Dual joints for 3D-structures

The increasing popularity of 3D printing is drawing the interest of the research community to the possibilities and challenges of this manufacturing method. Amongst its many uncertainties, we are concerned here with one of its certainties—that reduction of the material required in 3D printing is critical for efficiency and affordability. In this paper, we propose a solution to the computer graphics problem of, given a volume boundary, automatically defining the mesh of a low density internal structure that is 3D-printable. The proposed solution involves two steps. The first step is to define a cell complex partition for the internal space of a volume defined by its boundaries. The second step, is to apply the Skin4Skeleton algorithm, which uses the cell complex dual to produce a 3D-printable cell-complex mesh with a parametrised thickness.     

Introducing Glycolinkers for the Functionalization of Cytotoxic Drugs and Applications in Antibody–Drug Conjugation Chemistry

Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are promising alternatives to naked antibodies for selective drug‐delivery applications and treatment of diseases such as cancer. Construction of ADCs relies upon site‐selective, efficient and mild conjugation technologies. The choice of a chemical linker is especially important, as it affects the overall properties of the ADC. We envisioned that hydrophilic bifunctional chemical linkers based on carbohydrates would be a useful class of derivatization agents for the construction of linker–drug conjugates and ADCs. Herein we describe the synthesis of carbohydrate‐based derivatization agents, glycolinker–drug conjugates featuring the tubulin inhibitor monomethyl auristatin E and an ADC based on an anti‐EGFR antibody. In addition, an initial in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation of the individual components and the ADC is provided against EGFR‐positive cancer cells.     

Influence of homogenisation on the solution properties of oat β-glucan

High pressure and rotor/stator homogenisation are widely used techniques in modifying rheologically interesting polysaccharides such as cereal β-glucan for food purposes. However, the influence of the homogenisation-induced mechanical stress on β-glucan has not been reported. The influence of three different homogenisers (two high-pressure homogenisers and a rotor/stator homogeniser) was examined in terms of the change in flow and molecular properties of oat β-glucan in semi-dilute and concentrated solutions. A clear and irreversible decrease in viscosity and change in flow behaviour were observed after each homogenisation treatment of the semi-dilute solution. The viscosity had a linear relationship with molar mass in the high-pressure homogenised samples and they both decreased in parallel with the mechanical energy input. With the molar mass decrease, the shape of β-glucan became more spherical and dense. In addition, the molecular weight distribution narrowed and storage-related viscosity stabilized. No considerable differences between the influences of the two high-pressure techniques were observed inconsistently with previous studies. Both molecular and technical characteristics were concluded to affect the fragmentation of β-glucan in high-pressure homogenisation. Since homogenisation enhanced the structural stability of the solution and the fragmentation was dependent on the energy input, the techniques were concluded to be relevant methods for controlled fragmentation of β-glucan.     

beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase and beta-glucuronidase activities in insulin-dependent diabetic subjects with retinopathy

The serum activities of two lysosomal enzymes, beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase (EC 3.2.1.30, NAG) and beta-glucuronidase (EC 3.2.1.31, GLU), were determined in 41 insulin-dependent diabetics, 27 age-matched non-diabetic first-degree relatives of the diabetics and 103 age-matched non-diabetic blood-donors. The diabetics were divided into three groups on the basis of ophthalmoscopy: (1) no retinal abnormalities; (2) non-proliferative retinopathy; and (3) proliferative retinopathy. The activities of both serum enzymes were higher in diabetics (NAG 21.39 +/- 5.99; GLU 2.19 +/- 1.01) than in their relatives (NAG 17.22 +/- 3.99; GLU 1.62 +/-0.61). The diabetics with non-proliferative retinopathy had higher serum enzyme levels (NAG 24.05 +/- 6.26; GLU 2.60 +/- 1.06) than diabetics without retinopathy (NAG 17.88 +/- 3.00; GLU 1.69 +/ 0.64), whereas no statistically significant difference was found in patients with the proliferative form of retinopathy (NAG 18.67 +/- 6.28; GLU 1.99 +/- 1.04). In diabetics a positive correlation was found between serum beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase activity and blood glucose (p < 0.01), but not between beta-glucuronidase and blood glucose. Furthermore, the activities of both enzymes in diabetics correlated with the plasma triglyceride level (p < 0.05 for both correlations). No correlation was found between the enzyme levels and signs of other diabetic late complications.     

Low-Power Application-Specific Processor for FFT Computations

In this paper, a processor architecture tailored for radix-4 and mixed-radix FFT computations is described. The processor has native support for power-of-two transform sizes. Several optimizations have been used to improve the energy-efficiency of the processor and experiments show that a programmable solution can possess energy-efficiency comparable to fixed-function ASICs.     

Specifying Cash-Point with DisCo

We describe how the cash-point service problem of Formal Methods ’99 is specified using DisCo [Dis, JKS91]. Received January 2000 / Accepted in revised form December 2000     

Design Methodology for Offloading Software Executions to FPGA

Field programmable gate array (FPGA) is a flexible solution for offloading part of the computations from a processor. In particular, it can be used to accelerate an execution of a computationally heavy part of the software application, e.g., in DSP, where small kernels are repeated often. Since an application code for a processor is a software, a design methodology is needed to convert the code into a hardware implementation, applicable to the FPGA. In this paper, we propose a design method, which uses the Transport Triggered Architecture (TTA) processor template and the TTA-based Co-design Environment toolset to automate the design process. With software as a starting point, we generate a RTL implementation of an application-specific TTA processor together with the hardware/software interfaces required to offload computations from the system main processor. To exemplify how the integration of the customized TTA with a new platform could look like, we describe a process of developing required interfaces from a scratch. Finally, we present how to take advantage of the scalability of the TTA processor to target platform and application-specific requirements.     

Framework for Sustainable Food Packaging Design

The environmental impacts of packages have been found to be relatively small compared with the food items they contain. Furthermore, from the environmental and operational point of view, the most significant task of the package is to protect the product, which is important to acknowledge in the packaging design process. This study introduces a guiding framework for designing sustainable food packaging. In this approach, the entire life cycle of the product–package combination is taken into consideration. The emphasis is on the prevention of food losses in packaging design as a major environmental criterion. Consideration of the properties of both the package and the product itself when designing the final package will lead to a better end result with smaller product losses and environmental impacts. By using different assessment methods in the different stages of the packaging design, the sustainability of the package can be enhanced. The decision making of the packaging designer is facilitated with methods that are introduced step by step and in a certain order that will also allow for corrective measures through back‐loops in the design process. The purpose is to integrate sustainability aspects at all stages firmly into the design process. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sex difference in the incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: an analysis of the recent epidemiological data. World Health Organization DIAMOND Project Group

Myocarditis is thought to be commonly caused by various viruses, and accumulating evidence links viral myocarditis with the eventual development of dilated cardiomyopathy. Recently, the importance of hepatitis C virus infection was noted in patients with dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Cytokines are being increasingly recognized as an important factor in the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of myocarditis and cardiomyopathy. Elevated levels of circulating cytokines have been reported in patients with heart failure, and various cytokines have been shown to depress myocardial contractility in vitro and in vivo. A number of reports have shown that cytokines generated by activated immune cells cause an increase in nitric oxide (NO) via induction of NO synthase. Increased generation of NO may induce negative inotropism and myocardial damage. This review discusses the etiology and pathogenesis of myocarditis and cardiomyopathy from this point of view.     

Lateral nucleus of the rat amygdala is reciprocally connected with basal and accessory basal nuclei: a light and electron microscopic study

Information flow within the intra-amygdaloid circuitry has been generally believed to be unidirectional rather than reciprocal, in which case sensory inputs entering the amygdala via the lateral nucleus would not be modulated by inputs from other amygdaloid regions. In the present study we extend our earlier findings which indicated that the lateral nucleus of the rat amygdala is reciprocally connected with the basal and accessory basal nuclei. The type of synaptic contacts made by these connections is also characterized at the ultrastructural level. An anterograde tracer, Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin, was injected into the basal (n=22) or accessory basal nuclei (n=12) of the rat amygdala. The results demonstrate that the ventrolateral division of the lateral nucleus receives projections from the basal nucleus, while the medial division receives projections from the accessory basal nucleus. Electron microscopic analyses revealed that axons projecting from the basal nucleus formed both asymmetric and symmetric contacts within the ventrolateral division of the lateral nucleus, whereas axons projecting from the accessory basal nucleus to the medial division of the lateral nucleus formed only asymmetric synapses with their targets. These findings suggest that the lateral nucleus receives both inhibitory and excitatory intra-amygdaloid projections and indicate that information flow within the amygdala is not unidirectional as previously thought. The results of this study provide evidence that the early phase of sensory processing within the amygdala is already modified by inputs from other amygdaloid nuclei.