Landau and Kolmogoroff type polynomial inequalities II

Let 0 < j < m ≤ n. Kolmogoroff type inequalities of the form ∥f(j)∥2 ≤ A∥f(m)∥ 2 + B∥f∥2 which hold for algebraic polynomials of degree n are established. Here the norm is defined by ∫ f2(x)dμ(x), where dμ(x) is any distribution associated with the Jacobi, Laguerre or Bessel orthogonal polynomials. In particular we characterize completely the positive constants A and B, for which the Landau weighted polynomial inequalities ∥f′∥ 2 ≤ A∥f″∥2 + B∥f∥ 2 hold. © Dynamic Publishers, Inc.

The genome sequence of the gram-positive sugarcane pathogen Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli

The genome sequence of Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli, which causes ratoon stunting disease and affects sugarcane worldwide, was determined. The single circular chromosome of Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli CTCB07 was 2.6 Mb in length with a GC content of 68% and 2,044 predicted open reading frames. The analysis also revealed 307 predicted pseudogenes, which is more than any bacterial plant pathogen sequenced to date. Many of these pseudogenes, if functional, would likely be involved in the degradation of plant heteropolysaccharides, uptake of free sugars, and synthesis of amino acids. Although L. xyli subsp. xyli has only been identified colonizing the xylem vessels of sugarcane, the numbers of predicted regulatory genes and sugar transporters are similar to those in free-living organisms. Some of the predicted pathogenicity genes appear to have been acquired by lateral transfer and include genes for cellulase, pectinase, wilt-inducing protein, lysozyme, and desaturase. The presence of the latter may contribute to stunting, since it is likely involved in the synthesis of abscisic acid, a hormone that arrests growth. Our findings are consistent with the nutritionally fastidious behavior exhibited by L. xyli subsp. xyli and suggest an ongoing adaptation to the restricted ecological niche it inhabits.

Morphometric and quantitative evaluation of the NADH-diaphorase positive myenteric neurons of the jejunum of streptozotocin-diabetic rats supplemented with acetyl-L-carnitine

In this study we investigated the effect of the acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) supplementation on the myenteric neurons of the jejunum of rats made diabetic at the age of 105 days by streptozotocin (35 mg/kg body weight). Four groups were used: non-diabetic (C), non-diabetic supplemented with ALC (CC), diabetic (D), diabetic supplemented with ALC (DC). After 15 weeks of diabetes induction the blood was collected by cardiac puncture to evaluate glycaemia and glycated haemoglobin. Next the animals were killed and the jejunum was collected and subjected to whole-mount preparation to evidence the myenteric neurons through the histochemical technique of the NADH-diaphorase. The neuronal counts were made in 80 microscopic fields, in tissue samples of five animals of each group. The profiles of the cell bodies of 1000 neurons per group were analysed. Diabetes induced a significant increase in the area of the cell body and decrease in the number of NADH-diaphorase positive myoenteric neurons. ALC suplementation to the diabetic group promoted smaller hypertrophic effects and less neuronal loss than in the myoenteric neurons of the diabetic rats, and in addition diminished the body weight decrease and reduced the fasting glycaemia. © 2005 Blackwell Verlag.

Frequency-adjustable positive sequence detector for power conditioning applications

This paper proposes a novel and simple positive sequence detector (PSD), which is inherently self-adjustable to fundamental frequency deviations by means of a software-based PLL (Phase Locked Loop). Since the proposed positive sequence detector is not based on Fortescue's classical decomposition and no special input filtering is needed, its dynamic response may be as fast as one fundamental cycle. The digital PLL ensures that the positive sequence components can be calculated even under distorted waveform conditions and fundamental frequency deviations. For the purpose of validating the proposed models, the positive sequence detector has been implemented in a PC-based Power Quality Monitor and experimental results illustrate its good performance. The PSD algorithm has also been evaluated in the control loop of a Series Active Filter and simulation results demonstrate its effectiveness in a closed-loop system. Moreover, considering single-phase applications, this paper also proposes a general single-phase PLL and a Fundamental Wave Detector (FWD) immune to frequency variations and waveform distortions. © 2005 IEEE.

Sporotrichosis in an HIV-positive man with oral lesions: A case report

Background: Sporotrichosis is a granulomatous fungal infection caused by Sporothrix schenckii, which frequently causes cutaneous or lymphocutaneous lesions and rarely has oral manifestations. Case: A 38-year-old, white, HIV-positive man complained of a 5.0-cm, symptomatic, ulcerated lesion with thin, superficial granulation in the soft palate extending to the uvula. Exfoliative cytology of this oral lesion showed chronic granulomatous inflammatory alterations and extracellular fungal structures consisting of periodic acid-Schiff-positive budding cells and spherical or elongated (cigar bodies) free spore forms. Conclusion: The clinical and cytologic findings allowed the diagnosis of sporotrichosis, demonstrating the importance of cytodiagnosis in fungal diseases. © The International Academy of Cytology.

Positive selection results in frequent reversible amino acid replacements in the G protein gene of human respiratory syncytial virus

Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is the major cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children under 5 years of age and the elderly, causing annual disease outbreaks during the fall and winter. Multiple lineages of the HRSVA and HRSVB serotypes co-circulate within a single outbreak and display a strongly temporal pattern of genetic variation, with a replacement of dominant genotypes occurring during consecutive years. In the present study we utilized phylogenetic methods to detect and map sites subject to adaptive evolution in the G protein of HRSVA and HRSVB. A total of 29 and 23 amino acid sites were found to be putatively positively selected in HRSVA and HRSVB, respectively. Several of these sites defined genotypes and lineages within genotypes in both groups, and correlated well with epitopes previously described in group A. Remarkably, 18 of these positively selected tended to revert in time to a previous codon state, producing a flipflop phylogenetic pattern. Such frequent evolutionary reversals in HRSV are indicative of a combination of frequent positive selection, reflecting the changing immune status of the human population, and a limited repertoire of functionally viable amino acids at specific amino acid sites.

Economic Survey of the Caribbean 2011-2012: positive growth amidst lingering downside risks

Includes bibliography

Zeros of Jacobi-Sobolev orthogonal polynomials following non-coherent pair of measures

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Geometrical logarithmic and trigonometric hypercomplex functions of quaternionic type

Quaternionic theory has greatly been developed in recent years [1-12]. Thus, in our view, the study of trigonometric and logarithmic type quaternionic functions is important for the determination and realization of a hyper complex theory. In this paper, we intend to give a geometrical foundation for both logarithmic and trigonometric hyper complex functions based on the exponential function of quaternionic type recently introduced by Borges, Marão and Machado in their paper entitled Geometrical octonions II: Hyper regularity and hyper periodicity of the exponential function appearing. © 2011 Pushpa Publishing House.

Sharp Turán inequalities via very hyperbolic polynomials

We present new sharp inequalities for the Maclaurin coefficients of an entire function from the Laguerre-Pólya class. They are obtained by a new technique involving the so-called very hyperbolic polynomials. The results may be considered as extensions of the classical Turán inequalities. © 2010 Elsevier Inc.

Adjuvant therapy with GnRH agonists/tamoxifen in breast cancer should be a good council for patients with hormone receptor-positive tumours and wish to preserve fertility

Infertility represents one of the main long-term consequences of combination chemotherapy used for the treatment of breast cancer. Approximately 60%-65% of breast cancers express the nuclear hormone receptor in premenopausal women. Adjuvant endocrine therapy is an integral component of care for patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) tumours. The GnRH agonist (GnRHa) alone or in combination with tamoxifen produces results at least similar to those obtained with the different chemotherapy protocols in patients with HR+ tumors with respect to recurrence-free survival and overall survival, Presentation of the hypothesis: It is time to indicate adjuvant therapy with GnRHa associated with tamoxifen for patients with breast cancer (HR+ tumours) if they want to preserve their reproductive function. Testing the hypothesis: Assessment of ovarian reserve tests: follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH), inhibin B, antral follicle count (AFC) and ovarian volume 6 months, and 1 year after the end of therapy with GnRHa/tamoxifen. The recurrence-free survival and overall survival should be analysed. Implications of the hypothesis: The major implication will be to avoid adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with breast cancer (HR+ tumours) that request fertility preservation. It is expected that ovarian function should not be altered in almost all cases. © Todos os direitos reservados a SBRA - Sociedade Brasileira de Reprodução Assistida.

Monotonicity and asymptotics of zeros of Laguerre-Sobolev-type orthogonal polynomials of higher order derivatives

In this paper we analyze the location of the zeros of polynomials orthogonal with respect to the inner product where α >-1, N ≥ 0, and j ∈ N. In particular, we focus our attention on their interlacing properties with respect to the zeros of Laguerre polynomials as well as on the monotonicity of each individual zero in terms of the mass N. Finally, we give necessary and sufficient conditions in terms of N in order for the least zero of any Laguerre-Sobolev-type orthogonal polynomial to be negative. © 2011 American Mathematical Society.

Multivariate sobolev-type orthogonal polynomials

Multivariate orthogonal polynomials associated with a Sobolev-type inner product, that is, an inner product defined by adding to a measure the evaluation of the gradients in a fixed point, are studied. Orthogonal polynomials and kernel functions associated with this new inner product can be explicitly expressed in terms of those corresponding with the original measure. We apply our results to the particular case of the classical orthogonal polynomials on the unit ball, and we obtain the asymptotics of the kernel functions. © 2011 Universidad de Jaén.

A class of hypergeometric polynomials with zeros on the unit circle: Extremal and orthogonal properties and quadrature formulas

The class of hypergeometric polynomials F12(-m,b;b+b̄;1-z) with respect to the parameter b=λ+iη, where λ>0, are known to have all their zeros simple and exactly on the unit circle |z|=1. In this note we look at some of the associated extremal and orthogonal properties on the unit circle and on the interval (-1,1). We also give the associated Gaussian type quadrature formulas. © 2012 IMACS.

Random regression models using Legendre polynomials or linear splines for test-day milk yield of dairy Gyr (Bos indicus) cattle

Studies investigating the use of random regression models for genetic evaluation of milk production in Zebu cattle are scarce. In this study, 59,744 test-day milk yield records from 7,810 first lactations of purebred dairy Gyr (Bos indicus) and crossbred (dairy Gyr × Holstein) cows were used to compare random regression models in which additive genetic and permanent environmental effects were modeled using orthogonal Legendre polynomials or linear spline functions. Residual variances were modeled considering 1, 5, or 10 classes of days in milk. Five classes fitted the changes in residual variances over the lactation adequately and were used for model comparison. The model that fitted linear spline functions with 6 knots provided the lowest sum of residual variances across lactation. On the other hand, according to the deviance information criterion (DIC) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC), a model using third-order and fourth-order Legendre polynomials for additive genetic and permanent environmental effects, respectively, provided the best fit. However, the high rank correlation (0.998) between this model and that applying third-order Legendre polynomials for additive genetic and permanent environmental effects, indicates that, in practice, the same bulls would be selected by both models. The last model, which is less parameterized, is a parsimonious option for fitting dairy Gyr breed test-day milk yield records. © 2013 American Dairy Science Association.