A Favard type theorem for orthogonal polynomials on the unit circle from a three term recurrence formula

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Basic hypergeometric polynomials with zeros on the unit circle

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A Lógica Fuzzy Aplicada à Recuperação de Informação

The information retrieval process involves subjective, imprecise and vague concepts, such as "information need", "relevance", and the very concept of "information". The main information retrieval models treat these concepts accurately, represented by a single numerical value. The fuzzy logic, while operating with the uncertainty of natural phenomena in a systematic and rigorous manner, represents a promising alternative to solve some problems related to information retrieval. This paper presents the fuzzy logic and some examples of its use in information retrieval systems (IRS).

Sieved para-orthogonal polynomials on the unit circle

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Para-orthogonal polynomials from constant Verblunsky coefficients

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Szegö polynomials: quadrature rules on the unit circle and on [-1, 1]

We consider some of the relations that exist between real Szegö polynomials and certain para-orthogonal polynomials defined on the unit circle, which are again related to certain orthogonal polynomials on [-1, 1] through the transformation x = (z1/2+z1/2)/2. Using these relations we study the interpolatory quadrature rule based on the zeros of polynomials which are linear combinations of the orthogonal polynomials on [-1, 1]. In the case of any symmetric quadrature rule on [-1, 1], its associated quadrature rule on the unit circle is also given.

Information Access Patterns of Faculty in Arts and Sciences Colleges in Chidambaram

The term “user study” focuses on information use patterns, information needs, and information-seeking behaviour. Information- seeking behaviour and information access patterns are areas of active interest among librarians and information scientists. This article reports on a study of the information requirements, usefulness of library resources and services, and problems encountered by faculty members of two arts and science colleges, Government Arts & Science College and Sri Raghavendra Arts & Science College, Chidambaram.

Relationship between elastic and mechanical properties of dental ceramics and their index of brittleness

The purpose of the study was to verify the effects of a number of materials' parameters (crystalline content; Young's modulus, E; biaxial flexure strength, sigma(i); Vickers hardness, VH; fracture toughness, K-Ic; fracture surface energy, gamma(f); and index of brittleness, B) on the brittleness of dental ceramics. Five commercial dental ceramics with different contents of glass phase and crystalline particles were studied: a vitreous porcelain (VM7/V), a porcelain with 16 vol% leucite particles (d.Sign/D), a glass-ceramic with 29 vol% leucite particles (Empress/E1), a glass-ceramic with 58 vol% lithium-disilicate needle-like particles (Empress 2/E2), and a glass-infiltrated alumina composite with 65 vol% crystals (In-Ceram Alumina/IC). Discs were constructed according to manufacturers' instructions, ground and polished to final dimensions (12 mm x 1.1 mm). Elastic constants were determined by ultrasonic pulse-echo method. sigma(i) was determined by piston-on-3-balls method in inert condition. VH was determined using 19.6 N load and K-Ic was determined by indentation strength method. gamma(f) was calculated from the Griffith-Irwin relation and B by the ratio of HV to K-Ic. IC and E2 showed higher values of sigma(i), E, K-Ic and gamma(f), and lower values of B compared to leucite-based glass-ceramic and porcelains. Positive correlations were observed for sigma(i) versus K-Ic, and K-Ic versus E-1/2, however, E did not show relationship with HV and B. The increase of crystalline phase content is beneficial to decrease the brittleness of dental ceramics by means of both an increase in fracture surface energy and a lowering in index of brittleness. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group Sri. All rights reserved.

Proinflammatory and Antiinflammatory Cytokine Levels in Complicated and Noncomplicated Parapneumonic Pleural Effusions

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate a panel of proinflammatory and antiinflammatory cytokines in noncomplicated and complicated parapneumonic pleural effusions and to correlate their levels with pleural fluid biochemical parameters. Methods: Serum and pleural effusion were collected from 60 patients with noncomplicated (n = 26) or complicated (n = 34) parapneumonic effusions and assayed for cytologic, biochemical, and proinflammatory and antiinflammatory cytokines. Student t test was used to compare serum and pleural fluid values, Spearman correlation to analyze the relationship between pleural fluid cytokines and biochemical parameters, and accuracy of pleural fluid cytokine levels to determine the optimal cutoff value for identification of complicated effusions. Corrections for multiple comparisons were applied and a P value < .05 was accepted as significant. Results: Serum and pleural fluid cytokine levels of IL-8, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) soluble receptor (sR) II were similar between groups. In contrast, complicated effusions had higher levels of pleural fluid IL-1 beta, IL-1 receptor antagonist (ra), and TNF sRI. Negative correlations were found between pleural fluid glucose with IL-1 beta and TNF sRI and positive correlations between lactic dehydrogenate (LDH) with IL-1 beta, IL-8, and VEGF. Pleural fluid levels of IL-1 beta, IL-1ra, and TNF sRI were more accurate than IL-8, VEGF, IL-10, and TNF sRII in discriminating complicated effusions. Conclusions: Both proinflammatory and antiinflammatory cytokine levels in pleural fluid are elevated in complicated in comparison with noncomplicated parapneumonic pleural effusions, and they correlate with both pleural fluid glucose and LDH levels. IL-1 beta, IL-1ra, and TNF sRI had higher sensitivity and specificity than IL-8, VEGF, IL-10, and TNF sRII in discriminating complicated effusions. CHEST 2012; 141( 1):183-189

Adaptação do aparelho de amplificação sonora no SUS comparado com um modelo de adaptação compacto

In the present days it is critical to identify the factors that contribute to the quality of the audiologic care provided. The hearing aid fitting model proposed by the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) implies multidisciplinary care. This leads to some relevant and current questions. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare the results of the hearing aid fitting model proposed by the SUS with a more compact and streamlined care. METHOD: We conducted a prospective longitudinal study with 174 participants randomly assigned to two groups: SUS Group and Streamline Group. For both groups we assessed key areas related to hearing aid fitting through the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) questionnaire, in addition to evaluating the results of Speech Recognition Index (SRI) 3 and 9 months after fitting. RESULTS: Both groups had the same improvement related to the speech recognition after nine months of AASI use, and the IOI-HA didn't show any statically significant difference on three and nine months. CONCLUSION: The two strategies of care did not differ, from the clinical point of view, as regards the hearing aid fitting results obtained upon the evaluation of patients in the short and medium term, thus changes in the current model of care should be considered.

The multiscenario multienvironment BioSecure Multimodal Database (BMDB)

A new multimodal biometric database designed and acquired within the framework of the European BioSecure Network of Excellence is presented. It is comprised of more than 600 individuals acquired simultaneously in three scenarios: 1) over the Internet, 2) in an office environment with desktop PC, and 3) in indoor/outdoor environments with mobile portable hardware. The three scenarios include a common part of audio/video data. Also, signature and fingerprint data have been acquired both with desktop PC and mobile portable hardware. Additionally, hand and iris data were acquired in the second scenario using desktop PC. Acquisition has been conducted by 11 European institutions. Additional features of the BioSecure Multimodal Database (BMDB) are: two acquisition sessions, several sensors in certain modalities, balanced gender and age distributions, multimodal realistic scenarios with simple and quick tasks per modality, cross-European diversity, availability of demographic data, and compatibility with other multimodal databases. The novel acquisition conditions of the BMDB allow us to perform new challenging research and evaluation of either monomodal or multimodal biometric systems, as in the recent BioSecure Multimodal Evaluation campaign. A description of this campaign including baseline results of individual modalities from the new database is also given. The database is expected to be available for research purposes through the BioSecure Association during 2008.

Zerbrochene Spiegel /1

Der Beitrag beschreibt eine doppelte, verfremdete und letztendlich tragische Spiegelung in der Wahrnehmung von Architektur zwischen Europa und Indien: zwischen 1780 und 1856 entstanden in der nordindischen Stadt Lucknow mehrere große Baukomplexe, die von den indisch-islamischen Herrschern der Stadt in europäisch-klassizistischen Formen gestaltet wurden. Nach dem indischen Aufstand, der in den Jahren 1857 und 1858 gegen die britische Herrschaft in Lucknow losbrach, wurden diese Bauten zum Gegenstand einer scharfen europäischen Architekturkritik. Der erste Abschnitt – "Das Eigene und das Fremde" – betrachtet die westliche Rezeption dieser europäisch-klassizistischen Bauten, die über Jahrzehnte durch ein Negativurteil bestimmt war, das sich aus der politischen Interpretation des indischen Aufstands erklärt. Der zweite Abschnitt – "Kopie und Synthese" – geht auf die Suche nach den Zusammenhängen für die positive Europarezeption in Lucknow und für die negative Kritik dieser Bauten in Europa. Es erweist sich, dass die Praxis von Architekturkopie und die Wahrnehmung europäischer Stilformen bei der Übernahme klassizistischer Motive in Indien deutlich anders war als das exakte und moralisch überhöhte Verständnis von Stilformen im Europa nach 1850.

Zerbrochene Spiegel /2

Der Beitrag beschreibt eine doppelte, verfremdete und letztendlich tragische Spiegelung in der Wahrnehmung von Architektur zwischen Europa und Indien: zwischen 1780 und 1856 entstanden in der nordindischen Stadt Lucknow mehre-re große Baukomplexe, die von den indisch-islamischen Herrschern der Stadt in europäisch-klassizistischen Formen gestaltet wurden. Nach dem indischen Auf-stand, der in den Jahren 1857 und 1858 gegen die britische Herrschaft in Lucknow losbrach, wurden diese Bauten zum Gegenstand einer scharfen europäi-scher Architekturkritik. Der erste Abschnitt – "Das Eigene und das Fremde" – betrachtet die westliche Rezeption dieser europäisch-klassizistischen Bauten, die über Jahrzehnte durch ein Negativurteil bestimmt war, das sich aus der politischen Interpretation des indischen Aufstands erklärt. Der zweite Abschnitt – "Kopie und Synthese" – geht auf die Suche nach den Zusammenhängen für die positive Europarezeption in Lucknow und für die negative Kritik dieser Bauten in Europa. Es erweist sich, dass die Praxis von Architekturkopie und die Wahrnehmung europäischer Stilfor-men bei der Übernahme klassizistischer Motive in Indien deutlich anders war als das exakte und moralisch überhöhte Verständnis von Stilformen im Europa nach 1850.

Different dark conformations function in color-sensitive photosignaling by the sensory rhodopsin I-HtrI complex.

The haloarchaeal phototaxis receptor sensory rhodopsin I (SRI) in complex with its transducer HtrI delivers an attractant signal from excitation with an orange photon and a repellent signal from a second near-UV photon excitation. Using a proteoliposome system with purified SRI in complex with its transducer HtrI, we identified by site-directed fluorescence labeling a site (Ser(155)) on SRI that is conformationally active in signal relay to HtrI. Using site-directed spin labeling of Ser(155)Cys with a nitroxide side chain, we detected a change in conformation following one-photon excitation such that the spin probe exhibits a splitting of the outer hyperfine extrema (2A'(zz)) significantly smaller than that of the electron paramagnetic resonance spectrum in the dark state. The dark conformations of five mutant complexes that do not discriminate between orange and near-UV excitation show shifts to lower or higher 2A'(zz) values correlated with the alterations in their motility behavior to one- and two-photon stimuli. These data are interpreted in terms of a model in which the dark complex is populated by two conformers in the wild type, one that inhibits the CheA kinase (A) and the other that activates it (R), shifted in the dark by mutations and shifted in the wild-type SRI-HtrI complex in opposite directions by one-photon and two-photon reactions.

Attractant and repellent signaling conformers of sensory rhodopsin-transducer complexes.

Attractant and repellent signaling conformers of the dual-signaling phototaxis receptor sensory rhodopsin I and its transducer subunit (SRI-HtrI) have recently been distinguished experimentally by the opposite connection of their retinylidene protonated Schiff bases to the outwardly located periplasmic side and inwardly located cytoplasmic side. Here we show that the pK(a) of the outwardly located Asp76 counterion in the outwardly connected conformer is lowered by approximately 1.5 units from that of the inwardly connected conformer. The pK(a) difference enables quantitative determination of the relative amounts of the two conformers in wild-type cells and behavioral mutants prior to photoexcitation, comparison of their absorption spectra, and determination of their relative signaling efficiency. We have shown that the one-photon excitation of the SRI-HtrI attractant conformer causes a Schiff base connectivity switch from inwardly connected to outwardly connected states in the attractant signaling photoreaction. Conversely, a second near-UV photon drives the complex back to the inwardly connected conformer in the repellent signaling photoreaction. The results suggest a model of the color-discriminating dual-signaling mechanism in which phototaxis responses (his-kinase modulation) result from the photointerconversion of the two oppositely connected SRI-HtrI conformers by one-photon and two-photon activation. Furthermore, we find that the related repellent phototaxis SRII-HtrII receptor complex has an outwardly connected retinylidene Schiff base like the repellent signaling forms of the SRI-HtrI complex, indicating the general applicability of macro conformational changes, which can be detected by the connectivity switch, to phototaxis signaling by sensory rhodopsin-transducer complexes.