Mesoscopic simulations of long polymer chains and soft matter systems are conducted routinely in the literature order to assess long-lived relaxation processes manifested these systems. Coarse-grained are, however, prone unphysical intercrossing due their inherent softness. This issue can be resolved by introducing intermolecular bonds (the so-called slip-springs) which restore topological cons...

This paper addresses the issue of model selection for hidden Markov models (HMMs). We generalize factorized asymptotic Bayesian inference (FAB), which has been recently developed for model selection on independent hidden variables (i.e., mixture models), for time-dependent hidden variables. As with FAB in mixture models, FAB for HMMs is derived as an iterative lower bound maximization algorithm...

This paper presents a new fractal image coding (FIC) scheme to exploit the self-similarly at the same resolution scale in natural images. The new scheme can assure the convergence of FIC transforms without some limiting conditions like Zhao’s, and we also give the convergence proof of our new scheme in this paper. Our scheme also uses a recursive scheme feeding the coding results back to update...

In this paper, two new paradigms are proposed with fractal collage and reconstruction residuals to enhance FIC. In the first new paradigm, FIC is optimized using the reconstruction residuals. In the second paradigm, the selected collage residuals are used to correct the iterated function system (IFS) of FIC, and an effective technique for coding the selected collage residuals is applied based o...

Purinergic mechanisms appear to be involved in motor as well as sensory functions in the urinary bladder. ATP released from efferent nerves excites bladder smooth muscle, whereas ATP released from urothelial cells can activate afferent nerves and urothelial cells. In the present study, we used immunohistochemical techniques to examine the distribution of purinoceptors in the urothelium, smooth ...

Recent emphasis on dipolarization fronts (DFs) has led to the impression that DFs play a significant role in bringing magnetic flux to the inner magnetosphere during substorms. In this work, we investigate the amount of magnetic flux transport associated with DFs by examining the frozen-in field line condition (FIC) for previously reported DF events. A study of 18 DF cases shows that the FIC do...

The richness and biogeographical distribution pattern of bacterial and archaeal communities was assessed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of polymerase chain reaction-amplified fragments of the 16S rRNA gene at the surface (15–25 m depth), in the deep chlorophyll maximum layer (DCM; 50 m depth), and deep waters (75–1000 m depth) of the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocea...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate in vitro interactions between paromomycin sulphate and the antileishmanial drugs meglumine antimoniate, amphotericin B, miltefosine and azithromycin against intracellular Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum chagasi, Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis and Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis amastigotes in peritoneal mouse macrophages. METHODS First, drug susceptibility was a...

BACKGROUND We have developed a Family Integrated Care (FIC) model for use in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) where parents provide most of the care for their infant, while nurses teach and counsel parents. The objective of this pilot prospective cohort analytic study was to explore the feasibility, safety, and potential outcomes of implementing this model in a Canadian NICU. METHODS Inf...