Obtaining precise values of the undulator parameter, K, is critical for producing high-gain FEL radiation. At the LCLS [1], where the FEL wavelength reaches down to 1.5 Å, the relative precision of K must satisfy (ΔK/K)rms 0.015% over the full length of the undulator. Transverse misalignments, construction errors, radiation damage, and temperature variations all contribute to errors in the mean...

An advanced edge-based method of feature detection and extraction is developed for object description in digital images. It is useful for the comparison of different images of the same scene in aerial imagery, for describing and recognizing categories, for automatic building extraction and for finding the mutual regions in image matching. The method includes directional filtering and searching ...

Adopting an agent-based approach, this paper explores the topological evolution of the Minneapolis Skyway System from a microscopic perspective. Under a decentralized decision-making mechanism, skyway segments are built by self-interested building owners. We measure the accessibility for the blocks from 1962 to 2002 using the size of office space in each block as an indicator of business opport...

This article presents an automatic methodology for extraction of road segments from high-resolution aerial images. The method is based on a set of four road objects and another set of connection rules among road objects. Each road object is a local representation of an approximately straight road fragment and its construction is based on combination of polygons describing all relevant image edg...

A novel bluetongue virus (BTV) termed Toggenburg orbivirus (TOV) was detected in goats from Switzerland by using real-time reverse transcription-PCR. cDNA corresponding to the complete sequence of 7 of 10 double-stranded RNA segments of the viral genome was amplified by PCR and cloned into a plasmid vector. Five clones for each genome segment were sequenced to determine a consensus sequence. BL...

Seven sequence-specific ribozymes (M1GS RNAs) derived in vitro from the catalytic RNA subunit of Escherichia coli RNase P and targeting the mRNAs transcribed by the UL54 gene encoding the DNA polymerase of human cytomegalovirus were screened from 11 ribozymes that were designed based on four rules: (1) the NCCA-3' terminal must be unpaired with the substrate; (2) the guide sequence (GS) must be...

How reliable and useful are predictions of transmembrane segments(TMSs) of membrane proteins from the amino acid sequences? It remains still under debate. Kyte and Doolittle proposed a simple scheme for the prediction of TMSs [1]. It is based on the hydropathy plot and is widely accepted as a basic and standard method. Since then, a large number of more sophisticated predictive algorithms have ...

Introduction: Interhemispheric transmission of signal is done by corpus callosum (CC) as the largest fiber tract in brain. CC comprised 5 segments of rostrum, genu, body, isthmus, and splenium. Contradictory reports exist about sexual dimorphism of CC. We designed this study to assess probable sexual differences of CC and its different parts in men and women. Methods: We analyzed magnetic reso...