Limits to detection of generalized synchronization in delay-coupled chaotic oscillators.

We study how reliably generalized synchronization can be detected and characterized from time-series analysis. To that end, we analyze synchronization in a generalized sense of delay-coupled chaotic oscillators in unidirectional ring configurations. The generalized synchronization condition can be verified via the auxiliary system approach; however, in practice, this might not always be possible.

The histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin a promotes totipotency in the male gametophyte.

The haploid male gametophyte, the pollen grain, is a terminally differentiated structure whose function ends at fertilization. Plant breeding and propagation widely use haploid embryo production from in vitro-cultured male gametophytes, but this technique remains poorly understood at the mechanistic level. Here, we show that histone deacetylases (HDACs) regulate the switch to haploid embryogenesis.

Effectiveness of liposomal amphotericin B in patients admitted to the ICU on renal replacement therapy.

Introduction: This study was designed to compare the effectiveness of liposomal amphotericin B (L-AmB) in ICU patients with and without renal replacement therapy (RRT).

Methods: Observational, retrospective, comparative and multicenter study conducted in critically ill patients treated with L-AmB for 3 or more days, divided into two cohorts depending on the use of RRT before or within the first 48 hours after starting L-AmB. Clinical and microbiological response at the end of treatment was evaluated.

Relation between delayed feedback and delay-coupled systems and its application to chaotic lasers.

We present a systematic approach to identify the similarities and differences between a chaotic system with delayed feedback and two mutually delay-coupled systems. We consider the general case in which the coupled systems are either unsynchronized or in a generally synchronized state, in contrast to the mostly studied case of identical synchronization. We construct a new time-series for each of the two coupling schemes, respectively, and present analytic evidence and numerical confirmation that these two constructed time-series are statistically equivalent.

Molecular identification of nocardia isolates from clinical samples and an overview of human nocardiosis in Brazil.

Background: Nocardia sp. causes a variety of clinical presentations. The incidence of nocardiosis varies geographically according to several factors, such as the prevalence of HIV infections, transplants, neoplastic and rheumatic diseases, as well as climate, socio-economic conditions and laboratory procedures for Nocardia detection and identification.

Strong luminescence of carbon dots induced by acetone passivation: efficient sensor for a rapid analysis of two different pollutants.

The important photoluminescence enhancement found in Carbon Dots (CDs) obtained from carbonaceous nanomaterials when passivating with acetone is shown in this paper, in which this type of passivation has not been reported previously. Analytical fluorescent assays were performed with the selected CDs using two different pollutants as target analytes. The results show that the optimal conditions for detecting 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) were at pH 3.

Epicardial delivery of collagen patches with adipose-derived stem cells in rat and minipig models of chronic myocardial infarction.

Although transplantation of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) in chronic myocardial infarction (MI) models is associated with functional improvement, its therapeutic value is limited due to poor long-term cell engraftment and survival. Thus, the objective of this study was to examine whether transplantation of collagen patches seeded with ADSC could enhance cell engraftment and improve cardiac function in models of chronic MI. With that purpose, chronically infarcted Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 58) were divided into four groups and transplanted with media, collagen scaffold (CS), rat ADSC, or CS seeded with rat ADSC (CS-rADSC).

Novel therapy based on camelid nanobodies.

Nanobodies (Nbs) are small antibody fragments derived from camelid heavy chain antibodies through recombinant gene technology. Their exceptional physicochemical properties, possibility of humanization and unique antigen recognition properties make them excellent candidates for targeted delivery of biologically active components. Several different therapeutic approaches based on the novel camelid Nbs have been developed to treat a wide range of diseases ranging from immune, bone, blood and neurological disorders; infectious diseases and cancer.

Mitochondrial cristae shape determines respiratory chain supercomplexes assembly and respiratory efficiency.

Respiratory chain complexes assemble into functional quaternary structures called supercomplexes (RCS) within the folds of the inner mitochondrial membrane, or cristae. Here, we investigate the relationship between respiratory function and mitochondrial ultrastructure and provide evidence that cristae shape determines the assembly and stability of RCS and hence mitochondrial respiratory efficiency. Genetic and apoptotic manipulations of cristae structure affect assembly and activity of RCS in vitro and in vivo, independently of changes to mitochondrial protein synthesis or apoptotic outer mitochondrial membrane permeabilization.

Fidaxomicin: a minimally absorbed macrocyclic antibiotic for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infections.

Fidaxomicin was approved for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infections in 2011. It has a novel mechanism of action and narrow spectrum of activity that makes it unique among the currently used therapies for this disease. Phase III clinical studies demonstrated a benefit of fidaxomicin over vancomycin for the outcomes of recurrence and global cure or sustained clinical response.

Strong and weak chaos in networks of semiconductor lasers with time-delayed couplings.

Nonlinear networks with time-delayed couplings may show strong and weak chaos, depending on the scaling of their Lyapunov exponent with the delay time. We study strong and weak chaos for semiconductor lasers, either with time-delayed self-feedback or for small networks. We examine the dependence on the pump current and consider the question of whether strong and weak chaos can be identified from the shape of the intensity trace, the autocorrelations, and the external cavity modes.

Microspore embryogenesis: establishment of embryo identity and pattern in culture.

The developmental plasticity of plants is beautifully illustrated by the competence of the immature male gametophyte to change its developmental fate from pollen to embryo development when exposed to stress treatments in culture. This process, referred to as microspore embryogenesis, is widely exploited in plant breeding, but also provides a unique system to understand totipotency and early cell fate decisions. We summarize the major concepts that have arisen from decades of cell and molecular studies on microspore embryogenesis and put these in the context of recent experiments, as well as results obtained from the study of pollen and zygotic embryo development.

Primary cilia in gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs): an ultrastructural study.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal (non-epithelial) neoplasms of the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract. They are thought to derive from interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) or an ICC progenitor based on immunophenotypical and ultrastructural similarities. Because ICCs show primary cilium, our hypothesis is based on the possibility that some of these neoplastic cells could also present it.

Stabilisation of sewage sludge and vinasse bio-wastes by vermicomposting with rabbit manure using Eisenia fetida.

Changes in the chemical characteristics and biological parameters of Eisenia fetida were assessed by VER using (CO+VE) rabbit manure (Vo) spiked with sewage sludge (SS) or vinasse (V). Seven mixtures were used: Vo, control; Vo+SS at 10%, 30%, and 50% (SS1, SS2, and SS3); Vo+V at 10%, 30%, and 50% (V1, V2, and V3). SS vermicomposts had higher humus, nutrient and total metal contents, but less soluble salts (EC) than V vermicomposts.

Interplay between extracellular matrix components of Pseudomonas putida biofilms.

The extracellular matrix of bacterial biofilms has at least two key functions: to serve as a structural scaffold for the multicellular community, and to play a protective role against external stress. In this work, we report a compensatory effect whereby Pseudomonas putida reacts to the lack of either of the two main surface proteins involved in biofilm formation, LapA and LapF, by increasing expression and production of a species-specific EPS. Elevated levels of the second messenger molecule cyclic di-GMP alter the balance of extracellular matrix components, and the phenotypes of lapA and lapF mutants under these conditions are indicative of direct interactions taking place between large secreted proteins and exopolysaccharides.

Congenital ulcer of the buttock.

We present the case of a congenital, deep ulcer of the buttock in an otherwise healthy newborn girl. Histopathology excluded any specific cause of ulceration. The ulcer healed spontaneously at 4 weeks of age, leaving a scar.

Optoelectronic reservoir computing: tackling noise-induced performance degradation.

We present improved strategies to perform photonic information processing using an optoelectronic oscillator with delayed feedback. In particular, we study, via numerical simulations and experiments, the influence of a finite signal-to-noise ratio on the computing performance. We illustrate that the performance degradation induced by noise can be compensated for via multi-level pre-processing masks.

A molecular platinum cluster junction: a single-molecule switch.

We present a theoretical study of electron transport through single-molecule junctions incorporating a Pt(6) metal cluster bound within an organic framework. The insertion of this molecule between a pair of electrodes leads to a fully atomically engineered nanometallic device with high conductance at the Fermi level and two sequential high on/off switching states. The origin of this property can be traced back to the existence of a degenerate HOMO consisting of two asymmetric orbitals with energies close to the Fermi level of the metal leads.

Parallel photonic information processing at gigabyte per second data rates using transient states.

The increasing demands on information processing require novel computational concepts and true parallelism. Nevertheless, hardware realizations of unconventional computing approaches never exceeded a marginal existence. While the application of optics in super-computing receives reawakened interest, new concepts, partly neuro-inspired, are being considered and developed.

Distinguishing chaotic and stochastic dynamics from time series by using a multiscale symbolic approach.

In this paper we introduce a multiscale symbolic information-theory approach for discriminating nonlinear deterministic and stochastic dynamics from time series associated with complex systems. More precisely, we show that the multiscale complexity-entropy causality plane is a useful representation space to identify the range of scales at which deterministic or noisy behaviors dominate the system's dynamics. Numerical simulations obtained from the well-known and widely used Mackey-Glass oscillator operating in a high-dimensional chaotic regime were used as test beds.

Enteric neurons show a primary cilium.

The primary cilium is a non-motile cilium whose structure is 9+0. It is involved in co-ordinating cellular signal transduction pathways, developmental processes and tissue homeostasis. Defects in the structure or function of the primary cilium underlie numerous human diseases, collectively termed ciliopathies.

First Report of Phytophthora ramorum Causing a Leafspot on Loropetalum chinense, Chinese Fringe Flower in California.

Chinese fringe flower is a popular landscape plant in California for its red evergreen foliage and its showy red flowers in the spring. In April 2007, a sample was submitted to the California Department of Food and Agriculture diagnostic laboratory from Sacramento County as part of an inspection of a nursery for Phytophthora ramorum. A sample was taken from Loropetalum chinense because the inspector noticed very small spots and defoliation in the crop, even though P.

Sp1 transcription factor interaction with accumulated prelamin a impairs adipose lineage differentiation in human mesenchymal stem cells: essential role of sp1 in the integrity of lipid vesicles.

Lamin A (LMNA)-linked lipodystrophies may be either genetic (associated with LMNA mutations) or acquired (associated with the use of human immunodeficiency virus protease inhibitors [PIs]), and in both cases they share clinical features such as anomalous distribution of body fat or generalized loss of adipose tissue, metabolic alterations, and early cardiovascular complications. Both LMNA-linked lipodystrophies are characterized by the accumulation of the lamin A precursor prelamin A. The pathological mechanism by which prelamin A accumulation induces the lipodystrophy associated phenotypes remains unclear.

First Report of Leaf Spot Caused by Phytophthora taxon Pgchlamydo on Evergreen Nursery Stock in California.

As part of the Phytophthora ramorum testing program from 2005 through 2007, a Phytophthora sp. was isolated on PARP-CMA medium (4) at the CDFA lab in Sacramento, CA, from the margin of necrotic spots and tissue suffering from dieback on Arctostaphylos sp. (manzanita), Camellia spp.