In introducing this special ASM issue of J.UCS we point out the particular role this Journal played in the short history of the ASM method and add some reflections on its current status. 1 J.UCS and the ASM Method The Journal of Universal Computer Science has marked some important steps of the development of the Abstract State Machines (ASM) method for a rigorous design and the mathematical ana...

Image segmentation methods may be classified into two categories: purely image based and model based. Each of these two classes has its own advantages and disadvantages. In this paper, we propose a novel synergistic combination of the image based graph-cut (GC) method with the model based ASM method to arrive at the GC-ASM method for medical image segmentation. A multi-object GC cost function i...

Airway hyperresponsiveness and obstruction are cardinal features of asthma. Compelling evidence now suggests that the key features of asthma in part are due to intrinsic differences in airway smooth muscle (ASM) function. Inflammatory mediators alter ASM phenotype, which directly modulates ASM hyperresponsiveness and promotes airway remodeling that further contributes to amplified airway obstru...

Mounting evidence supports a role for acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) in cellular stress signaling. Only murine and human sphingomyelinases have been defined at the molecular level. These enzymes are the products of a conserved gene and at the amino acid level share 82% identity. In this study, we show that the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans possesses two ASMs, termed ASM-1 and ASM-2 encoded by tw...

Opioids are the most widely used drugs for long-term pain management, but their use is limited by the development of antinociceptive tolerance. The present study investigated the role of ceramide production through acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) activation in the periaqueductal gray region, a brain region implicated in opioid analgesia and tolerance. Morphine treatment was found, using immunohisto...

We have identified acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) as an important player in the early and late anti-Salmonella activity of macrophages. A functional ASM participated in the killing activity of macrophages against wild-type Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. The role of ASM in early macrophage killing of Salmonella appears to be linked to an active NADPH phagocyte oxidase enzymatic complex, s...

eosinophils when compared with medium alone. Interestingly, blocking the activity of cysteinyl Leukotries using antagonists inhibited eosinophil-derived ASM proliferation. Conclusions: Eosinophils enhances the proliferation of ASM cells. This role of eosinophil does not seem to depend on ASM derived ECM proteins nor on Eosinophil derived TGF-b or TNF-a. Eosinophil seems to induce ASM proliferat...