ß-expansion attractors observed in A/D converters.

The recently proposed ß-encoders, analog-to-digital converters using an amplifier with a factor ß and a flaky quantizer with threshold ν, have proven to be explained by the deterministic dynamics of multi-valued Rényi-Parry maps. Such a map is locally eventually onto [ν-1, ν), which is topologically conjugate to Parry's (ß,α)-map with α=(ß-1)(ν-1). This implies that ß-encoders have a closed subinterval [ν-1,ν), which includes an attractor. Thus, the iteration of the multi-valued Rényi-Parry map performs the ß-expansion of x while quantization errors in ß-encoders behave chaotically and do not converge to a fixed point. This ß-expansion attractor is relatively simpler than previously reported attractors. The object of this paper is twofold: to observe the embedded attractors in the ß-encoder and to identify attractors that are useful for spread-spectrum codes and optimization techniques using pseudo-random numbers.

The lactic acid bacterium Pediococcus acidilactici suppresses autoimmune encephalomyelitis by inducing IL-10-producing regulatory T cells.

BACKGROUND: Certain intestinal microflora are thought to regulate the systemic immune response. Lactic acid bacteria are one of the most studied bacteria in terms of their beneficial effects on health and autoimmune diseases; one of which is Multiple sclerosis (MS) which affects the central nervous system. We investigated whether the lactic acid bacterium Pediococcus acidilactici, which comprises human commensal bacteria, has beneficial effects on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of MS. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: P. acidilactici R037 was orally administered to EAE mice to investigate the effects of R037. R037 treatment suppressed clinical EAE severity as prophylaxis and therapy. The antigen-specific production of inflammatory cytokines was inhibited in R037-treated mice. A significant increase in the number of CD4(+) Interleukin (IL)-10-producing cells was observed in the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) and spleens isolated from R037-treated naive mice, while no increase was observed in the number of these cells in the lamina propria. Because only a slight increase in the CD4(+)Foxp3(+) cells was observed in MLNs, R037 may primarily induce Foxp3(-) IL10-producing T regulatory type 1 (Tr1) cells in MLNs, which contribute to the beneficial effect of R037 on EAE. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: An orally administered single strain of P. acidilactici R037 ameliorates EAE by inducing IL10-producing Tr1 cells. Our findings indicate the therapeutic potential of the oral administration of R037 for treating multiple sclerosis.