We propose here to clarify some of the relations existing between information and meaning by showing how meaningful information can be generated by a system submitted to a constraint. We build up definitions and properties for meaningful information, a meaning generator system and the domain of efficiency of a meaning (to cover cases of meaningful information transmission). Basic notions of inf...

Quorum sensing controls the luminescence of Vibrio fischeri through the transcriptional activator LuxR and the specific autoinducer signal produced by luxI. Amino acid sequences of these two genes were analyzed using bioinformatics tools. LuxI consists of 193 amino acids and appears to contain five α-helices and six ß-sheets when analyzed by SSpro8. LuxI belongs to the autoinducer synthetase fa...

The effect of L-glutamic acid on the embryolethal and teratogenic action of trypan blue was investigated in Wistar albino rats. L-glutamic acid was either incorporated into the diet, from gestation day 2 to day 20, or suspended in sesame oil and administered by gavage, from gestation day 6 to day 10. The day of finding sperm in the vaginal smear was designated day 0 of pregnancy. A teratogenic ...

The chicken retina contains rhodopsin (a rod visual pigment) and four kinds of cone visual pigments. The primary structures of chicken red (iodopsin) and rhodopsin have been determined previously. Here we report isolation of three cDNA clones encoding additional pigments from a chicken retinal cDNA library. Based on the partial amino acid sequences of the purified chicken visual pigments togeth...

A simple, rapid and sensitive method was proposed for online determination of tannic acid in colored tannery wastewater by automatic reference flow injection analysis. Based on the tannic acid reduction phosphotungstic acid to form blue compound in pH 12.38 alkaline solutions, the shade of blue compound is in a linear relation to the content of tannic acid at the point of the maximum absorption...

       This study was designed to explore the protective effects of ascorbic acid and water extract of Spirulina platensis (blue green algae) on methotrexate-induced lipid peroxidation using goat liver as the lipid source. This in vitro evaluation was done by measuring the malondialdehyde, 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, reduced glutathione and nitric oxide content of tissue homogenates....

Using the newly designed mismatch amplification mutation assay (MAMA) PCR, we demonstrated the high frequency of amantadine-resistant influenza A (H3N2) viruses isolated during the 2005-2006 season by detecting the mutation at amino acid position 31 of the M2 protein (S31N). Further, phylogenetic analyses of the HA1 sequences of the S31N viruses revealed that they comprised a clonal lineage tha...

A carbon dioxide (CO2) sensor is fabricated by depositing a thin layer of a multiwall carbon nanotube (MWNT) – silicon dioxide (SiO2) composite upon a planar inductorcapacitor resonant circuit. By tracking the resonant frequency of the sensor the complex permittivity of the coating material can be determined. It is shown that the permittivity of MWNTs changes linearly in response to CO2 concent...