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“This study presents a novel soft computing procedure based on the application of artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms and identification systems, which

makes it possible to optimise the implementation conditions in the manufacturing process of high precision parts, including finishing precision, while saving both time and financial costs and/or energy. This novel intelligent procedure Selleck SNX-5422 is based on the following phases. Firstly, a neural model extracts the internal structure and the relevant features of the data set representing the system. Secondly, the dynamic system performance of different variables is specifically modelled using a supervised neural model and identification techniques.

This constitutes the model for the fitness function of the production process, using relevant features of the data set. Finally, a genetic algorithm is used to optimise the machine parameters from a non parametric fitness function. Selleckchem CP 868596 The proposed novel approach was tested under real dental milling processes using a high-precision machining centre with five axes, requiring high finishing precision of measures in micrometres with a large number of process factors to analyse. The results of the experiment, which validate the performance of the proposed approach, are presented in this study. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“Poison frogs in the genus Dendrobates (sensu Grant et al. 2006) are known to lay black pigmented eggs. During a field study in May 2010 in central Panama, a captive pair of wild-caught adult Dendrobates auratus laid a clutch of whitish eggs. The eggs developed and metamorphic froglets were similar in size GW786034 and color to that of age-matched normal-colored tadpoles produced by different parents and reared in exactly the same conditions. The observation of a pale pigmented tadpole in the wild suggests that polymorphism in the degree

of melanism is not simply an artifact of laboratory rearing. Our study is the first to report the production of viable whitish eggs by any species in the genus Dendrobates. Whether this coloration arises due to constraint or is a polymorphism that has adaptive significance awaits further study.”
“Aquaporin-1 (AQP1) facilitates the osmotic transport of water across the capillary endothelium, among other cell types, and thereby has a substantial role in ultrafiltration during peritoneal dialysis. At present, pharmacologic agents that enhance AQP1-mediated water transport, which would be expected to increase the efficiency of peritoneal dialysis, are not available. Here, we describe AqF026, an aquaporin agonist that is a chemical derivative of the arylsulfonamide compound furosemide. In the Xenopus laevis oocyte system, extracellular AqF026 potentiated the channel activity of human AQP1 by bigger than 20% but had no effect on channel activity of AQP4.