Expression pattern of arenicins - the antimicrobial peptides of polychaete Arenicola marina

Immune responses of invertebrate animals are mediated through innate mechanisms, among which production of antimicrobial peptides play an important role. Although evolutionary Polychaetes represent an interesting group closely related to a putative common ancestor of other coelomates, their immune mechanisms still remain scarcely investigated. Previously our group has identified arenicins - new antimicrobial peptides of the lugworm Arenicola marina, since then these peptides were thoroughly characterized in terms of their structure and inhibitory potential. In the present study we addressed the question of the physiological functions of arenicins in the lugworm body. Using molecular and immunocytochemical methods we demonstrated that arencins are expressed in the wide range of the lugworm tissues - coelomocytes, body wall, extravasal tissue and the gut. The expression of arenicins is constitutive and does not depend on stimulation of various infectious stimuli. Most intensively arenicins are produced by mature coelomocytes where they function as killing agents inside the phagolysosome. In the gut and the body wall epithelia arenicins are released from producing cells via secretion as they are found both inside the epithelial cells and in the contents of the cuticle. Collectively our study showed that arenicins are found in different body compartments responsible for providing a first line of defence against infections, which implies their important role as key components of both epithelial and systemic branches of host defence.

An indirect bridge inspection method incorporating a wavelet-based damage indicator and pattern recognition

In recent years, there has been a move towards the development of indirect structural health monitoring (SHM)techniques for bridges; the low-cost vibration-based method presented in this paper is such an approach. It consists of the use of a moving vehicle fitted with accelerometers on its axles and incorporates wavelet analysis and statistical pattern recognition. The aim of the approach is to both detect and locate damage in bridges while reducing the need for direct instrumentation of the bridge. In theoretical simulations, a simplified vehicle-bridge interaction model is used to investigate the effectiveness of the approach in detecting damage in a bridge from vehicle accelerations. For this purpose, the accelerations are processed using a continuous wavelet transform as when the axle passes over a damaged section, any discontinuity in the signal would affect the wavelet coefficients. Based on these coefficients, a damage indicator is formulated which can distinguish between different damage levels. However, it is found to be difficult to quantify damage of varying levels when the vehicle’s transverse position is varied between bridge crossings. In a real bridge field experiment, damage was applied artificially to a steel truss bridge to test the effectiveness of the indirect approach in practice; for this purpose a two-axle van was driven across the bridge at constant speed. Both bridge and vehicle acceleration measurements were recorded. The dynamic properties of the test vehicle were identified initially via free vibration tests. It was found that the resulting damage indicators for the bridge and vehicle showed similar patterns, however, it was difficult to distinguish between different artificial damage scenarios.

Directional Modulation Far-field Pattern Separation Synthesis Approach

In this study, a far-field power pattern separation approach is proposed for the synthesis of directional modulation (DM) transmitter arrays. Separation into information patterns and interference patterns is enabled by far-field pattern null steering. Compared with other DM synthesis methods, for example, bit error rate-driven DM optimisation and orthogonal vector injection, the approach developed in this study facilitates manipulation of artificial interference spatial distributions. With such capability more interference power can be projected into those spatial directions most vulnerable to eavesdropping, that is, the information side lobes. In such a fashion, information leaked through radiation side lobes can be effectively mitigated in a transmitter power efficient manner. Furthermore, for the first time, the authors demonstrate how multi-beam DM transmitters can be synthesised via this approach.

Pattern Recognition Approach for Road Collision Hotspots Analysis: Case Study of Northern Ireland

In order to address road safety effectively, it is essential to understand all the factors, which
attribute to the occurrence of a road collision. This is achieved through road safety
assessment measures, which are primarily based on historical crash data. Recent advances
in uncertain reasoning technology have led to the development of robust machine learning
techniques, which are suitable for investigating road traffic collision data. These techniques
include supervised learning (e.g. SVM) and unsupervised learning (e.g. Cluster Analysis).
This study extends upon previous research work, carried out in Coll et al. [3], which
proposed a non-linear aggregation framework for identifying temporal and spatial hotspots.
The results from Coll et al. [3] identified Lisburn area as the hotspot, in terms of road safety,
in Northern Ireland. This study aims to use Cluster Analysis, to investigate and highlight any
hidden patterns associated with collisions that occurred in Lisburn area, which in turn, will
provide more clarity in the causation factors so that appropriate countermeasures can be put
in place.

Pool Evolution: A Parallel Pattern for Evolutionary and Symbolic Computing

We introduce a new parallel pattern derived from a specific application domain and show how it turns out to have application beyond its domain of origin. The pool evolution pattern models the parallel evolution of a population subject to mutations and evolving in such a way that a given fitness function is optimized. The pattern has been demonstrated to be suitable for capturing and modeling the parallel patterns underpinning various evolutionary algorithms, as well as other parallel patterns typical of symbolic computation. In this paper we introduce the pattern, we discuss its implementation on modern multi/many core architectures and finally present experimental results obtained with FastFlow and Erlang implementations to assess its feasibility and scalability.

An official American thoracic society research statement: Comparative effectiveness research in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine

Background: Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is intended to inform decision making in clinical practice, and is central to patientcentered outcomes research (PCOR). Purpose: To summarize key aspects of CER definitions and provide examples highlighting the complementary nature of efficacy and CER studies in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. Methods: An ad hoc working group of the American Thoracic Society with experience in clinical trials, health services research, quality improvement, and behavioral sciences in pulmonary, critical care, and sleepmedicinewas convened. The group used an iterative consensus process, including a reviewbyAmerican Thoracic Society committees and assemblies. Results: The traditional efficacy paradigm relies on clinical trials with high internal validity to evaluate interventions in narrowly defined populations and in research settings. Efficacy studies address the question, "Can it work in optimal conditions?" The CER paradigm employs a wide range of study designs to understand the effects of interventions in clinical settings. CER studies address the question, "Does it work in practice?" The results of efficacy and CER studies may or may not agree. CER incorporates many attributes of outcomes research and health services research, while placing greater emphasis on meeting the expressed needs of nonresearcher stakeholders (e.g., patients, clinicians, and others). Conclusions: CER complements traditional efficacy research by placing greater emphasis on the effects of interventions in practice, and developing evidence to address the needs of the many stakeholders involved in health care decisions. Stakeholder engagement is an important component of CER. Copyright © 2013 by the American Thoracic Society.