Interactive Markov chains (IMC) are compositional behavioural models extending labelled transition systems and continuous-time Markov chains. We provide a framework and algorithms for compositional verification and optimization of IMC with respect to time-bounded properties. Firstly, we give a specification formalism for IMC. Secondly, given a time-bounded property, an IMC component and the ass...

Reciprocal inhibition between inhibitory projection neurons has been proposed as the most efficient circuit motif to achieve the flexible selection of one stimulus among competing alternatives. However, whether such a motif exists in networks that mediate selection is unclear. Here, we study the connectivity within the nucleus isthmi pars magnocellularis (Imc), a GABAergic nucleus that mediates...

499 same procedure to access the IMC SLN immediately following a mastectomy. In the more difficult case where there is not a mastectomy, the use of the vertical mastopexy incision can allow access to the rib cartilage and the IMC without creating a parasternal incision, which would cause an unsightly scar. For these reasons, a plastic surgeon performs SLNB of IMC nodes at our institution. This ...

Merkle Cryptosystem (MC) is the first cryptosystem which introduces general concept of the public key cryptography. In this paper, we propose Improved Merkle Cryptosystem (IMC), which has significant security advantages over both MC and a variant of MC (VMC). In IMC, cryptographic hash functions and a new puzzle structure are used together in order to increase the security of MC and VMC. The ke...

We focused on the surface microstructure and morphology changes of Cu/eutectic SnBi/Cu joint during solid-state aging process through ex situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) analysis. Different intermetallic compound (IMC) growth behaviors on the surface from the bulk of solder joints were observed and investigated. The results ind...

The aims of this study were to investigate the serum and tissue content of androgens and estrogens in canine inflammatory mammary carcinomas (IMC) as well as in non-inflammatory malignant mammary tumors (MMT), and assessed the immunoexpression of estrogen and androgen receptors using immunohistochemistry. Profiles for the androgens dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), androstenedione (A4), and testos...

Apicomplexan parasites belong to a recently recognised group of protozoa referred to as Alveolata. These protists contain membranous sacs (alveoli) beneath the plasma membrane, termed the Inner Membrane Complex (IMC) in the case of Apicomplexa. During parasite replication the IMC is formed de novo within the mother cell in a process described as internal budding. We hypothesized that an alveola...

AIM To assess the role of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), age, smoking and body weight on the development of intestinal metaplasia of the gastric cardia (IMC). METHODS Two hundred and seventeen patients scheduled for esophagogastroduodenoscopy were enrolled in this study. Endoscopic biopsies from the esophagus, gastroesophageal junction and stomach wer...

Unlike most cells, protozoa in the phylum Apicomplexa divide by a distinctive process in which multiple daughters are assembled within the mother (schizogony or endodyogeny), using scaffolding known as the inner membrane complex (IMC). The IMC underlies the plasma membrane during interphase, but new daughters develop in the cytoplasm, as cytoskeletal filaments associate with flattened membrane ...

The isthmic complex is part of a visual midbrain circuit thought to be involved in stimulus selection and spatial attention. In birds, this circuit is composed of the nuclei isthmi pars magnocellularis (Imc), pars parvocellularis (Ipc), and pars semilunaris (SLu), all of them reciprocally connected to the ipsilateral optic tectum (TeO). The Imc conveys heterotopic inhibition to the TeO, Ipc, an...