and Machine Translation" (Stanley Kalkus, USA); (3) "Maps for Planning" (V. I. Zhukov and L. G. Rudenko, USSR); (4)…

Translations on Eastern Europe Political, Sociological, and Military Affairs No. 1467

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-11-01

and still does. *A group of a few teenagers, not a large group, has been working there for many years. The group was engaged in photography ...inclucating the Pupils’ Code? It may be that errors existed back at the very assumption of this didactic affair, which, it is true, is not producing...textile industry; with Yugoslavia--in the production of locomotive types, of lorries, of machine- tools , of medium tonnage cargoes. The Romanian-West

Opposing Control by Transcription Factors MYB61 and MYB3 Increases Freezing Tolerance by Relieving C-Repeat Binding Factor Suppression1[OPEN

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yunqin; Miao, Zhenyan; Xie, Can; Meng, Xiangzhao; Deng, Jie; Mysore, Kirankumar S.; Frugier, Florian; Wang, Tao

2016-01-01

Cold acclimation is an important process by which plants respond to low temperature and enhance their winter hardiness. C-REPEAT BINDING FACTOR1 (CBF1), CBF2, and CBF3 genes were shown previously to participate in cold acclimation in Medicago truncatula. In addition, MtCBF4 is transcriptionally induced by salt, drought, and cold stresses. We show here that MtCBF4, shown previously to enhance drought and salt tolerance, also positively regulates cold acclimation and freezing tolerance. To identify molecular factors acting upstream and downstream of the MtCBF4 transcription factor (TF) in cold responses, we first identified genes that are differentially regulated upon MtCBF4 overexpression using RNAseq Digital Gene Expression Profiling. Among these, we showed that MtCBF4 directly activates the transcription of the COLD ACCLIMATION SPECIFIC15 (MtCAS15) gene. To gain insights into how MtCBF4 is transcriptionally regulated in response to cold, an R2R3-MYB TF, MtMYB3, was identified based on a yeast one-hybrid screen as binding directly to MYB cis-elements in the MtCBF4 promoter, leading to the inhibition of MtCBF4 expression. In addition, another MYB TF, MtMYB61, identified as an interactor of MtMYB3, can relieve the inhibitory effect of MtMYB3 on MtCBF4 transcription. This study, therefore, supports a model describing how MtCBF4 is regulated by antagonistic MtMYB3/MtMYB61 TFs, leading to the up-regulation of downstream targets such as MtCAS15 acting in cold acclimation in M. truncatula. PMID:27578551

Research in speech communication.

PubMed

Flanagan, J

1995-10-24

Advances in digital speech processing are now supporting application and deployment of a variety of speech technologies for human/machine communication. In fact, new businesses are rapidly forming about these technologies. But these capabilities are of little use unless society can afford them. Happily, explosive advances in microelectronics over the past two decades have assured affordable access to this sophistication as well as to the underlying computing technology. The research challenges in speech processing remain in the traditionally identified areas of recognition, synthesis, and coding. These three areas have typically been addressed individually, often with significant isolation among the efforts. But they are all facets of the same fundamental issue--how to represent and quantify the information in the speech signal. This implies deeper understanding of the physics of speech production, the constraints that the conventions of language impose, and the mechanism for information processing in the auditory system. In ongoing research, therefore, we seek more accurate models of speech generation, better computational formulations of language, and realistic perceptual guides for speech processing--along with ways to coalesce the fundamental issues of recognition, synthesis, and coding. Successful solution will yield the long-sought dictation machine, high-quality synthesis from text, and the ultimate in low bit-rate transmission of speech. It will also open the door to language-translating telephony, where the synthetic foreign translation can be in the voice of the originating talker.

Affine Transform to Reform Pixel Coordinates of EOG Signals for Controlling Robot Manipulators Using Gaze Motions

PubMed Central

Rusydi, Muhammad Ilhamdi; Sasaki, Minoru; Ito, Satoshi

2014-01-01

Biosignals will play an important role in building communication between machines and humans. One of the types of biosignals that is widely used in neuroscience are electrooculography (EOG) signals. An EOG has a linear relationship with eye movement displacement. Experiments were performed to construct a gaze motion tracking method indicated by robot manipulator movements. Three operators looked at 24 target points displayed on a monitor that was 40 cm in front of them. Two channels (Ch1 and Ch2) produced EOG signals for every single eye movement. These signals were converted to pixel units by using the linear relationship between EOG signals and gaze motion distances. The conversion outcomes were actual pixel locations. An affine transform method is proposed to determine the shift of actual pixels to target pixels. This method consisted of sequences of five geometry processes, which are translation-1, rotation, translation-2, shear and dilatation. The accuracy was approximately 0.86° ± 0.67° in the horizontal direction and 0.54° ± 0.34° in the vertical. This system successfully tracked the gaze motions not only in direction, but also in distance. Using this system, three operators could operate a robot manipulator to point at some targets. This result shows that the method is reliable in building communication between humans and machines using EOGs. PMID:24919013

FRX-L Research Status and Plans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wurden, G. A.; Intrator, T. P.; Taccetti, J. M.; Furno, I. G.; Hsu, S. C.; Zhang, S. Y.; Degnan, J. H.; Grabowski, C.; Ruden, E. L.

2003-10-01

Our research plans for FRX-L, the field reversed configuration plasma injector at LANL for magnetized target fusion (MTF), have been planned for the next 4-year period. FRX-L has been successfully operating now for the last two years, although construction for both the machine and diagnostic sets is ongoing. Efforts in FY04 begin with continued improvements in the basic high density FRC parameters, through operation at increased magnetic fields and with the addition of a more effective main bank crowbar to reduce parasitic ringing in the high current main coil circuit. Translation experiments into a "fake" metal liner, perforated with diagnostic access ports, will start after designing and constructing the translation section. Another bank of capacitors will be added to power the additional guide and mirror coils. After demonstrating trapping of the plasma in the aluminum liner, and diagnosing sufficient plasma parameters (density, temperature, lifetime, purity), we will begin preparations for the integrated plasma/liner compression experiment at the Air Force Research Laboratory Shiva-Star machine in FY05. Construction of the new hardware will continue during FY06, and the first fusion-relevant demonstration of compression of plasma by an imploding metal liner is planned for FY07. Our MTF plans also include new initiatives with U of Washington, U of Wisconsin, and the University of New Mexico, in addition to ongoing theory ties to LLNL and GA.

[Measurements of the flux densities of static magnetic fields generated by two types of dental magnetic attachments and their retentive forces].

PubMed

Xu, Chun; Chao, Yong-lie; Du, Li; Yang, Ling

2004-05-01

To measure and analyze the flux densities of static magnetic fields generated by two types of commonly used dental magnetic attachments and their retentive forces, and to provide guidance for the clinical application of magnetic attachments. A digital Gaussmeter was used to measure the flux densities of static magnetic fields generated by two types of magnetic attachments, under four circumstances: open-field circuit; closed-field circuit; keeper and magnet slid laterally for a certain distance; and existence of air gap between keeper and magnet. The retentive forces of the magnetic attachments in standard closed-field circuit, with the keeper and magnet sliding laterally for a certain distance or with a certain air gap between keeper and magnet were measured by a tensile testing machine. There were flux leakages under both the open-field circuit and closed-field circuit of the two types of magnetic attachments. The flux densities on the surfaces of MAGNEDISC 800 (MD800) and MAGFIT EX600W (EX600) magnetic attachments under open-field circuit were 275.0 mT and 147.0 mT respectively. The flux leakages under closed-field circuit were smaller than those under open-field circuit. The respective flux densities on the surfaces of MD800 and EX600 magnetic attachments decreased to 11.4 mT and 4.5 mT under closed-field circuit. The flux density around the magnetic attachment decreased as the distance from the surface of the attachment increased. When keeper and magnet slid laterally for a certain distance or when air gap existed between keeper and magnet, the flux leakage increased in comparison with that under closed-field circuit. Under the standard closed-field circuit, the two types of magnetic attachments achieved the largest retentive forces. The retentive forces of MD800 and EX600 magnetic attachments under the standard closed-field circuit were 6.20 N and 4.80 N respectively. The retentive forces decreased with the sliding distance or with the increase of air gap between keeper and magnet. The magnetic attachments have flux leakages. When they are used in patients' oral cavities, if keeper and magnet are not attached accurately, the flux leakage will increase, and at the same time the retentive force will decrease. Therefore the keeper and magnet should be attached accurately in clinical application.

A SOFTWARE PACKAGE FOR UNSUPERVISED PATTERN RECOGNITION AND SYNOPTIC REPRESENTATION OF RESULTS: APPLICATION TO VOLCANIC TREMOR DATA OF MT ETNA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Langer, H. K.; Falsaperla, S. M.; Behncke, B.; Messina, A.; Spampinato, S.

2009-12-01

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has found broad applications in volcano observatories worldwide with the aim of reducing volcanic hazard. The need to process larger and larger quantity of data makes indeed AI techniques appealing for monitoring purposes. Tools based on Artificial Neural Networks and Support Vector Machine have proved to be particularly successful in the classification of seismic events and volcanic tremor changes heralding eruptive activity, such as paroxysmal explosions and lava fountaining at Stromboli and Mt Etna, Italy (e.g., Falsaperla et al., 1996; Langer et al., 2009). Moving on from the excellent results obtained from these applications, we present KKAnalysis, a MATLAB based software which combines several unsupervised pattern classification methods, exploiting routines of the SOM Toolbox 2 for MATLAB (http://www.cis.hut.fi/projects/somtoolbox). KKAnalysis is based on Self Organizing Maps (SOM) and clustering methods consisting of K-Means, Fuzzy C-Means, and a scheme based on a metrics accounting for correlation between components of the feature vector. We show examples of applications of this tool to volcanic tremor data recorded at Mt Etna between 2007 and 2009. This time span - during which Strombolian explosions, 7 episodes of lava fountaining and effusive activity occurred - is particularly interesting, as it encompassed different states of volcanic activity (i.e., non-eruptive, eruptive according to different styles) for the unsupervised classifier to identify, highlighting their development in time. Even subtle changes in the signal characteristics allow the unsupervised classifier to recognize features belonging to the different classes and stages of volcanic activity. A convenient color-code representation shows up the temporal development of the different classes of signal, making this method extremely helpful for monitoring purposes and surveillance. Though being developed for volcanic tremor classification, KKAnalysis is generally applicable to any type of physical or chemical pattern, provided that feature vectors are given in numerical form. References: Falsaperla, S., S. Graziani, G. Nunnari, and S. Spampinato (1996). Automatic classification of volcanic earthquakes by using multy-layered neural networks. Natural Hazard, 13, 205-228. Langer, H., S. Falsaperla, M. Masotti, R. Campanini, S. Spampinato, and A. Messina (2008). Synopsis of supervised and unsupervised pattern classification techniques applied to volcanic tremor data at Mt Etna, Italy. Geophys. J. Int., doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04179.x.

Assessment of metallothionein and antibodies to metallothionein in normal and autistic children having exposure to vaccine-derived thimerosal.

PubMed

Singh, Vijendra K; Hanson, Jeff

2006-06-01

Allergic autoimmune reaction after exposure to heavy metals such as mercury may play a causal role in autism, a developmental disorder of the central nervous system. As metallothionein (MT) is the primary metal-detoxifying protein in the body, we conducted a study of the MT protein and antibodies to metallothionein (anti-MT) in normal and autistic children whose exposure to mercury was only from thimerosal-containing vaccines. Laboratory analysis by immunoassays revealed that the serum level of MT did not significantly differ between normal and autistic children. Furthermore, autistic children harboured normal levels of anti-MT, including antibodies to isoform MT-I (anti-MT-I) and MT-II (anti-MT-II), without any significant difference between normal and autistic children. Our findings indicate that because autistic children have a normal profile of MT and anti-MT, the mercury-induced autoimmunity to MT may not be implicated in the pathogenesis of autism.

Bridging from Replication to Translation with a Thermal, Autonomous Replicator Made from Transfer RNA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braun, Dieter; Möller, Friederike M.; Krammer, Hubert

2013-03-01

Central to the understanding of living systems is the interplay between DNA/RNA and proteins. Known as Eigen paradox, proteins require genetic information while proteins are needed for the replication of genes. RNA world scenarios focus on a base by base replication disconnected from translation. Here we used strategies from DNA machines to demonstrate a tight connection between a basic replication mechanism and translation. A pool of hairpin molecules replicate a two-letter code. The replication is thermally driven: the energy and negative entropy to drive replication is initially stored in metastable hairpins by kinetic cooling. Both are released by a highly specific and exponential replication reaction that is solely implemented by base hybridization. The duplication time is 30s. The reaction is monitored by fluorescence and described by a detailed kinetic model. The RNA hairpins usetransfer RNA sequences and the replication is driven by the simple disequilibrium setting of a thermal gradient The experiments propose a physical rather than a chemical scenario for the autonomous replication of protein encoding information. Supported by the NanoSystems Initiative Munich and ERC.

Closeout of JOYO-1 Specimen Fabrication Efforts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

ME Petrichek; JL Bump; RF Luther

2005-10-31

Fabrication was well under way for the JOYO biaxial creep and tensile specimens when the NR Space program was canceled. Tubes of FS-85, ASTAR-811C, and T-111 for biaxial creep specimens had been drawn at True Tube (Paso Robles, CA), while tubes of Mo-47.5 Re were being drawn at Rhenium Alloys (Cleveland, OH). The Mo-47.5 Re tubes are now approximately 95% complete. Their fabrication and the quantities produced will be documented at a later date. End cap material for FS-85, ASTAR-811C, and T-111 had been swaged at Pittsburgh Materials Technology, Inc. (PMTI) (Large, PA) and machined at Vangura (Clairton, PA). Cuttingmore » of tubes, pickling, annealing, and laser engraving were in process at PMTI. Several biaxial creep specimen sets of FS-85, ASTAR-811C, and T-111 had already been sent to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for weld development. In addition, tensile specimens of FS-85, ASTAR-811C, T-111, and Mo-47.5 Re had been machined at Kin-Tech (North Huntington, PA). Actual machining of the other specimen types had not been initiated. Flowcharts 1-3 detail the major processing steps each piece of material has experienced. A more detailed description of processing will be provided in a separate document [B-MT(SRME)-51]. Table 1 lists the in-process materials and finished specimens. Also included are current metallurgical condition of these materials and specimens. The available chemical analyses for these alloys at various points in the process are provided in Table 2.« less

mtDNA, Metastasis, and the Mitochondrial Unfolded Protein Response (UPRmt).

PubMed

Kenny, Timothy C; Germain, Doris

2017-01-01

While several studies have confirmed a link between mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations and cancer cell metastasis, much debate remains regarding the nature of the alternations in mtDNA leading to this effect. Meanwhile, the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPR mt ) has gained much attention in recent years, with most studies of this pathway focusing on its role in aging. However, the UPR mt has also been studied in the context of cancer. More recent work suggests that rather than a single mutation or alternation, specific combinatorial mtDNA landscapes able to activate the UPR mt may be those that are selected by metastatic cells, while mtDNA landscapes unable to activate the UPR mt do not. This review aims at offering an overview of the confusing literature on mtDNA mutations and metastasis and the more recent work on the UPR mt in this setting.

What cost mitochondria? The maintenance of functional mitochondrial DNA within and across generations

PubMed Central

Aanen, Duur K.; Spelbrink, Johannes N.; Beekman, Madeleine

2014-01-01

The peculiar biology of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) potentially has detrimental consequences for organismal health and lifespan. Typically, eukaryotic cells contain multiple mitochondria, each with multiple mtDNA genomes. The high copy number of mtDNA implies that selection on mtDNA functionality is relaxed. Furthermore, because mtDNA replication is not strictly regulated, within-cell selection may favour mtDNA variants with a replication advantage, but a deleterious effect on cell fitness. The opportunities for selfish mtDNA mutations to spread are restricted by various organism-level adaptations, such as uniparental transmission, germline mtDNA bottlenecks, germline selection and, during somatic growth, regular alternation between fusion and fission of mitochondria. These mechanisms are all hypothesized to maintain functional mtDNA. However, the strength of selection for maintenance of functional mtDNA progressively declines with age, resulting in age-related diseases. Furthermore, organismal adaptations that most probably evolved to restrict the opportunities for selfish mtDNA create secondary problems. Owing to predominantly maternal mtDNA transmission, recombination among mtDNA from different individuals is highly restricted or absent, reducing the scope for repair. Moreover, maternal inheritance precludes selection against mtDNA variants with male-specific effects. We finish by discussing the consequences of life-history differences among taxa with respect to mtDNA evolution and make a case for the use of microorganisms to experimentally manipulate levels of selection. PMID:24864309

mtDNA lineage analysis of mouse L-cell lines reveals the accumulation of multiple mtDNA mutants and intermolecular recombination

PubMed Central

Fan, Weiwei; Lin, Chun Shi; Potluri, Prasanth; Procaccio, Vincent; Wallace, Douglas C.

2012-01-01

The role of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations and mtDNA recombination in cancer cell proliferation and developmental biology remains controversial. While analyzing the mtDNAs of several mouse L cell lines, we discovered that every cell line harbored multiple mtDNA mutants. These included four missense mutations, two frameshift mutations, and one tRNA homopolymer expansion. The LA9 cell lines lacked wild-type mtDNAs but harbored a heteroplasmic mixture of mtDNAs, each with a different combination of these variants. We isolated each of the mtDNAs in a separate cybrid cell line. This permitted determination of the linkage phase of each mtDNA and its physiological characteristics. All of the polypeptide mutations inhibited their oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) complexes. However, they also increased mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and the level of ROS production was proportional to the cellular proliferation rate. By comparing the mtDNA haplotypes of the different cell lines, we were able to reconstruct the mtDNA mutational history of the L–L929 cell line. This revealed that every heteroplasmic L-cell line harbored a mtDNA that had been generated by intracellular mtDNA homologous recombination. Therefore, deleterious mtDNA mutations that increase ROS production can provide a proliferative advantage to cancer or stem cells, and optimal combinations of mutant loci can be generated through recombination. PMID:22345519

Application of machine learning classification for structural brain MRI in mood disorders: Critical review from a clinical perspective.

PubMed

Kim, Yong-Ku; Na, Kyoung-Sae

2018-01-03

Mood disorders are a highly prevalent group of mental disorders causing substantial socioeconomic burden. There are various methodological approaches for identifying the underlying mechanisms of the etiology, symptomatology, and therapeutics of mood disorders; however, neuroimaging studies have provided the most direct evidence for mood disorder neural substrates by visualizing the brains of living individuals. The prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus, ventral striatum, and corpus callosum are associated with depression and bipolar disorder. Identifying the distinct and common contributions of these anatomical regions to depression and bipolar disorder have broadened and deepened our understanding of mood disorders. However, the extent to which neuroimaging research findings contribute to clinical practice in the real-world setting is unclear. As traditional or non-machine learning MRI studies have analyzed group-level differences, it is not possible to directly translate findings from research to clinical practice; the knowledge gained pertains to the disorder, but not to individuals. On the other hand, a machine learning approach makes it possible to provide individual-level classifications. For the past two decades, many studies have reported on the classification accuracy of machine learning-based neuroimaging studies from the perspective of diagnosis and treatment response. However, for the application of a machine learning-based brain MRI approach in real world clinical settings, several major issues should be considered. Secondary changes due to illness duration and medication, clinical subtypes and heterogeneity, comorbidities, and cost-effectiveness restrict the generalization of the current machine learning findings. Sophisticated classification of clinical and diagnostic subtypes is needed. Additionally, as the approach is inevitably limited by sample size, multi-site participation and data-sharing are needed in the future. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Pharmacological characterization of human recombinant melatonin mt1 and MT2 receptors

PubMed Central

Browning, Christopher; Beresford, Isabel; Fraser, Neil; Giles, Heather

2000-01-01

We have pharmacologically characterized recombinant human mt1 and MT2 receptors, stably expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO-mt1 and CHO-MT2), by measurement of [3H]-melatonin binding and forskolin-stimulated cyclic AMP (cAMP) production. [3H]-melatonin bound to mt1 and MT2 receptors with pKD values of 9.89 and 9.56 and Bmax values of 1.20 and 0.82 pmol mg−1 protein, respectively. Whilst most melatonin receptor agonists had similar affinities for mt1 and MT2 receptors, a number of putative antagonists had substantially higher affinities for MT2 receptors, including luzindole (11 fold), GR128107 (23 fold) and 4-P-PDOT (61 fold). In both CHO-mt1 and CHO-MT2 cells, melatonin inhibited forskolin-stimulated accumulation of cyclic AMP in a concentration-dependent manner (pIC50 9.53 and 9.74, respectively) causing 83 and 64% inhibition of cyclic AMP production at 100 nM, respectively. The potencies of a range of melatonin receptor agonists were determined. At MT2 receptors, melatonin, 2-iodomelatonin and 6-chloromelatonin were essentially equipotent, whilst at the mt1 receptor these agonists gave the rank order of potency of 2-iodomelatonin>melatonin>6-chloromelatonin. In both CHO-mt1 and CHO-MT2 cells, melatonin-induced inhibition of forskolin-stimulated cyclic AMP production was antagonized in a concentration-dependent manner by the melatonin receptor antagonist luzindole, with pA2 values of 5.75 and 7.64, respectively. Melatonin-mediated responses were abolished by pre-treatment of cells with pertussis toxin, consistent with activation of Gi/Go G-proteins. This is the first report of the use of [3H]-melatonin for the characterization of recombinant mt1 and MT2 receptors. Our results demonstrate that these receptor subtypes have distinct pharmacological profiles. PMID:10696085

In vivo-folded metal-metallothionein 3 complexes reveal the Cu-thionein rather than Zn-thionein character of this brain-specific mammalian metallothionein.

PubMed

Artells, Ester; Palacios, Oscar; Capdevila, Mercè; Atrian, Sílvia

2014-03-01

Metallothionein-3 (MT3) is one of the four mammalian metallothioneins (MT), and is constitutively synthesized in the brain. MT3 acts both intracellularly and extracellularly in this organ, performing functions related to neuronal growth and physiological metal (Zn and Cu) handling. It appears to be involved in the prevention of neurodegenerative disorders caused by insoluble Cu-peptide aggregates, as it triggers a Zn-Cu swap that may counteract the deleterious presence of copper in neural tissues. The literature data on MT3 coordination come from studies either on apo-MT3 reconstitution or the reaction of Zn-MT3 with Cu(2+) , an ion that is hardly present inside cells. To ascertain the MT3 metal-binding features in a scenario closer to the reductive cell cytoplasm, a study of the recombinant Zn(2+) , Cd(2+) and Cu(+) complexes of MT3, βMT3, and αMT3, as well as the in vitro Zn(2+) -Cd(2+) and Zn(2+) -Cu(+) replacement processes, is presented here. We conclude that MT3 has a Cu-thionein character that is stronger than that of the MT1 and MT2 isoforms - also present in the mammalian brain - which is mainly contributed by its β domain. In contrast, the α domain retains a high capacity to bind Zn(2+) ions, and, consequently, the entire MT3 peptide shows a peculiar dual ability to handle both metal ions. The nature of the formed Cu(+) -MT3 complexes oscillates from heterometallic Cu6 Zn4 -MT3 to homometallic Cu10 -MT3 major species, in a narrow Cu concentration range. Therefore, the entire MT3 peptide shows a high capacity to bind Cu(+) , provided that this occurs in a nonoxidative milieux. This reflects a peculiar property of this MT isoform, which accurately senses different Cu contents in the environment in which it is synthesized. © 2014 FEBS.

The efficacy of manual therapy and exercise for treating non-specific neck pain: A systematic review

PubMed Central

Hidalgo, Benjamin; Hall, Toby; Bossert, Jean; Dugeny, Axel; Cagnie, Barbara; Pitance, Laurent

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To review and update the evidence for different forms of manual therapy (MT) and exercise for patients with different stages of non-specific neck pain (NP). Data sources: MEDLINE, Cochrane-Register-of-Controlled-Trials, PEDro, EMBASE. METHOD: A qualitative systematic review covering a period from January 2000 to December 2015 was conducted according to updated-guidelines. Specific inclusion criteria only on RCTs were used; including differentiation according to stages of NP (acute – subacute [ASNP] or chronic [CNP]), as well as sub-classification based on type of MT interventions: MT1 (HVLA manipulation); MT2 (mobilization and/or soft-tissue-techniques); MT3 (MT1 + MT2); and MT4 (Mobilization-with-Movement). In each sub-category, MT could be combined or not with exercise and/or usual medical care. RESULTS: Initially 121 studies were identified for potential inclusion. Based on qualitative and quantitative evaluation criteria, 23 RCTs were identified for review. Evidence for ASNP: MODERATE-evidence: In favour of (i) MT1 to the cervical spine (Cx) combined with exercises when compared to MT1 to the thoracic spine (Tx) combined with exercises; (ii) MT3 to the Cx and Tx combined with exercise compared to MT2 to the Cx with exercise or compared to usual medical care for pain and satisfaction with care from short to long-term. Evidence for CNP: STRONG-evidence: Of no difference of efficacy between MT2 at the symptomatic Cx level(s) in comparison to MT2 on asymptomatic Cx level(s) for pain and function. MODERATE to STRONG-evidence: In favour of MT1 and MT3 on Cx and Tx with exercise in comparison to exercise or MT alone for pain, function, satisfaction with care and general-health from short to moderate-terms. MODERATE-evidence: In favour (i) of MT1 as compared to MT2 and MT4, all applied to the Cx, for neck mobility, and pain in the very short term; (ii) of MT2 using sof-tissue-techniques to the Cx and Tx or MT3 to the Cx and Tx in comparison to no-treatment in the short-term for pain and disability. CONCLUSION: This systematic review updates the evidence for MT combined or not with exercise and/or usual medical care for different stages of NP and provides recommendations for future studies. Two majors points could be highlighted, the first one is that combining different forms of MT with exercise is better than MT or exercise alone, and the second one is that mobilization need not be applied at the symptomatic level(s) for improvements of NP patients. These both points may have clinical implications for reducing the risk involved with some MT techniques applied to the cervical spine. PMID:28826164

The Multipartite Mitochondrial Genome of Liposcelis bostrychophila: Insights into the Evolution of Mitochondrial Genomes in Bilateral Animals

PubMed Central

Yuan, Ming-Long; Dou, Wei; Barker, Stephen C.; Wang, Jin-Jun

2012-01-01

Booklice (order Psocoptera) in the genus Liposcelis are major pests to stored grains worldwide and are closely related to parasitic lice (order Phthiraptera). We sequenced the mitochondrial (mt) genome of Liposcelis bostrychophila and found that the typical single mt chromosome of bilateral animals has fragmented into and been replaced by two medium-sized chromosomes in this booklouse; each of these chromosomes has about half of the genes of the typical mt chromosome of bilateral animals. These mt chromosomes are 8,530 bp (mt chromosome I) and 7,933 bp (mt chromosome II) in size. Intriguingly, mt chromosome I is twice as abundant as chromosome II. It appears that the selection pressure for compact mt genomes in bilateral animals favors small mt chromosomes when small mt chromosomes co-exist with the typical large mt chromosomes. Thus, small mt chromosomes may have selective advantages over large mt chromosomes in bilateral animals. Phylogenetic analyses of mt genome sequences of Psocodea (i.e. Psocoptera plus Phthiraptera) indicate that: 1) the order Psocoptera (booklice and barklice) is paraphyletic; and 2) the order Phthiraptera (the parasitic lice) is monophyletic. Within parasitic lice, however, the suborder Ischnocera is paraphyletic; this differs from the traditional view that each suborder of parasitic lice is monophyletic. PMID:22479490

Data Distribution System (DDS) and Solar Dynamic Observatory Ground Station (SDOGS) Integration Manager

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pham, Kim; Bialas, Thomas

2012-01-01

The DDS SDOGS Integration Manager (DSIM) provides translation between native control and status formats for systems within DDS and SDOGS, and the ASIST (Advanced Spacecraft Integration and System Test) control environment in the SDO MOC (Solar Dynamics Observatory Mission Operations Center). This system was created in response for a need to centralize remote monitor and control of SDO Ground Station equipments using ASIST control environment in SDO MOC, and to have configurable table definition for equipment. It provides translation of status and monitoring information from the native systems into ASIST-readable format to display on pages in the MOC. The manager is lightweight, user friendly, and efficient. It allows data trending, correlation, and storing. It allows using ASIST as common interface for remote monitor and control of heterogeneous equipments. It also provides failover capability to back up machines.

Potential role of alpha-synuclein and metallothionein in lead-induced inclusion body formation.

PubMed

Zuo, Peijun; Qu, Wei; Cooper, Ryan N; Goyer, Robert A; Diwan, Bhalchandra A; Waalkes, Michael P

2009-09-01

Lead (Pb) produces aggresome-like inclusion bodies (IBs) in target cells as a toxic response. Our prior work shows metallothionein (MT) is required for this process. We used MT-I/II double knockout (MT-null) and parental wild-type (WT) cell lines to further explore the formation process of Pb-induced IBs. Unlike WT cells, MT-null cells did not form IBs after Pb exposure. Western blot of cytosol showed soluble MT protein in WT cells was lost during Pb exposure as IBs formed. Transfection of MT-I into MT-null cells allowed IBs formation after Pb exposure. Considering Pb-induced IBs may be like disease-related aggresomes, which often contain alpha-synuclein (Scna), we investigated Scna expression in cells capable (WT) and incapable (MT-null) of producing IBs after Pb exposure. Scna protein showed poor basal expression in MT-null cells. Pb exposure increased Scna expression only in WT cells. MT transfection increased Scna transcript to WT levels. In WT or MT-transfected MT-null cells, Pb-induced Scna expression rapidly increased and then decreased over 48 h as Pb-induced IBs were formed. A direct interaction between Scna and MT was confirmed ex vivo by antibody pulldown assay where the proteins coprecipitated with an antibody to MT. Pb exposure caused increased colocalization of MT and Scna proteins with time only in WT cells. In WT mice after chronic Pb exposure Scna was localized in renal cells containing forming IBs, whereas MT-null mice did not form IBs. Thus, Scna could be component of Pb-induced IBs and, with MT, may play a role in IBs formation.

Mitochondrial ATPase Subunit 6 and Cytochrome B Gene Variations in Obese Turkish Children

PubMed Central

Demir, Durkadın; Türkkahraman, Doğa; Samur, Anıl Aktaş; Lüleci, Güven; Akçurin, Sema; M. Alper, Özgül

2014-01-01

Objective: Due to the importance of energy metabolism in mitochondria, mitochondrial genome variations are evaluated in energy-related diseases such as obesity. To date, several nuclear genes were found to be related to obesity. Our aim in this study was to investigate the presence of polymorphisms in mitochondrial ATPase subunit 6 (mt-ATP6) and cytochrome b (mt-CytB) genes that may be associated with childhood obesity. Methods: The mt-ATP6 and mt-CytB genes were amplified and entirely sequenced in a series of 100 obese and in an equal number of healthy Turkish children aged between 6-14 years. Results: A total of 118 synonymous and nonsynonymous variations were detected in the obese and control groups. Only two previously reported synonymous substitutions (mt.8614T>C and mt.8994G>A) in the mt-ATP6 gene were found to be significantly higher in the obese group compared to the control group (p<0.05). In the mt-ATP6 gene, one novel nonsynonymous substitution (mt.8726C>T) and one novel synonymous substitution (mt.9108A>T) were found. In the mt-CytB gene, one nonsynonymous substitution (mt.14880T>C) and two synonymous substitutions (mt.14891C>T and mt.15091C>T) were novel substitutions. Conclusion: Two synonymous substitutions (mt.8614T>C and mt.8994G>A) in the mt-ATP6 gene may be associated with childhood obesity. Our study provides the first data about mitochondrial genome variations in a Turkish obese population and also the first in obese children. More cases should be screened in obese groups in order to understand the effects of mitochondrial polymorphisms in the development of obesity. PMID:25541891

A reduced number of mtSNPs saturates mitochondrial DNA haplotype diversity of worldwide population groups.

PubMed

Salas, Antonio; Amigo, Jorge

2010-05-03

The high levels of variation characterising the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecule are due ultimately to its high average mutation rate; moreover, mtDNA variation is deeply structured in different populations and ethnic groups. There is growing interest in selecting a reduced number of mtDNA single nucleotide polymorphisms (mtSNPs) that account for the maximum level of discrimination power in a given population. Applications of the selected mtSNP panel range from anthropologic and medical studies to forensic genetic casework. This study proposes a new simulation-based method that explores the ability of different mtSNP panels to yield the maximum levels of discrimination power. The method explores subsets of mtSNPs of different sizes randomly chosen from a preselected panel of mtSNPs based on frequency. More than 2,000 complete genomes representing three main continental human population groups (Africa, Europe, and Asia) and two admixed populations ("African-Americans" and "Hispanics") were collected from GenBank and the literature, and were used as training sets. Haplotype diversity was measured for each combination of mtSNP and compared with existing mtSNP panels available in the literature. The data indicates that only a reduced number of mtSNPs ranging from six to 22 are needed to account for 95% of the maximum haplotype diversity of a given population sample. However, only a small proportion of the best mtSNPs are shared between populations, indicating that there is not a perfect set of "universal" mtSNPs suitable for all population contexts. The discrimination power provided by these mtSNPs is much higher than the power of the mtSNP panels proposed in the literature to date. Some mtSNP combinations also yield high diversity values in admixed populations. The proposed computational approach for exploring combinations of mtSNPs that optimise the discrimination power of a given set of mtSNPs is more efficient than previous empirical approaches. In contrast to precedent findings, the results seem to indicate that only few mtSNPs are needed to reach high levels of discrimination power in a population, independently of its ancestral background.

Metallothionein deficiency aggravates depleted uranium-induced nephrotoxicity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hao, Yuhui; Huang, Jiawei; Gu, Ying

Depleted uranium (DU) has been widely used in both civilian and military activities, and the kidney is the main target organ of DU during acute high-dose exposures. In this study, the nephrotoxicity caused by DU in metallothionein-1/2-null mice (MT −/−) and corresponding wild-type (MT +/+) mice was investigated to determine any associations with MT. Each MT −/− or MT +/+ mouse was pretreated with a single dose of DU (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneal injection) or an equivalent volume of saline. After 4 days of DU administration, kidney changes were assessed. After DU exposure, serum creatinine and serum urea nitrogen in MTmore » −/− mice significantly increased than in MT +/+ mice, with more severe kidney pathological damage. Moreover, catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) decreased, and generation of reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde increased in MT −/− mice. The apoptosis rate in MT −/− mice significantly increased, with a significant increase in both Bax and caspase 3 and a decrease in Bcl-2. Furthermore, sodium-glucose cotransporter (SGLT) and sodium-phosphate cotransporter (NaPi-II) were significantly reduced after DU exposure, and the change of SGLT was more evident in MT −/− mice. Finally, exogenous MT was used to evaluate the correlation between kidney changes induced by DU and MT doses in MT −/− mice. The results showed that, the pathological damage and cell apoptosis decreased, and SOD and SGLT levels increased with increasing dose of MT. In conclusion, MT deficiency aggravated DU-induced nephrotoxicity, and the molecular mechanisms appeared to be related to the increased oxidative stress and apoptosis, and decreased SGLT expression. - Highlights: • MT −/− and MT +/+ mice were used to evaluate nephrotoxicity of DU. • Renal damage was more evident in the MT −/− mice after exposure to DU. • Exogenous MT also protects against DU-induced nephrotoxicity. • MT deficiency induced more ROS and apoptosis after exposure to DU. • MT deficiency down-regulated SGLT expression after exposure to DU.« less

A Reduced Number of mtSNPs Saturates Mitochondrial DNA Haplotype Diversity of Worldwide Population Groups

PubMed Central

Salas, Antonio; Amigo, Jorge

2010-01-01

Background The high levels of variation characterising the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecule are due ultimately to its high average mutation rate; moreover, mtDNA variation is deeply structured in different populations and ethnic groups. There is growing interest in selecting a reduced number of mtDNA single nucleotide polymorphisms (mtSNPs) that account for the maximum level of discrimination power in a given population. Applications of the selected mtSNP panel range from anthropologic and medical studies to forensic genetic casework. Methodology/Principal Findings This study proposes a new simulation-based method that explores the ability of different mtSNP panels to yield the maximum levels of discrimination power. The method explores subsets of mtSNPs of different sizes randomly chosen from a preselected panel of mtSNPs based on frequency. More than 2,000 complete genomes representing three main continental human population groups (Africa, Europe, and Asia) and two admixed populations (“African-Americans” and “Hispanics”) were collected from GenBank and the literature, and were used as training sets. Haplotype diversity was measured for each combination of mtSNP and compared with existing mtSNP panels available in the literature. The data indicates that only a reduced number of mtSNPs ranging from six to 22 are needed to account for 95% of the maximum haplotype diversity of a given population sample. However, only a small proportion of the best mtSNPs are shared between populations, indicating that there is not a perfect set of “universal” mtSNPs suitable for all population contexts. The discrimination power provided by these mtSNPs is much higher than the power of the mtSNP panels proposed in the literature to date. Some mtSNP combinations also yield high diversity values in admixed populations. Conclusions/Significance The proposed computational approach for exploring combinations of mtSNPs that optimise the discrimination power of a given set of mtSNPs is more efficient than previous empirical approaches. In contrast to precedent findings, the results seem to indicate that only few mtSNPs are needed to reach high levels of discrimination power in a population, independently of its ancestral background. PMID:20454657

mtDNA recombination in a natural population.

PubMed

Saville, B J; Kohli, Y; Anderson, J B

1998-02-03

Variation in mtDNA has been used extensively to draw inferences in phylogenetics and population biology. In the majority of eukaryotes investigated, transmission of mtDNA is uniparental and clonal, with genotypic diversity arising from mutation alone. In other eukaryotes, the transmission of mtDNA is biparental or primarily uniparental with the possibility of "leakage" from the minority parent. In these cases, heteroplasmy carries the potential for recombination between mtDNAs of different descent. In fungi, such mtDNA recombination has long been documented but only in laboratory experiments and only under conditions in which heteroplasmy is ensured. Despite this experimental evidence, mtDNA recombination has not been to our knowledge documented in a natural population. Because evidence from natural populations is prerequisite to understanding the evolutionary impact of mtDNA recombination, we investigated the possibility of mtDNA recombination in an organism with the demonstrated potential for heteroplasmy in laboratory matings. Using nucleotide sequence data, we report here that the genotypic structure of mtDNA in a natural population of the basidiomycete fungus Armillaria gallica is inconsistent with purely clonal mtDNA evolution and is fully consistent with mtDNA recombination.

Characterization and expression of a metallothionein gene in the aquatic fern Azolla filiculoides under heavy metal stress.

PubMed

Schor-Fumbarov, Tamar; Goldsbrough, Peter B; Adam, Zach; Tel-Or, Elisha

2005-12-01

A cDNA encoding a type 2 metallothionein (MT) was isolated from Azolla filiculoides, termed AzMT2, accession no. AF482470. The AzMT2 transcript was expressed in sterile A. filiculoides that were free of the cyanobiont Anabaena azollae after erythromycin treatment, proving that AzMT2 is encoded by the fern genome. AzMT2 RNA expression was enhanced by the addition of Cd(+2), Cu(+2), Zn(+2) and Ni(+2) to the growth medium. The transcript level of AzMT2 correlated with the metal content in the plants. Temporal analysis of AzMT2 expression demonstrated that Cd(2+) and Ni(2+) induction of AzMT2 RNA expression occurred within 48 h. AzMT2-enhanced expression responded more intensely to the toxic Cd and Ni ions in A. filiculoides suggesting that AzMT2 may participate in detoxification mechanism. The more moderate response of AzMT2 to Zn and Cu ions, which are essential micronutrients, suggest a role for AzMT2 in metal homeostasis.

Metallothionein blocks oxidative DNA damage induced by acute inorganic arsenic exposure

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Qu, Wei, E-mail: qu@niehs.nih.gov; Waalkes, Michael P.

We studied how protein metallothionein (MT) impacts arsenic-induced oxidative DNA damage (ODD) using cells that poorly express MT (MT-I/II double knockout embryonic cells; called MT-null cells) and wild-type (WT) MT competent cells. Arsenic (as NaAsO{sub 2}) was less cytolethal over 24 h in WT cells (LC{sub 50} = 11.0 ± 1.3 μM; mean ± SEM) than in MT-null cells (LC{sub 50} = 5.6 ± 1.2 μM). ODD was measured by the immuno-spin trapping method. Arsenic (1 or 5 μM; 24 h) induced much less ODD in WT cells (121% and 141% of control, respectively) than in MT-null cells (202% andmore » 260%). In WT cells arsenic caused concentration-dependent increases in MT expression (transcript and protein), and in the metal-responsive transcription factor-1 (MTF-1), which is required to induce the MT gene. In contrast, basal MT levels were not detectable in MT-null cells and unaltered by arsenic exposure. Transfection of MT-I gene into the MT-null cells markedly reduced arsenic-induced ODD levels. The transport genes, Abcc1 and Abcc2 were increased by arsenic in WT cells but either showed no or very limited increases in MT-null cells. Arsenic caused increases in oxidant stress defense genes HO-1 and GSTα2 in both WT and MT-null cells, but to much higher levels in WT cells. WT cells appear more adept at activating metal transport systems and oxidant response genes, although the role of MT in these responses is unclear. Overall, MT protects against arsenic-induced ODD in MT competent cells by potential sequestration of scavenging oxidant radicals and/or arsenic. - Highlights: • Metallothionein blocks arsenic toxicity. • Metallothionein reduces arsenic-induced DNA damage. • Metallothionein may bind arsenic or radicals produced by arsenic.« less

Translation and Assembly of Radiolabeled Mitochondrial DNA-Encoded Protein Subunits from Cultured Cells and Isolated Mitochondria.

PubMed

Formosa, Luke E; Hofer, Annette; Tischner, Christin; Wenz, Tina; Ryan, Michael T

2016-01-01

In higher eukaryotes, the mitochondrial electron transport chain consists of five multi-subunit membrane complexes responsible for the generation of cellular ATP. Of these, four complexes are under dual genetic control as they contain subunits encoded by both the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes, thereby adding another layer of complexity to the puzzle of respiratory complex biogenesis. These subunits must be synthesized and assembled in a coordinated manner in order to ensure correct biogenesis of different respiratory complexes. Here, we describe techniques to (1) specifically radiolabel proteins encoded by mtDNA to monitor the rate of synthesis using pulse labeling methods, and (2) analyze the stability, assembly, and turnover of subunits using pulse-chase methods in cultured cells and isolated mitochondria.

Mitochondrial nucleoid interacting proteins support mitochondrial protein synthesis.

PubMed

He, J; Cooper, H M; Reyes, A; Di Re, M; Sembongi, H; Litwin, T R; Gao, J; Neuman, K C; Fearnley, I M; Spinazzola, A; Walker, J E; Holt, I J

2012-07-01

Mitochondrial ribosomes and translation factors co-purify with mitochondrial nucleoids of human cells, based on affinity protein purification of tagged mitochondrial DNA binding proteins. Among the most frequently identified proteins were ATAD3 and prohibitin, which have been identified previously as nucleoid components, using a variety of methods. Both proteins are demonstrated to be required for mitochondrial protein synthesis in human cultured cells, and the major binding partner of ATAD3 is the mitochondrial ribosome. Altered ATAD3 expression also perturbs mtDNA maintenance and replication. These findings suggest an intimate association between nucleoids and the machinery of protein synthesis in mitochondria. ATAD3 and prohibitin are tightly associated with the mitochondrial membranes and so we propose that they support nucleic acid complexes at the inner membrane of the mitochondrion.

The rice nuclear gene, VIRESCENT 2, is essential for chloroplast development and encodes a novel type of guanylate kinase targeted to plastids and mitochondria.

PubMed

Sugimoto, Hiroki; Kusumi, Kensuke; Noguchi, Ko; Yano, Masahiro; Yoshimura, Atsushi; Iba, Koh

2007-11-01

Guanylate kinase (GK) is a critical enzyme in guanine nucleotide metabolism pathways, catalyzing the phosphorylation of (d)GMP to (d)GDP. Here we show that a novel gene, VIRESCENT 2 (V2), encodes a new type of GK (designated pt/mtGK) that is localized in plastids and mitochondria. We initially identified the V2 gene by positional cloning of the rice v2 mutant. The v2 mutant is temperature-sensitive and develops chlorotic leaves at restrictive temperatures. The v2 mutation causes inhibition of chloroplast differentiation; in particular, it disrupts the chloroplast translation machinery during early leaf development [Sugimoto et al. (2004)Plant Cell Physiol. 45, 985]. In the bacterial and animal species studied to date, GK is localized in the cytoplasm and participates in maintenance of the guanine nucleotide pools required for many fundamental cellular processes. Phenotypic analysis of rice seedlings with RNAi knockdown of cytosolic GK (designated cGK) showed that cGK is indispensable for the growth and development of plants, but not for chloroplast development. Thus, rice has two types of GK, as does Arabidopsis, suggesting that higher plants have two types of GK. Our results suggest that, of the two types of GK, only pt/mtGK is essential for chloroplast differentiation.

Selective antagonism of muscarinic receptors is neuroprotective in peripheral neuropathy

PubMed Central

Smith, Darrell R.; Frizzi, Katie; Sabbir, Mohammad Golam; Chowdhury, Subir K. Roy; Mixcoatl-Zecuatl, Teresa; Saleh, Ali; Muttalib, Nabeel; Van der Ploeg, Randy; Ochoa, Joseline; Gopaul, Allison; Tessler, Lori; Wess, Jürgen; Jolivalt, Corinne G.

2017-01-01

Sensory neurons have the capacity to produce, release, and respond to acetylcholine (ACh), but the functional role of cholinergic systems in adult mammalian peripheral sensory nerves has not been established. Here, we have reported that neurite outgrowth from adult sensory neurons that were maintained under subsaturating neurotrophic factor conditions operates under cholinergic constraint that is mediated by muscarinic receptor–dependent regulation of mitochondrial function via AMPK. Sensory neurons from mice lacking the muscarinic ACh type 1 receptor (M1R) exhibited enhanced neurite outgrowth, confirming the role of M1R in tonic suppression of axonal plasticity. M1R-deficient mice made diabetic with streptozotocin were protected from physiological and structural indices of sensory neuropathy. Pharmacological blockade of M1R using specific or selective antagonists, pirenzepine, VU0255035, or muscarinic toxin 7 (MT7) activated AMPK and overcame diabetes-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in vitro and in vivo. These antimuscarinic drugs prevented or reversed indices of peripheral neuropathy, such as depletion of sensory nerve terminals, thermal hypoalgesia, and nerve conduction slowing in diverse rodent models of diabetes. Pirenzepine and MT7 also prevented peripheral neuropathy induced by the chemotherapeutic agents dichloroacetate and paclitaxel or HIV envelope protein gp120. As a variety of antimuscarinic drugs are approved for clinical use against other conditions, prompt translation of this therapeutic approach to clinical trials is feasible. PMID:28094765

XPD localizes in mitochondria and protects the mitochondrial genome from oxidative DNA damage.

PubMed

Liu, Jing; Fang, Hongbo; Chi, Zhenfen; Wu, Zan; Wei, Di; Mo, Dongliang; Niu, Kaifeng; Balajee, Adayabalam S; Hei, Tom K; Nie, Linghu; Zhao, Yongliang

2015-06-23

Xeroderma pigmentosum group D (XPD/ERCC2) encodes an ATP-dependent helicase that plays essential roles in both transcription and nucleotide excision repair of nuclear DNA, however, whether or not XPD exerts similar functions in mitochondria remains elusive. In this study, we provide the first evidence that XPD is localized in the inner membrane of mitochondria, and cells under oxidative stress showed an enhanced recruitment of XPD into mitochondrial compartment. Furthermore, mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production and levels of oxidative stress-induced mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) common deletion were significantly elevated, whereas capacity for oxidative damage repair of mtDNA was markedly reduced in both XPD-suppressed human osteosarcoma (U2OS) cells and XPD-deficient human fibroblasts. Immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry analysis was used to identify interacting factor(s) with XPD and TUFM, a mitochondrial Tu translation elongation factor was detected to be physically interacted with XPD. Similar to the findings in XPD-deficient cells, mitochondrial common deletion and oxidative damage repair capacity in U2OS cells were found to be significantly altered after TUFM knock-down. Our findings clearly demonstrate that XPD plays crucial role(s) in protecting mitochondrial genome stability by facilitating an efficient repair of oxidative DNA damage in mitochondria. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

DMR1 (CCM1/YGR150C) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes an RNA-binding protein from the pentatricopeptide repeat family required for the maintenance of the mitochondrial 15S ribosomal RNA.

PubMed

Puchta, Olga; Lubas, Michal; Lipinski, Kamil A; Piatkowski, Jakub; Malecki, Michal; Golik, Pawel

2010-04-01

Pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins form the largest known RNA-binding protein family and are found in all eukaryotes, being particularly abundant in higher plants. PPR proteins localize mostly in mitochondria and chloroplasts, where they modulate organellar genome expression on the post-transcriptional level. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae DMR1 (CCM1, YGR150C) encodes a PPR protein that localizes to mitochondria. Deletion of DMR1 results in a complete and irreversible loss of respiratory capacity and loss of wild-type mtDNA by conversion to rho(-)/rho(0) petites, regardless of the presence of introns in mtDNA. The phenotype of the dmr1Delta mitochondria is characterized by fragmentation of the small subunit mitochondrial rRNA (15S rRNA), that can be reversed by wild-type Dmr1p. Other mitochondrial transcripts, including the large subunit mitochondrial rRNA (21S rRNA), are not affected by the lack of Dmr1p. The purified Dmr1 protein specifically binds to different regions of 15S rRNA in vitro, consistent with the deletion phenotype. Dmr1p is therefore the first yeast PPR protein, which has an rRNA target and is probably involved in the biogenesis of mitochondrial ribosomes and translation.

Pathogenic role of mtDNA duplications in mitochondrial diseases associated with mtDNA deletions.

PubMed

Odoardi, Francesca; Rana, Michele; Broccolini, Aldobrando; Mirabella, Massimiliano; Modoni, Anna; D'Amico, Adele; Papacci, Manuela; Tonali, Pietro; Servidei, Serenella; Silvestri, Gabriella

2003-04-30

We estimated the frequency of multiple mtDNA rearrangements by Southern blot in 32 patients affected by mitochondrial disorders associated with single deletions in order to assess genotype-phenotype correlations and elucidate the pathogenic significance of mtDNA duplications. Muscle in situ hybridization studies were performed in patients showing mtDNA duplications at Southern blot. We found multiple rearrangements in 12/32 (37.5%) patients; in particular, mtDNA duplications were detected in 4/4 Kearns-Sayre syndrome (KSS), in 1 Pearson's syndrome, in 1/3 encephalomyopathies with progressive external ophthalmoplegia (PEO), and in 2/23 PEO. In situ studies documented an exclusive accumulation of deleted mtDNAs in cytochrome c oxidase negative fibers of patients with mtDNA duplications. The presence of mtDNA duplications significantly correlated with onset of symptoms before age 15 and occurrence of clinical multisystem involvement. Analysis of biochemical data documented a predominant reduction of complex III in patients without duplications compared to patients with mtDNA duplications. Our data indicate that multiple mtDNA rearrangements are detectable in a considerable proportion of patients with single deletions and that mtDNA duplications do not cause any oxidative impairment. They more likely play a pathogenic role in the determination of clinical expression of mitochondrial diseases associated with single mtDNA deletions, possibly generating deleted mtDNAs in embryonic tissues by homologous recombination. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Hybridization, mitochondrial DNA phylogeography, and prediction of the early stages of reproductive isolation: lessons from New Zealand cicadas (genus Kikihia).

PubMed

Marshall, David C; Hill, Kathy B R; Cooley, John R; Simon, Chris

2011-07-01

One of the major tenets of the modern synthesis is that genetic differentiation among subpopulations is translated over time into genetic differentiation among species. Phylogeographic exploration is therefore essential to the study of speciation because it can reveal the presence of subpopulations that may go on to become species or that may already represent cryptic species. Acoustic species-specific mating signals provide a significant advantage for the recognition of cryptic or incipient species. Because the majority of species do not have such easily recognized premating signals, data from acoustically signaling species can serve as a valuable heuristic tool. Acoustic signals are also convenient tools for recognizing hybridization events. Here, we demonstrate that evidence of hybridization in the form of intermediate song phenotypes is present in many contact zones between species of the New Zealand grass cicadas of the Kikihia muta species complex and that recurring mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) introgression has created misleading patterns that make it difficult to identify certain taxa using song or mtDNA alone. In one case, introgression appears to have occurred between allopatric taxa by dispersal of introgressed populations of an intermediary species ("hybridization by proxy"). We also present a comparison of mtDNA-tree- and song-based taxonomies obtained for the K. muta complex. We find that 12 mtDNA candidate species are identified using shifts in phylogenetic branching rate found by a single-threshold mixed Yule-coalescent lineage model, while only 7 candidate species are identified using songs. Results from the Yule-coalescent model are dependent on factors such as the number of modeled thresholds and the inclusion of duplicate haplotypes. Genetic distances within song species reach a maximum at about 0.028 substitutions/site when likely cases of hybridization and introgression are excluded. Large genetic breaks or "gaps" are not observed between some northern (warmer climate) song clades, possibly because climate-induced bottlenecks have been less severe. These results support ongoing calls for multimarker genetic studies as well as "integrative taxonomy" that combines information from multiple character sources, including behavior, ecology, geography, and morphology. © The Author(s) 2011. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Society of Systematic Biologists. All rights reserved.

Geomorphology and age of the Marocche di Dro rock avalanches (Trentino, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivy-Ochs, S.; Martin, S.; Campedel, P.; Hippe, K.; Alfimov, V.; Vockenhuber, C.; Andreotti, E.; Carugati, G.; Pasqual, D.; Rigo, M.; Viganò, A.

2017-08-01

The Marocche di Dro deposits in the lower Sarca Valley are some of the most distinctive rock avalanche deposits of the Alps. We use geomorphology and cosmogenic 36Cl exposure dating of boulders to divide the Marocche di Dro deposits into two rock avalanche bodies; the Marocca Principale to the north and the Kas to the south. The deposits were previously undated and had been mapped as up to five different events. The largest event Marocca Principale, which comprises an estimated 1000 106 m3 of predominantly Rotzo Formation limestones, occurred 5300 ± 860 yr ago. The release area is located mainly in the alcove between Mt. Casale and Mt. Granzoline, but likely extends all the way to Mt. Brento. The Kas event took place 1080 ± 160 yr ago with detachment below Mt. Brento. The Kas debris, with an estimated volume of 300 106 m3, buried the southern third of the Marocca Principale deposit. Kas presents a barren, stark landscape dominated by house-sized Tovel Member Rotzo Formation boulders bearing distinctive chert lenses. Both the extreme relief of the rock wall (more than 1300 m) and the tectonic setting predispose the range front to massive failure. For the two events, initially translational movement likely quickly evolved into complex failure and massive collapse. Run-out across the valley of several kilometers and run-up on the opposite slope of hundreds of meters followed. A summary of all dated and large historical landslides in the Alps underlines the periods of enhanced slope activity discussed in the literature: 10-9 kyr, 5-3 kyr, and 2-1 kyr, the latter especially for the Southern Alps. No deposits of the first temporal cluster are found at Marocche di Dro. The age of Marocca Principale at 5300 ± 860 yr suggests occurrence during the second period. Failure may have been related to the shift to wetter, colder climate at the transition from the middle to the late Holocene. Nevertheless, a seismic trigger cannot be ruled out. For the Kas rock avalanche at 1080 ± 160 yr ago we implicate the ;Middle Adige Valley; (1046 CE) earthquake as trigger. Its epicentral distance is much closer to the Sarca Valley in comparison to that of the Verona earthquake (1117 CE).

Adjusting MtDNA Quantification in Whole Blood for Peripheral Blood Platelet and Leukocyte Counts.

PubMed

Hurtado-Roca, Yamilee; Ledesma, Marta; Gonzalez-Lazaro, Monica; Moreno-Loshuertos, Raquel; Fernandez-Silva, Patricio; Enriquez, Jose Antonio; Laclaustra, Martin

2016-01-01

Alterations of mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) in the blood (mitochondrial to nuclear DNA ratio) appear associated with several systemic diseases, including primary mitochondrial disorders, carcinogenesis, and hematologic diseases. Measuring mtDNAcn in DNA extracted from whole blood (WB) instead of from peripheral blood mononuclear cells or buffy coat may yield different results due to mitochondrial DNA present in platelets. The aim of this work is to quantify the contribution of platelets to mtDNAcn in whole blood [mtDNAcn(WB)] and to propose a correction formula to estimate leukocytes' mtDNAcn [mtDNAcn(L)] from mtDNAcn(WB). Blood samples from 10 healthy adults were combined with platelet-enriched plasma and saline solution to produce artificial blood preparations. Aliquots of each sample were combined with five different platelet concentrations. In 46 of these blood preparations, mtDNAcn was measured by qPCR. MtDNAcn(WB) increased 1.07 (95%CI 0.86, 1.29; p<0.001) per 1000 platelets present in the preparation. We proved that leukocyte count should also be taken into account as mtDNAcn(WB) was inversely associated with leukocyte count; it increased 1.10 (95%CI 0.95, 1.25, p<0.001) per unit increase of the ratio between platelet and leukocyte counts. If hematological measurements are available, subtracting 1.10 the platelets/leukocyte ratio from mtDNAcn(WB) may serve as an estimation for mtDNAcn(L). Both platelet and leukocyte counts in the sample are important sources of variation if comparing mtDNAcn among groups of patients when mtDNAcn is measured in DNA extracted from whole blood. Not taking the platelet/leukocyte ratio into account in whole blood measurements, may lead to overestimation and misclassification if interpreted as leukocytes' mtDNAcn.

Feasibility study of a combined treatment of electromyography-triggered neuromuscular stimulation and mirror therapy in stroke patients: a randomized crossover trial.

PubMed

Kojima, Kosuke; Ikuno, Koki; Morii, Yuta; Tokuhisa, Kentaro; Morimoto, Shigeru; Shomoto, Koji

2014-01-01

Mirror therapy (MT) and electromyography-triggered neuromuscular stimulation (ETMS) are both effective treatments for impaired upper limbs following stroke. A combination of these two treatments (ETMS-MT) may result in greater gain than either treatment alone. The feasibility and possible effects of ETMS-MT upon upper extremity function were investigated in stroke patients. Thirteen post-acute stroke patients were randomly assigned to an immediate ETMS-MT group or a delayed ETMS-MT group and then underwent an 8-week training program. The immediate ETMS-MT group received ETMS-MT in addition to physical and occupational therapy (PT+OT) for 4 weeks. They then received only PT+OT for the next 4 weeks. In the delayed ETMS-MT group, interventions were provided in the reverse order. The main outcome measure was the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA). The immediate ETMS-MT group showed significantly greater gain in FMA in the first 4 weeks. The delayed ETMS-MT group showed significantly greater gain in active range of motion during the latter 4 weeks. No adverse effects were reported following ETMS-MT. ETMS-MT might be as effective as independent MT or ETMS without causing any side effects. Future research should focus upon the direct comparisons between independent and combined interventions.

Genome sequence of two members of the chloroaromatic-degrading MT community: Pseudomonas reinekei MT1 and Achromobacter xylosoxidans MT3.

PubMed

Gutierrez-Urrutia, Izabook; Miossec, Matthieu J; Valenzuela, Sandro L; Meneses, Claudio; Dos Santos, Vitor A P Martins; Castro-Nallar, Eduardo; Poblete-Castro, Ignacio

2018-06-10

We describe the genome sequence of Pseudomonas reinekei MT1 and Achromobacter xylosoxidans MT3, the most abundant members of a bacterial community capable of degrading chloroaromatic compounds. The MT1 genome contains open reading frames encoding enzymes responsible for the catabolism of chlorosalicylate, methylsalicylate, chlorophenols, phenol, benzoate, p-coumarate, phenylalanine, and phenylacetate. On the other hand, the MT3 strain genome possesses no ORFs to metabolize chlorosalicylates; instead the bacterium is capable of metabolizing nitro-phenolic and phenolic compounds, which can be used as the only carbon and energy source by MT3. We also confirmed that MT3 displays the genetic machinery for the metabolism of chlorocathecols and chloromuconates, where the latter are toxic compounds secreted by MT1 when degrading chlorosalicylates. Altogether, this work will advance our fundamental understanding of bacterial interactions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Human anatomy nomenclature rules for the computer age.

PubMed

Neumann, Paul E; Baud, Robert; Sprumont, Pierre

2017-04-01

Information systems are increasing in importance in biomedical sciences and medical practice. The nomenclature rules of human anatomy were reviewed for adequacy with respect to modern needs. New rules are proposed here to ensure that each Latin term is uniquely associated with an anatomical entity, as short and simple as possible, and machine-interpretable. Observance of these recommendations will also benefit students and translators of the Latin terms into other languages. Clin. Anat. 30:300-302, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Integrated Systems of Automatic Radio Equipment,

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-05-20

Publishing House "Sovetskoye Radio", Moscow, 1968, pp. 1 -232 Country of origin: USSR This document is a machine translation. Requester: USAMICOM...5 Chapter 1 , Fundamental Characteristics of the Meters of Integrated Systems .. .................. ........... 12 Chapter 2...ts 3 3 3 7 Z, z 91 4 Ch, ch Ku I, i LU w s11 Sh, sh a 0 Y, y W . NJ Shch, shch X x K, k b It f A7 , L, 1 --- - - Y, y . MM M, m = I & . H H N, n 3 3

Neurofeedback Training for BCI Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neuper, Christa; Pfurtscheller, Gert

Brain-computer interface (BCI) systems detect changes in brain signals that reflect human intention, then translate these signals to control monitors or external devices (for a comprehensive review, see [1]). BCIs typically measure electrical signals resulting from neural firing (i.e. neuronal action potentials, Electroencephalogram (ECoG), or Electroencephalogram (EEG)). Sophisticated pattern recognition and classification algorithms convert neural activity into the required control signals. BCI research has focused heavily on developing powerful signal processing and machine learning techniques to accurately classify neural activity [2-4].

Computational Linguistics in Military Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

information dominance at the operational and tactical level of war in future warfare. Discussion: Mastering culture and language in a foreign country is decisive to understand the operational environment. In addition, the ability to understand and speak a foreign language is a prerequisite to achieve truly comprehension of an unfamiliar culture. Lasting operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and the necessity to breach the language gap lead to progress in the field of Machine Translation and the development of technical solutions to close the gap in the past decade. This paper

Translations from Red Flag No. 9, 3 September 1978

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-11-06

of the Death of Great Leader and Teacher Chairman Mao (pp 18-23) (Hsu Shih -yu) • 23 Deeply Cherish the Memory of Comrade Lo Jui-ching, an...well. At the First National Conference on Learning From Tachai in Agriculture, Comrade Hua Kuo -feng called on all departments of the party Central^Com...in acting like "Chin Shih Huang." As to how to reorganize the farm machinery industry, however, the First Ministry of Machine Building should make

Genome-Wide Analysis of Translational Control in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-07-01

particular non-AUG codons in the 5’UTR. However, these data was “noisy” and required a machine-learning algorithm to identify TIS codons. We develop...To investigate how nutrient signaling affects the folding of nascent chains, we used firefly luciferase (Luc) as a reporter because of its high...folding as the structural basis for the rapid de novo folding of firefly luciferase. Nat Struct Biol 6(7):697-705. 12. Gupta R, Kasturi P, Bracher A

NASA STI Program Coordinating Council Eleventh Meeting: NASA STI Modernization Plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

The theme of this NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program Coordinating Council Meeting was the modernization of the STI Program. Topics covered included the activities of the Engineering Review Board in the creation of the Infrastructure Upgrade Plan, the progress of the RECON Replacement Project, the use and status of Electronic SCAN (Selected Current Aerospace Notices), the Machine Translation Project, multimedia, electronic document interchange, the NASA Access Mechanism, computer network upgrades, and standards in the architectural effort.

Balanced-Rotating-Spray Tank-And-Pipe-Cleaning System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thaxton, Eric A.; Caimi, Raoul E. B.

1995-01-01

Spray head translates and rotates to clean entire inner surface of tank or pipe. Cleansing effected by three laterally balanced gas/liquid jets from spray head that rotates about longitudinal axis. Uses much less liquid. Cleaning process in system relies on mechanical action of jets instead of contaminant dissolution. Eliminates very difficult machining needed to make multiple converging/diverging nozzles within one spray head. Makes nozzle much smaller. Basic two-phase-flow, supersonic-nozzle design applied to other spray systems for interior or exterior cleaning.

Combining afferent stimulation and mirror therapy for rehabilitating motor function, motor control, ambulation, and daily functions after stroke.

PubMed

Lin, Keh-chung; Huang, Pai-chuan; Chen, Yu-ting; Wu, Ching-yi; Huang, Wen-ling

2014-02-01

Mirror therapy (MT) and mesh glove (MG) afferent stimulation may be effective in reducing motor impairment after stroke. A hybrid intervention of MT combined with MG (MT + MG) may broaden aspects of treatment benefits. To demonstrate the comparative effects of MG + MT, MT, and a control treatment (CT) on the outcomes of motor impairments, manual dexterity, ambulation function, motor control, and daily function. Forty-three chronic stroke patients with mild to moderate upper extremity impairment were randomly assigned to receive MT + MG, MT, or CT for 1.5 hours/day, 5 days/week for 4 weeks. Outcome measures were the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) and muscle tone measured by Myoton-3 for motor impairment and the Box and Block Test (BBT) and 10-Meter Walk Test (10 MWT) for motor function. Secondary outcomes included kinematic parameters for motor control and the Motor Activity Log and ABILHAND Questionnaire for daily function. FMA total scores were significantly higher and synergistic shoulder abduction during reach was less in the MT + MG and MT groups compared with the CT group. Performance on the BBT and the 10 MWT (velocity and stride length in self-paced task and velocity in as-quickly-as-possible task) were improved after MT + MG compared with MT. MT + MG improved manual dexterity and ambulation. MT + MG and MT reduced motor impairment and synergistic shoulder abduction more than CT. Future studies may integrate functional task practice into treatments to enhance functional outcomes in patients with various levels of motor severity. The long-term effects of MG + MT remain to be evaluated.

Visualization of anthropometric measures of workers in computer 3D modeling of work place.

PubMed

Mijović, B; Ujević, D; Baksa, S

2001-12-01

In this work, 3D visualization of a work place by means of a computer-made 3D-machine model and computer animation of a worker have been performed. By visualization of 3D characters in inverse kinematic and dynamic relation with the operating part of a machine, the biomechanic characteristics of worker's body have been determined. The dimensions of a machine have been determined by an inspection of technical documentation as well as by direct measurements and recordings of the machine by camera. On the basis of measured body height of workers all relevant anthropometric measures have been determined by a computer program developed by the authors. By knowing the anthropometric measures, the vision fields and the scope zones while forming work places, exact postures of workers while performing technological procedures were determined. The minimal and maximal rotation angles and the translation of upper and lower arm which are basis for the analysis of worker burdening were analyzed. The dimensions of the seized space of a body are obtained by computer anthropometric analysis of movement, e.g. range of arms, position of legs, head, back. The influence of forming of a work place on correct postures of workers during work has been reconsidered and thus the consumption of energy and fatigue can be reduced to a minimum.

Metallothionein turnover in mammalian cell lines: implications in drug resistance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Monia, B.P.; Butt, T.R.; Ecker, D.J.

1986-05-01

Metallothioneins (MT) are low molecular weight, cysteine-rich proteins believed to participate in metal detoxification. A wide variety of cells in culture have been shown to accumulate MT in response to metal administration. These metal-induced increases in MT levels result from an increased rate of MT gene transcription, MT mRNA accumulation, and MT synthesis. Turnover of Cd-, Zn- and Au-induced MT was studied in a Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell line which was resistant to Cd and the Au-containing drug Auranofin (AF). Cd, Zn and Au were potent inducers of MT mRNA and accumulated approximately equal amounts of mRNA under themore » conditions employed in this study. Pulse-chase studies utilizing (/sup 35/S)cysteine revealed that the half-life of Au-, Zn- and Cd-induced MT was 0.75, 10 and 24 hrs. respectively. The reported differences in the tertiary structure of Au-MT from that of Cd-MT lead us to propose that the differences in half-lives observed reflect differences in subceptibility to intracellular proteolysis, which in turn, may effect the ability of MT to confer resistance to various metals.« less

Multi scale modeling of 2450MHz electric field effects on microtubule mechanical properties.

PubMed

Setayandeh, S S; Lohrasebi, A

2016-11-01

Microtubule (MT) rigidity and response to 2450MHz electric fields were investigated, via multi scale modeling approach. For this purpose, six systems were designed and simulated to consider all types of feasible interactions between α and β monomers in MT, by using all atom molecular dynamics method. Subsequently, coarse grain modeling was used to design different lengths of MT. Investigation of effects of external 2450MHz electric field on MT showed MT less rigidity in the presence of such field, which may perturb its functions. Moreover, an additional computational setup was designed to study effects of 2450MHz field on MT response to AFM tip. It was found, more tip velocity led to MT faster transformation and less time was required to change MT elastic response to plastic one, applying constant radius. Moreover it was observed smaller tip caused to increase required time to change MT elastic response to plastic one, considering constant velocity. Furthermore, exposing MT to 2450MHz field led to no significant changes in MT response to AFM tip, but quick change in MT elastic response to plastic one. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluating use and outcomes of mobility technology: a multiple stakeholder analysis.

PubMed

Hammel, Joy; Southall, Kenneth; Jutai, Jeffrey; Finlayson, Marcia; Kashindi, Gabriel; Fok, Daniel

2013-07-01

This qualitative, multi-site study compared and contrasted the outcomes of mobility technology (MT) and the factors influencing these outcomes from the perspective of MT users, caregivers, and professionals involved in MT service delivery. Qualitative focus groups were held in the USA and Canada with multiple stakeholder groups (consumer: n = 45, caregiver: n = 10, service provider: n = 10). Data were analyzed thematically. MT outcomes were conceptualized by participants as a match between expectations for MT and the actual outcomes experienced. Several factors influenced the match including a) MT features, b) environmental factors (e.g. built/physical environment, societal context of acceptance, MT delivery systems/policies), and c) the ability to self-manage the interaction across person, technology and environment, which involved constant negotiation and strategizing. Stakeholders identified MT outcomes that corresponded to ICF levels including body structure and function, activity, and participation across environments; however, varied on their importance and influence on MT impact. The conceptual fit model and factors related to self-management of MT represent new knowledge and provide a framework for stakeholder-based evaluation of MT outcomes. Implications for MT assessment, service delivery, outcomes research, and interventions are discussed.

Deoxynucleoside salvage enzymes and tissue specific mitochondrial DNA depletion.

PubMed

Wang, L

2010-06-01

Adequate mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copies are required for normal mitochondria function and reductions in mtDNA copy number due to genetic alterations cause tissue-specific mtDNA depletion syndrome (MDS). There are eight nuclear genes, directly or indirectly involved in mtDNA replication and mtDNA precursor synthesis, which have been identified as the cause of MDS. However, the tissue specific pathology of these nuclear gene mutations is not well understood. Here, mtDNA synthesis, mtDNA copy number control, and mtDNA turnover, as well as the synthesis of mtDNA precursors in relation to the levels of salvage enzymes are discussed. The question why MDS caused by TK2 and p53R2 mutations are predominantly muscle specific while dGK deficiency affected mainly liver will be addressed.