Some thoughts are presented on the inter-relation between beauty and truth in science in general and theoretical physics in particular. Some conjectural procedures that can be used to create new ideas, concepts and results are illustrated in both Boltzmann-Gibbs and nonextensive statistical mechanics. The sociological components of scientific progress and its unavoidable and benefic controversi...

BACKGROUND In our previous SMC NB-2004 study of patients with high-risk neuroblastomas, which incorporated total-body irradiation (TBI) with second high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (HDCT/auto-SCT), the survival rate was encouraging; however, short- and long-term toxicities were significant. In the present SMC NB-2009 study, only TBI was replaced with 131I-meta-iod...

This study demonstrated that an automated version of the BD-GeneOhm methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) assay (BD-MRSA), using achromopeptidase sample lysis and PCR setup performed on the Hamilton MICROLAB STAR(let) (Auto-MRSA), gave results comparable to those obtained with BD-MRSA. The positive- and negative-result concordance rates and overall concordance of BD-MRSA and Auto-M...

Histogram equalization is often used in image enhancement, but it can be also used in auto exposure. However, conventional histogram equalization does not work well when many pixels are concentrated in a narrow luminance range. This paper proposes an auto exposure method based on 2-way histogram equalization. Two cumulative distribution functions are used, where one is from dark to bright and t...

There are more and more buildings with complicated shape emerging all over the world. Their walls require constant cleaning which is difficult to realize. In this paper, based on analyzing the characteristics of the working target,a new kind of auto-climbing robot is proposed, which is used for cleaning the spherical surface of the National GrandTheatre in China. The robots’ mechanism and uniqu...

In Web Services designs classical optimization techniques are not applicable. A possible solution to guarantee critical requirements is the use of an autonomic architecture, able to autoconfigure and to auto-tune. This study presents MAWeS (MetaPL/HeSSE Autonomic Web Services), a framework whose aim is to support the development of self-optimizing predictive autonomic systems for Web service ar...

This paper compares the auto-repressed gene to a simple one (a gene without auto-regulation) in terms of response time and output noise under the assumption of fixed metabolic cost. The analysis shows that, in the case of non-vanishing leak expression rate, the negative feedback reduces both the switching on and switching off times of a gene. The noise of the auto-repressed gene will be lower t...

INTRODUCTION Auto-transplantation of third molars is frequently undertaken in order to restore a perfect occlusion and to improve mastication following a substantial loss of molars. However, little is known about the precise role of the periodontal membrane during this procedure. Therefore, we investigated if the epithelial rests of Malassez persist in the periodontal ligament of auto-transplan...

Auto-reactive cells-mediated immune responses are responsible for the current tissue damages during autoimmunity. Accordingly, functional modulation of auto-reactive cells has been a pivotal aim in many of recent studies. In the current study, we investigated the possibility for insertion of regulatory molecules onto auto-reactive cells through exosomal nano-shuttles as a novel approach for phe...

BACKGROUND Teenagers with allergies are at particular risk of severe and fatal reactions, but epinephrine auto-injectors are not always carried as prescribed. We investigated barriers to carriage. METHODS Patients aged 12-18 years old under a specialist allergy clinic, who had previously been prescribed an auto-injector were invited to participate. Semi-structured interviews explored the fact...