This paper introduces a Natural User Interface (NUI) that enables interaction in a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). The tracking of the head and hand in a CAVE usually takes place with the help of magnetic tracking systems or marker-based optical tracking systems. In both cases the user has to wear a number of instruments. In contrast, the CAVE at the HTW Berlin uses two depth detecti...

Yarimburgaz is a double cave with slightly offset upper and lower entrance chambers, connected laterally inside the cave. Below Byzantine and modern debris, the upper cave encloses Chalcolithic to Upper Paleolithic occupations above a beach sand attributed to the Last Interglacial. Below the beach sand, strongly modified sediments contain sparse Lower Paleolithic artifacts. The lower cave prese...

BarA of Streptomyces virginiae is a specific receptor protein for virginiae butanolides (VBs), a member of the butyrolactone autoregulators of Streptomyces species. Sequencing around the barA gene revealed two novel open reading frames: one upstream, barX, encoding a homolog of AfsA of Streptomyces griseus and another downstream, barB. Northern (RNA) blot analysis for S. virginiae demonstrated ...

Urinary retention is a serious urological problem associated with spinal cord injuries (SCIs) and other pelvic disorders. Effective methods of pelvic nerve stimulation were investigated for this problem. Following anesthesia in five dogs, the bladder was surgically exposed. Bladder and anal sphincter pressures were recorded. Testing was first conducted with probe electrodes. Barb electrodes wer...

Fisheries and scientific investigations of the recently discovered deep-water coral province south of Malta sampled living specimens of two deep-water Coralliophilinae intimately associated with Lophelia-Madrepora coral banks. The species are ‘Coralliophila’ richardi (Fischer P., 1882) and Babelomurex sentix (Bayer, 1971). A third coralliophilinid ‘Coralliophila’ squamosa (Bivona Ant. in Bivona...

A Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain (UCBPP-PA14) is infectious both in an Arabidopsis thaliana leaf infiltration model and in a mouse full-thickness skin burn model. UCBPP-PA14 exhibits ecotype specificity for Arabidopsis, causing a range of symptoms from none to severe in four different ecotypes. In the mouse model, UCBPP-PA14 is as lethal as other well-studied P. aeruginosa strains. Mutations in ...

We provide an updated molecular phylogenetic analysis of global diversity of typhlopid and xenotyphlopid blindsnakes, adding a set of Madagascan samples and sequences of an additional mitochondrial gene to an existing supermatrix of nuclear and mitochondrial gene segments. Our data suggest monophyly of Madagascan typhlopids, exclusive of introduced Indotyphlops braminus. The Madagascar-endemic ...

Postojna Cave is the biggest of 12 show caves in Slovenia. Because of elevated radon concentrations, it has been under permanent radon survey since 1995 [1]. The driving force for air movement in the cave, and thus the inflow of fresh air and release of the cave air to the atmosphere, is the temperature difference between the cave air and outdoors [2]. In our study, we intend to predict radon c...

Establishment of a cell-mediated gene transfer system has potential as a new breeding technique for commercially valuable fishes. As an important step toward developing an inter-species chimera, cells from blastula-stage embryos of rosy barb (Puntius conchonius) were transplanted into zebrafish (Danio rerio) blastula-stage embryos to observe the development of the recipient. From the total of 4...

We investigated genetic differentiation and migration patterns in a small livebearing fish, Poecilia mexicana, inhabiting a sulfidic Mexican limestone cave (Cueva del Azufre). We examined fish from three different cave chambers, the sulfidic surface creek draining the cave (El Azufre) and a nearby surface creek without the toxic hydrogen sulphide (Arroyo Cristal). Using microsatellite analysis ...