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The study describes the results of research carried out into the design of a parallel and resource-efficient solution to the real-data polyphase discrete Fourier transform (DFT), or PDFT. The solution is able to exploit both the real-valued nature of the data and the parallel processing capabilities of the computing technology - assumed to be a field-programmable gate array - to yield a solution with a low size, weight and power requirement. A parallel computing architecture has been devised, based upon batch processing, whereby pipelined operation of the polyphase filter bank (PFB) is achieved using shared resources and pipelined operation of the real-data DFT using the resource-efficient regularised fast Hartley transform (RFHT). The PFB outputs are appropriately re-ordered for input to the RFHT by means of a suitably defined finite state machine. The resulting design, which includes a flexible up-sampling capability (with rational over-sampling factor) to address the problem of adjacent channel interference, trade-off time complexity against space complexity in order to satisfy the associated timing constraints. The solution is also scalable, in terms of the number of channels, so that it might be easily adapted, for new or multiple applications, at minimal re-design effort and cost.

Canine Ehrlichiosis is a disease with worldwide distribution caused by the potentially zoonotic Ehrlichia canis, a Gram negative intra-cellular pathogen transmitted by the Rhipicephalus sanguineus tick. Most studies have reported the epidemiological distribution of E. canis, but information on the clinical signs and hematological values were limited and retrospectively gathered. The present study endeavored to prospectively document the clinical profile of dogs that were serologically positive for E. canis in the Philippines. A total of 68 canine patients presented at the Makati Dog and Cat Hospital, Manila, Philippines were investigated. Inclusion criteria were history or presence of tick infestation, anemia, and/or thrombocytopenia. Blood samples were collected in EDTA tubes, and plasma samples were tested for E. canis using a commercial serological test kit. Clinical signs were recorded, and complete blood counts (CBC) were performed. Results revealed that 86.7% (59) were found serologically positive for E. canis. Most seropositive dogs had tick infestation, inappetence, and lethargy. Thrombocytopenia and anemia accompanied with normal WBC counts were the common hematologic findings. Statistical analyses revealed no significant differences in the hematological values of seropositive and seronegative dogs. Also, from the clinical signs, only lethargy was found to be significantly correlated with seropositivity (p value = 0.026). This study documents the clinical profile of dogs that were serologically positive for E. canis infection in the Philippines. Results are very useful to clinical practitioners who usually rely on clinical signs, CBC and commercial test kits for the diagnosis of Canine Ehrlichiosis, {"references":["Akhtardanesh, B., Ghanbarpour, R., & Blourizadeh, H. (2010). Serological evidence of canine monocytic ehrlichiosis in Iran. 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We hypothesise that climate change, together with intensive agricultural systems, will increase the transfer of pollutants from land to water and impact on stream health. This study builds, for the first time, an integrated assessment of nutrient transfers, bringing together a) high-frequency data from the outlets of two surface water-dominated, headwater (~ 10 km²) agricultural catchments, b) event-by-event analysis of nutrient transfers, c) concentration duration curves for comparison with EU Water Framework Directive water quality targets, d) event analysis of location-specific, sub-daily rainfall projections (UKCP, 2009), and e) a linear model relating storm rainfall to phosphorus load. These components, in combination, bring innovation and new insight into the estimation of future phosphorus transfers, which was not available from individual components. The data demonstrated two features of particular concern for climate change impacts. Firstly, the bulk of the suspended sediment and total phosphorus (TP) load (greater than 90% and 80% respectively) was transferred during the highest discharge events. The linear model of rainfall-driven TP transfers estimated that, with the projected increase in winter rainfall (+ 8% to + 17% in the catchments by 2050s), annual event loads might increase by around 9% on average, if agricultural practices remain unchanged. Secondly, events following dry periods of several weeks, particularly in summer, were responsible for high concentrations of phosphorus, but relatively low loads. The high concentrations, associated with low flow, could become more frequent or last longer in the future, with a corresponding increase in the length of time that threshold concentrations (e.g. for water quality status) are exceeded. The results suggest that in order to build resilience in stream health and help mitigate potential increases in diffuse agricultural water pollution due to climate change, land management practices should target controllable risk factors, such as soil nutrient status, soil condition and crop cover.

Context: Exposure to ambient particulate air pollution is associated with increased cardiovascular and respiratory morbidity and mortality. It is necessary to understand causal pathways driving the observed health effects, particularly if they are differentially associated with particle size. Objectives: To investigate the effect of different size ranges of ambient particulate matter (PM) on gene and protein expression in an in vitro model. Materials and methods: Normal human tracheobronchial epithelium (NHTBE) three-dimensional cell constructs were exposed for 24 h to washed ambient PM of different sizes (size 1: 7–615 nm; size 2: 616 nm–2.39 µm; size 3: 2.4–10 µm) collected from a residential street. A human stress and toxicity PCR array was used to investigate gene expression and iTRAQ was used to perform quantitative proteomics. Results: Eighteen different genes of the 84 on the PCR array were significantly dysregulated. Treatment with size 2 PM resulted in the greatest number of genes with altered expression, followed by size 1 and lastly size 3. ITRAQ identified 317 proteins, revealing 20 that were differentially expressed. Enrichment for gene ontology classification revealed potential changes to various pathways. Discussion and conclusions: Different size fractions of ambient PM are associated with dysregulatory effects on the cellular proteome and on stress and toxicity genes of NHTBE cells. This approach not only provides an investigative tool to identify possible causal pathways but also permits the relationship between particle size and responses to be explored.

The Bicentenary of the first coherent independence movements in Latin America has generally served political and ideological consolidation rather than aesthetic innovation. In film terms, this follows an established pattern – film portrayals of national heroes, whether those involved in independence movements or otherwise, have tended towards cinematic conservatism, whatever their content. This can even apply to usually innovative filmmakers: in Venezuela, Luis Alberto Lamata's Miranda regresa (Miranda Returns, 2007) and Diego Risquez's Manuela Saenz (2001) are cases in point, offering less than stimulating interpretations of inherently inspirational protagonists. Much the same applies to Miguel Littin's Sandino (Chile/Spain/Cuba/Mexico/Nicaragua, 1990) which appeared shackled by the responsibility and expectation involved in portraying a figure synonymous with free Nicaragua. An exception was Jorge Ali Triana's Bolivar soy yo (Bolivar is Me; Colombia, 2002). But Triana's film is far from simply an instit...

A Comparative Molecular Similarity Indices Analysis (CoMSIA) was performed for 2,6-substituted-4-monosubstituted aminopyrimidine antagonists of prostaglandin D(2) receptor (DP). Both two-component (Q(2) = 0.63, R(2) = 0.82, SEE = 0.47 pIC(50)) and three-component (Q(2) = 0.70, R(2) = 0.91, SEE = 0.36 pIC(50)) CoMSIA models were established. Two hydrogen-bond acceptors with spatial separation of about 8Å are shown as optimal for binding. A large hydrophobic center that separates the two acceptors confers to the potency of the 2,6-substituted-4-monosubstituted aminopyrimidine. The models were used to predict IC(50) values for compounds which had functional groups different from those in the training set.

TNF-like protein 1A (TL1A), a TNF superfamily cytokine that binds to death receptor 3 (DR3), is highly expressed in macrophage foam cell-rich regions of atherosclerotic plaques, although its role in foam cell formation has yet to be elucidated. We investigated whether TL1A can directly stimulate macrophage foam cell formation in both THP-1 and primary human monocyte-derived macrophages with the underlying mechanisms involved. We demonstrated that TL1A promotes foam cell formation in human macrophages in vitro by increasing both acetylated and oxidized low-density lipoprotein uptake, by enhancing intracellular total and esterified cholesterol levels and reducing cholesterol efflux. This imbalance in cholesterol homeostasis is orchestrated by TL1A-mediated changes in the mRNA and protein expression of several genes implicated in the uptake and efflux of cholesterol, such as scavenger receptor A and ATP-binding cassette transporter A1. Furthermore, through the use of virally delivered DR3 short-hairpin RNA and bone marrow-derived macrophages from DR3 knockout mice, we demonstrate that DR3 can regulate foam cell formation and contributes significantly to the action of TL1A in this process in vitro. We show, for the first time, a novel proatherogenic role for both TL1A and DR3 that implicates this pathway as a target for the therapeutic intervention of atherosclerosis.