The complete genome of the crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus P2

The genome of the crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus P2 contains 2,992,245 bp on a single chromosome and encodes 2,977 proteins and many RNAs. One-third of the encoded proteins have no detectable homologs in other sequenced genomes. Moreover, 40% appear to be archaeal-specific, and only 12% and 2.3% are shared exclusively with bacteria and eukarya, respectively. The genome shows a high level of plasticity with 200 diverse insertion sequence elements, many putative nonautonomous mobile elements, and evidence of integrase-mediated insertion events. There are also long clusters of regularly spaced tandem repeats. Different transfer systems are used for the uptake of inorganic and organic solutes, and a wealth of intracellular and extracellular proteases, sugar, and sulfur metabolizing enzymes are encoded, as well as enzymes of the central metabolic pathways and motility proteins. The major metabolic electron carrier is not NADH as in bacteria and eukarya but probably ferredoxin. The essential components required for DNA replication, DNA repair and recombination, the cell cycle, transcriptional initiation and translation, but not DNA folding, show a strong eukaryal character with many archaeal-specific features. The results illustrate major differences between crenarchaea and euryarchaea, especially for their DNA replication mechanism and cell cycle processes and their translational apparatus.

Vídeo-Mapa: uma interface de geovisualização multimídia aplicada a transportes e meio ambiente.

A presente tese propõe uma metodologia de vídeo-mapeamento móvel georreferenciado a partir do desenvolvimento de protótipos que utilizam uma Interface de Geovisualização Multimídia para sincronizar o registro (em vídeo) de um local ou evento de interesse com a rota percorrida pelo veículo de inspeção (sobre mapa ou imagem), através da coleta de dados por sensores móveis: câmera digital, microfone, receptor GNSS e bússola digital. A interface permite a integração desses sensores com os atuais serviços de mapas digitais disponíveis na web. Sistemas como esse melhoram significativamente as análises temporais, a gestão e a tomada de decisão. A interface proposta e desenvolvida no presente trabalho é útil para muitas aplicações como ferramenta de monitoramento e inventário. Esta interface pode ser entendida como o componente visual de um sistema de mapeamento móvel ou como um sistema cartográfico alternativo ou complementar, para aplicações em que a precisão geométrica do receptor GNSS, na modalidade de navegação, é suficiente e sua acessibilidade, um fator competitivo. As aplicações desenvolvidas no presente trabalho foram duas: um sistema de monitoramento e inventário de placas de sinalização viária e um sistema de monitoramento de cheias/secas e inventário de propriedades na borda de reservatórios de hidroelétricas, ambos em pleno funcionamento.

Estimação de imagens acústicas com arranjos de microfones.

Nas últimas décadas, a poluição sonora tornou-se um grande problema para a sociedade. É por esta razão que a indústria tem aumentado seus esforços para reduzir a emissão de ruído. Para fazer isso, é importante localizar quais partes das fontes sonoras são as que emitem maior energia acústica. Conhecer os pontos de emissão é necessário para ter o controle das mesmas e assim poder reduzir o impacto acústico-ambiental. Técnicas como \"beamforming\" e \"Near-Field Acoustic Holography\" (NAH) permitem a obtenção de imagens acústicas. Essas imagens são obtidas usando um arranjo de microfones localizado a uma distância relativa de uma fonte emissora de ruído. Uma vez adquiridos os dados experimentais pode-se obter a localização e magnitude dos principais pontos de emissão de ruído. Do mesmo modo, ajudam a localizar fontes aeroacústicas e vibro acústicas porque são ferramentas de propósito geral. Usualmente, estes tipos de fontes trabalham em diferentes faixas de frequência de emissão. Recentemente, foi desenvolvida a transformada de Kronecker para arranjos de microfones, a qual fornece uma redução significativa do custo computacional quando aplicada a diversos métodos de reconstrução de imagens, desde que os microfones estejam distribuídos em um arranjo separável. Este trabalho de mestrado propõe realizar medições com sinais reais, usando diversos algoritmos desenvolvidos anteriormente em uma tese de doutorado, quanto à qualidade do resultado obtido e à complexidade computacional, e o desenvolvimento de alternativas para tratamento de dados quando alguns microfones do arranjo apresentarem defeito. Para reduzir o impacto de falhas em microfones e manter a condição de que o arranjo seja separável, foi desenvolvida uma alternativa para utilizar os algoritmos rápidos, eliminando-se apenas os microfones com defeito, de maneira que os resultados finais serão obtidos levando-se em conta todos os microfones do arranjo.

Renewable Energies and Community Associations: Providing Homeowners with Renewable Energy Options

As energy costs increase in Colorado more homeowners will need renewable energies to provide electricity, heating and cooling for their homes. Renewable energy technology and energy efficient measures have been available for decades but Homeowner Associations (HOA) has not permitted this technology into communities primarily because of aesthetics. In April 2008, House Bill 1270 was signed into law that gives homeowners the right to make their homes more energy efficient and install renewable energy generation devices. The purpose of this capstone is to enable HOAs with information on available technology and design guideline options that can be integrated into communities and thus encourage, instead of hinder, the use of renewable energy and energy efficient measures.

Analysis of internal astigmatism and higher order aberrations in eyes implanted with a new diffractive multifocal toric intraocular lens

Background To evaluate the intraocular lens (IOL) position by analyzing the postoperative axis of internal astigmatism as well as the higher-order aberration (HOA) profile after cataract surgery following the implantation of a diffractive multifocal toric IOL. Methods Prospective study including 51 eyes with corneal astigmatism of 1.25D or higher of 29 patients with ages ranging between 20 and 61 years old. All cases underwent uneventful cataract surgery with implantation of the AT LISA 909 M toric IOL (Zeiss). Visual, refractive and corneal topograpy changes were evaluated during a 12-month follow-up. In addition, the axis of internal astigmatism as well as ocular, corneal, and internal HOA (5-mm pupil) were evaluated postoperatively by means of an integrated aberrometer (OPD Scan II, Nidek). Results A significant improvement in uncorrected distance and near visual acuities (p < 0.01) was found, which was consistent with a significant correction of manifest astigmatism (p < 0.01). No significant changes were observed in corneal astigmatism (p = 0.32). With regard to IOL alignment, the difference between the axes of postoperative internal and preoperative corneal astigmatisms was close to perpendicularity (12 months, 87.16° ± 7.14), without significant changes during the first 6 months (p ≥ 0.46). Small but significant changes were detected afterwards (p = 0.01). Additionally, this angular difference correlated with the postoperative magnitude of manifest cylinder (r = 0.31, p = 0.03). Minimal contribution of intraocular optics to the global magnitude of HOA was observed. Conclusions The diffractive multifocal toric IOL evaluated is able to provide a predictable astigmatic correction with apparent excellent levels of optical quality during the first year after implantation.

Women's Rights in the Aftermath of Egypt's Revolution. Arab Citizenship Review No. 9, 26 August 2015 [also EUSpring Working Paper No. 5]

Addressing the issue of “women’s rights” in Egypt may seem like an easy topic from a purely legal standpoint, but the most enlightening way to do so is to adopt a holistic approach by understanding the political, social, cultural and class effects of this issue. Since 1952, people in Egypt have looked at “women’s rights” as a purely state matter, one characterised mainly by legal reforms. Until 2011, women’s rights were manipulated via a top-down approach by making changes in some policies and laws. Since 2011, with the emergence of the question of social movements, tackling women’s rights has been transformed via the use of certain tools and different perspectives. This is clearly manifested in the vast mobilisation that took place in governorates outside Cairo, which featured the use of artistic tools such as graffiti, story-telling performances, the production of feminist songs, open-microphone sessions, etc., in addition to the extensive use of social media and online campaigning to mainstream feminist ideologies and highlight violations experienced by women. Before 2011, the public space in Egypt was limited to citizens, political groups and civil society for employing legal approaches such as litigations and policy changes by direct pressure on authorities. The 2011 revolution opened the public space to the use of new tools that are not limited to protests and sit-ins, but also new media windows and new political forces who carried the question of certain rights in their agendas as well as the accessibility of different governmental actors. This paper will highlight different topics around women’s rights and gender issues in Egypt after 2011. This paper will review different gender issues after 2011, including the targeting of women in public spaces, women’s representation in decision-making bodies, legal reform, economic and social rights, and sexual and reproductive rights. It will also investigate how the feminist movement has changed and evolved since 2011, and to what degree women's issues and feminism can be analysed in a multidisciplinary way.

Intracranial haemorrhage due to late onset vitamin K deficiency bleeding in Hanoi province, Vietnam

Background: In many developing countries vitamin K prophylaxis is not routinely administered at birth. There are insufficient data to assess the cost effectiveness of its implementation in such countries. Objective: To estimate the burden of intracranial haemorrhage caused by late onset vitamin K deficiency bleeding in Hanoi, Vietnam. Methods: Cases of intracranial haemorrhage in infants aged 1 - 13 weeks were identified in Hanoi province for 5 years ( 1995 - 1999), and evidence for vitamin K deficiency was sought. The data were compared with those on vitamin K deficiency bleeding in developed countries and used to obtain an approximation to the incidence of intracranial haemorrhage caused by vitamin K deficiency bleeding in Hanoi. Results: The estimated incidence of late onset vitamin K deficiency bleeding in infants who received no prophylaxis was unexpectedly high ( 116 per 100 000 births) with 142 and 81 per 100 000 births in rural and urban areas respectively. Mortality was 9%. Of the surviving infants, 42% were neurologically abnormal at the time of hospital discharge. Identified associations were rural residence, male sex, and low birth weight. A significant reduction in the incidence was observed in urban Hanoi during 1998 and 1999, after vitamin K prophylaxis was introduced at one urban obstetric hospital. Conclusions: Vitamin K deficiency bleeding is a major public health problem in Hanoi. The results indicate that routine vitamin K prophylaxis would significantly reduce infant morbidity and mortality in Vietnam and, costing an estimated US$87 (pound48, E72) per disability adjusted life year saved, is a highly cost effective intervention.

Signal processing in a loudspeaking telephone

One of the major problems associated with communication via a loudspeaking telephone (LST) is that, using analogue processing, duplex transmission is limited to low-loss lines and produces a low acoustic output. An architectural for an instrument has been developed and tested, which uses digital signal processing to provide duplex transmission between a LST and a telopnone handset over most of the B.T. network. Digital adaptive-filters are used in the duplex LST to cancel coupling between the loudspeaker and microphone, and across the transmit to receive paths of the 2-to-4-wire converter. Normal movement of a person in the acoustic path causes a loss of stability by increasing the level of coupling from the loudspeaker to the microphone, since there is a lag associated the adaptive filters learning about a non-stationary path, Control of the loop stability and the level of sidetone heard by the hadset user is by a microprocessoe, which continually monitors the system and regulates the gain. The result is a system which offers the best compromise available based on a set of measured parameters.A theory has been developed which gives the loop stability requirements based on the error between the parameters of the filter and those of the unknown path. The programme to develope a low-cost adaptive filter in LST produced a low-cost adaptive filter in LST produced a unique architecture which has a number of features not available in any similar system. These include automatic compensation for the rate of adaptation over a 36 dB range of output level, , 4 rates of adaptation (with a maximum of 465 dB/s), plus the ability to cascade up to 4 filters without loss o performance. A complex story has been developed to determine the adptation which can be achieved using finite-precision arithmatic. This enabled the development of an architecture which distributed the normalisation required to achieve optimum rate of adaptation over the useful input range. Comparison of theory and measurement for the adaptive filter show very close agreement. A single experimental LST was built and tested on connections to hanset telephones over the BT network. The LST demonstrated that duplex transmission was feasible using signal processing and produced a more comfortable means of communication beween people than methods emplying deep voice-switching to regulate the local-loop gain. Although, with the current level of processing power, it is not a panacea and attention must be directed toward the physical acoustic isolation between loudspeaker and microphone.

A 20-Mb/s VLC link with a polymer LED and a multilayer perceptron equalizer

This letter experimentally demonstrates a visible light communication system using a 350-kHz polymer lightemitting diode operating at a total bit rate of 19 Mb/s with a bit error rate (BER) of 10-6and 20 Mb/s at the forward error correction limit for the first time. This represents a remarkable net data rate gain of ~55 times. The modulation format adopted is ON-OFF keying in conjunction with an artificial neural network classifier implemented as an equalizer. The number of neurons used in the experiment is varied from the set N = {5, 10, 20, 30, 40} with 40 neurons offering the best performance at 19 Mb/s and the BER of 10-6.

Optical quality for keratoconic eyes with conventional RGP lens and simulated, customised contact lens corrections:a comparison

Purpose: To compare monochromatic aberrations of keratoconic eyes when uncorrected, corrected with spherically-powered RGP (rigid gas-permeable) contact lenses and corrected using simulations of customised soft contact lenses for different magnitudes of rotation (up to 15°) and translation (up to 1mm) from their ideal position. Methods: The ocular aberrations of examples of mild, moderate and severe keratoconic eyes were measured when uncorrected and when wearing their habitual RGP lenses. Residual aberrations and point-spread functions of each eye were simulated using an ideal, customised soft contact lens (designed to neutralise higher-order aberrations, HOA) were calculated as a function of the angle of rotation of the lens from its ideal orientation, and its horizontal and vertical translation. Results: In agreement with the results of other authors, the RGP lenses markedly reduced both lower-order aberrations and HOA for all three patients. When compared with the RGP lens corrections, the customised lens simulations only provided optical improvements if their movements were constrained within limits which appear to be difficult to achieve with current technologies. Conclusions: At the present time, customised contact lens corrections appear likely to offer, at best, only minor optical improvements over RGP lenses for patients with keratoconus. If made in soft materials, however, these lenses may be preferred by patients in term of comfort. © 2012 The College of Optometrists.

Multi-band carrier-less amplitude and phase modulation for bandlimited visible light communications systems

Visible light communications is a technology with enormous potential for a wide range of applications within next generation transmission and broadcasting technologies. VLC offers simultaneous illumination and data communications by intensity modulating the optical power emitted by LEDs operating in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum (~370-780 nm). The major challenge in VLC systems to date has been in improving transmission speeds, considering the low bandwidths available with commercial LED devices. Thus, to improve the spectral usage, the research community has increasingly turned to advanced modulation formats such as orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing. In this article we introduce a new modulation scheme into the VLC domain; multiband carrier-less amplitude and phase modulation (m-CAP) and describe in detail its performance within the context of bandlimited systems.

Short- and long-term changes in corneal aberrations and axial length induced by orthokeratology in children are not correlated

PURPOSE: To assess the correlation between changes in corneal aberrations and the 2-year change in axial length in children fitted with orthokeratology (OK) contact lenses. METHODS: Thirty-one subjects 6 to 12 years of age and with myopia −0.75 to −4.00DS and astigmatism ≤1.00DC were fitted with OK. Measurements of axial length and corneal topography were taken at regular intervals over a 2-year period. Corneal topography at baseline and after 3 and 24 months of OK lens wear was used to derive higher-order corneal aberrations (HOA) that were correlated with OK-induced axial length changes at 2 years. RESULTS: Significant changes in C3, C4, C4, root mean square (RMS) secondary astigmatism and fourth and total HOA were found with both 3 and 24 months of OK lens wear in comparison with baseline (all P0.05). Coma angle of orientation changed significantly pre-OK in comparison with 3 and 24 months post-OK as well as secondary astigmatism angle of orientation pre-OK in comparison with 24 months post-OK (all P0.05). DISCUSSION: Short-term and long-term OK lens wear induces significant changes in corneal aberrations that are not significantly correlated with changes in axial elongation after 2-years.

Enhancing non-refractory aerosol apportionment from an urban industrial site through receptor modelling of complete high time-resolution aerosol mass spectra

Receptor modelling was performed on quadrupole unit mass resolution aerosol mass spectrometer (Q-AMS) sub-micron particulate matter (PM) chemical speciation measurements from Windsor, Ontario, an industrial city situated across the Detroit River from Detroit, Michigan. Aerosol and trace gas measurements were collected on board Environment Canada’s CRUISER mobile laboratory. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was performed on the AMS full particle-phase mass spectrum (PMFFull MS) encompassing both organic and inorganic components. This approach was compared to the more common method of analysing only the organic mass spectra (PMFOrg MS). PMF of the full mass spectrum revealed that variability in the non-refractory sub-micron aerosol concentration and composition was best explained by six factors: an amine-containing factor (Amine); an ammonium sulphate and oxygenated organic aerosol containing factor (Sulphate-OA); an ammonium nitrate and oxygenated organic aerosol containing factor (Nitrate-OA); an ammonium chloride containing factor (Chloride); a hydrocarbon like organic aerosol (HOA) factor; and a moderately oxygenated organic aerosol factor (OOA). PMF of the organic mass spectrum revealed three factors of similar composition to some of those revealed through PMFFull MS: Amine, HOA and OOA. Including both the inorganic and organic mass proved to be a beneficial approach to analysing the unit mass resolution AMS data for several reasons. First, it provided a method for potentially calculating more accurate sub-micron PM mass concentrations, particularly when unusual factors are present, in this case, an Amine factor. As this method does not rely on a priori knowledge of chemical species, it circumvents the need for any adjustments to the traditional AMS species fragmentation patterns to account for atypical species, and can thus lead to more complete factor profiles. It is expected that this method would be even more useful for HR-ToF-AMS data, due to the ability to better understand the chemical nature of atypical factors from high resolution mass spectra. Second, utilizing PMF to extract factors containing inorganic species allowed for the determination of extent of neutralization, which could have implications for aerosol parameterization. Third, subtler differences in organic aerosol components were resolved through the incorporation of inorganic mass into the PMF matrix. The additional temporal features provided by the inorganic aerosol components allowed for the resolution of more types of oxygenated organic aerosol than could be reliably re-solved from PMF of organics alone. Comparison of findings from the PMFFull MS and PMFOrg MS methods showed that for the Windsor airshed, the PMFFull MS method enabled additional conclusions to be drawn in terms of aerosol sources and chemical processes. While performing PMFOrg MS can provide important distinctions between types of organic aerosol, it is shown that including inorganic species in the PMF analysis can permit further apportionment of organics for unit mass resolution AMS mass spectra.

Characterization of urban aerosol in Cork city (Ireland) using aerosol mass spectrometry

Ambient wintertime background urban aerosol in Cork city, Ireland, was characterized using aerosol mass spectrometry. During the three-week measurement study in 2009, 93% of the ca. 1 350 000 single particles characterized by an Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TSI ATOFMS) were classified into five organic-rich particle types, internally mixed to different proportions with elemental carbon (EC), sulphate and nitrate, while the remaining 7% was predominantly inorganic in nature. Non-refractory PM1 aerosol was characterized using a High Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (Aerodyne HR-ToF-AMS) and was also found to comprise organic aerosol as the most abundant species (62 %), followed by nitrate (15 %), sulphate (9 %) and ammonium (9 %), and chloride (5 %). Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was applied to the HR-ToF-AMS organic matrix, and a five-factor solution was found to describe the variance in the data well. Specifically, "hydrocarbon-like" organic aerosol (HOA) comprised 20% of the mass, "low-volatility" oxygenated organic aerosol (LV-OOA) comprised 18 %, "biomass burning" organic aerosol (BBOA) comprised 23 %, non-wood solid-fuel combustion "peat and coal" organic aerosol (PCOA) comprised 21 %, and finally a species type characterized by primary m/z peaks at 41 and 55, similar to previously reported "cooking" organic aerosol (COA), but possessing different diurnal variations to what would be expected for cooking activities, contributed 18 %. Correlations between the different particle types obtained by the two aerosol mass spectrometers are also discussed. Despite wood, coal and peat being minor fuel types used for domestic space heating in urban areas, their relatively low combustion efficiencies result in a significant contribution to PM1 aerosol mass (44% and 28% of the total organic aerosol mass and non-refractory total PM1, respectively).Ambient wintertime background urban aerosol in Cork city, Ireland, was characterized using aerosol mass spectrometry. During the three-week measurement study in 2009, 93% of the ca. 1 350 000 single particles characterized by an Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TSI ATOFMS) were classified into five organic-rich particle types, internally mixed to different proportions with elemental carbon (EC), sulphate and nitrate, while the remaining 7% was predominantly inorganic in nature. Non-refractory PM1 aerosol was characterized using a High Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (Aerodyne HR-ToF-AMS) and was also found to comprise organic aerosol as the most abundant species (62 %), followed by nitrate (15 %), sulphate (9 %) and ammonium (9 %), and chloride (5 %). Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was applied to the HR-ToF-AMS organic matrix, and a five-factor solution was found to describe the variance in the data well. Specifically, "hydrocarbon-like" organic aerosol (HOA) comprised 20% of the mass, "low-volatility" oxygenated organic aerosol (LV-OOA) comprised 18 %, "biomass burning" organic aerosol (BBOA) comprised 23 %, non-wood solid-fuel combustion "peat and coal" organic aerosol (PCOA) comprised 21 %, and finally a species type characterized by primary m/z peaks at 41 and 55, similar to previously reported "cooking" organic aerosol (COA), but possessing different diurnal variations to what would be expected for cooking activities, contributed 18 %. Correlations between the different particle types obtained by the two aerosol mass spectrometers are also discussed. Despite wood, coal and peat being minor fuel types used for domestic space heating in urban areas, their relatively low combustion efficiencies result in a significant contribution to PM1 aerosol mass (44% and 28% of the total organic aerosol mass and non-refractory total PM1, respectively).