Target selection

Once groups of motor axons enter their Howard Hughes Medical Institute appropriate target regions, their growth cones tran-Department of Molecular and Cell Biology siently probe the surfaces of many neighboring muscles, University of California withdraw most of these contacts, and form stable syn-Berkeley, California 94720 apses with one or at most a few of these muscles. We are interested in understanding both the identity of the molecules that control target selection in this Summary system and the logic of the molecular code used to specify these targets. On the one hand, discrete target In Drosophila, motoneuron growth cones initially probe selection in the Drosophila neuromuscular system might many potential muscle targets but later withdraw most be specified in a rather hard-wired fashion, such that of these contacts to form stereotypic synapses with each motor axon and its appropriate target muscle might only one or a few muscles. Prior to synapse formation, have unique and complementary molecular labels. Alter-Fasciclin II (Fas II) is expressed at low levels on muscle. natively, the process might involve the combination of During synapse formation, Fas II concentrates at the multiple overlapping molecular cues, such that specificsynapse and disappears from the rest of the muscle. ity emerges from a more dynamic and malleable pro-We previously showed that Fas II is required both precess. Instead of recognizing unique molecular labels and postsynaptically for synaptic stabilization. Here, on each target, growth cones might respond to both we show that the differential expression of targetqualitative and quantitative molecular differences on derived Fas II has a profound influence on the patneighboring target cells and make their decisions based terning of synapse formation. A transient increase in on the balance of attractive and repulsive forces. muscle Fas II stabilizes growth cone contacts and Previous results lend support to the notion that target leads to novel synapses that are functional and stable; selection in this system is not entirely hard wired. Mototargets that normally receive two inputs can now reneurons can synapse on alternate muscles when their ceive up to six inputs. Changing the relative levels of normal muscle targets are ablated . When motoneurons are misrouted or ablated, their uninin target selection. nervated muscle targets attract novel, stable synaptic connections from motor axons innervating neighboring muscles Halfon et al., 1995).

The selection of visual stimuli as a target for a motor action may depend on external as well as internal variables. The parietal reach region (PRR) in the posterior parietal cortex plays an important role in the transformation of visual information into reach movement plans. We asked how neurons in PRR of macaque monkeys reflect the decision process of selecting one of two visual stimuli as a target for a reach movement. Spiking activity was recorded while the animal performed a free-choice task with one target presented in the preferred direction and the other in the off direction of the cell. Stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) was adjusted to ensure that both targets were selected equally often and the amount of reward was fixed. Neural activity in PRR was action specific for arm reaching and reflected the timing of the SOA as well as the selection of reach targets. In individual trials, activity was strongly linked to the choice of the animal, and, for the majority of cells, target...

New forms, old interests: Neosexism among Spanish men. In the present paper the construct of «Neo- sexism», as one of the new forms of sexism, and the Spanish version of the Neosexism scale (Tougas, Brown, Beaton & Joly,(1995) are presented. Using a sample of 1 191 men, we tested the psychometric properties of the scale and the relationship between Neosexism and some other sociodemographic cha - racteristics and with old-fashioned sexism, attitudes toward af firmative action and men' s collective in - terest. Ours results show that «Neosexism», a construct created in a cultural and economic context dif- ferent to Spain, could be applied to a Spanish context. W e also found that the Neosexism scale can be an appropriate instrument to measure modern forms of sexism, specially in or ganizational and work settings. A mediational analysis performed on the data suggest that, among men, neosexist beliefs in - fluence subjective threat to collective interests, this perceived threat tri...

The N2pc component has recently become a popular tool in attention research. To investigate whether this component exclusively reflects attentional target selection, or also prior stages in attentional processing (covert orienting, target-unspecific spatial attention), a spatial cueing procedure was combined with a visual search task. In some blocks, informative cues indicated the side of upcoming singleton targets that were present on most trials among uniform distractors. In other blocks, cues were spatially uninformative, and no preparatory shifts of attention were possible. The N2pc in response to targets was unaffected by this manipulation, showing that this component is not associated with attention shifts. Following informative cues, an attenuated N2pc was elicited by uniform non-target arrays, suggesting that the N2pc may also reflect spatially specific processing of stimulus features at task-relevant locations prior to target selection. Over the past thirty years, the brain mechanisms underlying visual-spatial attention have been studied intensively with event-related brain potential (ERP) measures. Different ERP components have been found to be modulated during spatially selective visual processing, and these components have been linked to different underlying sub-processes of spatial attention. The first type of attention-sensitive ERP effect was uncovered in early ERP studies where participants were instructed to direct their attention to a specific location on the left or right side, and keep it focused for an entire experimental block in order to detect target stimuli at that location (cf., Eason, 1981). Visual stimuli presented within the current focus of spatial attention triggered enhanced sensory-specific visual P1 and N1 components at posterior electrodes. Analogous P1 and N1 amplitude modulations were also observed when attention was manipulated in a trial-by-trial fashion by spatial precues that were presented at the start of each trial (cf. . Because these P1/N1 enhancements for stimuli at attended locations were present irrespective of whether these stimuli were targets or non-targets (e.g., , they are interpreted as reflecting location-specific sensory gating mechanisms in early visual processing that precede the subsequent selection of targets over non-targets. They are assumed to be triggered by top-down signals from higher-order attentional control areas that bias the excitability of visual cortical areas in favour of any sensory input that originates from currently task-relevant locations (cf., Mangun, 1995). Other attention-sensitive ERP modulations found in more recent studies during cued shifts of spatial attention were interpreted as electrophysiological markers of top-down attentional control processes. In these studies, ERP components sensitive to the direction of cued attentional shifts were quantified by comparing ERP waveforms triggered in the interval

One of the methods for understanding residents' needs and socially improving urban spaces in terms of transportation, safety, landscape protection, and managing tourist traffic load is eye-tracking (ET). Researchers using mobile ET for outdoor studies face significant challenges, particularly due to sunlight affecting data quality. Existing solutions often overlook participant comfort. This article introduces a novel accessory designed for extreme lighting conditions, such as bright days, sunsets, and snowy or water-filled environments. The goal is to eliminate disruptions caused by uncontrolled sunlight on participants' eyes and enables studies in urban environments. A custom sun shield, designed for ETs based on spectacle frames, prioritizes both physical and psychological comfort. The lightweight shield is easy to install, minimally restricts the field of view, and does not interfere with eye-tracking components. It is cost-effective and suitable for DIY 3D printing. Control studies and field research confirmed its effectiveness, with feedback from over 100 users improving the final design. The shield enhances eye-tracking research credibility in sunny conditions, supports efficient calibration, and improves participant recruitment and well-being. Jakość danych znacząco wzrosła co obrazuje porównanie danych dotyczących sposobu detekcji źrenicy. Thanks to this solution, it will be possible to conduct research aimed at better understanding the behavior of city users, while ensuring their comfort and safety. It will also be possible to conduct research within the framework of so-called living labs. Importantly, studies show that the approach to designing subsequent mobile ETs based on IR should undergo significant modification.

This article reviews the literature on the onset and dynamics of domestic terrorism, with special emphasis on the interactions between terrorist organizations, the state, and society. Because this literature has often been based on case studies, we seek to impose some structure to its findings. We challenge the distinction between domestic and international terrorism, which truncates the sample of violence, and we show that the actor-sense of terrorism (violence carried out by underground organizations) is the most appropriate model for causal analysis. Terrorist organizations tend to emerge in developed countries in which the state is able to prevent the loss of control over any part of its territory. Terrorists take advantage of the state's mistakes (when, for example, it is over-repressive or makes ineffective concessions) in order to boost their support. Terrorists cannot survive without some degree of support. Consequently, levels of violence and targets are determined by s...

Ultra-low delta-v objects and the human exploration of asteroids The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters. Citation Elvis, Martin et al. "Ultra-low Delta-v Objects and the Human

It has been suggested that the slightly endothermic reaction between H and DCN to produce HCN and D serves to deplete DCN in hot core regions of giant molecular clouds. We have calculated the rate of this reaction for a range of temperatures up to 500 K with a combination of ab initio quantum chemical and dynamical techniques. We find that the reaction has two potential barriers lying between the reactants and products. These barriers permit only a very slow reaction except at high temperatures. We calculate that the rate coefficient k of the reaction follows the formula k (cm(3) s(-1) ) = 2 10(-11) Gamma_t exp (-4931/T), where Gamma_t is a tunneling correction. The estimated rate coefficient at 300 K is 5 10(-18) cm(3) s(-1) ; this rate coefficient is far too small to be important in the destruction of DCN.

The Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS ) is an ongoing 12-band photometric optical survey, observing thousands of square degrees of the Northern Hemisphere from the dedicated JAST/T80 telescope at the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre (OAJ). The T80Cam is a camera with a field of view of 2 deg2 mounted on a telescope with a diameter of 83 cm, and is equipped with a unique system of filters spanning the entire optical range (3500–10 000 Å). This filter system is a combination of broad-, medium-, and narrow-band filters, optimally designed to extract the rest-frame spectral features (the 3700–4000 Å Balmer break region, Hδ, Ca H+K, the G band, and the Mg b and Ca triplets) that are key to characterizing stellar types and delivering a low-resolution photospectrum for each pixel of the observed sky. With a typical depth of AB ∼21.25 mag per band, this filter set thus allows for an unbiased and accurate characterization of the stellar population in our Galaxy, it p...

Context.We present a new methodology for the estimation of stellar atmospheric parameters from narrow- and intermediate-band photometry of the Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS), and propose a method for target pre-selection of low-metallicity stars for follow-up spectroscopic studies. Photometric metallicity estimates for stars in the globular cluster M15 are determined using this method.Aims.By development of a neural-network-based photometry pipeline, we aim to produce estimates of effective temperature,Teff, and metallicity, [Fe/H], for a large subset of stars in the J-PLUS footprint.Methods.The Stellar Photometric Index Network Explorer, SPHINX, was developed to produce estimates ofTeffand [Fe/H], after training on a combination of J-PLUS photometric inputs and synthetic magnitudes computed for medium-resolution (R~ 2000) spectra of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This methodology was applied to J-PLUS photometry of the globular cluster M15.Results.Effective te...

Available genomic data for pathogens has created new opportunities for drug discovery and development to fight them, including new resistant and multiresistant strains. In particular structural data must be integrated with both, gene information and experimental results. In this sense, there is a lack of an online resource that allows genome wide-based data consolidation from diverse sources together with thorough bioinformatic analysis that allows easy filtering and scoring for fast target selection for drug discovery. Here, we present Target-Pathogen database (http://target.sbg.qb.fcen.uba.ar/patho), designed and developed as an online resource that allows the integration and weighting of protein information such as: function, metabolic role, off-targeting, structural properties including druggability, essentiality and omic experiments, to facilitate the identification and prioritization of candidate drug targets in pathogens. We include in the database 10 genomes of some of the m...

The middleware for location based interactive applications requires scalability in large scale spaces. As the number of users and target services are increased, the server has to process massive spatial queries and event handling requests efficiently. Our middleware components are developed to extend the U-interactive system for large scale environments. The system manages the location information for large number of users and target objects. In addition the system handles events caused by user commands. We developed efficient tuple indexing and query mechanism by composite keys. As a new spatial query, Fan search is invented to provide efficient target selection by distance and angle. We optimized the query processing by efficient node traversing and data-aware interval skipping. The tuple matching process is performed in bounded time up to 100,000 objects. Fan search with C-Cuve has superior performance than Z-Curve in high density nodes in the experiment.

This thesis explicates the impact of economic graduation of a state on its trade facilities under the World Trade Organization (WTO) legal regime in the context of Bangladesh. Adopting a combination of theoretical enquiries and relevant data analysis, this thesis moreover outlines
the trade facilities presently undertaking by Bangladesh under the WTO legal regime and the potential impacts and challenges after its economic graduation. The extent of potential trade impact upon economic graduation of a state will also be exemplified in this study.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a destructive disease of wheat and other cereals. FHB occurs in Europe, North America and around the world causing significant losses in production and endangers human and animal health. In this article, we provide the strategic steps for the specific target selection for the phytopathogen system

Autophagy, an intrinsically nonselective process, can also target selective cargo for degradation. The mechanism of selective peroxisome turnover by autophagy-related processes (pexophagy), termed micropexophagy and macropexophagy, is unknown. We show how a Pichia pastoris protein, PpAtg30, mediates peroxisome selection during pexophagy. It is necessary for pexophagy, but not for other selective and nonselective autophagy-related processes. It localizes at the peroxisome membrane via interaction with peroxins, and during pexophagy it colocalizes transiently at the preautophagosomal structure (PAS) and interacts with the autophagy machinery. PpAtg30 is required for formation of pexophagy intermediates, such as the micropexophagy apparatus (MIPA) and the pexophagosome (Ppg). During pexophagy, PpAtg30 undergoes multiple phosphorylations, at least one of which is required for pexophagy. PpAtg30 overexpression stimulates pexophagy even under peroxisome-induction conditions, impairing peroxisome biogenesis. Therefore, PpAtg30 is a key player in the selection of peroxisomes as cargo and in their delivery to the autophagy machinery for pexophagy.

Metabolomics aims for comprehensive analysis of the metabolic complement. The metabolic phenotype is typically described by changes in metabolic pool sizes. Today investigations are technologically limited to a few hundred metabolites. Metabolomics studies are typically restricted to a single analytical technology, such as GC-TOF-MS which will be the focus technology of this chapter. Two strategies for data analysis are applied. Metabolite fingerprinting investigates all analytical signals. Metabolite profiling considers only information which represents known metabolites. In the last 8-10 years functional metabolome analysis has passed from concept discussion, method development and feasibility assessment into a phase of method automation and increased scope of applications for enhanced hypothesis generation. It is, however, still an early time for lessons to be learned from high-throughput metabolome analyses. This chapter attempts to exemplify the potential of metabolome analysis for the screening of genetic diversity selected by breeding. This diversity is a widely recognized but also a hard to investigate biological resource. In land races, selection has lead to successful adaptation, for example towards environmental stress tolerance. However, the underlying genomic changes remain elusive. Metabolic phenotyping analysis may circumvent the problem by identifying metabolic markers for a targeted selection. Ultimately metabolic profiling may allow an initial functional insight into metabolic modes of tolerance acquisition without prior knowledge of genomic modifications

Many mobile devices have touch-sensitive screens that people interact with using fingers or thumbs. However, such interaction is difficult because targets become occluded, and because fingers and thumbs have low input resolution. Recent research has addressed occlusion through visual techniques. However, the poor resolution of finger and thumb selection still limits selection speed. In this paper, we address the selection speed problem through a new target selection technique called Escape. In Escape, targets are selected by gestures cued by icon position and appearance. A user study shows that for targets six to twelve pixels wide, Escape performs at a similar error rate and at least 30% faster than Shift, an alternative technique, on a similar task. We evaluate Escape's performance in different circumstances, including different icon sizes, icon overlap, use of color, and gesture direction. We also describe an algorithm that assigns icons to targets, thereby improving Escape's performance.

Quantifying risk in the absence of hard data presents a significant challenge. Onshore mining of the diamondiferous linear beach deposit along the south western coast of Namibia has been ongoing for more than 80 years. A historical delineated campaign from the 1930s to 1960s used coast perpendicular trenches spaced 500 m apart, comprising a total of 26 000 individual samples, to identify 6 onshore raised beaches. These linear beaches extend offshore and are successfully mined in water depths deeper than 30 m. There is, however, a roughly 4 km wide submerged coast parallel strip adjacent to the mostly mined out onshore beaches for which no real hard data is available at present. The submerged beaches within the 4 km coast parallel strip hold great potential for being highly diamondiferous. To date hard data is not yet available to quantify or validate this potential. The question is how to obtain sufficient hard data within the techno economic constraints to enable a resource with an...

This article reviews the literature on the onset and dynamics of domestic terrorism, with special emphasis on the interactions between terrorist organizations, the state, and society. Because this literature has often been based on case studies, we seek to impose some structure to its findings. We challenge the distinction between domestic and international terrorism, which truncates the sample of violence, and we show that the actor-sense of terrorism (violence carried out by underground organizations) is the most appropriate model for causal analysis. Terrorist organizations tend to emerge in developed countries in which the state is able to prevent the loss of control over any part of its territory. Terrorists take advantage of the state's mistakes (when, for example, it is over-repressive or makes ineffective concessions) in order to boost their support. Terrorists cannot survive without some degree of support. Consequently, levels of violence and targets are determined by s...

The Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon is a Tc1/mariner family transposon that has applications in vertebrate animals for gene transfer, gene-tagging, and human gene therapy. In this study, we analyzed the target-site preferences of the SB transposon. At the genomic level, integration of SB transposons with respect to genes (exons and introns) and intergenic regions appears fairly random but not on a micro-scale. Although there appears to be a consensus sequence around the vicinity of the target sites, the primary sequence is not the determining factor for target selection. When integrations were examined over a limited topography, the sites used most often for integration did not match the consensus sequence. Rather, a unique deformation inherent in the sequence may be a recognition signal for target selection. The deformation is characterized by an angling of the target site such that the axis around the insertion site is off-center, the rotation of the helix (twisting) is non-uniform and there is an increase in the distance between the central base-pairs. Our observations offer several hypothetical insights into the transposition process. Our observations suggest that particular deformations of the double helix predicted by the V step algorithm can distinguish TA sites that vary by about 16-fold in their preferences for accommodating insertions of SB transposons.

Most fermented dairy products are manufactured using mixed starter cultures. These cultures are usually a well-balanced mixture of several different lactic acid bacteria. For the development of novel or improved dairy products, flavour characteristics are generally a primary target. In recent years, a number of high-throughput screening tools have emerged allowing the targeted selection of flavourforming cultures and these will be illustrated with relevant examples. This includes methods directly targeting flavour production such as GC-MS analysis of flavour profiles on the head space of fermentation fluids. High-throughput tools and DNA microarrays are valuable tools for elucidating the regulatory responses to different substrates and processing conditions thus allowing rational intervention in fermentations to improve flavour production. Finally, genome-scale metabolic models are used to predict the production of relevant (flavour) components and to expand our knowledge about flavour-forming pathways. The integration of these approaches is anticipated to strengthen culture development programs enabling the production of well-tasting, fermented dairy products.

The SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), a five-year spectroscopic survey of 10,000 deg 2 , achieved first light in late 2009. One of the key goals of BOSS is to measure the signature of baryon acoustic oscillations in the distribution of Lyα absorption from the spectra of a sample of ∼150,000 z > 2.2 quasars. Along with measuring the angular diameter distance at z ≈ 2.5, BOSS will provide the first direct measurement of the expansion rate of the Universe at z > 2. One of the biggest challenges in achieving this goal is an efficient target selection algorithm for quasars in the redshift range 2.2 < z < 3.5, where their colors tend to overlap those of the far more numerous stars. During the first year of the BOSS survey, quasar target selection methods were developed and tested to meet the requirement of delivering at least 15 quasars deg −2 in this redshift range, with a goal of 20, out of 40 targets deg −2 allocated to the quasar survey. To achieve these surface densities, the magnitude limit of the quasar targets was set at g ≤ 22.0 or r ≤ 21.85. While detection of the BAO signature in the distribution of Lyα absorption in quasar spectra does not require a uniform target selection algorithm, many other astrophysical studies do. We have therefore defined a uniformly-selected subsample of 20 targets deg −2 , for which the selection efficiency is just over 50% (∼10 z > 2.20 quasars deg −2). This "CORE" subsample will be fixed for Years Two through Five of the survey. For the remaining 20 targets deg −2 , we will continue to develop improved selection techniques, including the use of additional data sets beyond the SDSS imaging data. In this paper we describe the evolution and implementation of the BOSS quasar target selection algorithms during the first two years of BOSS operations (through July 2011), in support of the science investigations based on these data, and we analyze the spectra obtained during the first year. During this year, 11,263 new z > 2.20 quasars were spectroscopically confirmed by the BOSS, roughly double the number of previously known quasars with z > 2.20. Our current algorithms select an average of 15 z > 2.20 quasars deg −2 from 40 targets deg −2 using single-epoch SDSS imaging. Multi-epoch optical data and data at other wavelengths can further improve the efficiency and completeness of BOSS quasar target selection.

MESS (Mass-loss of Evolved StarS) is a guaranteed time key program that uses the PACS and SPIRE instruments on board the Herschel space observatory to observe a representative sample of evolved stars, that include asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and post-AGB stars, planetary nebulae and red supergiants, as well as luminous blue variables, Wolf-Rayet stars and supernova remnants. In total, of order 150 objects are observed in imaging and about 50 objects in spectroscopy. This paper describes the target selection and target list, and the observing strategy. Key science projects are described, and illustrated using results obtained during Herschel's science demonstration phase. Aperture photometry is given for the 70 AGB and post-AGB stars observed up to October 17, 2010, which constitutes the largest single uniform database of far-IR and sub-mm fluxes for late-type stars.

As the number of complete genomes that have been sequenced keeps growing, unknown areas of the protein space are revealed and new horizons open up. Most of this information will be fully appreciated only when the structural information about the encoded proteins becomes available. The goal of structural genomics is to direct large-scale efforts of protein structure determination, so as to increase the impact of these efforts. This review focuses on current approaches in structural genomics aimed at selecting representative proteins as targets for structure determination. We will discuss the concept of representative structures/folds, the current methodologies for identifying those proteins, and computational techniques for identifying proteins which are expected to adopt new structural folds.

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We reproduce the galaxy clustering catalogue from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Final Data Release (BOSS DR11&DR12) with high fidelity on all relevant scales in order to allow a robust analysis of baryon acoustic oscillations and redshift space distortions. We have generated (6,000) 12,288 MultiDark patchy BOSS (DR11) DR12 light-cones corresponding to an effective volume of ∼192, 000 [h −1 Gpc] 3 (the largest ever simulated volume), including cosmic evolution in the redshift range from 0.15 to 0.75. The mocks have been calibrated using a reference galaxy catalogue based on the halo abundance matching modelling of the BOSS DR11&DR12 galaxy clustering data and on the data themselves. The production follows three steps. First, we apply the patchy code to generate a dark matter field and an object distribution including nonlinear stochastic galaxy bias. Secondly, we run the halo/stellar distribution reconstruction hadron code to assign masses to the various objects. This step uses the mass distribution as a function of local density and non-local indicators (i.e., tidal field tensor eigenvalues and relative halo exclusion separation for massive objects) from the reference simulation applied to the corresponding patchy dark matter and galaxy distribution. Finally, we apply the sugar code to build the light cones. The resulting MultiDark patchy mock light cones reproduce the number density, selection function, survey geometry, and in general within 1-σ, for arbitrary stellar mass bins, the power spectrum up to k = 0.3 h Mpc −1 , the two-point correlation functions down to a few Mpc scales, and the three-point statistics of the BOSS DR11&DR12 galaxy samples.

This paper describes the fourth data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), including all survey-quality data taken through June 2004. The data release includes five-band photometric data for 180 million objects selected over 6670 deg 2 , and 673,280 spectra of galaxies, quasars, and stars selected from 4783 deg 2 of that imaging data using the standard SDSS target selection algorithms. These numbers represent a roughly 25% increment over those of the Third Data Release. The Fourth Data Release also includes an additional 131,840 spectra of objects selected using a variety of alternative algorithms, to address scientific issues ranging from the kinematics of stars in the Milky Way thick disk to populations of faint galaxies and quasars.

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) has been in operation since 2000 April. This paper presents the tenth public data release (DR10) from its current incarnation, SDSS-III. This data release includes the first spectroscopic data from the Apache Point Observatory Galaxy Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), along with spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) taken through 2012 July. The APOGEE instrument is a near-infrared R ∼ 22,500 300-fiber spectrograph covering 1.514-1.696 µm. The APOGEE survey is studying the chemical abundances and radial velocities of roughly 100,000 red giant star candidates in the bulge, bar, disk, and halo of the Milky Way. DR10 includes 178,397 spectra of 57,454 stars, each typically observed three or more times, from APOGEE. Derived quantities from these spectra (radial velocities, effective temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities) are also included.

Background: Methicillin (oxacillin)-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remains a significant clinical and epidemiological pathogen in hospital settings and in the community world-wide. The resistance to methicillin in Staphylococcus aureus is mediated by the mecA gene, which encodes penicillin-binding protein 2a (PBP2A). Rapid patient screening for MRSA is essential for infection control procedures in order to possibly enhance the outcomes of infected patients. In this study, we utilized PBP2A to predict and create a novel synthetic protein with multiple immunodominant B cell epitopes for rapid diagnosis of MRSA using an in-silico approach. Methods: Seven putative PBP2A peptides were used to analyze the protein’s primary, secondary, and tertiary structures (BepiPred). The B cell construct was then evaluated using I-TASSER server, and physicochemical properties, and homology modeling of the 3 D structure of the protein were obtained. Results: In silico analyses revealed regions w...

Owing to the growing emergence of the end-of-life electrical and electronic products with complex material structures and an ever-diminishing particle size of the valuable metals involved, development of eddy current separators (ECS) has been targeting selective separation of small non-ferrous metal particles smaller than 5 mm. Separability of various materials smaller than 5 ram, including fine copper wires, has been investigated using ECS with various design concepts. The present research work is divided into two parts, with Part focusing on the rotating type ECS which are today common in practice, and with Part II dedicated to the ECS with novel concepts such as wet ECS technology. In Part I, three rotating belted-drum ECS were employed, which are manufactured by Bakker Magnetics, the Netherlands, Huron Valley Steel Co., US, and Eriez Magnetics, UK respectively. It is found that the belted-drum ECS are effective for separating materials below 5 mm if the magnetic drum rotates in opposite direction to the conveyor belt. The separation principle, particularly the "backward phenomenon" of the rotating type ECS for small particles has been unravelled in the present study. Moreover, separation of AI from the 0-10 mm fraction of electronic scrap has been conducted. The results obtained demonstrate that the belted-drum ECS with appropriate design may be applicable for separation of small aluminum particles from electronic scrap.

Autophagy, an intrinsically nonselective process, can also target selective cargo for degradation. The mechanism of selective peroxisome turnover by autophagy-related processes (pexophagy), termed micropexophagy and macropexophagy, is unknown. We show how a Pichia pastoris protein, PpAtg30, mediates peroxisome selection during pexophagy. It is necessary for pexophagy, but not for other selective and nonselective autophagy-related processes. It localizes at the peroxisome membrane via interaction with peroxins, and during pexophagy it colocalizes transiently at the preautophagosomal structure (PAS) and interacts with the autophagy machinery. PpAtg30 is required for formation of pexophagy intermediates, such as the micropexophagy apparatus (MIPA) and the pexophagosome (Ppg). During pexophagy, PpAtg30 undergoes multiple phosphorylations, at least one of which is required for pexophagy. PpAtg30 overexpression stimulates pexophagy even under peroxisome-induction conditions, impairing peroxisome biogenesis. Therefore, PpAtg30 is a key player in the selection of peroxisomes as cargo and in their delivery to the autophagy machinery for pexophagy.

Our visual attention is attracted by salient stimuli in our environment and affected by primitive features such as orientation, color, and motion. Perceptual saliency due to orientation contrast has been extensively demonstrated in behavioral experiments with humans and other primates and is believed to be facilitated by the functional organization of the primary visual cortex. In behavioral experiments with the archer fish, a proficient hunter with remarkable visual abilities, we found an orientation saliency effect similar to that observed in human subjects. Given the enormous evolutionary distance between humans and archer fish, our findings suggest that orientation-based saliency constitutes a fundamental building block for efficient visual information processing. orientation contrast | visual information processing | visual saliency | orientation-based texture segregation | visual search

Motivation: The lack of new antimicrobials, combined with increasing microbial resistance to old ones, poses a serious threat to public health. With hundreds of genomes sequenced, systems biology promises to help in solving this problem by uncovering new drug targets. Results: Here, we propose an approach that is based on the mapping of the interactions between biochemical agents, such as proteins and metabolites, onto complex networks. We report that nodes and links in complex biochemical networks can be grouped into a small number of classes, based on their role in connecting different functional modules. Specifically, for metabolic networks, in which nodes represent metabolites and links represent enzymes, we demonstrate that some enzyme classes are more likely to be essential, some are more likely to be species-specific and some are likely to be both essential and specific. Our network-based enzyme classification scheme is thus a promising tool for the identification of drug tar...

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) has been in operation since 2000 April. This paper presents the tenth public data release (DR10) from its current incarnation, SDSS-III. This data release includes the first spectroscopic data from the Apache Point Observatory Galaxy Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), along with spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) taken through 2012 July. The APOGEE instrument is a near-infrared R ∼ 22,500 300-fiber spectrograph covering 1.514-1.696 µm. The APOGEE survey is studying the chemical abundances and radial velocities of roughly 100,000 red giant star candidates in the bulge, bar, disk, and halo of the Milky Way. DR10 includes 178,397 spectra of 57,454 stars, each typically observed three or more times, from APOGEE. Derived quantities from these spectra (radial velocities, effective temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities) are also included.

The SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), a five-year spectroscopic survey of 10,000 deg 2 , achieved first light in late 2009. One of the key goals of BOSS is to measure the signature of baryon acoustic oscillations in the distribution of Lyα absorption from the spectra of a sample of ∼150,000 z > 2.2 quasars. Along with measuring the angular diameter distance at z ≈ 2.5, BOSS will provide the first direct measurement of the expansion rate of the Universe at z > 2. One of the biggest challenges in achieving this goal is an efficient target selection algorithm for quasars in the redshift range 2.2 < z < 3.5, where their colors tend to overlap those of the far more numerous stars. During the first year of the BOSS survey, quasar target selection methods were developed and tested to meet the requirement of delivering at least 15 quasars deg −2 in this redshift range, with a goal of 20, out of 40 targets deg −2 allocated to the quasar survey. To achieve these surface densities, the magnitude limit of the quasar targets was set at g ≤ 22.0 or r ≤ 21.85. While detection of the BAO signature in the distribution of Lyα absorption in quasar spectra does not require a uniform target selection algorithm, many other astrophysical studies do. We have therefore defined a uniformly-selected subsample of 20 targets deg −2 , for which the selection efficiency is just over 50% (∼10 z > 2.20 quasars deg −2). This "CORE" subsample will be fixed for Years Two through Five of the survey. For the remaining 20 targets deg −2 , we will continue to develop improved selection techniques, including the use of additional data sets beyond the SDSS imaging data. In this paper we describe the evolution and implementation of the BOSS quasar target selection algorithms during the first two years of BOSS operations (through July 2011), in support of the science investigations based on these data, and we analyze the spectra obtained during the first year. During this year, 11,263 new z > 2.20 quasars were spectroscopically confirmed by the BOSS, roughly double the number of previously known quasars with z > 2.20. Our current algorithms select an average of 15 z > 2.20 quasars deg −2 from 40 targets deg −2 using single-epoch SDSS imaging. Multi-epoch optical data and data at other wavelengths can further improve the efficiency and completeness of BOSS quasar target selection.

We describe a general target selection algorithm that is applicable to any survey in which the number of available candidates is much larger than the number of objects to be observed. This routine aims to achieve a balance between a smoothly-varying, well-understood selection function and the desire to preferentially select certain types of targets. Some target-selection examples are shown that illustrate different possibilities of emphasis functions. Although it is generally applicable, the algorithm was developed specifically for the LAMOST Experiment for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (LEGUE) survey that will be carried out using the Chinese Guo Shou Jing Telescope. In particular, this algorithm was designed for the portion of LEGUE targeting the Galactic halo, in which we attempt to balance a variety of science goals that require stars at fainter magnitudes than can be completely sampled by LAMOST. This algorithm has been implemented for the halo portion of the LAMOST pilot survey, which began in October 2011.

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) has been in operation since 2000 April. This paper presents the tenth public data release (DR10) from its current incarnation, SDSS-III. This data release includes the first spectroscopic data from the Apache Point Observatory Galaxy Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), along with spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) taken through 2012 July. The APOGEE instrument is a near-infrared R ∼ 22,500 300-fiber spectrograph covering 1.514-1.696 µm. The APOGEE survey is studying the chemical abundances and radial velocities of roughly 100,000 red giant star candidates in the bulge, bar, disk, and halo of the Milky Way. DR10 includes 178,397 spectra of 57,454 stars, each typically observed three or more times, from APOGEE. Derived quantities from these spectra (radial velocities, effective temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities) are also included.

As part of NASA's mission to explore habitable planets orbiting nearby stars, this paper explores the detection and characterization capabilities of a 4-m space telescope plus 50-m starshade located at the Earth-Sun L2 point, a.k.a. the New Worlds Observer (NWO). Our calculations include the true spectral types and distribution of stars on the sky, an iterative target selection protocol designed to maximize efficiency based on prior detections, and realistic mission constraints. We carry out both analytical calculations and simulated observing runs for a wide range in exozodiacal background levels (ε = 1-100 times the local zodi brightness) and overall prevalence of Earth-like terrestrial planets (η ⊕ = 0.1-1). We find that even without any return visits, the NWO baseline architecture (IWA = 65 mas, limiting FPB = 4×10-11) can achieve a 95% probability of detecting and spectrally characterizing at least one habitable Earth-like planet, and an expectation value of ~3 planets found, within the mission lifetime and ΔV budgets, even in the worst-case scenario (η ⊕ = 0.1 and ε = 100 zodis for every target). This achievement requires about one year of integration time spread over the 5 year mission, leaving the remainder of the telescope time for UV-NIR General Astrophysics. Cost and technical feasibility considerations point to a "sweet spot" in starshade design near a 50-m starshade effective diameter, with 12 or 16 petals, at a distance of 70,000-100,000 km from the telescope.

GMO testing of foodstuffs represents an important tool for assessing compliance with EU legislation on transgenic plants derived food and feed (Querci et al., 2005). This paper describes the main features of the analytical steps encompassed in the GMO testing procedures performed in our laboratory. Qualitative and quantitative determination of transformation event Bt176 in maize grains is used to exemplify how the methods are employed. Bt176 is no longer approved for commercialization within the EU but represents an adequate example for a case study in this field because of the availability of information and data on the subject. It is also well suited for tests using the instruments in our laboratory. The main analytical steps for GMO testing of raw and processed plant matrices are as follows: obtaining of a representative laboratory sample by employing special strategies; sample preparation (e.g. milling, separation of different fractions) in order to obtain the test sample; DNA e...

Objective: The effect of camera viewpoint was studied when performing visually obstructed psychomotor targeting tasks. Background: Previous research in laparoscopy and robotic teleoperation found that complex perceptual-motor adaptations associated with misaligned viewpoints corresponded to degraded performance in manipulation. Because optimal camera positioning is often unavailable in restricted environments, alternative viewpoints that might mitigate performance effects are not obvious. Methods: A virtual keyboard-controlled targeting task was remotely distributed to workers of Amazon Mechanical Turk. The experiment was performed by 192 subjects for a static viewpoint with independent parameters of target direction, Fitts' law index of difficulty, viewpoint azimuthal angle (AA), and viewpoint polar angle (PA). A dynamic viewpoint experiment was also performed by 112 subjects in which the viewpoint AA changed after every trial. Results: AA and target direction had significant effects on performance for the static viewpoint experiment. Movement time and travel distance increased while AA increased until there was a discrete improvement in performance for 180 o. Increasing AA from 225 o to 315 o linearly decreased movement time and distance. There were significant main effects of current AA and magnitude of transition for the dynamic viewpoint experiment. Orthogonal direction and no-change viewpoint transitions least affected performance. Conclusions: Viewpoint selection should aim to minimize associated rotations within the manipulation plane when performing targeting tasks whether implementing a static or dynamic viewing solution. Because PA rotations had negligible performance effects, PA adjustments may extend the space of viable viewpoints. Applications: These results can inform viewpoint-selection for visual feedback during psychomotor tasks.

Context. A new and promising technique for observing the Universe and study the dark sector is the intensity mapping of the redshifted 21 cm line of neutral hydrogen (Hi). The Baryon Acoustic Oscillations [BAO] from Integrated Neutral Gas Observations (BINGO) radio telescope will use the 21 cm line to map the Universe in the redshift range 0.127 ≤ z ≤ 0.449, in a tomographic approach, with the main goal of probing BAO. Aims. This work presents the forecasts of measuring the transversal BAO signal during the BINGO Phase 1 operation. Methods. We use two clustering estimators: the two-point angular correlation function (ACF), in configuration space, and the angular power spectrum (APS), in harmonic space, and a template-based method to model the ACF and APS estimated from simulations of the BINGO region and extract the BAO information. The tomographic approach allows the combination of redshift bins to improve the template fitting performance. We compute the ACF and the APS for each of the 30 redshift bins and measure the BAO signal in 3 consecutive redshift blocks (lower, intermediate and higher) of 10 channels each. Robustness tests are used to evaluate several aspects of the BAO fitting pipeline for both clustering estimators. Results. We find that each clustering estimator shows different sensitivities to specific redshift ranges, although both of them perform better at higher redshifts. In general, the APS estimator provides slightly better estimates, with smaller uncertainties and larger probability of detection of the BAO signal, achieving 90% at higher redshifts. We investigate the contribution from instrumental noise and residual foreground signals and find that the former has the greater impact, getting more significant as the redshift increases, in particular the APS estimator. Indeed, including noise in the analysis increases the uncertainty up to a factor of ∼ 2.2 at higher redshifts. Foreground residuals, in contrast, do not significantly affect our final uncertainties. Conclusions. In summary, our results show that, even including semi-realistic systematic effects, BINGO has the potential to successfully measure the BAO scale in radio frequencies.

We present the Data Release 9 Quasar (DR9Q) catalog from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III. The catalog includes all BOSS objects that were targeted as quasar candidates during the survey, are spectrocopically confirmed as quasars via visual inspection, have luminosities M i [z = 2] < −20.5 (in a ΛCDM cosmology with H 0 = 70 km s −1 Mpc −1 , Ω M = 0.3, and Ω Λ = 0.7) and either display at least one emission line with full width at half maximum (FWHM) larger than 500 km s −1 or, if not, have interesting/complex absorption features. It includes as well, known quasars (mostly from SDSS-I and II) that were reobserved by BOSS. This catalog contains 87 822 quasars (78 086 are new discoveries) detected over 3275 deg 2 with robust identification and redshift measured by a combination of principal component eigenspectra newly derived from a training set of 8632 spectra from SDSS-DR7. The number of quasars with z > 2.15 (61 931) is ∼2.8 times larger than the number of z > 2.15 quasars previously known. Redshifts and FWHMs are provided for the strongest emission lines (C iv, C iii], Mg ii). The catalog identifies 7533 broad absorption line quasars and gives their characteristics. For each object the catalog presents five-band (u, g, r, i, z) CCD-based photometry with typical accuracy of 0.03 mag, and information on the morphology and selection method. The catalog also contains X-ray, ultraviolet, near-infrared, and radio emission properties of the quasars, when available, from other large-area surveys. The calibrated digital spectra cover the wavelength region 3600−10 500 Å at a spectral resolution in the range 1300 < R < 2500; the spectra can be retrieved from the SDSS Catalog Archive Server. We also provide a supplemental list of an additional 949 quasars that have been identified, among galaxy targets of the BOSS or among quasar targets after DR9 was frozen.

We present a measurement of the quasar luminosity function in the range 0.68 < z < 4 down to extinction corrected magnitude g dered = 22.5, using a simple and well understood target selection technique based on the time-variability of quasars. The completeness of our sample was derived directly from a control sample of quasars, without requiring complex simulations of quasar light-curves or colors. A total of 1877 quasar spectra were obtained from dedicated programs on the Sloan telescope (as part of the SDSS-III/BOSS survey) and on the Multiple Mirror Telescope. They allowed us to derive the quasar luminosity function. It agrees well with results previously published in the redshift range 0.68 < z < 2.6. Our deeper data allow us to extend the measurement to z = 4. We measured quasar densities to g dered < 22.5, obtaining 30 QSO per deg 2 at z < 1, 99 QSO per deg 2 for 1 < z < 2.15, and 47 QSO per deg 2 at z > 2.15. Using pure luminosity evolution models, we fitted our LF measurements and predicted quasar number counts as a function of redshift and observed magnitude. These predictions are useful inputs for future cosmology surveys such as those relying on the observation of quasars to measure baryon acoustic oscillations.

We estimate effective temperature (Teff), stellar radius, and luminosity for a sample of 271 M-dwarf stars (M0V-M7V) observed as a part of CARMENES (Calar Alto high-Resolution search for M dwarfs with Exo-earths with Near-infrared and optical Echelle Spectrographs) radial-velocity planet survey. For the first time, using the simultaneously observed high-resolution ($R\sim 90\, 000$) spectra in the optical (0.52–0.96 $\mu$m) and near-infrared (0.96–1.71 $\mu$m) bands, we derive empirical calibration relationships to estimate the fundamental parameters of these low-mass stars. We select a sample of nearby and bright M-dwarfs as our calibrators for which the physical parameters are acquired from high-precision interferometric measurements. To identify the most suitable indicators of Teff, radius, and luminosity (log L/L⊙), we inspect a range of spectral features and assess them for reliable correlations. We perform multivariate linear regression and find that the combination of pseudo-...

We use the GAMA I dataset combined with GALEX, SDSS and UKIDSS imaging to construct the low-redshift (z < 0.1) galaxy luminosity functions in FUV, NUV, ugriz, and Y JHK bands from within a single well constrained volume of 3.4 × 10 5 (Mpc/h) 3. The derived luminosity distributions are normalised to the SDSS DR7 main survey to reduce the estimated cosmic variance to the 5 per cent level. The data are used to construct the cosmic spectral energy distribution (CSED) from 0.1 to 2.1 µm free from any wavelength dependent cosmic variance for both the elliptical and non-elliptical populations. The two populations exhibit dramatically different CSEDs as expected for a predominantly old and young population respectively. Using the Driver et al. (2008) prescription for the azimuthally averaged photon escape fraction, the non-ellipticals are corrected for the impact of dust attenuation and the combined CSED constructed. The final results show that the Universe is currently generating (1.8±0.3)×10 35 h W Mpc −3 of which (1.2±0.1)×10 35 h W Mpc −3 is directly released into the inter-galactic medium and (0.6 ± 0.1) × 10 35 h W Mpc −3 is reprocessed and reradiated by dust in the far-IR. Using the GAMA data and our dust model we predict the mid and far-IR emission which agrees remarkably well with available data. We therefore provide a robust description of the pre-and post dust attenuated energy output of the nearby Universe from 0.1µm to 0.6mm. The largest uncertainty in this measurement lies in the mid and far-IR bands stemming from the dust attenuation correction and its currently poorly constrained dependence on environment, stellar mass, and morphology.

We measure the two-point angular correlation function of a sample of 4289 223 galaxies with r < 19.4 mag from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) as a function of photometric redshift, absolute magnitude and colour down to M r − 5 log h = −14 mag. Photometric redshifts are estimated from ugriz model magnitudes and two Petrosian radii using the artificial neural network package ANNz, taking advantage of the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) spectroscopic sample as our training set. These photometric redshifts are then used to determine absolute magnitudes and colours. For all our samples, we estimate the underlying redshift and absolute magnitude distributions using Monte Carlo resampling. These redshift distributions are used in Limber's equation to obtain spatial correlation function parameters from powerlaw fits to the angular correlation function. We confirm an increase in clustering strength for sub-L * red galaxies compared with ∼L * red galaxies at small scales in all redshift bins, whereas for the blue population the correlation length is almost independent of luminosity for ∼L * galaxies and fainter. A linear relation between relative bias and log luminosity is found

This paper examines investors' anticipation of bidder and target merger candidacy and if investor anticipations about candidacy affect the distribution of value between bidder and target firm shareholders. We find that bidder firms can be predicted more accurately than target firms. To investigate how merger announcement period returns are distributed among bidder and target shareholders, we control for different degrees of predictability in bidder and target selection and find that the difference between bidder and target firm threeday cumulative abnormal returns around a merger announcement decreases significantly. Thus, the evidence supports the hypothesis that the asymmetry in investor anticipations about merger candidacy causes disparity in bidder and target firm announcement period abnormal returns.