WorldWideScience

Sample records for surrounding gene density

  1. Three-dimensional lithospheric density distribution of China and surrounding regions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chuantao Li

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we analyze lithospheric density distribution of China and surrounding regions on the basis of 30′ × 30′ gravity data and 1° × 1° P-wave velocity data. Firstly, we used the empirical equation between the density and the P-wave velocity difference as the base of the initial model of the Asian lithospheric density. Secondly, we calculated the gravity anomaly, caused by the Moho discontinuity and the sedimentary layer discontinuity, by the Parker formula. Thirdly, the gravity anomaly of the spherical harmonics with 2–40 order for the anomalous body below the lithosphere is calculated based on the model of EGM96. Finally, by using Algebra Reconstruction Techniques (ART, the inversion of 30′ × 30′ residual lithospheric Bouguer gravity anomaly caused by the lithosphere yields a rather detailed structural model. The results show that the lithospheric density distribution of China and surrounding regions has a certain connection with the tectonic structure. The density is relatively high in the Philippine Sea plate, Japan Sea, the Indian plate, the Kazakhstan shield and the Western Siberia plain, whereas the Tibetan Plateau has low-density characteristics. The minimum value of density lies in the north of Philippines, in the Taiwan province and in the Ryukyu island arc.

  2. High-density polymorphisms analysis of 23 candidate genes for association with bone mineral density.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giroux, Sylvie; Elfassihi, Latifa; Clément, Valérie; Bussières, Johanne; Bureau, Alexandre; Cole, David E C; Rousseau, François

    2010-11-01

    Osteoporosis is a bone disease characterized by low bone mineral density (BMD), a highly heritable and polygenic trait. Women are more prone than men to develop osteoporosis due to a lower peak bone mass and accelerated bone loss at menopause. Peak bone mass has been convincingly shown to be due to genetic factors with heritability up to 80%. Menopausal bone loss has been shown to have around 38% to 49% heritability depending on the site studied. To have more statistical power to detect small genetic effects we focused on premenopausal women. We studied 23 candidate genes, some involved in calcium and vitamin-D regulation and others because estrogens strongly induced their gene expression in mice where it was correlated with humerus trabecular bone density. High-density polymorphisms were selected to cover the entire gene variability and 231 polymorphisms were genotyped in a first sample of 709 premenopausal women. Positive associations were retested in a second, independent, sample of 673 premenopausal women. Ten polymorphisms remained associated with BMD in the combined samples and one was further associated in a large sample of postmenopausal women (1401 women). This associated polymorphism was located in the gene CSF3R (granulocyte colony stimulating factor receptor) that had never been associated with BMD before. The results reported in this study suggest a role for CSF3R in the determination of bone density in women. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Assessment of gene-by-sex interaction effect on bone mineral density

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liu, Ching-Ti; Estrada, Karol; Yerges-Armstrong, Laura M

    2012-01-01

    Sexual dimorphism in various bone phenotypes, including bone mineral density (BMD), is widely observed; however, the extent to which genes explain these sex differences is unclear. To identify variants with different effects by sex, we examined gene-by-sex autosomal interactions genome-wide, and ......Sexual dimorphism in various bone phenotypes, including bone mineral density (BMD), is widely observed; however, the extent to which genes explain these sex differences is unclear. To identify variants with different effects by sex, we examined gene-by-sex autosomal interactions genome...

  4. Cell culture density affects the stemness gene expression of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Dae Seong; Lee, Myoung Woo; Lee, Tae-Hee; Sung, Ki Woong; Koo, Hong Hoe; Yoo, Keon Hee

    2017-03-01

    The results of clinical trials using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are controversial due to the heterogeneity of human MSCs and differences in culture conditions. In this regard, it is important to identify gene expression patterns according to culture conditions, and to determine how the cells are expanded and when they should be clinically used. In the current study, stemness gene expression was investigated in adipose tissue-derived MSCs (AT-MSCs) harvested following culture at different densities. AT-MSCs were plated at a density of 200 or 5,000 cells/cm 2 . After 7 days of culture, stemness gene expression was examined by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis. The proliferation rate of AT-MSCs harvested at a low density (~50% confluent) was higher than that of AT-MSCs harvested at a high density (~90% confluent). Although there were differences in the expression levels of stemness gene, such as octamer-binding transcription factor 4, nanog homeobox ( Nanog ), SRY-box 2, Kruppel like factor 4, v-myc avian myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homolog ( c-Myc ), and lin-28 homolog A, in the AT-MSCs obtained from different donors, RT-qPCR analysis demonstrated differential gene expression patterns according to the cell culture density. Expression levels of stemness genes, particularly Nanog and c-Myc , were upregulated in AT-MSCs harvested at a low density (~50% confluent) in comparison to AT-MSCs from the same donor harvested at a high density (~90% confluent). These results imply that culture conditions, such as the cell density at harvesting, modulate the stemness gene expression and proliferation of MSCs.

  5. Density based pruning for identification of differentially expressed genes from microarray data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xu Jia

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Motivation Identification of differentially expressed genes from microarray datasets is one of the most important analyses for microarray data mining. Popular algorithms such as statistical t-test rank genes based on a single statistics. The false positive rate of these methods can be improved by considering other features of differentially expressed genes. Results We proposed a pattern recognition strategy for identifying differentially expressed genes. Genes are mapped to a two dimension feature space composed of average difference of gene expression and average expression levels. A density based pruning algorithm (DB Pruning is developed to screen out potential differentially expressed genes usually located in the sparse boundary region. Biases of popular algorithms for identifying differentially expressed genes are visually characterized. Experiments on 17 datasets from Gene Omnibus Database (GEO with experimentally verified differentially expressed genes showed that DB pruning can significantly improve the prediction accuracy of popular identification algorithms such as t-test, rank product, and fold change. Conclusions Density based pruning of non-differentially expressed genes is an effective method for enhancing statistical testing based algorithms for identifying differentially expressed genes. It improves t-test, rank product, and fold change by 11% to 50% in the numbers of identified true differentially expressed genes. The source code of DB pruning is freely available on our website http://mleg.cse.sc.edu/degprune

  6. Effects of Larval Density on Gene Regulation in Caenorhabditis elegans During Routine L1 Synchronization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Io Long; Rando, Oliver J; Conine, Colin C

    2018-05-04

    Bleaching gravid C. elegans followed by a short period of starvation of the L1 larvae is a routine method performed by worm researchers for generating synchronous populations for experiments. During the process of investigating dietary effects on gene regulation in L1 stage worms by single-worm RNA-Seq, we found that the density of resuspended L1 larvae affects expression of many mRNAs. Specifically, a number of genes related to metabolism and signaling are highly expressed in worms arrested at low density, but are repressed at higher arrest densities. We generated a GFP reporter strain based on one of the most density-dependent genes in our dataset - lips-15 - and confirmed that this reporter was expressed specifically in worms arrested at relatively low density. Finally, we show that conditioned media from high density L1 cultures was able to downregulate lips-15 even in L1 animals arrested at low density, and experiments using daf-22 mutant animals demonstrated that this effect is not mediated by the ascaroside family of signaling pheromones. Together, our data implicate a soluble signaling molecule in density sensing by L1 stage C. elegans , and provide guidance for design of experiments focused on early developmental gene regulation. Copyright © 2018 Chan et al.

  7. Lithosphere density structure beneath the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding areas derived from GOCE gradients data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Honglei Li

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available A three-dimensional density model of the crust and uppermost mantle is determined by the inversion of a set of GOCE gravity and gradients residual anomalies beneath the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding areas. In our work, we choose five independent gravity gradients (Txx, Tzz, Txy, Txz, Tyz to perform density inversion. Objective function is given based on Tikhonov regularization theory. Seismic S-wave velocities play the role of initial constraint for the inversion based on a relationship between density and S-wave velocity. Damped Least Square method is used during the inversion. The final density results offer some insights into understanding the underlying geodynamic processes: (1 Low densities in the margin of the Tibet, along with low wave velocity and resistivity results, yield conversions from soft and weak Tibet to the hard and rigid cratons. (2The lowest densities are found in the boundary of the plateau, instead of the whole Tibet indicates that the effects of extrusion stress environment in the margin affect the changes of the substance there. The substances and environments conditioning for the earthquake preparations and strong deformation in this transitional zone. (3 Evident low-D anomaly in the upper and middle crust in the Lasha terrane and Songpan-Ganzi terrane illustrated the eastward sub-ducted of southeastern Tibet, which could be accounts for the frequent volcano and earthquakes there.

  8. Polymorphisms in genes involved in the estrogen pathway and mammographic density

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dumas Isabelle

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs in genes involved in the estrogen pathway appear to be associated with breast cancer risk and possibly with mammographic density (MD, but little is known of these associations among premenopausal women. This study examines the association of 11 polymorphisms in five estrogen-related genes (estrogen receptors alpha and beta (ERα, ERβ, 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 (HSD17B1, catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT, cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1 with premenopausal MD. Effect modification of four estrogen-related factors (parity, age at menarche, hormonal derivatives use and body mass index (BMI on this relation is also assessed. Methods Polymorphisms were genotyped in 741 premenopausal Caucasian women whose MD was measured in absolute density (AD, cm2 and percent density using a computer-assisted method. Multivariate linear models were used to examine the associations (Ptrend and interactions (Pi. Results None of the SNPs showed a statistically significant association with AD. However, each additional rare allele of rs1056836 CYP1B1 was associated with a reduction in AD among nulliparous women (Ptrend = 0.004, while no association was observed among parous women (Ptrend = 0.62; Pi = 0.02. An increase in the number of rare alleles of the HSD17B1 SNP (rs598126 and rs2010750 was associated with an increase in AD among women who never used hormonal derivatives (Ptrend = 0.06 and Ptrend = 0.04, respectively, but with a decrease in AD among past hormonal derivatives users (Ptrend = 0.04; Pi = 0.02 and Ptrend = 0.08; Pi = 0.01, respectively. Moreover, a negative association of rs598126 HSD17B1 SNP with AD was observed among women with higher BMI (>median (Ptrend = 0.01; Pi = 0.02. A negative association between an increased number of rare alleles of COMT rs4680 SNP and AD was limited to women who never used hormonal derivatives (Ptrend = 0.02; Pi = 0.03 or with late age at menarche (>median

  9. Polymorphisms in genes involved in the estrogen pathway and mammographic density

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dumas, Isabelle; Diorio, Caroline

    2010-01-01

    Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in the estrogen pathway appear to be associated with breast cancer risk and possibly with mammographic density (MD), but little is known of these associations among premenopausal women. This study examines the association of 11 polymorphisms in five estrogen-related genes (estrogen receptors alpha and beta (ERα, ERβ), 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 (HSD17B1), catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1)) with premenopausal MD. Effect modification of four estrogen-related factors (parity, age at menarche, hormonal derivatives use and body mass index (BMI)) on this relation is also assessed. Polymorphisms were genotyped in 741 premenopausal Caucasian women whose MD was measured in absolute density (AD, cm 2 ) and percent density using a computer-assisted method. Multivariate linear models were used to examine the associations (P trend ) and interactions (P i ). None of the SNPs showed a statistically significant association with AD. However, each additional rare allele of rs1056836 CYP1B1 was associated with a reduction in AD among nulliparous women (P trend = 0.004), while no association was observed among parous women (P trend = 0.62; P i = 0.02). An increase in the number of rare alleles of the HSD17B1 SNP (rs598126 and rs2010750) was associated with an increase in AD among women who never used hormonal derivatives (P trend = 0.06 and P trend = 0.04, respectively), but with a decrease in AD among past hormonal derivatives users (P trend = 0.04; P i = 0.02 and P trend = 0.08; P i = 0.01, respectively). Moreover, a negative association of rs598126 HSD17B1 SNP with AD was observed among women with higher BMI (>median) (P trend = 0.01; P i = 0.02). A negative association between an increased number of rare alleles of COMT rs4680 SNP and AD was limited to women who never used hormonal derivatives (P trend = 0.02; P i = 0.03) or with late age at menarche (>median) (P trend = 0.03; P i

  10. Density and Distribution of Xylocopa Nests (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Caatinga Areas in the Surroundings of Passion Fruit Crops.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martins, C F; de Siqueira, K M M; Kiill, L H P; Sá, I I S; Aguiar, C M L

    2014-08-01

    Due to their importance as pollinators of many plant species, this study aimed to know the nest density, spatial distribution, and nesting substrates used by Xylocopa species in the Caatinga, a xerophilous vegetation of Northeastern Brazil. Three areas of Caatinga in the surroundings of passion fruit crops were sampled. The bee species found in these areas were Xylocopa grisescens Lepeletier and Xylocopa frontalis (Olivier). All nests were in Commiphora leptophloeos (Burseraceae) trees (n = 113). Phytosociological analysis showed that this tree species presented the highest absolute density (212.5 individuals/ha) and index of importance value (52.7). The distribution pattern of the C. leptophloeos was aggregated. The nests were located in dead and dried branches with an average diameter of 5.3 ± 2.0 cm (n = 43). The mean number of nests/tree was 3.1 ± 2.8 (n = 113). The less disturbed area showed 6.7 nests/ha and 4.2 nests/tree. In the disturbed areas, 0.9 nests/ha and 2.4 to 2.7 nests/tree were observed. The availability of substrate for nesting in the studied areas and its importance as a limiting factor for nesting are discussed.

  11. Impact of Bee Species and Plant Density on Alfalfa Pollination and Potential for Gene Flow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johanne Brunet

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available In outcrossing crops like alfalfa, various bee species can contribute to pollination and gene flow in seed production fields. With the increasing use of transgenic crops, it becomes important to determine the role of these distinct pollinators on alfalfa pollination and gene flow. The current study examines the relative contribution of honeybees, three bumble bee species, and three solitary bee species to pollination and gene flow in alfalfa. Two wild solitary bee species and one wild bumble bee species were best at tripping flowers, while the two managed pollinators commonly used in alfalfa seed production, honeybees and leaf cutting bees, had the lowest tripping rate. Honeybees had the greatest potential for gene flow and risk of transgene escape relative to the other pollinators. For honeybees, gene flow and risk of transgene escape were not affected by plant density although for the three bumble bee species gene flow and risk of transgene escape were the greatest in high-density fields.

  12. Enhanced sources of acoustic power surrounding AR 11429

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Donea, Alina; Hanson, Christopher

    2013-01-01

    Multi-frequency power maps of the local acoustic oscillations show acoustic enhancements (''acoustic-power halos'') at high frequencies surrounding large active region. Computational seismic holography reveals a high-frequency ''acoustic-emission halo'', or ''seismic glory'' surrounding large active regions. In this study, we have applied computational seismic holography to map the seismic seismic source density surrounding AR 11429. Studies of HMI/SDO Doppler data, shows that the ''acoustic halos'' and the ''seismic glories'' are prominent at high frequencies 5–8 mHz. We investigate morphological properties of acoustic-power and acoustic emission halos around an active region to see if they are spatially correlated. Details about the local magnetic field from vectormagnetograms of AR 11429 are included. We identify a 15'' region of seismic deficit power (dark moat) shielding the white-light boundary of the active region. The size of the seismic moat is related to region of intermediate magnetic field strength. The acoustic moat is circled by the halo of enhanced seismic amplitude as well as enhanced seismic emission. Overall, the results suggest that features are related. However, if we narrow the frequency band to 5.5 – 6.5 mHz, we find that the seismic source density dominates over the local acoustic power, suggesting the existence of sources that emit more energy downward into the solar interior than upward toward the solar surface.

  13. Copepod swimming behavior, respiration, and expression of stress-related genes in response to high stocking densities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nilsson, Birgitte; Jakobsen, Hans Henrik; Stief, Peter

    2017-01-01

    is problematic for calanoid copepod species like Acartia tonsa. In the present study, we evaluated the response of copepods experiencing stress under high-density conditions by assessing the acute stress level of A. tonsa. Control density was at 100 ind. L−1 while the treatments were increased stepwise up to 10......,000 ind. L−1. Three biological/physiological end-points were studied: swimming behavior, respiration rate and expression level of stress-related genes. None of the elevated densities caused any significant change in swimming behavior, respiration rate or gene expression level. This study suggests...... that adults of A. tonsa do not exhibit any measurable acute stress response when exposed to high culture densities for 12 h....

  14. INTERACTIONS OF THE INFRARED BUBBLE N4 WITH ITS SURROUNDINGS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Hong-Li; Li, Jin-Zeng; Yuan, Jing-Hua; Huang, Maohai; Huang, Ya-Fang; Zhang, Si-Ju [National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 20A Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100012 (China); Wu, Yuefang [Department of Astronomy, Peking University, 100871 Beijing (China); Liu, Tie [Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute 776, Daedeokdae-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-348 (Korea, Republic of); Dubner, G.; Paron, S.; Ortega, M. E. [1Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio (IAFE, CONICET-UBA), CC 67, Suc. 28, 1428 Buenos Aires (Argentina); Molinari, Sergio [Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali—IAPS, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica—INAF, via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, I-00133 Roma (Italy); Zavagno, Annie; Samal, Manash R., E-mail: hlliu@nao.cas.cn [Aix Marseille Universit, CNRS, LAM (Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille) UMR 7326, F-13388, Marseille (France)

    2016-02-10

    The physical mechanisms that induce the transformation of a certain mass of gas in new stars are far from being well understood. Infrared bubbles associated with H ii regions have been considered to be good samples for investigating triggered star formation. In this paper we report on the investigation of the dust properties of the infrared bubble N4 around the H ii region G11.898+0.747, analyzing its interaction with its surroundings and star formation histories therein, with the aim of determining the possibility of star formation triggered by the expansion of the bubble. Using Herschel PACS and SPIRE images with a wide wavelength coverage, we reveal the dust properties over the entire bubble. Meanwhile, we are able to identify six dust clumps surrounding the bubble, with a mean size of 0.50 pc, temperature of about 22 K, mean column density of 1.7 × 10{sup 22} cm{sup −2}, mean volume density of about 4.4 × 10{sup 4} cm{sup −3}, and a mean mass of 320 M{sub ⊙}. In addition, from PAH emission seen at 8 μm, free–free emission detected at 20 cm, and a probability density function in special regions, we could identify clear signatures of the influence of the H ii region on the surroundings. There are hints of star formation, though further investigation is required to demonstrate that N4 is the triggering source.

  15. Effect of metal sulfide pulp density on gene expression of electron transporters in Acidithiobacillus sp. FJ2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fatemi, Faezeh; Miri, Saba; Jahani, Samaneh

    2017-05-01

    In Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, one of the most important bioleaching bacterial species, the proteins encoded by the rus operon are involved in the electron transfer from Fe 2+ to O 2 . To obtain further knowledge about the mechanism(s) involved in the adaptive responses of the bacteria to growth on the different uranium ore pulp densities, we analyzed the expression of the four genes from the rus operon by real-time PCR, when Acidithiobacillus sp. FJ2 was grown in the presence of different uranium concentrations. The uranium bioleaching results showed the inhibitory effects of the metal pulp densities on the oxidation activity of the bacteria which can affect Eh, pH, Fe oxidation and uranium extractions. Gene expression analysis indicated that Acidithiobacillus sp. FJ2 tries to survive in the stress with increasing in the expression levels of cyc2, cyc1, rus and coxB, but the metal toxicity has a negative effect on the gene expression in different pulp densities. These results indicated that Acidithiobacillus sp. FJ2 could leach the uranium even in high pulp density (50%) by modulation in rus operon gene responses.

  16. Characterization and Quantitation of a Novel β-Lactamase Gene Found in a Wastewater Treatment Facility and the Surrounding Coastal Ecosystem▿

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uyaguari, Miguel I.; Fichot, Erin B.; Scott, Geoffrey I.; Norman, R. Sean

    2011-01-01

    Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are engineered structures that collect, concentrate, and treat human waste, ultimately releasing treated wastewater into local environments. While WWTPs efficiently remove most biosolids, it has been shown that many antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria can survive the treatment process. To determine how WWTPs influence the concentration and dissemination of antibiotic-resistant genes into the environment, a functional metagenomic approach was used to identify a novel antibiotic resistance gene within a WWTP, and quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to determine gene copy numbers within the facility and the local coastal ecosystem. From the WWTP metagenomic library, the fosmid insert contained in one highly resistant clone (MIC, ∼416 μg ml−1 ampicillin) was sequenced and annotated, revealing 33 putative genes, including a 927-bp gene that is 42% identical to a functionally characterized β-lactamase from Staphylococcus aureus PC1. Isolation and subcloning of this gene, referred to as blaM-1, conferred ampicillin resistance to its Escherichia coli host. When normalized to volume, qPCR showed increased concentrations of blaM-1 during initial treatment stages but 2-fold-decreased concentrations during the final treatment stage. The concentration ng−1 DNA increased throughout the WWTP process from influent to effluent, suggesting that blaM-1 makes up a significant proportion of the overall genetic material being released into the coastal ecosystem. Average discharge was estimated to be 3.9 × 1014 copies of the blaM-1 gene released daily into this coastal ecosystem. Furthermore, the gene was observed in all sampled coastal water and sediment samples surrounding the facility. Our results suggest that WWTPs may be a pathway for the dissemination of novel antibiotic resistance genes into the environment. PMID:21965412

  17. Copepod swimming behavior, respiration, and expression of stress-related genes in response to high stocking densities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nilsson, Birgitte; Jakobsen, Hans H.; Stief, Peter

    2017-01-01

    ,000 ind. L−1. Three biological/physiological end-points were studied: swimming behavior, respiration rate and expression level of stress-related genes. None of the elevated densities caused any significant change in swimming behavior, respiration rate or gene expression level. This study suggests...

  18. Regulating Hypothalamus Gene Expression in Food Intake: Dietary Composition or Calorie Density?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mi Jang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundThe proportion of saturated fatty acids/unsaturated fatty acids in the diet seems to act as a physiological regulation on obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes. Differently composed fatty acid diets may induce satiety of the hypothalamus in different ways. However, the direct effect of the different fatty acid diets on satiety in the hypothalamus is not clear.MethodsThree experiments in mice were conducted to determine whether: different compositions of fatty acids affects gene mRNA expression of the hypothalamus over time; different types of fatty acids administered into the stomach directly affect gene mRNA expression of the hypothalamus; and fat composition changes in the diet affects gene mRNA expression of the hypothalamus.ResultsThe type of fat in cases of purified fatty acid administration directly into the stomach may cause changes of gene expressions in the hypothalamus. Gene expression by dietary fat may be regulated by calorie amount ingested rather than weight amount or type of fat.ConclusionTherefore, the calorie density factor of the diet in regulating hypothalamic gene in food intake may be detrimental, although the possibility of type of fat cannot be ruled out.

  19. Identification of β-SiC surrounded by relatable surrounding diamond ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    β-SiC is identified in the presence of a relatable surrounding diamond medium using subtle, but discernible Raman ... Change in the nature of the surrounding material structure and its .... intensity implies very low graphite content in thin film. In.

  20. A high-density transcript linkage map with 1,845 expressed genes positioned by microarray-based Single Feature Polymorphisms (SFP) in Eucalyptus

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    Background Technological advances are progressively increasing the application of genomics to a wider array of economically and ecologically important species. High-density maps enriched for transcribed genes facilitate the discovery of connections between genes and phenotypes. We report the construction of a high-density linkage map of expressed genes for the heterozygous genome of Eucalyptus using Single Feature Polymorphism (SFP) markers. Results SFP discovery and mapping was achieved using pseudo-testcross screening and selective mapping to simultaneously optimize linkage mapping and microarray costs. SFP genotyping was carried out by hybridizing complementary RNA prepared from 4.5 year-old trees xylem to an SFP array containing 103,000 25-mer oligonucleotide probes representing 20,726 unigenes derived from a modest size expressed sequence tags collection. An SFP-mapping microarray with 43,777 selected candidate SFP probes representing 15,698 genes was subsequently designed and used to genotype SFPs in a larger subset of the segregating population drawn by selective mapping. A total of 1,845 genes were mapped, with 884 of them ordered with high likelihood support on a framework map anchored to 180 microsatellites with average density of 1.2 cM. Using more probes per unigene increased by two-fold the likelihood of detecting segregating SFPs eventually resulting in more genes mapped. In silico validation showed that 87% of the SFPs map to the expected location on the 4.5X draft sequence of the Eucalyptus grandis genome. Conclusions The Eucalyptus 1,845 gene map is the most highly enriched map for transcriptional information for any forest tree species to date. It represents a major improvement on the number of genes previously positioned on Eucalyptus maps and provides an initial glimpse at the gene space for this global tree genome. A general protocol is proposed to build high-density transcript linkage maps in less characterized plant species by SFP genotyping

  1. Lack of Association between Body Weight, Bone Mineral Density and Vitamin D Receptor Gene Polymorphism in Normal and Osteoporotic Women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Massimo Poggi

    1999-01-01

    Full Text Available In an ethnically homogeneous population of women living in Tuscany, Italy, the relationships between age, body weight, bone mineral density and the vitamin D receptor (VDR gene polymorphism were studied, with the objective of recognizing patients at risk for osteoporosis. In 275 women bone mineral density was measured by Dual Energy X-rays Absorptiometry (DEXA. In 50 of them the individual genetic pattern for VDR was evaluated by DNA extraction followed by PCR amplification of the VDR gene, and digestion with the restriction enzyme BsmI. Age and bone mineral density were inversely related (R2 = 0.298. Body weight was associated with bone mineral density (R2 = 0.059, but not with age. In osteoporotic women, mean (± SD body weight was 59.9 ± 6.5 Kg, lower than that recorded in non osteoporotic women (64.2 ± 9.4 Kg, even though not significantly different (p = 0.18. No association was found between VDR gene polymorphism, bone density or body weight. The performance of anthropometric and genetic components appear to be poor, and, at least for the time being, bone mineral density measurement by means of MOC-DEXA represents the optimal method to detect women at risk for postmenopausal osteoporosis.

  2. Genetic dissection of growth, wood basic density and gene expression in interspecific backcrosses of Eucalyptus grandis and E. urophylla

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background F1 hybrid clones of Eucalyptus grandis and E. urophylla are widely grown for pulp and paper production in tropical and subtropical regions. Volume growth and wood quality are priority objectives in Eucalyptus tree improvement. The molecular basis of quantitative variation and trait expression in eucalypt hybrids, however, remains largely unknown. The recent availability of a draft genome sequence (http://www.phytozome.net) and genome-wide genotyping platforms, combined with high levels of genetic variation and high linkage disequilibrium in hybrid crosses, greatly facilitate the detection of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) as well as underlying candidate genes for growth and wood property traits. In this study, we used Diversity Arrays Technology markers to assess the genetic architecture of volume growth (diameter at breast height, DBH) and wood basic density in four-year-old progeny of an interspecific backcross pedigree of E. grandis and E. urophylla. In addition, we used Illumina RNA-Seq expression profiling in the E. urophylla backcross family to identify cis- and trans-acting polymorphisms (eQTLs) affecting transcript abundance of genes underlying QTLs for wood basic density. Results A total of five QTLs for DBH and 12 for wood basic density were identified in the two backcross families. Individual QTLs for DBH and wood basic density explained 3.1 to 12.2% of phenotypic variation. Candidate genes underlying QTLs for wood basic density on linkage groups 8 and 9 were found to share trans-acting eQTLs located on linkage groups 4 and 10, which in turn coincided with QTLs for wood basic density suggesting that these QTLs represent segregating components of an underlying transcriptional network. Conclusion This is the first demonstration of the use of next-generation expression profiling to quantify transcript abundance in a segregating tree population and identify candidate genes potentially affecting wood property variation. The QTLs identified in this

  3. The influence of the surrounding gas on drop impact onto a wet substrate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deegan, Robert; Zhang, Li; Toole, Jameson

    2011-11-01

    The impact of a droplet with a wet or solid substrate creates a spray of secondary droplets. The effect of the surrounding gas on this process was widely neglected prior to the work of Xu, Zhang, & Nagel which showed that lowering the gas pressure suppresses splashing for impact with a dry solid substrate. Here we present the results of our experimental investigation of the effect of the surrounding gas on the evolution of splashes from a wet substrate. We varied the density and pressure of the surrounding gas. We find quantitative changes to the onset thresholds of splashing and on the size distribution of, but no qualitative changes. The effects are most pronounced on the evolution of the ejecta sheet.

  4. Parameters of the luminous region surrounding deuterium pellets in the PLT tokamak

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McNeill, D.H.; Greene, G.J.; Schuresko, D.D.

    1985-08-01

    The luminous region of the plasma cloud surrounding deuterium pellets injected into a tokamak is studied spectroscopically. At the time of peak luminosity the average electron density is 2.4 x 10 17 cm -3 to within 30% and the temperature is at most 2.0 eV. The intensity ratio of the Balmer alpha and beta light from the pellets, the total number of emitted photons, and the apparent size of the radiating region are consistent with local thermodynamic equilibrium at this temperature and density

  5. Low crop plant population densities promote pollen-mediated gene flow in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willenborg, Christian J; Brûlé-Babel, Anita L; Van Acker, Rene C

    2009-12-01

    Transgenic wheat is currently being field tested with the intent of eventual commercialization. The development of wheat genotypes with novel traits has raised concerns regarding the presence of volunteer wheat populations and the role they may play in facilitating transgene movement. Here, we report the results of a field experiment that investigated the potential of spring wheat plant population density and crop height to minimize gene flow from a herbicide-resistant (HR) volunteer population to a non-HR crop. Pollen-mediated gene flow (PMGF) between the HR volunteer wheat population and four conventional spring wheat genotypes varying in height was assessed over a range of plant population densities. Natural hybridization events between the two cultivars were detected by phenotypically scoring plants in F(1) populations followed by verification with Mendelian segregation ratios in the F(1:2) families. PMGF was strongly associated with crop yield components, but showed no association with flowering synchrony. Maximum observed PMGF was always less than 0.6%, regardless of crop height and density. The frequency of PMGF in spring wheat decreased exponentially with increasing plant population density, but showed no dependence on either crop genotype or height. However, increasing plant densities beyond the recommended planting rate of 300 cropped wheat plants m(-2) provided no obvious benefit to reducing PMGF. Nevertheless, our results demonstrate a critical plant density of 175-200 cropped wheat plants m(-2) below which PMGF frequencies rise exponentially with decreasing plant density. These results will be useful in the development of mechanistic models and best management practices that collectively facilitate the coexistence of transgenic and nontransgenic wheat crops.

  6. AHSG gene polymorphisms are associated with bone mineral density in Caucasian nuclear families

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Yanjun; Wang Yanbo; Lei Shufeng; Long Jirong; Shen Hui; Zhao Lanjuan; Jiang Deke; Xiao Sumei; Chen Xiangding; Chen Yuan; Deng Hongwen

    2007-01-01

    Purpose. To investigate the role of alpha2-HS glycoprotein (AHSG) gene on bone mineral density (BMD) variation. Methods. A total of 665 subjects from 157 Caucasian nuclear families were genotyped at the AHSG NlaIII, SacI sites. The association and linkage between the single SNP markers and haplotypes constructed by two markers in this gene and BMDs at the spine and hip were determined by using quantitative transmission disequilibrium test (QTDT). Results. Significant within-family associations were obtained for spine BMD at both of studied markers (P = 0.036 and 0.005 at the NlaIII and SacI sites, respectively). Significant (P = 0.008 at the NlaIII locus) (P = 0.004 at the SacI locus) total associations at spine BMD were detected. Haplotype analyses confirmed those within-family and total association. Conclusions. These data suggest the polymorphisms in the AHSG gene may have effects on BMD variation in Caucasian population

  7. Emissions of Escherichia coli Carrying Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase Resistance from Pig Farms to the Surrounding Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lili Gao

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The dissemination of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL-producing Escherichia coli (E. coli from food-producing animals to the surrounding environment has attracted much attention. To determine the emissions of ESBL-producing E. coli from pig farms to the surrounding environment, fecal and environmental samples from six pig farms were collected. In total, 119 ESBL-producing E. coli were isolated from feces, air samples, water, sludge and soil samples. Antibiotic susceptibility testing showed that the ESBL-producing isolates were resistant to multiple antibiotics and isolates of different origin within the same farm showed similar resistance phenotypes. Both CTX-M and TEM ESBL-encoding genes were detected in these isolates. CTX-M-14 and CTX-M-15 were the predominant ESBL genes identified. ESBL producers from feces and environmental samples within the same farm carried similar CTX-M types. The results indicated that the ESBL-producing E. coli carrying multidrug resistance could readily disseminate to the surrounding environment.

  8. Statistical density modification using local pattern matching

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Terwilliger, Thomas C.

    2003-01-01

    Statistical density modification can make use of local patterns of density found in protein structures to improve crystallographic phases. A method for improving crystallographic phases is presented that is based on the preferential occurrence of certain local patterns of electron density in macromolecular electron-density maps. The method focuses on the relationship between the value of electron density at a point in the map and the pattern of density surrounding this point. Patterns of density that can be superimposed by rotation about the central point are considered equivalent. Standard templates are created from experimental or model electron-density maps by clustering and averaging local patterns of electron density. The clustering is based on correlation coefficients after rotation to maximize the correlation. Experimental or model maps are also used to create histograms relating the value of electron density at the central point to the correlation coefficient of the density surrounding this point with each member of the set of standard patterns. These histograms are then used to estimate the electron density at each point in a new experimental electron-density map using the pattern of electron density at points surrounding that point and the correlation coefficient of this density to each of the set of standard templates, again after rotation to maximize the correlation. The method is strengthened by excluding any information from the point in question from both the templates and the local pattern of density in the calculation. A function based on the origin of the Patterson function is used to remove information about the electron density at the point in question from nearby electron density. This allows an estimation of the electron density at each point in a map, using only information from other points in the process. The resulting estimates of electron density are shown to have errors that are nearly independent of the errors in the original map using

  9. Implosion characteristics of deuterium--tritium pellets surrounded by high-density shells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fraley, G.S.

    1976-09-01

    The effect of high-density shells on deuterium-tritium pellets imploded by laser energy deposition or other means is investigated. Attention is centered on the inner parts of the pellet where hydrodynamics is the dominant mechanism. The implosions can then be characterized by a pressure boundary condition. Numerical solutions of the implosions are carried out over a wide range of parameters both for solid pellets and pellets with a central void

  10. Nonspherical atomic ground-state densities and chemical deformation densities from x-ray scattering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruedenberg, K.; Schwarz, W.H.E.

    1990-01-01

    Presuming that chemical insight can be gained from the difference between the molecular electron density and the superposition of the ground-state densities of the atoms in a molecule, it is pointed out that, for atoms with degenerate ground states, an unpromoted ''atom in a molecule'' is represented by a specific ensemble of the degenerate atomic ground-state wave functions and that this ensemble is determined by the anisotropic local surroundings. The resulting atomic density contributions are termed oriented ground state densities, and the corresponding density difference is called the chemical deformation density. The constraints implied by this conceptual approach for the atomic density contributions are formulated and a method is developed for determining them from x-ray scattering data. The electron density of the appropriate promolecule and its x-ray scattering are derived, the determination of the parameters of the promolecule is outlined, and the chemical deformation density is formulated

  11. Lovelock black holes surrounded by quintessence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, Sushant G.; Maharaj, Sunil D.; Baboolal, Dharmanand; Lee, Tae-Hun

    2018-02-01

    Lovelock gravity consisting of the dimensionally continued Euler densities is a natural generalization of general relativity to higher dimensions such that equations of motion are still second order, and the theory is free of ghosts. A scalar field with a positive potential that yields an accelerating universe has been termed quintessence. We present exact black hole solutions in D-dimensional Lovelock gravity surrounded by quintessence matter and also perform a detailed thermodynamical study. Further, we find that the mass, entropy and temperature of the black hole are corrected due to the quintessence background. In particular, we find that a phase transition occurs with a divergence of the heat capacity at the critical horizon radius, and that specific heat becomes positive for r_h

  12. Rapid characterization of disease-causing mutations in the low density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R) gene by overexpression in COS cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, T G; Andresen, B S; Jensen, H K

    1996-01-01

    To characterize disease-causing mutations in the low density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R) gene, COS cells are transfected with the mutant gene in an EBV-based expression vector and characterized by flow cytometry. Using antibodies against the LDL-receptor the amount of receptor protein on the cel...

  13. Lovelock black holes surrounded by quintessence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ghosh, Sushant G. [University of KwaZulu-Natal, Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Unit, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, Durban (South Africa); Centre for Theoretical Physics, Multidisciplinary Centre for Advanced Research and Studies (MCARS), New Delhi (India); Maharaj, Sunil D.; Baboolal, Dharmanand; Lee, Tae-Hun [University of KwaZulu-Natal, Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Unit, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, Durban (South Africa)

    2018-02-15

    Lovelock gravity consisting of the dimensionally continued Euler densities is a natural generalization of general relativity to higher dimensions such that equations of motion are still second order, and the theory is free of ghosts. A scalar field with a positive potential that yields an accelerating universe has been termed quintessence. We present exact black hole solutions in D-dimensional Lovelock gravity surrounded by quintessence matter and also perform a detailed thermodynamical study. Further, we find that the mass, entropy and temperature of the black hole are corrected due to the quintessence background. In particular, we find that a phase transition occurs with a divergence of the heat capacity at the critical horizon radius, and that specific heat becomes positive for r{sub h} < r{sub c} allowing the black hole to become thermodynamically stable. (orig.)

  14. TRIGGERED STAR FORMATION SURROUNDING WOLF-RAYET STAR HD 211853

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu Tie; Wu Yuefang; Zhang Huawei [Department of Astronomy, Peking University, 100871 Beijing (China); Qin Shengli, E-mail: liutiepku@gmail.com [I. Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet zu Koeln, Zuelpicher Str. 77, 50937 Koeln (Germany)

    2012-05-20

    The environment surrounding Wolf-Rayet (W-R) star HD 211853 is studied in molecular, infrared, as well as radio, and H I emission. The molecular ring consists of well-separated cores, which have a volume density of 10{sup 3} cm{sup -3} and kinematic temperature {approx}20 K. Most of the cores are under gravitational collapse due to external pressure from the surrounding ionized gas. From the spectral energy distribution modeling toward the young stellar objects, the sequential star formation is revealed on a large scale in space spreading from the W-R star to the molecular ring. A small-scale sequential star formation is revealed toward core 'A', which harbors a very young star cluster. Triggered star formations are thus suggested. The presence of the photodissociation region, the fragmentation of the molecular ring, the collapse of the cores, and the large-scale sequential star formation indicate that the 'collect and collapse' process functions in this region. The star-forming activities in core 'A' seem to be affected by the 'radiation-driven implosion' process.

  15. TRIGGERED STAR FORMATION SURROUNDING WOLF-RAYET STAR HD 211853

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Tie; Wu Yuefang; Zhang Huawei; Qin Shengli

    2012-01-01

    The environment surrounding Wolf-Rayet (W-R) star HD 211853 is studied in molecular, infrared, as well as radio, and H I emission. The molecular ring consists of well-separated cores, which have a volume density of 10 3 cm –3 and kinematic temperature ∼20 K. Most of the cores are under gravitational collapse due to external pressure from the surrounding ionized gas. From the spectral energy distribution modeling toward the young stellar objects, the sequential star formation is revealed on a large scale in space spreading from the W-R star to the molecular ring. A small-scale sequential star formation is revealed toward core 'A', which harbors a very young star cluster. Triggered star formations are thus suggested. The presence of the photodissociation region, the fragmentation of the molecular ring, the collapse of the cores, and the large-scale sequential star formation indicate that the 'collect and collapse' process functions in this region. The star-forming activities in core 'A' seem to be affected by the 'radiation-driven implosion' process.

  16. Ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction improves the low density lipoprotein receptor gene expression in HepG2 cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo Dongping; Li Xiaoyu; Sun, Ping; Tang Yibo; Chen Xiuying; Chen Qi; Fan Leming; Zang Bin; Shao Lizheng; Li Xiaorong

    2006-01-01

    Ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction had been employed in gene delivery and promised great potential. Liver has unique features that make it attractive for gene therapy. However, it poses formidable obstacles to hepatocyte-specific gene delivery. This study was designed to test the efficiency of therapeutic gene transfer and expression mediated by ultrasound/microbubble strategy in HepG 2 cell line. Air-filled albumin microbubbles were prepared and mixed with plasmid DNA encoding low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and green fluorescent protein. The mixture of the DNA and microbubbles was administer to cultured HepG 2 cells under variable ultrasound conditions. Transfection rate of the transferred gene and cell viability were assessed by FACS analysis, confocal laser scanning microscopy, Western blot analysis and Trypan blue staining. The result demonstrated that microbubbles with ultrasound irradiation can significantly elevate exogenous LDLR gene expression and the expressed LDLRs were functional and active to uptake their ligands. We conclude that ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction has the potential to promote safe and efficient LDLR gene transfer into hepatocytes. With further refinement, it may represent an effective nonviral avenue of gene therapy for liver-involved genetic diseases

  17. Cadmium triggers Elodea canadensis to change the surrounding water pH and thereby Cd uptake.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Javed, M Tariq; Greger, Maria

    2011-01-01

    This study was aimed to investigate the influence of Elodea canadensis shoots on surrounding water pH in the presence of cadmium and the effect of plant-induced pH on cadmium uptake. The pH change in the surrounding nutrient solution and Cd uptake by Elodea shoots were investigated after cultivation of various plant densities (1, 3, 6 plants per 500 ml) in hydroponics at a starting pH of 4.0 and in the presence of different concentrations of cadmium (0, 0.1, 0.5 microM). Cadmium uptake was also investigated at different constant pH (4.0, 4.5, 5.5 and 6.5). To investigate if the pH change arose from photosynthetic activities, plants were grown under light, darkness or in the presence of a photosynthetic inhibitor, 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU), and 0.5 microM cadmium in the solution. Elodea had an ability to increase the surrounding water pH, when the initial pH was low, which resulted in increased accumulation of Cd. The higher the plant density, the more pronounced was the pH change. The pH increase was not due to the photosynthetic activity since the pH rise was more pronounced under darkness and in the presence of DCMU. The pH increase by Elodea was triggered by cadmium.

  18. Increased stocking density causes changes in expression of selected stress- and immune-related genes, humoral innate immune parameters and stress responses of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yarahmadi, Peyman; Miandare, Hamed Kolangi; Fayaz, Sahel; Caipang, Christopher Marlowe A

    2016-01-01

    The present study investigated the effects of various stocking densities on the health status (stress and immune responses) of rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss). Juvenile rainbow trout were acclimated, placed in circular tanks under stocking densities of 10, 40 and 80 kg m(-3) and reared for 30 days. The relative expression of genes involved in stress and immunity such as HSP70, LyzII, TNF-1α, IL-1β, IL-8 and IFN-γ1 in the head kidney was determined. Serum cortisol, ACTH, total antioxidant capacity, osmolality and lactate were measured after 30 days of culture at different stocking densities (D1:10 kg m(-3), D2: 40 kg m(-3) and D3: 80 kg m(-3)) as indices of stress responses. In addition, the effects of stocking densities on serum complement, bactericidal activity, agglutinating antibody titers, serum IgM, anti-protease activity, serum total protein and alkaline phosphatase of the fish were measured. HSP70 gene expression was significantly density-dependent upregulated in D2 and D3 densities compared to D1 (P < 0.05). Also, there was significant downregulation in expression of LyzII, TNF-1α, IL-1β, IL-8 and IFN-γ1 in fish reared at density of either D2 or D3 (P < 0.05). In terms of stress responses, serum ACTH, cortisol and lactate level showed significant density-dependent increase (P < 0.05) while serum osmolality and total antioxidant capacity showed significant decline (P < 0.05) in fish reared at higher densities (D2 and D3) compared to fish reared at lower density (D1) (P < 0.05). Concordant with the expression of the immune-related genes, the serum complement and bactericidal activity as well as specific antibody titer against Aeromonas hydrophila, IgM and anti-protease activity decreased along with elevation of stocking density from D1 to D3 (P < 0.05). However, different stocking densities had no significant effect on serum total protein level and alkaline phosphatase activity. These results suggested that elevation of stocking

  19. The Effects of GH Transgenic Goats on the Microflora of the Intestine, Feces and Surrounding Soil.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zekun Bao

    Full Text Available The development of genetically engineered animals has brought with it increasing concerns about biosafety issues. We therefore evaluated the risks of growth hormone from transgenic goats, including the probability of horizontal gene transfer and the impact on the microbial community of the goats' gastrointestinal tracts, feces and the surrounding soil. The results showed that neither the GH nor the neoR gene could be detected in the samples. Moreover, there was no significant change in the microbial community of the gastrointestinal tracts, feces and soil, as tested with PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and 16S rDNA sequencing. Finally, phylogenetic analysis showed that the intestinal content, feces and soil samples all contained the same dominant group of bacteria. These results demonstrated that expression of goat growth hormone in the mammary of GH transgenic goat does not influence the microflora of the intestine, feces and surrounding soil.

  20. MicroCT Bone Densitometry: Context Sensitivity, Beam Hardening Correction and the Effect of Surrounding Media

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philip L. Salmon

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The context-sensitivity of microCT bone densitometry due to beam hardening artefacts was assessed. Bones and teeth are scanned with varying thickness of surrounding media (water, alcohol, biological tissue and it is important to understand how this affects reconstructed attenuation (“density” of the mineralized tissue. Aluminium tubes and rods with thickness 0.127mm–5mm were scanned both in air or surrounded by up to 2cm of water. Scans were performed with different energy filters and degrees of software beam hardening correction (BHC. Also tested were the effects of signal-to-noise ratio, magnification and truncation. The thickness of an aluminium tube significantly affected its mean reconstructed attenuation. This effect of thickness could be reduced substantially by BHC for scans in air, but not for scans in water. Varying thickness of surrounding water also changed the mean attenuation of an aluminium tube. This artefact could be almost eliminated by an optimal BHC value. The “cupping” artefact of heterogeneous attenuation (elevated at outer surfaces could be corrected if aluminium was scanned in air, but in water BHC was much less effective. Scan truncation, changes to magnification and signal-to-noise ratio also caused artificial changes to measured attenuation. Measurement of bone mineral density by microCT is highly context sensitive. A surrounding layer of liquid or biological tissue reduces the ability of software BHC to remove bone density artefacts. Sample thickness, truncation, magnification and signal to noise ratio also affect reconstructed attenuation. Thus it is important for densitometry that sample and calibration phantom dimensions and mounting materials are standardised.

  1. Smart Surroundings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Havinga, Paul J.M.; Jansen, P.G.; Lijding, M.E.M.; Scholten, Johan

    2004-01-01

    Ambient systems are networked embedded systems integrated with everyday environments and supporting people in their activities. These systems will create a Smart Surrounding for people to facilitate and enrich daily life and increase productivity at work. Such systems will be quite different from

  2. Genetic spectrum of low density lipoprotein receptor gene variations in South Indian population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    ArulJothi, K N; Suruthi Abirami, B; Devi, Arikketh

    2018-03-01

    Low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) is a membrane bound receptor maintaining cholesterol homeostasis along with Apolipoprotein B (APOB), Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin type 9 (PCSK9) and other genes of lipid metabolism. Any pathogenic variation in these genes alters the function of the receptor and leads to Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) and other cardiovascular diseases. This study was aimed at screening the LDLR, APOB and PCSK9 genes in Hypercholesterolemic patients to define the genetic spectrum of FH in Indian population. Familial Hypercholesterolemia patients (n=78) of South Indian Tamil population with LDL cholesterol and Total cholesterol levels above 4.9mmol/l and 7.5mmol/l with family history of Myocardial infarction were involved. DNA was isolated by organic extraction method from blood samples and LDLR, APOB and PCSK9 gene exons were amplified using primers that cover exon-intron boundaries. The amplicons were screened using High Resolution Melt (HRM) Analysis and the screened samples were sequenced after purification. This study reports 20 variations in South Indian population for the first time. In this set of variations 9 are novel variations which are reported for the first time, 11 were reported in other studies also. The in silico analysis for all the variations detected in this study were done to predict the probabilistic effect in pathogenicity of FH. This study adds 9 novel variations and 11 recurrent variations to the spectrum of LDLR gene mutations in Indian population. All these variations are reported for the first time in Indian population. This spectrum of variations was different from the variations of previous Indian reports. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Escape from the competence state in Streptococcus mutans is governed by the bacterial population density.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dufour, D; Villemin, C; Perry, J A; Lévesque, C M

    2016-12-01

    Horizontal gene transfer through natural DNA transformation is an important evolutionary mechanism among bacteria. Transformation requires that the bacteria are physiologically competent to take and incorporate free DNA directly from the environment. Although natural genetic transformation is a remarkable feature of many naturally competent bacteria, the process is energetically expensive for the cells. Consequently, a tight control of the competence state is necessary. The objective of the present work was to help decipher the molecular mechanisms regulating the escape from the competence state in Streptococcus mutans, the principal etiological agent responsible for tooth decay in humans. Our results showed that the cessation of competence in S. mutans was abrupt, and did not involve the accumulation of a competence inhibitor nor the depletion of a competence activator in the extracellular environment. The competence state was repressed at high cell population density via concomitant repression of sigX gene encoding the master regulator of the competence regulon. Co-culture experiments performed with oral and non-oral bacteria showed that S. mutans assesses its own population density and also the microbial density of its surroundings to regulate its competence escape. Interestingly, neither the intra-species and extra-species quorum-sensing systems nor the other 13 two-component regulatory systems identified in S. mutans were involved in the cell-density-dependent escape of the competence state. Altogether, our results suggest a complex mechanism regulating the competence shut-off involving cell-density-dependent repression of sigX through an as yet undefined system, and possibly SigX protein stability. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  4. Kaempferol stimulates gene expression of low-density lipoprotein receptor through activation of Sp1 in cultured hepatocytes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ochiai, Ayasa; Miyata, Shingo; Iwase, Masamori; Shimizu, Makoto; Inoue, Jun; Sato, Ryuichiro

    2016-01-01

    A high level of plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is considered a risk factor for atherosclerosis. Because the hepatic LDL receptor (LDLR) is essential for clearing plasma LDL cholesterol, activation of LDLR is a promising therapeutic target for patients with atherosclerotic disease. Here we demonstrated how the flavonoid kaempferol stimulated the gene expression and activity of LDLR in HepG2 cells. The kaempferol-mediated stimulation of LDLR gene expression was completely inhibited by knockdown of Sp1 gene expression. Treatment of HepG2 cells with kaempferol stimulated the recruitment of Sp1 to the promoter region of the LDLR gene, as well as the phosphorylation of Sp1 on Thr-453 and Thr-739. Moreover, these kaempferol-mediated processes were inhibited in the presence of U0126, an ERK pathway inhibitor. These results suggest that kaempferol may increase the activity of Sp1 through stimulation of Sp1 phosphorylation by ERK1/2 and subsequent induction of LDLR expression and activity. PMID:27109240

  5. The gustin (CA6 gene polymorphism, rs2274333 (A/G, as a mechanistic link between PROP tasting and fungiform taste papilla density and maintenance.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Melania Melis

    Full Text Available Taste sensitivity to PROP varies greatly among individuals and is associated with polymorphisms in the bitter receptor gene TAS2R38, and with differences in fungiform papilla density on the anterior tongue surface. Recently we showed that the PROP non-taster phenotype is strongly associated with the G variant of polymorphism rs2274333 (A/G of the gene that controls the salivary trophic factor, gustin. The aims of this study were 1 to investigate the role of gustin gene polymorphism rs2274333 (A/G, in PROP sensitivity and fungiform papilla density and morphology, and 2 to investigate the effect of this gustin gene polymorphism on cell proliferation and metabolic activity. Sixty-four subjects were genotyped for both genes by PCR techniques, their PROP sensitivity was assessed by scaling and threshold methods, and their fungiform papilla density, diameter and morphology were determined. In vitro experiments examined cell proliferation and metabolic activity, following treatment with saliva of individuals with and without the gustin gene mutation, and with isolated protein, in the two iso-forms. Gustin and TAS2R38 genotypes were associated with PROP threshold (p=0.0001 and p=0.0042, but bitterness intensity was mostly determined by TAS2R38 genotypes (p<0.000001. Fungiform papillae densities were associated with both genotypes (p<0.014 (with a stronger effect for gustin; p=0.0006, but papilla morphology was a function of gustin alone (p<0.0012. Treatment of isolated cells with saliva from individuals with the AA form of gustin or direct application of the active iso-form of gustin protein increased cell proliferation and metabolic activity (p<0.0135. These novel findings suggest that the rs2274333 polymorphism of the gustin gene affects PROP sensitivity by acting on fungiform papilla development and maintenance, and could provide the first mechanistic explanation for why PROP super-tasters are more responsive to a broad range of oral stimuli.

  6. Comparison of global brain gene expression profiles between inbred long-sleep and inbred short-sleep mice by high-density gene array hybridization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Y; Ehringer, M; Yang, F; Sikela, J M

    2001-06-01

    Inbred long-sleep (ILS) and short-sleep (ISS) mice show significant central nervous system-mediated differences in sleep time for sedative dose of ethanol and are frequently used as a rodent model for ethanol sensitivity. In this study, we have used complementary DNA (cDNA) array hybridization methodology to identify genes that are differentially expressed between the brains of ILS and ISS mice. To carry out this analysis, we used both the gene discovery array (GDA) and the Mouse GEM 1 Microarray. GDA consists of 18,378 nonredundant mouse cDNA clones on a single nylon filter. Complex probes were prepared from total brain mRNA of ILS or ISS mice by using reverse transcription and 33P labeling. The labeled probes were hybridized in parallel to the gene array filters. Data from GDA experiments were analyzed with SQL-Plus and Oracle 8. The GEM microarray includes 8,730 sequence-verified clones on a glass chip. Two fluorescently labeled probes were used to hybridize a microarray simultaneously. Data from GEM experiments were analyzed by using the GEMTools software package (Incyte). Differentially expressed genes identified from each method were confirmed by relative quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). A total of 41 genes or expressed sequence tags (ESTs) display significant expression level differences between brains of ILS and ISS mice after GDA, GEM1 hybridization, and quantitative RT-PCR confirmation. Among them, 18 clones were expressed higher in ILS mice, and 23 clones were expressed higher in ISS mice. The individual gene or EST's function and mapping information have been analyzed. This study identified 41 genes that are differentially expressed between brains of ILS and ISS mice. Some of them may have biological relevance in mediation of phenotypic variation between ILS and ISS mice for ethanol sensitivity. This study also demonstrates that parallel gene expression comparison with high-density cDNA arrays is a rapid and

  7. Low density lipoprotein receptor gene Ava II polymorphism and serum lipid levels in the Guangxi Bai Ku Yao and Han populations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wu Dong-Feng

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Several common genetic polymorphisms in the low density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R gene have associated with modifications of serum total cholesterol (TC and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C levels, but the results are not consistent in different populations. Bai Ku Yao is a special subgroup of the Yao minority in China. The present study was undertaken to detect the association of LDL-R gene Ava Ⅱ polymorphism and serum lipid levels in the Guangxi Bai Ku Yao and Han populations. Methods A total of 1024 subjects of Bai Ku Yao and 792 participants of Han Chinese were randomly selected from our previous stratified randomized cluster samples. Genotyping of the LDL-R gene Ava Ⅱ polymorphism was performed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism combined with gel electrophoresis, and then confirmed by direct sequencing. Results The levels of serum TC, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C, LDL-C, apolipoprotein (Apo A1 and the ratio of ApoA1 to ApoB were lower in Bai Ku Yao than in Han (P - and A+ alleles was 65.5% and 34.5% in Bai Ku Yao, and 80.7% and 19.3% in Han (P -A-, A-A+ and A+A+ genotypes was 42.6%, 45.9% and 11.5% in Bai Ku Yao, and 64.9%, 31.6% and 3.5% in Han (P P 3.20 mmol/L subgroups in Bai Ku Yao (P P P P +A+ genotype had higher serum LDL-C, TC, HDL-C or ApoA1 levels than the subjects with A-A+ and A-A- genotypes. Spearman rank correlation analysis revealed that the levels of LDL-C in Bai Ku Yao and HDL-C in Han were correlated with genotypes (P P Conclusions The association of LDL-R gene Ava Ⅱ polymorphism and serum lipid levels is different between the Bai Ku Yao and Han populations. The discrepancy might partly result from different LDL-R gene Ava Ⅱ polymorphism or LDL-R gene-enviromental interactions.

  8. Density Stress has Minimal Impacts on the Barley or Maize Seedling Transcriptome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Summer St. Pierre

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available High planting density affects the morphology and productivity of many crop species. Our objectives were to examine the phenotypic and transcriptomic changes that occur during plant density stress in barley ( L. and maize ( L. seedlings. In maize and barley seedlings, density stress impacted several morphological traits. Gene expression profiles were examined in four barley and five maize genotypes grown at low and high plant densities. Only 221 barley and 35 maize genes exhibited differential expression in response to plant density stress. The majority of the gene expression changes were observed in a subset of the genotypes and reflected minor changes in the level of expression, indicating that the plant density stress imposed in this study did not result in major changes in gene expression. Also, little overlap was observed within barley or maize genotypes in gene expression during density stress, indicating that genotypic differences play a major role in the response to density stress. While it is clear that gene expression differences are involved in morphological changes induced by high plant densities, it is likely that many of these gene expression differences are subtle and restricted to particular tissues and developmental time.

  9. Electromagnetic effects on the biological tissue surrounding a transcutaneous transformer for an artificial anal sphincter system*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zan, Peng; Yang, Bang-hua; Shao, Yong; Yan, Guo-zheng; Liu, Hua

    2010-01-01

    This paper reports on the electromagnetic effects on the biological tissue surrounding a transcutaneous transformer for an artificial anal sphincter. The coupling coils and human tissues, including the skin, fat, muscle, liver, and blood, were considered. Specific absorption rate (SAR) and current density were analyzed by a finite-length solenoid model. First, SAR and current density as a function of frequency (10–107 Hz) for an emission current of 1.5 A were calculated under different tissue thickness. Then relations between SAR, current density, and five types of tissues under each frequency were deduced. As a result, both the SAR and current density were below the basic restrictions of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). The results show that the analysis of these data is very important for developing the artificial anal sphincter system. PMID:21121071

  10. Gene therapy: theoretical and bioethical concepts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Kevin R

    2003-01-01

    Gene therapy holds great promise. Somatic gene therapy has the potential to treat a wide range of disorders, including inherited conditions, cancers, and infectious diseases. Early progress has already been made in the treatment of a range of disorders. Ethical issues surrounding somatic gene therapy are primarily those concerned with safety. Germline gene therapy is theoretically possible but raises serious ethical concerns concerning future generations.

  11. The gustin (CA6) gene polymorphism, rs2274333 (A/G), as a mechanistic link between PROP tasting and fungiform taste papilla density and maintenance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melis, Melania; Atzori, Elena; Cabras, Stefano; Zonza, Andrea; Calò, Carla; Muroni, Patrizia; Nieddu, Mariella; Padiglia, Alessandra; Sogos, Valeria; Tepper, Beverly J; Tomassini Barbarossa, Iole

    2013-01-01

    Taste sensitivity to PROP varies greatly among individuals and is associated with polymorphisms in the bitter receptor gene TAS2R38, and with differences in fungiform papilla density on the anterior tongue surface. Recently we showed that the PROP non-taster phenotype is strongly associated with the G variant of polymorphism rs2274333 (A/G) of the gene that controls the salivary trophic factor, gustin. The aims of this study were 1) to investigate the role of gustin gene polymorphism rs2274333 (A/G), in PROP sensitivity and fungiform papilla density and morphology, and 2) to investigate the effect of this gustin gene polymorphism on cell proliferation and metabolic activity. Sixty-four subjects were genotyped for both genes by PCR techniques, their PROP sensitivity was assessed by scaling and threshold methods, and their fungiform papilla density, diameter and morphology were determined. In vitro experiments examined cell proliferation and metabolic activity, following treatment with saliva of individuals with and without the gustin gene mutation, and with isolated protein, in the two iso-forms. Gustin and TAS2R38 genotypes were associated with PROP threshold (p=0.0001 and p=0.0042), but bitterness intensity was mostly determined by TAS2R38 genotypes (pTreatment of isolated cells with saliva from individuals with the AA form of gustin or direct application of the active iso-form of gustin protein increased cell proliferation and metabolic activity (p<0.0135). These novel findings suggest that the rs2274333 polymorphism of the gustin gene affects PROP sensitivity by acting on fungiform papilla development and maintenance, and could provide the first mechanistic explanation for why PROP super-tasters are more responsive to a broad range of oral stimuli.

  12. A large-scale population-based study of the association of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms with bone mineral density.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    P.L.A. van Dalen; C.M. van Duijn (Cornelia); J.C. Birkenhäger (Jan); J.P.T.M. van Leeuwen (Hans); H.A.P. Pols (Huib); A.G. Uitterlinden (André); A. Hofman (Albert)

    1996-01-01

    textabstractConflicting results have been reported on the association between restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) at the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene locus (i.e., for BsmI, ApaI, and TaqI) and bone mineral density (BMD). We analyzed this association in a large population-based sample

  13. Association of polymorphisms in low-density lipoprotein receptor- related protein 5 gene with bone mineral density in postmenopausal Chinese women

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Zhen-lin ZHANG; Yue-juan QIN; Jin-wei HE; Qi-ren HUANG; Miao LI; Yun-qiu HU; Yu-juan LIU

    2005-01-01

    Aim: To investigate the possible association of Q89R, N740N and A1330V polymorphisms in low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 (LRP5) gene with bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal Chinese women. Methods: Q89R,N740N and A1330V genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reactionrestriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in 647 unrelated healthy postmenopausal Han Chinese women aged 43-76 years in Shanghai. BMD at lumbar spine 1-4 and the left proximal femur including the femoral neck, trochanter and Ward's triangle were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptionmetry in all subjects. Results: The distribution of the Q89R, N740N and A1330V genotypes in this population was as follows: QQ 80.5%, QR 18.7%, and RR 0.8%; TT 66.9%,TC 31.1%, and CC 2.0%; AA 68.0%, AV 29.7%, and VV 2.3%. The frequencies of the Q89R, N740N and A1330V genotypes and alleles did not deviate from the HardyWeinberg equilibrium. We found that the Q89R and A1330V polymorphisms were in linkage disequilibrium in our population (x2= 13.50, P<0.01). Both before and after adjusting for age, years since menopause, height, and weight, the Q89R or N740N genotypes were significantly associated with BMD at the femoral neck (P<0.05).Subjects with the Q89R QQ genotype or the N740N TT genotype had a significantly higher BMD at the femoral neck, compared with those with the QR/RR or TC/CC genotypes, respectively. No significant association was found between A1330V polymorphism and BMD at any site. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the LRP5 gene is a candidate for the genetic determination of BMD in postmenopausal Chinese women.

  14. Presence of VIM-Positive Pseudomonas Species in Chickens and Their Surrounding Environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Rongmin; Liu, Zhihai; Li, Jiyun; Lei, Lei; Yin, Wenjuan; Li, Mei; Wu, Congming; Walsh, Timothy R; Wang, Yang; Wang, Shaolin; Wu, Yongning

    2017-07-01

    Metallo-β-lactamase gene bla VIM was identified on the chromosome of four Pseudomonas sp. isolates from a chicken farm, including one Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolate from a swallow ( Yanornis martini ), one Pseudomonas putida isolate from a fly, and two P. putida isolates from chickens. The four isolates shared two variants of bla VIM -carrying genomic contexts that resemble the corresponding regions of clinical metallo-β-lactamase-producing Pseudomonas spp. Our study suggests that the surveillance of carbapenemase-producing bacteria in livestock and their surrounding environment is urgently needed. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

  15. Incorporation of gene-specific variability improves expression analysis using high-density DNA microarrays

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Spitznagel Edward

    2003-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The assessment of data reproducibility is essential for application of microarray technology to exploration of biological pathways and disease states. Technical variability in data analysis largely depends on signal intensity. Within that context, the reproducibility of individual probe sets has not been hitherto addressed. Results We used an extraordinarily large replicate data set derived from human placental trophoblast to analyze probe-specific contribution to variability of gene expression. We found that signal variability, in addition to being signal-intensity dependant, is probe set-specific. Importantly, we developed a novel method to quantify the contribution of this probe set-specific variability. Furthermore, we devised a formula that incorporates a priori-computed, replicate-based information on probe set- and intensity-specific variability in determination of expression changes even without technical replicates. Conclusion The strategy of incorporating probe set-specific variability is superior to analysis based on arbitrary fold-change thresholds. We recommend its incorporation to any computation of gene expression changes using high-density DNA microarrays. A Java application implementing our T-score is available at http://www.sadovsky.wustl.edu/tscore.html.

  16. Stocking density affects the growth performance and metabolism of Amur sturgeon by regulating expression of genes in the GH/IGF axis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Yuanyuan; Wen, Haishen; Li, Yun; Li, Jifang

    2017-07-01

    The effects of stocking density on the growth and metabolism of Amur sturgeon were assessed. Amur sturgeon were grown for 70 days at three different stocking densities (low stocking density, LSD: 5.5 kg/m3; medium stocking density, MSD: 8.0 kg/m3; and high stocking density, HSD: 11.0 kg/m3), and the biometric index, muscle composition, and serum biochemical parameters were evaluated. In addition, pituitary, liver, and muscle samples were collected for gene cloning and expression analyses. After 70 days of growth, the fish maintained at HSD had significantly lower final body weight and specific growth rate, and a higher feed conversion ratio than those of the fish in the MSD and LSD groups. The HSD group had the lowest lipid and protein concentrations in serum and muscle. The serum cortisol concentration increased significantly in the HSD group, indicating that the stress-response system was activated in these fish. There was no change in the concentration of serum insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF-2), while the concentrations of serum growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) decreased in the HSD group. The full-length cDNAs of GH and IGF-2 genes (995-bp and 1 207-bp long, respectively), were cloned and analyzed. In the HSD group, the expressions of GH in the pituitary and growth hormone receptor (GHR) and IGF-1 in the liver were down-regulated at the end of the 70-day experiment. In the HSD group, the transcript level of IGF-2 significantly decreased in the liver, but did not change in muscle. Overall, our results indicated that a HSD negatively affects the growth performance and leads to changes in lipid and protein metabolism in Amur sturgeon. The down-regulated expression of genes related to the GH/IGF axis may be responsible for the poor growth performance of Amur sturgeon under crowding stress.

  17. Changes in unique hues induced by chromatic surrounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klauke, Susanne; Wachtler, Thomas

    2016-03-01

    A chromatic surround can have a strong influence on the perceived hue of a stimulus. We investigated whether chromatic induction has similar effects on the perception of colors that appear pure and unmixed (unique red, green, blue, and yellow) as on other colors. Subjects performed unique hue settings of stimuli in isoluminant surrounds of different chromaticities. Compared with the settings in a neutral gray surround, unique hue settings altered systematically with chromatic surrounds. The amount of induced hue shift depended on the difference between stimulus and surround hues, and was similar for unique hue settings as for settings of nonunique hues. Intraindividual variability in unique hue settings was roughly twice as high as for settings obtained in asymmetric matching experiments, which may reflect the presence of a reference stimulus in the matching task. Variabilities were also larger with chromatic surrounds than with neutral gray surrounds, for both unique hue settings and matching of nonunique hues. The results suggest that the neural representations underlying unique hue percepts are influenced by the same neural processing mechanisms as the percepts of other colors.

  18. Neighborhood alcohol outlet density and genetic influences on alcohol use: evidence for gene-environment interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slutske, Wendy S; Deutsch, Arielle R; Piasecki, Thomas M

    2018-05-07

    Genetic influences on alcohol involvement are likely to vary as a function of the 'alcohol environment,' given that exposure to alcohol is a necessary precondition for genetic risk to be expressed. However, few gene-environment interaction studies of alcohol involvement have focused on characteristics of the community-level alcohol environment. The goal of this study was to examine whether living in a community with more alcohol outlets would facilitate the expression of the genetic propensity to drink in a genetically-informed national survey of United States young adults. The participants were 2434 18-26-year-old twin, full-, and half-sibling pairs from Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Participants completed in-home interviews in which alcohol use was assessed. Alcohol outlet densities were extracted from state-level liquor license databases aggregated at the census tract level to derive the density of outlets. There was evidence that the estimates of genetic and environmental influences on alcohol use varied as a function of the density of alcohol outlets in the community. For example, the heritability of the frequency of alcohol use for those residing in a neighborhood with ten or more outlets was 74% (95% confidence limits = 55-94%), compared with 16% (95% confidence limits = 0-34%) for those in a neighborhood with zero outlets. This moderating effect of alcohol outlet density was not explained by the state of residence, population density, or neighborhood sociodemographic characteristics. The results suggest that living in a neighborhood with many alcohol outlets may be especially high-risk for those individuals who are genetically predisposed to frequently drink.

  19. Effects of wave energy converters on the surrounding soft-bottom macrofauna (west coast of Sweden).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langhamer, O

    2010-06-01

    Offshore wave energy conversion is expected to develop, thus contributing to an increase in submerged constructions on the seabed. An essential concern related to the deployment of wave energy converters (WECs) is their possible impact on the surrounding soft-bottom habitats. In this study, the macrofaunal assemblages in the seabed around the wave energy converters in the Lysekil research site on the Swedish west coast and a neighbouring reference site were examined yearly during a period of 5 years (2004-2008). Macrobenthic communities living in the WECs' surrounding seabed were mainly composed by organisms typical for the area and depth off the Swedish west coast. At both sites the number of individuals, number of species and biodiversity were low, and were mostly small, juvenile organisms. The species assemblages during the first years of sampling were significantly different between the Lysekil research site and the nearby reference site with higher species abundance in the research site. The high contribution to dissimilarities was mostly due to polychaetes. Sparse macrofaunal densities can be explained by strong hydrodynamic forces and/or earlier trawling. WECs may alter the surrounding seabed with an accumulation of organic matter inside the research area. This indicates that the deployment of WECs in the Lysekil research site tends to have rather minor direct ecological impacts on the surrounding benthic community relative to the natural high variances.

  20. Correlation between enhancement characteristics of MR mammography and capillary density of breast lesions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Poellinger, Alexander; El-Ghannam, Sahra; Diekmann, Susanne; Fischer, Thomas; Kristiansen, Glen; Fritzsche, Florian; Fallenberg, Eva; Morawietz, Lars; Diekmann, Felix

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • We correlate capillary density of breast lesions with MRM. • Capillary density correlates with tumor enhancement for all lesions. • However no such correlation exists for the malignant or benign groups separately. • Mean vessel number of lymphatic vessels do not correlate with tumor enhancement.These results might be of help in the workup of MR-guided breast biopsies. • These results might be of help in the workup of MR-guided breast biopsies. - Abstract: Objective: To correlate capillary density of breast lesions using the markers D2-40, CD31, and CD34 with early and late enhancement of magnetic resonance mammography (MRM). Materials and methods: The local ethics committee approved this study, and informed consent was available from all patients. The study included 64 women with 66 histologically proven breast lesions (41 malignant, 25 benign). MR-enhancement 1 min after contrast medium administration was determined in the tumor (I t1 /I t0 ratio) and in comparison to the surrounding tissue (I t1 /I t1-fat ratio). Capillary density was quantified based on immunohistological staining with D2-40, CD31, and CD34 in breast tumors and surrounding breast tissue. Mean capillary densities were correlated with contrast enhancement in the tumor and surrounding breast tissue. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to test whether lesions with different MR enhancement patterns differed in terms of capillary density. Results: For CD34, there was statistically significant correlation between capillary density and tumor enhancement (r = 0.329, p = 0.012), however not for the malignant or benign groups separately. Mean vessel number identified by staining with D2-40 and CD31 did not correlate significantly with tumor enhancement (D2-40: r = −0.188, p = 0.130; CD31: r = 0.095, p = 0.448). There were no statistically significant differences in capillary density between breast lesions with delayed enhancement or a plateau and lesions showing washout (Kruskal

  1. Correlation between enhancement characteristics of MR mammography and capillary density of breast lesions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Poellinger, Alexander, E-mail: alexander.poellinger@charite.de [Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Radiology, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin (Germany); El-Ghannam, Sahra; Diekmann, Susanne; Fischer, Thomas [Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Radiology, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin (Germany); Kristiansen, Glen [Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Department of Pathology, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, D-53127 Bonn (Germany); Fritzsche, Florian [Institut für Histologie und Zytologie, Bahnhofplatz 11, Postfach, 9101 Herisau (Switzerland); Fallenberg, Eva [Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Radiology, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin (Germany); Morawietz, Lars [Diagnostik Ernst von Bergmann GmbH, Charlottenstr. 72, 14467 Potsdam (Germany); Diekmann, Felix [Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Radiology, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin (Germany)

    2014-12-15

    Highlights: • We correlate capillary density of breast lesions with MRM. • Capillary density correlates with tumor enhancement for all lesions. • However no such correlation exists for the malignant or benign groups separately. • Mean vessel number of lymphatic vessels do not correlate with tumor enhancement.These results might be of help in the workup of MR-guided breast biopsies. • These results might be of help in the workup of MR-guided breast biopsies. - Abstract: Objective: To correlate capillary density of breast lesions using the markers D2-40, CD31, and CD34 with early and late enhancement of magnetic resonance mammography (MRM). Materials and methods: The local ethics committee approved this study, and informed consent was available from all patients. The study included 64 women with 66 histologically proven breast lesions (41 malignant, 25 benign). MR-enhancement 1 min after contrast medium administration was determined in the tumor (I{sub t1}/I{sub t0} ratio) and in comparison to the surrounding tissue (I{sub t1}/I{sub t1-fat} ratio). Capillary density was quantified based on immunohistological staining with D2-40, CD31, and CD34 in breast tumors and surrounding breast tissue. Mean capillary densities were correlated with contrast enhancement in the tumor and surrounding breast tissue. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to test whether lesions with different MR enhancement patterns differed in terms of capillary density. Results: For CD34, there was statistically significant correlation between capillary density and tumor enhancement (r = 0.329, p = 0.012), however not for the malignant or benign groups separately. Mean vessel number identified by staining with D2-40 and CD31 did not correlate significantly with tumor enhancement (D2-40: r = −0.188, p = 0.130; CD31: r = 0.095, p = 0.448). There were no statistically significant differences in capillary density between breast lesions with delayed enhancement or a plateau and lesions showing

  2. ANTHEM simulation of the early time magnetic field penetration of the plasma surrounding a high density Z-pinch

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mason, R.J.

    1989-01-01

    The early time penetration of magnetic field into the low density coronal plasma of a Z-pinch fiber is studied with the implicit plasma simulation code ANTHEM. Calculations show the emission of electrons from the cathode, pinching of the electron flow, magnetic insulation of the electrons near the anode, and low density ion blow off. PIC-particle ion calculations show a late time clumping of the ion density not seen with a fluid ion treatment. 4 refs., 4 figs

  3. Effect of the microenvironment and embryo density on developmental characteristics and gene expression profile of bovine preimplantative embryos cultured in vitro.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoelker, Michael; Rings, Franka; Lund, Qamaruddin; Ghanem, Nasser; Phatsara, Chirawath; Griese, Josef; Schellander, Karl; Tesfaye, Dawit

    2009-03-01

    The Well of the Well (WOW) system has been developed to culture embryos in small groups or to track the development of single embryos. In the present study, we aimed to examine the effects of the microenvironment provided by the WOW system and embryo density on developmental rates, embryo quality and preimplantative gene expression profile of the resulting embryos. Embryos cultured in a group of 16 reached the blastocyst stage at a significantly lower level than zygotes cultured in a group of 50 (22.2 vs 30.3%), whereas zygotes cultured in WOW were able to compensate against low embryo densities, reaching a blastocyst rate as high as embryos cultured in a group of 50 (31.3 vs 30.3%). Moreover, embryos derived from WOW culture did not differ in terms of differential cell counts and apoptotic cell index compared with controls. The gene expression analysis revealed 62 transcripts to be upregulated and 33 transcripts to be downregulated by WOW culture. Comparing the in vivo derived blastocysts with the blastocysts derived from WOW culture, and group culture, expression of ATP5A1, PLAC8 and KRT8 was more similar to the embryos derived from WOW culture, whereas expression of S100A10 and ZP3 genes was more similar to blastocysts cultured in a group. In conclusion, microenvironment as well as embryo density significantly affected developmental rates. While subsequent blastocysts did not differ in terms of differential cell counts and apoptotic cell index, significant differences were observed in terms of the relative abundance of transcripts in the resulting embryos.

  4. 9-cis-retinoic acid represses estrogen-induced expression of the very low density apolipoprotein II gene.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schippers, I J; Kloppenburg, M; Snippe, L; Ab, G

    1994-11-01

    The chicken very low density apolipoprotein II (apoVLDLII) gene is estrogen-inducible and specifically expressed in liver. We examined the possible involvement of the retinoid X receptor (RXR) and its ligand 9-cis-retinoic acid (9-cis-RA) in the activation of the apoVLDLII promoter. We first concentrated on a potential RXR recognition site, which deviates at only one position from a perfect direct A/GGGTCA repeat spaced by one nucleotide (DR-1) and was earlier identified as a common HNF-4/COUP-TF recognition site. However, band shift analysis revealed that this imperfect DR-1 motif does not interact with RXR alpha-homodimers. In accordance with this observation we found that this regulatory element does not mediate transactivation through RXR alpha in the presence of 9-cis-RA. However, our experiments revealed another, unexpected, effect of 9-cis-RA. Instead of stimulating, 9-cis-RA attenuated estrogen-induced expression of transfected estrogen-responsive VLDL-CAT reporter plasmids. This repression appeared to take place through the main estrogen response element (ERE) of the gene. Importantly, 9-cis-RA also strongly repressed the estrogen-induced expression of the endogenous apoVLDLII gene in cultured chicken hepatoma cells.

  5. Pathways-driven sparse regression identifies pathways and genes associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in two Asian cohorts.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matt Silver

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Standard approaches to data analysis in genome-wide association studies (GWAS ignore any potential functional relationships between gene variants. In contrast gene pathways analysis uses prior information on functional structure within the genome to identify pathways associated with a trait of interest. In a second step, important single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs or genes may be identified within associated pathways. The pathways approach is motivated by the fact that genes do not act alone, but instead have effects that are likely to be mediated through their interaction in gene pathways. Where this is the case, pathways approaches may reveal aspects of a trait's genetic architecture that would otherwise be missed when considering SNPs in isolation. Most pathways methods begin by testing SNPs one at a time, and so fail to capitalise on the potential advantages inherent in a multi-SNP, joint modelling approach. Here, we describe a dual-level, sparse regression model for the simultaneous identification of pathways and genes associated with a quantitative trait. Our method takes account of various factors specific to the joint modelling of pathways with genome-wide data, including widespread correlation between genetic predictors, and the fact that variants may overlap multiple pathways. We use a resampling strategy that exploits finite sample variability to provide robust rankings for pathways and genes. We test our method through simulation, and use it to perform pathways-driven gene selection in a search for pathways and genes associated with variation in serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in two separate GWAS cohorts of Asian adults. By comparing results from both cohorts we identify a number of candidate pathways including those associated with cardiomyopathy, and T cell receptor and PPAR signalling. Highlighted genes include those associated with the L-type calcium channel, adenylate cyclase, integrin, laminin, MAPK

  6. Pathways-Driven Sparse Regression Identifies Pathways and Genes Associated with High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in Two Asian Cohorts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silver, Matt; Chen, Peng; Li, Ruoying; Cheng, Ching-Yu; Wong, Tien-Yin; Tai, E-Shyong; Teo, Yik-Ying; Montana, Giovanni

    2013-01-01

    Standard approaches to data analysis in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) ignore any potential functional relationships between gene variants. In contrast gene pathways analysis uses prior information on functional structure within the genome to identify pathways associated with a trait of interest. In a second step, important single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) or genes may be identified within associated pathways. The pathways approach is motivated by the fact that genes do not act alone, but instead have effects that are likely to be mediated through their interaction in gene pathways. Where this is the case, pathways approaches may reveal aspects of a trait's genetic architecture that would otherwise be missed when considering SNPs in isolation. Most pathways methods begin by testing SNPs one at a time, and so fail to capitalise on the potential advantages inherent in a multi-SNP, joint modelling approach. Here, we describe a dual-level, sparse regression model for the simultaneous identification of pathways and genes associated with a quantitative trait. Our method takes account of various factors specific to the joint modelling of pathways with genome-wide data, including widespread correlation between genetic predictors, and the fact that variants may overlap multiple pathways. We use a resampling strategy that exploits finite sample variability to provide robust rankings for pathways and genes. We test our method through simulation, and use it to perform pathways-driven gene selection in a search for pathways and genes associated with variation in serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in two separate GWAS cohorts of Asian adults. By comparing results from both cohorts we identify a number of candidate pathways including those associated with cardiomyopathy, and T cell receptor and PPAR signalling. Highlighted genes include those associated with the L-type calcium channel, adenylate cyclase, integrin, laminin, MAPK signalling and immune

  7. Forest Fragments Surrounded by Sugar Cane Are More Inhospitable to Terrestrial Amphibian Abundance Than Fragments Surrounded by Pasture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paula Eveline Ribeiro D’Anunciação

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, there has been increasing interest in matrix-type influence on forest fragments. Terrestrial amphibians are good bioindicators for this kind of research because of low vagility and high philopatry. This study compared richness, abundance, and species composition of terrestrial amphibians through pitfall traps in two sets of semideciduous seasonal forest fragments in southeastern Brazil, according to the predominant surrounding matrix (sugar cane and pasture. There were no differences in richness, but fragments surrounded by sugar cane had the lowest abundance of amphibians, whereas fragments surrounded by pastures had greater abundance. The most abundant species, Rhinella ornata, showed no biometric differences between fragment groups but like many other amphibians sampled showed very low numbers of individuals in fragments dominated by sugar cane fields. Our data indicate that the sugar cane matrix negatively influences the community of amphibians present in fragments surrounded by this type of land use.

  8. Density and type of food retailers surrounding Canadian schools: variations across socioeconomic status.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seliske, Laura M; Pickett, William; Boyce, William F; Janssen, Ian

    2009-09-01

    Lower socioeconomic status (SES) neighbourhoods may have differential access to food retailers, potentially explaining the varying area-level obesity rates. The food retail environment around 188 schools across Canada was examined, including full-service restaurants, fast food restaurants, sub/sandwich retailers, donut/coffee shops, convenience stores, and grocery stores. School addresses were linked to census data to obtain area-level SES measures. Access to food retailers was generally not associated with the neighbourhood SES in the immediate proximity. Within the broader neighbourhood, lower SES neighbourhoods had access to fewer food retailers of all types. This effect was diminished after taking population density into account.

  9. Collinearity Analysis and High-Density Genetic Mapping of the Wheat Powdery Mildew Resistance Gene Pm40 in PI 672538

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fatima, Syeda Akash; Yang, Jiezhi; Chen, Wanquan; Liu, Taiguo; Hu, Yuting; Li, Qing; Guo, Jingwei; Zhang, Min; Lei, Li; Li, Xin; Tang, Shengwen; Luo, Peigao

    2016-01-01

    The wheat powdery mildew resistance gene Pm40, which is located on chromosomal arm 7BS, is effective against nearly all prevalent races of Blumeria graminis f. sp tritici (Bgt) in China and is carried by the common wheat germplasm PI 672538. A set of the F1, F2 and F2:3 populations from the cross of the resistant PI 672538 with the susceptible line L1034 were used to conduct genetic analysis of powdery mildew resistance and construct a high-density linkage map of the Pm40 gene. We constructed a high-density linkage genetic map with a total length of 6.18 cM and average spacing between markers of 0.48 cM.Pm40 is flanked by Xwmc335 and BF291338 at genetic distances of 0.58 cM and 0.26 cM, respectively, in deletion bin C-7BS-1-0.27. Comparative genomic analysis based on EST-STS markers established a high level of collinearity of the Pm40 genomic region with a 1.09-Mbp genomic region on Brachypodium chromosome 3, a 1.16-Mbp genomic region on rice chromosome 8, and a 1.62-Mbp genomic region on sorghum chromosome 7. We further anchored the Pm40 target intervals to the wheat genome sequence. A putative linear index of 85 wheat contigs containing 97 genes on 7BS was constructed. In total, 9 genes could be considered as candidates for the resistances to powdery mildew in the target genomic regions, which encoded proteins that were involved in the plant defense and response to pathogen attack. These results will facilitate the development of new markers for map-based cloning and marker-assisted selection of Pm40 in wheat breeding programs. PMID:27755575

  10. Association between SNP and haplotypes in PPARGCl and adiponectin genes and bone mineral density in Chinese nuclear families

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Zhen-lin ZHANG; Jin-wei HE; Yue-juan QIN; Yun-qiu HU; Miao LI; Yu-juan LIU; Hao ZHANG; Wei-wei HU

    2007-01-01

    Aim: To assess the contribution of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and haplotypes in the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ co-activator-1(PPARGC1) and adiponectin genes to normal bone mineral density (BMD) variation in healthy Chinese women and men. Methods: We performed population-based (ANOVA) and family-based (quantitative trait locus transmission disequi-librium test) association studies of PPARGC1 and adiponectin genes. SNP in the 2 genes were genotyped. BMD was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in the lumbar spine and hip in 401 nuclear families with a total of1260 subjects, including 458 premenopausal women, 20-40 years of age; 401 post-menopausal women (mothers), 43-74 years of age; and 401 men (fathers), 49-76years of age. Results: Significant within-family association was found between the Thr394Thr polymorphism in the PPGAGC1 gene and peak BMD in the femoral neck (P=0.026). Subsequent permutations were in agreement with this significant within-family association result (P=0.016), but Thr394Thr SNP only accounted for0.7% of the variation in femoral neck peak BMD. However, no significant within-family association was detected between each SNP in the adiponect in gene and peak BMD. Although no significant association was found between BMD and SNP in the PPARGC1 and adiponectin genes in both men and postmenopausal women, haplotype 2 (T-T) in the adiponect in gene was associated with lumbar spine BMD in postmenopausal women (P=0.019). Conclusion: Our findings sug-gest that Thr394Thr SNP in the PPARGC1 gene was associated with peak BMD in the femoral neck in Chinese women. Confirmation of our results is needed in other populations and with more functional markers within and flanking the PPARGC1 or adiponectin genes region.

  11. Enhancement of Afterimage Colors by Surrounding Contours

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takao Sato

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Presenting luminance contours surrounding the adapted areas in test phase enhances color afterimages in both duration and color appearance. The presence of surrounding contour is crucial to some color phenomenon such as van Lier's afterimage, but the contour-effect itself has not been seriously examined. In this paper, we compared the contour-effect to color afterimages and to actually colored patches to examine the nature of color information subserving color-aftereffect. In the experiment, observers were adapted for 1 sec to a small colored square (red, green, yellow, or blue presented on a gray background. Then, a test field either with or without surrounding contour was presented. Observers matched the color of a test-patch located near the afterimage to the color of afterimage. It was found that the saturation of negative afterimage was almost doubled by the presence of surrounding contours. There was no effect of luminance contrast or polarity of contours. In contrast, no enhancement of saturation by surrounding contours was observed for actually colored patches even though the colors of patches were equalized to that of afterimage without contours. This dissociation in the contour-effect demonstrates the crucial difference between the color information for aftereffects and for ordinary bottom-up color perception.

  12. Crustal structure beneath Beijing and its surrounding regions derived from gravity data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Wenliang; Zhang, Jingfa; Lu, Xiaocui; Lu, Jing

    2011-06-01

    In this paper we use gravity data to study fine crustal structure and seismogenic environment beneath Beijing and its surrounding regions. Multi-scale wavelet analysis method is applied to separating gravity fields. Logarithmic power spectrum method is also used to calculate depth of gravity field source. The results show that the crustal structure is very complicated beneath Beijing and its surrounding areas. The crustal density exhibits laterally inhomogeneous. There are three large scale tectonic zones in North China, i.e., WNW-striking Zhangjiakou-Bohai tectonic zone (ZBTZ), NE-striking Taihang piedmont tectonic zone (TPTZ) and Cangxian tectonic zone (CTZ). ZBTZ and TPTZ intersect with each other beneath Beijing area and both of them cut through the lithosphere. The upper and middle crusts consist of many small-scale faults, uplifts and depressions. In the lower crust, these small-scale tectonic units disappear gradually, and they are replaced by large-scale tectonic units. In surrounding regions of Beijing, ZBTZ intersects with several other NE-striking tectonic units, such as Cangxian uplift, Jizhong depression and Shanxi Graben System (SGS). In west of Taihangshan uplift, gravity anomalies in upper and middle crusts are correlated with geological and topographic features on the surface. Compared with the crust, the structure is comparatively simple in uppermost mantle. Earthquakes mainly occurred in upper and middle crusts, especially in transitional regions between high gravity anomaly and low gravity anomaly. Occurrence of large earthquakes may be related to the upwelling of upper mantle and asthenosphere heat flow materials, such as Sanhe earthquake ( M S8.0) and Tangshan earthquake ( M S7.8).

  13. Gene-gene combination effect and interactions among ABCA1, APOA1, SR-B1, and CETP polymorphisms for serum high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol in the Japanese population.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akihiko Nakamura

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Gene-gene interactions in the reverse cholesterol transport system for high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C are poorly understood. The present study observed gene-gene combination effect and interactions between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs in ABCA1, APOA1, SR-B1, and CETP in serum HDL-C from a cross-sectional study in the Japanese population. METHODS: The study population comprised 1,535 men and 1,515 women aged 35-69 years who were enrolled in the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort (J-MICC Study. We selected 13 SNPs in the ABCA1, APOA1, CETP, and SR-B1 genes in the reverse cholesterol transport system. The effects of genetic and environmental factors were assessed using general linear and logistic regression models after adjusting for age, sex, and region. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Alcohol consumption and daily activity were positively associated with HDL-C levels, whereas smoking had a negative relationship. The T allele of CETP, rs3764261, was correlated with higher HDL-C levels and had the highest coefficient (2.93 mg/dL/allele among the 13 SNPs, which was statistically significant after applying the Bonferroni correction (p<0.001. Gene-gene combination analysis revealed that CETP rs3764261 was associated with high HDL-C levels with any combination of SNPs from ABCA1, APOA1, and SR-B1, although no gene-gene interaction was apparent. An increasing trend for serum HDL-C was also observed with an increasing number of alleles (p<0.001. CONCLUSIONS: The present study identified a multiplier effect from a polymorphism in CETP with ABCA1, APOA1, and SR-B1, as well as a dose-dependence according to the number of alleles present.

  14. Effects of stocking density on lipid deposition and expression of lipid-related genes in Amur sturgeon (Acipenser schrenckii).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Yuanyuan; Wen, Haishen; Li, Yun; Li, Jifang; He, Feng; Ni, Meng

    2017-12-01

    To investigate the correlation between lipid deposition variation and stocking density in Amur sturgeon (Acipenser schrenckii) and the possible physiological mechanism, fish were conducted in different stocking densities (LSD 5.5 kg/m 3 , MSD 8.0 kg/m 3 , and HSD 11.0 kg/m 3 ) for 70 days and then the growth index, lipid content, lipase activities, and the mRNA expressions of lipid-related genes were examined. Results showed that fish subjected to higher stocking density presented lower final body weights (FBW), specific growth ratio (SGR), and gonad adipose tissue index (GAI) (P density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) decreased significantly with increasing stocking density, while no significant change was observed for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Furthermore, the cDNAs encoding lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and hepatic lipase (HL) were isolated in Amur sturgeon, respectively. The full-length LPL cDNA was composed of 1757 bp with an open reading frame of 501 amino acids, while the complete nucleotide sequences of HL covered 1747 bp encoding 499 amino acids. In the liver, the activities and mRNA levels of LPL were markedly lower in HSD group, which were consistent with the variation tendency of HL. Fish reared in HSD group also presented lower levels of activities and mRNA expression of LPL in the muscle and gonad. Moreover, the expressions of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) in both the liver and skeletal muscle were significantly upregulated in HSD group. Overall, the results indicated that high stocking density negatively affects growth performance and lipid deposition of Amur sturgeon to a certain extent. The downregulation of LPL and HL and the upregulation of PPARα may be responsible for the lower lipid distribution of Amur sturgeon in higher stocking density.

  15. Chromatic induction from surrounding stimuli under perceptual suppression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horiuchi, Koji; Kuriki, Ichiro; Tokunaga, Rumi; Matsumiya, Kazumichi; Shioiri, Satoshi

    2014-11-01

    The appearance of colors can be affected by their spatiotemporal context. The shift in color appearance according to the surrounding colors is called color induction or chromatic induction; in particular, the shift in opponent color of the surround is called chromatic contrast. To investigate whether chromatic induction occurs even when the chromatic surround is imperceptible, we measured chromatic induction during interocular suppression. A multicolor or uniform color field was presented as the surround stimulus, and a colored continuous flash suppression (CFS) stimulus was presented to the dominant eye of each subject. The subjects were asked to report the appearance of the test field only when the stationary surround stimulus is invisible by interocular suppression with CFS. The resulting shifts in color appearance due to chromatic induction were significant even under the conditions of interocular suppression for all surround stimuli. The magnitude of chromatic induction differed with the surround conditions, and this difference was preserved regardless of the viewing conditions. The chromatic induction effect was reduced by CFS, in proportion to the magnitude of chromatic induction under natural (i.e., no-CFS) viewing conditions. According to an analysis with linear model fitting, we revealed the presence of at least two kinds of subprocesses for chromatic induction that reside at higher and lower levels than the site of interocular suppression. One mechanism yields different degrees of chromatic induction based on the complexity of the surround, which is unaffected by interocular suppression, while the other mechanism changes its output with interocular suppression acting as a gain control. Our results imply that the total chromatic induction effect is achieved via a linear summation of outputs from mechanisms that reside at different levels of visual processing.

  16. Polymorphisms of the low-density lipoprotein receptor gene in Brazilian individuals with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L.A. Salazar

    2000-11-01

    Full Text Available Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH is a metabolic disorder inherited as an autosomal dominant trait characterized by an increased plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL level. The disease is caused by several different mutations in the LDL receptor gene. Although early identification of individuals carrying the defective gene could be useful in reducing the risk of atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction, the techniques available for determining the number of the functional LDL receptor molecules are difficult to carry out and expensive. Polymorphisms associated with this gene may be used for unequivocal diagnosis of FH in several populations. The aim of our study was to evaluate the genotype distribution and relative allele frequencies of three polymorphisms of the LDL receptor gene, HincII1773 (exon 12, AvaII (exon 13 and PvuII (intron 15, in 50 unrelated Brazilian individuals with a diagnosis of heterozygous FH and in 130 normolipidemic controls. Genomic DNA was extracted from blood leukocytes by a modified salting-out method. The polymorphisms were detected by PCR-RFLP. The FH subjects showed a higher frequency of A+A+ (AvaII, H+H+ (HincII1773 and P1P1 (PvuII homozygous genotypes when compared to the control group (P<0.05. In addition, FH probands presented a high frequency of A+ (0.58, H+ (0.61 and P1 (0.78 alleles when compared to normolipidemic individuals (0.45, 0.45 and 0.64, respectively. The strong association observed between these alleles and FH suggests that AvaII, HincII1773 and PvuII polymorphisms could be useful to monitor the inheritance of FH in Brazilian families.

  17. Transgenic Arabidopsis Gene Expression System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferl, Robert; Paul, Anna-Lisa

    2009-01-01

    The Transgenic Arabidopsis Gene Expression System (TAGES) investigation is one in a pair of investigations that use the Advanced Biological Research System (ABRS) facility. TAGES uses Arabidopsis thaliana, thale cress, with sensor promoter-reporter gene constructs that render the plants as biomonitors (an organism used to determine the quality of the surrounding environment) of their environment using real-time nondestructive Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) imagery and traditional postflight analyses.

  18. Uncovering genes and ploidy involved in the high diversity in root hair density, length and response to local scarce phosphate in Arabidopsis thaliana.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Markus G Stetter

    Full Text Available Plant root hairs increase the root surface to enhance the uptake of sparingly soluble and immobile nutrients, such as the essential nutrient phosphorus, from the soil. Here, root hair traits and the response to scarce local phosphorus concentration were studied in 166 accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana using split plates. Root hair density and length were correlated, but highly variable among accessions. Surprisingly, the well-known increase in root hair density under low phosphorus was mostly restricted to genotypes that had less and shorter root hairs under P sufficient conditions. By contrast, several accessions with dense and long root hairs even had lower hair density or shorter hairs in local scarce phosphorus. Furthermore, accessions with whole-genome duplications developed more dense but phosphorus-insensitive root hairs. The impact of genome duplication on root hair density was confirmed by comparing tetraploid accessions with their diploid ancestors. Genome-wide association mapping identified candidate genes potentially involved in root hair responses tp scarce local phosphate. Knock-out mutants in identified candidate genes (CYR1, At1g32360 and RLP48 were isolated and differences in root hair traits in the mutants were confirmed. The large diversity in root hair traits among accessions and the diverse response when local phosphorus is scarce is a rich resource for further functional analyses.

  19. Comparison of Socioeconomic Factors between Surrounding and Non-Surrounding Areas of the Qinghai–Tibet Railway before and after Its Construction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shicheng Li

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available As the world’s highest railway, and the longest highland railway, the Qinghai–Tibet Railway (QTR has been paid considerable attention by researchers. However, most attention has been paid to the ecological and environmental issues affecting it, and sustainable ecological, social, and economic development-related studies of the QTR are rare. In this study, by analyzing the passenger traffic, freight traffic, passenger-kilometers, and freight-kilometers of the QTR for the period 1982–2013 and the transport structure of the Tibetan Plateau (TP for 1990–2013, the evolutionary process of the transport system in the TP following the construction of the QTR has been revealed. Subsequently, by comparing Gross Domestic Product (GDP, population, industrial structure, and urbanization level at the county and 1 km scales between surrounding and non-surrounding areas of the QTR, the differences in socioeconomic performance before and after its construction were detected. The results show that (1 in the TP, the highway-dominated transport system will break up and an integrated and sustainable transport system will form; (2 at the county scale, the annual growth rates of GDP of counties surrounding the QTR were greater than those of non-surrounding counties for the period 2000–2010. At the 1 km scale, following the opening of the completed line, the GDP of surrounding areas had a greater growth rate than before; (3 analysis at the county and 1 km scales indicated that population was not aggregated into the surrounding areas of the QTR in the period 2000–2010; (4 in terms of industrial structure, the proportion of primary industry decreased continuously, while the proportion of secondary and tertiary industries increased overall in the period 1984–2012. The QTR had no obvious impact on changes in the urbanization level of its surrounding areas.

  20. Landscape crop composition effects on cotton yield, Lygus hesperus densities and pesticide use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meisner, Matthew H; Zaviezo, Tania; Rosenheim, Jay A

    2017-01-01

    Landscape crop composition surrounding agricultural fields is known to affect the density of crop pests, but quantifying these effects, as well as measuring how they translate to changes in yield, is difficult. Using a large dataset consisting of 1498 records of commercial cotton production in California between 1997 and 2008, we explored the relationship between landscape composition and cotton yield, the density of Lygus hesperus (a key cotton pest) at field-level and within-field spatial scales and pesticide use. We found that the crop composition immediately adjacent to a cotton field was associated with substantial differences in cotton yield, L. hesperus density and pesticide use. Furthermore, crops that tended to be associated with increased L. hesperus density also tended to be associated with increased pesticide use and decreased cotton yield. Our results suggest a possible mechanism by which landscape composition can affect cotton yield: by increasing the density of pests which in turn damage cotton plants. Our quantification of how surrounding crops affect pest densities, and in turn yield, in cotton fields has significant impacts for cotton farmers, who can use this information to help optimize crop selection and ranch layout. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

  1. [Effect of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphism and lifestyle on bone mineral density and bone mineral density decrement rate].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamagata, Z; Miyamura, T; Iijima, S; Asaka, A

    1995-12-01

    The effects of genetic and environmental factors on bone mineral density (BMD) were investigated in 108 healthy Japanese women. Of the 108 subjects, BMD (from the second to forth lumbar vertebrae) was measured in 1992 in 103, in 1993 in 100, and in both years in 95 by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphism in intron 8 was used as a genetic marker. Information on menstruation, health status, lifestyle, quantities of nutrient intake and frequencies of food intake was obtained by questionnaire. The frequency of allele B (825bp), whose polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products cannot be cut with BsmI, was 0.259 and the frequency of allele b (650bp), whose PCR products can be cut with BsmI, was 0.741. The subjects in our study obeyed the Hardy-Weinberg law. While the frequency of allele B was 0.448 in European whites as reported by Morrison et al, it was 0.259 in our Japanese subjects, suggesting a racial difference. Z score values (average value 0, standard deviation 1) increased in the order BB, Bb and bb. This result indicates that allele B is associated with the lower BMD in Japanese, as in European whites. The BMD decrement rate increased in the order bb, Bb and BB, indicating that VDR gene polymorphism may be a regulatory factor for losing BMD. Most of lifestyle variables, calcium intake and vitamin D intake were not correlated with BMD, but the food frequency score (which was defined as values weighted in each of three food categories obtained by factor analysis) was significantly correlated with BMD. Multiple regression analysis showed significant influences of years after menopause, the food frequency score and VDR genotype on BMD. VDR genotype and years after menopause influenced the BMD decrement rate significantly in multiple regression analysis. Neither a relationship between BMD and calcium intake nor between BMD and vitamin D intake by VDR genotype was found. These results suggest that the VDR gene is a genetic factor

  2. Collisional flow of vibrational energy into surrounding vibrational fields within S1 benzene

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang, K.Y.; Parmenter, C.S.

    1983-01-01

    Vapor phase fluorescence spectra are used to determine the absolute rate constants for the collisional transfer of vibrational energy from initial single vibronic levels of S 1 benzene into the surrounding S 1 vibronic field. 11 initial levels are probed with vibrational energies ranging to 2368 cm -1 where the level density is about 10 per cm -1 . CO, isopentane, and S 0 benzene are the collision partners. Benzene rate constants are three to four times gas kinetic for all levels, and electronic energy switching between the initial S 1 molecule and the S 0 collision partner probably makes important contributions. Isopentane efficiencies range from one to two times gas kinetic. Most of the transfer from low S 1 levels occurs with excitation of vibrational energy within isopentane. These V--V contributions decline to only about 10% for the high transfer. CO-induced transfer is by V-T,R processes for all levels. The CO efficiency rises from about 0.1 for low regions to about unity for levels above 1500 cm -1 . The CO efficiencies retain significant sensitivity to initial level identity even in the higher regions. Propensity rules derived from collisional mode-to-mode transfer among lower levels of S 1 benzene are used to calculate the relative CO efficiencies. The calculated efficiencies agree well enough with the data to suggest that it may be meaningful to model vibrational equilibration with the use of propensity rules. The rules suggest that only a small number of levels among the thousands surrounding a high initial level contribute significantly to the total relaxation cross section and that this number is rather independent of the level density

  3. Gene therapy: An overview

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sudip Indu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Gene therapy "the use of genes as medicine" involves the transfer of a therapeutic or working copy of a gene into specific cells of an individual in order to repair a faulty gene copy. The technique may be used to replace a faulty gene, or to introduce a new gene whose function is to cure or to favorably modify the clinical course of a condition. The objective of gene therapy is to introduce new genetic material into target cells while causing no damage to the surrounding healthy cells and tissues, hence the treatment related morbidity is decreased. The delivery system includes a vector that delivers a therapeutic gene into the patient′s target cell. Functional proteins are created from the therapeutic gene causing the cell to return to a normal stage. The vectors used in gene therapy can be viral and non-viral. Gene therapy, an emerging field of biomedicine, is still at infancy and much research remains to be done before this approach to the treatment of condition will realize its full potential.

  4. Ti nanorod arrays with a medium density significantly promote osteogenesis and osteointegration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ning, Chengyun; Wang, Shuangying; Zhu, Ye; Zhong, Meiling; Lin, Xi; Zhang, Yu; Tan, Guoxin; Li, Mei; Yin, Zhaoyi; Yu, Peng; Wang, Xiaolan; Li, Ying; He, Tianrui; Chen, Wei; Wang, Yingjun; Mao, Chuanbin

    2016-01-01

    Ti implants are good candidates in bone repair. However, how to promote bone formation on their surface and their consequent perfect integration with the surrounding tissue is still a challenge. To overcome such challenge, we propose to form Ti nanorods on their surface to promote the new bone formation around the implants. Here Ti nanorod arrays (TNrs) with different densities were produced on pure Ti surfaces using an anodizing method. The influence of TNr density on the protein adsorption as well as on the adhesion, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblastic cells were assessed. The TNrs were also implanted into the bone defects in rabbits to test their application in promoting bone formation and osteointegration at the implant-bone interface. TNrs with the medium density were found to show the best capability in promoting the protein adsorption from surrounding medium, which in turn efficiently enhanced osteogenic differentiation in vitro and osteointegration in vivo. Our work suggests that growing TNrs with a medium density on the surface of traditional Ti implants is an efficient and facile method for promoting bone formation and osteointegration in bone repair.

  5. Scalar QNMs for higher dimensional black holes surrounded by quintessence in Rastall gravity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Graca, J.P.M.; Lobo, Iarley P. [Universidade Federal da Paraiba, Departamento de Fisica, Joao Pessoa, PB (Brazil)

    2018-02-15

    The spacetime solution for a black hole, surrounded by an exotic matter field, in Rastall gravity, is calculated in an arbitrary d-dimensional spacetime. After this, we calculate the scalar quasinormal modes of such solution, and study the shift on the modes caused by the modification of the theory of gravity, i.e., by the introduction of a new term due to Rastall. We conclude that the shift strongly depends on the kind of exotic field one is studying, but for a low density matter that supposedly pervades the universe, it is unlikely that Rastall gravity will cause an instability for the probe field. (orig.)

  6. Concentrations, sources and spatial distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils from Beijing, Tianjin and surrounding areas, North China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Wentao; Massey Simonich, Staci L.; Xue Miao; Zhao Jingyu; Zhang Na; Wang Rong; Cao Jun; Tao Shu

    2010-01-01

    The concentrations, profiles, sources and spatial distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined in 40 surface soil samples collected from Beijing, Tianjin and surrounding areas, North China in 2007, and all sampling sites were far from industrial areas, roadsides and other pollution sources, and across a range of soil types in remote, rural villages and urban areas. The total concentrations of 16 PAHs ranged from 31.6 to 1475.0 ng/g, with an arithmetic average of 336.4 ng/g. The highest PAH concentrations were measured in urban soils, followed by rural village soils and soils from remote locations. The remote-rural village-urban PAH concentration gradient was related to population density, gross domestic product (GDP), long-range atmospheric transport and different types of land use. In addition, the PAH concentration was well correlated with the total organic carbon (TOC) concentration of the soil. The PAH profile suggested that coal combustion and biomass burning were primary PAH sources. - The concentration, profiles and possible sources of PAHs in Beijing, Tianjin and surrounding area soils were studied and related to population density and gross domestic product (GDP).

  7. Primetime for Learning Genes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keifer, Joyce

    2017-02-11

    Learning genes in mature neurons are uniquely suited to respond rapidly to specific environmental stimuli. Expression of individual learning genes, therefore, requires regulatory mechanisms that have the flexibility to respond with transcriptional activation or repression to select appropriate physiological and behavioral responses. Among the mechanisms that equip genes to respond adaptively are bivalent domains. These are specific histone modifications localized to gene promoters that are characteristic of both gene activation and repression, and have been studied primarily for developmental genes in embryonic stem cells. In this review, studies of the epigenetic regulation of learning genes in neurons, particularly the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene ( BDNF ), by methylation/demethylation and chromatin modifications in the context of learning and memory will be highlighted. Because of the unique function of learning genes in the mature brain, it is proposed that bivalent domains are a characteristic feature of the chromatin landscape surrounding their promoters. This allows them to be "poised" for rapid response to activate or repress gene expression depending on environmental stimuli.

  8. Polymorphism of the vitamin D3 receptor gene and bone mineral density in girls with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea subjected to oestroprogestagen treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sowińska-Przepiera, Elżbieta; Andrysiak-Mamos, Elżbieta; Syrenicz, Justyna; Jarząbek-Bielecka, Grażyna; Friebe, Zbigniew; Syrenicz, Anhelli

    2011-01-01

    We investigated whether the vitamin D3 receptor gene (VDR) polymorphism can modulate therapeutic response of functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA) patients to the oestroprogestagen (EP) treatment. The study included 84 FHA girls and 50 controls. FHA patients underwent a four-year sequential EP therapy with 17-β oestradiol (2 mg from the 2(nd) to 25(th) day of the menstrual cycle) and didrogesterone (10 mg from the 16(th) to the 25(th) day). Their hormonal parameters were monitored along with bone turnover marker levels and bone mineral density (BMD). Additionally, the VDR gene BsmI polymorphism was determined. Hormonal therapy was reflected by a substantial improvement of BMD. However, the values of BMD observed after four years of treatment in FHA patients were still significantly lower than baseline bone mineral density determined in the control group (1.007 ± 0.100 vs. 1.141 ± 0.093 g/cm(2), respectively; p < 0.001). No significant effects of the VDR genotype were observed on the dynamics of BMD during consecutive years of hormonal treatment and mean bone mineral density determined after completing the therapy (1.006 ± 0.101 vs. 1.013 ± 0.114 vs. 1.006 ± 0.094 g/cm(2) for BB, bb and Bb genotypes, respectively; p = 0.973). This study did not confirm that VDR polymorphism can modulate therapeutic outcome of FHA girls subjected to the hormonal treatment. Nonetheless, this study confirmed the effectiveness of EP therapy in the simultaneous treatment of menstrual disorders and the normalisation of bone mineral density in FHA patients.

  9. Ecological Variation in Response to Mass-Flowering Oilseed Rape and Surrounding Landscape Composition by Members of a Cryptic Bumblebee Complex.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dara A Stanley

    Full Text Available The Bombus sensu stricto species complex is a widespread group of cryptic bumblebee species which are important pollinators of many crops and wild plants. These cryptic species have, until now, largely been grouped together in ecological studies, and so little is known about their individual colony densities, foraging ranges or habitat requirements, which can be influenced by land use at a landscape scale. We used mass-flowering oilseed rape fields as locations to sample bees of this complex, as well as the second most common visitor to oilseed rape B. lapidarius, and molecular RFLP methods to distinguish between the cryptic species. We then used microsatellite genotyping to identify sisters and estimate colony densities, and related both proportions of cryptic species and their colony densities to the composition of the landscape surrounding the fields. We found B. lucorum was the most common member of the complex present in oilseed rape followed by B. terrestris. B. cryptarum was also present in all but one site, with higher proportions found in the east of the study area. High numbers of bumblebee colonies were estimated to be using oilseed rape fields as a forage resource, with B. terrestris colony numbers higher than previous estimates from non-mass-flowering fields. We also found that the cryptic species responded differently to surrounding landscape composition: both relative proportions of B. cryptarum in samples and colony densities of B. lucorum were negatively associated with the amount of arable land in the landscape, while proportions and colony densities of other species did not respond to landscape variables at the scale measured. This suggests that the cryptic species have different ecological requirements (which may be scale-dependent and that oilseed rape can be an important forage resource for many colonies of bumblebees. Given this, we recommend sustainable management of this crop to benefit bumblebees.

  10. Monitoring program of surrounding of the NPP SE-EBO

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dobis, L.; Kostial, J.

    1997-01-01

    The paper dealt with monitoring program of radiation control of surrounding of the NPP Bohunice, which has the aim: (1) to ensure the control of influence of work of the NPP Bohunice on the environment in their surrounding; (2) to ensure the back-ground for regular brief of control and supervisory organs about condition of the environment in surrounding of the NPP Bohunice; (3) to maintain the expected technical level of control of the NPP Bohunice and to exploit optimally the technical means; (4) to solicit permanently the data about the radioactivity of environment in surrounding of the NPP Bohunice for forming of files of the data; (5) to exploit purposefully the technical equipment, technical workers and to maintain their in permanent emergency and technical eligibility for the case of the breakdown; (6) to obtain permanently the files of the values for qualification of the reference levels. This program of monitoring includes the radiation control of surrounding of the NPP Bohunice, in the time of normal work of power-station's blocks, inclusively of all types of trouble-shooting and repairer works in surrounding of the NPP Bohunice, up to distance 20 km from power-station. The monitoring includes: outlets from the NPP Bohunice, monitoring of radiation characteristics in surrounding of the NPP Bohunice, (aerosols, fall-outs, soil), the links of food chains: (grass and fodder, milk, agriculture products), hydrosphere in surrounding (surface waters, drink water, bores of radiation control in complex of the NPP Bohunice, components of the hydrosphere), measurement of radiation from external sources (measurement of the dose rates, measurement of the doses [sk

  11. Far-infrared and CO observations of NGC 6357 and regions surrounding NGC 6357 and NGC 6334

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McBreen, B.; Jaffe, D.T.; Fazio, G.G.

    1983-01-01

    We have surveyed two 1.7 square degree sections of the galactic plane at 70 μm with one-arcminute resolution. The scanned areas included the giant southern H II region complexes NGC 6357 and NGC 6334. Nineteen far-infrared sources were observed. The sources range in luminosity from 1.6 x 10 4 to 5.5 x 10 5 L/sub sun/ . We present far-infrared continuum and CO line observations of NGC 6357. Four far-infrared sources were found in this complex and for one of these sources the exciting stars are identified. We present far-infrared and CO observations of sources in the field surrounding NGC 6357 and NGC 6334. The far-infrared sources coincide frequently with CO line temperature peaks. The CO clouds which surround the far-infrared sources have similar 13 CO column densities. Two of the far-infrared sources in the field have associated OH and H 2 O maser emission and compact H II regions

  12. Founder takes all: density-dependent processes structure biodiversity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waters, Jonathan M; Fraser, Ceridwen I; Hewitt, Godfrey M

    2013-02-01

    Density-dependent processes play a key role in the spatial structuring of biodiversity. Specifically, interrelated demographic processes, such as gene surfing, high-density blocking, and competitive exclusion, can generate striking geographic contrasts in the distributions of genes and species. Here, we propose that well-studied evolutionary and ecological biogeographic patterns of postglacial recolonization, progressive island colonization, microbial sectoring, and even the 'Out of Africa' pattern of human expansion, are fundamentally similar, underpinned by a 'founder takes all' density-dependent principle. Additionally, we hypothesize that older historic constraints of density-dependent processes are seen today in the dramatic biogeographic shifts that occur in response to human-mediated extinction events, whereby surviving lineages rapidly expand their ranges to replace extinct sister taxa. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Stimulus size dependence of hue changes induced by chromatic surrounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kellner, Christian Johannes; Wachtler, Thomas

    2016-03-01

    A chromatic surround induces a change in the perceived hue of a stimulus. This shift in hue depends on the chromatic difference between the stimulus and the surround. We investigated how chromatic induction varies with stimulus size and whether the size dependence depends on the surround hue. Subjects performed asymmetric matching of color stimuli with different sizes in surrounds of different chromaticities. Generally, induced hue shifts decreased with increasing stimulus size. This decrease was quantitatively different for different surround hues. However, when size effects were normalized to an overall induction strength, the chromatic specificity was largely reduced. The separability of inducer chromaticity and stimulus size suggests that these effects are mediated by different neural mechanisms.

  14. Explaining preferences for home surroundings and locations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Hans Skifter

    2011-01-01

    This article is based on a survey carried out in Denmark that asked a random sample of the population about their preferences for home surroundings and locations. It shows that the characteristics of social surroundings are very important and can be divided into three independent dimensions......: avoiding social nuisances, preferring social homogeneity and living close to one’s social network and place of origin. The study shows that most people have many detailed preferences, whereas some have very few. This confirms an earlier theory that some people are very connected to certain places...... with given characteristics and thus do not have priorities regarding home surroundings and locations. For others, mostly young people and singles, home is just a place to sleep and relax, whereas life is lived elsewhere. For this group, there are only preferences for location and there are few specific...

  15. Ultrasonic density detector for vessel and reactor core two-phase flow measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arave, A.E.

    1979-01-01

    A local ultrasonic density (LUD) detector has been developed by EG and G Idaho, Inc., at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory for the Loss-of-Fluid Test (LOFT) reactor vessel and core two-phase flow density measurements. The principle of operating the sensor is the change in propagation time of a torsional ultrasonic wave in a metal transmission line as a function of the density of the surrounding media. A theoretical physics model is presented which represents the total propagation time as a function of the sensor modulus of elasticity and polar moment of inertia

  16. HIV behavioural surveillance among refugees and surrounding host ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    We used a standardised behavioural surveillance survey (BSS), modified to be directly relevant to populations in conflict and post-conflict settings as well as to their surrounding host populations, to survey the populations of a refugee settlement in south-western Uganda and its surrounding area. Two-stage probability ...

  17. Density Variations in Quartz As a Key for Deciphering Impact-Related Ultrasonic Sounding (Rajlich's Hypothesis)?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mestan, J.; Alvarez Polanco, E. I.

    2014-12-01

    Ultrasound is a form of mechanical energy with a frequency greater than ≈ 20 kHz (upper human hearing limit). It is used in many scientific as well as industrial fields. Most modern applications of ultrasound utilize sources which are either piezoelectric or magnetostrictive (Benwell et Bly 1987). A meteorite impact has been considered to be an ultrasound source during last years (Rajlich 2011). Rajlich (2014) is coming with a hypothesis that white planes made of microcavities in Bohemian quartz have their origin in an impact-related ultrasonic sounding. The Bohemian Massif has been considered to be one of the largest impact craters in whole of the world (Papagiannis et El-Baz 1988, Papagiannis 1989, Rajlich 2014). Rajlich's hypothesis implies a liquid behavior of quartz during the impact event. We state that then there have to exist planes of slightly higher density than their surroundings together with planes of microcavities. They should intersect each other without mutual influencing (as in a case of planes made of microcavities). Because physics of ultrasound during an impact event is a brand new and unknown field, we try to choose a simple way of its cognition. It is possible to take the sine wave and set 3 requirements. (1) There exist some surroundings of points of peak amplitudes. (2) These surroundings are of higher density (compression) or lower density (rarefaction) than the mean density of quartz. (3) The difference between the higher/lower and surrounding density is measurable. There was done an experimental study of Bohemian quartz using QCT bone densitometry at the Radiology Munich. Quartz with a size of ≈ 5 x 8 cm absorbed too much RTG radiation (kV 140, mAs 330), which made a picture of internal structure impossible. We propose another techniques and appeal to other scientists to face this challenge. If Bohemian quartz has a harmonically distributed density, we consider it to be a support for Rajlich's hypothesis. AcknowledgementsWe would like

  18. Classifying genes to the correct Gene Ontology Slim term in Saccharomyces cerevisiae using neighbouring genes with classification learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tsatsoulis Costas

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background There is increasing evidence that gene location and surrounding genes influence the functionality of genes in the eukaryotic genome. Knowing the Gene Ontology Slim terms associated with a gene gives us insight into a gene's functionality by informing us how its gene product behaves in a cellular context using three different ontologies: molecular function, biological process, and cellular component. In this study, we analyzed if we could classify a gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to its correct Gene Ontology Slim term using information about its location in the genome and information from its nearest-neighbouring genes using classification learning. Results We performed experiments to establish that the MultiBoostAB algorithm using the J48 classifier could correctly classify Gene Ontology Slim terms of a gene given information regarding the gene's location and information from its nearest-neighbouring genes for training. Different neighbourhood sizes were examined to determine how many nearest neighbours should be included around each gene to provide better classification rules. Our results show that by just incorporating neighbour information from each gene's two-nearest neighbours, the percentage of correctly classified genes to their correct Gene Ontology Slim term for each ontology reaches over 80% with high accuracy (reflected in F-measures over 0.80 of the classification rules produced. Conclusions We confirmed that in classifying genes to their correct Gene Ontology Slim term, the inclusion of neighbour information from those genes is beneficial. Knowing the location of a gene and the Gene Ontology Slim information from neighbouring genes gives us insight into that gene's functionality. This benefit is seen by just including information from a gene's two-nearest neighbouring genes.

  19. Availability of limited service food outlets surrounding schools in British Columbia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Black, Jennifer L; Day, Meghan

    2012-06-05

    The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive profile of the availability of limited service food outlets surrounding public schools in British Columbia, Canada. Data from the 2010 Canadian Business Data Files were used to identify limited service food outlets including fast food outlets, beverage and snack food stores, delis and convenience stores. The number of food outlets within 800 metres of 1,392 public schools and the distance from schools to the nearest food outlets were assessed. Multivariate regression models examined the associations between food outlet availability and school-level characteristics. In 2010, over half of the public schools in BC (54%) were located within a 10-12 minute walk from at least one limited service food outlet. The median closest distance to a food outlet was just over 1 km (1016 m). Schools comprised of students living in densely populated urban neighbourhoods and neighbourhoods characterized by lower socio-economic status were more likely to have access to limited service food outlets within walking distance. After adjusting for school-level median family income and population density, larger schools had higher odds of exposure to food vendors compared to schools with fewer students. The availability of and proximity to limited service food outlets vary widely across schools in British Columbia and school-level characteristics are significantly associated with food outlet availability. Additional research is needed to understand how food environment exposures inside and surrounding schools impact students' attitudes, food choices and dietary quality.

  20. Efficient in vivo gene transfer to xenotransplanted human skin by lentivirus-mediated, but not by AAV-directed, gene delivery

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jakobsen, Maria Vad; Askou, Anne Louise; Dokkedahl, Karin Stenderup

    skin graft, and firefly luciferase expression was observed primarily in neighboring tissue beneath or surrounding the graft. In contrast, gene delivery by intradermally injected lentiviral vectors was efficient and led to extensive and persistent firefly luciferase expression within the human skin...... graft only. The study demonstrates limited capacity of single-stranded AAV vectors of six commonly used serotypes for gene delivery to human skin in vivo....

  1. Benthic marine debris, with an emphasis on fishery-related items, surrounding Kodiak Island, Alaska, 1994-1996

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hess, N.A.; Ribic, C.A.; Vining, I.

    1999-01-01

    Composition and abundance of benthic marine debris were investigated during three bottom trawl surveys in inlet and offshore locations surrounding Kodiak Island, Alaska, 1994-1996. Debris items were primarily plastic and metal regardless of trawl location. Plastic bait jars, fishing line, and crab pots were the most common fishery-related debris items and were encountered in large amounts in inlets (20-25 items km-2), but were less abundant outside of inlets (4.5-11 items km-2). Overall density of debris was also significantly greater in inlets than outside of inlets. Plastic debris densities in inlets ranged 22-31.5 items km-2, 7.8-18.8 items km-2 outside of inlets. Trawls in inlets contained almost as much metal debris as plastic debris. Density of metal debris ranged from 21.2 to 23.7 items km-2 in inlets, a maximum of 2.7 items km-2 outside of inlets. Inlets around the town of Kodiak had the highest densities of fishery-related and total benthic debris. Differences in benthic debris density between inlets and outside of inlets and differences by area may be due to differences in fishing activity and water circulation patterns. At the current reduced levels of fishing activity, however, yearly monitoring of benthic debris appears unnecessary. Copyright (C) 1999.

  2. Plasma density measurements from the GEOS-1 relaxation sounder

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Etcheto, J.; Bloch, J.J.

    1978-01-01

    The relaxation sounder uses the characteristics of the propagation of radiowaves to sound the plasma surrounding the spacecraft. It determines, in particular, the plasma frequency, which gives the electron density. Measurements over the whole dayside of the magnetosphere, from the evening to the night sectors, are now available. The behaviour of the plasma resonance depends on local time, the nighttime echoes being generally weaker. Density measurements thus obtained are shown and discussed in the context of what is presently known about the plasma distribution in the magnetosphere. In particular, the density around apogee is studied as a function of magnetic activity. On the dayside, it appears to vary between a few and a few tens of electrons per cubic centimeter. The evolution of the density profile for several consecutive days is studied and interpreted tracing back the drift of the particles. (Auth.)

  3. Isostatic models and isostatic gravity anomalies of the Arabian plate and surroundings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaban, Mikhail K.; El Khrepy, Sami; Al-Arifi, Nassir

    2015-04-01

    Isostaic anomalies represent one of the most useful "geological" reduction of the gravity field. With the isostatic correction it is possible to remove a significant part of the effect of deep density heterogeneity, which dominates in the Bouguer gravity anomalies. This correction is based on the fact that a major part of the near-surface load is compensated by variations of the lithosphere boundaries (chiefly the Moho and LAB) and by density variations within the crust and upper mantle. It is usually supposed that it is less important to a first order, what is the actual compensation model when reducing the effect of compensating masses, since their total weight is exactly opposite to the near-surface load. We compare several compensating models for the Arabian plate and surrounding area. The Airy model gives very significant regional isostatic anomalies, which can not be explained by the upper crust structure or disturbances of the isostatic equilibrium. Also the predicted "isostatic" Moho is very different from the existing observations. The second group of the isostatic models includes the Moho, which is based on existing seismic determinations. Additional compensation is provided by density variations within the lithosphere (chiefly in the upper mantle). In this way we minimize regional anomalies over the Arabian plate. The residual local anomalies well correspond to tectonic structure of the plate. Still very significant anomalies are associated with the Zagros fold belt, the collision zone of the Arabian and Eurasian plates.

  4. Circumstances surrounding aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schievink, W. I.; Karemaker, J. M.; Hageman, L. M.; van der Werf, D. J.

    1989-01-01

    The circumstances surrounding aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage were investigated in a group of 500 consecutive patients admitted to a neurosurgical center. Subarachnoid hemorrhage occurred during stressful events in 42.8% of the patients, during nonstrenuous activities in 34.4%, and during rest or

  5. Solvent density inhomogeneities and solvation free energies in supercritical diatomic fluids: a density functional approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Husowitz, B; Talanquer, V

    2007-02-07

    Density functional theory is used to explore the solvation properties of a spherical solute immersed in a supercritical diatomic fluid. The solute is modeled as a hard core Yukawa particle surrounded by a diatomic Lennard-Jones fluid represented by two fused tangent spheres using an interaction site approximation. The authors' approach is particularly suitable for thoroughly exploring the effect of different interaction parameters, such as solute-solvent interaction strength and range, solvent-solvent long-range interactions, and particle size, on the local solvent structure and the solvation free energy under supercritical conditions. Their results indicate that the behavior of the local coordination number in homonuclear diatomic fluids follows trends similar to those reported in previous studies for monatomic fluids. The local density augmentation is particularly sensitive to changes in solute size and is affected to a lesser degree by variations in the solute-solvent interaction strength and range. The associated solvation free energies exhibit a nonmonotonous behavior as a function of density for systems with weak solute-solvent interactions. The authors' results suggest that solute-solvent interaction anisotropies have a major influence on the nature and extent of local solvent density inhomogeneities and on the value of the solvation free energies in supercritical solutions of heteronuclear molecules.

  6. Propulsion Physics Under the Changing Density Field Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robertson, Glen A.

    2011-01-01

    To grow as a space faring race, future spaceflight systems will requires new propulsion physics. Specifically a propulsion physics model that does not require mass ejection without limiting the high thrust necessary to accelerate within or beyond our solar system and return within a normal work period or lifetime. In 2004 Khoury and Weltman produced a density dependent cosmology theory they called Chameleon Cosmology, as at its nature, it is hidden within known physics. This theory represents a scalar field within and about an object, even in the vacuum. Whereby, these scalar fields can be viewed as vacuum energy fields with definable densities that permeate all matter; having implications to dark matter/energy with universe acceleration properties; implying a new force mechanism for propulsion physics. Using Chameleon Cosmology, the author has developed a new propulsion physics model, called the Changing Density Field (CDF) Model. This model relates to density changes in these density fields, where the density field density changes are related to the acceleration of matter within an object. These density changes in turn change how an object couples to the surrounding density fields. Whereby, thrust is achieved by causing a differential in the coupling to these density fields about an object. Since the model indicates that the density of the density field in an object can be changed by internal mass acceleration, even without exhausting mass, the CDF model implies a new propellant-less propulsion physics model

  7. WDR1 and CLNK gene polymorphisms correlate with serum glucose and high-density lipoprotein levels in Tibetan gout patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lan, Bing; Chen, Peng; Jiri, Mutu; He, Na; Feng, Tian; Liu, Kai; Jin, Tianbo; Kang, Longli

    2016-03-01

    Current evidence suggests heredity and metabolic syndrome contributes to gout progression. Specifically, the WDR1 and CLNK genes may play a role in gout progression in European ancestry populations. However, no studies have focused on Chinese populations, especially Tibetan individuals. This study aims to determine whether variations in these two genes correlate with gout-related indices in Chinese-Tibetan gout patients. Eleven single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the WDR1 and CLNK genes were detected in 319 Chinese-Tibetan gout patients and 318 controls. We used one-way analysis of variance to evaluate the polymorphisms' effects on gout based on mean serum levels of metabolism indicators, such as albumin, glucose (GLU), triglycerides, cholesterol, high-density lipoproteins (HDL-C), creatinine, and uric acid, from fasting venous blood samples. All p values were Bonferroni corrected. Polymorphisms of the WDR1 and CLNK genes affected multiple risk factors for gout development. Significant differences in serum GLU levels were detected between different genotypic groups with WDRI polymorphisms rs4604059 (p = 0.005) and rs12498927 (p = 0.005). In addition, significant differences in serum HDL-C levels were detected between different genotypic groups with the CLNK polymorphism rs2041215 (p = 0.001). Polymorphisms of CLNK also affected levels of albumin, triglycerides, and creatinine. This study is the first to investigate and identify positive correlations between WDR1 and CLNK gene polymorphisms in Chinese-Tibetan populations. Our findings provide significant evidence for the effect of genetic polymorphisms on gout-related factors in Chinese-Tibetan populations.

  8. Population density approach for discrete mRNA distributions in generalized switching models for stochastic gene expression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stinchcombe, Adam R; Peskin, Charles S; Tranchina, Daniel

    2012-06-01

    We present a generalization of a population density approach for modeling and analysis of stochastic gene expression. In the model, the gene of interest fluctuates stochastically between an inactive state, in which transcription cannot occur, and an active state, in which discrete transcription events occur; and the individual mRNA molecules are degraded stochastically in an independent manner. This sort of model in simplest form with exponential dwell times has been used to explain experimental estimates of the discrete distribution of random mRNA copy number. In our generalization, the random dwell times in the inactive and active states, T_{0} and T_{1}, respectively, are independent random variables drawn from any specified distributions. Consequently, the probability per unit time of switching out of a state depends on the time since entering that state. Our method exploits a connection between the fully discrete random process and a related continuous process. We present numerical methods for computing steady-state mRNA distributions and an analytical derivation of the mRNA autocovariance function. We find that empirical estimates of the steady-state mRNA probability mass function from Monte Carlo simulations of laboratory data do not allow one to distinguish between underlying models with exponential and nonexponential dwell times in some relevant parameter regimes. However, in these parameter regimes and where the autocovariance function has negative lobes, the autocovariance function disambiguates the two types of models. Our results strongly suggest that temporal data beyond the autocovariance function is required in general to characterize gene switching.

  9. Expressions of the low density lipoprotein receptor and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase genes are stimulated by recombinant platelet-derived growth factor isomers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roth, M.; Emmons, L.R.; Perruchoud, A.; Block, L.H.

    1991-01-01

    The plausible role that platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) has in the localized pathophysiological changes that occur in the arterial wall during development of atherosclerotic lesions led the authors to investigate the influence of recombinant (r)PDGF isomers -AA, -AB, and -BB on the expression of low density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R) and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG0CoA) reductase [(S)-mevalonate:NAD + oxidoreductase (CoA-acylating), EC 1.1.1.88] genes. In addition, they clarified the role of protein kinase C (PKC) in expression of the two genes in human skin fibroblasts and vascular smooth muscle cells. The various rPDGF isoforms are distinct in their ability to activate transcription of both genes: (i) both rPDGF-AA and -BB stimulate transcription of the LDL-R gene; in contrast, rPDGF-BB but not -AA, activates transcription of the HMG-CoA reductase gene; (ii) all recombinant isoforms of PDGF activate transcription of the c-fos gene; (iii) while rPDGF-dependent transcription of the lDL-R gene occurs independently of PKC, transcription of the HMG-CoA reductase gene appears to involve the action of that enzyme

  10. Isostatic Model and Isostatic Gravity Anomalies of the Arabian Plate and Surroundings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaban, Mikhail K.; El Khrepy, Sami; Al-Arifi, Nassir

    2016-04-01

    The isostatic modeling represents one of the most useful "geological" reduction methods of the gravity field. With the isostatic correction, it is possible to remove a significant part of the effect of deep density heterogeneity, which dominates in the Bouguer gravity anomalies. Although there exist several isostatic compensation schemes, it is usually supposed that a choice of the model is not an important factor to first order, since the total weight of compensating masses remains the same. We compare two alternative models for the Arabian plate and surrounding area. The Airy model gives very significant regional isostatic anomalies, which cannot be explained by the upper crust structure or disturbances of the isostatic equilibrium. Also, the predicted "isostatic" Moho is very different from existing seismic observations. The second isostatic model includes the Moho, which is based on seismic determinations. Additional compensation is provided by density variations within the lithosphere (chiefly in the upper mantle). According to this model, the upper mantle under the Arabian Shield is less dense than under the Platform. In the Arabian platform, the maximum density coincides with the Rub' al Khali, one of the richest oil basin in the world. This finding agrees with previous studies, showing that such basins are often underlain by dense mantle, possibly related to an eclogite layer that has caused their subsidence. The mantle density variations might be also a result of variations of the lithosphere thickness. With the combined isostatic model, it is possible to minimize regional anomalies over the Arabian plate. The residual local anomalies correspond well to tectonic structure of the plate. Still very significant anomalies, showing isostatic disturbances of the lithosphere, are associated with the Zagros fold belt, the collision zone of the Arabian and Eurasian plates.

  11. Theory of the detection of the field surrounding half-dressed sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Compagno, G.; Passante, R.; Persico, F.

    1988-01-01

    Half-dressed sources are defined as sources deprived partially or totally of the cloud of virtual quanta which surrounds them in the ground state of the total system. Two models of a half-dressed point source S are considered, the first in the framework of the theory of massive scalar fields and the second in quantum electrodynamics (QED). In both cases the detector is modeled by a second fully dressed source T of the same field, which is also bound to an oscillation center by harmonic forces. It is shown that when S at time t = 0 is suddenly coupled to or decoupled from the field, the detector T, which is initially at rest, is set in motion after a time t = R 0 /c, where R 0 is the S-T distance. Neglecting the reaction back on the field due to the oscillatory motion of T, the amplitude of oscillation for t = ∞ is obtained as a function of R 0 . Thus the time-varying virtual field of S is shown to be capable of exerting a force which excites the model detector. For the QED case, this force is related to the properties of the energy density of the virtual field. This energy density displays a singularity at r = ct, and the mathematical nature of this singularity is studied in detail. In this way it is shown that the energy density of the time-dependent virtual field is rather different from that of a pulse of radiation emitted by a source during energy-conserving processes. The differences are discussed in detail, as well as the limitations of the model

  12. A comparison of microbial communities in deep-sea polymetallic nodules and the surrounding sediments in the Pacific Ocean

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Yue-Hong; Liao, Li; Wang, Chun-Sheng; Ma, Wei-Lin; Meng, Fan-Xu; Wu, Min; Xu, Xue-Wei

    2013-09-01

    Deep-sea polymetallic nodules, rich in metals such as Fe, Mn, and Ni, are potential resources for future exploitation. Early culturing and microscopy studies suggest that polymetallic nodules are at least partially biogenic. To understand the microbial communities in this environment, we compared microbial community composition and diversity inside nodules and in the surrounding sediments. Three sampling sites in the Pacific Ocean containing polymetallic nodules were used for culture-independent investigations of microbial diversity. A total of 1013 near full-length bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences and 640 archaeal 16S rRNA gene sequences with ~650 bp from nodules and the surrounding sediments were analyzed. Bacteria showed higher diversity than archaea. Interestingly, sediments contained more diverse bacterial communities than nodules, while the opposite was detected for archaea. Bacterial communities tend to be mostly unique to sediments or nodules, with only 13.3% of sequences shared. The most abundant bacterial groups detected only in nodules were Pseudoalteromonas and Alteromonas, which were predicted to play a role in building matrix outside cells to induce or control mineralization. However, archaeal communities were mostly shared between sediments and nodules, including the most abundant OTU containing 290 sequences from marine group I Thaumarchaeota. PcoA analysis indicated that microhabitat (i.e., nodule or sediment) seemed to be a major factor influencing microbial community composition, rather than sampling locations or distances between locations.

  13. Cholinergic enhancement reduces orientation-specific surround suppression but not visual crowding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna A. Kosovicheva

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Acetylcholine (ACh reduces the spatial spread of excitatory fMRI responses in early visual cortex and the receptive field sizes of V1 neurons. We investigated the perceptual consequences of these physiological effects of ACh with surround suppression and crowding, two tasks that involve spatial interactions between visual field locations. Surround suppression refers to the reduction in perceived stimulus contrast by a high-contrast surround stimulus. For grating stimuli, surround suppression is selective for the relative orientations of the center and surround, suggesting that it results from inhibitory interactions in early visual cortex. Crowding refers to impaired identification of a peripheral stimulus in the presence of flankers and is thought to result from excessive integration of visual features. We increased synaptic ACh levels by administering the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil to healthy human subjects in a placebo-controlled, double-blind design. In Exp. 1, we measured surround suppression of a central grating using a contrast discrimination task with three conditions: 1 surround grating with the same orientation as the center (parallel, 2 surround orthogonal to the center, or 3 no surround. Contrast discrimination thresholds were higher in the parallel than in the orthogonal condition, demonstrating orientation-specific surround suppression (OSSS. Cholinergic enhancement reduced thresholds only in the parallel condition, thereby reducing OSSS. In Exp. 2, subjects performed a crowding task in which they reported the identity of a peripheral letter flanked by letters on either side. We measured the critical spacing between the target and flanking letters that allowed reliable identification. Cholinergic enhancement had no effect on critical spacing. Our findings suggest that ACh reduces spatial interactions in tasks involving segmentation of visual field locations but that these effects may be limited to early visual cortical

  14. Evaluation and comparison of high population density sites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Margulies, T.S.

    1979-10-01

    Consideration of the population distribution surrounding a potential nuclear site generally includes the calculation of population density over a circular area outward to a radial distance of 30 miles from the site. A recently proposed nuclear site Perryman, Maryland challenged the NRC population density guidelines and motivated this project which was performed under the Maryland Power Plant Siting Program. The report provides a comparison of several site population factor indices for comparing relative public safety aspects of alternative nuclear power plant sites. In addition, it is illustrated that use of the reactor safety study (WASH-1400) consequence model as a tool for comparing the relative safety of alternative sites has potential pitfalls

  15. Noise reduction in muon tomography for detecting high density objects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benettoni, M; Checchia, P; Cossutta, L; Furlan, M; Gonella, F; Pegoraro, M; Garola, A Rigoni; Ronchese, P; Vanini, S; Viesti, G; Bettella, G; Bonomi, G; Donzella, A; Subieta, M; Zenoni, A; Calvagno, G; Cortelazzo, G; Zanuttigh, P; Calvini, P; Squarcia, S

    2013-01-01

    The muon tomography technique, based on multiple Coulomb scattering of cosmic ray muons, has been proposed as a tool to detect the presence of high density objects inside closed volumes. In this paper a new and innovative method is presented to handle the density fluctuations (noise) of reconstructed images, a well known problem of this technique. The effectiveness of our method is evaluated using experimental data obtained with a muon tomography prototype located at the Legnaro National Laboratories (LNL) of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN). The results reported in this paper, obtained with real cosmic ray data, show that with appropriate image filtering and muon momentum classification, the muon tomography technique can detect high density materials, such as lead, albeit surrounded by light or medium density material, in short times. A comparison with algorithms published in literature is also presented

  16. Extensive variation in the density and distribution of DNA polymorphism in sorghum genomes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joseph Evans

    Full Text Available Sorghum genotypes currently used for grain production in the United States were developed from African landraces that were imported starting in the mid-to-late 19(th century. Farmers and plant breeders selected genotypes for grain production with reduced plant height, early flowering, increased grain yield, adaptation to drought, and improved resistance to lodging, diseases and pests. DNA polymorphisms that distinguish three historically important grain sorghum genotypes, BTx623, BTx642 and Tx7000, were characterized by genome sequencing, genotyping by sequencing, genetic mapping, and pedigree-based haplotype analysis. The distribution and density of DNA polymorphisms in the sequenced genomes varied widely, in part because the lines were derived through breeding and selection from diverse Kafir, Durra, and Caudatum race accessions. Genomic DNA spanning dw1 (SBI-09 and dw3 (SBI-07 had identical haplotypes due to selection for reduced height. Lower SNP density in genes located in pericentromeric regions compared with genes located in euchromatic regions is consistent with background selection in these regions of low recombination. SNP density was higher in euchromatic DNA and varied >100-fold in contiguous intervals that spanned up to 300 Kbp. The localized variation in DNA polymorphism density occurred throughout euchromatic regions where recombination is elevated, however, polymorphism density was not correlated with gene density or DNA methylation. Overall, sorghum chromosomes contain distal euchromatic regions characterized by extensive, localized variation in DNA polymorphism density, and large pericentromeric regions of low gene density, diversity, and recombination.

  17. No major effect of estrogen receptor gene polymorphisms on bone mineral density or bone loss in postmenopausal Danish women

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bagger, Y Z; Jørgensen, H L; Heegaard, Anne-Marie

    2000-01-01

    The polymorphisms of the estrogen receptor (ER) gene defined by the restriction enodonucleases PvuII and XbaI have recently been reported to be associated with bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women. To investigate the possible relation of the PvuII and XbaI restriction fragment......-length polymorphisms of the ER gene with BMD in Danish postmenopausal women, two studies were undertaken: 1) a cross-sectional study of 499 postmenopausal women, where the ER genotypes and alleles were related to BMD of the hip, spine, and lower forearm; and 2) a longitudinal study of 101 postmenopausal women followed...... up for 18 years. In the latter study, late postmenopausal bone loss in the hip and spine was determined over a period of 6 years in women (mean age of 63 to 69 years), and long-term postmenopausal bone loss in the lower forearm was determined over a period of 18 years in women (mean age of 51 to 69...

  18. Vorinostat positively regulates synaptic plasticity genes expression and spine density in HIV infected neurons: role of nicotine in progression of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    Background HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) is characterized by development of cognitive, behavioral and motor abnormalities, and occurs in approximately 50% of HIV infected individuals. In the United States, the prevalence of cigarette smoking ranges from 35-70% in HIV-infected individuals compared to 20% in general population. Cognitive impairment in heavy cigarette smokers has been well reported. However, the synergistic effects of nicotine and HIV infection and the underlying mechanisms in the development of HAND are unknown. Results In this study, we explored the role of nicotine in the progression of HAND using SK-N-MC, a neuronal cell line. SK-N-MC cells were infected with HIV-1 in the presence or absence of nicotine for 7 days. We observed significant increase in HIV infectivity in SK-N-MC treated with nicotine compared to untreated HIV-infected neuronal cells. HIV and nicotine synergize to significantly dysregulate the expression of synaptic plasticity genes and spine density; with a concomitant increase of HDAC2 levels in SK-N-MC cells. In addition, inhibition of HDAC2 up-regulation with the use of vorinostat resulted in HIV latency breakdown and recovery of synaptic plasticity genes expression and spine density in nicotine/HIV alone and in co-treated SK-N-MC cells. Furthermore, increased eIF2 alpha phosphorylation, which negatively regulates eukaryotic translational process, was observed in HIV alone and in co-treatment with nicotine compared to untreated control and nicotine alone treated SK-N-MC cells. Conclusions These results suggest that nicotine and HIV synergize to negatively regulate the synaptic plasticity gene expression and spine density and this may contribute to the increased risk of HAND in HIV infected smokers. Apart from disrupting latency, vorinostat may be a useful therapeutic to inhibit the negative regulatory effects on synaptic plasticity in HIV infected nicotine abusers. PMID:24886748

  19. The effect of BCMO1 gene variants on macular pigment optical density in young healthy Caucasians

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zachary eKyle-Little

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: Serum lutein (L and zeaxanthin (Z positively correlate with macular pigment optical density (MPOD, hence the latter is a valuable indirect tool for measuring L and Z content in the macula. L and Z have been attributed antioxidant capacity and protection from certain retinal diseases but their uptake within the eye is thought to depend on genetic, age and environmental factors. In particular gene variants within beta-carotene monooxygenase (BCMO1 are thought to modulate MPOD in the macula.Objectives: To determine the effect of BCMO1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs rs11645428, rs6420424 and rs6464851 on macular pigment optical density (MPOD in a cohort of young healthy participants of Caucasian origin with normal ocular health.Design: In this cohort study, MPOD was assessed in 46 healthy participants (22 male and 24 female with a mean age of 24 ± 4.0 years (range 19-33. The three SNPs, rs11645428, rs6420424, rs6564851 that have established associations with MPOD were determined using MassEXTEND (hME Sequenom assay. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA was performed on groups segregated into homozygous and heterozygous BCMO1 genotypes. Correlations between body mass index (BMI, iris colour, gender, central retinal thickness (CRT, diet and MPOD were investigated.Results: MPOD did not significantly vary with BCMO1 rs11645428 (F2,41 = 0.700, p = 0.503, rs6420424 (F2,41 = 0.210, p = 0.801 nor rs6464851 homozygous or heterozygous genotypes (F2,41 = 0,13, p = 0.88, in this young healthy cohort. The combination of these three SNPs into triple genotypes based on plasma conversion efficiency did not affect MPOD (F2,41 = 0.07, p = 0.9. There was a significant negative correlation with MPOD and central retinal thickness (r = - 0.39, p = 0.01 but no significant correlation between BMI, iris colour, gender and MPOD. Conclusion: Our results indicate that macular pigment deposition within the central retina is not dependent on BCMO1 gene variant

  20. Placental vascular responses are dependent on surrounding tissue

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brøgger, Torbjørn Halle

    -depth understanding of the mechanism regulating blood flow and perfusion is necessary if we are to come up with new ideas for intervention and treatment. Method: From fresh born placentas stem villi arteries were carefully dissected. The artery branches were divided. The surrounding tissue was removed from one end...... and was left untouched in the other end. Then using wire myography they were investigated in terms of contractility and sensitivity to physiological relevant human-like agonists. Results: Sensitivity to PGF2α, Tx-analog, 5-HT and endothelin-1 was significantly lower in arteries with intact surrounding tissue...... compared to arteries stripped of the tissue. The maximal force development was also significantly lower in arteries with surrounding tissue, when they were depolarized high extracellular [K+] or stimulated with PGF2α or endotheline-1. Conclusion: The perivascular tissue significantly alters stem villi...

  1. Placental vascular responses are dependent on surrounding tissue

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brøgger, Torbjørn Halle

    . Materials and methods. From fresh born placentas, stem villi arteries were carefully dissected. The artery branches were divided. The surrounding tissue was removed from one end and was left untouched in the other end.Then, using wire myography, they were investigated in terms of contractility...... and sensitivity to physiological relevant human-like agonists. Results. Sensitivity to PGF2α, Tx-analog, 5-HT and endothelin-1 was significantly lower in arteries with intact surrounding tissue compared to arteries stripped of the tissue. The maximal force development was also significantly lower in arteries...... with surrounding tissue when they were depolarized high extracellular [K+] or stimulated with PGF2α or endotheline-1. Conclusion. The perivascular tissue significantly alters stem villi arteries' sensitivity and force development in a suppressive way. This implicates a new aspect of blood flow regulation...

  2. Evaluation of the impact of the surrounding urban morphology on building energy consumption

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wong, Nyuk Hien; Chen, Yixing; Hajadi, Norwin; Sathyanarayanan, Haripriya; Manickavasagam, Yamini Vidya [Department of Building, National University of Singapore (Singapore); Jusuf, Steve Kardinal [Center for Sustainable Asian Cities, National University of Singapore (Singapore); Syafii, Nedyomukti Imam [Institute of High Performance Computing (Singapore)

    2011-01-15

    Empirical models of minimum (T{sub min}), average (T{sub avg}) and maximum (T{sub max}) air temperature for Singapore estate have been developed and validated based on a long-tem field measurement. There are three major urban elements, which influence the urban temperature at the local scale. Essentially, they are buildings, greenery and pavement. Other related parameters identified for the study, such as green plot ratio (GnPR), sky view factor (SVF), surrounding building density, the wall surface area, pavement area, albedo are also evaluated to give a better understanding on the likely impact of the modified urban morphology on energy consumption. The objective of this research is to assess and to compare how the air temperature variation of urban condition can affect the building energy consumption in tropical climate of Singapore. In order to achieve this goal, a series of numerical calculation and building simulation are utilized. A total of 32 cases, considering different urban morphologies, are identified and evaluated to give better a understanding on the implication of urban forms, with the reference to the effect of varying density, height and greenery density. The results show that GnPR, which related to the present of greenery, have the most significant impact on the energy consumption by reducing the temperature by up to 2 C. The results also strongly indicate an energy saving of 4.5% if the urban elements are addressed effectively. (author)

  3. A synchronous surround increases the motion strength gain of motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linares, Daniel; Nishida, Shin'ya

    2013-11-12

    Coherent motion detection is greatly enhanced by the synchronous presentation of a static surround (Linares, Motoyoshi, & Nishida, 2012). To further understand this contextual enhancement, here we measured the sensitivity to discriminate motion strength for several pedestal strengths with and without a surround. We found that the surround improved discrimination of low and medium motion strengths, but did not improve or even impaired discrimination of high motion strengths. We used motion strength discriminability to estimate the perceptual response function assuming additive noise and found that the surround increased the motion strength gain, rather than the response gain. Given that eye and body movements continuously introduce transients in the retinal image, it is possible that this strength gain occurs in natural vision.

  4. Impact of urbanization and agriculture on the occurrence of bacterial pathogens and stx genes in coastal waterbodies of central California.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walters, Sarah P; Thebo, Anne L; Boehm, Alexandria B

    2011-02-01

    Fecal pollution enters coastal waters through multiple routes, many of which originate from land-based activities. Runoff from pervious and impervious land surfaces transports pollutants from land to sea and can cause impairment of coastal ocean waters. To understand how land use practices and water characteristics influence concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) and pathogens in natural waters, fourteen coastal streams, rivers, and tidal lagoons, surrounded by variable land use and animal densities, were sampled every six weeks over two years (2008 & 2009). Fecal indicator bacteria (FIB; Escherichia coli and Enterococci) and Salmonella concentrations, the occurrence of Bacteroidales human, ruminant, and pig-specific fecal markers, E. coli O157:H7, and Shiga toxin (stx) genes present in E. coli, were measured. In addition, environmental and climatic variables (e.g., temperature, salinity, rainfall), as well as human and livestock population densities and land cover were quantified. Concentrations of FIB and Salmonella were correlated with each other, but the occurrence of host-specific Bacteroidales markers did not correlate with FIB or pathogens. FIB and Salmonella concentrations, as well as the occurrence of E. coli harboring stx genes, were positively associated with the fraction of the surrounding subwatershed that was urban, while the occurrence of E. coli O157:H7 was positively associated with the agricultural fraction. FIB and Salmonella concentrations were negatively correlated to salinity and temperature, and positively correlated to rainfall. Areal loading rates of FIB, Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 to the coastal ocean were calculated for stream and river sites and varied with land cover, salinity, temperature, and rainfall. Results suggest that FIB and pathogen concentrations are influenced, in part, by their flux from the land, which is exacerbated during rainfall; once waterborne, bacterial persistence is affected by water temperature and

  5. Cytoplasmic movement profiles of mouse surrounding nucleolus and not-surrounding nucleolus antral oocytes during meiotic resumption.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bui, Thi Thu Hien; Belli, Martina; Fassina, Lorenzo; Vigone, Giulia; Merico, Valeria; Garagna, Silvia; Zuccotti, Maurizio

    2017-05-01

    Full-grown mouse antral oocytes are classified as surrounding nucleolus (SN) or not-surrounding nucleolus (NSN), depending on the respective presence or absence of a ring of Hoechst-positive chromatin surrounding the nucleolus. In culture, both types of oocytes resume meiosis and reach the metaphase II (MII) stage, but following insemination, NSN oocytes arrest at the two-cell stage whereas SN oocytes may develop to term. By coupling time-lapse bright-field microscopy with image analysis based on particle image velocimetry, we provide the first systematic measure of the changes to the cytoplasmic movement velocity (CMV) occurring during the germinal vesicle-to-MII (GV-to-MII) transition of these two types of oocytes. Compared to SN oocytes, NSN oocytes display a delayed GV-to-MII transition, which can be mostly explained by retarded germinal vesicle break down and first polar body extrusion. SN and NSN oocytes also exhibit significantly different CMV profiles at four main time-lapse intervals, although this difference was not predictive of SN or NSN oocyte origin because of the high variability in CMV. When CMV profile was analyzed through a trained artificial neural network, however, each single SN or NSN oocyte was blindly identified with a probability of 92.2% and 88.7%, respectively. Thus, the CMV profile recorded during meiotic resumption may be exploited as a cytological signature for the non-invasive assessment of the oocyte developmental potential, and could be informative for the analysis of the GV-to-MII transition of oocytes of other species. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. Surrounding Moving Obstacle Detection for Autonomous Driving Using Stereo Vision

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hao Sun

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Detection and tracking surrounding moving obstacles such as vehicles and pedestrians are crucial for the safety of mobile robotics and autonomous vehicles. This is especially the case in urban driving scenarios. This paper presents a novel framework for surrounding moving obstacles detection using binocular stereo vision. The contributions of our work are threefold. Firstly, a multiview feature matching scheme is presented for simultaneous stereo correspondence and motion correspondence searching. Secondly, the multiview geometry constraint derived from the relative camera positions in pairs of consecutive stereo views is exploited for surrounding moving obstacles detection. Thirdly, an adaptive particle filter is proposed for tracking of multiple moving obstacles in surrounding areas. Experimental results from real-world driving sequences demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed framework.

  7. Quasars Probing Quasars: the Circumgalactic Medium Surrounding z ~ 2 Quasars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lau, Marie; Quasars Probing Quasars survey

    2018-01-01

    Understanding the circumgalactic medium--the gaseous halo surrounding a galaxy, is an integral part to understanding galaxy evolution. The z ~ 2-3 universe is interesting as this is when the star formation rate and AGN activity peak. My thesis concludes the decade-long Quasars Probing Quasars survey designed for studying massive galaxy formation and quasar feedback. I use background quasar sightlines that pass close to foreground quasars to study the circumgalactic medium of quasar-host galaxies in absorption. My sample of 149 quasar pairs involve spectra taken with 17 different optical and near IR instruments. I present results on the statistical and physical properties of the circumgalactic medium. The circumgalactic medium is enriched even beyond the virial radius. The alpha/Fe abundance ratio is enhanced, suggesting enrichment from core-collapse supernovae. The cool gas mass within the virial radius is enough to fuel star formation for another Gyr, and may account for 1/3 of the baryonic budget of the galaxy halo. The ionization state increases with projected distance from the quasar, which implies the quasar does not dominate the ionizing radiation flux. However, detection of fluorescent Lyman-alpha emission and NV absorption imply these transverse absorbers are partially illuminated by the quasar. In one peculiar case, the absorbing clump has density >100 cm^-3 and sub-parsec size. The average absorption in the circumgalactic medium exhibits large velocity widths, and is asymmetric about the systemic redshift of the galaxies. The widths are consistent with gravitational motions and Hubble flow, and outflows are not required to explain them. The asymmetry can be explained if the ionizing radiation from the quasar is anisotropic or intermittent and the gas is not in inflow. My results pose challenges for cosmological hydrodynamic simulations to produce a substantial cool gas reservoir surrounding quasars, that is also enriched and shows extreme kinematics.

  8. Population-specific haplotype association of the postsynaptic density gene DLG4 with schizophrenia, in family-based association studies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shabeesh Balan

    Full Text Available The post-synaptic density (PSD of glutamatergic synapses harbors a multitude of proteins critical for maintaining synaptic dynamics. Alteration of protein expression levels in this matrix is a marked phenomenon of neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, where cognitive functions are impaired. To investigate the genetic relationship of genes expressed in the PSD with schizophrenia, a family-based association analysis of genetic variants in PSD genes such as DLG4, DLG1, PICK1 and MDM2, was performed, using Japanese samples (124 pedigrees, n = 376 subjects. Results showed a significant association of the rs17203281 variant from the DLG4 gene, with preferential transmission of the C allele (p = 0.02, although significance disappeared after correction for multiple testing. Replication analysis of this variant, found no association in a Chinese schizophrenia cohort (293 pedigrees, n = 1163 subjects or in a Japanese case-control sample (n = 4182 subjects. The DLG4 expression levels between postmortem brain samples from schizophrenia patients showed no significant changes from controls. Interestingly, a five marker haplotype in DLG4, involving rs2242449, rs17203281, rs390200, rs222853 and rs222837, was enriched in a population specific manner, where the sequences A-C-C-C-A and G-C-C-C-A accumulated in Japanese (p = 0.0009 and Chinese (p = 0.0007 schizophrenia pedigree samples, respectively. However, this could not be replicated in case-control samples. None of the variants in other examined candidate genes showed any significant association in these samples. The current study highlights a putative role for DLG4 in schizophrenia pathogenesis, evidenced by haplotype association, and warrants further dense screening for variants within these haplotypes.

  9. AUC-based biomarker ensemble with an application on gene scores predicting low bone mineral density.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, X G; Dai, W; Li, Y; Tian, L

    2011-11-01

    The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC), long regarded as a 'golden' measure for the predictiveness of a continuous score, has propelled the need to develop AUC-based predictors. However, the AUC-based ensemble methods are rather scant, largely due to the fact that the associated objective function is neither continuous nor concave. Indeed, there is no reliable numerical algorithm identifying optimal combination of a set of biomarkers to maximize the AUC, especially when the number of biomarkers is large. We have proposed a novel AUC-based statistical ensemble methods for combining multiple biomarkers to differentiate a binary response of interest. Specifically, we propose to replace the non-continuous and non-convex AUC objective function by a convex surrogate loss function, whose minimizer can be efficiently identified. With the established framework, the lasso and other regularization techniques enable feature selections. Extensive simulations have demonstrated the superiority of the new methods to the existing methods. The proposal has been applied to a gene expression dataset to construct gene expression scores to differentiate elderly women with low bone mineral density (BMD) and those with normal BMD. The AUCs of the resulting scores in the independent test dataset has been satisfactory. Aiming for directly maximizing AUC, the proposed AUC-based ensemble method provides an efficient means of generating a stable combination of multiple biomarkers, which is especially useful under the high-dimensional settings. lutian@stanford.edu. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

  10. Particle flows to shape and voltage surface discontinuities in the electron sheath surrounding a high voltage solar array in LEO

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metz, Roger N.

    1991-01-01

    This paper discusses the numerical modeling of electron flows from the sheath surrounding high positively biased objects in LEO (Low Earth Orbit) to regions of voltage or shape discontinuity on the biased surfaces. The sheath equations are derived from the Two-fluid, Warm Plasma Model. An equipotential corner and a plane containing strips of alternating voltage bias are treated in two dimensions. A self-consistent field solution of the sheath equations is outlined and is pursued through one cycle. The electron density field is determined by numerical solution of Poisson's equation for the electrostatic potential in the sheath using the NASCAP-LEO relation between electrostatic potential and charge density. Electron flows are calculated numerically from the electron continuity equation. Magnetic field effects are not treated.

  11. Comparing gravity-based to seismic-derived lithosphere densities : A case study of the British Isles and surrounding areas

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Root, B.C.; Ebbing, J; van der Wal, W.; England, R.W.; Vermeersen, L.L.A.

    2017-01-01

    Lithospheric density structure can be constructed from seismic tomography, gravity modelling, or using both data sets. The different approaches have their own uncertainties and limitations. This study aims to characterize and quantify some of the uncertainties in gravity modelling of lithosphere

  12. Influence of Surrounding Colors in the Illuminant-Color Mode on Color Constancy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kazuho Fukuda

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available On color constancy, we showed that brighter surrounding colors had greater influence than dim colors (Uchikawa, Kitazawa, MacLeod, Fukuda, 2010 APCV. Increasing luminance of a stimulus causes the change in appearance from the surface-color to the illuminant-color mode. However it is unknown whether the visual system considers such color appearance mode of surrounding colors to achieve color constancy. We investigated the influence of surrounding colors that appeared illuminant on color constancy. The stimulus was composed of a central test stimulus and surrounding six colors: bright and dim red, green and blue. The observers adjusted the chromaticity of the test stimulus to be appeared as an achromatic surface. The luminance balance of three bright surrounding colors was equalized with that of the optimal colors in three illuminant conditions, then, the luminance of one of the three bright colors was varied in the range beyond the critical luminance of color appearance mode transition. The results showed that increasing luminance of a bright surrounding color shifted the observers' achromatic setting toward its chromaticity, but this effect diminished for the surrounding color in the illuminant-color mode. These results suggest that the visual system considers color appearance mode of surrounding colors to accomplish color constancy.

  13. Genes with stable DNA methylation levels show higher evolutionary conservation than genes with fluctuant DNA methylation levels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Ruijie; Lv, Wenhua; Luan, Meiwei; Zheng, Jiajia; Shi, Miao; Zhu, Hongjie; Li, Jin; Lv, Hongchao; Zhang, Mingming; Shang, Zhenwei; Duan, Lian; Jiang, Yongshuai

    2015-11-24

    Different human genes often exhibit different degrees of stability in their DNA methylation levels between tissues, samples or cell types. This may be related to the evolution of human genome. Thus, we compared the evolutionary conservation between two types of genes: genes with stable DNA methylation levels (SM genes) and genes with fluctuant DNA methylation levels (FM genes). For long-term evolutionary characteristics between species, we compared the percentage of the orthologous genes, evolutionary rate dn/ds and protein sequence identity. We found that the SM genes had greater percentages of the orthologous genes, lower dn/ds, and higher protein sequence identities in all the 21 species. These results indicated that the SM genes were more evolutionarily conserved than the FM genes. For short-term evolutionary characteristics among human populations, we compared the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) density, and the linkage disequilibrium (LD) degree in HapMap populations and 1000 genomes project populations. We observed that the SM genes had lower SNP densities, and higher degrees of LD in all the 11 HapMap populations and 13 1000 genomes project populations. These results mean that the SM genes had more stable chromosome genetic structures, and were more conserved than the FM genes.

  14. Lipoprotein Lipase and PPAR Alpha Gene Polymorphisms, Increased Very-Low-Density Lipoprotein Levels, and Decreased High-Density Lipoprotein Levels as Risk Markers for the Development of Visceral Leishmaniasis by Leishmania infantum

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Márcia Dias Teixeira Carvalho

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In visceral leishmaniasis (VL endemic areas, a minority of infected individuals progress to disease since most of them develop protective immunity. Therefore, we investigated the risk markers of VL within nonimmune sector. Analyzing infected symptomatic and, asymptomatic, and noninfected individuals, VL patients presented with reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C, elevated triacylglycerol (TAG, and elevated very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C levels. A polymorphism analysis of the lipoprotein lipase (LPL gene using HindIII restriction digestion (N = 156 samples (H+ = the presence and H− = the absence of mutation revealed an increased adjusted odds ratio (OR of VL versus noninfected individuals when the H+/H+ was compared with the H−/H− genotype (OR = 21.3; 95% CI = 2.32–3335.3; P = 0.003. The H+/H+ genotype and the H+ allele were associated with elevated VLDL-C and TAG levels (P < 0.05 and reduced HDL-C levels (P < 0.05. An analysis of the L162V polymorphism in the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα gene (n = 248 revealed an increased adjusted OR when the Leu/Val was compared with the Leu/Leu genotype (OR = 8.77; 95% CI = 1.41–78.70; P = 0.014. High TAG (P = 0.021 and VLDL-C (P = 0.023 levels were associated with susceptibility to VL, whereas low HDL (P = 0.006 levels with resistance to infection. The mutated LPL and the PPARα Leu/Val genotypes may be considered risk markers for the development of VL.

  15. P1-13: Color Induction from Surround Color under Interocular Suppression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ichiro Kuriki

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The effect of surround colors on color appearance is known to subserve color constancy in humans, but how multiple mechanisms in the visual system are involved in this effect is controversial. We used an interocular-suppression technique to examine how the effect occurs at the level higher than the interaction of binocular information. A test color chip (1.7 × 1.7 deg visual angle was presented in a static surround either with continuous-flash suppression in the dominant eye (CFS condition to make the surround inperceptible or without the suppression (no-CFS condition. The surround stimulus was either a Mondrian or a uniform field of the same mean chromaticity. Stimuli were simulated OSA color chips under red, white (D65, or green illuminant color and were presented on a CRT display. Unique yellows were measured by asking the subjects to judge whether the test stimulus appeared reddish or greenish. Two sizes of the surround stimuli (widths of 1 deg and 4 deg were used. Results showed significant shifts in unique yellow even under the CFS conditions, except for the 1 deg uniform-surround condition. Under the no-CFS condition, the shifts showed remarkable difference between subjects, except for the 4 deg Mondrian-surround condition. Interestingly, trends of the shifts showed high consistency within each subject, across conditions. These results indicate that mechanisms at both higher and lower levels than the neuronal site of interocular suppression are involved, and that the color shifts follow each subject's strategy in the higher-order mechanisms when only insufficient clues are available in the surround to estimate illuminant color.

  16. Confronting, Confirming, and Dispelling Myths Surrounding ERP-in-the-Cloud

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Beaulieu, Tanya; C. Martin, Todd; Sarker, Saonee

    2015-01-01

    on the topic, there is substantial uncertainty surrounding the benefits and challenges of ERP cloud computing. Consequently, as often is the case with new technologies, popular myths surrounding the technology are used to make adoption and implementation decisions. As a first step toward providing an informed...... with stakeholders related to an ERP cloud-based solution. Our results dispel some of the myths, while supporting others, and highlight how ERP vendors work around the different types of challenges surrounding this technology. Our study also helps understand the benefits of ERP cloud computing, and informs about how...

  17. A Biomimic Reconstituted High-Density-Lipoprotein-Based Drug and p53 Gene Co-delivery System for Effective Antiangiogenesis Therapy of Bladder Cancer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ouyang, Qiaohong; Duan, Zhongxiang; Jiao, Guangli; Lei, Jixiao

    2015-07-01

    A biomimic reconstituted high-density-lipoprotein-based drug and p53 gene co-delivery system (rHDL/CD-PEI/p53 complexes) was fabricated as a targeted co-delivery nanovector of drug and gene for potential bladder cancer therapy. Here, CD-PEI was utilized to effectively condense the p53 plasmid, to incorporate the plasmid into rHDL, and to act as an antitumor drug to suppress tumor angiogenesis. The rHDL/CD-PEI/p53 complexes exhibited desirable and homogenous particle size, neutral surface charge, and low cytotoxicity in vitro. The results of confocal laser scanning microscopy and flow cytometry confirmed that SR-BI-targeted function induced specific cytoplasmic delivery and high gene transfection efficiency in MBT-2 murine bladder cells. In addition, rHDL/CD-PEI/p53 complexes co-delivering CD and p53 gene achieved synergistic angiogenesis suppression by more effectively downregulating the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein via different pathways in vitro. In vivo investigation on C3H/He mice bearing MBT-2 tumor xenografts revealed that rHDL/CD-PEI/p53 complexes possessed strong antitumor activity. These findings suggested that rHDL/CD-PEI/p53 complexes could be an ideal tumor-targeting system for simultaneous transfer of drug and gene, which might be a new promising strategy for effective bladder cancer therapy.

  18. Schlieren technique applied to the arc temperature measurement in a high energy density cutting torch

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prevosto, L.; Mancinelli, B.; Artana, G.; Kelly, H.

    2010-01-01

    Plasma temperature and radial density profiles of the plasma species in a high energy density cutting arc have been obtained by using a quantitative schlieren technique. A Z-type two-mirror schlieren system was used in this research. Due to its great sensibility such technique allows measuring plasma composition and temperature from the arc axis to the surrounding medium by processing the gray-level contrast values of digital schlieren images recorded at the observation plane for a given position of a transverse knife located at the exit focal plane of the system. The technique has provided a good visualization of the plasma flow emerging from the nozzle and its interactions with the surrounding medium and the anode. The obtained temperature values are in good agreement with those values previously obtained by the authors on the same torch using Langmuir probes.

  19. Energy-density spectrum of the vacuum around a cosmic string

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sarmiento, A.; Hacyan, S.

    1988-01-01

    The explicit form of the spectrum of the energy density of the vacuum surrounding a cosmic string as would be seen by an observer at rest is calculated. Spin-0, -half, or -1 massless fields are considered and it is found that the result is independent of the spin value. An interpretation which differs from the one usually found in the literature is also given

  20. Ecological mechanisms linking protected areas to surrounding lands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen, Andrew J; DeFries, Ruth

    2007-06-01

    Land use is expanding and intensifying in the unprotected lands surrounding many of the world's protected areas. The influence of this land use change on ecological processes is poorly understood. The goal of this paper is to draw on ecological theory to provide a synthetic framework for understanding how land use change around protected areas may alter ecological processes and biodiversity within protected areas and to provide a basis for identifying scientifically based management alternatives. We first present a conceptual model of protected areas embedded within larger ecosystems that often include surrounding human land use. Drawing on case studies in this Invited Feature, we then explore a comprehensive set of ecological mechanisms by which land use on surrounding lands may influence ecological processes and biodiversity within reserves. These mechanisms involve changes in ecosystem size, with implications for minimum dynamic area, species-area effect, and trophic structure; altered flows of materials and disturbances into and out of reserves; effects on crucial habitats for seasonal and migration movements and population source/sink dynamics; and exposure to humans through hunting, poaching, exotics species, and disease. These ecological mechanisms provide a basis for assessing the vulnerability of protected areas to land use. They also suggest criteria for designing regional management to sustain protected areas in the context of surrounding human land use. These design criteria include maximizing the area of functional habitats, identifying and maintaining ecological process zones, maintaining key migration and source habitats, and managing human proximity and edge effects.

  1. The nature of surround-induced depolarizing responses in goldfish cones

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kraaij, D. A.; Spekreijse, H.; Kamermans, M.

    2000-01-01

    Cones in the vertebrate retina project to horizontal and bipolar cells and the horizontal cells feedback negatively to cones. This organization forms the basis for the center/surround organization of the bipolar cells, a fundamental step in the visual signal processing. Although the surround

  2. Investigation of the readout electronics of DELPHI surround muon chamber

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khovanskij, N.; Krumshtejn, Z.; Ol'shevskij, A.; Sadovskij, A.; Sedykh, Yu.; Molnar, J.; Sicho, P.; Tomsa, Z.

    1995-01-01

    The characteristics of the readout electronics of the DELPHI surround muon chambers with various AMPLEX chips (AMPLEX 16 and AMPLEX-SICAL) are presented. This electronics is studied in a cosmic rays test of the real surround muon chamber model. 4 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab

  3. Cometary water-group ions in the region surrounding Comet Giacobini-Zinner - Distribution functions and bulk parameter estimates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Staines, K.; Balogh, A.; Cowley, S. W. H.; Richardson, I. G.; Sanderson, T. R.; Tsurutani, B. T.

    1991-01-01

    The bulk parameters (number density and thermal energy density) of cometary water-group ions in the region surrounding Comet Giacobini-Zinner have been derived using data from the EPAS instrument on the ICE spacecraft. The derivation is based on the assumption that the pick-up ion distribution function is isotropic in the frame of the bulk flow, an approximation which has previously been shown to be reasonable within about 400,000 km of the comet nucleus along the spacecraft trajectory. The transition between the pick-up and mass-loaded regions occurs at the cometary shock, which was traversed at a cometocentric distance of about 100,000 km along the spacecraft track. Examination of the ion distribution functions in this region, transformed to the bulk flow frame, indicates the occurrence of a flattened distribution in the vicinity of the local pick-up speed, and a steeply falling tail at speeds above, which may be approximated as an exponential in ion speed.

  4. Use of a culture independent method to analyze the diversity of soil fungi surrounding Chroogomphus rutilus in the Beijing region of China

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liu, Yu; Wang, Shouxian; Yin, Yonggang

    2012-01-01

    habitat to facilitate its large-scale cultivation. A culture-independent molecular approach—a powerful technology for microbiological ecology studies—was used to investigate the diversity of soil fungal communities in samples surrounding C. rutilus from the Beijing region of China. Metagenomic DNA...... was isolated from soil samples collected around C. rutilus, and an internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene library was constructed. Subsequently, polymerase chain reaction products were digested with HinfI, HaeIII, MspI, TaqI, or MboI. Clones were selected and sequenced based on their restriction fragment...... length polymorphisms. The diversity of the fungi represented by their ITS sequences was analyzed. Our results indicate the presence of numerous fungi in the C. rutilus habitat. This study is the first demonstration of the fungal ecology surrounding C. rutilus using a culture independent method...

  5. The Hypocholesterolemic Effect of Germinated Brown Rice Involves the Upregulation of the Apolipoprotein A1 and Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor Genes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mustapha Umar Imam

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Germinated brown rice (GBR is rich in bioactive compounds, which confer GBR with many functional properties. Evidence of its hypocholesterolemic effects is emerging, but the exact mechanisms of action and bioactive compounds involved have not been fully documented. Using type 2 diabetic rats, we studied the effects of white rice, GBR, and brown rice (BR on lipid profile and on the regulation of selected genes involved in cholesterol metabolism. Our results showed that the upregulation of apolipoprotein A1 and low-density lipoprotein receptor genes was involved in the hypocholesterolemic effects of GBR. Additionally, in vitro studies using HEPG2 cells showed that acylated steryl glycoside, gamma amino butyric acid, and oryzanol and phenolic extracts of GBR contribute to the nutrigenomic regulation of these genes. Transcriptional and nontranscriptional mechanisms are likely involved in the overall hypocholesterolemic effects of GBR suggesting that it may have an impact on the prevention and/or management of hypercholesterolemia due to a wide variety of metabolic perturbations. However, there is need to conduct long-term clinical trials to determine the clinical relevance of the hypocholesterolemic effects of GBR determined through animal studies.

  6. A SURVEY OF CORONAL CAVITY DENSITY PROFILES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fuller, J.; Gibson, S. E.

    2009-01-01

    Coronal cavities are common features of the solar corona that appear as darkened regions at the base of coronal helmet streamers in coronagraph images. Their darkened appearance indicates that they are regions of lowered density embedded within the comparatively higher density helmet streamer. Despite interfering projection effects of the surrounding helmet streamer (which we refer to as the cavity rim), Fuller et al. have shown that under certain conditions it is possible to use a Van de Hulst inversion of white-light polarized brightness (pB) data to calculate the electron density of both the cavity and cavity rim plasma. In this article, we apply minor modifications to the methods of Fuller et al. in order to improve the accuracy and versatility of the inversion process, and use the new methods to calculate density profiles for both the cavity and cavity rim in 24 cavity systems. We also examine trends in cavity morphology and how departures from the model geometry affect our density calculations. The density calculations reveal that in all 24 cases the cavity plasma has a flatter density profile than the plasma of the cavity rim, meaning that the cavity has a larger density depletion at low altitudes than it does at high altitudes. We find that the mean cavity density is over four times greater than that of a coronal hole at an altitude of 1.2 R sun and that every cavity in the sample is over twice as dense as a coronal hole at this altitude. Furthermore, we find that different cavity systems near solar maximum span a greater range in density at 1.2 R sun than do cavity systems near solar minimum, with a slight trend toward higher densities for systems nearer to solar maximum. Finally, we found no significant correlation of cavity density properties with cavity height-indeed, cavities show remarkably similar density depletions-except for the two smallest cavities that show significantly greater depletion.

  7. Religion's relationship with social boundaries surrounding gender ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Religion's relationship with social boundaries surrounding gender. ... is associated with segregation, marginalization and differentiation between men and women. ... are necessary in the society it should not be mistaken for gender inequality.

  8. Effect of embryo density on in vitro development and gene expression in bovine in vitro-fertilized embryos cultured in a microwell system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugimura, Satoshi; Akai, Tomonori; Hashiyada, Yutaka; Aikawa, Yoshio; Ohtake, Masaki; Matsuda, Hideo; Kobayashi, Shuji; Kobayashi, Eiji; Konishi, Kazuyuki; Imai, Kei

    2013-01-01

    To identify embryos individually during in vitro development, we previously developed the well-of-the-well (WOW) dish, which contains 25 microwells. Here we investigated the effect of embryo density (the number of embryos per volume of medium) on in vitro development and gene expression of bovine in vitro-fertilized embryos cultured in WOW dishes. Using both conventional droplet and WOW culture formats, 5, 15, and 25 bovine embryos were cultured in 125 μl medium for 168 h. The blastocysts at Day 7 were analyzed for number of cells and expression of ten genes (CDX2, IFN-tau, PLAC8, NANOG, OCT4, SOX2, AKR1B1, ATP5A1, GLUT1 and IGF2R). In droplet culture, the rates of formation of >4-cell cleavage embryos and blastocysts were significantly lower in embryos cultured at 5 embryos per droplet than in those cultured at 15 or 25 embryos per droplet, but not in WOW culture. In both droplet and WOW culture, developmental kinetics and blastocyst cell numbers did not differ among any groups. IFN-tau expression in embryos cultured at 25 embryos per droplet was significantly higher than in those cultured at 15 embryos per droplet and in artificial insemination (AI)-derived blastocysts. Moreover, IGF2R expression was significantly lower in the 25-embryo group than in the 5-embryo group and in AI-derived blastocysts. In WOW culture, these expressions were not affected by embryo density and were similar to those in AI-derived blastocysts. These results suggest that, as compared with conventional droplet culture, in vitro development and expression of IFN-tau and IGF2R in the microwell system may be insensitive to embryo density.

  9. Reaction of unirradiated high-density fuel with aluminum

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wiencek, T.C.; Meyer, M.K.; Prokofiev, I.G.; Keiser, D.D.

    1997-01-01

    Excellent dispersion fuel performance requires that fuel particles remain stable and do not react significantly with the surrounding aluminum matrix. A series of high-density fuels, which contain uranium densities >12 g/cm 3 , have been fabricated into plates. As part of standard processing, all of these fuels were subjected to a blister anneal of 1 h at 485 deg. C. Changes in plate thickness were measured and evaluated. From these results, suppositions about the probable irradiation properties of these fuels have been proposed. In addition, two fuels, U-10 wt% Mo and U 2 Mo, were subjected to various heat treatments and were found to be very stable in an aluminum matrix. On the basis of the experimental data, hypotheses of the irradiation behavior of these fuels are presented. (author)

  10. Vasculature surrounding a nodule: A novel lung cancer biomarker.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiaohua; Leader, Joseph K; Wang, Renwei; Wilson, David; Herman, James; Yuan, Jian-Min; Pu, Jiantao

    2017-12-01

    To investigate whether the vessels surrounding a nodule depicted on non-contrast, low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) can discriminate benign and malignant screen detected nodules. We collected a dataset consisting of LDCT scans acquired on 100 subjects from the Pittsburgh Lung Screening study (PLuSS). Fifty subjects were diagnosed with lung cancer and 50 subjects had suspicious nodules later proven benign. For the lung cancer cases, the location of the malignant nodule in the LDCT scans was known; while for the benign cases, the largest nodule in the LDCT scan was used in the analysis. A computer algorithm was developed to identify surrounding vessels and quantify the number and volume of vessels that were connected or near the nodule. A nonparametric receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed based on a single nodule per subject to assess the discriminability of the surrounding vessels to provide a lung cancer diagnosis. Odds ratio (OR) were computed to determine the probability of a nodule being lung cancer based on the vessel features. The areas under the ROC curves (AUCs) for vessel count and vessel volume were 0.722 (95% CI=0.616-0.811, plung cancer group 9.7 (±9.6) compared to the non-lung cancer group 4.0 (±4.3) CONCLUSION: Our preliminary results showed that malignant nodules are often surrounded by more vessels compared to benign nodules, suggesting that the surrounding vessel characteristics could serve as lung cancer biomarker for indeterminate nodules detected during LDCT lung cancer screening using only the information collected during the initial visit. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. A recently transferred cluster of bacterial genes in Trichomonas vaginalis - lateral gene transfer and the fate of acquired genes

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    Background Lateral Gene Transfer (LGT) has recently gained recognition as an important contributor to some eukaryote proteomes, but the mechanisms of acquisition and fixation in eukaryotic genomes are still uncertain. A previously defined norm for LGTs in microbial eukaryotes states that the majority are genes involved in metabolism, the LGTs are typically localized one by one, surrounded by vertically inherited genes on the chromosome, and phylogenetics shows that a broad collection of bacterial lineages have contributed to the transferome. Results A unique 34 kbp long fragment with 27 clustered genes (TvLF) of prokaryote origin was identified in the sequenced genome of the protozoan parasite Trichomonas vaginalis. Using a PCR based approach we confirmed the presence of the orthologous fragment in four additional T. vaginalis strains. Detailed sequence analyses unambiguously suggest that TvLF is the result of one single, recent LGT event. The proposed donor is a close relative to the firmicute bacterium Peptoniphilus harei. High nucleotide sequence similarity between T. vaginalis strains, as well as to P. harei, and the absence of homologs in other Trichomonas species, suggests that the transfer event took place after the radiation of the genus Trichomonas. Some genes have undergone pseudogenization and degradation, indicating that they may not be retained in the future. Functional annotations reveal that genes involved in informational processes are particularly prone to degradation. Conclusions We conclude that, although the majority of eukaryote LGTs are single gene occurrences, they may be acquired in clusters of several genes that are subsequently cleansed of evolutionarily less advantageous genes. PMID:24898731

  12. [The influence of hormonal replacement therapy on bone density in postmenopausal women depending on polymorphism of vitamin D receptor (VDR) and estrogen receptor (ER) genes].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brodowska, Agnieszka

    2003-01-01

    Osteoporosis is still an important health problem in modern societies. The densitometric criterion for the diagnosis of this condition established by WHO in 1994 is bone mass density (BMD) lower than 2.5 standard deviation (SD) from the mean value for young healthy individuals of the same sex. Between 60 and 90% of bone density (quantity of bone tissue in the human skeleton) at the time when growth is terminated is genetically determined. For this reason, genes predisposing to osteoporosis and mechanisms of their activity remain the object of investigations. Among them are genes coding for vitamin D receptor (VDR), estrogen receptor (ER), type I collagen, TGF-beta and IL-6. Diminishing bone density past the age of thirty is a physiologic process. Bone loss averages 0.3-0.6% per year. Acceleration of this process to 1.2-6% per year in postmenopausal women has been attributed to constantly decreasing estrogen concentration. Hence, the gold standard in osteoporosis prevention and treatment includes estrogen-progestagen therapy enriched with vitamin D analogues, calcium-rich diet and regular physical exercises. Treatment of osteoporosis can be long and expensive. The condition may lead to disability. Osteoporotic fractures and their complications may be fatal. For these reasons, the chief priority in osteoporosis is prevention. Unfortunately, current diagnostic methods (for detection of osteoporosis and monitoring of treatment) remain unsatisfactory. Molecular techniques offer a promising approach to diagnosis and monitoring of therapy. Additionally, the risk of osteoporosis in 1st degree relatives can be assessed and early prevention can be started. The present study addressed the following questions: 1. Are there differences in spine BMD in untreated women with postmenopausal osteoporosis depending on polymorphism of VDR and ER genes? 2. Does efficacy of treatment (increase in spine BMD) in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis depend on polymorphism of VDR and ER

  13. Childhood Suicide and Myths Surrounding It.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greene, Dorothea B.

    1994-01-01

    Dispels five misconceptions surrounding the suicide of children: that children under the age of six do not commit suicide; that suicide in latency years is extremely rare; that psychodynamically and developmentally true depression is not possible in childhood; that child cannot understand finality of death; and that children are cognitively and…

  14. Transition from equilibrium ignition to non-equilibrium burn for ICF capsules surrounded by a high-Z pusher

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Ji W.; Chang, Lei; Li, Yun S.; Li, Jing H.

    2011-01-01

    For the ICF capsule surrounded by a high-Z pusher which traps the radiation and confines the hot fuel, the fuel will first be ignited in thermal equilibrium with radiation at a much lower temperature than hot-spot ignition, which is also the low temperature ignition. Because of the lower areal density for ICF capsules, the equilibrium ignition must be developed into a non-equilibrium burn to shorten the reaction time and lower the drive energy. In this paper, the transition from the equilibrium ignition to non-equilibrium burn is discussed and the energy deposited by α particles required for the equilibrium ignition and non-equilibrium burn to occur is estimated.

  15. High energy-density science on the National Ignition Facility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Campbell, E.M.; Cauble, R.; Remington, B.A.

    1997-08-01

    The National Ignition Facility, as well as its French counterpart Le Laser Megajoule, have been designed to confront one of the most difficult and compelling problem in shock physics - the creation of a hot, compassed DT plasma surrounded and confined by cold, nearly degenerate DT fuel. At the same time, these laser facilities will present the shock physics community with unique tools for the study of high energy density matter at states unreachable by any other laboratory technique. Here we describe how these lasers can contribute to investigations of high energy density in the area of material properties and equations of state, extend present laboratory shock techniques such as high-speed jets to new regimes, and allow study of extreme conditions found in astrophysical phenomena.

  16. Identifying Regulatory Patterns at the 3'end Regions of Over-expressed and Under-expressed Genes

    KAUST Repository

    Othoum, Ghofran K

    2013-05-01

    Promoters, neighboring regulatory regions and those extending further upstream of the 5’end of genes, are considered one of the main components affecting the expression status of genes in a specific phenotype. More recently research by Chen et al. (2006, 2012) and Mapendano et al. (2010) demonstrated that the 3’end regulatory regions of genes also influence gene expression. However, the association between the regulatory regions surrounding 3’end of genes and their over- or under-expression status in a particular phenotype has not been systematically studied. The aim of this study is to ascertain if regulatory regions surrounding the 3’end of genes contain sufficient regulatory information to correlate genes with their expression status in a particular phenotype. Over- and under-expressed ovarian cancer (OC) genes were used as a model. Exploratory analysis of the 3’end regions were performed by transforming the annotated regions using principal component analysis (PCA), followed by clustering the transformed data thereby achieving a clear separation of genes with different expression status. Additionally, several classification algorithms such as Naïve Bayes, Random Forest and Support Vector Machine (SVM) were tested with different parameter settings to analyze the discriminatory capacity of the 3’end regions of genes related to their gene expression status. The best performance was achieved using the SVM classification model with 10-fold cross-validation that yielded an accuracy of 98.4%, sensitivity of 99.5% and specificity of 92.5%. For gene expression status for newly available instances, based on information derived from the 3’end regions, an SVM predictive model was developed with 10-fold cross-validation that yielded an accuracy of 67.0%, sensitivity of 73.2% and specificity of 61.0%. Moreover, building an SVM with polynomial kernel model to PCA transformed data yielded an accuracy of 83.1%, sensitivity of 92.5% and specificity of 74.8% using

  17. Identifying Regulatory Patterns at the 3'end Regions of Over-expressed and Under-expressed Genes

    KAUST Repository

    Othoum, Ghofran K

    2013-01-01

    Promoters, neighboring regulatory regions and those extending further upstream of the 5’end of genes, are considered one of the main components affecting the expression status of genes in a specific phenotype. More recently research by Chen et al. (2006, 2012) and Mapendano et al. (2010) demonstrated that the 3’end regulatory regions of genes also influence gene expression. However, the association between the regulatory regions surrounding 3’end of genes and their over- or under-expression status in a particular phenotype has not been systematically studied. The aim of this study is to ascertain if regulatory regions surrounding the 3’end of genes contain sufficient regulatory information to correlate genes with their expression status in a particular phenotype. Over- and under-expressed ovarian cancer (OC) genes were used as a model. Exploratory analysis of the 3’end regions were performed by transforming the annotated regions using principal component analysis (PCA), followed by clustering the transformed data thereby achieving a clear separation of genes with different expression status. Additionally, several classification algorithms such as Naïve Bayes, Random Forest and Support Vector Machine (SVM) were tested with different parameter settings to analyze the discriminatory capacity of the 3’end regions of genes related to their gene expression status. The best performance was achieved using the SVM classification model with 10-fold cross-validation that yielded an accuracy of 98.4%, sensitivity of 99.5% and specificity of 92.5%. For gene expression status for newly available instances, based on information derived from the 3’end regions, an SVM predictive model was developed with 10-fold cross-validation that yielded an accuracy of 67.0%, sensitivity of 73.2% and specificity of 61.0%. Moreover, building an SVM with polynomial kernel model to PCA transformed data yielded an accuracy of 83.1%, sensitivity of 92.5% and specificity of 74.8% using

  18. Transcriptional Regulation in Ebola Virus: Effects of Gene Border Structure and Regulatory Elements on Gene Expression and Polymerase Scanning Behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brauburger, Kristina; Boehmann, Yannik; Krähling, Verena; Mühlberger, Elke

    2016-02-15

    The highly pathogenic Ebola virus (EBOV) has a nonsegmented negative-strand (NNS) RNA genome containing seven genes. The viral genes either are separated by intergenic regions (IRs) of variable length or overlap. The structure of the EBOV gene overlaps is conserved throughout all filovirus genomes and is distinct from that of the overlaps found in other NNS RNA viruses. Here, we analyzed how diverse gene borders and noncoding regions surrounding the gene borders influence transcript levels and govern polymerase behavior during viral transcription. Transcription of overlapping genes in EBOV bicistronic minigenomes followed the stop-start mechanism, similar to that followed by IR-containing gene borders. When the gene overlaps were extended, the EBOV polymerase was able to scan the template in an upstream direction. This polymerase feature seems to be generally conserved among NNS RNA virus polymerases. Analysis of IR-containing gene borders showed that the IR sequence plays only a minor role in transcription regulation. Changes in IR length were generally well tolerated, but specific IR lengths led to a strong decrease in downstream gene expression. Correlation analysis revealed that these effects were largely independent of the surrounding gene borders. Each EBOV gene contains exceptionally long untranslated regions (UTRs) flanking the open reading frame. Our data suggest that the UTRs adjacent to the gene borders are the main regulators of transcript levels. A highly complex interplay between the different cis-acting elements to modulate transcription was revealed for specific combinations of IRs and UTRs, emphasizing the importance of the noncoding regions in EBOV gene expression control. Our data extend those from previous analyses investigating the implication of noncoding regions at the EBOV gene borders for gene expression control. We show that EBOV transcription is regulated in a highly complex yet not easily predictable manner by a set of interacting cis

  19. Facile synthesis of semi-library of low charge density cationic polyesters from poly(alkylene maleate)s for efficient local gene delivery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Huijie; Zhu, Dingcheng; Zhou, Zhuxian; Liu, Xin; Piao, Ying; Zhang, Zhen; Liu, Xiangrui; Tang, Jianbin; Shen, Youqing

    2018-03-30

    Cationic polymers are one of the main non-viral vectors for gene therapy, but their applications are hindered by the toxicity and inefficient transfection, particularly in the presence of serum or other biological fluids. While rational design based on the current understanding of gene delivery process has produced various cationic polymers with improved overall transfection, high-throughput parallel synthesis of libraries of cationic polymers seems a more effective strategy to screen out efficacious polymers. Herein, we demonstrate a novel platform for parallel synthesis of low cationic charge-density polyesters for efficient gene delivery. Unsaturated polyester poly(alkylene maleate) (PAM) readily underwent Michael-addition reactions with various mercaptamines to produce polyester backbones with pendant amine groups, poly(alkylene maleate mercaptamine)s (PAMAs). Variations of the alkylenes in the backbone and the mercaptamines on the side chain produced PAMAs with tunable hydrophobicity and DNA-condensation ability, the key parameters dominating transfection efficiency of the resulting polymer/DNA complexes (polyplexes). A semi-library of such PAMAs was exampled from 7 alkylenes and 18 mercaptamines, from which a lead PAMA, G-1, synthesized from poly(1,4-phenylene bis(methylene) maleate) and N,N-dimethylcysteamine, showed remarkable transfection efficiency even in the presence of serum, owing to its efficient lysosome-circumventing cellular uptake. Furthermore, G-1 polyplexes efficiently delivered the suicide gene pTRAIL to intraperitoneal tumors and elicited effective anticancer activity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Association of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphism (TaqI and Apa1) with bone mineral density in North Indian postmenopausal women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad, Israr; Jafar, Tabrez; Mahdi, Farzana; Ameta, Keerti; Arshad, Md; Das, Siddharth Kumar; Waliullah, Shah; Rizvi, Imran; Mahdi, Abbas Ali

    2018-06-15

    Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene has an important role as a candidate gene for the regulation of bone mass in osteoporosis. However, its association with bone mineral density (BMD) is controversial and has not been established in different ethnic populations. To enhance the understanding of VDR gene polymorphism in the context of BMD, we investigated the plausible genetic association of TaqI and ApaI polymorphism with BMD in North Indian postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.254 osteoporotic women (Age 55.82 ± 6.91) and 254 postmenopausal non osteoporotic women (Age 54.76 ± 6.26) were included in the study. VDR TaqI and ApaI polymorphism were determined by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism). BMD was assessed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at the lumbar spine (L 1 -L 4 ), hip, forearm and femoral neck. The average BMD with TT genotype was significantly lower at lumbar spine, hip and forearm. The Frequency of TT genotype and t allele was significantly high in osteoporotic women when compared with controls. The average BMD with Aa genotype was higher in ApaI. Furthermore, comparison of frequency distribution of genotype and allele for VDR ApaI between osteoporotic patients and controls did not show any significant difference. Our findings revealed that TaqI gene TT genotype was associated with low BMD in North Indian osteoporotic women. Moreover, TT genotype and t allele associated significantly with osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Therefore, VDR TaqI gene is an important determinant of risk factor for osteoporosis. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Dietary boron does not affect tooth strength, micro-hardness, and density, but affects tooth mineral composition and alveolar bone mineral density in rabbits fed a high-energy diet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hakki, Sema S; SiddikMalkoc; Dundar, Niyazi; Kayis, Seyit Ali; Hakki, Erdogan E; Hamurcu, Mehmet; Baspinar, Nuri; Basoglu, Abdullah; Nielsen, Forrest H; Götz, Werner

    2015-01-01

    The objective of this study was to determine whether dietary boron (B) affects the strength, density and mineral composition of teeth and mineral density of alveolar bone in rabbits with apparent obesity induced by a high-energy diet. Sixty female, 8-month-old, New Zealand rabbits were randomly assigned for 7 months into five groups as follows: (1) control 1, fed alfalfa hay only (5.91 MJ/kg and 57.5 mg B/kg); (2) control 2, high energy diet (11.76 MJ and 3.88 mg B/kg); (3) B10, high energy diet + 10 mg B gavage/kg body weight/96 h; (4) B30, high energy diet + 30 mg B gavage/kg body weight/96 h; (5) B50, high energy diet + 50 mg B gavage/kg body weight/96 h. Maxillary incisor teeth of the rabbits were evaluated for compression strength, mineral composition, and micro-hardness. Enamel, dentin, cementum and pulp tissue were examined histologically. Mineral densities of the incisor teeth and surrounding alveolar bone were determined by using micro-CT. When compared to controls, the different boron treatments did not significantly affect compression strength, and micro-hardness of the teeth, although the B content of teeth increased in a dose-dependent manner. Compared to control 1, B50 teeth had decreased phosphorus (P) concentrations. Histological examination revealed that teeth structure (shape and thickness of the enamel, dentin, cementum and pulp) was similar in the B-treated and control rabbits. Micro CT evaluation revealed greater alveolar bone mineral density in B10 and B30 groups than in controls. Alveolar bone density of the B50 group was not different than the controls. Although the B treatments did not affect teeth structure, strength, mineral density and micro-hardness, increasing B intake altered the mineral composition of teeth, and, in moderate amounts, had beneficial effects on surrounding alveolar bone.

  2. Modifications of center-surround, spot detection and dot-pattern selective operators

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Petkov, Nicolai; Visser, Wicher T.

    2005-01-01

    This paper describes modifications of the models of center-surround and dot-pattern selective cells proposed previously. These modifications concern mainly the normalization of the difference of Gaussians (DoG) function used to model center-surround receptive fields, the normalization of

  3. Polymorphism rs2073618 of the TNFRSF11B (OPG Gene and Bone Mineral Density in Mexican Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. A. Nava-Valdivia

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Osteoporosis (OP is highly prevalent in rheumatoid arthritis (RA and is influenced by genetic factors. Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP rs2073618 in the TNFRSF11B osteoprotegerin (OPG gene has been related to postmenopausal OP although, to date, no information has been described concerning whether this polymorphism is implied in abnormalities of bone mineral density (BMD in RA. We evaluated, in a case-control study performed in Mexican-Mestizo women with RA, whether SNP rs2073618 in the TNFRSF11B gene is associated with a decrease in BMD. RA patients were classified as follows: (1 low BMD and (2 normal BMD. All patients were genotyped for the rs2073618 polymorphism by PCR-RFLP. The frequency of low BMD was 74.4%. Higher age was observed in RA with low BMD versus normal BMD (62 and 54 years, resp.; p<0.001. Worse functioning and lower BMI were observed in RA with low BMD (p=0.003 and p=0.002, resp.. We found similar genotype frequencies in RA with low BMD versus RA with normal BMD (GG genotype 71% versus 64.4%, GC 26% versus 33%, and CC 3% versus 2.2%, resp.; p=0.6. We concluded that in Mexican-Mestizo female patients with RA, the rs2073618 polymorphism of the TNRFS11B gene is not associated with low BMD.

  4. Number density structures in the inner heliosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stansby, D.; Horbury, T. S.

    2018-06-01

    Aims: The origins and generation mechanisms of the slow solar wind are still unclear. Part of the slow solar wind is populated by number density structures, discrete patches of increased number density that are frozen in to and move with the bulk solar wind. In this paper we aimed to provide the first in-situ statistical study of number density structures in the inner heliosphere. Methods: We reprocessed in-situ ion distribution functions measured by Helios in the inner heliosphere to provide a new reliable set of proton plasma moments for the entire mission. From this new data set we looked for number density structures measured within 0.5 AU of the Sun and studied their properties. Results: We identified 140 discrete areas of enhanced number density. The structures occurred exclusively in the slow solar wind and spanned a wide range of length scales from 50 Mm to 2000 Mm, which includes smaller scales than have been previously observed. They were also consistently denser and hotter that the surrounding plasma, but had lower magnetic field strengths, and therefore remained in pressure balance. Conclusions: Our observations show that these structures are present in the slow solar wind at a wide range of scales, some of which are too small to be detected by remote sensing instruments. These structures are rare, accounting for only 1% of the slow solar wind measured by Helios, and are not a significant contribution to the mass flux of the solar wind.

  5. Straight proximal humeral nails are surrounded by more bone stock in comparison to bent nails in an experimental cadaveric study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Günther, Christian Max; Müller, Peter Ernst; Mutschler, Wolf; Sprecher, Christoph Martin; Milz, Stefan; Braunstein, Volker

    2014-01-01

    In the management of proximal humeral fractures intramedullary implants with bent and straight shape of the proximal part of nail are available. Based on data from previous studies on bone distribution in the humeral head, we hypothesized, that higher densities might exist in the bone stock surrounding straight nails in comparison to their angulated counterparts. With a known positive correlation between bone density and mechanical stability, this could indicate potentially higher rigidity of osteosyntheses done with straight implants. We performed high resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomographies of the potential straight and bent implant bearing regions of 27 cadaveric proximal humeri. The acquired data were analyzed for differences between straight and bent Volumes of Interest as well as intra- and interindividual bone stock distribution. For both straight and bent volumes of interest a considerably declining bone mineral density was found in craniocaudal direction. Mean densities of bent volumes were significantly lower in comparison to their corresponding straight counterparts (p straight shaped implants can be assumed. Since we found a rapid decrease of bone density in cranio-caudal direction, intramedullary implants should be anchored as proximally in the subcortical area as possible to minimize the risk of displacement or cutout. The high correlation between the Volumes of Interest of the corresponding right and left sides could aid in preoperative planning when considering an intra- or extramedullary approach.

  6. Why is the correlation between gene importance and gene evolutionary rate so weak?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhi; Zhang, Jianzhi

    2009-01-01

    One of the few commonly believed principles of molecular evolution is that functionally more important genes (or DNA sequences) evolve more slowly than less important ones. This principle is widely used by molecular biologists in daily practice. However, recent genomic analysis of a diverse array of organisms found only weak, negative correlations between the evolutionary rate of a gene and its functional importance, typically measured under a single benign lab condition. A frequently suggested cause of the above finding is that gene importance determined in the lab differs from that in an organism's natural environment. Here, we test this hypothesis in yeast using gene importance values experimentally determined in 418 lab conditions or computationally predicted for 10,000 nutritional conditions. In no single condition or combination of conditions did we find a much stronger negative correlation, which is explainable by our subsequent finding that always-essential (enzyme) genes do not evolve significantly more slowly than sometimes-essential or always-nonessential ones. Furthermore, we verified that functional density, approximated by the fraction of amino acid sites within protein domains, is uncorrelated with gene importance. Thus, neither the lab-nature mismatch nor a potentially biased among-gene distribution of functional density explains the observed weakness of the correlation between gene importance and evolutionary rate. We conclude that the weakness is factual, rather than artifactual. In addition to being weakened by population genetic reasons, the correlation is likely to have been further weakened by the presence of multiple nontrivial rate determinants that are independent from gene importance. These findings notwithstanding, we show that the principle of slower evolution of more important genes does have some predictive power when genes with vastly different evolutionary rates are compared, explaining why the principle can be practically useful

  7. Surrounding rock stress analysis of underground high level waste repository

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Wengang; Wang Ju; Wang Guangdi

    2006-01-01

    During decay of nuclear waste, enormous energy was released, which results in temperature change of surrounding rock of depository. Thermal stress was produced because thermal expansion of rock was controlled. Internal structure of surrounding rock was damaged and strength of rock was weakened. So, variation of stress was a dynamic process with the variation of temperature. BeiShan region of Gansu province was determined to be the depository field in the future, it is essential to make research on granite in this region. In the process of experiment, basic physical parameters of granite were analyzed preliminary with MTS. Long range temperature and stress filed was simulated considering the damage effect of surrounding rock, and rules of temperature and stress was achieved. (authors)

  8. Ultrasonic level, temperature, and density sensor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rogers, S.C.; Miller, G.N.

    1982-01-01

    A sensor has been developed to measure simultaneously the level, temperature, and density of the fluid in which it is immersed. The sensor is a thin, rectangular stainless steel ribbon which acts as a waveguide and is housed in a perforated tube. The waveguide is coupled to a section of magnetostrictive magnetic-coil transducers. These tranducers are excited in an alternating sequence to interrogate the sensor with both torsional ultrasonic waves, utilizing the Wiedemann effect, and extensional ultrasonic waves, using the Joule effect. The measured torsional wave transit time is a function of the density, level, and temperature of the fluid surrounding the waveguide. The measured extensional wave transit time is a function of the temperature of the waveguide only. The sensor is divided into zones by the introduction of reflecting surfaces at measured intervals along its length. Consequently, the transit times from each reflecting surface can be analyzed to yield a temperature profile and a density profile along the length of the sensor. Improvements in acoustic wave dampener and pressure seal designs enhance the compatibility of the probe with high-temperature, high-radiation, water-steam environments and increase the likelihood of survival in such environments. Utilization of a microcomputer to automate data sampling and processing has resulted in improved resolution of the sensor

  9. Neutron spectrum in small iron pile surrounded by lead reflector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kimura, Itsuro; Hayashi, S.A.; Kobayashi, Katsuhei; Matsumura, Tetsuo; Nishihara, Hiroshi.

    1978-01-01

    In order to save the quantity of sample material, a possibility to assess group constants of a reactor material through measurement and analysis of neutron spectrum in a small sample pile surrounded by a reflector of heavy moderator, was investigated. As the sample and the reflector, we chose iron and lead, respectively. Although the time dispersion in moderation of neutrons was considerably prolonged by the lead reflector, this hardly interferes with the assessment of group constants. Theoretical calculation revealed that both the neutron flux spectrum and the sensitivity coefficient of group constants in an iron sphere, 35 cm in diameter surrounded by the lead reflector, 25 cm thick, were close to those of the bare iron sphere, 108 cm in diameter. The neutron spectra in a small iron pile surrounded by a lead reflector were experimentally obtained by the time-of-flight method with an electron linear accelerator and the result was compared with the predicted values. It could be confirmed that a small sample pile surrounded by a reflector, such as lead, was as useful as a much larger bulk pile for the assessment of group constants of a reactor material. (auth.)

  10. Smart Chips for Smart Surroundings -- 4S

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schuler, Eberhard; König, Ralf; Becker, Jürgen; Rauwerda, G.K.; van de Burgwal, M.D.; Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria; Cardoso, João M.P.; Hübner, Michael

    2011-01-01

    The overall mission of the 4S project (Smart Chips for Smart Surroundings) was to define and develop efficient flexible, reconfigurable core building blocks, including the supporting tools, for future Ambient System Devices. Reconfigurability offers the needed flexibility and adaptability, it

  11. UGT2B17 gene deletion associated with an increase in bone mineral density similar to the effect of hormone replacement in postmenopausal women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giroux, S; Bussières, J; Bureau, A; Rousseau, F

    2012-03-01

    UGT2B17 is one of the most important enzymes for androgen metabolism. In addition, the UGT2B17 gene is one of the most commonly deleted regions of the human genome. The deletion was previously found associated with higher femoral bone density in men and women, and we replicated this association in a sample of postmenopausal who never used hormone therapy. Deletion of the UGT2B17 gene was previously shown to be associated with a higher hip bone mineral density (BMD). Using a PCR assay, we tried to replicate the association among a large group of 2,379 women. We examined the effect of the deletion on femoral neck BMD and lumbar spine BMD according to the menopausal status and hormone replacement therapy (HRT). We used a high-throughput PCR assay to identify the gene and the deletion in a population of well-characterized women. Two additional polymorphisms, UGT2B28 deletion and UGT2B15 rs1902023 G > T were also investigated. Only UGT2B17 deletion was associated with LS and FN BMD. Furthermore, the association was seen only among postmenopausal women who had never used hormone replacement as in the first reported association. We confirmed the association between UGT2B17 deletion and a higher LS and FN BMD. In addition, we show that the association is observed among postmenopausal women who never used HRT consistent with the enzymatic function of UGT2B17. The analysis shows that those having one or two UGT2B17 alleles benefit from HRT, which is not the case for null carriers.

  12. Visualization and simulation of density driven convection in porous media using magnetic resonance imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montague, James A.; Pinder, George F.; Gonyea, Jay V.; Hipko, Scott; Watts, Richard

    2018-05-01

    Magnetic resonance imaging is used to observe solute transport in a 40 cm long, 26 cm diameter sand column that contained a central core of low permeability silica surrounded by higher permeability well-sorted sand. Low concentrations (2.9 g/L) of Magnevist, a gadolinium based contrast agent, produce density driven convection within the column when it starts in an unstable state. The unstable state, for this experiment, exists when higher density contrast agent is present above the lower density water. We implement a numerical model in OpenFOAM to reproduce the observed fluid flow and transport from a density difference of 0.3%. The experimental results demonstrate the usefulness of magnetic resonance imaging in observing three-dimensional gravity-driven convective-dispersive transport behaviors in medium scale experiments.

  13. High-current discharge channel contraction in high density gas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rutberg, Ph. G.; Bogomaz, A. A.; Pinchuk, M. E.; Budin, A. V.; Leks, A. G.; Pozubenkov, A. A.

    2011-01-01

    Research results for discharges at current amplitudes of 0.5-1.6 MA and current rise rate of ∼10 10 A/s are presented. The discharge is performed in the hydrogen environment at the initial pressure of 5-35 MPa. Initiation is implemented by a wire explosion. The time length of the first half-period of the discharge current is 70-150 μs. Under such conditions, discharge channel contraction is observed; the contraction is followed by soft x-ray radiation. The phenomena are discussed, which are determined by high density of the gas surrounding the discharge channel. These phenomena are increase of the current critical value, where the channel contraction begins and growth of temperature in the axis region of the channel, where the initial density of the gas increases.

  14. Polymorphisms in the interleukin-6 receptor gene are associated with bone mineral density and body mass index in Spanish postmenopausal women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bustamante, M; Nogués, X; Mellibovsky, L; Agueda, L; Jurado, S; Cáceres, E; Blanch, J; Carreras, R; Díez-Pérez, A; Grinberg, D; Balcells, S

    2007-11-01

    Osteoporosis and obesity are complex diseases with a strong genetic component. Bone mineral density (BMD) and body mass index (BMI) linkage studies identified a locus at 1q21-23, where the interleukin-6 receptor (IL6R) gene is located. The IL6R and the gp130 receptors are the mediators of IL6 action. Serum levels of IL6 and sIL6R (the soluble form of IL6R) are higher in several diseases such as osteoporosis or obesity. Variants at IL6R have been associated with BMI and obesity. However, IL6R is an as-yet-unexplored osteoporosis candidate gene. In the present study we analysed two polymorphisms in the IL6R promoter, -1435 C/T (rs3887104) and -208 G/A (rs4845617), and the Asp358Ala polymorphism (rs8192284), in relation to both BMD and BMI in a cohort of 559 postmenopausal Spanish women. The promoter polymorphisms, -1435 C/T and -208 G/A were associated with femoral neck (FN) BMD (P=0.011 and P=0.025 respectively). The C-A and T-G promoter haplotypes were also associated with FN BMD. Additionally, the Asp358Ala variant was associated with lumbar spine BMD (P=0.038). Finally, the -208 G/A polymorphism and the C-G and C-A haplotypes were associated with BMI and obesity, where GG was the risk genotype (P=0.033 for BMI; P=0.010 for obesity). These data suggest that variants in the IL6R gene are not only involved in the determination of BMI but also relevant for the determination of BMD. The IL6R gene may belong to the growing list of genes known to be involved in both phenotypes.

  15. How to Design a Park and Its Surrounding Urban Morphology to Optimize the Spreading of Cool Air?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jérémy Bernard

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Green areas induce smaller increases in the air temperature than built-up areas. They can offer a solution to mitigating the urban heat island impacts during heat waves, since the cool air generated by a park is diffused into its immediate surroundings through forced or natural convection. The purpose of this study is to characterize the effect of several variables (park size, morphology of surrounding urban area, and wind speed on the spreading of cool air. A parametric study is performed to run computational fluid dynamics simulations. The air temperature entering the computational domain was set at 35 °C, and the 2-m high surface included within the 34 °C isotherm was defined as an indicator of cool air spreading. The effects of park shape and orientation were negligible in comparison with size effects. The number of buildings was better correlated with the cooled surface area than the typical urban parameters identified in the literature (i.e., building density, aspect ratio, or mean building height. Since the number of buildings is obviously related to the number of streets, this result suggests that the greater the number of streets around a park, the wider the area that cool air spreads.

  16. The physical characteristics of the sediments on and surrounding Dauphin Island, Alabama

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellis, Alisha M.; Marot, Marci E.; Smith, Christopher G.; Wheaton, Cathryn J.

    2017-06-20

    Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center collected 303 surface sediment samples from Dauphin Island, Alabama, and the surrounding water bodies in August 2015. These sediments were processed to determine physical characteristics such as organic content, bulk density, and grain-size. The environments where the sediments were collected include high and low salt marshes, washover deposits, dunes, beaches, sheltered bays, and open water. Sampling by the USGS was part of a larger study to assess the feasibility and sustainability of proposed restoration efforts for Dauphin Island, Alabama, and assess the island’s resilience to rising sea level and storm events. The data presented in this publication can be used by modelers to attempt validation of hindcast models and create predictive forecast models for both baseline conditions and storms. This study was funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, via the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund.This report serves as an archive for sedimentological data derived from surface sediments. Downloadable data are available as Excel spreadsheets, JPEG files, and formal Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata.

  17. Effects of rearing density on seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax, L. gene expression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Saroglia

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Animal welfare involves the subjective feeling of animals and the experience of pleasure, pain, frustration, hunger or other states and it is therefore difficult to define and to measure (Drawkins, 1990. When water quality criteria are respected and feeding restrictions are avoided, fish density may become one of the more relevant factors expected to potentially affect fish welfare. Such high density environment, may lead to a fish conditions that cannot be described or forecast simply with measurement of hematological responses (Roche and Bogé, 1996, in the same time, detection of zootechnical performances, do not provide a specific indications...

  18. The effects of bone on proton NMR relaxation times of surrounding liquids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, C. A.; Genant, H. K.; Dunham, J. S.

    1986-01-01

    Preliminary attempts by our group at UCSF to assess fat content of vertebral marrow in the lumbar spine using relaxation time information demonstrated that the presence of trabecular bone affects relaxation times. The objective of this work was a thorough study of the effects of bone on NMR relaxation characteristics of surrounding liquids. Trabecular bone from autopsy specimens was ground up and sifted into a series of powders with graded densities ranging from 0.3 gm/cc to 0.8 gm/cc. Each powder was placed first in n-saline and then in cottonseed oil. With spectroscopy, spin-lattice relaxation times (T1) and effective spin-spin relaxation times (T2*) were measured for each liquid in each bone powder. As bone density and surface to volume ratio increased, T1 decreased faster for saline than for oil. T2* decreased significantly for both water and oil as the surface to volume ratio increased. It was concluded that effects of water on T1 could be explained by a surface interaction at the bone/liquid interface, which restricted rotational and translational motion of nearby molecules. The T1s of oil were not affected since oil molecules are nonpolar, do not participate in significant intermolecular hydrogen bonding, and therefore would not be expected to interact strongly with the bone surface. Effects on T2* could be explained by local magnetic field inhomogeneities created by discontinuous magnetic susceptibility near the bone surface. These preliminary results suggest that water in contact with trabecular bone in vivo will exhibit shortened relaxation times.

  19. In Situ Observation of Hard Surrounding Rock Displacement at 2400-m-Deep Tunnels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Xia-Ting; Yao, Zhi-Bin; Li, Shao-Jun; Wu, Shi-Yong; Yang, Cheng-Xiang; Guo, Hao-Sen; Zhong, Shan

    2018-03-01

    This paper presents the results of in situ investigation of the internal displacement of hard surrounding rock masses within deep tunnels at China's Jinping Underground Laboratory Phase II. The displacement evolution of the surrounding rock during the entire excavation processes was monitored continuously using pre-installed continuous-recording multi-point extensometers. The evolution of excavation-damaged zones and fractures in rock masses were also observed using acoustic velocity testing and digital borehole cameras, respectively. The results show four kinds of displacement behaviours of the hard surrounding rock masses during the excavation process. The displacement in the inner region of the surrounding rock was found to be greater than that of the rock masses near the tunnel's side walls in some excavation stages. This leads to a multi-modal distribution characteristic of internal displacement for hard surrounding rock masses within deep tunnels. A further analysis of the evolution information on the damages and fractures inside the surrounding rock masses reveals the effects of excavation disturbances and local geological conditions. This recognition can be used as the reference for excavation and supporting design and stability evaluations of hard-rock tunnels under high-stress conditions.

  20. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis of expression data of monozygotic twins identifies specific modules and hub genes related to BMI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Weijing; Jiang, Wenjie; Hou, Lin; Duan, Haiping; Wu, Yili; Xu, Chunsheng; Tan, Qihua; Li, Shuxia; Zhang, Dongfeng

    2017-11-13

    The therapeutic management of obesity is challenging, hence further elucidating the underlying mechanisms of obesity development and identifying new diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets are urgent and necessary. Here, we performed differential gene expression analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to identify significant genes and specific modules related to BMI based on gene expression profile data of 7 discordant monozygotic twins. In the differential gene expression analysis, it appeared that 32 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were with a trend of up-regulation in twins with higher BMI when compared to their siblings. Categories of positive regulation of nitric-oxide synthase biosynthetic process, positive regulation of NF-kappa B import into nucleus, and peroxidase activity were significantly enriched within GO database and NF-kappa B signaling pathway within KEGG database. DEGs of NAMPT, TLR9, PTGS2, HBD, and PCSK1N might be associated with obesity. In the WGCNA, among the total 20 distinct co-expression modules identified, coral1 module (68 genes) had the strongest positive correlation with BMI (r = 0.56, P = 0.04) and disease status (r = 0.56, P = 0.04). Categories of positive regulation of phospholipase activity, high-density lipoprotein particle clearance, chylomicron remnant clearance, reverse cholesterol transport, intermediate-density lipoprotein particle, chylomicron, low-density lipoprotein particle, very-low-density lipoprotein particle, voltage-gated potassium channel complex, cholesterol transporter activity, and neuropeptide hormone activity were significantly enriched within GO database for this module. And alcoholism and cell adhesion molecules pathways were significantly enriched within KEGG database. Several hub genes, such as GAL, ASB9, NPPB, TBX2, IL17C, APOE, ABCG4, and APOC2 were also identified. The module eigengene of saddlebrown module (212 genes) was also significantly

  1. The surrounding concrete structure of the containment as a safety component

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alex, H.; Kuntze, W.M.

    1978-01-01

    This paper will briefly discuss the containments of the various types of reactors in the Federal Republic of Germany and will try to show the importance of the surrounding concrete structures with respect to safety. It will be seen that the surrounding concrete structures serve in any case - as protection against external events - as secondary shielding and must therefore be considered as a passive safety feature. The design requirements for the surrounding concrete structures with respect to protection against external events and to physical protection generally supplement each other. Reference will be made to possible alternatives, which might result from studies of underground siting of nuclear power plants. Whether or not this type of construction can lead to additional safety can only be judged when the results of all these studies - some of which are still under way - are evaluated. The concluding part of this paper will deal with the responsibilities of the civil engineering supervisory authorities and the nuclear licensing authorities with respect to the surrounding concrete structures. (orig.) [de

  2. Altered procollagen gene expression in mid-gestational mouse excisional wounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldberg, Stephanie R; Quirk, Gerald L; Sykes, Virginia W; Kordula, Tomasz; Lanning, David A

    2007-11-01

    Many pathologic conditions are characterized by excessive tissue contraction and scar formation. Previously, we developed a murine model of excisional wound healing in which mid-gestational wounds heal scarlessly compared with late-gestational wounds. We theorized that variations in procollagen gene expression may contribute to the scarless and rapid closure. Time-dated pregnant FVB strain mice underwent laparotomy and hysterotomy on embryonic days 15 (E15) and 18 (E18). Full-thickness, excisional wounds (3 mm) were made on each of 4 fetuses per doe and then harvested at 32, 48, or 72 h. Control tissue consisted of age-matched normal fetal skin. Procollagen types 1alpha1, 1alpha2, and 3 gene expressions were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction and normalized to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Trichrome staining was also performed. Procollagen 1alpha1 expression was decreased in E15 wounds at 32 h compared with their normal skin groups. Procollagen types 1alpha2 and 3 expressions were both increased in the E15 groups compared with the E18 groups at 48 h. At 72 h, the E15 wounds had a collagen density similar to the surrounding normal skin while E18 wounds exhibited increased collagen deposition in a disorganized pattern. This study demonstrates that the pattern of gene expression for types 1 and 3 collagen varies between mid- and late-gestational mouse excisional wounds. These alterations in procollagen expression may contribute to a pattern of collagen deposition in the mid-gestational fetuses that is more favorable for scarless healing with less type 1 and more type 3 collagen.

  3. Consistent and robust determination of border ownership based on asymmetric surrounding contrast.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakai, Ko; Nishimura, Haruka; Shimizu, Ryohei; Kondo, Keiichi

    2012-09-01

    Determination of the figure region in an image is a fundamental step toward surface construction, shape coding, and object representation. Localized, asymmetric surround modulation, reported neurophysiologically in early-to-intermediate-level visual areas, has been proposed as a mechanism for figure-ground segregation. We investigated, computationally, whether such surround modulation is capable of yielding consistent and robust determination of figure side for various stimuli. Our surround modulation model showed a surprisingly high consistency among pseudorandom block stimuli, with greater consistency for stimuli that yielded higher accuracy of, and shorter reaction times in, human perception. Our analyses revealed that the localized, asymmetric organization of surrounds is crucial in the detection of the contrast imbalance that leads to the determination of the direction of figure with respect to the border. The model also exhibited robustness for gray-scaled natural images, with a mean correct rate of 67%, which was similar to that of figure-side determination in human perception through a small window and of machine-vision algorithms based on local processing. These results suggest a crucial role of surround modulation in the local processing of figure-ground segregation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Toward accurate and precise estimates of lion density.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elliot, Nicholas B; Gopalaswamy, Arjun M

    2017-08-01

    Reliable estimates of animal density are fundamental to understanding ecological processes and population dynamics. Furthermore, their accuracy is vital to conservation because wildlife authorities rely on estimates to make decisions. However, it is notoriously difficult to accurately estimate density for wide-ranging carnivores that occur at low densities. In recent years, significant progress has been made in density estimation of Asian carnivores, but the methods have not been widely adapted to African carnivores, such as lions (Panthera leo). Although abundance indices for lions may produce poor inferences, they continue to be used to estimate density and inform management and policy. We used sighting data from a 3-month survey and adapted a Bayesian spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) model to estimate spatial lion density in the Maasai Mara National Reserve and surrounding conservancies in Kenya. Our unstructured spatial capture-recapture sampling design incorporated search effort to explicitly estimate detection probability and density on a fine spatial scale, making our approach robust in the context of varying detection probabilities. Overall posterior mean lion density was estimated to be 17.08 (posterior SD 1.310) lions >1 year old/100 km 2 , and the sex ratio was estimated at 2.2 females to 1 male. Our modeling framework and narrow posterior SD demonstrate that SECR methods can produce statistically rigorous and precise estimates of population parameters, and we argue that they should be favored over less reliable abundance indices. Furthermore, our approach is flexible enough to incorporate different data types, which enables robust population estimates over relatively short survey periods in a variety of systems. Trend analyses are essential to guide conservation decisions but are frequently based on surveys of differing reliability. We therefore call for a unified framework to assess lion numbers in key populations to improve management and

  5. Gene Ontology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaston K. Mazandu

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The wide coverage and biological relevance of the Gene Ontology (GO, confirmed through its successful use in protein function prediction, have led to the growth in its popularity. In order to exploit the extent of biological knowledge that GO offers in describing genes or groups of genes, there is a need for an efficient, scalable similarity measure for GO terms and GO-annotated proteins. While several GO similarity measures exist, none adequately addresses all issues surrounding the design and usage of the ontology. We introduce a new metric for measuring the distance between two GO terms using the intrinsic topology of the GO-DAG, thus enabling the measurement of functional similarities between proteins based on their GO annotations. We assess the performance of this metric using a ROC analysis on human protein-protein interaction datasets and correlation coefficient analysis on the selected set of protein pairs from the CESSM online tool. This metric achieves good performance compared to the existing annotation-based GO measures. We used this new metric to assess functional similarity between orthologues, and show that it is effective at determining whether orthologues are annotated with similar functions and identifying cases where annotation is inconsistent between orthologues.

  6. Improving the scaling normalization for high-density oligonucleotide GeneChip expression microarrays

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lu Chao

    2004-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Normalization is an important step for microarray data analysis to minimize biological and technical variations. Choosing a suitable approach can be critical. The default method in GeneChip expression microarray uses a constant factor, the scaling factor (SF, for every gene on an array. The SF is obtained from a trimmed average signal of the array after excluding the 2% of the probe sets with the highest and the lowest values. Results Among the 76 U34A GeneChip experiments, the total signals on each array showed 25.8% variations in terms of the coefficient of variation, although all microarrays were hybridized with the same amount of biotin-labeled cRNA. The 2% of the probe sets with the highest signals that were normally excluded from SF calculation accounted for 34% to 54% of the total signals (40.7% ± 4.4%, mean ± sd. In comparison with normalization factors obtained from the median signal or from the mean of the log transformed signal, SF showed the greatest variation. The normalization factors obtained from log transformed signals showed least variation. Conclusions Eliminating 40% of the signal data during SF calculation failed to show any benefit. Normalization factors obtained with log transformed signals performed the best. Thus, it is suggested to use the mean of the logarithm transformed data for normalization, rather than the arithmetic mean of signals in GeneChip gene expression microarrays.

  7. QTL global meta-analysis: are trait determining genes clustered?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adelson David L

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background A key open question in biology is if genes are physically clustered with respect to their known functions or phenotypic effects. This is of particular interest for Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL where a QTL region could contain a number of genes that contribute to the trait being measured. Results We observed a significant increase in gene density within QTL regions compared to non-QTL regions and/or the entire bovine genome. By grouping QTL from the Bovine QTL Viewer database into 8 categories of non-redundant regions, we have been able to analyze gene density and gene function distribution, based on Gene Ontology (GO with relation to their location within QTL regions, outside of QTL regions and across the entire bovine genome. We identified a number of GO terms that were significantly over represented within particular QTL categories. Furthermore, select GO terms expected to be associated with the QTL category based on common biological knowledge have also proved to be significantly over represented in QTL regions. Conclusion Our analysis provides evidence of over represented GO terms in QTL regions. This increased GO term density indicates possible clustering of gene functions within QTL regions of the bovine genome. Genes with similar functions may be grouped in specific locales and could be contributing to QTL traits. Moreover, we have identified over-represented GO terminology that from a biological standpoint, makes sense with respect to QTL category type.

  8. Gene organization inside replication domains in mammalian genomes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaghloul, Lamia; Baker, Antoine; Audit, Benjamin; Arneodo, Alain

    2012-11-01

    We investigate the large-scale organization of human genes with respect to "master" replication origins that were previously identified as bordering nucleotide compositional skew domains. We separate genes in two categories depending on their CpG enrichment at the promoter which can be considered as a marker of germline DNA methylation. Using expression data in mouse, we confirm that CpG-rich genes are highly expressed in germline whereas CpG-poor genes are in a silent state. We further show that, whether tissue-specific or broadly expressed (housekeeping genes), the CpG-rich genes are over-represented close to the replication skew domain borders suggesting some coordination of replication and transcription. We also reveal that the transcription of the longest CpG-rich genes is co-oriented with replication fork progression so that the promoter of these transcriptionally active genes be located into the accessible open chromatin environment surrounding the master replication origins that border the replication skew domains. The observation of a similar gene organization in the mouse genome confirms the interplay of replication, transcription and chromatin structure as the cornerstone of mammalian genome architecture.

  9. Morphological Segregation in the Surroundings of Cosmic Voids

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ricciardelli, Elena; Tamone, Amelie [Laboratoire d’Astrophysique, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1290 Sauverny (Switzerland); Cava, Antonio [Observatoire de Genève, Université de Genève, 51 Ch. des Maillettes, 1290 Versoix (Switzerland); Varela, Jesus, E-mail: elena.ricciardelli@epfl.ch [Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón (CEFCA), Plaza San Juan 1, E-44001 Teruel (Spain)

    2017-09-01

    We explore the morphology of galaxies living in the proximity of cosmic voids, using a sample of voids identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7. At all stellar masses, void galaxies exhibit morphologies of a later type than galaxies in a control sample, which represent galaxies in an average density environment. We interpret this trend as a pure environmental effect, independent of the mass bias, due to a slower galaxy build-up in the rarefied regions of voids. We confirm previous findings about a clear segregation in galaxy morphology, with galaxies of a later type being found at smaller void-centric distances with respect to the early-type galaxies. We also show, for the first time, that the radius of the void has an impact on the evolutionary history of the galaxies that live within it or in its surroundings. In fact, an enhanced fraction of late-type galaxies is found in the proximity of voids larger than the median void radius. Likewise, an excess of early-type galaxies is observed within or around voids of a smaller size. A significant difference in galaxy properties in voids of different sizes is observed up to 2 R {sub void}, which we define as the region of influence of voids. The significance of this difference is greater than 3 σ for all the volume-complete samples considered here. The fraction of star-forming galaxies shows the same behavior as the late-type galaxies, but no significant difference in stellar mass is observed in the proximity of voids of different sizes.

  10. Computerized image analysis: estimation of breast density on mammograms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Chuan; Chan, Heang-Ping; Petrick, Nicholas; Sahiner, Berkman; Helvie, Mark A.; Roubidoux, Marilyn A.; Hadjiiski, Lubomir M.; Goodsitt, Mitchell M.

    2000-06-01

    An automated image analysis tool is being developed for estimation of mammographic breast density, which may be useful for risk estimation or for monitoring breast density change in a prevention or intervention program. A mammogram is digitized using a laser scanner and the resolution is reduced to a pixel size of 0.8 mm X 0.8 mm. Breast density analysis is performed in three stages. First, the breast region is segmented from the surrounding background by an automated breast boundary-tracking algorithm. Second, an adaptive dynamic range compression technique is applied to the breast image to reduce the range of the gray level distribution in the low frequency background and to enhance the differences in the characteristic features of the gray level histogram for breasts of different densities. Third, rule-based classification is used to classify the breast images into several classes according to the characteristic features of their gray level histogram. For each image, a gray level threshold is automatically determined to segment the dense tissue from the breast region. The area of segmented dense tissue as a percentage of the breast area is then estimated. In this preliminary study, we analyzed the interobserver variation of breast density estimation by two experienced radiologists using BI-RADS lexicon. The radiologists' visually estimated percent breast densities were compared with the computer's calculation. The results demonstrate the feasibility of estimating mammographic breast density using computer vision techniques and its potential to improve the accuracy and reproducibility in comparison with the subjective visual assessment by radiologists.

  11. A high-density SNP genetic linkage map for the silver-lipped pearl oyster, Pinctada maxima: a valuable resource for gene localisation and marker-assisted selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, David B; Jerry, Dean R; Khatkar, Mehar S; Raadsma, Herman W; Zenger, Kyall R

    2013-11-20

    The silver-lipped pearl oyster, Pinctada maxima, is an important tropical aquaculture species extensively farmed for the highly sought "South Sea" pearls. Traditional breeding programs have been initiated for this species in order to select for improved pearl quality, but many economic traits under selection are complex, polygenic and confounded with environmental factors, limiting the accuracy of selection. The incorporation of a marker-assisted selection (MAS) breeding approach would greatly benefit pearl breeding programs by allowing the direct selection of genes responsible for pearl quality. However, before MAS can be incorporated, substantial genomic resources such as genetic linkage maps need to be generated. The construction of a high-density genetic linkage map for P. maxima is not only essential for unravelling the genomic architecture of complex pearl quality traits, but also provides indispensable information on the genome structure of pearl oysters. A total of 1,189 informative genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were incorporated into linkage map construction. The final linkage map consisted of 887 SNPs in 14 linkage groups, spans a total genetic distance of 831.7 centimorgans (cM), and covers an estimated 96% of the P. maxima genome. Assessment of sex-specific recombination across all linkage groups revealed limited overall heterochiasmy between the sexes (i.e. 1.15:1 F/M map length ratio). However, there were pronounced localised differences throughout the linkage groups, whereby male recombination was suppressed near the centromeres compared to female recombination, but inflated towards telomeric regions. Mean values of LD for adjacent SNP pairs suggest that a higher density of markers will be required for powerful genome-wide association studies. Finally, numerous nacre biomineralization genes were localised providing novel positional information for these genes. This high-density SNP genetic map is the first comprehensive linkage

  12. The density and length of root hairs are enhanced in response to cadmium and arsenic by modulating gene expressions involved in fate determination and morphogenesis of root hairs in Arabidopsis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ramin Bahmani

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Root hairs are tubular outgrowths that originate from epidermal cells. Exposure of Arabidopsis to cadmium (Cd and arsenic [arsenite, As(III] increases root hair density and length. To examine the underlying mechanism, we measured the expression of genes involved in fate determination and morphogenesis of root hairs. Cd and As(III downregulated TTG1 and GL2 (negative regulators of fate determination and upregulated GEM (positive regulator, suggesting that root hair fate determination is stimulated by Cd and As(III. Cd and As(III increased the transcript levels of genes involved in root hair initiation (RHD6 and AXR2 and root hair elongation (AUX1, AXR1, ETR1, and EIN2 except CTR1. DR5::GUS transgenic Arabidopsis showed a higher DR5 expression in the root tip, suggesting that Cd and As(III increased the auxin content in the root tip. Knockdown of TTG1 in Arabidopsis resulted in increased root hair density and decreased root hair length compared with the control (Col-0 on 1/2 MS media. This phenotype may be attributed to the downregulation of GL2 and CTR1 and upregulation of RHD6. By contrast, gem mutant plants displayed a decrease in root hair density and length with reduced expression of RHD6, AXR2, AUX1, AXR1, ETR1, CTR1, and EIN2. Taken together, our results indicate that fate determination, initiation, and elongation of root hairs are stimulated in response to Cd and As(III through the modulation of the expression of genes involved in these processes in Arabidopsis.

  13. Getting Started with GeneRecon — An Introduction to the Association Mapping Tool GeneRecon

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mailund, T; Schauser, Leif

    2006-01-01

    GeneRecon is a software package for linkage disequilibrium mapping using coalescent theory. It is based on Bayesian Markov-chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method for fine-scale linkage-disequilibrium gene mapping using high-density marker maps. GeneRecon explicitly models the genealogy of a sample...... of the case chromosomes in the vicinity of a disease locus. Given case and control data in the form of genotype or haplotype information, it estimates a number of parameters, most importantly, the disease position....

  14. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1818

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,818th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (March 5, 2009). South is at the center; north at both ends. The rover had driven 80.3 meters (263 feet) southward earlier on that sol. Tracks from the drive recede northward in this view. The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and lighter-toned bedrock. This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.

  15. Technical Note: Cortical thickness and density estimation from clinical CT using a prior thickness-density relationship

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Humbert, Ludovic, E-mail: ludohumberto@gmail.com [Galgo Medical, Barcelona 08036 (Spain); Hazrati Marangalou, Javad; Rietbergen, Bert van [Orthopaedic Biomechanics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven 5600 MB (Netherlands); Río Barquero, Luis Miguel del [CETIR Centre Medic, Barcelona 08029 (Spain); Lenthe, G. Harry van [Biomechanics Section, KU Leuven–University of Leuven, Leuven 3001 (Belgium)

    2016-04-15

    Purpose: Cortical thickness and density are critical components in determining the strength of bony structures. Computed tomography (CT) is one possible modality for analyzing the cortex in 3D. In this paper, a model-based approach for measuring the cortical bone thickness and density from clinical CT images is proposed. Methods: Density variations across the cortex were modeled as a function of the cortical thickness and density, location of the cortex, density of surrounding tissues, and imaging blur. High resolution micro-CT data of cadaver proximal femurs were analyzed to determine a relationship between cortical thickness and density. This thickness-density relationship was used as prior information to be incorporated in the model to obtain accurate measurements of cortical thickness and density from clinical CT volumes. The method was validated using micro-CT scans of 23 cadaver proximal femurs. Simulated clinical CT images with different voxel sizes were generated from the micro-CT data. Cortical thickness and density were estimated from the simulated images using the proposed method and compared with measurements obtained using the micro-CT images to evaluate the effect of voxel size on the accuracy of the method. Then, 19 of the 23 specimens were imaged using a clinical CT scanner. Cortical thickness and density were estimated from the clinical CT images using the proposed method and compared with the micro-CT measurements. Finally, a case-control study including 20 patients with osteoporosis and 20 age-matched controls with normal bone density was performed to evaluate the proposed method in a clinical context. Results: Cortical thickness (density) estimation errors were 0.07 ± 0.19 mm (−18 ± 92 mg/cm{sup 3}) using the simulated clinical CT volumes with the smallest voxel size (0.33 × 0.33 × 0.5 mm{sup 3}), and 0.10 ± 0.24 mm (−10 ± 115 mg/cm{sup 3}) using the volumes with the largest voxel size (1.0 × 1.0 × 3.0 mm{sup 3}). A trend for the

  16. Technical Note: Cortical thickness and density estimation from clinical CT using a prior thickness-density relationship

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Humbert, Ludovic; Hazrati Marangalou, Javad; Rietbergen, Bert van; Río Barquero, Luis Miguel del; Lenthe, G. Harry van

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Cortical thickness and density are critical components in determining the strength of bony structures. Computed tomography (CT) is one possible modality for analyzing the cortex in 3D. In this paper, a model-based approach for measuring the cortical bone thickness and density from clinical CT images is proposed. Methods: Density variations across the cortex were modeled as a function of the cortical thickness and density, location of the cortex, density of surrounding tissues, and imaging blur. High resolution micro-CT data of cadaver proximal femurs were analyzed to determine a relationship between cortical thickness and density. This thickness-density relationship was used as prior information to be incorporated in the model to obtain accurate measurements of cortical thickness and density from clinical CT volumes. The method was validated using micro-CT scans of 23 cadaver proximal femurs. Simulated clinical CT images with different voxel sizes were generated from the micro-CT data. Cortical thickness and density were estimated from the simulated images using the proposed method and compared with measurements obtained using the micro-CT images to evaluate the effect of voxel size on the accuracy of the method. Then, 19 of the 23 specimens were imaged using a clinical CT scanner. Cortical thickness and density were estimated from the clinical CT images using the proposed method and compared with the micro-CT measurements. Finally, a case-control study including 20 patients with osteoporosis and 20 age-matched controls with normal bone density was performed to evaluate the proposed method in a clinical context. Results: Cortical thickness (density) estimation errors were 0.07 ± 0.19 mm (−18 ± 92 mg/cm"3) using the simulated clinical CT volumes with the smallest voxel size (0.33 × 0.33 × 0.5 mm"3), and 0.10 ± 0.24 mm (−10 ± 115 mg/cm"3) using the volumes with the largest voxel size (1.0 × 1.0 × 3.0 mm"3). A trend for the cortical thickness and

  17. Gene transfer into subcultured endometrial cells using lipofection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lascombe, I; Mougin, P; Vuillermoz, C; Adessi, G L; Jouvenot, M

    1996-01-01

    Lipofection using the Lipofectin reagent was optimized to transiently transfect subcultured guinea pig endometrial stromal cells with a beta-galactosidase gene driven by a simian virus 40 promoter. Efficient transfection was obtained in the following conditions: a value of six for the ratio of lipofectin to DNA, a low cellular density (10(5) cells per 35-mm well) at the time of subculture (48 h before lipofection) and a lipofection duration of 12 hours. Lipofection was compared to calcium phosphate precipitation previously optimized in the same culture model. At a low cellular density, the lipofection method was found to be more efficient than the calcium phosphate precipitation. This result gives a great relevance to lipofection since the cultured cells available in an experiment are often limited. Then, using cells at low density and a plasmid containing the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (cat) gene linked to an estrogen response element, it was shown that the lipofection procedure is a suitable tool for the evaluation of gene regulation by estrogen.

  18. Influences of population, building, and traffic densities on urban heat island intensity in Chiang Mai City, Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kammuang-Lue Niti

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This research aims to evaluate the Urban Heat Island Intensity (UHII and study the influences of population density, building density, and traffic density on the UHII in Chiang Mai city on each season and time. The surrounding air temperature was measured by thermocouples at a constant height of 2 m above the road by mobile surveying approach. The surveyed routes were divided into urban routes and rural routes. The UHII was calculated from the average surrounding air temperature difference between the urban and the rural areas. Experimental investigations were carried out in two seasons, consisting of summer (March-May, 2014 and winter (December 2013-February 2014. Experimental investigations were carried out in two periods, which were a daytime period (01.00-03.00 pm and a nighttime period (10.00 pm-00.00 am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays. The results show that the UHII in summer day, summer night, winter day, and winter night were 1.07°C, 1.27°C, 0.58°C, and 1.34°C, respectively. This implies that the temperature in Chiang Mai city’s urban area is higher than that in the rural area the entire year. Moreover, it was found that the UHII in summer day, winter day, and winter night were primarily affected by the traffic density with the sensitivity percentage of 87.50%, 72.73%, and 63.33%, respectively. In contrast, the UHII in summer night was mainly affected by the building density with the sensitivity percentage of 50.00%.

  19. A high parasite density environment induces transcriptional changes and cell death in Plasmodium falciparum blood stages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chou, Evelyn S; Abidi, Sabia Z; Teye, Marian; Leliwa-Sytek, Aleksandra; Rask, Thomas S; Cobbold, Simon A; Tonkin-Hill, Gerry Q; Subramaniam, Krishanthi S; Sexton, Anna E; Creek, Darren J; Daily, Johanna P; Duffy, Michael F; Day, Karen P

    2018-03-01

    Transient regulation of Plasmodium numbers below the density that induces fever has been observed in chronic malaria infections in humans. This species transcending control cannot be explained by immunity alone. Using an in vitro system we have observed density dependent regulation of malaria population size as a mechanism to possibly explain these in vivo observations. Specifically, Plasmodium falciparum blood stages from a high but not low-density environment exhibited unique phenotypic changes during the late trophozoite (LT) and schizont stages of the intraerythrocytic cycle. These included in order of appearance: failure of schizonts to mature and merozoites to replicate, apoptotic-like morphological changes including shrinking, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and blebbing with eventual release of aberrant parasites from infected erythrocytes. This unique death phenotype was triggered in a stage-specific manner by sensing of a high-density culture environment. Conditions of glucose starvation, nutrient depletion, and high lactate could not induce the phenotype. A high-density culture environment induced rapid global changes in the parasite transcriptome including differential expression of genes involved in cell remodeling, clonal antigenic variation, metabolism, and cell death pathways including an apoptosis-associated metacaspase gene. This transcriptional profile was also characterized by concomitant expression of asexual and sexual stage-specific genes. The data show strong evidence to support our hypothesis that density sensing exists in P. falciparum. They indicate that an apoptotic-like mechanism may play a role in P. falciparum density regulation, which, as in yeast, has features quite distinguishable from mammalian apoptosis. Gene expression data are available in the GEO databases under the accession number GSE91188. © 2017 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

  20. Pair-density waves, charge-density waves, and vortices in high-Tc cuprates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Zhehao; Zhang, Ya-Hui; Senthil, T.; Lee, Patrick A.

    2018-05-01

    A recent scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiment reports the observation of a charge-density wave (CDW) with a period of approximately 8a in the halo region surrounding the vortex core, in striking contrast to the approximately 4a period CDWs that are commonly observed in the cuprates. Inspired by this work, we study a model where a bidirectional pair-density wave (PDW) with period 8 is at play. This further divides into two classes: (1) where the PDW is a competing state of the d -wave superconductor and can exist only near the vortex core where the d -wave order is suppressed and (2) where the PDW is the primary order, the so-called "mother state" that persists with strong phase fluctuations to high temperature and high magnetic field and lies behind the pseudogap phenomenology. We study the charge-density wave structures near the vortex core in these models. We emphasize the importance of the phase winding of the d -wave order parameter. The PDW can be pinned by the vortex core due to this winding and become static. Furthermore, the period-8 CDW inherits the properties of this winding, which gives rise to a special feature of the Fourier transform peak, namely, it is split in certain directions. There is also a line of zeros in the inverse Fourier transform of filtered data. We propose that these are key experimental signatures that can distinguish between the PDW-driven scenario from the more mundane option that the period-8 CDW is primary. We discuss the pro's and con's of the options considered above. Finally, we attempt to place the STM experiment in the broader context of pseudogap physics of underdoped cuprates and relate this observation to the unusual properties of x-ray scattering data on CDW carried out to very high magnetic field.

  1. El enfoque de la mezcla surround en la música

    OpenAIRE

    Castro Gómez, Albert

    2010-01-01

    El método estandarizado de escuchar música es el conocido sistema estéreo. Únicamente con dos altavoces o dos auriculares se escucha cualquier tipo de sonido de la manera más cómoda, usándolo en la mayoría de reproductores, ordenadores, coches, etc… pero hay otras formas de escuchar música. Nuevas técnicas de sonido que amplían la respuesta auditiva. Este nuevo sonido se conoce como sonido envolvente, internacionalmente llamado sonido surround. El sonido surround trabaja con más canales audit...

  2. The local microenvironment surrounding dansyl molecules attached to controlled pore glass in pure and alcohol-modified supercritical carbon dioxide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Page, Phillip M; McCarty, Taylor A; Munson, Chase A; Bright, Frank V

    2008-06-01

    We report on the local microenvironment surrounding a free dansyl probe, dansyl attached to controlled pore glass (D-CPG), and dansyl molecules attached to trimethylsilyl-capped CPG (capped D-CPG) in pure and alcohol-modified supercritical CO2. These systems were selected to provide insights into the local microenvironment surrounding a reactive agent immobilized at a silica surface in contact with pure and cosolvent-modified supercritical CO2. Local surface-bound dansyl molecule solvation on the CPG surface depends on the dansyl molecule surface loading, the surface chemistry (uncapped versus capped), the bulk fluid density, and the alcohol gas phase absolute acidity. At high dansyl loadings, the surface-bound dansyl molecules are largely "solvated" by other dansyl molecules and these molecules are not affected significantly by the fluid phase. When the dansyl surface loading decreases, dansyl molecules can be accessed/solvated/wetted by the fluid phase. However, at the lowest dansyl loadings studied, the dansyl molecules are in a fluid inaccessible/restrictive environment and do not sense the fluid phase to any significant degree. In uncapped D-CPG, one can poise the system such that the local concentration of an environmentally less responsible cosolvent (alcohol) in the immediate vicinity of surface-immobilized dansyl molecules can approach 100% even though the bulk solution contains orders of magnitude less of this less environmentally responsible cosolvent. In capped C-CPG, the surface excess is attenuated in comparison to that of uncapped D-CPG. The extent of this cosolvent surface excess is discussed in terms of the dansyl surface loading, the local density fluctuations, the cosolvent and surface silanol gas phase acidities, and the silica surface chemistry. These results also have implications for cleanings, extractions, heterogeneous reactions, separations, and nanomaterial fabrication using supercritical fluids.

  3. Density and white shrimp growth pattern (penaeus merguiensis) in kampung nipah waters of perbaungan north sumatera

    Science.gov (United States)

    Natalia Silaen, Sri; Budi Mulya, Miswar

    2018-03-01

    The purpose of the study was to determine the density and pattern of growth of white shrimp (Penaeus merguiensis)of the village Nipah waters. The data collection was conducted by sampling using nets and fishing gear “Langge” (a tool) to determine the density of the three observation stations. The result showed that the distribution of white shrimp in the waters of the estuary and surrounding degraded over the past ten years. The highest density at station II is 0.56 and 5/m2 and at least at the third station as much as 0.42 and 6/m2 The correlation between the density of shrimp with depth as well as the fraction of the base substrate showed that only the depth of the waters who has any significant correlation with the density of shrimp, although the closeness of the relationship is small.

  4. Mesenchymal stromal cells retrovirally transduced with prodrug-converting genes are suitable vehicles for cancer gene therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ďuriniková, E; Kučerová, L; Matúšková, M

    2014-01-01

    Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC) possess a set of several fairly unique properties which make them ideally suitable both for cellular therapies and regenerative medicine. These include: relative ease of isolation, the ability to differentiate along mesenchymal and non-mesenchymal lineages in vitro and the ability to be extensively expanded in culture without a loss of differentiative capacity. MSC are not only hypoimmunogenic, but they mediate immunosuppression upon transplantation, and possess pronounced anti-inflammatory properties. They are able to home to damaged tissues, tumors, and metastases following systemic administration. The ability of homing holds big promise for tumor-targeted delivery of therapeutic agents. Viruses are naturally evolved vehicles efficiently transferring their genes into host cells. This ability made them suitable for engineering vector systems for the delivery of genes of interest. MSC can be retrovirally transduced with genes encoding prodrug-converting genes (suicide genes), which are not toxic per se, but catalyze the formation of highly toxic metabolites following the application of a nontoxic prodrug. The homing ability of MSC holds advantages compared to virus vehicles which display many shortcomings in effective delivery of the therapeutic agents. Gene therapies mediated by viruses are limited by their restricted ability to track cancer cells infiltrating into the surrounding tissue, and by their low migratory capacity towards tumor. Thus combination of cellular therapy and gene delivery is an attractive option - it protects the vector from immune surveillance, and supports targeted delivery of a therapeutic gene/protein to the tumor site.

  5. Study on the Optimal Equivalent Radius in Calculating the Heat Dissipation of Surrounding Rock

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. T. Song

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The heat dissipation of surrounding rock of a non-circular roadway is computed using an equivalent circular roadway approach under three circumstances when the area, perimeter, or hydraulic diameter of the circular roadway is equal to the non-circular roadway to obtain the optimal equivalent radius. The differential equations of heat conduction for unstable surrounding rock are established in cylindrical and rectangular coordinate systems using dimensionless analysis method. The calculation formulas of heat dissipation capacity and heat transfer resistance are derived from differential equations. Based on the method of equivalent radius, the similarities and differences between non-circular and circular roadways in calculating the heat dissipation of surrounding rock are discussed. Using the finite volume method, the calculation models for non-circular and circular roadways in the heat dissipation of surrounding rock are also established, among the non-circular roadways including three circumstances, namely, trapezoid, rectangle, and arch. The relation errors of heat dissipation of the surrounding rock of the three equivalent circular roadway methods are investigated for the three non-circular roadways. Results show that the calculation approach with equal perimeters is the best for the heat dissipation of surrounding rock of non-circular roadways.

  6. Analysis of the geomorphology surrounding the Chang'e-3 landing site

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Chun-Lai; Mu, Ling-Li; Zou, Xiao-Duan; Liu, Jian-Jun; Ren, Xin; Zeng, Xing-Guo; Yang, Yi-Man; Zhang, Zhou-Bin; Liu, Yu-Xuan; Zuo, Wei; Li, Han

    2014-12-01

    Chang'e-3 (CE-3) landed on the Mare Imbrium basin in the east part of Sinus Iridum (19.51°W, 44.12°N), which was China's first soft landing on the Moon and it started collecting data on the lunar surface environment. To better understand the environment of this region, this paper utilizes the available high-resolution topography data, image data and geological data to carry out a detailed analysis and research on the area surrounding the landing site (Sinus Iridum and 45 km×70 km of the landing area) as well as on the topography, landform, geology and lunar dust of the area surrounding the landing site. A general topographic analysis of the surrounding area is based on a digital elevation model and digital elevation model data acquired by Chang'e-2 that have high resolution; the geology analysis is based on lunar geological data published by USGS; the study on topographic factors and distribution of craters and rocks in the surrounding area covering 4 km×4 km or even smaller is based on images from the CE-3 landing camera and images from the topographic camera; an analysis is done of the effect of the CE-3 engine plume on the lunar surface by comparing images before and after the landing using data from the landing camera. A comprehensive analysis of the results shows that the landing site and its surrounding area are identified as typical lunar mare with flat topography. They are suitable for maneuvers by the rover, and are rich in geological phenomena and scientific targets, making it an ideal site for exploration.

  7. Interfacial Tension and Surface Pressure of High Density Lipoprotein, Low Density Lipoprotein, and Related Lipid Droplets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ollila, O. H. S.; Lamberg, A.; Lehtivaara, M.

    2012-01-01

    ) are essentially lipid droplets surrounded by specific proteins, their main function being to transport cholesterol. Interfacial tension and surface pressure of these particles are of great interest because they are related to the shape and the stability of the droplets and to protein adsorption at the interface....... Here we use coarse-grained molecular-dynamics simulations to consider a number of related issues by calculating the interfacial tension in protein-free lipid droplets, and in HDL and LDL particles mimicking physiological conditions. First, our results suggest that the curvature dependence......Lipid droplets play a central role in energy storage and metabolism on a cellular scale. Their core is comprised of hydrophobic lipids covered by a surface region consisting of amphiphilic lipids and proteins. For example, high and low density lipoproteins (HDL and LDL, respectively...

  8. IMPROVING GLOBALlAND30 ARTIFICIAL TYPE EXTRACTION ACCURACY IN LOW-DENSITY RESIDENTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Hou

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available GlobalLand 30 is the first 30m resolution land cover product in the world. It covers the area within 80°N and 80°S. There are ten classes including artificial cover, water bodies, woodland, lawn, bare land, cultivated land, wetland, sea area, shrub and snow,. The TM imagery from Landsat is the main data source of GlobalLand 30. In the artificial surface type, one of the omission error happened on low-density residents’ part. In TM images, hash distribution is one of the typical characteristics of the low-density residents, and another one is there are a lot of cultivated lands surrounded the low-density residents. Thus made the low-density residents part being blurred with cultivated land. In order to solve this problem, nighttime light remote sensing image is used as a referenced data, and on the basis of NDBI, we add TM6 to calculate the amount of surface thermal radiation index TR-NDBI (Thermal Radiation Normalized Difference Building Index to achieve the purpose of extracting low-density residents. The result shows that using TR-NDBI and the nighttime light remote sensing image are a feasible and effective method for extracting low-density residents’ areas.

  9. Ultrastructural relationship of the phagophore with surrounding organelles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biazik, Joanna; Ylä-Anttila, Päivi; Vihinen, Helena; Jokitalo, Eija; Eskelinen, Eeva-Liisa

    2015-01-01

    Phagophore nucleates from a subdomain of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) termed the omegasome and also makes contact with other organelles such as mitochondria, Golgi complex, plasma membrane and recycling endosomes during its formation. We have used serial block face scanning electron microscopy (SB-EM) and electron tomography (ET) to image phagophore biogenesis in 3 dimensions and to determine the relationship between the phagophore and surrounding organelles at high resolution. ET was performed to confirm whether membrane contact sites (MCSs) are evident between the phagophore and those surrounding organelles. In addition to the known contacts with the ER, we identified MCSs between the phagophore and membranes from putative ER exit sites, late endosomes or lysosomes, the Golgi complex and mitochondria. We also show that one phagophore can have simultaneous MCSs with more than one organelle. Future membrane flux experiments are needed to determine whether membrane contacts also signify lipid translocation.

  10. Environmental impacts of coal mine and thermal power plant to the surroundings of Barapukuria, Dinajpur, Bangladesh.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hossain, Md Nazir; Paul, Shitangsu Kumar; Hasan, Md Muyeed

    2015-04-01

    The study was carried out to analyse the environmental impacts of coal mine and coal-based thermal power plant to the surrounding environment of Barapukuria, Dinajpur. The analyses of coal, water, soil and fly ash were carried out using standard sample testing methods. This study found that coal mining industry and coal-based thermal power plant have brought some environmental and socio-economic challenges to the adjacent areas such as soil, water and air pollution, subsidence of agricultural land and livelihood insecurity of inhabitants. The pH values, heavy metal, organic carbon and exchangeable cations of coal water treated in the farmland soil suggest that coal mining deteriorated the surrounding water and soil quality. The SO4(2-) concentration in water samples was beyond the range of World Health Organisation standard. Some physico-chemical properties such as pH, conductivity, moisture content, bulk density, unburned carbon content, specific gravity, water holding capacity, liquid and plastic limit were investigated on coal fly ash of Barapukuria thermal power plant. Air quality data provided by the Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited were contradictory with the result of interview with the miners and local inhabitants. However, coal potentially contributes to the development of economy of Bangladesh but coal mining deteriorates the environment by polluting air, water and soil. In general, this study includes comprehensive baseline data for decision makers to evaluate the feasibility of coal power industry at Barapukuria and the coalmine itself.

  11. Collagen Type I alpha1 (COL1A1 Gene Polymorphism and Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Kazakh Women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akbota Aitkulova

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP at the collagen type I alpha 1 gene (COL1A1 rs1800012 has been widely studied and has shown an association with bone mineral density (BMD and fractures. A minor allele TT of this SNP was found to be greatly overrepresented in individuals with fractures compared to controls, thus becoming a good predictor of  increased fracture risk. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate potential association between COL1A1 gene polymorphism and osteoporosis in Kazakh postmenopausal women.Methods: The study population included 103 postmenopausal women recruited from Pavlodar and Almaty clinics. BMD was measured using DEXA. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral venous blood of study participants with Wizard® Genomic DNA Purification Kit (Promega, USA. Detection of COL1A1 +1245G/T (Sp1 polymorphism was done by the TaqMan® SNP Genotyping Assay of real-time PCR.Results: Densitometry results revealed 36 osteoporotic, 42 osteopenic, and 25 normal postmenopausal women. Data analysis of 1245G>T polymorphism in COL1A1 gene in the group of women with osteopenia and osteoporosis revealed deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The mutant TT genotype was prevalent compared to the heterozygous genotype GT in both groups. Distributions were 83% GG, 3% GT, and 14% TT in the group with osteopenia and 80% GG, 6% GT, and 14% TT in the group with osteoporosis. The distribution of genotypes frequency in the group of normal postmenopausal women was 76% GG, 16% GT, and 8% TT.Conclusion: These results suggest that TT genotype of COL1A1 +1245G/T (Sp1 polymorphism is associated with risk of postmenopausal osteoporosis in Kazakh women. Further studies involving a larger number of women are needed to clarify the relationship of this polymorphism with risk of osteoporosis. 

  12. An experimental investigation of transient heat transfer in surrounding rock mass of high geothermal roadway

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhang Yuan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available A self-designed experimental installation for transient heat transfer in the modelling surrounding rock mass of high geothermal roadways was elaborated in this paper. By utilizing the new installation, the temperature variation rules in surrounding rock mass of the high geothermal roadway during mechanical ventilation were studied. The results show that the roadway wall temperature decreases dramatically at the early stage of ventilation, and the temperature at every position of the surrounding rock mass is decreasing constantly with time passing by. From roadway wall to deep area, the temperature gradually increases until reaching original rock temperature. The relationship between dimensionless temperature and dimensionless radius demonstrates approximately exponential function. Meanwhile, the temperature disturbance range in the simulated surrounding rock mass extends gradually from the roadway wall to deep area in the surrounding rock mass. Besides, as the air velocity increases, heat loss in the surrounding rock mass rises and the ratio of temperature reduction becomes larger, the speed of disturbance range expansion also gets faster.

  13. Linking disadvantaged housing areas to the surrounding city

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stender, Marie

    Several disadvantaged social housing areas in Denmark are currently undergo-ing thorough physical refurbishments, aiming to integrate them better with the surrounding city. The ambition is to attract new users and residents by opening up the borders of the area and establish attractive, new...

  14. Macrogenomic engineering via modulation of the scaling of chromatin packing density.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Almassalha, Luay M; Bauer, Greta M; Wu, Wenli; Cherkezyan, Lusik; Zhang, Di; Kendra, Alexis; Gladstein, Scott; Chandler, John E; VanDerway, David; Seagle, Brandon-Luke L; Ugolkov, Andrey; Billadeau, Daniel D; O'Halloran, Thomas V; Mazar, Andrew P; Roy, Hemant K; Szleifer, Igal; Shahabi, Shohreh; Backman, Vadim

    2017-11-01

    Many human diseases result from the dysregulation of the complex interactions between tens to thousands of genes. However, approaches for the transcriptional modulation of many genes simultaneously in a predictive manner are lacking. Here, through the combination of simulations, systems modelling and in vitro experiments, we provide a physical regulatory framework based on chromatin packing-density heterogeneity for modulating the genomic information space. Because transcriptional interactions are essentially chemical reactions, they depend largely on the local physical nanoenvironment. We show that the regulation of the chromatin nanoenvironment allows for the predictable modulation of global patterns in gene expression. In particular, we show that the rational modulation of chromatin density fluctuations can lead to a decrease in global transcriptional activity and intercellular transcriptional heterogeneity in cancer cells during chemotherapeutic responses to achieve near-complete cancer cell killing in vitro. Our findings represent a 'macrogenomic engineering' approach to modulating the physical structure of chromatin for whole-scale transcriptional modulation.

  15. On non-linear magnetic-charged black hole surrounded by quintessence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nam, Cao H.

    2018-06-01

    We derive a non-linear magnetic-charged black hole surrounded by quintessence, which behaves asymptotically like the Schwarzschild black hole surrounded by quintessence but at the short distances like the dS geometry. The horizon properties of this black hole are investigated in detail. The thermodynamics of the black hole is studied in the local and global views. Finally, by calculating the heat capacity and the free energy, we point to that the black hole may undergo a thermal phase transition, between a larger unstable black hole and a smaller stable black hole, at a critical temperature.

  16. Crust Structure Data of Seas Surrounding Turkey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maden, N.; Gelisli, K.

    2007-01-01

    Black Sea, Aegean, Mediterranean and Marmara Sea, which surround the Turkey, have not been examined with respect to the Geological, Geophysical and other natural sciences sufficiently. In fact, it is not attach importance the Turkish seas adequately and abandoned with respect to the scientific researches. The most important reason of this situation is the lack of the education of the Marine Sciences in the Turkish Universities. In this study, it is tried to construct a crustal structure data base of the surrounding seas of the Turkey by collecting crustal structure data sets done by different authors in different times so far. The data acquired in the base are collected from different data base sources by dragging. The Moho depth in the eastern and western basin of the Black sea is 22 km and 19 km, respectively. In the Marmara Sea the Moho depth is 24 km. The moho value in the southern Aegean is 20 km, in the northern Aegean the moho depth is 30 km. on the other hand, the moho depth value in the eastern and western basin of the Mediterranean Sea are 15-20 km and 25-30 km, respectively

  17. The cloning and characterization of a poplar stomatal density gene

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaneka S. Lawson; Paula M. Pijut; Charles H. Michler

    2014-01-01

    EPIDERMAL PATTERNING FACTOR1 (EPF1) is a well characterized negative regulator of cell division in Arabidopsis thaliana (AtEPF1) where the primary region of localization is the leaf. However, little data have been reported on the role of EPF1 in other plant species. In this study, the EPF1 gene from ...

  18. Enhancing area surrounding breast carcinoma on MR mammography: comparison with pathological examination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goethem, M. van; Verslegers, I.; Biltjes, I.; Schepper, A. de; Schelfout, K.; Colpaert, C.; Kersschot, E.; Tjalma, W.A.; Weyler, J.

    2004-01-01

    The enhancing area surrounding breast carcinoma on MR mammography is correlated with findings from pathological examination. We studied 194 patients with breast cancer who underwent preoperative MR mammography. Of all malignant lesions presenting with an enhancing surrounding area on MR mammography, morphologic features including long spicules, a ductal pattern, diffuse enhancement or nodules were evaluated and compared with histopathological examination. A double breast coil was used; we performed a 3D FLASH sequence with contiguous coronal slices of 2 mm, before and after injection of 0.2 mmol/kg GD-DTPA, and subtraction images were obtained. In total, 297 malignant lesions were detected at MR mammography and 101 of them had one or more types of enhancing surrounding area. In 49 of the 53 cancers with long spicules and in 49 of the 55 cancers with surrounding ductal pattern of enhancement, pathological examination showed in situ and/or invasive carcinoma. Multiple nodules adjacent to the carcinoma were seen in 20 patients and corresponded with six cases of invasive and ten cases of ductal in situ carcinoma. A diffuse enhancing area next to a mass was seen in ten patients and consisted of carcinoma in all cases: seven in situ and three invasive carcinomas. Enhancing areas including long spicules, a ductal pattern, noduli, or diffuse enhancement surrounding a carcinoma corresponded with in situ or invasive extension of the carcinoma in 92.5, 89, 80 and 100% of cases, respectively. (orig.)

  19. Effectively Communicating the Uncertainties Surrounding Ebola Virus Transmission.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andy Kilianski

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The current Ebola virus outbreak has highlighted the uncertainties surrounding many aspects of Ebola virus virology, including routes of transmission. The scientific community played a leading role during the outbreak-potentially, the largest of its kind-as many of the questions surrounding ebolaviruses have only been interrogated in the laboratory. Scientists provided an invaluable resource for clinicians, public health officials, policy makers, and the lay public in understanding the progress of Ebola virus disease and the continuing outbreak. Not all of the scientific communication, however, was accurate or effective. There were multiple instances of published articles during the height of the outbreak containing potentially misleading scientific language that spurred media overreaction and potentially jeopardized preparedness and policy decisions at critical points. Here, we use articles declaring the potential for airborne transmission of Ebola virus as a case study in the inaccurate reporting of basic science, and we provide recommendations for improving the communication about unknown aspects of disease during public health crises.

  20. Effectively Communicating the Uncertainties Surrounding Ebola Virus Transmission.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kilianski, Andy; Evans, Nicholas G

    2015-10-01

    The current Ebola virus outbreak has highlighted the uncertainties surrounding many aspects of Ebola virus virology, including routes of transmission. The scientific community played a leading role during the outbreak-potentially, the largest of its kind-as many of the questions surrounding ebolaviruses have only been interrogated in the laboratory. Scientists provided an invaluable resource for clinicians, public health officials, policy makers, and the lay public in understanding the progress of Ebola virus disease and the continuing outbreak. Not all of the scientific communication, however, was accurate or effective. There were multiple instances of published articles during the height of the outbreak containing potentially misleading scientific language that spurred media overreaction and potentially jeopardized preparedness and policy decisions at critical points. Here, we use articles declaring the potential for airborne transmission of Ebola virus as a case study in the inaccurate reporting of basic science, and we provide recommendations for improving the communication about unknown aspects of disease during public health crises.

  1. Differential expression of anti-angiogenic factors and guidance genes in the developing macula.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kozulin, Peter; Natoli, Riccardo; O'Brien, Keely M Bumsted; Madigan, Michele C; Provis, Jan M

    2009-01-01

    The primate retina contains a specialized, cone-rich macula, which mediates high acuity and color vision. The spatial resolution provided by the neural retina at the macula is optimized by stereotyped retinal blood vessel and ganglion cell axon patterning, which radiate away from the macula and reduce shadowing of macular photoreceptors. However, the genes that mediate these specializations, and the reasons for the vulnerability of the macula to degenerative disease, remain obscure. The aim of this study was to identify novel genes that may influence retinal vascular patterning and definition of the foveal avascular area. We used RNA from human fetal retinas at 19-20 weeks of gestation (WG; n=4) to measure differential gene expression in the macula, a region nasal to disc (nasal) and in the surrounding retina (surround) by hybridization to 12 GeneChip microarrays (HG-U133 Plus 2.0). The raw data was subjected to quality control assessment and preprocessing, using GC-RMA. We then used ANOVA analysis (Partek) Genomic Suite 6.3) and clustering (DAVID website) to identify the most highly represented genes clustered according to "biological process." The neural retina is fully differentiated at the macula at 19-20 WG, while neuronal progenitor cells are present throughout the rest of the retina. We therefore excluded genes associated with the cell cycle, and markers of differentiated neurons, from further analyses. Significantly regulated genes (pmacula versus surround" and "macula versus nasal." KEGG pathway clustering of the filtered gene lists identified 25 axon guidance-related genes that are differentially regulated in the macula. Furthermore, we found significant upregulation of three anti-angiogenic factors in the macula: pigment epithelium derived factor (PEDF), natriuretic peptide precurusor B (NPPB), and collagen type IValpha2. Differential expression of several members of the ephrin and semaphorin axon guidance gene families, PEDF, and NPPB was verified by

  2. Imaging Management of Breast Density, a Controversial Risk Factor for Breast Cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Falcon, Shannon; Williams, Angela; Weinfurtner, Jared; Drukteinis, Jennifer S

    2017-04-01

    Breast density is well recognized as an independent risk factor for the development of breast cancer. However, the magnitude of risk is controversial. As the public becomes increasingly aware of breast density as a risk factor, legislation and notification laws in relation to breast density have become common throughout the United States. Awareness of breast density as a risk factor for breast cancer presents new challenges for the clinician in the approach to the management and screening of women with dense breasts. The evidence and controversy surrounding breast density as a risk factor for the development of breast cancer are discussed. Common supplemental screening modalities for breast cancer are also discussed, including tomosynthesis, ultrasonography, and magnetic resonance imaging. A management strategy for screening women with dense breasts is also presented. The American College of Radiology recognizes breast density as a controversial risk factor for breast cancer, whereas the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recognizes breast density as a modest risk factor. Neither organization recommends the routine use of supplemental screening in women with dense breasts without considering additional patient-related risk factors. Breast density is a poorly understood and controversial risk factor for the development of breast cancer. Mammography is a screening modality proven to reduce breast cancer-related mortality rates and is the single most appropriate tool for population-based screening. Use of supplemental screening modalities should be tailored to individual risk assessment.

  3. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1687

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings on the 1,687th Martian day, or sol, of its surface mission (Oct. 22, 2008). Opportunity had driven 133 meters (436 feet) that sol, crossing sand ripples up to about 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall. The tracks visible in the foreground are in the east-northeast direction. Opportunity's position on Sol 1687 was about 300 meters southwest of Victoria Crater. The rover was beginning a long trek toward a much larger crater, Endeavour, about 12 kilometers (7 miles) to the southeast. This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.

  4. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1798

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,798th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (Feb. 13, 2009). North is on top. The rover had driven 111 meters (364 feet) southward on the preceding sol. Tracks from that drive recede northward in this view. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and lighter-toned bedrock. This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.

  5. Adult trees cause density-dependent mortality in conspecific seedlings by regulating the frequency of pathogenic soil fungi.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Minxia; Liu, Xubing; Gilbert, Gregory S; Zheng, Yi; Luo, Shan; Huang, Fengmin; Yu, Shixiao

    2016-12-01

    Negative density-dependent seedling mortality has been widely detected in tropical, subtropical and temperate forests, with soil pathogens as a major driver. Here we investigated how host density affects the composition of soil pathogen communities and consequently influences the strength of plant-soil feedbacks. In field censuses of six 1-ha permanent plots, we found that survival was much lower for newly germinated seedlings that were surrounded by more conspecific adults. The relative abundance of pathogenic fungi in soil increased with increasing conspecific tree density for five of nine tree species; more soil pathogens accumulated around roots where adult tree density was higher, and this greater pathogen frequency was associated with lower seedling survival. Our findings show how tree density influences populations of soil pathogens, which creates plant-soil feedbacks that contribute to community-level and population-level compensatory trends in seedling survival. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  6. Br2(X) microsolvation in helium clusters: effect of the interaction on the quantum solvent density distribution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Paola, Cono; Gianturco, Franco A; López-Durán, David; de Lara-Castells, Maria Pilar; Delgado-Barrio, Gerardo; Villarreal, Pablo; Jellinek, Julius

    2005-07-11

    The Born-Oppenheimer potential energy surface for the Br2(X) molecule interacting with a varying number of 4He bosons is constructed following two different schemes which employ either a full ab initio evaluation of the Br2-He interaction forces or an estimate of the latter through an empirical model. Both descriptions are employed by carrying out diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) calculations of the ground-state energies and quantum wavefunctions for Br2-(He)n clusters with n up to 24. The results clearly indicate, for both interactions, the occurrence of the full solvation of the molecular dopant within the quantum bosonic "solvent" but also show differences between the two models in terms of the expected density distributions of the surrounding particles within the shorter-range region that makes up the clusters with smaller n values. Our calculations also show that such differences become insignificant for the larger 4He clusters surrounding the Br2 molecule, where density profiles and bulk behaviour are chiefly driven by the solvent structure, once n values reach the region of 15-20 adatoms.

  7. The role of retrotransposons in gene family expansions: insights from the mouse Abp gene family.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janoušek, Václav; Karn, Robert C; Laukaitis, Christina M

    2013-05-29

    Retrotransposons have been suggested to provide a substrate for non-allelic homologous recombination (NAHR) and thereby promote gene family expansion. Their precise role, however, is controversial. Here we ask whether retrotransposons contributed to the recent expansions of the Androgen-binding protein (Abp) gene families that occurred independently in the mouse and rat genomes. Using dot plot analysis, we found that the most recent duplication in the Abp region of the mouse genome is flanked by L1Md_T elements. Analysis of the sequence of these elements revealed breakpoints that are the relicts of the recombination that caused the duplication, confirming that the duplication arose as a result of NAHR using L1 elements as substrates. L1 and ERVII retrotransposons are considerably denser in the Abp regions than in one Mb flanking regions, while other repeat types are depleted in the Abp regions compared to flanking regions. L1 retrotransposons preferentially accumulated in the Abp gene regions after lineage separation and roughly followed the pattern of Abp gene expansion. By contrast, the proportion of shared vs. lineage-specific ERVII repeats in the Abp region resembles the rest of the genome. We confirmed the role of L1 repeats in Abp gene duplication with the identification of recombinant L1Md_T elements at the edges of the most recent mouse Abp gene duplication. High densities of L1 and ERVII repeats were found in the Abp gene region with abrupt transitions at the region boundaries, suggesting that their higher densities are tightly associated with Abp gene duplication. We observed that the major accumulation of L1 elements occurred after the split of the mouse and rat lineages and that there is a striking overlap between the timing of L1 accumulation and expansion of the Abp gene family in the mouse genome. Establishing a link between the accumulation of L1 elements and the expansion of the Abp gene family and identification of an NAHR-related breakpoint in

  8. Utilizing NASA Earth Observations to Model Volcanic Hazard Risk Levels in Areas Surrounding the Copahue Volcano in the Andes Mountains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keith, A. M.; Weigel, A. M.; Rivas, J.

    2014-12-01

    Copahue is a stratovolcano located along the rim of the Caviahue Caldera near the Chile-Argentina border in the Andes Mountain Range. There are several small towns located in proximity of the volcano with the two largest being Banos Copahue and Caviahue. During its eruptive history, it has produced numerous lava flows, pyroclastic flows, ash deposits, and lahars. This isolated region has steep topography and little vegetation, rendering it poorly monitored. The need to model volcanic hazard risk has been reinforced by recent volcanic activity that intermittently released several ash plumes from December 2012 through May 2013. Exposure to volcanic ash is currently the main threat for the surrounding populations as the volcano becomes more active. The goal of this project was to study Copahue and determine areas that have the highest potential of being affected in the event of an eruption. Remote sensing techniques were used to examine and identify volcanic activity and areas vulnerable to experiencing volcanic hazards including volcanic ash, SO2 gas, lava flow, pyroclastic density currents and lahars. Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), EO-1 Advanced Land Imager (ALI), Terra Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), ISS ISERV Pathfinder, and Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) products were used to analyze volcanic hazards. These datasets were used to create a historic lava flow map of the Copahue volcano by identifying historic lava flows, tephra, and lahars both visually and spectrally. Additionally, a volcanic risk and hazard map for the surrounding area was created by modeling the possible extent of ash fallout, lahars, lava flow, and pyroclastic density currents (PDC) for future eruptions. These model results were then used to identify areas that should be prioritized for disaster relief and evacuation orders.

  9. Surrounding information consideration promotes cooperation in Prisoner’s dilemma game

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shu, Gang; Du, Xia; Li, Ya

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • A new method of strategy updating is proposed in the Prisoner’s dilemma game. • The stochastic players only consider their neighbor’s payoff and update strategy by classical Fermi rule. • The advanced player would consider not only the neighbor’s payoff but also the neighbors’ local surrounding information. • The simulation result illustrates that with the increase of advanced players in the network, the fraction of cooperation increases. - Abstract: Evolutionary game theory provides a useful, integrative framework for studying the evolution of cooperation. A new strategy updating method is proposed in our model. Due to people with diversified thinking, players are divided into two categories based on their different strategy updating method: ordinary players and advanced players. The former players only consider their neighbor’s payoff and updating strategy by classical Fermi rule, while the latter players take both the neighbors’ surrounding information and payoff into account. The results show that the neighbors surrounding information consideration contributes to the evolution of cooperation and finds the fraction of cooperation grows evidently with the increase of advanced players numbers. Our model may provide a pragmatic approach to the research of cooperation in social network.

  10. Highly Enriched Uranium Metal Cylinders Surrounded by Various Reflector Materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bernard Jones; J. Blair Briggs; Leland Monteirth

    2007-01-01

    A series of experiments was performed at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in 1958 to determine critical masses of cylinders of Oralloy (Oy) reflected by a number of materials. The experiments were all performed on the Comet Universal Critical Assembly Machine, and consisted of discs of highly enriched uranium (93.3 wt.% 235U) reflected by half-inch and one-inch-thick cylindrical shells of various reflector materials. The experiments were performed by members of Group N-2, particularly K. W. Gallup, G. E. Hansen, H. C. Paxton, and R. H. White. This experiment was intended to ascertain critical masses for criticality safety purposes, as well as to compare neutron transport cross sections to those obtained from danger coefficient measurements with the Topsy Oralloy-Tuballoy reflected and Godiva unreflected critical assemblies. The reflector materials examined in this series of experiments are as follows: magnesium, titanium, aluminum, graphite, mild steel, nickel, copper, cobalt, molybdenum, natural uranium, tungsten, beryllium, aluminum oxide, molybdenum carbide, and polythene (polyethylene). Also included are two special configurations of composite beryllium and iron reflectors. Analyses were performed in which uncertainty associated with six different parameters was evaluated; namely, extrapolation to the uranium critical mass, uranium density, 235U enrichment, reflector density, reflector thickness, and reflector impurities. In addition to the idealizations made by the experimenters (removal of the platen and diaphragm), two simplifications were also made to the benchmark models that resulted in a small bias and additional uncertainty. First of all, since impurities in core and reflector materials are only estimated, they are not included in the benchmark models. Secondly, the room, support structure, and other possible surrounding equipment were not included in the model. Bias values that result from these two simplifications were determined and associated

  11. Glow phenomenon surrounding the vertical stabilizer and OMS pods

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    This 35mm frame, photographed as the Space Shuttle Columbia was orbiting Earth during a 'night' pass, documents the glow phenomenon surrounding the vertical stabilizer and the Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pods of the spacecraft.

  12. Traditional Indian customs surrounding birth A review | Chalmers ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Since 1960, only a few studies have been made of traditional custOIns surrounding birth in Indian culture. Very few of these have described customs followed by Indians in South Africa. A review of these publications is presented here. Customs described include religious, social and psychological aspects of behaviour in ...

  13. Repair of DNA damage in the human metallothionein gene family

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leadon, S.A.; Snowden, M.M.

    1987-01-01

    In order to distinguish enhanced repair of a sequence due to its transcriptional activity from enhanced repair due to chromatin alterations brought about by integration of a sequence into the genome, we have investigated the repair of damage both in endogenous genes and in cell lines that contain an integrated gene with an inducible promoter. The endogenous genes we are studying are the metallothioneins (MTs), a multigene family in man consisting of about 10-12 members. Cultured cells were exposed to 10-J/m 2 uv light and allowed to repair in the presence of bromodeoxyuridine. The DNA was then isolated, digested with Eco RI, and fully hybrid density DNA made by semiconservative synthesis was separated from unreplicated DNA by centrifugation in CsCl density gradients. Unreplicated, parental-density DNA was then reacted with a monoclonal antibody against bromouracil. 1 ref., 1 fig., 1 tab

  14. Reduced visual surround suppression in schizophrenia shown by measuring contrast detection thresholds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ignacio eSerrano-Pedraza

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Visual perception in schizophrenia is attracting a broad interest given the deep knowledge that we have about the visual system in healthy population. In visual science it is known that the visibility of a grating located in the visual periphery is impaired by the presence of a surrounding grating of the same spatial frequency and orientation. Previous studies have suggested abnormal visual surround suppression in patients with schizophrenia. Given that schizophrenia patients have cortical alterations including hypofunction of NMDA receptors and reduced concentration of GABA neurotransmitter, which affect lateral inhibitory connections, then they should perform better than controls in visual suppression tasks. We tested this hypothesis by measuring contrast detection thresholds using a new stimulus configuration. We tested two groups: 21 schizophrenia patients and 24 healthy subjects. Thresholds were obtained using Bayesian staircases in a 4AFC detection task where the target was a grating within a 3 deg Butterworth window that appeared in one of four possible positions at 5 deg eccentricity. We compared three conditions, a target with no surround (NS, b target on top of a surrounding grating of 20 deg diameter and 25% contrast with same spatial frequency and orthogonal orientation (OS, and c target on top of a surrounding grating with parallel (same orientation (PS. Our results show significantly lower thresholds for controls than for patients in NS and OS conditions. We also found significant lower suppression ratios PS/NS in patients. Our results support the hypothesis that inhibitory lateral connections in early visual cortex are impaired in schizophrenia patients.

  15. How A Black Hole Lights Up Its Surroundings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohler, Susanna

    2017-10-01

    How do the supermassive black holes that live at the centers of galaxies influence their environments? New observations of a distant active galaxy offer clues about this interaction.Signs of CoevolutionPlot demonstrating the m-sigma relation, the empirical correlation between the stellar velocity dispersion of a galactic bulge and the mass of the supermassive black hole at its center. [Msigma]We know that the centers of active galaxies host supermassive black holes with masses of millions to billions of suns. One mystery surrounding these beasts is that they are observed to evolve simultaneously with their host galaxies for instance, an empirical relationship is seen between the growth of a black hole and the growth of its host galaxys bulge. This suggests that there must be a feedback mechanism through which the evolution of a black hole is linked to that of its host galaxy.One proposed source of this coupling is the powerful jets emitted from the poles of these supermassive black holes. These jets are thought to be produced as some of the material accreting onto the black hole is flung out, confined by surrounding gas and magnetic fields. Because the jets of hot gas and radiation extend outward through the host galaxy, they provide a means for the black hole to influence the gas and dust of its surroundings.In our current model of a radio-loud active galactic nuclei,a region of hot, ionized gas the narrow-line region lies beyond the sphere of influence of the supermassive black hole. [C.M. Urry and P. Padovani]Clues in the Narrow-Line RegionThe region of gas thought to sit just outside of the black holes sphere of influence (at a distance of perhaps a thousand to a few thousand light-years) is known as the narrow line region so named because we observe narrow emission lines from this gas. Given its hot, ionized state, this gas must somehow be being pummeled with energy. In the canonical picture, radiation from the black hole heats the gas directly in a process

  16. Tomography images of the Alpine roots and surrounding upper mantle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plomerova, Jaroslava; Babuska, Vladislav

    2017-04-01

    Teleseismic body-wave tomography represents powerful tool to study regional velocity structure of the upper mantle and to image velocity anomalies, such as subducted lithosphere plates in collisional zones. In this contribution, we recapitulate 3D models of the upper mantle beneath the Alps, which developed at a collision zone of the Eurasian and African plates. Seismic tomography studies indicate a leading role of the rigid mantle lithosphere that functioned as a major stress guide during the plate collisions. Interactions of the European lithosphere with several micro-plates in the south resulted in an arcuate shape of this mountain range on the surface and in a complicated geometry of the Alpine subductions in the mantle. Early models with one bended lithosphere root have been replaced with more advanced models showing two separate lithosphere roots beneath the Western and Eastern Alps (Babuska et al., Tectonophysics 1990; Lippitsch et al., JGR 2003). The standard isotropic velocity tomography, based on pre-AlpArray data (the currently performed passive seismic experiment in the Alps and surroundings) images the south-eastward dipping curved slab of the Eurasian lithosphere in the Western Alps. On the contrary, beneath the Eastern Alps the results indicate a very steep northward dipping root that resulted from the collision of the European plate with the Adriatic microplate. Dando et al. (2011) interpret high-velocity heterogeneities at the bottom of their regional tomographic model as a graveyard of old subducted lithospheres. High density of stations, large amount of rays and dense ray-coverage of the volume studied are not the only essential pre-requisites for reliable tomography results. A compromise between the amount of pre-processed data and the high-quality of the tomography input (travel-time residuals) is of the high importance as well. For the first time, the existence of two separate roots beneath the Alps has been revealed from carefully pre

  17. Effect of cell density on adipogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, Hongxu; Guo, Likun; Wozniak, Michal J.; Kawazoe, Naoki; Tateishi, Tetsuya; Zhang, Xingdong; Chen, Guoping

    2009-01-01

    The effect of cell density on the adipogenic differentiation of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) was investigated by using a patterning technique to induce the formation of a cell density gradient on a micropatterned surface. The adipogenic differentiation of MSCs at a density gradient from 5 x 10 3 to 3 x 10 4 cells/cm 2 was examined. Lipid vacuoles were observed at all cell densities after 1-3 weeks of culture in adipogenic differentiation medium although the lipid vacuoles were scarce at the low cell density and abundant at the high cell density. Real-time RT-PCR analysis showed that adipogenesis marker genes encoding peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ2 (PPARγ2), lipoprotein lipase (LPL), and fatty acid binding protein-4 (FABP4) were detected in the MSCs cultured at all cell densities. The results suggest that there was no apparent effect of cell density on the adipogenic differentiation of human MSCs.

  18. Production of low-density plasma by coaxially segmented rf discharge for void-free dusty cloud in microgravity experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzukawa, Wataru; Ikada, Reijiro; Tanaka, Yasuhiro; Iizuka, Satoru

    2006-01-01

    A technique is presented for producing a low density plasma by introducing a coaxially segmented parallel-plate radio-frequency discharge for void-free dusty-cloud formation. Main plasma for the dusty plasma experiment is produced in a central core part of the parallel-plate discharge, while a plasma for igniting the core plasma discharge is produced in the periphery region surrounding the core plasma. The core plasma density can be markedly decreased to reduce the ion drag force, which is important for a formation of void-free dusty cloud under microgravity

  19. Localized Electrochemiluminescence from Nanoneedle Electrodes for Very-high-density Electrochemical Sensing

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Jingjing

    2017-09-28

    In this paper, localized electrochemiluminescence (ECL) was visualized from nanoneedle electrodes that achieved very-high-density electrochemical sensing. The localized luminescence at the nanometer-sized tip observed was ascribed to enhanced mass transfer of the luminescence probe at the tip than on the planar surface surrounding the tip, which provided higher luminescence at the tip. The size of the luminescence spots was restricted to 15 μm permitting the electrochemical analysis with a density over 4 × 103 spots/mm2. The positive correlation between the luminescence intensity at the tips and the concentration of hydrogen peroxide supported the quantitative ECL analysis using nanoneedle electrodes. The further modification of glucose oxidase at the electrode surface conceptually demonstrated that the concentration of glucose ranging from 0.5 to 5 mM could be quantified using the luminescence at the tips, which could be further applied for the detection of multiple molecules in the complex biosystem. This successful localized ECL offers a specific strategy for the development of very-high-density electrochemical arrays without the complicated chip design.

  20. Health and safety impacts of nuclear, geothermal, and fossil-fuel electric generation in California. Volume 5. Control of population densities surrounding nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nero, A.V.; Schroeder, C.H.; Yen, W.W.S.

    1977-01-01

    In view of the requirement that the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission must specify land-use/population-density control measures to be used in the vicinity of nuclear power plants being granted land use, the possible forms of such measures are examined. Since these measures must maintain population densities below Nuclear Regulatory Commission criteria, if appropriate, NRC criteria for land use and population densities are given particular attention. In addition, a preliminary comparison of the cost of possible control measures with the reduced potential for damage to the public health and safety is made, yielding the result that control measures within approximately one mile of the plant site may be justified, in certain cases, on a strictly cost-benefit basis. However, it is not clear whether controls over such a limited region would satisfy the legal mandate

  1. Review of Ordered Anarchy: Jasay and his Surroundings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aschwin de Wolf

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available Anthony de Jasay is among the most important social thinkers of our time. His oeuvre offers a sustained critique of government and its defenders. In the book Ordered Anarchy: Jasay and His Surroundings, colleagues and friends pay tribute to the man in the form of an inspiring collection of essays.

  2. A permeability barrier surrounds taste buds in lingual epithelia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dando, Robin; Pereira, Elizabeth; Kurian, Mani; Barro-Soria, Rene; Chaudhari, Nirupa

    2014-01-01

    Epithelial tissues are characterized by specialized cell-cell junctions, typically localized to the apical regions of cells. These junctions are formed by interacting membrane proteins and by cytoskeletal and extracellular matrix components. Within the lingual epithelium, tight junctions join the apical tips of the gustatory sensory cells in taste buds. These junctions constitute a selective barrier that limits penetration of chemosensory stimuli into taste buds (Michlig et al. J Comp Neurol 502: 1003–1011, 2007). We tested the ability of chemical compounds to permeate into sensory end organs in the lingual epithelium. Our findings reveal a robust barrier that surrounds the entire body of taste buds, not limited to the apical tight junctions. This barrier prevents penetration of many, but not all, compounds, whether they are applied topically, injected into the parenchyma of the tongue, or circulating in the blood supply, into taste buds. Enzymatic treatments indicate that this barrier likely includes glycosaminoglycans, as it was disrupted by chondroitinase but, less effectively, by proteases. The barrier surrounding taste buds could also be disrupted by brief treatment of lingual tissue samples with DMSO. Brief exposure of lingual slices to DMSO did not affect the ability of taste buds within the slice to respond to chemical stimulation. The existence of a highly impermeable barrier surrounding taste buds and methods to break through this barrier may be relevant to basic research and to clinical treatments of taste. PMID:25209263

  3. A permeability barrier surrounds taste buds in lingual epithelia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dando, Robin; Pereira, Elizabeth; Kurian, Mani; Barro-Soria, Rene; Chaudhari, Nirupa; Roper, Stephen D

    2015-01-01

    Epithelial tissues are characterized by specialized cell-cell junctions, typically localized to the apical regions of cells. These junctions are formed by interacting membrane proteins and by cytoskeletal and extracellular matrix components. Within the lingual epithelium, tight junctions join the apical tips of the gustatory sensory cells in taste buds. These junctions constitute a selective barrier that limits penetration of chemosensory stimuli into taste buds (Michlig et al. J Comp Neurol 502: 1003-1011, 2007). We tested the ability of chemical compounds to permeate into sensory end organs in the lingual epithelium. Our findings reveal a robust barrier that surrounds the entire body of taste buds, not limited to the apical tight junctions. This barrier prevents penetration of many, but not all, compounds, whether they are applied topically, injected into the parenchyma of the tongue, or circulating in the blood supply, into taste buds. Enzymatic treatments indicate that this barrier likely includes glycosaminoglycans, as it was disrupted by chondroitinase but, less effectively, by proteases. The barrier surrounding taste buds could also be disrupted by brief treatment of lingual tissue samples with DMSO. Brief exposure of lingual slices to DMSO did not affect the ability of taste buds within the slice to respond to chemical stimulation. The existence of a highly impermeable barrier surrounding taste buds and methods to break through this barrier may be relevant to basic research and to clinical treatments of taste. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

  4. Polymorphisms in the ghrelin gene are associated with serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level and not with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Koreans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Hyung Jin; Cho, Young Min; Moon, Min Kyong; Choi, Hye Hun; Shin, Hyoung Doo; Jang, Hak Chul; Kim, Seong Yeon; Lee, Hong Kyu; Park, Kyong Soo

    2006-11-01

    Ghrelin is known to play a role in glucose metabolism and in beta-cell function. There are controversies regarding the role of ghrelin polymorphisms in diabetes and diabetes-related phenotypes. The objective of this study was to examine polymorphisms of the ghrelin gene in a Korean cohort and investigate associations between them and susceptibility to type 2 diabetes and its related phenotypes. The ghrelin gene was sequenced to identify polymorphisms in 24 DNA samples. Common variants were then genotyped in 760 type 2 diabetic patients and 641 nondiabetic subjects. Genetic associations with diabetes-related phenotypes were also analyzed. Nine polymorphisms were identified, and four common polymorphisms [g.-1500C>G, g.-1062G > C, g.-994C > T, g.+408C > A (Leu72Met)] were genotyped in a larger study. The genotype distributions of these four common polymorphisms in type 2 diabetes patients were similar to those of normal nondiabetic controls. However, these four common polymorphisms were variably associated with several diabetes-related phenotypes, such as high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance. In particular, subjects harboring g.-1062C were associated with a lower serum HDL cholesterol level after adjusting for other variables (P = 0.0004 or 0.01 after Bonferroni correction for 24 tests). The aforementioned four common polymorphisms in the ghrelin gene were not found to be significantly associated with susceptibility to type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Korean population. However, the common polymorphism g.-1062G > C in the promoter region of the ghrelin gene was found to be significantly associated with serum HDL cholesterol levels.

  5. Two novel mutations in exon 3 and 4 of low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor gene in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, S.P.

    2011-01-01

    Objective: To determine the common mutation of low density lipoprotein receptor in hypercholesterolemia patients requiring screening for heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) in Karachi. Study Design: Case-series. Place and Duration of Study: Dr. Ziauddin Hospital Laboratory and Dr. Rubina Ghani's Pathological and Molecular Laboratories, Karachi, for the PCR bench work from June 2008 to October 2009. Methodology: All the patients selected for this study were from Dr. Ziauddin Hospital and National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases. All the patients having high total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol were included in this study with premature coronary artery diseases or a family history of hypercholesterolemia. Exclusion criteria included Diabetes mellitus, hypertension, renal disease, hypothyroidism and steroid therapy. After lipid profile with overnight fasting, DNA was extracted from whole blood collected in EDTA (ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid) tube and multiplex PCR (polymerase chain reaction) using forward and reverse primers of exons 3, 4, 9 and 14 of base pairs 162, 431, 550 and 496 respectively. Results: Out of total of 120 hypercholesterolemia cases, 42 patients were classical cases of HeFH (heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia) with xanthomas, xanthelasmas and LDL-C > 160 mg/dl. The total cholesterol (260 +- 57 mg/dL) and LDL-C (192 +- 39 mg/dL ) of cases was significantly high as compared to, controls having total cholesterol (184 9 +- 27 mg/dL) and LDL-C (105 +- 22 mg/dL), p > 0.001. Two novel point mutations were noted in exon 3 and exon 4. The other 78 cases were probable with raised LDL-C (low density lipoprotein cholesterol) and family history of premature coronary heart diseases. Conclusion: The frequency of HeFH was 35% classical and 65% probable cases out of total 120 hypercholesterolemia patients from two tertiary care hospitals in Karachi. The point mutation on exon 3 and exon 4 of LDLR gene was the most common. PCR is

  6. Summertime ozone formation in Xi'an and surrounding areas, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Feng

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available In this study, the ozone (O3 formation in China's northwest city of Xi'an and surrounding areas is investigated using the Weather Research and Forecasting atmospheric chemistry (WRF-Chem model during the period from 22 to 24 August 2013, corresponding to a heavy air pollution episode with high concentrations of O3 and PM2.5. The model generally performs well compared to measurements in simulating the surface temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed and direction, near-surface O3 and PM2.5 mass concentrations, and aerosol constituents. High aerosol concentrations in Xi'an and surrounding areas significantly decrease the photolysis frequencies and can reduce O3 concentrations by more than 50 µg m−3 (around 25 ppb on average. Sensitivity studies show that the O3 production regime in Xi'an and surrounding areas is complicated, varying from NOx to VOC (volatile organic compound-sensitive chemistry. The industrial emissions contribute the most to the O3 concentrations compared to biogenic and other anthropogenic sources, but neither individual anthropogenic emission nor biogenic emission plays a dominant role in the O3 formation. Under high O3 and PM2.5 concentrations, a 50 % reduction in all the anthropogenic emissions only decreases near-surface O3 concentrations by about 14 % during daytime. The complicated O3 production regime and high aerosol levels pose a challenge for O3 control strategies in Xi'an and surrounding areas. Further investigation regarding O3 control strategies will need to be performed, taking into consideration the rapid changes in anthropogenic emissions that are not reflected in the current emission inventories and the uncertainties in the meteorological field simulations.

  7. An oxygen-rich dust disk surrounding an evolved star in the Red Rectangle

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Waters, LBFM; Waelkens, C; van Winckel, H; Molster, FJ; Tielens, AGGM; van Loon, JT; Morris, PW; Cami, J; Bouwman, J; de Koter, A; de Jong, T; de Graauw, T

    1998-01-01

    The Red Rectangle(1) is the prototype of a class of carbon-rich reflection nebulae surrounding low-mass stars in the final stages of evolution. The central star of this nebula has ejected most of its layers (during the red-giant phase), which now form the surrounding cloud, and is rapidly evolving

  8. Analysis of the geomorphology surrounding the Chang'e-3 landing site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Chun-Lai; Mu Ling-Li; Zou Xiao-Duan; Liu Jian-Jun; Ren Xin; Zeng Xing-Guo; Yang Yi-Man; Zhang Zhou-Bin; Liu Yu-Xuan; Zuo Wei; Li Han

    2014-01-01

    Chang'e-3 (CE-3) landed on the Mare Imbrium basin in the east part of Sinus Iridum (19.51°W, 44.12°N), which was China's first soft landing on the Moon and it started collecting data on the lunar surface environment. To better understand the environment of this region, this paper utilizes the available high-resolution topography data, image data and geological data to carry out a detailed analysis and research on the area surrounding the landing site (Sinus Iridum and 45 km×70 km of the landing area) as well as on the topography, landform, geology and lunar dust of the area surrounding the landing site. A general topographic analysis of the surrounding area is based on a digital elevation model and digital elevation model data acquired by Chang'e-2 that have high resolution; the geology analysis is based on lunar geological data published by USGS; the study on topographic factors and distribution of craters and rocks in the surrounding area covering 4 km×4 km or even smaller is based on images from the CE-3 landing camera and images from the topographic camera; an analysis is done of the effect of the CE-3 engine plume on the lunar surface by comparing images before and after the landing using data from the landing camera. A comprehensive analysis of the results shows that the landing site and its surrounding area are identified as typical lunar mare with flat topography. They are suitable for maneuvers by the rover, and are rich in geological phenomena and scientific targets, making it an ideal site for exploration

  9. Mean expression of the X chromosome is associated with neuronal density

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James Thomas Swingland

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Neurodegenerative diseases are characterised by neuronal loss. Neuronal loss causes a varying density of neurons across samples which confounds results from gene expression studies. Chromosome X is known to be specifically important in brain. We hypothesised the existence of a chromosomal signature of gene expression associated with the X-chromosome for neurological conditions not normally associated with that chromosome. The hypothesis was investigated using microarray datasets from studies on Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease. Data were analysed using Chromowave, an analytical tool for detecting spatially extended expression changes across chromosomes. To examine associations with neuronal density, expressions from a set of neuron specific genes were extracted. The association between these genes and the expression patterns extracted by Chromowave was then analyzed. We observed an extended pattern of low expression of ChrX consistent in all the neurodegenerative disease brain datasets. There was a strong correlation between mean ChrX expression and the pattern extracted from the autosomal neuronal specific genes, but no correlation with mean autosomal expression. No chromosomal patterns associated with the neuron specific genes were found on other chromosomes. The chromosomal expression pattern was not present in datasets from blood cells. The ChrX:Autosome expression ratio was also higher in neuronal cells than in tissues with a mix of cell types.The results suggest that a loss of neurons manifests in gene expression experiments primarily as a reduction in mean expression of genes along ChrX. The most likely explanation for this finding relates to the documented general up-regulation of ChrX in brain tissue which, this work suggests, occurs primarily in neurons. The purpose and mechanisms behind this cell specific higher expression warrant further research, which may also help elucidate connectio

  10. Differential neutrophil gene expression in early bovine pregnancy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kizaki Keiichiro

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In food production animals, especially cattle, the diagnosis of gestation is important because the timing of gestation directly affects the running of farms. Various methods have been used to detect gestation, but none of them are ideal because of problems with the timing of detection or the accuracy, simplicity, or cost of the method. A new method for detecting gestation, which involves assessing interferon-tau (IFNT-stimulated gene expression in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL, was recently proposed. PBL fractionation methods were used to examine whether the expression profiles of various PBL populations could be used as reliable diagnostic markers of bovine gestation. Methods PBL were collected on days 0 (just before artificial insemination, 7, 14, 17, 21, and 28 of gestation. The gene expression levels of the PBL were assessed with microarray analysis and/or quantitative real-time reverse transcription (q PCR. PBL fractions were collected by flow cytometry or density gradient cell separation using Histopaque 1083 or Ficoll-Conray solutions. The expression levels of four IFNT-stimulated genes, interferon-stimulated protein 15 kDa (ISG15, myxovirus-resistance (MX 1 and 2, and 2′-5′-oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS1, were then analyzed in each fraction through day 28 of gestation using qPCR. Results Microarray analysis detected 72 and 28 genes in whole PBL that were significantly higher on days 14 and 21 of gestation, respectively, than on day 0. The upregulated genes included IFNT-stimulated genes. The expression levels of these genes increased with the progression of gestation until day 21. In flow cytometry experiments, on day 14 the expression levels of all of the genes were significantly higher in the granulocyte fraction than in the other fractions. Their expression gradually decreased through day 28 of gestation. Strong correlations were observed between the expression levels of the four genes in the granulocyte

  11. Numerical Simulation on Zonal Disintegration in Deep Surrounding Rock Mass

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xuguang Chen

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Zonal disintegration have been discovered in many underground tunnels with the increasing of embedded depth. The formation mechanism of such phenomenon is difficult to explain under the framework of traditional rock mechanics, and the fractured shape and forming conditions are unclear. The numerical simulation was carried out to research the generating condition and forming process of zonal disintegration. Via comparing the results with the geomechanical model test, the zonal disintegration phenomenon was confirmed and its mechanism is revealed. It is found to be the result of circular fracture which develops within surrounding rock mass under the high geostress. The fractured shape of zonal disintegration was determined, and the radii of the fractured zones were found to fulfill the relationship of geometric progression. The numerical results were in accordance with the model test findings. The mechanism of the zonal disintegration was revealed by theoretical analysis based on fracture mechanics. The fractured zones are reportedly circular and concentric to the cavern. Each fracture zone ruptured at the elastic-plastic boundary of the surrounding rocks and then coalesced into the circular form. The geometric progression ratio was found to be related to the mechanical parameters and the ground stress of the surrounding rocks.

  12. Numerical simulation on zonal disintegration in deep surrounding rock mass.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xuguang; Wang, Yuan; Mei, Yu; Zhang, Xin

    2014-01-01

    Zonal disintegration have been discovered in many underground tunnels with the increasing of embedded depth. The formation mechanism of such phenomenon is difficult to explain under the framework of traditional rock mechanics, and the fractured shape and forming conditions are unclear. The numerical simulation was carried out to research the generating condition and forming process of zonal disintegration. Via comparing the results with the geomechanical model test, the zonal disintegration phenomenon was confirmed and its mechanism is revealed. It is found to be the result of circular fracture which develops within surrounding rock mass under the high geostress. The fractured shape of zonal disintegration was determined, and the radii of the fractured zones were found to fulfill the relationship of geometric progression. The numerical results were in accordance with the model test findings. The mechanism of the zonal disintegration was revealed by theoretical analysis based on fracture mechanics. The fractured zones are reportedly circular and concentric to the cavern. Each fracture zone ruptured at the elastic-plastic boundary of the surrounding rocks and then coalesced into the circular form. The geometric progression ratio was found to be related to the mechanical parameters and the ground stress of the surrounding rocks.

  13. Tissue reaction surrounding miniscrews for orthodontic anchorage: An animal experiment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephanie Shih-Hsuan Chen

    2012-03-01

    Results and conclusions: (1 Tissue surrounding roots damaged by a miniscrew showed a significant inflammatory response. (2 Root resorption was occasionally observed after 3 weeks following insertion of a miniscrew even if the miniscrew was not in direct contact with the root. (3 Root repair was noted with a cementoblast lining along the resorption surface at as early as 3 weeks after miniscrew insertion. Alveolar bone filled in the lesion when the root damage was large so that the contour of the alveolar bone followed that of the damaged root, with the width of the periodontal ligament space being maintained. (4 Stable miniscrews were mainly those which did not contact adjacent roots, and for which the surrounding tissue showed only a small inflammatory response with some extent of direct bone contact around the miniscrew. On the contrary, most of the failed miniscrews were those which had direct contact with adjacent roots, and which exhibited severe tissue inflammation and were covered by thick layers of soft tissue. Failure was detected 3 weeks after insertion. Surprisingly, the epithelial lining surrounding the miniscrews might not have spontaneously resolved 6 weeks after screw removal. Persistent infection in the sinus tract was noted, and this would require attention.

  14. Time-Delay Effects on Constitutive Gene Expression*

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feng Yan-Ling; Wang Dan; Tang Xu-Lei; Dong Jian-Min

    2017-01-01

    The dynamics of constitutive gene expression with delayed mRNA degradation is investigated, where the intrinsic noise caused by the small number of reactant molecules is introduced. It is found that the oscillatory behavior claimed in previous investigations does not appear in the approximation of small time delay, and the steady state distribution still follows the Poisson law. Furthermore, we introduce the extrinsic noise induced by surrounding environment to explore the effects of this noise and time delay on the Fano factor. Based on a delay Langevin equation and the corresponding Fokker–Planck equation, the distribution of mRNA copy-number is achieved analytically. The time delay and extrinsic noise play similar roles in the gene expression system, that is, they are able to result in the deviation of the Fano factor from 1 evidently. The measured Fano factor for constitutive gene expression is slightly larger than 1, which is perhaps attributed to the time-delay effect. (paper)

  15. Evaluating the effect of the space surrounding the condenser of a household refrigerator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bassiouny, Ramadan [Dept. of Mech. Power Eng. and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, Minia University, Minia 61111 (Egypt)

    2009-11-15

    The paper presents an analytical and computational modeling of the effect of the space surrounding the condenser of a household refrigerator on the rejected heat. The driving force for rejecting the heat carried by the refrigerant from the interior of a refrigerator is the temperature difference between the condenser outer surface and surrounding air. The variation of this difference, because of having an insufficient space, increasing the room air temperature, or blocking this space, is of interest to quantify its effect The results showed that having an enough surrounding space width (s > 200 mm) leads to a decrease in the temperature of the air flowing vertically around the condenser coil. Accordingly, this would significantly increase the amount of heat rejected. Moreover, blocking this space retards the buoyant flow up the condenser surface, and hence increases the air temperature around the condenser. This would also decrease the heat rejected from the condenser. Predicted temperature contours are displayed to visualize the air plumes' variation surrounding the condenser in all cases. (author)

  16. The gsdf gene locus harbors evolutionary conserved and clustered genes preferentially expressed in fish previtellogenic oocytes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gautier, Aude; Le Gac, Florence; Lareyre, Jean-Jacques

    2011-02-01

    The gonadal soma-derived factor (GSDF) belongs to the transforming growth factor-β superfamily and is conserved in teleostean fish species. Gsdf is specifically expressed in the gonads, and gene expression is restricted to the granulosa and Sertoli cells in trout and medaka. The gsdf gene expression is correlated to early testis differentiation in medaka and was shown to stimulate primordial germ cell and spermatogonia proliferation in trout. In the present study, we show that the gsdf gene localizes to a syntenic chromosomal fragment conserved among vertebrates although no gsdf-related gene is detected on the corresponding genomic region in tetrapods. We demonstrate using quantitative RT-PCR that most of the genes localized in the synteny are specifically expressed in medaka gonads. Gsdf is the only gene of the synteny with a much higher expression in the testis compared to the ovary. In contrast, gene expression pattern analysis of the gsdf surrounding genes (nup54, aff1, klhl8, sdad1, and ptpn13) indicates that these genes are preferentially expressed in the female gonads. The tissue distribution of these genes is highly similar in medaka and zebrafish, two teleostean species that have diverged more than 110 million years ago. The cellular localization of these genes was determined in medaka gonads using the whole-mount in situ hybridization technique. We confirm that gsdf gene expression is restricted to Sertoli and granulosa cells in contact with the premeiotic and meiotic cells. The nup54 gene is expressed in spermatocytes and previtellogenic oocytes. Transcripts corresponding to the ovary-specific genes (aff1, klhl8, and sdad1) are detected only in previtellogenic oocytes. No expression was detected in the gonocytes in 10 dpf embryos. In conclusion, we show that the gsdf gene localizes to a syntenic chromosomal fragment harboring evolutionary conserved genes in vertebrates. These genes are preferentially expressed in previtelloogenic oocytes, and thus, they

  17. A conceptual fusion reactor based on the high-plasma-density Z-pinch

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hartman, C.W.; Carlson, G.; Hoffman, M.; Werner, R.

    1977-01-01

    Conceptual DT and DD fusion reactors are discussed based on magnetic confinement with the high-plasma-density Z-pinch. The reactor concepts have no ''first wall'', the fusion neutrons and plasma energy being absorbed directly into a surrounding lithium vortex blanket. Efficient systems with low re-circulated power are projected, based on a flow-through pinch cycle for which overall Q values can approach 10. The conceptual reactors are characterized by simplicity, small minimum size (100MW(e)) and by the potential for minimal radioactivity hazards. (author)

  18. Diffuse optical tomography with structured-light patterns to quantify breast density

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwong, Jessica; Nouizi, Farouk; Cho, Jaedu; Zheng, Jie; Li, Yifan; Chen, Jeon-hor; Su, Min-Ying; Gulsen, Gultekin

    2016-02-01

    Breast density is an independent risk factor for breast cancer, where women with denser breasts are more likely to develop cancer. By identifying women at higher risk, healthcare providers can suggest screening at a younger age to effectively diagnose and treat breast cancer in its earlier stages. Clinical risk assessment models currently do not incorporate breast density, despite its strong correlation with breast cancer. Current methods to measure breast density rely on mammography and MRI, both of which may be difficult to use as a routine risk assessment tool. We propose to use diffuse optical tomography with structured-light to measure the dense, fibroglandular (FGT) tissue volume, which has a different chromophore signature than the surrounding adipose tissue. To test the ability of this technique, we performed simulations by creating numerical breast phantoms from segmented breast MR images. We looked at two different cases, one with a centralized FGT distribution and one with a dispersed distribution. As expected, the water and lipid volumes segmented at half-maximum were overestimated for the dispersed case. However, it was noticed that the recovered water and lipid concentrations were lower and higher, respectively, than the centralized case. This information may provide insight into the morphological distribution of the FGT and can be a correction in estimating the breast density.

  19. 3D density model of the upper mantle of Asia based on inversion of gravity and seismic tomography data

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kaban, Mikhail K.; Stolk, Ward; Tesauro, Magdala; El Khrepy, Sami; Al-Arifi, Nassir; Beekman, Fred; Cloetingh, Sierd A P L

    2016-01-01

    We construct a new-generation 3D density model of the upper mantle of Asia and its surrounding areas based on a joint interpretation of several data sets. A recent model of the crust combining nearly all available seismic data is employed to calculate the impact of the crust on the gravity anomalies

  20. Effects of High Fat Feeding and Diabetes on Regression of Atherosclerosis Induced by Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor Gene Therapy in LDL Receptor-Deficient Mice.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florian Willecke

    Full Text Available We tested whether a high fat diet (HFD containing the inflammatory dietary fatty acid palmitate or insulin deficient diabetes altered the remodeling of atherosclerotic plaques in LDL receptor knockout (Ldlr-/- mice. Cholesterol reduction was achieved by using a helper-dependent adenovirus (HDAd carrying the gene for the low-density lipoprotein receptor (Ldlr; HDAd-LDLR. After injection of the HDAd-LDLR, mice consuming either HFD, which led to insulin resistance but not hyperglycemia, or low fat diet (LFD, showed regression compared to baseline. However there was no difference between the two groups in terms of atherosclerotic lesion size, or CD68+ cell and lipid content. Because of the lack of effects of these two diets, we then tested whether viral-mediated cholesterol reduction would lead to defective regression in mice with greater hyperglycemia. In both normoglycemic and streptozotocin (STZ-treated hyperglycemic mice, HDAd-LDLR significantly reduced plasma cholesterol levels, decreased atherosclerotic lesion size, reduced macrophage area and lipid content, and increased collagen content of plaque in the aortic sinus. However, reductions in anti-inflammatory and ER stress-related genes were less pronounced in STZ-diabetic mice compared to non-diabetic mice. In conclusion, HDAd-mediated Ldlr gene therapy is an effective and simple method to induce atherosclerosis regression in Ldlr-/- mice in different metabolic states.

  1. High seed dispersal ability of Pinus canariensis in stands of contrasting density inferred from genotypic data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Unai López de Heredia

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Aim of the study: Models that combine parentage analysis from molecular data with spatial information of seeds and seedlings provide a framework to describe and identify the factors involved in seed dispersal and recruitment of forest species. In the present study we used a spatially explicit method (the gene shadow model in order to assess primary and effective dispersal in Pinus canariensis. Area of study: Pinus canariensis is endemic to the Canary Islands (Spain. Sampling sites were a high density forest in southern slopes of Tenerife and a low density stand in South Gran Canaria. Materials and methods: We fitted models based on parentage analysis from seeds and seedlings collected in two sites with contrasting stand density, and then compared the resulting dispersal distributions. Main results: The results showed that: 1 P. canariensis has a remarkable dispersal ability compared to other pine species; 2 there is no discordance between primary and effective dispersals, suggesting limited secondary dispersal by animals and lack of Janzen-Connell effect; and 3 low stand densities enhance the extent of seed dispersal, which was higher in the low density stand. Research highlights: The efficient dispersal mechanism of P. canariensis by wind inferred by the gene shadow model is congruent with indirect measures of gene flow, and has utility in reconstructing past demographic events and in predicting future distribution ranges for the species.

  2. EGF-R is Expressed and AP-1 and NF-κ:B Are Activated in Stromal Myofibroblasts Surrounding Colon Adenocarcinomas Paralleling Expression of COX-2 and VEGF

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Panagiotis A. Konstantinopoulos

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: COX-2 and VEGF are important triggers of colon cancer growth, metastasis and angiogenesis. Cox-2 promoter contains transcriptional regulatory elements for AP-1 and NF-κ:B transcription factors whilst vegf is a known AP-1 downstream target gene. We investigated whether stromal myofibroblasts surrounding colon adenocarcinomas express COX-2 and VEGF and whether activation of AP-1 and NF-κ:B, as well as expression of EGF-R parallel expression of COX-2 and VEGF in these cells. Methods: Immunohistochemical methodology was performed on archival sections from 40 patients with colon adenocarcinomas. We evaluated c-FOS, p-c-JUN (phosphorylated c-JUN, p-Iκ:B-α (phosphorylated Iκ:B-α, EGF-R, COX-2, NF-κ:B and VEGF expression in stromal myofibroblasts surrounding colon adenocarcinomas. Double immunostaining with a-smooth muscle actin and each antibody was done to verify the expression of these molecules in stromal myofibroblasts. Results: VEGF, p-Iκ:B-α, NF-κ:B, c-FOS, p-c-JUN, EGF-R and COX-2 were expressed in stromal myofibroblasts surrounding colon adenocarcinomas in the majority of cases. EGF-R, p-Iκ:B-α, NF-κ:B, c-FOS and p-c-JUN correlated positively with COX-2 and VEGF expression. Conclusion: Stromal myofibroblasts surrounding colon adenocarcinomas are an important source of VEGF and COX-2 production, while AP-1 and NF-κ:B transcription factors are activated and EGF-R is expressed in these cells and associated with COX-2 and VEGF production.

  3. Solid density, low temperature plasma formation in a capillary discharge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kania, D.R.; Jones, L.A.; Maestas, M.D.; Shepherd, R.L.

    1987-01-01

    This work discusses the ability of the authors to produce solid density, low temperature plasmas in polyurethane capillary discharges. The initial capillary diameter is 20 μm. The plasma is produced by discharging a one Ohm parallel plate waterline and Marx generator system through the capillary. A peak current of 340 kA in 300 ns heats the inner wall of the capillary, and the plasma expands into the surrounding material. The authors studied the evolution of the discharge using current and voltage probes, axial and radial streak photography, axial x-ray diode array and schlieren photography, and have estimated the peak temperature of the discharge to be approximately 10 eV and the density to be near 10/sup 23/cm/sup -3/. This indicates that the plasma may approach the strongly coupled regime. They discuss their interpretation of the data and compare their results with theoretical models of the plasma dynamics

  4. Associação entre os polimorfismos HaeIII e MspI do gene para o receptor alfa de estrogênio e densidade mamográfica em mulheres após a menopausa Association between HaeIII and MspI polymorphisms of estrogen receptor alpha gene and mammographic density in post-menopausal women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduardo Henrique de Moura Ramos

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Avaliar a presença dos polimorfismos HaeIII e MspI do gene para o receptor de estrogênio alfa, bem como fatores clínicos e suas possíveis associações com a densidade mamográfica em mulheres após a menopausa. MÉTODOS: Foram avaliadas 115 mulheres após a menopausa, não usuárias de terapia hormonal e sem lesão mamária clínica ou mamograficamente identificada. A densidade mamográfica foi determinada por três observadores independentes, tomando-se como base a classificação dos padrões mamográficos do ACR-BIRADS®, 2003 (duas avaliações subjetivas e uma computadorizada - Adobe Photoshop® 7.0. Amostras de raspado bucal foram obtidas para extração de DNA e em seguida foi realizada uma PCR-RFLP (Polymerase Chain Reation - Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism para análise de polimorfismos presentes no íntron 1 e éxon 1 do gene do REalfa (HaeIII e MspI. RESULTADOS: O polimorfismo HaeIII foi encontrado em 43 (37,4% das 115 mulheres, ao passo que o MspI estava presente em 96 (83,5% das mesmas. Houve alto grau de concordância entre os três observadores na determinação da densidade mamográfica. Trinta e quatro (29,6% mulheres tinham mamas densas, e 81 (70,4%, mamas lipossubstituídas. CONCLUSÃO: Não houve associação entre o polimorfismo HaeIII do gene para o receptor de estrogênio alfa e densidade mamográfica (Fisher = 0,712. Houve associação próxima à significância estatística entre o polimorfismo MspI e densidade (Fisher = 0,098. Idade, paridade e índice de massa corporal mostraram-se associados com densidade mamográfica.PURPOSE: To assess the presence of estrogen receptor gene polymorphisms HaeIII and MspI as well as clinical factors, and their possible associations with high mammographic density in post-menopausal women. METHODS: One hundred and fifteen post-menopausal women, not in use of hormonal therapy and without clinical or mammographic lesions were evaluated. Three independent observers

  5. Energy buildup factor for ICRU 33 sphere surrounded by an air layer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ochiana, G.; Oncescu, M.

    1994-01-01

    The buildup factor due to the air surrounding an ICRU 33 sphere is a desirable quantity in the assessment of the air kerma rate for external exposure to gamma emitters distributed on the ground. A Monte Carlo algorithm has been developed to perform the photon transport calculation within the air layer around the sphere. The energy buildup factor due to the air layer has been calculated for an extended radioactive source - the contaminated ground. The transport of photons within the air layer surrounding a sphere -ICRU 33 phantom - is done by calculating separately the energies deposited by photons into the sphere when this one is in vacuum and when it is surrounded by the air, respectively. The results are given for an air layer of 100 m thickness and photon energy between 0.01 and 3.0 MeV. (Author) 1 Fig., 1 Tab., 9 Refs

  6. 3D Structure of Iran and Surrounding Areas From The Simultaneous Inversion of Complementary Geophysical Observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ammon, C. J.; Maceira, M.; Cleveland, M.

    2010-12-01

    We present a three-dimensional seismic-structure model of the Arabian-Eurasian collision zone obtained via simultaneous, joint inversion of surface-wave dispersion measurements, teleseismic P-wave receiver functions, and gravity observations. We use a simple, approximate relationship between density and seismic velocities so that the three data sets may be combined in a single inversion. The sensitivity of the different data sets are well known: surface waves provide information on the smooth variations in elastic properties, receiver functions provide information on abrupt velocity contrasts, and gravity measurements provide information on broad-wavenumber shallow density variations and long-wavenumber components of deeper density structures. The combination of the data provides improved resolution of shallow-structure variations, which in turn help produce the smooth features at depth with less contamination from the strong heterogeneity often observed in the upper crust. We also explore geologically based smoothness constraints to help resolve sharp features in the underlying shallow 3D structure. Our focus is on the region surrounding Iran from east Turkey and Iraq in the west, to Pakistan and Afghanistan in the east. We use Bouguer gravity anomalies derived from the global gravity model extracted from the GRACE satellite mission. Surface-wave dispersion velocities in the period range between 7 and 150 s are taken from previously published tomographic maps for the region. Preliminary results show expected strong variations in the Caspian region as well as the deep sediment regions of the Persian Gulf. Regions constrained with receiver-function information generally show sharper crust-mantle boundary structure than that obtained by inversion of the surface waves alone (with thin layers and smoothing constraints). Final results of the simultaneous inversion will help us to better understand one of the most prominent examples of continental collision. Such models

  7. Hip fracture risk and different gene polymorphisms in the turkish population

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ercan Dinçel

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: We aimed to discuss the risk assessments for both patients with hip fractures due to fall-related, low energy traumas and non-fractured control patients by examining bone mineral density and genetic data, two features associated with femoral strength and hip fracture risk. METHODS: Twenty-one osteoporotic patients with proximal femur fractures and non-fractured, osteoporotic, age- and gender-matched controls were included in the study. Bone mineral density measurements were performed with a Lunar DXA. The COL1A1, ESR, VDR, IL-6, and OPG genes were amplified, and labeling of specific gene sequences was performed in a multiplex polymerase chain reaction using the osteo/check PCR kit from the whole blood of all subjects. RESULTS: The bone mineral density (trochanteric and total bone mineral density values of the fracture group was significantly decreased relative to the control group. We were not able to conduct statistical tests for the polymorphisms of the COL1A1, ESR, and VDR genes because our results were expressed in terms of frequency. Although they were not significant, we did examine differences in the IL-6 and OPG genes polymorphisms between the two groups. We concluded that increasing the number of cases will allow us to evaluate racial differences in femoral hip fracture risk by genotypes.

  8. Genotypes and haplotypes in the insulin-like growth factors, their receptors and binding proteins in relation to plasma metabolic levels and mammographic density

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chanock Stephen J

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Increased mammographic density is one of the strongest independent risk factors for breast cancer. It is believed that one third of breast cancers are derived from breasts with more than 50% density. Mammographic density is affected by age, BMI, parity, and genetic predisposition. It is also greatly influenced by hormonal and growth factor changes in a woman's life cycle, spanning from puberty through adult to menopause. Genetic variations in genes coding for hormones and growth factors involved in development of the breast are therefore of great interest. The associations between genetic polymorphisms in genes from the IGF pathway on mammographic density and circulating levels of IGF1, its binding protein IGFBP3, and their ratio in postmenopausal women are reported here. Methods Samples from 964 postmenopausal Norwegian women aged 55-71 years were collected as a part of the Tromsø Mammography and Breast Cancer Study. All samples were genotyped for 25 SNPs in IGF1, IGF2, IGF1R, IGF2R, IGFALS and IGFBP3 using Taqman (ABI. The main statistical analyses were conducted with the PROC HAPLOTYPE procedure within SAS/GENETICS™ (SAS 9.1.3. Results The haplotype analysis revealed six haploblocks within the studied genes. Of those, four had significant associations with circulating levels of IGF1 or IGFBP3 and/or mammographic density. One haplotype variant in the IGF1 gene was found to be associated with mammographic density. Within the IGF2 gene one haplotype variant was associated with levels of both IGF1 and IGFBP3. Two haplotype variants in the IGF2R were associated with the level of IGF1. Both variants of the IGFBP3 haplotype were associated with the IGFBP3 level and indicate regulation in cis. Conclusion Polymorphisms within the IGF1 gene and related genes were associated with plasma levels of IGF1, IGFBP3 and mammographic density in this study of postmenopausal women.

  9. Two methods for isolating the lung area of a CT scan for density information

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hedlund, L.W.; Anderson, R.F.; Goulding, P.L.; Beck, J.W.; Effmann, E.L.; Putman, C.E.

    1982-01-01

    Extracting density information from irregularly shaped tissue areas of CT scans requires automated methods when many scans are involved. We describe two computer methods that automatically isolate the lung area of a CT scan. Each starts from a single, operator specified point in the lung. The first method follows the steep density gradient boundary between lung and adjacent tissues; this tracking method is useful for estimating the overall density and total area of lung in a scan because all pixels within the lung area are available for statistical sampling. The second method finds all contiguous pixels of lung that are within the CT number range of air to water and are not a part of strong density gradient edges; this method is useful for estimating density and area of the lung parenchyma. Structures within the lung area that are surrounded by strong density gradient edges, such as large blood vessels, airways and nodules, are excluded from the lung sample while lung areas with diffuse borders, such as an area of mild or moderate edema, are retained. Both methods were tested on scans from an animal model of pulmonary edema and were found to be effective in isolating normal and diseased lungs. These methods are also suitable for isolating other organ areas of CT scans that are bounded by density gradient edges

  10. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1818 (Vertical)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,818th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (March 5, 2009). South is at the center; north at both ends. This view is presented as a vertical projection with geometric seam correction. North is at the top. The rover had driven 80.3 meters (263 feet) southward earlier on that sol. Tracks from the drive recede northward in this view. The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and lighter-toned bedrock.

  11. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1818 (Polar)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,818th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (March 5, 2009). South is at the center; north at both ends. This view is presented as a polar projection with geometric seam correction. North is at the top. The rover had driven 80.3 meters (263 feet) southward earlier on that sol. Tracks from the drive recede northward in this view. The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and lighter-toned bedrock.

  12. Quantitative gene expression underlying 18f-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in colon cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Engelmann, Bodil E.; Binderup, Tina; Kjær, Andreas

    2015-01-01

    Background: Positron emission tomography (PET) with the glucose analogue 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is widely used in oncologic imaging. This study examines the molecular mechanism underlying the detection of colon cancer (CC) by FDG-PET. Methods: Pre-operative PET/CT scans and tissue samples....... Mean gene expression levels of GLUT1, HK2, ki67, HIF1α, VEGF and CaIX, but not HK1, were significantly higher in primary tumours than in surrounding normal colonic mucosa. Linear regressions pairing tumour SUVmax with gene expression levels showed significant correlations between SUVmax and HK2, ki67...

  13. Common Genetic Variation in the DKK1 Gene is Associated with Hip Axis Length but not with Bone Mineral Density and Bone Turnover Markers in Young Adult Men: Results from the Odense Androgen Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Piters, Elke; Balemans, Wendy; Nielsen, Torben Leo

    2010-01-01

    LRP5 was recently confirmed as an important susceptibility gene for osteoporosis. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of DKK1 polymorphisms on bone mineral density (BMD), hip geometry, and bone turnover. DKK1 is a secreted protein that binds to LRP5/6 receptors and inhibits canonical Wnt...

  14. The density matrix - The story of a failed transfer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Blum, Alexander [MPI fuer Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin (Germany)

    2013-07-01

    With the discovery of the positron in 1933, Paul Dirac (along with most other physicists) was forced to really take seriously his earlier suggestion that in the world as we know it all negative energy states are occupied and we are thus surrounded by an infinite sea of electrons. What was needed was a way to treat this large number of electrons in a manageable fashion. Dirac resorted to the use of the density matrix, a technique he had earlier used to describe the large number of electrons in complex atoms. Initially, this transfer from atomic physics to what we would nowadays call particle physics was quite successful, and for a few years the density matrix was the state of the art in describing the Dirac electron sea, but then rapidly fell out of favor. I investigate the causes of this ultimately failed transfer and how it relates to changes in the physical notion of the vacuum, changes which eventually eliminated the analogy on which the transfer had been based in the first place.

  15. Caving thickness effects of surrounding rocks macro stress shell evolving characteristics

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    XIE Guang-xiang; YANG Ke

    2009-01-01

    In order to explore the influence of different caving thicknesses on the MSS dis-tribution and evolving characteristics of surrounding rocks in unsymmetrical disposal and fully mechanized top-coal caving (FMTC), based on unsymmetrical disposal characteris-tics, the analyses of numerical simulation, material simulation and in-situ observation were synthetically applied according to the geological and technical conditions of the 1151(3) working face in Xieqiao Mine. The results show that the stress peak value of the MSS-base and the ratio of MSS-body height to caving thickness are nonlinear and inversely proportional to the caving thickness. The MSS-base width, the MSS-body height, the MSS-base distance to working face wall and the rise distance of MSS-base beside coal pillar are nonlinear and directly proportional to the caving thickness. The characteristics of MSS distribution and its evolving rules of surrounding rocks and the integrated caving thickness effects are obtained. The investigations will provide lots of theoretic references to the surrounding rocks' stability control of the working face and roadway, roadway layout, gas extraction and exploitation, and efficiency of caving, etc.

  16. Study on water migration of tunnel surrounding rock in nuclear waste repository based on coupling theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiang Zhongming; Zhang Xinmin

    2008-01-01

    Excavation of tunnel changes not only the stresses and deformation of tunnel surrounding rock, but also disturbs the underground water environment in tunnel surrounding rock Water migration happens due to variation of pore water pressure and redistribution. Based on the mechanics of porous media, saturated and unsaturated hydro-mechanical coupling analysis method is employed to study the variation of the stresses, deformation and pore pressure of the surrounding rock. Case study indicates that the excavation of tunnel will induce redistribution of stress and pore water pressure. Redistribution of pore water pressure will seriously affect on evaluation of surrounding rock stability and diffusion of nucleon in the pore water. (authors)

  17. Effects of Surrounding Information and Line Length on Text Comprehension from the Web

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jess McMullin

    2002-02-01

    Full Text Available The World Wide Web (Web is becoming a popular medium for transmission of information and online learning. We need to understand how people comprehend information from the Web to design Web sites that maximize the acquisition of information. We examined two features of Web page design that are easily modified by developers, namely line length and the amount of surrounding information, or whitespace. Undergraduate university student participants read text and answered comprehension questions on the Web. Comprehension was affected by whitespace; participants had better comprehension for information surrounded by whitespace than for information surrounded by meaningless information. Participants were not affected by line length. These findings demonstrate that reading from the Web is not the same as reading print and have implications for instructional Web design.

  18. High-energy-density physics researches based on pulse power technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Horioka, Kazuhiko; Nakajima, Mitsuo; Kawamura, Tohru; Sasaki, Toru; Kondo, Kotaro; Yano, Yuuri

    2006-01-01

    Plasmas driven by pulse power device are of interest, concerning the researches on high-energy-density (HED) physics. Dense plasmas are produced using pulse power driven exploding discharges in water. Experimental results show that the wire plasma is tamped and stabilized by the surrounding water and it evolves through a strongly coupled plasma state. A shock-wave-heated, high temperature plasma is produced in a compact pulse power device. Experimental results show that strong shock waves can be produced in the device. In particular, at low initial pressure condition, the shock Mach number reaches 250 and this indicates that the shock heated region is dominated by radiation processes. (author)

  19. Spot testing on mechanical characteristics of surrounding rock in gates of fully mechanized top-coal caving face

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xie Guang-xiang; Yang Ke; Chang Ju-cai [Anhui University of Science and Technology, Anhui (China). Department of Resource Exploration and Management Engineering

    2006-07-01

    The distribution patterns of mechanical characteristics for surrounding rock in the gateways of fully mechanized top-coal caving (FMTC) face were put forward by analyzing deep displacement, surface displacement, stress distribution and supports loading. The results show that the surrounding rock of the gateways lies in abutment pressure decrease zone near the working face, so that the support load decreases. But the deformations of supports and surrounding rock are very acute. The deformation of surrounding rock appears mainly in abutment pressure influence zone. Reasonable roadway supporting should control the deformation of surrounding rock in intense stage of mining influence. Supporting design ideas of tailentry and head entry should be changed from loading control to deformation control. 8 refs., 10 figs., 1 tab.

  20. Contamination of nebulisers and surrounding air at the bedside of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    An air sampler was used to collect air samples from the surrounding bedside environment. .... individualised resealable plastic bags and stored upside down in a cooler .... conventional and mesh technology nebulisers used at home by adults.

  1. Phase-specific Surround suppression in Mouse Primary Visual Cortex Correlates with Figure Detection Behavior Based on Phase Discontinuity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Fengling; Jiang, Weiqian; Wang, Tian-Yi; Xie, Taorong; Yao, Haishan

    2018-05-21

    In the primary visual cortex (V1), neuronal responses to stimuli within the receptive field (RF) are modulated by stimuli in the RF surround. A common effect of surround modulation is surround suppression, which is dependent on the feature difference between stimuli within and surround the RF and is suggested to be involved in the perceptual phenomenon of figure-ground segregation. In this study, we examined the relationship between feature-specific surround suppression of V1 neurons and figure detection behavior based on figure-ground feature difference. We trained freely moving mice to perform a figure detection task using figure and ground gratings that differed in spatial phase. The performance of figure detection increased with the figure-ground phase difference, and was modulated by stimulus contrast. Electrophysiological recordings from V1 in head-fixed mice showed that the increase in phase difference between stimuli within and surround the RF caused a reduction in surround suppression, which was associated with an increase in V1 neural discrimination between stimuli with and without RF-surround phase difference. Consistent with the behavioral performance, the sensitivity of V1 neurons to RF-surround phase difference could be influenced by stimulus contrast. Furthermore, inhibiting V1 by optogenetically activating either parvalbumin (PV)- or somatostatin (SOM)-expressing inhibitory neurons both decreased the behavioral performance of figure detection. Thus, the phase-specific surround suppression in V1 represents a neural correlate of figure detection behavior based on figure-ground phase discontinuity. Copyright © 2018 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. 3D Room Visualization on Android Based Mobile Device (with Philips™’ Surround Sound Music Player

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Durio Etgar

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This project’s specifically purposed as a demo application, so anyone can get the experience of a surround audio room without having to physically involved to it, with a main idea of generating a 3D surround sound room scenery coupled with surround sound in a handier package, namely, a “Virtual Listen Room”. Virtual Listen Room set a foundation of an innovative visualization that later will be developed and released as one of way of portable advertisement. This application was built inside of Android environment. Android device had been chosen as the implementation target, since it leaves massive development spaces and mostly contains essential components needed on this project, including graphic processor unit (GPU.  Graphic manipulation can be done using an embedded programming interface called OpenGL ES, which is planted in all Android devices generally. Further, Android has a Accelerometer Sensor that is needed to be coupled with scene to produce a dynamic movement of the camera. Surround sound effect can be reached with a decoder from Phillips called MPEG Surround Sound Decoder. To sum the whole project, we got an application with sensor-dynamic 3D room visualization coupled with Philips’ Surround Sound Music Player. We can manipulate several room’s properties; Subwoofer location, Room light, and how many speakers inside it, the application itself works well despite facing several performance problems before, later to be solved. [Keywords : Android,Visualization,Open GL; ES; 3D; Surround Sensor

  3. Varieties of Quest and the Religious Openness Hypothesis within Religious Fundamentalist and Biblical Foundationalist Ideological Surrounds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. J. Watson

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available According to the Religious Openness Hypothesis, the religious and psychological openness of American Christians is obscured by a defensive ghettoization of thought associated with a Religious Fundamentalist Ideological Surround and can be discovered instead within a Biblical Foundationalist Ideological Surround. A test of this claim examined Religious Fundamentalism, Biblical Foundationalism, Quest, and Multidimensional Quest Scales in 432 undergraduates. Christian Religious Reflection, Religious Schema, and Religious Orientation measures clarified these two ideological surrounds. Partial correlations controlling for Biblical Foundationalism described a Religious Fundamentalist Ideological Surround that more strongly rejected Quest and that more generally displayed a failure to integrate faith with intellect. Partial correlations controlling for Religious Fundamentalism revealed a Biblical Foundationalist Ideological Surround that was more open to Quest and that offered numerous demonstrations of an ability to unite faith with intellect. These data supplemented previous investigations in demonstrating that Christianity and other traditional religions have ideological resources for promoting a faithful intellect.

  4. Urban birds in the Sonoran Desert: estimating population density from point counts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karina Johnston López

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available We conducted bird surveys in Hermosillo, Sonora using distance sampling to characterize detection functions at point-transects for native and non-native urban birds in a desert environment. From March to August 2013 we sampled 240 plots in the city and its surroundings; each plot was visited three times. Our purpose was to provide information for a rapid assessment of bird density in this region by using point counts. We identified 72 species, including six non-native species. Sixteen species had sufficient detections to accurately estimate the parameters of the detection functions. To illustrate the estimation of density from bird count data using our inferred detection functions, we estimated the density of the Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto under two different levels of urbanization: highly urbanized (90-100% of urban impact and moderately urbanized zones (39-50% of urban impact. Density of S. decaocto in the highly-urbanized and moderately-urbanized zones was 3.97±0.52 and 2.92±0.52 individuals/ha, respectively. By using our detection functions, avian ecologists can efficiently relocate time and effort that is regularly used for the estimation of detection distances, to increase the number of sites surveyed and to collect other relevant ecological information.

  5. Orientation-specific surround suppression in the primary visual cortex varies as a function of autistic tendency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anastasia V Flevaris

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD exhibit superior performance on tasks that rely on local details in an image, and they exhibit deficits in tasks that require integration of local elements into a unified whole. These perceptual abnormalities have been proposed to underlie many of the characteristic features of ASD, but the underlying neural mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the degree to which orientation-specific surround suppression, a well-known form of contextual modulation in visual cortex, is associated with autistic tendency in neurotypical individuals. Surround suppression refers to the phenomenon that the response to a stimulus in the receptive field of a neuron is suppressed when it is surrounded by stimuli just outside the receptive field. The suppression is greatest when the center and surrounding stimuli share perceptual features such as orientation. Surround suppression underlies a number of fundamental perceptual processes that are known to be atypical in individuals with ASD, including perceptual grouping and perceptual pop-out. However, whether surround suppression in the primary visual cortex (V1 is related to autistic traits has not been directly tested before. We used fMRI to measure the neural response to a center Gabor when it was surrounded by Gabors having the same or orthogonal orientation, and calculated a suppression index (SI for each participant that denoted the magnitude of suppression in the same versus orthogonal conditions. SI was positively correlated with degree of autistic tendency in each individual, as measured by the Autism Quotient (AQ scale, a questionnaire designed to assess autistic traits in the general population. Age also correlated with SI and with autistic tendency in our sample, but did not account for the correlation between SI and autistic tendency. These results suggest a reduction in orientation-specific surround suppression in V1 with increasing autistic

  6. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1798 (Polar)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,798th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (Feb. 13, 2009). North is on top. This view is presented as a polar projection with geometric seam correction. The rover had driven 111 meters (364 feet) southward on the preceding sol. Tracks from that drive recede northward in this view. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and lighter-toned bedrock.

  7. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1798 (Vertical)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,798th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (Feb. 13, 2009). North is on top. This view is presented as a vertical projection with geometric seam correction. The rover had driven 111 meters (364 feet) southward on the preceding sol. Tracks from that drive recede northward in this view. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and lighter-toned bedrock.

  8. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1687 (Vertical)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings on the 1,687th Martian day, or sol, of its surface mission (Oct. 22, 2008). Opportunity had driven 133 meters (436 feet) that sol, crossing sand ripples up to about 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall. The tracks visible in the foreground are in the east-northeast direction. Opportunity's position on Sol 1687 was about 300 meters southwest of Victoria Crater. The rover was beginning a long trek toward a much larger crater, Endeavour, about 12 kilometers (7 miles) to the southeast. This view is presented as a vertical projection with geometric seam correction.

  9. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1687 (Polar)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings on the 1,687th Martian day, or sol, of its surface mission (Oct. 22, 2008). Opportunity had driven 133 meters (436 feet) that sol, crossing sand ripples up to about 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall. The tracks visible in the foreground are in the east-northeast direction. Opportunity's position on Sol 1687 was about 300 meters southwest of Victoria Crater. The rover was beginning a long trek toward a much larger crater, Endeavour, about 12 kilometers (7 miles) to the southeast. This view is presented as a polar projection with geometric seam correction.

  10. New gravity anomaly map of Taiwan and its surrounding regions with some tectonic interpretations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doo, Wen-Bin; Lo, Chung-Liang; Hsu, Shu-Kun; Tsai, Ching-Hui; Huang, Yin-Sheng; Wang, Hsueh-Fen; Chiu, Shye-Donq; Ma, Yu-Fang; Liang, Chin-Wei

    2018-04-01

    In this study, we compiled recently collected (from 2005 to 2015) and previously reported (published and open access) gravity data, including land, shipborne and satellite-derived data, for Taiwan and its surrounding regions. Based on the cross-over error analysis, all data were adjusted; and, new Free-air gravity anomalies were obtained, shedding light on the tectonics of the region. To obtain the Bouguer gravity anomalies, the densities of land terrain and marine sediments were assumed to be 2.53 and 1.80 g/cm3, respectively. The updated gravity dataset was gridded with a spacing of one arc-minute. Several previously unnoticed gravity features are revealed by the new maps and can be used in a broad range of applications: (1) An isolated gravity high is located between the Shoushan and the Kaoping Canyon off southwest Taiwan. (2) Along the Luzon Arc, both Free-air and Bouguer gravity anomaly maps reveal a significant gravity discontinuity feature at the latitude of 21°20‧N. (3) In the southwestern Okinawa Trough, the NE-SW trending cross-back-arc volcanic trail (CBVT) marks the low-high gravity anomaly (both Free-air and Bouguer) boundary.

  11. Post-stroke gaseous hypothermia increases vascular density but not neurogenesis in the ischemic penumbra of aged rats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sandu, Raluca Elena; Uzoni, Adriana; Ciobanu, Ovidiu

    2016-01-01

    of several genes involved in protein degradation, thereby leading to better preservation of infarcted tissue. Further, hypothermia increased the density of newly formed blood vessels in the peri-lesional cortex did not enhance neurogenesis in the infarcted area of aged rats. Likewise, there was improved......-PCR and immunofluorescence, we assessed infarct size, vascular density, neurogenesis and as well as the expression of genes coding for proteasomal proteins as well as in post-stroke aged Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to H2S- induced hypothermia. Results: Two days exposure to mild hypothermia diminishes the expression...

  12. Black Holes and Galactic Density Cusps II Spherically Symmetric Anisotropic Cusps

    CERN Document Server

    Henriksen, Richard N; Macmillan, Joseph D

    2010-01-01

    Aims. In this paper we study density cusps that may contain central black holes. The actual co-eval self-similar growth would not distinguish between the central object and the surroundings. Methods. To study the environment of a growing black hole we seek descriptions of steady 'cusps' that may contain a black hole and that retain at least a memory of self-similarity. We refer to the environment in brief as the 'bulge' and on smaller scales, the 'halo'. Results. We find simple descriptions of the simulations of collisionless matter by comparing predicted densities, velocity dispersions and distribution functions with the simulations. In some cases central point masses may be included by iteration. We emphasize that the co-eval self-similar growth allows an explanation of the black hole bulge mass correlation between approximately similar collisionless systems. Conclusions. We have derived our results from first principles assuming adiabatic self-similarity and either self-similar virialisation or normal stea...

  13. Mechanical Characteristics Analysis of Surrounding Rock on Anchor Bar Reinforcement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Shuan-cheng; Zhou, Pan; Huang, Rong-bin

    2018-03-01

    Through the homogenization method, the composite of rock and anchor bar is considered as the equivalent material of continuous, homogeneous, isotropic and strength parameter enhancement, which is defined as reinforcement body. On the basis of elasticity, the composite and the reinforcement are analyzed, Based on strengthening theory of surrounding rock and displacement equivalent conditions, the expression of reinforcement body strength parameters and mechanical parameters is deduced. The example calculation shows that the theoretical results are close to the results of the Jia-mei Gao[9], however, closer to the results of FLAC3D numerical simulation, it is proved that the model and surrounding rock reinforcement body theory are reasonable. the model is easy to analyze and calculate, provides a new way for determining reasonable bolt support parameters, can also provides reference for the stability analysis of underground cavern bolting support.

  14. Trajectories and Maneuvers of Surrounding Vehicles with Panoramic Camera Arrays

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dueholm, Jacob Velling; Kristoffersen, Miklas Strøm; Satzoda, Ravi K.

    2016-01-01

    Vision-based research for intelligent vehicles have traditionally focused on specific regions around a vehicle, such as a front looking camera for, e.g., lane estimation. Traffic scenes are complex and vital information could be lost in unobserved regions. This paper proposes a framework that uses...... four visual sensors for a full surround view of a vehicle in order to achieve an understanding of surrounding vehicle behaviors. The framework will assist the analysis of naturalistic driving studies by automating the task of data reduction of the observed trajectories. To this end, trajectories...... are estimated using a vehicle detector together with a multiperspective optimized tracker in each view. The trajectories are transformed to a common ground plane, where they are associated between perspectives and analyzed to reveal tendencies around the ego-vehicle. The system is tested on sequences from 2.5 h...

  15. Moho Density Contrast in Central Eurasia from GOCE Gravity Gradients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehdi Eshagh

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Seismic data are primarily used in studies of the Earth’s inner structure. Since large parts of the world are not yet sufficiently covered by seismic surveys, products from the Earth’s satellite observation systems have more often been used for this purpose in recent years. In this study we use the gravity-gradient data derived from the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE, the elevation data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM and other global datasets to determine the Moho density contrast at the study area which comprises most of the Eurasian plate (including parts of surrounding continental and oceanic tectonic plates. A regional Moho recovery is realized by solving the Vening Meinesz-Moritz’s (VMM inverse problem of isostasy and a seismic crustal model is applied to constrain the gravimetric solution. Our results reveal that the Moho density contrast reaches minima along the mid-oceanic rift zones and maxima under the continental crust. This spatial pattern closely agrees with that seen in the CRUST1.0 seismic crustal model as well as in the KTH1.0 gravimetric-seismic Moho model. However, these results differ considerably from some previously published gravimetric studies. In particular, we demonstrate that there is no significant spatial correlation between the Moho density contrast and Moho deepening under major orogens of Himalaya and Tibet. In fact, the Moho density contrast under most of the continental crustal structure is typically much more uniform.

  16. Polymorphisms of the human IL-1 receptor antagonist gene and forearm bone mineral density in postmenopausal women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jivka T Ivanova

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Context: Studies on the human interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA gene polymorphism have provided conflicting data regarding the bone mass and quality. Aim and Design: The objective of this case-control study was to investigate the association between the forearm bone mineral density (BMD and the IL1RA gene polymorphisms. Materials and Methods: A total of 400 postmenopausal Bulgarian women participated in this study. BMD was measured at the forearm by X-ray absorptiometry on a DTX-100 device (Osteometer Meditech, USA. A PCR product was isolated. The alleles were scored according to their length: A1 - 410 bp - 4 repeats; A2 - 240 bp - 2 repeats; A3 - 500 bp - 5 repeats; A4 - 325 bp - 3 repeats; A5 - 595 bp - 6 repeats. All analyses were evaluated for statistical significance (χ2 -test and T-test. Results: Four alleles were observed - A1, A2, A3, and A4. The A1A1 genotype was more common in cases with low BMD than in controls with normal BMD (95% vs. 90%, χ2 P < 0.01. The A2A2 genotype was equally distributed among cases and controls (both 5%. The other two genotypes (A3A3 and A4A4 as well as A1A3 were present only in controls with normal BMD. The A2A2 genotype was associated with higher BMD and the A1A1 - with lower BMD at both forearm sites. The odds ratio for low BMD in the presence of the A1A1 genotype was 2.11. The etiological factor reflecting the association between the polymorphism and the disease was 0.50. In our study sample the IL1RA genetic polymorphisms were associated with the forearm BMD. Conclusion: This genetic polymorphism may become a useful genetic marker for the study of osteoporosis.

  17. Identification of a point mutation in growth factor repeat C of the low density lipoprotein-receptor gene in a patient with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soutar, A.K.; Knight, B.L.; Patel, D.D.

    1989-01-01

    The coding region of the low density lipoprotein (LDL)-receptor gene from a patient (MM) with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) has been sequenced from six overlapping 500-base-pair amplified fragments of the cDNA from cultured skin fibroblasts. Two separate single nucleotide base changes from the normal sequence were detected. The first involved substitution of guanine for adenine in the third position of the codon for amino acid residue Cys-27 and did not affect the protein sequence. The second mutation was substitution of thymine for cytosine in the DNA for the codon for amino acid residue 664, changing the codon from CCG (proline) to CTG (leucine) and introducing a new site for the restriction enzyme PstI. MM is a true homozygote with two identical genes, and the mutation cosegregated with clinically diagnosed FH in his family in which first cousin marriages occurred frequently. LDL receptors in MM's skin fibroblasts bind less LDL than normal and with reduced affinity. Thus this naturally occurring single point mutation affects both intracellular transport of the protein and ligand binding and occurs in growth factor-like repeat C, a region that has not previously been found to influence LDL binding

  18. Seismic Tomography of the Arabian-Eurasian Collision Zone and Surrounding Areas

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Toksoz, M. N; Van der Hilst, Robert D; Sun, Youshun; Gulen, Levent; Kalafat, Dogan; Kuleli, Huseyin S; Li, Chang; Zhang, Haijiang

    2008-01-01

    ... and surrounding areas, including Iran, Arabia, Eastern Turkey, and the Caucasus. The Arabian-Eurasian plate boundary is a complex tectonic zone shaped by continent-continent collision processes...

  19. Blooming Trees: Substructures and Surrounding Groups of Galaxy Clusters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Heng; Diaferio, Antonaldo; Serra, Ana Laura; Baldi, Marco

    2018-06-01

    We develop the Blooming Tree Algorithm, a new technique that uses spectroscopic redshift data alone to identify the substructures and the surrounding groups of galaxy clusters, along with their member galaxies. Based on the estimated binding energy of galaxy pairs, the algorithm builds a binary tree that hierarchically arranges all of the galaxies in the field of view. The algorithm searches for buds, corresponding to gravitational potential minima on the binary tree branches; for each bud, the algorithm combines the number of galaxies, their velocity dispersion, and their average pairwise distance into a parameter that discriminates between the buds that do not correspond to any substructure or group, and thus eventually die, and the buds that correspond to substructures and groups, and thus bloom into the identified structures. We test our new algorithm with a sample of 300 mock redshift surveys of clusters in different dynamical states; the clusters are extracted from a large cosmological N-body simulation of a ΛCDM model. We limit our analysis to substructures and surrounding groups identified in the simulation with mass larger than 1013 h ‑1 M ⊙. With mock redshift surveys with 200 galaxies within 6 h ‑1 Mpc from the cluster center, the technique recovers 80% of the real substructures and 60% of the surrounding groups; in 57% of the identified structures, at least 60% of the member galaxies of the substructures and groups belong to the same real structure. These results improve by roughly a factor of two the performance of the best substructure identification algorithm currently available, the σ plateau algorithm, and suggest that our Blooming Tree Algorithm can be an invaluable tool for detecting substructures of galaxy clusters and investigating their complex dynamics.

  20. Genes as early responders regulate quorum-sensing and control bacterial cooperation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kelei Zhao

    Full Text Available Quorum-sensing (QS allows bacterial communication to coordinate the production of extracellular products essential for population fitness at higher cell densities. It has been generally accepted that a significant time duration is required to reach appropriate cell density to activate the relevant quiescent genes encoding these costly but beneficial public goods. Which regulatory genes are involved and how these genes control bacterial communication at the early phases are largely un-explored. By determining time-dependent expression of QS-related genes of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aerugionsa, we show that the induction of social cooperation could be critically influenced by environmental factors to optimize the density of population. In particular, small regulatory RNAs (RsmY and RsmZ serving as early responders, can promote the expression of dependent genes (e.g. lasR to boost the synthesis of intracellular enzymes and coordinate instant cooperative behavior in bacterial cells. These early responders, acting as a rheostat to finely modulate bacterial cooperation, which may be quickly activated under environment threats, but peter off when critical QS dependent genes are fully functional for cooperation. Our findings suggest that RsmY and RsmZ critically control the timing and levels of public goods production, which may have implications in sociomicrobiology and infection control.

  1. Analytical Solution of Tunnel Surrounding Rock for Stress and Displacement Based on Lade–Duncan Criterion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MingZheng Zhu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The deformation and failure of tunnel surrounding rock is the result of tunnel excavation disturbance and rock stress release. When the local stress of surrounding rock exceeds the elastic limit of rock mass, the plastic analysis of surrounding rock must be carried out to judge the stability of tunnel. In this study, the Lade–Duncan yield criterion is used to calculate the analytic solutions for the surrounding rock in a tunnel, and the radius and displacement of the plastic zone are deduced using an equilibrium equation. The plastic zone radius and displacement based on Lade–Duncan criterion and Mohr–Coulomb criterion were compared by using single-factor analysis method under the different internal friction angles, in situ stresses, and support resistances. The results show that the solutions of the radius and displacement of plastic zone calculated by the Lade–Duncan criterion are close to those of Mohr–Coulomb criterion under the high internal friction angle and support resistance or low in situ rock stress; however, the radius and displacement of the plastic zone calculated by the Lade–Duncan criterion are larger under normal circumstances, and the Lade–Duncan criterion is more applicable to the stability analysis of the surrounding rock in a tunnel.

  2. Epigenetic interplay between mouse endogenous retroviruses and host genes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rebollo, Rita; Miceli-Royer, Katharine; Zhang, Ying; Farivar, Sharareh; Gagnier, Liane; Mager, Dixie L

    2012-10-03

    Transposable elements are often the targets of repressive epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation that, in theory, have the potential to spread toward nearby genes and induce epigenetic silencing. To better understand the role of DNA methylation in the relationship between transposable elements and genes, we assessed the methylation state of mouse endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) located near genes. We found that ERVs of the ETn/MusD family show decreased DNA methylation when near transcription start sites in tissues where the nearby gene is expressed. ERVs belonging to the IAP family, however, are generally heavily methylated, regardless of the genomic environment and the tissue studied. Furthermore, we found full-length ETn and IAP copies that display differential DNA methylation between their two long terminal repeats (LTRs), suggesting that the environment surrounding gene promoters can prevent methylation of the nearby LTR. Spreading from methylated ERV copies to nearby genes was rarely observed, with the regions between the ERVs and genes apparently acting as a boundary, enriched in H3K4me3 and CTCF, which possibly protects the unmethylated gene promoter. Furthermore, the flanking regions of unmethylated ERV copies harbor H3K4me3, consistent with spreading of euchromatin from the host gene toward ERV insertions. We have shown that spreading of DNA methylation from ERV copies toward active gene promoters is rare. We provide evidence that genes can be protected from ERV-induced heterochromatin spreading by either blocking the invasion of repressive marks or by spreading euchromatin toward the ERV copy.

  3. Vascular Gene Expression in Nonneoplastic and Malignant Brain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madden, Stephen L.; Cook, Brian P.; Nacht, Mariana; Weber, William D.; Callahan, Michelle R.; Jiang, Yide; Dufault, Michael R.; Zhang, Xiaoming; Zhang, Wen; Walter-Yohrling, Jennifer; Rouleau, Cecile; Akmaev, Viatcheslav R.; Wang, Clarence J.; Cao, Xiaohong; St. Martin, Thia B.; Roberts, Bruce L.; Teicher, Beverly A.; Klinger, Katherine W.; Stan, Radu-Virgil; Lucey, Brenden; Carson-Walter, Eleanor B.; Laterra, John; Walter, Kevin A.

    2004-01-01

    Malignant gliomas are uniformly lethal tumors whose morbidity is mediated in large part by the angiogenic response of the brain to the invading tumor. This profound angiogenic response leads to aggressive tumor invasion and destruction of surrounding brain tissue as well as blood-brain barrier breakdown and life-threatening cerebral edema. To investigate the molecular mechanisms governing the proliferation of abnormal microvasculature in malignant brain tumor patients, we have undertaken a cell-specific transcriptome analysis from surgically harvested nonneoplastic and tumor-associated endothelial cells. SAGE-derived endothelial cell gene expression patterns from glioma and nonneoplastic brain tissue reveal distinct gene expression patterns and consistent up-regulation of certain glioma endothelial marker genes across patient samples. We define the G-protein-coupled receptor RDC1 as a tumor endothelial marker whose expression is distinctly induced in tumor endothelial cells of both brain and peripheral vasculature. Further, we demonstrate that the glioma-induced gene, PV1, shows expression both restricted to endothelial cells and coincident with endothelial cell tube formation. As PV1 provides a framework for endothelial cell caveolar diaphragms, this protein may serve to enhance glioma-induced disruption of the blood-brain barrier and transendothelial exchange. Additional characterization of this extensive brain endothelial cell gene expression database will provide unique molecular insights into vascular gene expression. PMID:15277233

  4. Fast clustering using adaptive density peak detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiao-Feng; Xu, Yifan

    2017-12-01

    Common limitations of clustering methods include the slow algorithm convergence, the instability of the pre-specification on a number of intrinsic parameters, and the lack of robustness to outliers. A recent clustering approach proposed a fast search algorithm of cluster centers based on their local densities. However, the selection of the key intrinsic parameters in the algorithm was not systematically investigated. It is relatively difficult to estimate the "optimal" parameters since the original definition of the local density in the algorithm is based on a truncated counting measure. In this paper, we propose a clustering procedure with adaptive density peak detection, where the local density is estimated through the nonparametric multivariate kernel estimation. The model parameter is then able to be calculated from the equations with statistical theoretical justification. We also develop an automatic cluster centroid selection method through maximizing an average silhouette index. The advantage and flexibility of the proposed method are demonstrated through simulation studies and the analysis of a few benchmark gene expression data sets. The method only needs to perform in one single step without any iteration and thus is fast and has a great potential to apply on big data analysis. A user-friendly R package ADPclust is developed for public use.

  5. Biomimetic High Density Lipoprotein Nanoparticles For Nucleic Acid Delivery

    Science.gov (United States)

    McMahon, Kaylin M.; Mutharasan, R. Kannan; Tripathy, Sushant; Veliceasa, Dorina; Bobeica, Mariana; Shumaker, Dale K.; Luthi, Andrea J.; Helfand, Brian T.; Ardehali, Hossein; Mirkin, Chad A.; Volpert, Olga; Thaxton, C. Shad

    2014-01-01

    We report a gold nanoparticle-templated high density lipoprotein (HDL AuNP) platform for gene therapy which combines lipid-based nucleic acid transfection strategies with HDL biomimicry. For proof-of-concept, HDL AuNPs are shown to adsorb antisense cholesterylated DNA. The conjugates are internalized by human cells, can be tracked within cells using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and regulate target gene expression. Overall, the ability to directly image the AuNP core within cells, the chemical tailorability of the HDL AuNP platform, and the potential for cell-specific targeting afforded by HDL biomimicry make this platform appealing for nucleic acid delivery. PMID:21319839

  6. Damaged Goods: Perception of Pornography Addiction as a Mediator Between Religiosity and Relationship Anxiety Surrounding Pornography Use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leonhardt, Nathan D; Willoughby, Brian J; Young-Petersen, Bonnie

    2018-01-01

    Recent research on pornography suggests that perception of addiction predicts negative outcomes above and beyond pornography use. Research has also suggested that religious individuals are more likely to perceive themselves to be addicted to pornography, regardless of how often they are actually using pornography. Using a sample of 686 unmarried adults, this study reconciles and expands on previous research by testing perceived addiction to pornography as a mediator between religiosity and relationship anxiety surrounding pornography. Results revealed that pornography use and religiosity were weakly associated with higher relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use, whereas perception of pornography addiction was highly associated with relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use. However, when perception of pornography addiction was inserted as a mediator in a structural equation model, pornography use had a small indirect effect on relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use, and perception of pornography addiction partially mediated the association between religiosity and relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use. By understanding how pornography use, religiosity, and perceived pornography addiction connect to relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use in the early relationship formation stages, we hope to improve the chances of couples successfully addressing the subject of pornography and mitigate difficulties in romantic relationships.

  7. Structure and function of the interphotoreceptor matrix surrounding retinal photoreceptor cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishikawa, Makoto; Sawada, Yu; Yoshitomi, Takeshi

    2015-04-01

    The interphotoreceptor matrix (IPM) is a highly organized structure with interconnected domains surrounding cone and rod photoreceptor cells and extends throughout the subretinal space. Based on known roles of the extracellular matrix in other tissues, the IPM is thought to have several prominent functions including serving as a receptor for growth factors, regulating retinoid transport, participating in cytoskeletal organization in surrounding cells, and regulation of oxygen and nutrient transport. In addition, a number of studies suggest that the IPM also may play a significant role in the etiology of retinal degenerative disorders. In this review, we describe the present knowledge concerning the structure and function of the IPM under physiological and pathological conditions. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  8. Supplementing High-Density SNP Microarrays for Additional Coverage of Disease-Related Genes: Addiction as a Paradigm

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    SacconePhD, Scott F [Washington University, St. Louis; Chesler, Elissa J [ORNL; Bierut, Laura J [Washington University, St. Louis; Kalivas, Peter J [Medical College of South Carolina, Charleston; Lerman, Caryn [University of Pennsylvania; Saccone, Nancy L [Washington University, St. Louis; Uhl, George R [Johns Hopkins University; Li, Chuan-Yun [Peking University; Philip, Vivek M [ORNL; Edenberg, Howard [Indiana University; Sherry, Steven [National Center for Biotechnology Information; Feolo, Michael [National Center for Biotechnology Information; Moyzis, Robert K [Johns Hopkins University; Rutter, Joni L [National Institute of Drug Abuse

    2009-01-01

    Commercial SNP microarrays now provide comprehensive and affordable coverage of the human genome. However, some diseases have biologically relevant genomic regions that may require additional coverage. Addiction, for example, is thought to be influenced by complex interactions among many relevant genes and pathways. We have assembled a list of 486 biologically relevant genes nominated by a panel of experts on addiction. We then added 424 genes that showed evidence of association with addiction phenotypes through mouse QTL mappings and gene co-expression analysis. We demonstrate that there are a substantial number of SNPs in these genes that are not well represented by commercial SNP platforms. We address this problem by introducing a publicly available SNP database for addiction. The database is annotated using numeric prioritization scores indicating the extent of biological relevance. The scores incorporate a number of factors such as SNP/gene functional properties (including synonymy and promoter regions), data from mouse systems genetics and measures of human/mouse evolutionary conservation. We then used HapMap genotyping data to determine if a SNP is tagged by a commercial microarray through linkage disequilibrium. This combination of biological prioritization scores and LD tagging annotation will enable addiction researchers to supplement commercial SNP microarrays to ensure comprehensive coverage of biologically relevant regions.

  9. Identification of a novel percent mammographic density locus at 12q24.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevens, Kristen N; Lindstrom, Sara; Scott, Christopher G; Thompson, Deborah; Sellers, Thomas A; Wang, Xianshu; Wang, Alice; Atkinson, Elizabeth; Rider, David N; Eckel-Passow, Jeanette E; Varghese, Jajini S; Audley, Tina; Brown, Judith; Leyland, Jean; Luben, Robert N; Warren, Ruth M L; Loos, Ruth J F; Wareham, Nicholas J; Li, Jingmei; Hall, Per; Liu, Jianjun; Eriksson, Louise; Czene, Kamila; Olson, Janet E; Pankratz, V Shane; Fredericksen, Zachary; Diasio, Robert B; Lee, Adam M; Heit, John A; DeAndrade, Mariza; Goode, Ellen L; Vierkant, Robert A; Cunningham, Julie M; Armasu, Sebastian M; Weinshilboum, Richard; Fridley, Brooke L; Batzler, Anthony; Ingle, James N; Boyd, Norman F; Paterson, Andrew D; Rommens, Johanna; Martin, Lisa J; Hopper, John L; Southey, Melissa C; Stone, Jennifer; Apicella, Carmel; Kraft, Peter; Hankinson, Susan E; Hazra, Aditi; Hunter, David J; Easton, Douglas F; Couch, Fergus J; Tamimi, Rulla M; Vachon, Celine M

    2012-07-15

    Percent mammographic density adjusted for age and body mass index (BMI) is one of the strongest risk factors for breast cancer and has a heritable component that remains largely unidentified. We performed a three-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) of percent mammographic density to identify novel genetic loci associated with this trait. In stage 1, we combined three GWASs of percent density comprised of 1241 women from studies at the Mayo Clinic and identified the top 48 loci (99 single nucleotide polymorphisms). We attempted replication of these loci in 7018 women from seven additional studies (stage 2). The meta-analysis of stage 1 and 2 data identified a novel locus, rs1265507 on 12q24, associated with percent density, adjusting for age and BMI (P = 4.43 × 10(-8)). We refined the 12q24 locus with 459 additional variants (stage 3) in a combined analysis of all three stages (n = 10 377) and confirmed that rs1265507 has the strongest association in the 12q24 region (P = 1.03 × 10(-8)). Rs1265507 is located between the genes TBX5 and TBX3, which are members of the phylogenetically conserved T-box gene family and encode transcription factors involved in developmental regulation. Understanding the mechanism underlying this association will provide insight into the genetics of breast tissue composition.

  10. Investigating the Influences of Tree Coverage and Road Density on Property Crime

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chengming Ye

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available With the development of Geographic Information Systems (GIS, crime mapping has become an effective approach for investigating the spatial pattern of crime in a defined area. Understanding the relationship between crime and its surrounding environment reveals possible strategies for reducing crime in a neighborhood. The relationship between vegetation density and crime has long been under debate. The convenience of a road network is another important factor that can influence a criminal’s selection of locations. This research is conducted to investigate the correlations between tree coverage and property crime, and road density and property crime in the City of Vancouver. High spatial resolution airborne LiDAR data and road network data collected in 2013 were used to extract tree covered areas for cross-sectional analysis. The independent variables were inserted into Ordinary Least-Squares (OLS regression, Spatial Lag regression, and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR models to examine their relationships to property crime rates. The results of the cross-sectional analysis provide statistical evidence that there are negative correlations between property crime rates and both tree coverage and road density, with the stronger correlations occurring around Downtown Vancouver.

  11. Regional heterogeneity and gene flow maintain variance in a quantitative trait within populations of lodgepole pine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeaman, Sam; Jarvis, Andy

    2006-01-01

    Genetic variation is of fundamental importance to biological evolution, yet we still know very little about how it is maintained in nature. Because many species inhabit heterogeneous environments and have pronounced local adaptations, gene flow between differently adapted populations may be a persistent source of genetic variation within populations. If this migration–selection balance is biologically important then there should be strong correlations between genetic variance within populations and the amount of heterogeneity in the environment surrounding them. Here, we use data from a long-term study of 142 populations of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) to compare levels of genetic variation in growth response with measures of climatic heterogeneity in the surrounding region. We find that regional heterogeneity explains at least 20% of the variation in genetic variance, suggesting that gene flow and heterogeneous selection may play an important role in maintaining the high levels of genetic variation found within natural populations. PMID:16769628

  12. High energy density Z-pinch plasmas using flow stabilization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shumlak, U., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Golingo, R. P., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Nelson, B. A., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Bowers, C. A., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Doty, S. A., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Forbes, E. G., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Hughes, M. C., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Kim, B., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Knecht, S. D., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Lambert, K. K., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Lowrie, W., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Ross, M. P., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Weed, J. R., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu [Aerospace and Energetics Research Program, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195-2250 (United States)

    2014-12-15

    The ZaP Flow Z-Pinch research project[1] at the University of Washington investigates the effect of sheared flows on MHD instabilities. Axially flowing Z-pinch plasmas are produced that are 100 cm long with a 1 cm radius. The plasma remains quiescent for many radial Alfvén times and axial flow times. The quiescent periods are characterized by low magnetic mode activity measured at several locations along the plasma column and by stationary visible plasma emission. Plasma evolution is modeled with high-resolution simulation codes – Mach2, WARPX, NIMROD, and HiFi. Plasma flow profiles are experimentally measured with a multi-chord ion Doppler spectrometer. A sheared flow profile is observed to be coincident with the quiescent period, and is consistent with classical plasma viscosity. Equilibrium is determined by diagnostic measurements: interferometry for density; spectroscopy for ion temperature, plasma flow, and density[2]; Thomson scattering for electron temperature; Zeeman splitting for internal magnetic field measurements[3]; and fast framing photography for global structure. Wall stabilization has been investigated computationally and experimentally by removing 70% of the surrounding conducting wall to demonstrate no change in stability behavior.[4] Experimental evidence suggests that the plasma lifetime is only limited by plasma supply and current waveform. The flow Z-pinch concept provides an approach to achieve high energy density plasmas,[5] which are large, easy to diagnose, and persist for extended durations. A new experiment, ZaP-HD, has been built to investigate this approach by separating the flow Z-pinch formation from the radial compression using a triaxial-electrode configuration. This innovation allows more detailed investigations of the sheared flow stabilizing effect, and it allows compression to much higher densities than previously achieved on ZaP by reducing the linear density and increasing the pinch current. Experimental results and

  13. Time dependence of the field energy densities surrounding sources: Application to scalar mesons near point sources and to electromagnetic fields near molecules

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Persico, F.; Power, E.A.

    1987-01-01

    The time dependence of the dressing-undressing process, i.e., the acquiring or losing by a source of a boson field intensity and hence of a field energy density in its neighborhood, is considered by examining some simple soluble models. First, the loss of the virtual field is followed in time when a point source is suddenly decoupled from a neutral scalar meson field. Second, an initially bare point source acquires a virtual meson cloud as the coupling is switched on. The third example is that of an initially bare molecule interacting with the vacuum of the electromagnetic field to acquire a virtual photon cloud. In all three cases the dressing-undressing is shown to take place within an expanding sphere of radius r = ct centered at the source. At each point in space the energy density tends, for large times, to that of the ground state of the total system. Differences in the time dependence of the dressing between the massive scalar field and the massless electromagnetic field are discussed. The results are also briefly discussed in the light of Feinberg's ideas on the nature of half-dressed states in quantum field theory

  14. Effects of charge density and hydrophobicity of poly(amido amine)s for non-viral gene delivery

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Piest, Martin; Engbersen, Johannes F.J.

    2010-01-01

    High cationic charge densities in polymeric vectors result in tight DNA condensation, leading to small highly positively charged polyplexes which show generally high cellular uptake in vitro. However, high cationic charge densities also introduce membrane-disruptive properties to the polymers,

  15. Identification of a locus controlling expression of luminescence genes in Vibrio harveyi.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, M; Showalter, R; Silverman, M

    1989-05-01

    Mutagenesis with transposon mini-Mulac was used to identify loci containing genes for bioluminescence (lux) in the marine bacterium Vibrio harveyi. Transposon insertions which resulted in a Lux- phenotype were mapped to two unlinked regions of the genome. Region I contained the luxCDABE operon which was previously shown to encode the enzymes luciferase and fatty acid reductase, which are required for light production. The other locus, region II, which was identified for the first time in this study, appeared to have a regulatory function. In Northern blot analysis of mRNA from mutants with defects in this region, no transcription from the luxCDABE operon could be detected. Strains with transposon-generated lux::lacZ gene fusions were used to analyze control of the transcription of these regions. Expression of luminescence in the wild type was strongly influenced by the density of the culture, and in strains with the lacZ indicator gene coupled to the luxCDABE operon, beta-galactosidase synthesis was density dependent. So, transcription of this operon is responsive to a density-sensing mechanism. However, beta-galactosidase synthesis in strains with lacZ fused to the region II transcriptional unit did not respond to cell density. The organization and regulation of the lux genes of V. harveyi are discussed, particularly with regard to the contrasts observed with the lux system of the fish light-organ symbiont Vibrio fischeri.

  16. 3D Room Visualization on Android Based Mobile Device (with Philips™’ Surround Sound Music Player

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Durio Etgar

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This project’s specifically purposed as a demo application, so anyone can get the experience of a surround audio room without having to physically involved to it, with a main idea of generating a 3D surround sound room scenery coupled with surround sound in a handier package, namely, a “Virtual Listen Room”. Virtual Listen Room set a foundation of an innovative visualization that later will be developed and released as one of way of portable advertisement. This application was built inside of Android environment. Android device had been chosen as the implementation target, since it leaves massive development spaces and mostly contains essential components needed on this project, including graphic processor unit (GPU. Graphic manipulation can be done using an embedded programming interface called OpenGL ES, which is planted in all Android devices generally. Further, Android has a Accelerometer Sensor that is needed to be coupled with scene to produce a dynamic movement of the camera. Surround sound effect can be reached with a decoder from Phillips called MPEG Surround Sound Decoder. To sum the whole project, we got an application with sensor-dynamic 3D room visualization coupled with Philips’ Surround Sound Music Player. We can manipulate several room’s properties; Subwoofer location, Room light, and how many speakers inside it, the application itself works well despite facing several performance problems before, later to be solved.

  17. GeneRecon Users' Manual — A coalescent based tool for fine-scale association mapping

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mailund, T

    2006-01-01

    GeneRecon is a software package for linkage disequilibrium mapping using coalescent theory. It is based on Bayesian Markov-chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method for fine-scale linkage-disequilibrium gene mapping using high-density marker maps. GeneRecon explicitly models the genealogy of a sample of th...

  18. Essential Genes for In Vitro Growth of the Endophyte Herbaspirillum seropedicae SmR1 as Revealed by Transposon Insertion Site Sequencing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosconi, Federico; de Vries, Stefan P W; Baig, Abiyad; Fabiano, Elena; Grant, Andrew J

    2016-11-15

    The interior of plants contains microorganisms (referred to as endophytes) that are distinct from those present at the root surface or in the surrounding soil. Herbaspirillum seropedicae strain SmR1, belonging to the betaproteobacteria, is an endophyte that colonizes crops, including rice, maize, sugarcane, and sorghum. Different approaches have revealed genes and pathways regulated during the interactions of H. seropedicae with its plant hosts. However, functional genomic analysis of transposon (Tn) mutants has been hampered by the lack of genetic tools. Here we successfully employed a combination of in vivo high-density mariner Tn mutagenesis and targeted Tn insertion site sequencing (Tn-seq) in H. seropedicae SmR1. The analysis of multiple gene-saturating Tn libraries revealed that 395 genes are essential for the growth of H. seropedicae SmR1 in tryptone-yeast extract medium. A comparative analysis with the Database of Essential Genes (DEG) showed that 25 genes are uniquely essential in H. seropedicae SmR1. The Tn mutagenesis protocol developed and the gene-saturating Tn libraries generated will facilitate elucidation of the genetic mechanisms of the H. seropedicae endophytic lifestyle. A focal point in the study of endophytes is the development of effective biofertilizers that could help to reduce the input of agrochemicals in croplands. Besides the ability to promote plant growth, a good biofertilizer should be successful in colonizing its host and competing against the native microbiota. By using a systematic Tn-based gene-inactivation strategy and massively parallel sequencing of Tn insertion sites (Tn-seq), it is possible to study the fitness of thousands of Tn mutants in a single experiment. We have applied the combination of these techniques to the plant-growth-promoting endophyte Herbaspirillum seropedicae SmR1. The Tn mutant libraries generated will enable studies into the genetic mechanisms of H. seropedicae-plant interactions. The approach that we

  19. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE STABILITY OF SURROUNDING ROCK IN TUNNEL BLASTING CONSTRUCTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongxian Fu

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available In this study, criteria and blasting technologies are introduced in order to control the stability of surrounding rock of tunnel built using drill-and-blast safety. The paper is composed of three parts, namely, a blast vibration propagation law in roof surrounding rock in close proximity to tunnel face, two formulae to calculate particle critical vibration velocity of shotcrete and key structural element at the roof of tunnel, and innovative technologies of tunnel blasting. The blast vibration propagation law is the base to control the stability of surrounding rock during tunnel blasting. Based on Morhr-Coulomb criterion and the dynamic analysis, two formulae to calculate the critical particle vibration velocity are proposed. Based on a series of trial blasts using electronic detonators, two innovative blasting technologies are derived. One is the blast holes detonated one by one by using electronic detonator, and another is the blast holes detonated by combining initiation system of electronic detonators and nonel detonators. The use of electronic detonators in tunnel blasting not only leads to a smaller blast vibration but also to a smaller extent of the EDZ (excavation damaged zone.

  20. 33 CFR 165.1411 - Security zone; waters surrounding U.S. Forces vessel SBX-1, HI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Security zone; waters surrounding U.S. Forces vessel SBX-1, HI. 165.1411 Section 165.1411 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD... § 165.1411 Security zone; waters surrounding U.S. Forces vessel SBX-1, HI. (a) Location. The following...

  1. Gene therapy for lipid disorders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rader Daniel J

    2000-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Lipid disorders are associated with atherosclerotic vascular disease, and therapy is associated with a substantial reduction in cardiovascular events. Current approaches to the treatment of lipid disorders are ineffective in a substantial number of patients. New therapies for refractory hypercholesterolemia, severe hypertriglyceridemia, and low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol are needed: somatic gene therapy is one viable approach. The molecular etiology and pathophysiology of most of the candidate diseases are well understood. Animal models exist for the diseases and in many cases preclinical proof-of-principle studies have already been performed. There has been progress in the development of vectors that provide long-term gene expression. New clinical gene therapy trials for lipid disorders are likely to be initiated within the next few years.

  2. Nonlinear electron-density distribution around point defects in simple metals. I. Formulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gupta, A.K.; Jena, P.; Singwi, K.S.

    1978-01-01

    Modification, which is exact in the limit of long wavelength, of the nonlinear theory of Sjoelander and Stott of electron distribution around point defects is given. This modification consists in writing a nonlinear integral equations for the Fourier transform γ 12 (q) of the induced charge density surrounding the point defect, which includes a term involving the density derivative of γ 12 (q). A generalization of the Pauli-Feynman coupling-constant-integration method, together with the Kohn-Sham formalism, is used to exactly determine the coefficient of this derivative term in the long-wavelength limit. The theory is then used to calculate electron-density profiles around a vacancy, an eight-atom void, and a point ion. The results are compared with those of (i) a linear theory, (ii) Sjoelander-Stott theory, and (iii) a fully self-consistent calculation based on the density-functional formalism of Kohn and Sham. It is found that in the case of a vacancy, the results of the present theory are in very good agreement with those based on Kohn-Sham formalism, whereas in the case of a singular attractive potential of a proton, the results are quite poor in the vicinity of the proton, but much better for larger distances. A critical discussion of the theory vis a vis the Kohn-Sham formalism is also given. Some applications of the theory are pointed out

  3. The ethics of germ line gene manipulation--a five dimensional debate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carter, Lucy

    2002-10-01

    Contributors to the debate surrounding the ethics of germ line gene manipulation have by and large concentrated their efforts on discussions of the potential risks that are associated with the use of this technology. Many international advisory committees have ruled out the acceptability of germ line gene manipulation at least for the time being. The purpose of this work is to generate much needed discussion on the many other ethical issues concerning the implementation of not only germ line gene manipulation but also other related biotechnologies. In this paper I systematically investigate and analyse the most salient issues put forward by proponents and opponents alike. I argue that if germ line manipulation proves to be a safe and effective procedure, then the principle of beneficence imposes on the medical profession a moral duty to pursue the technology.

  4. Collagen Matrix Density Drives the Metabolic Shift in Breast Cancer Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brett A. Morris

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Increased breast density attributed to collagen I deposition is associated with a 4–6 fold increased risk of developing breast cancer. Here, we assessed cellular metabolic reprogramming of mammary carcinoma cells in response to increased collagen matrix density using an in vitro 3D model. Our initial observations demonstrated changes in functional metabolism in both normal mammary epithelial cells and mammary carcinoma cells in response to changes in matrix density. Further, mammary carcinoma cells grown in high density collagen matrices displayed decreased oxygen consumption and glucose metabolism via the tricarboxylic acid (TCA cycle compared to cells cultured in low density matrices. Despite decreased glucose entry into the TCA cycle, levels of glucose uptake, cell viability, and ROS were not different between high and low density matrices. Interestingly, under high density conditions the contribution of glutamine as a fuel source to drive the TCA cycle was significantly enhanced. These alterations in functional metabolism mirrored significant changes in the expression of metabolic genes involved in glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation, and the serine synthesis pathway. This study highlights the broad importance of the collagen microenvironment to cellular expression profiles, and shows that changes in density of the collagen microenvironment can modulate metabolic shifts of cancer cells.

  5. Diversity of vascular plants of Piestany and surroundings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Penzesova, A.; Galusova, T.

    2013-01-01

    In the present work is a summary of the results of floristic research aimed at determining diversity of vascular plants of Piestany and its surroundings. Plant taxa we determined using the designation keys. We have compiled a list of plant species occurring in the monitored area, we evaluated the selected botanical-phytogeographical characteristics of flora, we've put together a list of local protected, endangered and rare species and a list of local invasive and expansive species according to sources. (Authors)

  6. Opportunity's Surroundings After Sol 1820 Drive

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,820th to 1,822nd Martian days, or sols, of Opportunity's surface mission (March 7 to 9, 2009). South is at the center; north at both ends. The rover had driven 20.6 meters toward the northwest on Sol 1820 before beginning to take the frames in this view. Tracks from that drive recede southwestward. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and small exposures of lighter-toned bedrock. This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.

  7. Growth Inhibition of Breast Cancer in Rat by AAV Mediated Angiostatin Gene

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    LI Ran; CHEN Hong; REN Chang-shan

    2007-01-01

    Objective: To observe growth inhibition effect of adeno-associated viral vectors (AAV) mediated angiostatin (ANG) gene on implanted breast cancer in rat and its mechanism. Methods: Gene transfer technique was used to transfer AAV-ANG to the tumor. Growth curves were drawn to observe the growth of breast cancer implanted in rat, and immunohistochemical method was used to detect the effects of angiostatin on microvesel density (MVD) of breast cancer implanted in rat. Results: Angiostatin inhibited the growth of breast cancer implanted in rat and decreased the microvessel density of tumor. Conclusion: Expression of an angiostatin transgene can suppress the growth of breast cancer implanted in rat through the inhibition of the growth of microvessels, surggesting that angiostatin gene transfer technique may be effective against breast cancer.

  8. The dose distribution surrounding 192Ir and 137Cs seed sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomason, C.; Mackie, T.R.; Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI; Lindstrom, M.J.; Higgins, P.D.

    1991-01-01

    Dose distributions in water were measured using LiF thermoluminescent dosemeters for 192 Ir seed sources with stainless steel and with platinum encapsulation to determine the effect of differing encapsulation. Dose distribution was measured for a 137 Cs seed source. In addition, dose distributions surrounding these sources were calculated using the EGS4 Monte Carlo code and were compared to measured data. The two methods are in good agreement for all three sources. Tables are given describing dose distribution surrounding each source as a function of distance and angle. Specific dose constants were also determined from results of Monte Carlo simulation. This work confirms the use of the EGS4 Monte Carlo code in modelling 192 Ir and 137 Cs seed sources to obtain brachytherapy dose distributions. (author)

  9. Demands for improvement in working surroundings for older workers in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shizawa, Yasuhiro; Sakuda, Hiroshi; Ohashi, Tomoki

    2003-01-01

    Workers in three nuclear power plants belonging to Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. were asked to complete a questionnaire. According to the accident reports, workers aged 50 or older had more accidents than those in 30s or 40s. Moreover, it is predicted that the average age of workers in Japan will increase during the first half of the 21st century. Therefore, investigations into working surroundings in which older workers can better perform their work would be useful. To this end, a questionnaire addressing issues related to working surroundings was conducted among workers in nuclear power plants and the demands for improvement of working surroundings for older workers are summarized. The demands of 'better lighting', 'making things less heavy', and installation of an elevator' were correlated with age, indicating that younger people have a tendency not to notice these issues. Thus, if the authority deciding on improvements in working surroundings is not an older worker, it is especially important that lighting, the weights of objects to be moved, and methods of moving between floors is taken into account. Findings specific to nuclear power plants were also reported. For example, employees who worked in the non-radiation controlled area demanded the installation of air conditioning and those who worked in the radiation controlled area demanded the establishment of a rest area. Further, we have developed a guidebook entitled 'a guidebook supporting workers' cooperation among all generations' to promote cooperation between older and younger workers. (author)

  10. High frequency electric field spikes formed by electron beam-plasma interaction in plasma density gradients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gunell, H.; Loefgren, T.

    1997-02-01

    In the electron beam-plasma interaction at an electric double layer the beam density is much higher than in the classical beam-plasma experiments. The wave propagation takes place along the density gradient, that is present at the high potential side of the double layer. Such a case is studied experimentally by injecting the electron beam from a plane cathode, without any grids suppressing the gradient, and by particle simulations. The high frequency field concentrates in a sharp 'spike' with a half width of the order of one wavelength. The spike is found to be a standing wave surrounded by regions dominated by propagating waves. It forms at a position where its frequency is close to the local plasma frequency. The spike forms also when the electric field is well below the threshold for modulational instability, and long before a density cavity is formed in the simulations. Particle simulations reveal that, at the spike, there is a backward travelling wave that, when it is strongly damped, accelerates electrons back towards the cathode. In a simulation of a homogeneous plasma without the density gradient no spike is seen, and the wave is purely travelling instead of standing. 9 refs

  11. Models and Approaches for Integrating Protected Areas with Their Surroundings: A Review of the Literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenwu Du

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Several studies have identified threats that originate in areas surrounding protected areas (PAs. While there have been various efforts to integrate PAs with their surroundings, considerable challenges remain. Here we summarize these efforts to date, discuss their effectiveness, and provide recommendations for future research. Based on a broad literature review of theoretical and applied approaches, we have outlined 68 models for balancing conservation and sustainable development in PAs. We comprehensively analyzed 23 of these models for integrating PAs with their surroundings. They were divided into two categories: area-oriented and process-oriented approaches. This review reveals the absolute necessity of combining these two approaches for future conservation and sustainable development of PAs.

  12. Organic matter recycling during a mucilage event and its influence on the surrounding environment (Ligurian Sea, NW Mediterranean)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Misic, Cristina; Schiaparelli, Stefano; Harriague, Anabella Covazzi

    2011-04-01

    The development of benthic mucilage in the Marine Protected Area of Portofino (Ligurian Sea) during the summer of 2009 was studied to verify the influence of this event on the surrounding environment (seawater and soft-bottom). The calm meteorological and sea conditions at the beginning of the time frame under consideration caused the thermal stratification of the water column. This stratification was one of the driving factors influencing the development of the mucilage, which developed on a large boulder surface above the pycnocline. Mucilage was progressively detached from the boulder surface by hydrodynamism, together with macroalgae, and sank onto the sediment below the thermocline. Increased surface-water movements, caused by meteorological forcing during the study period, influenced the aggregation-disaggregation of mucilage flocks above the thermocline, leading to increased dissolved oxygen concentrations and enhanced production and turnover of the organic matter (OM). Mixing with the adjacent seawater led to the fertilisation of the surrounding environment with potentially labile OM and inorganic phosphorus, which caused increases in the hydrolytic enzymatic activity. Conversely, below the thermocline, the sunken mucilage and algae aggregates supported a heterotrophic consumption system. Dissolved oxygen concentrations were lower than those recorded in the mucilage lying above the thermocline, making more carbohydrates than proteins and labile phosphorus available. Despite the slow oxygenation of this mucilage, it contributed to the food supply for the soft-bottom macrofauna, which showed an increase in density, diversity and biomass during the study. These results suggest that the development and fate of the mucilage, as well as its interactions with the surrounding environment, were principally regulated by physical features. In the oligotrophic coastal area of the Ligurian Sea, certain compartments of the ecosystem were able to promptly respond and take

  13. Cheese whey-induced high-cell-density production of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Neubauer Peter

    2003-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Use of lactose-rich concentrates from dairy processes for the induction of recombinant gene's expression has not received much attention although they are interesting low cost substrates for production of recombinant enzymes. Applicability of dairy waste for induction of recombinant genes in Escherichia coli was studied. Clones expressing Lactobacillus phage muramidase and Lactobacillus alcohol dehydrogenase were used for the experiments. Results Shake flask cultivations in mineral salt medium showed that cheese whey or deproteinised whey induced gene expression as efficiently as IPTG (isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranoside or pure lactose. Addition of yeast extract or proteolytically degraded whey proteins did not improve the recombinant protein yield. In contrast, addition of yeast extract to the well-balanced mineral salt medium decreased the product yield. Feeding with glycerol provided sufficient amount of easily assimilable carbon source during the induction period without preventing lactose intake and induction by lactose. High-cell-density fed-batch cultivations showed that product yields comparable to IPTG-induction can be achieved by feeding bacteria with a mixture of glycerol and concentrated whey permeate during the induction. Conclusion Whey and concentrated whey permeate can be applied as an alternative inducer in recombinant high-cell-density fed-batch fermentations. The yield of the recombinant product was comparable to fermentations induced by IPTG. In low-cell-density shake flask experiments the yield was higher with whey or whey permeate than with IPTG.

  14. The analysis of creep characteristics of the surrounding rock of the carbonaceous rock tunnel based on Singh-Mitchell model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Junhui; Mi, Decai; Ye, Qiongyao; Deng, Shengqiang; Zeng, Fuquan; Zeng, Yongjun

    2018-01-01

    Carbonaceous rock has the characteristics of easy disintegration, softening, swelling and environmental sensitivity, which belongs to soft surrounding rock, and the deformation during excavation and long-term stability of the surrounding rock of carbonaceous rock tunnel are common problems in the construction of carbonaceous rock tunnel. According to the above, the Monitor and measure the displacement, temperature and osmotic pressure of the surrounding carbonaceous rock of the tunnel of Guangxi Hebai highway. Then it based on the obtaining data to study the creep mechanism of surrounding rock using Singh-Mitchell model and predict the deformation of surrounding rock before the tunnel is operation. The results show that the Singh-Mitchell creep model can effectively analyse and predict the deformation development law of surrounding rock of tunnel without considering temperature and osmotic pressure, it can provide reference for the construction of carbonaceous rock tunnel and the measures to prevent and reinforce it..

  15. Measuring Density Profiles of Electrons and Heavy Particles in a Stable Axially Blown Arc

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carstensen, J.; Stoller, P.; Galletti, B.; Doiron, C. B.; Sokolov, A.

    2017-08-01

    Two-color spatial carrier wave interferometry employing pulsed 532- and 671-nm lasers is used to measure the electron-density and heavy-particle-density profiles in the stagnation point of a stable, axially blown arc in argon for currents of 50 to 200 A and stagnation point pressures of 0.2 to 16 bar. This technique takes advantage of the fact that the free-electron contribution to the refractive index depends strongly on the wavelength, while that of the heavy particles does not. The high spatial resolution achieved allows the hot core of the arc to be readily distinguished from the surrounding boundary layer. A custom-built test device is used to ensure flow conditions that lead to a stable, axisymmetric arc; this permits the reconstruction of the density and temperature profiles using a single projection (interferometric image) of the refractive-index distribution through the arc (at two wavelengths). The arc radius determined from the heavy-particle density decreases with increasing stagnation pressure and increases with the current. These measurements are in good agreement with a simple axially blown arc model taking into account Ohmic heating, radiation losses, and enthalpy flow for core temperatures of approximately 16 500 K. The measured electron density at the center of the arc agrees well with a prediction based on local thermodynamic equilibrium.

  16. Usefulness of virtual endoscopy for evaluating the relationship between the neck of intracranial aneurysm and surrounding vessels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ikeda, Jota; Horie, Hitoshi; Ishikura, Reiichi; Ando, Kumiko; Morikawa, Tsutomu; Tominaga, Satoru; Nakao, Norio

    2000-01-01

    Application of three-dimensional CT virtual endoscopy for evaluation of the neck and surrounding vessels of intracranial aneurysms. 3D-CT virtual endoscopy (VE) is a reconstructed image using computer processing of 3D-CT images. We evaluated the usefulness of a virtual endoscopy to analyze the relationship between the neck of an intracranial aneurysm and the surrounding vessels. Eight cases with intracranial aneurysms underwent digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and enhanced CT with transarterial infusion of contrast media. 3D-CT angiogram (3D-CTA) and virtual endoscopic images were obtained from the CT image data sets using surface rendering method. The relationship between the neck of an intracranial aneurysm and the surrounding vessels was confirmed by operation or IVR. VE clearly visualized the neck and surrounding vessels in all cases. Operation/IVR findings agreed with the virtual endoscopic findings in all cases, but not with the DSA or 3D-CTA findings in 4 and 2 cases, respectively. 3D-CTA and virtual endoscopy clearly visualizes the relationship between cerebral aneurysms and surrounding vessels, which is useful for determining IVR procedures. (author)

  17. One Japanese case on taxation surrounding foreign trust

    OpenAIRE

    SUZUKI, Yuya

    2015-01-01

    Taxation surrounding trust at cross-border situation is paid attention to byworldwide basis. Japan is not exception. According to recent Japanesejurisprudence, where a trust had been established in accordance with State law ofNew Jersey, the U.S., it was disputed whether or not the act settling that trust fellwithin “shintaku koui (an act of trust)” and one of the related members, who had beena minor child at that time, fell within “jyueki sha (beneficiary)” under JapaneseInheritance Tax Act....

  18. Decrease in local volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) in osteoarthritic joints is associated with the increase in cartilage damage: a pQCT study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamaddon, Maryam; Chen, Shen Mao; Vanaclocha, Leyre; Hart, Alister; El-Husseiny, Moataz; Henckel, Johann; Liu, Chaozong

    2017-11-01

    Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common type of arthritis and a major cause of disability in the adult population. It affects both cartilage and subchondral bone in the joints. There has been some progress in understanding the changes in subchondral bone with progression of osteoarthritis. However, local changes in subchondral bone such as microstructure or volumetric bone mineral density in connection with the defect in cartilage are relatively unexplored. To develop an effective treatment for progression of OA, it is important to understand how the physical environment provided by the subchondral bone affects the overlying cartilage. In this study we examined the volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) distribution in the osteoarthritic joint tissues obtained from total hip replacement surgeries due to osteoarthritis, using peripheral quantitative CT (pQCT). It was found that there is a significant decrease in volumetric bone mineral density, which co-localises with the damage in the overlying cartilage. This was not limited to the subchondral bone immediately adjacent to the cartilage defect but continued in the layers below. Bone resorption and cyst formation in the OA tissues were also detected. We observed that the bone surrounding subchondral bone cysts exhibited much higher volumetric bone mineral density than that of the surrounding bones. PQCT was able to detect significant changes in vBMD between OA and non-OA samples, as well as between areas of different cartilage degeneration, which points to its potential as a technique for detection of early OA.

  19. Electric field spikes formed by electron beam endash plasma interaction in plasma density gradients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gunell, H.; Loefgren, T.

    1997-01-01

    In the electron beam endash plasma interaction at an electric double layer the beam density is much higher than in the classical beam endash plasma experiments. The wave propagation takes place along the density gradient that is present at the high potential side of the double layer. Such a case is studied experimentally by injecting the electron beam from a plane cathode, without any grids suppressing the gradient, and by particle simulations. The high frequency field concentrates in a sharp open-quotes spikeclose quotes with a half width of the order of one wavelength. The spike is found to be a standing wave surrounded by regions dominated by propagating waves. It forms at a position where its frequency is close to the local plasma frequency. The spike forms also when the electric field is well below the threshold for modulational instability, and long before a density cavity is formed in the simulations. Particle simulations reveal that, at the spike, there is a backward traveling wave that, when it is strongly damped, accelerates electrons back towards the cathode. In a simulation of a homogeneous plasma without the density gradient no spike is seen, and the wave is purely travelling instead of standing. copyright 1997 American Institute of Physics

  20. The bird species of pandam wildlife park and the surrounding ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The effect of time of day as well as vegetation variables on bird species diversity in the park and surrounding farmlands was also conducted. 10 transects in each study site were surveyed twice between during the dry season and vegetation variables (trees, fingers, finger-rings two- hand, grazing, farming, canopy cover, ...

  1. Segment density profiles of polyelectrolyte brushes determined by Fourier transform ellipsometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biesalski, Markus; Rühe, Jürgen; Johannsmann, Diethelm

    1999-10-01

    We describe a method for the explicit determination of the segment density profile φ(z) of surface-attached polymer brushes with multiple angle of incidence null-ellipsometry. Because the refractive index contrast between the brush layer and the solvent is weak, multiple reflections are of minor influence and the ellipsometric spectrum is closely related to the Fourier transform of the refractive index profile, thereby allowing for explicit inversion of the ellipsometric data. We chose surface-attached monolayers of polymethacrylic acid (PMAA), a weak polyelectrolyte, as a model system and determined the segment density profile of this system as a function of the pH value of the surrounding medium by the Fourier method. Complementary to the Fourier analysis, fits with error functions are given as well. The brushes were prepared on the bases of high refractive index prisms with the "grafting-from" technique. In water, the brushes swell by more than a factor of 30. The swelling increases with increasing pH because of a growing fraction of dissociated acidic groups leading to a larger electrostatic repulsion.

  2. Surrounding land cover types as predictors of palustrine wetland vegetation quality in conterminous USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stapanian, Martin A.; Gara, Brian; Schumacher, William

    2018-01-01

    The loss of wetland habitats and their often-unique biological communities is a major environmental concern. We examined vegetation data obtained from 380 wetlands sampled in a statistical survey of wetlands in the USA. Our goal was to identify which surrounding land cover types best predict two indices of vegetation quality in wetlands at the regional scale. We considered palustrine wetlands in four regions (Coastal Plains, North Central East, Interior Plains, and West) in which the dominant vegetation was emergent, forested, or scrub-shrub. For each wetland, we calculated weighted proportions of eight land cover types surrounding the area in which vegetation was assessed, in four zones radiating from the edge of the assessment area to 2 km. Using Akaike's Information Criterion, we determined the best 1-, 2- and 3-predictor models of the two indices, using the weighted proportions of the land cover types as potential predictors. Mean values of the two indices were generally higher in the North Central East and Coastal Plains than the other regions for forested and emergent wetlands. In nearly all cases, the best predictors of the indices were not the dominant surrounding land cover types. Overall, proportions of forest (positive effect) and agriculture (negative effect) surrounding the assessment area were the best predictors of the two indices. One or both of these variables were included as predictors in 65 of the 72 models supported by the data. Wetlands surrounding the assessment area had a positive effect on the indices, and ranked third (33%) among the predictors included in supported models. Development had a negative effect on the indices and was included in only 28% of supported models. These results can be used to develop regional management plans for wetlands, such as creating forest buffers around wetlands, or to conserve zones between wetlands to increase habitat connectivity.

  3. Relationships between seismic wave-Speed, density, and electrical conductivity beneath Australia from seismology, mineralogy, and laboratory-based conductivity profiles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Khan, A.; Koch, S.; Shankland, T. J.

    2015-01-01

    We present maps of the three-dimensional density (ρ), electrical conductivity (σ), and shear-wave speed (VS) structure of the mantle beneath Australia and surrounding ocean in the depth range of 100–800 km. These maps derived from stochastic inversion of seismic surface-wave dispersion data...... shear-wave speeds, low densities, and high conductivities. This trend appears to continue to depths well below 300 km. The slow-fast shear-wave speed distribution found here is also observed in independent seismic tomographic models of the Australian region, whereas the coupled slow-fast shear......-wave speed, low-high density, and high-low electrical conductivity distribution has not been observed previously. Toward the bottom of the upper mantle at 400 km depth marking the olivine ⃗ wadsleyite transformation (the “410–km” seismic discontinuity), the correlation between VS, ρ, and σ weakens...

  4. Effect of Dislocation Density on Deformation Behavior of Super Strong Bainitic Steel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Avishan

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Presence of nanoscale bainitic ferrites and high carbon retained austenites that are stable at ambient temperature within the microstructures of super strong bainitic steels makes it possible to achieve exceptional strengths and ductility properties in these groups of nanostructured steels. This article aims to study the effect of the dislocation density variations during tensile testing in ambient temperature on deformation behavior of nanostructured low temperature bainitic steels. Results indicate that dislocation absorption from bainitic ferrite subunits by surrounding retained austenite reduces the work hardening and therefore increases the formability of bainitic ferrite during deformation, which in turn results in a suitable combination of strength and ductility.

  5. A comparison of fossilized dinosaur bone and the surrounding rock using PIXE analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neilsen, D.W.; Rees, L.B.; Mangelson, N.F.; Hill, M.W.

    1992-01-01

    Six samples of fossilized dinosaur bone and surrounding rock were analyzed by PIXE to investigate general relations between the bone and rock. The powdered samples were brought into an acid solution by a lithium metaborate fusion process. The data were analyzed with chemometric methods to successfully differentiate the bone samples from the complementary rock samples. The Sr/Ca ratio is consistently higher in fossilized bone than the surrounding rock. Ba, Y and U, when found in the rock, appear in significantly higher concentrations in the bone. S and Ti, elements commonly found in rock samples, are not found in the bone samples. (author)

  6. Earthquakes in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2007

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baer, M.; Deichmann, N.; Clinton, J.; Husen, S.; Faeh, D.; Giardini, D.; Kaestli, P.; Kradolfer, U.; Wiemer, S

    2008-12-15

    This report of the Swiss Seismological Service summarizes the seismic activity in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2007. During this period, 531 earthquakes and 92 quarry blasts were detected and located in the region under consideration. Of these earthquakes, 30 are aftershocks of the stimulation of a proposed geothermal reservoir beneath the city of Basel in December of 2006. With 20 events with {mu}{sub {iota}} {>=} 2.5, four of which were artificially induced, the seismic activity in the year 2007 was far below the average over the previous 32 years. (author)

  7. Earthquakes in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2007

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baer, M.; Deichmann, N.; Clinton, J.; Husen, S.; Faeh, D.; Giardini, D.; Kaestli, P.; Kradolfer, U.; Wiemer, S.

    2008-01-01

    This report of the Swiss Seismological Service summarizes the seismic activity in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2007. During this period, 531 earthquakes and 92 quarry blasts were detected and located in the region under consideration. Of these earthquakes, 30 are aftershocks of the stimulation of a proposed geothermal reservoir beneath the city of Basel in December of 2006. With 20 events with Μ ι ≥ 2.5, four of which were artificially induced, the seismic activity in the year 2007 was far below the average over the previous 32 years. (author)

  8. Density-dependent expressions for photoionization cross-sections

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun Weiguo; Ma Xiaoguang; Cheng Yansong

    2004-01-01

    Alternative expressions for photoionization cross-sections and dielectric influence functions are suggested to study the photoionization cross-sections of atoms in solid system. The basic picture is that the photoionization cross-section of atoms in a real system can be described as the coupling between quantum quantity (QQ) and classical quantity (CQ) parts. The QQ part represents the photoionization cross-sections of an isolated particle, while the CQ part may represent most of the important influence of the macroscopic effects (e.g., the interactions of all surrounding polarized particles, and the dielectric property, etc.) on the photoionization cross-sections. The applications to the barium system show that the number-density-dependent new photoionization formula not only obtains the same cross-sections as those from the first order approximation for ideal gas, but also can generate the cross-sections for solid barium by transforming those of ideal gas of the same species using the dielectric influence function

  9. Density-dependent expressions for photoionization cross-sections

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sun Weiguo; Ma Xiaoguang; Cheng Yansong

    2004-06-07

    Alternative expressions for photoionization cross-sections and dielectric influence functions are suggested to study the photoionization cross-sections of atoms in solid system. The basic picture is that the photoionization cross-section of atoms in a real system can be described as the coupling between quantum quantity (QQ) and classical quantity (CQ) parts. The QQ part represents the photoionization cross-sections of an isolated particle, while the CQ part may represent most of the important influence of the macroscopic effects (e.g., the interactions of all surrounding polarized particles, and the dielectric property, etc.) on the photoionization cross-sections. The applications to the barium system show that the number-density-dependent new photoionization formula not only obtains the same cross-sections as those from the first order approximation for ideal gas, but also can generate the cross-sections for solid barium by transforming those of ideal gas of the same species using the dielectric influence function.

  10. Criticality safety of low-density storage arrays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bauer, T. H.; Nuclear Engineering Division

    2005-01-01

    This paper proposes a straightforward bounding method for the criticality safety analysis of fissionable materials configured into large arrays of standard containers. While criticality-safe storage limits have been well established for single containers, even under flooded conditions, it is also necessary to rule out any potential for criticality arising from neutronic interactions among multiple containers that might build up over long distances in a large array. Traditionally, the array problem has been approached by individual Monte Carlo analyses of explicit arrangements of single units and their surroundings. Deemphasizing specific configurations, the present technique takes advantage of low average density of fissionable material in typical storage arrays to separate neutron interactions that take place in the neutron's 'birth unit' from subsequent interactions in a dilute array. Numerous explicit Monte Carlo analyses show that array effects may be conservatively calculated by analyses that homogenize fissionable contents and depend only on the overall array shape, size, and reflective boundary

  11. Criticality safety of low-density storage arrays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bauer, T.H.

    1996-01-01

    This paper proposes a straightforward bounding method for the criticality safety analysis of fissionable materials configured into large arrays of standard containers. While criticality-safe storage limits have been well established for single containers, even under flooded conditions, it is also necessary to rule out any potential for criticality arising from neutronic interactions among multiple containers that might build up over long distances in a large array. Traditionally, the array problem has been approached by individual Monte Carlo analyses of explicit arrangements of single units and their surroundings. Deemphasizing specific configurations, the present technique takes advantage of low average density of fissionable material in typical storage arrays to separate neutron interactions that take place in the neutron's open-quotes birth unitclose quotes from subsequent interactions in a dilute array. Numerous explicit Monte Carlo analyses show that array effects may be conservatively calculated by analyses that homogenize fissionable contents and depend only on the overall array shape, size, and reflective boundary

  12. The spatial distribution of fixed mutations within genes coding for proteins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holmquist, R.; Goodman, M.; Conroy, T.; Czelusniak, J.

    1983-01-01

    An examination has been conducted of the extensive amino acid sequence data now available for five protein families - the alpha crystallin A chain, myoglobin, alpha and beta hemoglobin, and the cytochromes c - with the goal of estimating the true spatial distribution of base substitutions within genes that code for proteins. In every case the commonly used Poisson density failed to even approximate the experimental pattern of base substitution. For the 87 species of beta hemoglobin examined, for example, the probability that the observed results were from a Poisson process was the minuscule 10 to the -44th. Analogous results were obtained for the other functional families. All the data were reasonably, but not perfectly, described by the negative binomial density. In particular, most of the data were described by one of the very simple limiting forms of this density, the geometric density. The implications of this for evolutionary inference are discussed. It is evident that most estimates of total base substitutions between genes are badly in need of revision.

  13. Gene flow from transgenic common beans expressing the bar gene.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faria, Josias C; Carneiro, Geraldo E S; Aragão, Francisco J L

    2010-01-01

    Gene flow is a common phenomenon even in self-pollinated plant species. With the advent of genetically modified plants this subject has become of the utmost importance due to the need for controlling the spread of transgenes. This study was conducted to determine the occurrence and intensity of outcrossing in transgenic common beans. In order to evaluate the outcross rates, four experiments were conducted in Santo Antonio de Goiás (GO, Brazil) and one in Londrina (PR, Brazil), using transgenic cultivars resistant to the herbicide glufosinate ammonium and their conventional counterparts as recipients of the transgene. Experiments with cv. Olathe Pinto and the transgenic line Olathe M1/4 were conducted in a completely randomized design with ten replications for three years in one location, whereas the experiments with cv. Pérola and the transgenic line Pérola M1/4 were conducted at two locations for one year, with the transgenic cultivar surrounded on all sides by the conventional counterpart. The outcross occurred at a negligible rate of 0.00741% in cv. Pérola, while none was observed (0.0%) in cv. Olathe Pinto. The frequency of gene flow was cultivar dependent and most of the observed outcross was within 2.5 m from the edge of the pollen source. Index terms: Phaseolus vulgaris, outcross, glufosinate ammonium.

  14. A novel method to quantify local CpG methylation density by regional methylation elongation assay on microarray

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qiao Yingjuan

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background DNA methylation based techniques are important tools in both clinical diagnostics and therapeutics. But most of these methods only analyze a few CpG sites in a target region. Indeed, difference of site-specific methylation may also lead to a change of methylation density in many cases, and it has been found that the density of methylation is more important than methylation of single CpG site for gene silencing. Results We have developed a novel approach for quantitative analysis of CpG methylation density on the basis of microarray-based hybridization and incorporation of Cy5-dCTP into the Cy3 labeled target DNA by using Taq DNA Polymerase on microarray. The quantification is achieved by measuring Cy5/Cy3 signal ratio which is proportional to methylation density. This methylation-sensitive technique, termed RMEAM (regional methylation elongation assay on microarray, provides several advantages over existing methods used for methylation analysis. It can determine an exact methylation density of the given region, and has potential of high throughput. We demonstrate a use of this method in determining the methylation density of the promoter region of the tumor-related gene MLH1, TERT and MGMT in colorectal carcinoma patients. Conclusion This technique allows for quantitative analysis of regional methylation density, which is the representative of all allelic methylation patterns in the sample. The results show that this technique has the characteristics of simplicity, rapidness, specificity and high-throughput.

  15. Methods of Assessing Noise Nuisance of Real Estate Surroundings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Szopińska Kinga

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Testing what factors create the market value of real estate is key information when preparing property valuations as well as other opinions and professional evaluations on the basis of which court verdicts or administrative decisions are made. One of the factors influencing the value of some real estate is the level of noise present in the surroundings, which can lead to the occurrence of noise nuisance negatively affecting social relations.

  16. Gene expression of osteogenic factors following gene therapy in mandibular lengthening.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Guoping; Zhou, Bin; Hu, Chunbing; Li, Shaolan

    2015-03-01

    This study investigated the effect of gene therapy on the expression of osteogenic mediators in mandibular distraction osteogenesis rabbits. Bilateral mandibular osteotomies were performed in 45 New-Zealand rabbits. After a latency of 3 days, the mandibles were elongated using distractors with a rate of 0.8 mm/d for 7 days. After the completion of distraction, the rabbits were randomly divided into 5 groups: 2 μg (0.1 μg/μL) of recombinant plasmid pIRES-hVEGF165-hBMP-2, recombinant plasmid pIRES-hBMP2, recombinant plasmid pIRES-hVEGF165, pIRES, and the same volume of normal saline were injected into the distraction gap of groups A, B, C, D, and E, respectively, followed by electroporation. Three animals were killed at the 7th, 14th, and 28th day after gene transfected in different groups, respectively. The lengthened mandibles were harvested and processed for immunohistochemical examinations; the mean optic densities (MODs) and integral optical density of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP-2) and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1)-positive cells were measured by CMIAS-2001A computerized image analyzer. The data were analyzed with SPSS (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL). Bone morphogenetic protein 2 and TGF-β1 staining was mainly located in inflammatory cells, monocytes, fibroblasts, osteoblasts, osteocytes, and chondrocytes in the distraction zones. Their strongest expression reached to the peak at the seventh day and decreased at the 14th day of consolidation stage; at the 28th day, they expressed weakly. Image analysis results show that, at the seventh day, the expression of BMP-2 in group B (0.26 ± 0.03, 0.36 ± 0.02) was the strongest; there was significant difference among them (P < 0.01), whereas the expression of TGF-β1 in group C (0.38 ± 0.06, 1.05 ± 0.19) is strongest followed by group A (0.34 ± 0.05, 0.95 ± 0.16) and B (0.33 ± 0.07, 0.90 ± 0.19). At every time point, the level of expression of BMP-2 and TGF-β1 in gene therapy groups (groups A, B, and

  17. Association of transforming growth factor-ß3 gene polymorphism ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    user

    2011-03-07

    Mar 7, 2011 ... traits of interest in agricultural animal species (Rothschild and Soller, 1997). Although, traditional selection for phenotypic values of broiler chickens has made significant ..... the very low density Apolipoprotein-II gene. Poult.

  18. Mutated genes as research tool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1981-01-01

    Green plants are the ultimate source of all resources required for man's life, his food, his clothes, and almost all his energy requirements. Primitive prehistoric man could live from the abundance of nature surrounding him. Man today, dominating nature in terms of numbers and exploiting its limited resources, cannot exist without employing his intelligence to direct natural evolution. Plant sciences, therefore, are not a matter of curiosity but an essential requirement. From such considerations, the IAEA and FAO jointly organized a symposium to assess the value of mutation research for various kinds of plant science, which directly or indirectly might contribute to sustaining and improving crop production. The benefit through developing better cultivars that plant breeders can derive from using the additional genetic resources resulting from mutation induction has been assessed before at other FAO/IAEA meetings (Rome 1964, Pullman 1969, Ban 1974, Ibadan 1978) and is also monitored in the Mutation Breeding Newsletter, published by IAEA twice a year. Several hundred plant cultivars which carry economically important characters because their genes have been altered by ionizing radiation or other mutagens, are grown by farmers and horticulturists in many parts of the world. But the benefit derived from such mutant varieties is without any doubt surpassed by the contribution which mutation research has made towards the advancement of genetics. For this reason, a major part of the papers and discussions at the symposium dealt with the role induced-mutation research played in providing insight into gene action and gene interaction, the organization of genes in plant chromosomes in view of homology and homoeology, the evolutionary role of gene duplication and polyploidy, the relevance of gene blocks, the possibilities for chromosome engineering, the functioning of cytroplasmic inheritance and the genetic dynamics of populations. In discussing the evolutionary role of

  19. Marine Traffic Density Over Port Klang, Malaysia Using Statistical Analysis of AIS Data: A Preliminary Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masnawi MUSTAFFA

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Port Klang Malaysia is the 13th busiest port in the world, the capacity at the port expected to be able to meet the demand until 2018. It is one of the busiest ports in the world and also the busiest port in Malaysia. Even though there are statistics published by Port Klang Authority showing that a lot of ships using this port, this number is only based on ships that entering Port Klang. Therefore, no study has been done to investigate on how dense the traffic is in Port Klang, Malaysia the surrounding sea including Strait of Malacca . This paper has investigated on traffic density over Port Klang Malaysia and its surrounding sea using statistical analysis from AIS data. As a preliminary study, this study only collected AIS data for 7 days to represent daily traffic weekly. As a result, an hourly number of vessels, daily number of vessels, vessels classification and sizes and also traffic paths will be plotted.

  20. Direct atomic imaging and density functional theory study of the Au24Pd1 cluster catalyst.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruma, A; Negreiros, F R; Xie, S; Tsukuda, T; Johnston, R L; Fortunelli, A; Li, Z Y

    2013-10-21

    In this study we report a direct, atomic-resolution imaging of calcined Au24Pd1 clusters supported on multiwall carbon nanotubes by employing aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy. Using gold atoms as mass standards, we confirm the cluster size to be 25 ± 2, in agreement with the Au24Pd1(SR)18 precursor used in the synthesis. Concurrently, a Density-Functional/Basin-Hopping computational algorithm is employed to locate the low-energy configurations of free Au24Pd1 cluster. Cage structures surrounding a single core atom are found to be favored, with a slight preference for Pd to occupy the core site. The cluster shows a tendency toward elongated arrangements, consistent with experimental data. The degree of electron transfer from the Pd dopant to Au is quantified through a Löwdin charge analysis, suggesting that Pd may act as an electron promoter to the surrounding Au atoms when they are involved in catalytic reactions.

  1. Identification of apoptosis-related PLZF target genes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bernardo, Maria Victoria; Yelo, Estefania; Gimeno, Lourdes; Campillo, Jose Antonio; Parrado, Antonio

    2007-01-01

    The PLZF gene encodes a BTB/POZ-zinc finger-type transcription factor, involved in physiological development, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. In this paper, we investigate proliferation, survival, and gene expression regulation in stable clones from the human haematopoietic K562, DG75, and Jurkat cell lines with inducible expression of PLZF. In Jurkat cells, but not in K562 and DG75 cells, PLZF induced growth suppression and apoptosis in a cell density-dependent manner. Deletion of the BTB/POZ domain of PLZF abrogated growth suppression and apoptosis. PLZF was expressed with a nuclear speckled pattern distinctively in the full-length PLZF-expressing Jurkat clones, suggesting that the nuclear speckled localization is required for PLZF-induced apoptosis. By microarray analysis, we identified that the apoptosis-inducer TP53INP1, ID1, and ID3 genes were upregulated, and the apoptosis-inhibitor TERT gene was downregulated. The identification of apoptosis-related PLZF target genes may have biological and clinical relevance in cancer typified by altered PLZF expression

  2. Anomalous evolution of Ar metastable density with electron density in high density Ar discharge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Min; Chang, Hong-Young; You, Shin-Jae; Kim, Jung-Hyung; Shin, Yong-Hyeon

    2011-01-01

    Recently, an anomalous evolution of argon metastable density with plasma discharge power (electron density) was reported [A. M. Daltrini, S. A. Moshkalev, T. J. Morgan, R. B. Piejak, and W. G. Graham, Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 061504 (2008)]. Although the importance of the metastable atom and its density has been reported in a lot of literature, however, a basic physics behind the anomalous evolution of metastable density has not been clearly understood yet. In this study, we investigated a simple global model to elucidate the underlying physics of the anomalous evolution of argon metastable density with the electron density. On the basis of the proposed simple model, we reproduced the anomalous evolution of the metastable density and disclosed the detailed physics for the anomalous result. Drastic changes of dominant mechanisms for the population and depopulation processes of Ar metastable atoms with electron density, which take place even in relatively low electron density regime, is the clue to understand the result.

  3. Association analysis of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms and bone mineral density in postmenopausal Mexican-Mestizo women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    González-Mercado, A; Sánchez-López, J Y; Regla-Nava, J A; Gámez-Nava, J I; González-López, L; Duran-Gonzalez, J; Celis, A; Perea-Díaz, F J; Salazar-Páramo, M; Ibarra, B

    2013-07-30

    We investigated associations between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms, FokI T>C (rs2228570), BsmI G>A (rs1544410), ApaI G>T (rs7975232), and TaqI T>C (rs731236), with bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal Mexican-Mestizo women. Three hundred and twenty postmenopausal women participated, who were classified according to World Health Organization criteria as non-osteoporotic (Non-OP; N = 88), osteopenic (Opn; N = 144), and osteoporotic (OP; N = 88). BMD measurements at the lumbar (L1-L4) spine and at the left and right femoral neck were obtained by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped using real-time polymerase chain reaction and TaqMan probes. Genotype and allelic frequencies of the 4 VDR SNPs were similar among the 3 groups. Polymorphic allele frequencies were as follows: FokI (C) 0.53, 0.49, 0.56; BsmI (A) 0.26, 0.22, 0.23; ApaI (T) 0.43, 0.39, 0.44; TaqI (C) 0.27, 0.22, 0.23 for the Non-OP, Opn, and OP groups, respectively. Although no associations were found between the SNPs and BMD, based on the putative function of the FokI SNP, we constructed, for the first time, the haplotype with the 4 VDR SNPs, and found that the CGGT haplotype differed between the Non- OP and OP groups (21.8 vs 31.8%, P Mexican-Mestizo women.

  4. CT after gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma : significance of soft tissue surrounding the celiac axis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baek, Seung Yon; Kim, Hae Young; Choi, Hye Young; Lee, Sun Wha; Ko, Eun Joo; Lee, Myung Sook

    1997-01-01

    To evaluate whether soft tissue surrounding the celiac axis, as seen on abdominal CT imaging after gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma, should be considered as the recurrence of carcinoma or postoperative change. One hundred and forty-one abdominal CT examinations of 71 patients who had undergone subtotal or total gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma were included in our study. Conventional CT scans were obtained with 1cm thickness and interval from the diaphragm to the kidneys after contrast enhancement. It was considered that carcinoma had not recurred if findings were negative on UGI series, endoscopy with biopsy and a normal level of carcinoembryonic antigen except for soft tissue surrounding the celiac axis on abdominal CT. We then divided subjects into a recurrence group(N=20) and normal group(N=51) and on initial follow-up CT(FU-CT), analyzed the incidence, margin, shape, extent, degree and pattern of attenuation of the soft tissue surrounding the celiac axis in both groups. Since the second FU-CT examination, we observed changes in the soft tissue surrounding the celiac axis. On initial follow-up CT, at mean 308 days after surgery, fifty-five percent(39/71) of total patients (70%(14/20) of the recurrence group and 49%(25/51) of the normal group) showed soft tissue surrounding the celiac axis. The margin was distinct in 12(86%) of the recurrence group and indistinct in 21(84%) of the normal group(p<0.001). Twelve (86%) of the recurrence group showed a nodular or confluent nodular shape and 21(84%) of the normal group showed a permeative shape (p<0.001). Extent was unilateral in eight (57%) of the recurrence group and bilateral in 16(64%) of the normal group. Attenuation was similar to that of the spleen and muscle in seven(50%) of the recurrence group and was similar to that of muscle in 18(72%) of the normal group. The pattern of attenuation was homogeneous in 13(93%) of the recurrence group and 21(84%) of the normal group. There was no significant difference in

  5. Estimating the mass density in the thermosphere with the CYGNSS mission.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bussy-Virat, C.; Ridley, A. J.

    2017-12-01

    The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) mission, launched in December 2016, is a constellation of eight satellites orbiting the Earth at 510 km. Its goal is to improve our understanding of rapid hurricane wind intensification. Each CYGNSS satellite uses GPS signals that are reflected off of the ocean's surface to measure the wind. The GPS can also be used to specify the orbit of the satellites quite precisely. The motion of satellites in low Earth orbit are greatly influenced by the neutral density of the surrounding atmosphere through drag. Modeling the neutral density in the upper atmosphere is a major challenge as it involves a comprehensive understanding of the complex coupling between the thermosphere and the ionosphere, the magnetosphere, and the Sun. This is why thermospheric models (such as NRLMSIS, Jacchia-Bowman, HASDM, GITM, or TIEGCM) can only approximate it with a limited accuracy, which decreases during strong geomagnetic events. Because atmospheric drag directly depends on the thermospheric density, it can be estimated applying filtering methods to the trajectories of the CYGNSS observatories. The CYGNSS mission can provide unique results since the constellation of eight satellites enables multiple measurements of the same region at close intervals ( 10 minutes), which can be used to detect short time scale features. Moreover, the CYGNSS spacecraft can be pitched from a low to high drag attitude configuration, which can be used in the filtering methods to improve the accuracy of the atmospheric density estimation. The methodology and the results of this approach applied to the CYGNSS mission will be presented.

  6. Thermal Conductivity of Human Bone in Cryoprobe Freezing as Related to Density.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Kyle E; Baldini, Todd; Lindeque, Bennie G

    2017-03-01

    Cryoprobes create localized cell destruction through freezing. Bone is resistant to temperature flow but is susceptible to freezing necrosis at warmer temperatures than tumor cells. Few studies have determined the thermal conductivity of human bone. No studies have examined conductivity as related to density. The study goal was to examine thermal conductivity in human bone while comparing differences between cancellous and cortical bone. An additional goal was to establish a relationship between bone density and thermal conductivity. Six knee joints from 5 cadavers were obtained. The epiphyseal region was sliced in half coronally prior to inserting an argon-circulating cryoprobe directed away from the joint line. Thermistor thermometers were placed perpendicularly at measured increments, and the freezing cycle was recorded until steady-state conditions were achieved. For 2 cortical samples, the probe was placed intramedullary in metaphyseal samples and measurements were performed radially from the central axis of each sample. Conductivity was calculated using Fournier's Law and then plotted against measured density of each sample. Across samples, density of cancellous bone ranged from 0.86 to 1.38 g/mL and average thermal conductivity ranged between 0.404 and 0.55 W/mK. Comparatively, cortical bone had a density of 1.70 to 1.86 g/mL and thermal conductivity of 0.0742 to 0.109 W/mK. A strong 2-degree polynomial correlation was seen (R 2 =0.8226, P<.001). Bone is highly resistant to temperature flow. This resistance varies and inversely correlates strongly with density. This information is clinically relevant to maximize tumor ablation while minimizing morbidity through unnecessary bone loss and damage to surrounding structures. [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(2):90-94.]. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

  7. Gene profile analysis of osteoblast genes differentially regulated by histone deacetylase inhibitors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lamblin Anne-Francoise

    2007-10-01

    might promote osteoblast maturation following HDI exposure. One gene whose upregulation following HDI treatment is consistent with this notion is Slc9a3r1. Also known as NHERF1, Slc9a3r1 is required for optimal bone density. Similarly, the regulation of Wnt receptor genes indicates that this crucial pathway in osteoblast development is also affected by HDIs. These data support the hypothesis that HDIs regulate the expression of genes that promote osteoblast differentiation and maturation.

  8. Orientation, distance, regulation and function of neighbouring genes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gherman Adrian

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The sequencing of the human genome has allowed us to observe globally and in detail the arrangement of genes along the chromosomes. There are multiple lines of evidence that this arrangement is not random, both in terms of intergenic distances and orientation of neighbouring genes. We have undertaken a systematic evaluation of the spatial distribution and orientation of known genes across the human genome. We used genome-level information, including phylogenetic conservation, single nucleotide polymorphism density and correlation of gene expression to assess the importance of this distribution. In addition to confirming and extending known properties of the genome, such as the significance of gene deserts and the importance of 'head to head' orientation of gene pairs in proximity, we provide significant new observations that include a smaller average size for intervals separating the 3' ends of neighbouring genes, a correlation of gene expression across tissues for genes as far as 100 kilobases apart and signatures of increasing positive selection with decreasing interval size surprisingly relaxing for intervals smaller than ~500 base pairs. Further, we provide extensive graphical representations of the genome-wide data to allow for observations and comparisons beyond what we address.

  9. An improved model for surround suppression by steerable filters and multilevel inhibition with application to contour detection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Papari, Giuseppe; Petkov, Nicolai

    Psychophysical and neurophysiological evidence about the human visual system shows the existence of a mechanism, called surround suppression, which inhibits the response of an edge in the presence of other similar edges in the surroundings. A simple computational model of this phenomenon has been

  10. Ornitocenosis of the Sursky pond and its close the surroundings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lacko, J.; Ambrus, B.; Fupso, A.

    2013-01-01

    The paper focuses on the qualitative-quantitative research of fishpond bird community of the Sursky and its surroundings as well as on analysis of seasonal population dynamics of the avifauna as well as on placing the determined species into environmental groups and guilds. Another object is the comparison of our results with recent work focused on research of bird communities on this site.

  11. Experiences during the decontamination process of areas surrounding to Fukushima

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Molina, G.

    2014-10-01

    In this work the experience gained during the decontamination of areas surrounding to Fukushima NPP, rugged during the earthquake and tsunami in 2011 and caused the contamination with fission products in these areas is described. Actions taken by the Japanese government are reported and some of the techniques used, the intervention levels and the progress made and disposal techniques considered are presented. (Author)

  12. Isoperimetric inequalities in surround system and space science

    OpenAIRE

    JiaJin Wen; Jun Yuan; ShanHe Wu

    2016-01-01

    Abstract By means of the algebraic, analysis, convex geometry, computer, and inequality theories we establish the following isoperimetric inequality in the centered 2-surround system S ( 2 ) { P , Γ , l } $S^{(2)} \\{P,\\varGamma ,l \\}$ : ( 1 | Γ | ∮ Γ r ¯ P p ) 1 / p ⩽ | Γ | 4 π sin l π | Γ | [ csc l π | Γ | + cot 2 l π | Γ | ln ( tan l π | Γ | + sec l π | Γ | ) ] , ∀ p ⩽ − 2 . $$\\begin{aligned}& \\biggl(\\frac{1}{|\\varGamma |} \\oint_{\\varGamma }\\bar{r}_{P}^{p} \\biggr)^{1/p}\\leqslant\\frac{|\\varG...

  13. Towards Semantic Understanding of Surrounding Vehicular Maneuvers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristoffersen, Miklas Strøm; Dueholm, Jacob Velling; Satzoda, Ravi K.

    2016-01-01

    This paper proposes the use of multiple low-cost visual sensors to obtain a surround view of the ego-vehicle for semantic understanding. A multi-perspective view will assist the analysis of naturalistic driving studies (NDS), by automating the task of data reduction of the observed sequences...... into events. A user-centric vision-based framework is presented using a vehicle detector and tracker in each separate perspective. Multi-perspective trajectories are estimated and analyzed to extract 14 different events, including potential dangerous behaviors such as overtakes and cut-ins. The system...... is tested on ten sequences of real-world data collected on U. S. highways. The results show the potential use of multiple low-cost visual sensors for semantic understanding around the ego-vehicle....

  14. Association of age and macular pigment optical density using dual-wavelength autofluorescence imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lima, Verônica Castro; Rosen, Richard B; Prata, Tiago Santos; Dorairaj, Syril; Spielberg, Leigh; Maia, Mauricio; Sallum, Juliana M

    2013-01-01

    Several lines of evidence suggest that macular pigment may play a protective role against age-related macular degeneration, but the influence of age on macular pigment density levels remains unclear. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between age and the normal distribution of macular pigment optical density (MPOD) values surrounding the fovea. Consecutive healthy subjects with no evidence of ocular disease were enrolled in this study. After inclusion, MPOD values were measured at specific eccentricities (0.5, 1, and 2 degrees) from the foveal center using a dual-wavelength autofluorescence method employing a modified confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope. Whenever both eyes were eligible, one was randomly selected for analysis. The correlation between age and MPOD values was investigated using regression analysis. Thirty subjects (30 eyes) were included (mean age 48.6 ± 16.4 [range 23-77] years). Significant differences were found between MPOD values measured at 0.5, 1, and 2 degrees from the center of the fovea (0.49 ± 0.12 density units, 0.37 ± 0.11 density units, and 0.13 ± 0.05 density units, respectively, P < 0.05). Significant correlations between age and MPOD values at 0.5 and 1 degree were found (P ≤ 0.02). Values measured at 2 degrees did not correlate significantly with age (P = 0.06). In healthy subjects, MPOD values were highest near the foveal center. These values appeared to increase during adulthood (peak at 45-50 years), followed by a gradual reduction after 60 years of age.

  15. Migration of metallic ions from screwposts into dentin and surrounding tissues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arvidson, K.; Wroblewski, R.

    1978-01-01

    Previous investigations have shown that corrosion and other electrochemical processes occur when different alloys or metals are found together in the same mouth. In the present report, when teeth were restored using non-noble metallic posts, the metals diffused out to surrounding hard and soft connective tissues. The material consisted of extracted teeth with screwposts and surrounding discolored connective tissues. The screwposts had been cemented to the teeth 3-10 years earlier. The distribution of metal ion was determined by means of energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis. Copper and zinc were found in both hard and soft tissues. Relatively high concentrations of copper ions were identified in areas of the teeth with blue-green discolorations. Zinc ions were detected in the dentin; they most probably originated from the screwposts and the cement, but zinc is also found in normal human dentin. Copper, zinc, silver and iron were found in the dark discolorations of the gingiva adjacent to the extracted teeth. (author)

  16. Tuning CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Drives in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roggenkamp, Emily; Giersch, Rachael M.; Schrock, Madison N.; Turnquist, Emily; Halloran, Megan; Finnigan, Gregory C.

    2018-01-01

    Control of biological populations is an ongoing challenge in many fields, including agriculture, biodiversity, ecological preservation, pest control, and the spread of disease. In some cases, such as insects that harbor human pathogens (e.g., malaria), elimination or reduction of a small number of species would have a dramatic impact across the globe. Given the recent discovery and development of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology, a unique arrangement of this system, a nuclease-based “gene drive,” allows for the super-Mendelian spread and forced propagation of a genetic element through a population. Recent studies have demonstrated the ability of a gene drive to rapidly spread within and nearly eliminate insect populations in a laboratory setting. While there are still ongoing technical challenges to design of a more optimal gene drive to be used in wild populations, there are still serious ecological and ethical concerns surrounding the nature of this powerful biological agent. Here, we use budding yeast as a safe and fully contained model system to explore mechanisms that might allow for programmed regulation of gene drive activity. We describe four conserved features of all CRISPR-based drives and demonstrate the ability of each drive component—Cas9 protein level, sgRNA identity, Cas9 nucleocytoplasmic shuttling, and novel Cas9-Cas9 tandem fusions—to modulate drive activity within a population. PMID:29348295

  17. AN EXPLANATION FOR THE DIFFERENT X-RAY TO OPTICAL COLUMN DENSITIES IN THE ENVIRONMENTS OF GAMMA RAY BURSTS: A PROGENITOR EMBEDDED IN A DENSE MEDIUM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krongold, Yair; Prochaska, J. Xavier

    2013-01-01

    We study the ∼> 10 ratios in the X-ray to optical column densities inferred from afterglow spectra of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) due to gas surrounding their progenitors. We present time-evolving photoionization calculations for these afterglows and explore different conditions of their environment. We find that homogenous models of the environment (constant density) predict X-ray columns similar to those found in the optical spectra, with the bulk of the opacity being produced by neutral material at large distances from the burst. This result is independent of gas density or metallicity. Only models assuming a progenitor immersed in a dense (∼10 2-4 cm –3 ) cloud of gas (with radius ∼10 pc), with a strong, declining gradient of density for the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM) are able to account for the large X-ray to optical column density ratios. However, to avoid an unphysical correlation between the size of this cloud and the size of the ionization front produced by the GRB, the models also require that the circumburst medium is already ionized prior to the burst. The inferred cloud masses are ∼ 6 M ☉ , even if low metallicities in the medium are assumed (Z ∼ 0.1 Z ☉ ). These cloud properties are consistent with those found in giant molecular clouds and our results support a scenario in which the progenitors reside within intense star formation regions of galaxies. Finally, we show that modeling over large samples of GRB afterglows may offer strong constraints on the range of properties in these clouds, and the host galaxy ISM

  18. The topology of the Coulomb potential density. A comparison with the electron density, the virial energy density, and the Ehrenfest force density.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferreira, Lizé-Mari; Eaby, Alan; Dillen, Jan

    2017-12-15

    The topology of the Coulomb potential density has been studied within the context of the theory of Atoms in Molecules and has been compared with the topologies of the electron density, the virial energy density and the Ehrenfest force density. The Coulomb potential density is found to be mainly structurally homeomorphic with the electron density. The Coulomb potential density reproduces the non-nuclear attractor which is observed experimentally in the molecular graph of the electron density of a Mg dimer, thus, for the first time ever providing an alternative and energetic foundation for the existence of this critical point. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  19. Shock Ignition of Thermonuclear Fuel with High Areal Density

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Betti, R.; Zhou, C. D.; Anderson, K. S.; Theobald, W.; Solodov, A. A.; Perkins, L. J.

    2007-01-01

    A novel method by C. Zhou and R. Betti [Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 50, 140 (2005)] to assemble and ignite thermonuclear fuel is presented. Massive cryogenic shells are first imploded by direct laser light with a low implosion velocity and on a low adiabat leading to fuel assemblies with large areal densities. The assembled fuel is ignited from a central hot spot heated by the collision of a spherically convergent ignitor shock and the return shock. The resulting fuel assembly features a hot-spot pressure greater than the surrounding dense fuel pressure. Such a nonisobaric assembly requires a lower energy threshold for ignition than the conventional isobaric one. The ignitor shock can be launched by a spike in the laser power or by particle beams. The thermonuclear gain can be significantly larger than in conventional isobaric ignition for equal driver energy

  20. Shock ignition of thermonuclear fuel with high areal density.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Betti, R; Zhou, C D; Anderson, K S; Perkins, L J; Theobald, W; Solodov, A A

    2007-04-13

    A novel method by C. Zhou and R. Betti [Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 50, 140 (2005)] to assemble and ignite thermonuclear fuel is presented. Massive cryogenic shells are first imploded by direct laser light with a low implosion velocity and on a low adiabat leading to fuel assemblies with large areal densities. The assembled fuel is ignited from a central hot spot heated by the collision of a spherically convergent ignitor shock and the return shock. The resulting fuel assembly features a hot-spot pressure greater than the surrounding dense fuel pressure. Such a nonisobaric assembly requires a lower energy threshold for ignition than the conventional isobaric one. The ignitor shock can be launched by a spike in the laser power or by particle beams. The thermonuclear gain can be significantly larger than in conventional isobaric ignition for equal driver energy.

  1. Fish Culture Data - Captive Broodstock Gene Rescue Program for Odd Year Class Elwha River Pink Salmon

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Conduct captive brood stock gene rescue program for Elwha River odd-year class pink salmon. Raw data on rearing density, loading density, water temperature, ration,...

  2. Experimental evidence that honeybees depress wild insect densities in a flowering crop.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindström, Sandra A M; Herbertsson, Lina; Rundlöf, Maj; Bommarco, Riccardo; Smith, Henrik G

    2016-11-30

    While addition of managed honeybees (Apis mellifera) improves pollination of many entomophilous crops, it is unknown if it simultaneously suppresses the densities of wild insects through competition. To investigate this, we added 624 honeybee hives to 23 fields of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) over 2 years and made sure that the areas around 21 other fields were free from honeybee hives. We demonstrate that honeybee addition depresses the densities of wild insects (bumblebees, solitary bees, hoverflies, marchflies, other flies, and other flying and flower-visiting insects) even in a massive flower resource such as oilseed rape. The effect was independent of the complexity of the surrounding landscape, but increased with the size of the crop field, which suggests that the effect was caused by spatial displacement of wild insects. Our results have potential implications both for the pollination of crops (if displacement of wild pollinators offsets benefits achieved by adding honeybees) and for conservation of wild insects (if displacement results in negative fitness consequences). © 2016 The Author(s).

  3. The lithosphere-asthenosphere Italy and surroundings

    CERN Document Server

    Panza, G F; Chimera, G; Pontevivo, A; Raykova, R

    2003-01-01

    The velocity-depth distribution of the lithosphere-asthenosphere in the Italian region and surroundings is imaged, with a lateral resolution of about 100 km, by surface wave velocity tomography and non-linear inversion. Maps of the Moho depth, of the thickness of the lithosphere and of the shear-wave velocities, down to depths of 200 km and more, are constructed. A mantle wedge, identified in the uppermost mantle along the Apennines and the Calabrian Arc, underlies the principal recent volcanoes, and partial melting can be relevant in this part of the uppermost mantle. In Calabria a lithospheric doubling is seen, in connection with the subduction of the Ionian lithosphere. The asthenosphere is shallow in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. High velocity bodies, cutting the asthenosphere, outline the Adria-lonian subduction in the Tyrrhenian Sea and the deep-reaching lithospheric root in the Western Alps. Less deep lithospheric roots are seen in the Central Apennines. The lithosphere-asthenosphere properties delineat...

  4. Cell Density Control of Staphylococcal Virulence Mediated by an Octapeptide Pheromone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ji, Guangyong; Beavis, Ronald C.; Novick, Richard P.

    1995-12-01

    Some bacterial pathogens elaborate and secrete virulence factors in response to environmental signals, others in response to a specific host product, and still others in response to no discernible cue. In this study, we have demonstrated that the synthesis of Staphylococcus aureus virulence factors is controlled by a density-sensing system that utilizes an octapeptide produced by the organism itself. The octapeptide activates expression of the agr locus, a global regulator of the virulence response. This response involves the reciprocal regulation of genes encoding surface proteins and those encoding secreted virulence factors. As cells enter the postexponential phase, surface protein genes are repressed by agr and secretory protein genes are subsequently activated. The intracellular agr effector is a regulatory RNA, RNAIII, whose transcription is activated by an agr-encoded signal transduction system for which the octapeptide is the ligand.

  5. Importance of Sox2 in maintenance of cell proliferation and multipotency of mesenchymal stem cells in low-density culture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoon, D S; Kim, Y H; Jung, H S; Paik, S; Lee, J W

    2011-10-01

    This study has aimed to repopulate 'primitive' cells from late-passage mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) of poor multipotentiality and low cell proliferation rate, by simply altering plating density. Effects of low density culture compared t high density culture on late-passage bone marrow (BM)-derived MSCs and pluripotency markers of multipotentiality were investigated. Cell proliferation, gene expression, RNA interference and differentiation potential were assayed. We repopulated 'primitive' cells by replating late-passage MSCs at low density (17 cells/cm(2) ) regardless of donor age. Repopulated MSCs from low-density culture were smaller cells with spindle shaped morphology compared to MSCs from high-density culture. The latter had enhanced colony-forming ability, proliferation rate, and adipogenic and chondrogenic potential. Strong expression of osteogenic-related genes (Cbfa1, Dlx5, alkaline phosphatase and type Ι collagen) in late-passage MSCs was reduced by replating at low density, whereas expression of three pluripotency markers (Sox2, Nanog and Oct-4), Osterix and Msx2 reverted to levels of early-passage MSCs. Knockdown of Sox2 and Msx2 but not Nanog, using RNA interference, showed significant decrease in colony-forming ability. Specifically, knockdown of Sox2 significantly inhibited multipotentiality and cell proliferation. Our data suggest that plating density should be considered to be a critical factor for enrichment of 'primitive' cells from heterogeneous BM and that replicative senescence and multipotentiality of MSCs during in vitro expansion may be predominantly regulated through Sox2. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  6. Host density increases parasite recruitment but decreases host risk in a snail-trematode system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buck, J C; Hechinger, R F; Wood, A C; Stewart, T E; Kuris, A M; Lafferty, K D

    2017-08-01

    Most species aggregate in local patches. High host density in patches increases contact rate between hosts and parasites, increasing parasite transmission success. At the same time, for environmentally transmitted parasites, high host density can decrease infection risk to individual hosts, because infective stages are divided among all hosts in a patch, leading to safety in numbers. We tested these predictions using the California horn snail, Cerithideopsis californica (=Cerithidea californica), which is the first intermediate host for at least 19 digenean trematode species in California estuaries. Snails become infected by ingesting trematode eggs or through penetration by free-swimming miracidia that hatch from trematode eggs deposited with final-host (bird or mammal) feces. This complex life cycle decouples infective-stage production from transmission, raising the possibility of an inverse relationship between host density and infection risk at local scales. In a field survey, higher snail density was associated with increased trematode (infected snail) density, but decreased trematode prevalence, consistent with either safety in numbers, parasitic castration, or both. To determine the extent to which safety in numbers drove the negative snail-density-trematode-prevalence association, we manipulated uninfected snail density in 83 cages at eight sites within Carpinteria Salt Marsh (California, USA). At each site, we quantified snail density and used data on final-host (bird and raccoon) distributions to control for between-site variation in infective-stage supply. After three months, overall trematode infections per cage increased with snail biomass density. For egg-transmitted trematodes, per-snail infection risk decreased with snail biomass density in the cage and surrounding area, whereas per-snail infection risk did not decrease for miracidium-transmitted trematodes. Furthermore, both trematode recruitment and infection risk increased with infective

  7. Embryo quality predictive models based on cumulus cells gene expression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Devjak R

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Since the introduction of in vitro fertilization (IVF in clinical practice of infertility treatment, the indicators for high quality embryos were investigated. Cumulus cells (CC have a specific gene expression profile according to the developmental potential of the oocyte they are surrounding, and therefore, specific gene expression could be used as a biomarker. The aim of our study was to combine more than one biomarker to observe improvement in prediction value of embryo development. In this study, 58 CC samples from 17 IVF patients were analyzed. This study was approved by the Republic of Slovenia National Medical Ethics Committee. Gene expression analysis [quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR] for five genes, analyzed according to embryo quality level, was performed. Two prediction models were tested for embryo quality prediction: a binary logistic and a decision tree model. As the main outcome, gene expression levels for five genes were taken and the area under the curve (AUC for two prediction models were calculated. Among tested genes, AMHR2 and LIF showed significant expression difference between high quality and low quality embryos. These two genes were used for the construction of two prediction models: the binary logistic model yielded an AUC of 0.72 ± 0.08 and the decision tree model yielded an AUC of 0.73 ± 0.03. Two different prediction models yielded similar predictive power to differentiate high and low quality embryos. In terms of eventual clinical decision making, the decision tree model resulted in easy-to-interpret rules that are highly applicable in clinical practice.

  8. Density changes in shear bands of a metallic glass determined by correlative analytical transmission electron microscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rösner, Harald, E-mail: rosner@uni-muenster.de [Institut für Materialphysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Wilhelm-Klemm-Strasse 10, D-48149 Münster (Germany); Peterlechner, Martin [Institut für Materialphysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Wilhelm-Klemm-Strasse 10, D-48149 Münster (Germany); Kübel, Christian [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Nanotechnology (INT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, D-76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany); Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility (KNMF), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), D-76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany); Schmidt, Vitalij [Institut für Materialphysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Wilhelm-Klemm-Strasse 10, D-48149 Münster (Germany); Wilde, Gerhard [Institut für Materialphysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Wilhelm-Klemm-Strasse 10, D-48149 Münster (Germany); Institute of Nanochemistry and Nanobiology, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China)

    2014-07-01

    Density changes between sheared zones and their surrounding amorphous matrix as a result of plastic deformation in a cold-rolled metallic glass (melt-spun Al{sub 88}Y{sub 7}Fe{sub 5}) were determined using high-angle annular dark-field (HAADF) detector intensities supplemented by electron-energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and nano-beam diffraction analyses. Sheared zones or shear bands were observed as regions of bright or dark contrast arising from a higher or lower density relative to the matrix. Moreover, abrupt contrast changes from bright to dark and vice versa were found within individual shear bands. We associate the decrease in density mainly with an enhanced free volume in the shear bands and the increase in density with concomitant changes of the mass. This interpretation is further supported by changes in the zero loss and Plasmon signal originating from such sites. The limits of this new approach are discussed. - Highlights: • We describe a novel approach for measuring densities in shear bands of metallic glasses. • The linear relation of the dark-field intensity I/I{sub 0} and the mass thickness ρt was used. • Individual shear bands showed abrupt contrast changes from bright to dark and vice versa. • Density changes ranging from about −10% to +6% were found for such shear bands. • Mixtures of amorphous/medium range ordered domains were found within the shear bands.

  9. A low-density SNP array for analyzing differential selection in freshwater and marine populations of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferchaud, Anne-Laure; Pedersen, Susanne H; Bekkevold, Dorte; Jian, Jianbo; Niu, Yongchao; Hansen, Michael M

    2014-10-06

    The threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) has become an important model species for studying both contemporary and parallel evolution. In particular, differential adaptation to freshwater and marine environments has led to high differentiation between freshwater and marine stickleback populations at the phenotypic trait of lateral plate morphology and the underlying candidate gene Ectodysplacin (EDA). Many studies have focused on this trait and candidate gene, although other genes involved in marine-freshwater adaptation may be equally important. In order to develop a resource for rapid and cost efficient analysis of genetic divergence between freshwater and marine sticklebacks, we generated a low-density SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) array encompassing markers of chromosome regions under putative directional selection, along with neutral markers for background. RAD (Restriction site Associated DNA) sequencing of sixty individuals representing two freshwater and one marine population led to the identification of 33,993 SNP markers. Ninety-six of these were chosen for the low-density SNP array, among which 70 represented SNPs under putatively directional selection in freshwater vs. marine environments, whereas 26 SNPs were assumed to be neutral. Annotation of these regions revealed several genes that are candidates for affecting stickleback phenotypic variation, some of which have been observed in previous studies whereas others are new. We have developed a cost-efficient low-density SNP array that allows for rapid screening of polymorphisms in threespine stickleback. The array provides a valuable tool for analyzing adaptive divergence between freshwater and marine stickleback populations beyond the well-established candidate gene Ectodysplacin (EDA).

  10. Diversity of vascular plants of Piestany and surroundings (presentation)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Penzesova, A.; Galusova, T.

    2013-01-01

    In this presentation is a summary of the results of floristic research aimed at determining diversity of vascular plants of Piestany and its surroundings. Plant taxa we determined using the designation keys. We have compiled a list of plant species occurring in the monitored area, we evaluated the selected botanical-phytogeographical characteristics of flora, we've put together a list of local protected, endangered and rare species and a list of local invasive and expansive species according to sources. (Authors)

  11. Microbiological monitoring of acid mine drainage treatment systems and aquatic surroundings using real-time PCR.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, J S; Kim, C G

    2009-01-01

    In general, acid mine drainage (AMD) causes low pH and high metal concentrations in mining areas and surroundings. The aim of this research was to achieve microbiological monitoring for AMD and to assess whether mine water outflows have any ecological effects on the aqueous ecosystem receiving effluents from different types of treatment system. The water quality of aquatic sample was analyzed and the molecular biological diversity of the samples was assessed using 16S rRNA methods, which were implemented to determine which bacteria existed throughout various unit processes for different AMD treatment systems and their receiving water environments. Acidiphilium cryptum, a heterotrophic acidophile, was found at the AMD sites, and Rhodoferax ferrireducens, which can reduce iron using insoluble Fe(III) as an electron acceptor, was detected at many AMD treatment facilities and downstream of the treatment processes. Subsequently, quantitative real-time PCR was conducted on specific genes of selected bacteria. Surprisingly, obvious trends were observed in the relative abundance of the various bacteria that corresponded to the water quality analytical results. The copy number of Desulfosporosinus orientus, a sulfate reducing bacteria, was also observed to decrease in response to decreases in metals according to the downstream flow of the AMD treatment system.

  12. Genome-wide RNAi screening identifies genes inhibiting the migration of glioblastoma cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jian Yang

    Full Text Available Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM cells are highly invasive, infiltrating into the surrounding normal brain tissue, making it impossible to completely eradicate GBM tumors by surgery or radiation. Increasing evidence also shows that these migratory cells are highly resistant to cytotoxic reagents, but decreasing their migratory capability can re-sensitize them to chemotherapy. These evidences suggest that the migratory cell population may serve as a better therapeutic target for more effective treatment of GBM. In order to understand the regulatory mechanism underlying the motile phenotype, we carried out a genome-wide RNAi screen for genes inhibiting the migration of GBM cells. The screening identified a total of twenty-five primary hits; seven of them were confirmed by secondary screening. Further study showed that three of the genes, FLNA, KHSRP and HCFC1, also functioned in vivo, and knocking them down caused multifocal tumor in a mouse model. Interestingly, two genes, KHSRP and HCFC1, were also found to be correlated with the clinical outcome of GBM patients. These two genes have not been previously associated with cell migration.

  13. Autonomous Bacterial Localization and Gene Expression Based on Nearby Cell Receptor Density

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-22

    signal-peptide (lpp-ompA) sequences from the template vector, pTX101 (provided by Dr George Georgiou, University of Texas, Austin) (Francisco et al...generously providing the PCI-15B cell line, Dr George Georgiou for kindly providing the ompA surface display vector, and Dr Eiry Kobatake for providing...E, Wong WW, Suen JK, Bulter T, Lee SG, Liao JC (2005) A synthetic gene-metabolic oscillator. Nature 435: 118–122 Gardner TS, Cantor CR, Collins JJ

  14. Assessment of land degradation and its spatial and temporal variation in Beijing surrounding area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Shuang; Dong, Suocheng; Zhang, Xiaojun; Zhiqiang, Gao

    2005-08-01

    The indulgence in willful persecution of sandstorm had made great attention of many countries around the world. Chinese government and the Chinese academy of science going with some other countries have devoted a large amount of vigor to study the crucial environment problem. Due to the main source areas of sandstorm all located in the arid and semi-arid regions where there have great area, hard natural condition and bad traffic condition, it's very difficult to accomplish source area and the reason of sandstorm. For this destination, a international cooperation organization has been established to clarify the occur mechanism, transfer process and the following environment impact of sandstorm. The organization includes many researchers come form USA, Japan, Korea, and so on. Beijing surrounding area is one of the main sandstorm sources in recent years. In order to understand fully of the sandstorm form and development, we analyzed the land use degradation of Beijing surrounding area during the last ten years. 71 scenes Landsat TM/ETM, 611 scenes DRG and DEM data had been processed in our study. This paper made a detail describe of using Landsat image data and high resolution DEM data to construe the soil erosion and vegetation degenerate. The result shows that the irrational human activities and land use style are the main factors of land use degradation. In case of Beijing surrounding area, the land degradation directly impacted the frequency and intensity of sand & dust storm in Northern China. The case study region of Beijing surrounding area includes 51 counties that belong to three provinces and autonomous regions.

  15. Network analysis of differential expression for the identification of disease-causing genes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniela Nitsch

    Full Text Available Genetic studies (in particular linkage and association studies identify chromosomal regions involved in a disease or phenotype of interest, but those regions often contain many candidate genes, only a few of which can be followed-up for biological validation. Recently, computational methods to identify (prioritize the most promising candidates within a region have been proposed, but they are usually not applicable to cases where little is known about the phenotype (no or few confirmed disease genes, fragmentary understanding of the biological cascades involved. We seek to overcome this limitation by replacing knowledge about the biological process by experimental data on differential gene expression between affected and healthy individuals. Considering the problem from the perspective of a gene/protein network, we assess a candidate gene by considering the level of differential expression in its neighborhood under the assumption that strong candidates will tend to be surrounded by differentially expressed neighbors. We define a notion of soft neighborhood where each gene is given a contributing weight, which decreases with the distance from the candidate gene on the protein network. To account for multiple paths between genes, we define the distance using the Laplacian exponential diffusion kernel. We score candidates by aggregating the differential expression of neighbors weighted as a function of distance. Through a randomization procedure, we rank candidates by p-values. We illustrate our approach on four monogenic diseases and successfully prioritize the known disease causing genes.

  16. Dissipation of Impact Stress Waves within the Artificial Blasting Damage Zone in the Surrounding Rocks of Deep Roadway

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianguo Ning

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Artificial explosions are commonly used to prevent rockburst in deep roadways. However, the dissipation of the impact stress wave within the artificial blasting damage zone (ABDZ of the rocks surrounding a deep roadway has not yet been clarified. The surrounding rocks were divided into the elastic zone, blasting damage zone, plastic zone, and anchorage zone in this research. Meanwhile, the ABDZ was divided into the pulverizing area, fractured area, and cracked area from the inside out. Besides, the model of the normal incidence of the impact stress waves in the ABDZ was established; the attenuation coefficient of the amplitude of the impact stress waves was obtained after it passed through the intact rock mass, and ABDZ, to the anchorage zone. In addition, a numerical simulation was used to study the dynamic response of the vertical stress and impact-induced vibration energy in the surrounding rocks. By doing so, the dissipation of the impact stress waves within the ABDZ of the surrounding rocks was revealed. As demonstrated in the field application, the establishment of the ABDZ in the surrounding rocks reduced the effect of the impact-induced vibration energy on the anchorage support system of the roadway.

  17. Weak surround suppression of the attentional focus characterizes visual selection in the ventral stream in autism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luca Ronconi

    Full Text Available Neurophysiological findings in the typical population demonstrate that spatial scrutiny for visual selection determines a center-surround profile of the attentional focus, which is the result of recurrent processing in the visual system. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD manifest several anomalies in their visual selection, with strengths in detail-oriented tasks, but also difficulties in distractor inhibition tasks. Here, we asked whether contradictory aspects of perception in ASD might be due to a different center-surround profile of their attentional focus. In two experiments, we tested two independent samples of children with ASD, comparing them with typically developing (TD peers. In Experiment 1, we used a psychophysical task that mapped the entire spatial profile of the attentional focus. In Experiment 2, we used dense-array electroencephalography (EEG to explore its neurophysiological underpinnings. Experiment 1 results showed that the suppression, surrounding the attentional focus, was markedly reduced in children with ASD. Experiment 2 showed that the center-surround profile in TD children resulted in a modulation of the posterior N2 ERP component, with cortical sources in the lateral-occipital and medial/inferior temporal areas. In contrast, children with ASD did not show modulation of the N2 and related activations in the ventral visual stream. Furthermore, behavioural and neurophysiological measures of weaker suppression predicted more severe autistic symptomatology. The present findings, showing an altered center-surround profile during attentional selection, give an important insight to understand superior visual processing in autism as well as the experiencing of sensory overload. Keywords: EEG, Source analysis, Ventral visual stream, Perception, Rehabilitation

  18. Detection of Cyanobacteria in Eutrophic Water Using a Portable Electrocoagulator and NanoGene Assay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Eun-Hee; Chua, Beelee; Son, Ahjeong

    2018-02-06

    We have demonstrated the detection of cyanobacteria in eutrophic water samples using a portable electrocoagulator and NanoGene assay. The electrocoagulator is designed to preconcentrate cyanobacteria from water samples prior to analysis via NanoGene assay. Using Microcystis aeruginosa laboratory culture and environmental samples (cell densities ranging from 1.7 × 10 5 to 4.1 × 10 6 and 6.5 × 10 3 to 6.6 × 10 7 cells·mL -1 , respectively), the electrocoagulator was evaluated and compared with a conventional centrifuge. Varying the operation duration from 0 to 300 s with different cell densities was first investigated. Preconcentration efficiencies (obtained via absorbance measurement) and dry cell weight of preconcentrated cyanobacteria were then obtained and compared. For laboratory samples at cell densities from 3.2 × 10 5 to 4.1 × 10 6 cells·mL -1 , the preconcentration efficiencies of electrocoagulator appeared to be stable at ∼60%. At lower cell densities (1.7 and 2.2 × 10 5 cells·mL -1 ), the preconcentration efficiencies decreased to 33.9 ± 0.2 and 40.4 ± 5.4%, respectively. For environmental samples at cell densities of 2.7 × 10 5 and 6.6 × 10 7 cells·mL -1 , the electrocoagulator maintained its preconcentration efficiency at ∼60%. On the other hand, the centrifuge's preconcentration efficiencies decreased to nondetectable and below 40%, respectively. This shows that the electrocoagulator outperformed the centrifuge when using eutrophic water samples. Finally, the compatibility of the electrocoagulator with the NanoGene assay was verified via the successful detection of the microcystin synthetase D (mcyD) gene in environmental samples. The viability of the electrocoagulator as an in situ compatible alternative to the centrifuge is also discussed.

  19. Evolutionary Relationship and Structural Characterization of the EPF/EPFL Gene Family

    OpenAIRE

    Takata, Naoki; Yokota, Kiyonobu; Ohki, Shinya; Mori, Masashi; Taniguchi, Toru; Kurita, Manabu

    2013-01-01

    EPF1-EPF2 and EPFL9/Stomagen act antagonistically in regulating leaf stomatal density. The aim of this study was to elucidate the evolutionary functional divergence of EPF/EPFL family genes. Phylogenetic analyses showed that AtEPFL9/Stomagen-like genes are conserved only in vascular plants and are closely related to AtEPF1/EPF2-like genes. Modeling showed that EPF/EPFL peptides share a common 3D structure that is constituted of a scaffold and loop. Molecular dynamics simulation suggested that...

  20. Ultrastructural relationships between the receptor nerve fiber and surrounding lamellae in Krause end-bulbs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spassova, I

    1981-01-01

    The ultrastructural relationship between the receptor nerve fiber and the surrounding lamellae in Krause end-bulbs was discussed. Many sites of specialized junctions of symmetrical or asymmetrical type along the receptor nerve fiber and the surrounding lamellae were found. In addition, in close vicinity to them, spine-like digitations of the receptor nerve fiber, filled mainly with small clear vesicles, were observed. Mitochondrion-like cholinesterase-positive structures bulging in some cytoplasmic lamellae were also found. It is suggested that a functional link might exist between the specialized junctions, digitations and mitochrondrion-like structures in the transformation of external mechanical stimuli into nerve impulses.

  1. Use of keyword hierarchies to interpret gene expression patterns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masys, D R; Welsh, J B; Lynn Fink, J; Gribskov, M; Klacansky, I; Corbeil, J

    2001-04-01

    High-density microarray technology permits the quantitative and simultaneous monitoring of thousands of genes. The interpretation challenge is to extract relevant information from this large amount of data. A growing variety of statistical analysis approaches are available to identify clusters of genes that share common expression characteristics, but provide no information regarding the biological similarities of genes within clusters. The published literature provides a potential source of information to assist in interpretation of clustering results. We describe a data mining method that uses indexing terms ('keywords') from the published literature linked to specific genes to present a view of the conceptual similarity of genes within a cluster or group of interest. The method takes advantage of the hierarchical nature of Medical Subject Headings used to index citations in the MEDLINE database, and the registry numbers applied to enzymes.

  2. Opportunity's Surroundings After Sol 1820 Drive (Polar)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,820th to 1,822nd Martian days, or sols, of Opportunity's surface mission (March 7 to 9, 2009). This view is presented as a polar projection with geometric seam correction. North is at the top. The rover had driven 20.6 meters toward the northwest on Sol 1820 before beginning to take the frames in this view. Tracks from that drive recede southwestward. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and small exposures of lighter-toned bedrock.

  3. Opportunity's Surroundings After Sol 1820 Drive (Vertical)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,820th to 1,822nd Martian days, or sols, of Opportunity's surface mission (March 7 to 9, 2009). This view is presented as a vertical projection with geometric seam correction. North is at the top. The rover had driven 20.6 meters toward the northwest on Sol 1820 before beginning to take the frames in this view. Tracks from that drive recede southwestward. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and small exposures of lighter-toned bedrock.

  4. A comparison of UV surface brightness and HI surface densities for spiral galaxies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Federman, S.R.; Strom, C.

    1990-01-01

    Shaya and Federman (1987) suggested that the ambient ultraviolet flux at 1000 A permeating a spiral galaxy controls the neutral hydrogen (HI) surface density in the galaxy. They found that the atomic envelopes surrounding small molecular clouds, because of their great number, provide the major contribution to the HI surface density over the stellar disk. The increase in HI surface density with later Hubble types was ascribed to the stronger UV fields from more high-mass stars in later Hubble types. These hypotheses are based on the observations of nearby diffuse interstellar clouds, which show a sharp atomic-to-molecular transition (Savage et al. 1977), and on the theoretical framework introduced by Federman, Glassgold, and Kwan (1979). Atomic envelopes around interstellar clouds in the solar neighborhood arise when a steady state is reached between photodissociation of H2 and the formation of H2 on grains. The photodissociation process involves photons with wavelengths between 912 A and 1108 A. Shaya and Federman used H-alpha flux as an approximate measure for the far UV flux and made their comparisons based on averages over Hubble type. Here, researchers compare, on an individual basis, UV data obtained with space-borne and balloon-borne instruments for galaxies with measurements of HI surface density (Warmels 1988a, b). The comparisons substantiate the conclusion of Shaya and Federman that the far UV field controls the HI content of spiral galaxies

  5. Gene expression analysis of the biocontrol fungus Trichoderma harzianum in the presence of tomato plants, chitin, or glucose using a high-density oligonucleotide microarray.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samolski, Ilanit; de Luis, Alberto; Vizcaíno, Juan Antonio; Monte, Enrique; Suárez, M Belén

    2009-10-13

    It has recently been shown that the Trichoderma fungal species used for biocontrol of plant diseases are capable of interacting with plant roots directly, behaving as symbiotic microorganisms. With a view to providing further information at transcriptomic level about the early response of Trichoderma to a host plant, we developed a high-density oligonucleotide (HDO) microarray encompassing 14,081 Expressed Sequence Tag (EST)-based transcripts from eight Trichoderma spp. and 9,121 genome-derived transcripts of T. reesei, and we have used this microarray to examine the gene expression of T. harzianum either alone or in the presence of tomato plants, chitin, or glucose. Global microarray analysis revealed 1,617 probe sets showing differential expression in T. harzianum mycelia under at least one of the culture conditions tested as compared with one another. Hierarchical clustering and heat map representation showed that the expression patterns obtained in glucose medium clustered separately from the expression patterns observed in the presence of tomato plants and chitin. Annotations using the Blast2GO suite identified 85 of the 257 transcripts whose probe sets afforded up-regulated expression in response to tomato plants. Some of these transcripts were predicted to encode proteins related to Trichoderma-host (fungus or plant) associations, such as Sm1/Elp1 protein, proteases P6281 and PRA1, enchochitinase CHIT42, or QID74 protein, although previously uncharacterized genes were also identified, including those responsible for the possible biosynthesis of nitric oxide, xenobiotic detoxification, mycelium development, or those related to the formation of infection structures in plant tissues. The effectiveness of the Trichoderma HDO microarray to detect different gene responses under different growth conditions in the fungus T. harzianum strongly indicates that this tool should be useful for further assays that include different stages of plant colonization, as well as

  6. Characterization of the human laminin beta2 chain locus (LAMB2): linkage to a gene containing a nonprocessed, transcribed LAMB2-like pseudogene (LAMB2L) and to the gene encoding glutaminyl tRNA synthetase (QARS)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Durkin, M E; Jäger, A C; Khurana, T S

    1999-01-01

    The laminin beta2 chain is an important constituent of certain kidney and muscle basement membranes. We have generated a detailed physical map of a 110-kb genomic DNA segment surrounding the human laminin beta2 chain gene (LAMB2) on chromosome 3p21.3-->p21.2, a region paralogous with the chromosome...... 7q22-->q31 region that contains the laminin beta1 chain gene locus (LAMB1). Several CpG islands and a novel polymorphic microsatellite marker (D3S4594) were identified. The 3' end of LAMB2 lies 16 kb from the 5' end of the glutaminyl tRNA synthetase gene (QARS). About 20 kb upstream of LAMB2 we...... found a gene encoding a transcribed, non-processed LAMB2-like pseudogene (LAMB2L). The sequence of 1.75 kb of genomic DNA at the 3' end of LAMB2L was similar to exons 8-12 of the laminin beta2 chain gene. The LAMB2L-LAMB2-QARS cluster lies telomeric to the gene encoding the laminin-binding protein...

  7. Low Bone Density

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Density Exam/Testing › Low Bone Density Low Bone Density Low bone density is when your bone density ... people with normal bone density. Detecting Low Bone Density A bone density test will determine whether you ...

  8. Urban land use in Natura 2000 surrounding areas in Vilnius Region, Lithuania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, Paulo; Misiūnė, Ieva; Depellegrin, Daniel

    2015-04-01

    Urban development is one of the major causes of land degradation and pressure on protected areas. (Hansen and DeFries, 2007; Salvati and Sabbi, 2011). The urban areas in the fringe of the protected areas are a source of pollutants considered a negative disturbance to the ecosystems services and biodiversity within the protected areas. The distance between urban and protected areas is decreasing and in the future it is estimated that 88% of the world protected areas will be affected by urban growth (McDonald et al., 2008). The surrounding or buffer areas, are lands adjacent to the Natura 2000 territories, which aim to reduce the human influence within the protected areas. Presently there is no common definition of buffer area it is not clear among stakeholders (Van Dasselaar, 2013). The objective of this work is to identify the urban land use in the Natura 2000 areas in Vilnius region, Lithuania. Data from Natura 2000 areas and urban land use (Corine Land Cover 2006) in Vilnius region were collected in the European Environmental Agency website (http://www.eea.europa.eu/). In the surroundings of each Natura 2000 site, we identified the urban land use at the distances of 500, 1000 and 1500 m. The Natura 2000 sites and the urban areas occupied a total of 13.2% and 3.4% of Vilnius region, respectively. However, the urban areas are very dispersed in the territory, especially in the surroundings of Vilnius, which since the end of the XX century is growing (Pereira et al., 2014). This can represent a major threat to Natura 2000 areas ecosystem services quality and biodiversity. Overall, urban areas occupied approximately 50 km2, in the buffer area of 500 m, 95 km2 in buffer area of 1000 m and 131 km2 in the buffer area of 1500 km2. This shows that Natura 2000 surrounding areas in Vilnius region are subjected to a high urban pressure. This is especially evident in the Vilnius city and is a consequence of the uncontrolled urban development. The lack of a clear legislation

  9. Potential of electrical resistivity tomography and muon density imaging to study spatio-temporal variations in the sub-surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lesparre, Nolwenn; Cabrera, Justo; Courbet, Christelle

    2015-04-01

    We explore the capacity of electrical resistivity tomography and muon density imaging to detect spatio-temporal variations of the medium surrounding a regional fault crossing the underground platform of Tournemire (Aveyron, France). The studied Cernon fault is sub-vertical and intersects perpendicularly the tunnel of Tournemire and extends to surface. The fault separates clay and limestones layers of the Dogger from limestones layers of the Lias. The Cernon fault presents a thickness of a ten of meters and drives water from an aquifer circulating at the top of the Dogger clay layer to the tunnel. An experiment combining electrical resistivity imaging and muon density imaging was setup taking advantage of the tunnel presence. A specific array of electrodes were set up, adapted for the characterization of the fault. Electrodes were placed along the tunnel as well as at the surface above the tunnel on both sides of the fault in order to acquire data in transmission across the massif to better cover the sounded medium. Electrical resistivity is particularly sensitive to water presence in the medium and thus carry information on the main water flow paths and on the pore space saturation. At the same time a muon sensor was placed in the tunnel under the fault region to detect muons coming from the sky after their crossing of the rock medium. Since the muon flux is attenuated as function of the quantity of matter crossed, muons flux measurements supply information on the medium average density along muons paths. The sensor presents 961 angles of view so measurements performed from one station allows a comparison of the muon flux temporal variations along the fault as well as in the medium surrounding the fault. As the water saturation of the porous medium fluctuates through time the medium density might indeed present sensible variations as shown by gravimetric studies. During the experiment important rainfalls occurred leading variations of the medium properties

  10. Methylobacterium-plant interaction genes regulated by plant exudate and quorum sensing molecules

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manuella Nóbrega Dourado

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Bacteria from the genus Methylobacterium interact symbiotically (endophytically and epiphytically with different plant species. These interactions can promote plant growth or induce systemic resistance, increasing plant fitness. The plant colonization is guided by molecular communication between bacteria-bacteria and bacteria-plants, where the bacteria recognize specific exuded compounds by other bacteria (e.g. homoserine molecules and/or by the plant roots (e.g. flavonoids, ethanol and methanol, respectively. In this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of quorum sensing molecules (N-acyl-homoserine lactones and plant exudates (including ethanol in the expression of a series of bacterial genes involved in Methylobacterium-plant interaction. The selected genes are related to bacterial metabolism (mxaF, adaptation to stressful environment (crtI, phoU and sss, to interactions with plant metabolism compounds (acdS and pathogenicity (patatin and phoU. Under in vitro conditions, our results showed the differential expression of some important genes related to metabolism, stress and pathogenesis, thereby AHL molecules up-regulate all tested genes, except phoU, while plant exudates induce only mxaF gene expression. In the presence of plant exudates there is a lower bacterial density (due the endophytic and epiphytic colonization, which produce less AHL, leading to down regulation of genes when compared to the control. Therefore, bacterial density, more than plant exudate, influences the expression of genes related to plant-bacteria interaction.

  11. Gene Expression in the Third Dimension: The ECM-nucleus Connection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Spencer, Virginia A; Xu, Ren; Bissell, Mina

    2009-10-01

    Decades ago, we and others proposed that the dynamic interplay between a cell and its surrounding environment dictates cell phenotype and tissue structure. Whereas much has been discovered about the effects of extracellular matrix molecules on cell growth and tissue specific gene expression, the nuclear mechanisms through which these molecules promote these physiological events remain unknown. Using mammary epithelial cells as a model, the purpose of this review is to discuss how the extracellular matrix influences nuclear structure and function in a three-dimensional context to promote epithelial morphogenesis and function in the mammary gland.

  12. A density based algorithm to detect cavities and holes from planar points

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Jie; Sun, Yizhong; Pang, Yueyong

    2017-12-01

    Delaunay-based shape reconstruction algorithms are widely used in approximating the shape from planar points. However, these algorithms cannot ensure the optimality of varied reconstructed cavity boundaries and hole boundaries. This inadequate reconstruction can be primarily attributed to the lack of efficient mathematic formulation for the two structures (hole and cavity). In this paper, we develop an efficient algorithm for generating cavities and holes from planar points. The algorithm yields the final boundary based on an iterative removal of the Delaunay triangulation. Our algorithm is mainly divided into two steps, namely, rough and refined shape reconstructions. The rough shape reconstruction performed by the algorithm is controlled by a relative parameter. Based on the rough result, the refined shape reconstruction mainly aims to detect holes and pure cavities. Cavity and hole are conceptualized as a structure with a low-density region surrounded by the high-density region. With this structure, cavity and hole are characterized by a mathematic formulation called as compactness of point formed by the length variation of the edges incident to point in Delaunay triangulation. The boundaries of cavity and hole are then found by locating a shape gradient change in compactness of point set. The experimental comparison with other shape reconstruction approaches shows that the proposed algorithm is able to accurately yield the boundaries of cavity and hole with varying point set densities and distributions.

  13. Effect of landscape pattern on insect species density within urban green spaces in Beijing, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Zhimin; Li, Xiaoma; Zhou, Weiqi; Ouyang, Zhiyun

    2015-01-01

    Urban green space is an important refuge of biodiversity in urban areas. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the relationship between the landscape pattern of green spaces and biodiversity to mitigate the negative effects of urbanization. In this study, we collected insects from 45 green patches in Beijing during July 2012 using suction sampling. The green patches were dominated by managed lawns, mixed with scattered trees and shrubs. We examined the effects of landscape pattern on insect species density using hierarchical partitioning analysis and partial least squares regression. The results of the hierarchical partitioning analysis indicated that five explanatory variables, i.e., patch area (with 19.9% independent effects), connectivity (13.9%), distance to nearest patch (13.8%), diversity for patch types (11.0%), and patch shape (8.3%), significantly contributed to insect species density. With the partial least squares regression model, we found species density was negatively related to patch area, shape, connectivity, diversity for patch types and proportion of impervious surface at the significance level of p landscape composition did have the expected effect. Therefore, it is recommended that the composition of the surrounding landscape should be considered simultaneously with planned improvements in local habitat quality.

  14. Kinetics and regional specificity of irinotecan-induced gene expression in the gastrointestinal tract

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bowen, Joanne M.; Tsykin, Anna; Stringer, Andrea M.; Logan, Richard M.; Gibson, Rachel J.; Keefe, Dorothy M.K.

    2010-01-01

    Gastrointestinal toxicity remains a significant and dose-limiting complication of cancer treatment. While the pathophysiology is becoming clearer, considerable gaps in the knowledge remain surrounding the timing and site-specific gene changes which occur in response to insult. As such, this study aimed to assess gene expression profiles in a number of regions along the gastrointestinal tract following treatment with the chemotherapy agent, irinotecan, and correlate them with markers of cell death and tissue damage. Data analysis of microarray results found that genes involved in apoptosis, mitogen activated kinase (MAPK) signalling and inflammation were upregulated within 6 h, while genes involved in cell proliferation, wound healing and blood vessel formation were upregulated at later time points up to 72 h. Cell death was significantly increased at 6 and 24 h, and the stomach showed the lowest severity of overt tissue damage. Real time PCR of MAPK signalling pathway genes found that the jejunum and colon had significantly increased expression in a number of genes at 72 h, where as the stomach was unchanged. These results indicate that overall severity of tissue damage may be determined by precisely timed target gene responses specific to each region. Therapeutic targeting of key gene responses at the appropriate time point may prove to be effective for prevention of chemotherapy-induced gastrointestinal damage.

  15. A 1,681-locus consensus genetic map of cultivated cucumber including 67 NB-LRR resistance gene homolog and ten gene loci.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Luming; Li, Dawei; Li, Yuhong; Gu, Xingfang; Huang, Sanwen; Garcia-Mas, Jordi; Weng, Yiqun

    2013-03-25

    Cucumber is an important vegetable crop that is susceptible to many pathogens, but no disease resistance (R) genes have been cloned. The availability of whole genome sequences provides an excellent opportunity for systematic identification and characterization of the nucleotide binding and leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR) type R gene homolog (RGH) sequences in the genome. Cucumber has a very narrow genetic base making it difficult to construct high-density genetic maps. Development of a consensus map by synthesizing information from multiple segregating populations is a method of choice to increase marker density. As such, the objectives of the present study were to identify and characterize NB-LRR type RGHs, and to develop a high-density, integrated cucumber genetic-physical map anchored with RGH loci. From the Gy14 draft genome, 70 NB-containing RGHs were identified and characterized. Most RGHs were in clusters with uneven distribution across seven chromosomes. In silico analysis indicated that all 70 RGHs had EST support for gene expression. Phylogenetic analysis classified 58 RGHs into two clades: CNL and TNL. Comparative analysis revealed high-degree sequence homology and synteny in chromosomal locations of these RGH members between the cucumber and melon genomes. Fifty-four molecular markers were developed to delimit 67 of the 70 RGHs, which were integrated into a genetic map through linkage analysis. A 1,681-locus cucumber consensus map including 10 gene loci and spanning 730.0 cM in seven linkage groups was developed by integrating three component maps with a bin-mapping strategy. Physically, 308 scaffolds with 193.2 Mbp total DNA sequences were anchored onto this consensus map that covered 52.6% of the 367 Mbp cucumber genome. Cucumber contains relatively few NB-LRR RGHs that are clustered and unevenly distributed in the genome. All RGHs seem to be transcribed and shared significant sequence homology and synteny with the melon genome suggesting conservation of

  16. Layer 5 Pyramidal Neurons’ Dendritic Remodeling and Increased Microglial Density in Primary Motor Cortex in a Murine Model of Facial Paralysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diana Urrego

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This work was aimed at characterizing structural changes in primary motor cortex layer 5 pyramidal neurons and their relationship with microglial density induced by facial nerve lesion using a murine facial paralysis model. Adult transgenic mice, expressing green fluorescent protein in microglia and yellow fluorescent protein in projecting neurons, were submitted to either unilateral section of the facial nerve or sham surgery. Injured animals were sacrificed either 1 or 3weeks after surgery. Two-photon excitation microscopy was then used for evaluating both layer 5 pyramidal neurons and microglia in vibrissal primary motor cortex (vM1. It was found that facial nerve lesion induced long-lasting changes in the dendritic morphology of vM1 layer 5 pyramidal neurons and in their surrounding microglia. Dendritic arborization of the pyramidal cells underwent overall shrinkage. Apical dendrites suffered transient shortening while basal dendrites displayed sustained shortening. Moreover, dendrites suffered transient spine pruning. Significantly higher microglial cell density was found surrounding vM1 layer 5 pyramidal neurons after facial nerve lesion with morphological bias towards the activated phenotype. These results suggest that facial nerve lesions elicit active dendrite remodeling due to pyramidal neuron and microglia interaction, which could be the pathophysiological underpinning of some neuropathic motor sequelae in humans.

  17. Layer 5 Pyramidal Neurons' Dendritic Remodeling and Increased Microglial Density in Primary Motor Cortex in a Murine Model of Facial Paralysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urrego, Diana; Troncoso, Julieta; Múnera, Alejandro

    2015-01-01

    This work was aimed at characterizing structural changes in primary motor cortex layer 5 pyramidal neurons and their relationship with microglial density induced by facial nerve lesion using a murine facial paralysis model. Adult transgenic mice, expressing green fluorescent protein in microglia and yellow fluorescent protein in projecting neurons, were submitted to either unilateral section of the facial nerve or sham surgery. Injured animals were sacrificed either 1 or 3weeks after surgery. Two-photon excitation microscopy was then used for evaluating both layer 5 pyramidal neurons and microglia in vibrissal primary motor cortex (vM1). It was found that facial nerve lesion induced long-lasting changes in the dendritic morphology of vM1 layer 5 pyramidal neurons and in their surrounding microglia. Dendritic arborization of the pyramidal cells underwent overall shrinkage. Apical dendrites suffered transient shortening while basal dendrites displayed sustained shortening. Moreover, dendrites suffered transient spine pruning. Significantly higher microglial cell density was found surrounding vM1 layer 5 pyramidal neurons after facial nerve lesion with morphological bias towards the activated phenotype. These results suggest that facial nerve lesions elicit active dendrite remodeling due to pyramidal neuron and microglia interaction, which could be the pathophysiological underpinning of some neuropathic motor sequelae in humans. PMID:26064916

  18. MRI of normal pituitary glands and their surrounding structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sato, Yoshiyuki

    1991-01-01

    Normal MRI appearances of the pituitary glands and their surrounding structures were evaluated in 332 patients without sellar and parasellar diseases. The height of the pituitary gland was maximum at 10-19 years of age reflecting hormonal activity. The width of the pituitary gland decreased, while that of the cavernous sinus increased with aging. This is probably due to atherosclerotic change of the internal carotid artery. Females younger than 30 years of age tended to show a convex upper surface of the pituitary gland and the displacement of the pituitary stalk was common after 50 years of age. Almost all of the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland showed isointensity relative to the pons or cerebral cortex and the majority (85.1%) of the posterior lobe showed hyperintensity. However, the anterior lobe in 2 newborns showed hyperintensity similar to the normal posterior lobe in adults. The posterior lobe was located off the midline in 19.1% of the subjects. One case of pars intermedia cyst was discovered among 14 subjects who were administered Gd-DTPA. The dural membrane between the pituitary gland and cavernous sinus was recognizable only in 8.6% on the right side and 7.5% on the left side. Primary empty sella was identified in 4.5%. Knowledge of the above normal ranges and variations of the pituitary gland and its surrounding structures is important in diagnosing sellar and parasellar lesions. (author) 52 refs

  19. Influence of density and mean atomic number on CT attenuation corrected PET: Phantom studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maintas, D.; Houzard, C.; Galy, G.; Maintas, C.; Itti, R.; Cachin, F.; Mognetti, Th.; Slosman

    2007-01-01

    Aim: the aim of this work is to study the influence of medium density on the CT or external source attenuation corrected images, by simulation on a phantom, with various positron emission tomographs. Material and method: a series of experiments on a cylindrical phantom filled with water marked with [18 F]-FDG, containing six vials filled per pair with mediums of different densities or solutions of KI, CaCl 2 and saccharose with various densities, was carried out under comparable conditions on three different tomographs. In only one of the vials of each pair, an identical radioactivity of [18 F]-FDG was added, three to five fold the surrounding activity. The reconstructions and attenuation corrections suggested by the manufacturers, were carried out under the usual conditions of each site. The activity of each structure was estimated by the methods of profiles and regions of interest, on the non attenuation corrected images (N.A.C.), the images corrected by CT (C.T.A.C.), and/or external source (G.P.A.C.). Results: with all three tomographs, the activities estimated on the N.A.C. images present an inverse correlation to the medium density (important absorption by dense material). On C.T.A.C. images, we observed with only two of the three tomographs, an overestimation of the activity in the 'radioactive' vials, depending on the medium mean Z number and density (over correction), and a artifactual 'activity' in the denser 'cold' vial (incorrect attenuation correction. The dense saccharose solutions, with non elevated Z number, do not affect the CT attenuation correction. (authors)

  20. Rockfalls in cliffs surrounding waterfall revealed by high-definition topographic measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayakawa, Y. S.; Obanawa, H.

    2017-12-01

    Bedrock rivers of volcanic terrain often comprise numerous knickpoints. Erosion of bedrock at knickpoints is an essential process of fluvial dissection of volcanic landforms, which also affects the deformations of surrounding slopes. However, short term (less than decadal) changes in bedrock landforms have often been limited to examine in a spatiotemporal framework. Here we use terrestrial laser scanning and SfM-MVS photogrammetry to detect recent annual changes in the morphology of cliffs surrounding a waterfall (Kegon Falls) on jointed andesite lava and conglomerates. The amount of bedrock deformation caused by small rockfalls and surface lowering are assessed in volume, which often appears in a relatively lower portion of the cliff. Such the changes are supposed to be affected by the enhanced supply of water and weathering following the latest major rockfall in 1986 which caused 8-m recession of the waterfall lip. The three-dimensional point cloud data is also utilized to construct a 3D model using cardboards, which is useful for understanding the topography and its changes of the waterfall as educational resources.

  1. Statistical tests for whether a given set of independent, identically distributed draws comes from a specified probability density.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tygert, Mark

    2010-09-21

    We discuss several tests for determining whether a given set of independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) draws does not come from a specified probability density function. The most commonly used are Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, particularly Kuiper's variant, which focus on discrepancies between the cumulative distribution function for the specified probability density and the empirical cumulative distribution function for the given set of i.i.d. draws. Unfortunately, variations in the probability density function often get smoothed over in the cumulative distribution function, making it difficult to detect discrepancies in regions where the probability density is small in comparison with its values in surrounding regions. We discuss tests without this deficiency, complementing the classical methods. The tests of the present paper are based on the plain fact that it is unlikely to draw a random number whose probability is small, provided that the draw is taken from the same distribution used in calculating the probability (thus, if we draw a random number whose probability is small, then we can be confident that we did not draw the number from the same distribution used in calculating the probability).

  2. Patterns of linkage disequilibrium and haplotype distribution in disease candidate genes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Long, Ji-Rong; Zhao, Lan-Juan; Liu, Peng-Yuan; Lu, Yan; Dvornyk, Volodymyr; Shen, Hui; Liu, Yong-Jun; Zhang, Yuan-Yuan; Xiong, Dong-Hai; Xiao, Peng; Deng, Hong-Wen

    2004-05-24

    The adequacy of association studies for complex diseases depends critically on the existence of linkage disequilibrium (LD) between functional alleles and surrounding SNP markers. We examined the patterns of LD and haplotype distribution in eight candidate genes for osteoporosis and/or obesity using 31 SNPs in 1,873 subjects. These eight genes are apolipoprotein E (APOE), type I collagen alpha1 (COL1A1), estrogen receptor-alpha (ER-alpha), leptin receptor (LEPR), parathyroid hormone (PTH)/PTH-related peptide receptor type 1 (PTHR1), transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3), and vitamin D (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3) receptor (VDR). Yin yang haplotypes, two high-frequency haplotypes composed of completely mismatching SNP alleles, were examined. To quantify LD patterns, two common measures of LD, D' and r2, were calculated for the SNPs within the genes. The haplotype distribution varied in the different genes. Yin yang haplotypes were observed only in PTHR1 and UCP3. D' ranged from 0.020 to 1.000 with the average of 0.475, whereas the average r2 was 0.158 (ranging from 0.000 to 0.883). A decay of LD was observed as the intermarker distance increased, however, there was a great difference in LD characteristics of different genes or even in different regions within gene. The differences in haplotype distributions and LD patterns among the genes underscore the importance of characterizing genomic regions of interest prior to association studies.

  3. bc-GenExMiner 3.0: new mining module computes breast cancer gene expression correlation analyses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jézéquel, Pascal; Frénel, Jean-Sébastien; Campion, Loïc; Guérin-Charbonnel, Catherine; Gouraud, Wilfried; Ricolleau, Gabriel; Campone, Mario

    2013-01-01

    We recently developed a user-friendly web-based application called bc-GenExMiner (http://bcgenex.centregauducheau.fr), which offered the possibility to evaluate prognostic informativity of genes in breast cancer by means of a 'prognostic module'. In this study, we develop a new module called 'correlation module', which includes three kinds of gene expression correlation analyses. The first one computes correlation coefficient between 2 or more (up to 10) chosen genes. The second one produces two lists of genes that are most correlated (positively and negatively) to a 'tested' gene. A gene ontology (GO) mining function is also proposed to explore GO 'biological process', 'molecular function' and 'cellular component' terms enrichment for the output lists of most correlated genes. The third one explores gene expression correlation between the 15 telomeric and 15 centromeric genes surrounding a 'tested' gene. These correlation analyses can be performed in different groups of patients: all patients (without any subtyping), in molecular subtypes (basal-like, HER2+, luminal A and luminal B) and according to oestrogen receptor status. Validation tests based on published data showed that these automatized analyses lead to results consistent with studies' conclusions. In brief, this new module has been developed to help basic researchers explore molecular mechanisms of breast cancer. DATABASE URL: http://bcgenex.centregauducheau.fr

  4. Nanoparticle-mediated delivery of suicide genes in cancer therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vago, Riccardo; Collico, Veronica; Zuppone, Stefania; Prosperi, Davide; Colombo, Miriam

    2016-09-01

    Conventional chemotherapeutics have been employed in cancer treatment for decades due to their efficacy in killing the malignant cells, but the other side of the coin showed off-target effects, onset of drug resistance and recurrences. To overcome these limitations, different approaches have been investigated and suicide gene therapy has emerged as a promising alternative. This approach consists in the introduction of genetic materials into cancerous cells or the surrounding tissue to cause cell death or retard the growth of the tumor mass. Despite promising results obtained both in vitro and in vivo, this innovative approach has been limited, for long time, to the treatment of localized tumors, due to the suboptimal efficiency in introducing suicide genes into cancer cells. Nanoparticles represent a valuable non-viral delivery system to protect drugs in the bloodstream, to improve biodistribution, and to limit side effects by achieving target selectivity through surface ligands. In this scenario, the real potential of suicide genes can be translated into clinically viable treatments for patients. In the present review, we summarize the recent advances of inorganic nanoparticles as non-viral vectors in terms of therapeutic efficacy, targeting capacity and safety issues. We describe the main suicide genes currently used in therapy, with particular emphasis on toxin-encoding genes of bacterial and plant origin. In addition, we discuss the relevance of molecular targeting and tumor-restricted expression to improve treatment specificity to cancer tissue. Finally, we analyze the main clinical applications, limitations and future perspectives of suicide gene therapy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Interaction of a high-power laser pulse with supercritical-density porous materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gus'kov, Sergei Yu; Rozanov, Vladislav B; Caruso, A; Strangio, C

    2000-01-01

    The properties of a nonequilibrium plasma produced by high-power laser pulses with intensities I L ∼ 10 14 -10 15 W cm -2 irradiating plane targets made of a porous material are investigated. The mean density of matter in targets was substantially higher than the critical plasma density corresponding to a plasma resonance. The density of porous material was ρ a ∼ 1 - 20 mg cm -3 , whereas the critical density at the wavelength of incident radiation was ρ cr ∼ 3 mg cm -3 . An anomalously high absorption (no less than 80%) of laser radiation inside a target was observed. Within the first 3 - 4 ns of interaction, the plasma flow through the irradiated target surface in the direction opposite of the direction of the laser beam was noticeably suppressed. Only about 5% of absorbed laser energy was transformed into the energy of particles in this flow during the laser pulse. Absorbed energy was stored as the internal plasma energy at this stage (the greenhouse effect). Then, this energy was transformed, similar to a strong explosion, into the energy of a powerful hydrodynamic flow of matter surrounding the absorption region. The specific features of the formation and evolution of a nonequilibrium laser-produced plasma in porous media are theoretically analysed. This study allows the results of experiments to be explained. In particular, we investigated absorption of laser radiation in the bulk of a target, volume evaporation of porous material, the expansion of a laser-produced plasma inside the pores, stochastic collisions of plasma flows, and hydrothermal energy dissipation. These processes give rise to long-lived oscillations of plasma density and lead to the formation of an internal region where laser radiation is absorbed. (invited paper)

  6. Recoil of the pion-surrounded nucleon bag and axial form factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klabucar, D.; Picek, I.

    1984-03-01

    A recent method of boosting the bag is extended to the pion-surrounded nucleon bag and developed for the calculation of low-energy nucleon form factors. The usefulness of the method is illustrated by the induced pseudoscalar form factor where both the inclusion of the pion field and the non-vanishing momentum transfer are necessary. (Auth.)

  7. Device and method for relativistic electron beam heating of a high-density plasma to drive fast liners

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thode, L.E.

    1981-01-01

    A device and method for relativistic electron beam heating of a high-density plasma in a small localized region are described. A relativistic electron beam generator or accelerator produces a high-voltage electron beam which propagates along a vacuum drift tube and is modulated to initiate electron bunching within the beam. The beam is then directed through a low-density gas chamber which provides isolation between the vacuum modulator and the relativistic electron beam target. The relativistic beam is then applied to a high-density target plasma which typically comprises dt, dd, hydrogen boron or similar thermonuclear gas at a density of 1017 to 1020 electrons per cubic centimeter. The target gas is ionized prior to application of the electron beam by means of a laser or other preionization source to form a plasma. Utilizing a relativistic electron beam with an individual particle energy exceeding 3 mev, classical scattering by relativistic electrons passing through isolation foils is negligible. As a result, relativistic streaming instabilities are initiated within the high-density target plasma causing the relativistic electron beam to efficiently deposit its energy and momentum into a small localized region of the high-density plasma target. Fast liners disposed in the high-density target plasma are explosively or ablatively driven to implosion by a heated annular plasma surrounding the fast liner which is generated by an annular relativistic electron beam. An azimuthal magnetic field produced by axial current flow in the annular plasma, causes the energy in the heated annular plasma to converge on the fast liner

  8. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1798 (Stereo)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Left-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11850 [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Right-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11850 NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this stereo 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,798th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (Feb. 13, 2009). North is on top. This view combines images from the left-eye and right-eye sides of the navigation camera. It appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. The rover had driven 111 meters (364 feet) southward on the preceding sol. Tracks from that drive recede northward in this view. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and lighter-toned bedrock. This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction.

  9. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1818 (Stereo)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Left-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11846 [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Right-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11846 NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,818th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (March 5, 2009). South is at the center; north at both ends. This view combines images from the left-eye and right-eye sides of the navigation camera. It appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. The rover had driven 80.3 meters (263 feet) southward earlier on that sol. Tracks from the drive recede northward in this view. The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and lighter-toned bedrock. This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction.

  10. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1687 (Stereo)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Left-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11739 [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Right-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11739 NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this stereo, 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings on the 1,687th Martian day, or sol, of its surface mission (Oct. 22, 2008). The view appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses. Opportunity had driven 133 meters (436 feet) that sol, crossing sand ripples up to about 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall. The tracks visible in the foreground are in the east-northeast direction. Opportunity's position on Sol 1687 was about 300 meters southwest of Victoria Crater. The rover was beginning a long trek toward a much larger crater, Endeavour, about 12 kilometers (7 miles) to the southeast. This panorama combines right-eye and left-eye views presented as cylindrical-perspective projections with geometric seam correction.

  11. The lithosphere-asthenosphere: Italy and surroundings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Panza, G.F.; Aoudia, A.; Pontevivo, A.; Chimera, G.; Raykova, R.

    2003-02-01

    The velocity-depth distribution of the lithosphere-asthenosphere in the Italian region and surroundings is imaged, with a lateral resolution of about 100 km, by surface wave velocity tomography and non-linear inversion. Maps of the Moho depth, of the thickness of the lithosphere and of the shear-wave velocities, down to depths of 200 km and more, are constructed. A mantle wedge, identified in the uppermost mantle along the Apennines and the Calabrian Arc, underlies the principal recent volcanoes, and partial melting can be relevant in this part of the uppermost mantle. In Calabria a lithospheric doubling is seen, in connection with the subduction of the Ionian lithosphere. The asthenosphere is shallow in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. High velocity bodies, cutting the asthenosphere, outline the Adria-lonian subduction in the Tyrrhenian Sea and the deep-reaching lithospheric root in the Western Alps. Less deep lithospheric roots are seen in the Central Apennines. The lithosphere-asthenosphere properties delineate a differentiation between the northern and the southern sectors of the Adriatic Sea, likely attesting the fragmentation of Adria. (author)

  12. Secretory expression of functional barley limit dextrinase by Pichia pastoris using high cell-density fermentation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vester-Christensen, Malene Bech; Abou Hachem, Maher; Næsted, Henrik

    2010-01-01

    biosynthesis by trimming of intermediate branched alpha-glucan structures. Highly active barley LD is obtained by secretory expression during high cell-density fermentation of Pichia pastoris. The LD encoding gene fragment without signal peptide was subcloned in-frame with the Saccharomyces cerevisiae alpha...

  13. Real-time viscosity and mass density sensors requiring microliter sample volume based on nanomechanical resonators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bircher, Benjamin A; Duempelmann, Luc; Renggli, Kasper; Lang, Hans Peter; Gerber, Christoph; Bruns, Nico; Braun, Thomas

    2013-09-17

    A microcantilever based method for fluid viscosity and mass density measurements with high temporal resolution and microliter sample consumption is presented. Nanomechanical cantilever vibration is driven by photothermal excitation and detected by an optical beam deflection system using two laser beams of different wavelengths. The theoretical framework relating cantilever response to the viscosity and mass density of the surrounding fluid was extended to consider higher flexural modes vibrating at high Reynolds numbers. The performance of the developed sensor and extended theory was validated over a viscosity range of 1-20 mPa·s and a corresponding mass density range of 998-1176 kg/m(3) using reference fluids. Separating sample plugs from the carrier fluid by a two-phase configuration in combination with a microfluidic flow cell, allowed samples of 5 μL to be sequentially measured under continuous flow, opening the method to fast and reliable screening applications. To demonstrate the study of dynamic processes, the viscosity and mass density changes occurring during the free radical polymerization of acrylamide were monitored and compared to published data. Shear-thinning was observed in the viscosity data at higher flexural modes, which vibrate at elevated frequencies. Rheokinetic models allowed the monomer-to-polymer conversion to be tracked in spite of the shear-thinning behavior, and could be applied to study the kinetics of unknown processes.

  14. Density limit in ASDEX discharges with peaked density profiles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Staebler, A.; Niedermeyer, H.; Loch, R.; Mertens, V.; Mueller, E.R.; Soeldner, F.X.; Wagner, F.

    1989-01-01

    Results concerning the density limit in OH and NI-heated ASDEX discharges with the usually observed broad density profiles have been reported earlier: In ohmic discharges with high q a (q-cylindrical is used throughout this paper) the Murakami parameter (n e R/B t ) is a good scaling parameter. At the high densities edge cooling is observed causing the plasma to shrink until an m=2-instability terminates the discharge. When approaching q a =2 the density limit is no longer proportional to I p ; a minimum exists in n e,max (q a ) at q a ∼2.15. With NI-heating the density limit increases less than proportional to the heating power; the behaviour during the pre-disruptive phase is rather similar to the one of OH discharges. There are specific operating regimes on ASDEX leading to discharges with strongly peaked density profiles: the improved ohmic confinement regime, counter neutral injection, and multipellet injection. These regimes are characterized by enhanced energy and particle confinement. The operational limit in density for these discharges is, therefore, of great interest having furthermore in mind that high central densities are favourable in achieving high fusion yields. In addition, further insight into the mechanisms of the density limit observed in tokamaks may be obtained by comparing plasmas with rather different density profiles at their maximum attainable densities. 7 refs., 2 figs

  15. Exon organization of the mouse entactin gene corresponds to the structural domains of the polypeptide and has regional homology to the low-density lipoprotein receptor gene

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Durkin, M E; Wewer, U M; Chung, A E

    1995-01-01

    of the mouse entactin gene closely corresponds to the organization of the polypeptide into distinct structural and functional domains. The two amino-terminal globular domains are encoded by three exons each. Single exons encode the two protease-sensitive, O-glycosylated linking regions. The six EGF......Entactin is a widespread basement membrane protein of 150 kDa that binds to type IV collagen and laminin. The complete exon-intron structure of the mouse entactin gene has been determined from lambda genomic DNA clones. The gene spans at least 65 kb and contains 20 exons. The exon organization...

  16. Tidal propagation in the Gulf of Khambhat, Bombay High, and surrounding areas

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Unnikrishnan, A.S.; Shetye, S.R.; Michael, G.S.

    -diurnal and diurnal constituents at forty-two ports in the Gulf and surrounding areas is sued to define characteristics of the tides. A barotropic numerical model based on shallow water wave equations to simulate the sea level and circulation in the region is used...

  17. Hurricane Gustav Aerial Photography: Rapid ResponseImagery of the Surrounding Regions After Landfall

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The imagery posted on this site is of the surrounding regionsafter Hurricane Gustav made landfall. The aerial photography missions wereconducted by the NOAA Remote...

  18. Hurricane Ike Aerial Photography: Rapid ResponseImagery of the Surrounding Regions After Landfall

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The imagery posted on this site is of the surrounding regionsafter Hurricane Ike made landfall. The aerial photography missions wereconducted by the NOAA Remote...

  19. Comparative genomic analysis of the arthropod muscle myosin heavy chain genes allows ancestral gene reconstruction and reveals a new type of 'partially' processed pseudogene

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kollmar Martin

    2008-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Alternative splicing of mutually exclusive exons is an important mechanism for increasing protein diversity in eukaryotes. The insect Mhc (myosin heavy chain gene produces all different muscle myosins as a result of alternative splicing in contrast to most other organisms of the Metazoa lineage, that have a family of muscle genes with each gene coding for a protein specialized for a functional niche. Results The muscle myosin heavy chain genes of 22 species of the Arthropoda ranging from the waterflea to wasp and Drosophila have been annotated. The analysis of the gene structures allowed the reconstruction of an ancient muscle myosin heavy chain gene and showed that during evolution of the arthropods introns have mainly been lost in these genes although intron gain might have happened in a few cases. Surprisingly, the genome of Aedes aegypti contains another and that of Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus two further muscle myosin heavy chain genes, called Mhc3 and Mhc4, that contain only one variant of the corresponding alternative exons of the Mhc1 gene. Mhc3 transcription in Aedes aegypti is documented by EST data. Mhc3 and Mhc4 inserted in the Aedes and Culex genomes either by gene duplication followed by the loss of all but one variant of the alternative exons, or by incorporation of a transcript of which all other variants have been spliced out retaining the exon-intron structure. The second and more likely possibility represents a new type of a 'partially' processed pseudogene. Conclusion Based on the comparative genomic analysis of the alternatively spliced arthropod muscle myosin heavy chain genes we propose that the splicing process operates sequentially on the transcript. The process consists of the splicing of the mutually exclusive exons until one exon out of the cluster remains while retaining surrounding intronic sequence. In a second step splicing of introns takes place. A related mechanism could be responsible for

  20. Whole-gene positive selection, elevated synonymous substitution rates, duplication, and indel evolution of the chloroplast clpP1 gene.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Per Erixon

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Synonymous DNA substitution rates in the plant chloroplast genome are generally relatively slow and lineage dependent. Non-synonymous rates are usually even slower due to purifying selection acting on the genes. Positive selection is expected to speed up non-synonymous substitution rates, whereas synonymous rates are expected to be unaffected. Until recently, positive selection has seldom been observed in chloroplast genes, and large-scale structural rearrangements leading to gene duplications are hitherto supposed to be rare. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPLE FINDINGS: We found high substitution rates in the exons of the plastid clpP1 gene in Oenothera (the Evening Primrose family and three separate lineages in the tribe Sileneae (Caryophyllaceae, the Carnation family. Introns have been lost in some of the lineages, but where present, the intron sequences have substitution rates similar to those found in other introns of their genomes. The elevated substitution rates of clpP1 are associated with statistically significant whole-gene positive selection in three branches of the phylogeny. In two of the lineages we found multiple copies of the gene. Neighboring genes present in the duplicated fragments do not show signs of elevated substitution rates or positive selection. Although non-synonymous substitutions account for most of the increase in substitution rates, synonymous rates are also markedly elevated in some lineages. Whereas plant clpP1 genes experiencing negative (purifying selection are characterized by having very conserved lengths, genes under positive selection often have large insertions of more or less repetitive amino acid sequence motifs. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We found positive selection of the clpP1 gene in various plant lineages to correlated with repeated duplication of the clpP1 gene and surrounding regions, repetitive amino acid sequences, and increase in synonymous substitution rates. The present study sheds light on the

  1. Bacterial translational regulations: high diversity between all mRNAs and major role in gene expression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Picard Flora

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In bacteria, the weak correlations at the genome scale between mRNA and protein levels suggest that not all mRNAs are translated with the same efficiency. To experimentally explore mRNA translational level regulation at the systemic level, the detailed translational status (translatome of all mRNAs was measured in the model bacterium Lactococcus lactis in exponential phase growth. Results Results demonstrated that only part of the entire population of each mRNA species was engaged in translation. For transcripts involved in translation, the polysome size reached a maximum of 18 ribosomes. The fraction of mRNA engaged in translation (ribosome occupancy and ribosome density were not constant for all genes. This high degree of variability was analyzed by bioinformatics and statistical modeling in order to identify general rules of translational regulation. For most of the genes, the ribosome density was lower than the maximum value revealing major control of translation by initiation. Gene function was a major translational regulatory determinant. Both ribosome occupancy and ribosome density were particularly high for transcriptional regulators, demonstrating the positive role of translational regulation in the coordination of transcriptional networks. mRNA stability was a negative regulatory factor of ribosome occupancy and ribosome density, suggesting antagonistic regulation of translation and mRNA stability. Furthermore, ribosome occupancy was identified as a key component of intracellular protein levels underlining the importance of translational regulation. Conclusions We have determined, for the first time in a bacterium, the detailed translational status for all mRNAs present in the cell. We have demonstrated experimentally the high diversity of translational states allowing individual gene differentiation and the importance of translation-level regulation in the complex process linking gene expression to protein

  2. Natural occurring radioactivity in Palmyra and its surrounding

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Masri, M. S.; Shwekani, R.; Raja, G.; Hushari, M.; Al-Hent, R.; Issa, M.

    2006-06-01

    In this work, the natural radiation background has been carried out for Palmyra city and its surroundings area. The study has covered gamma radiation measurements, indoor radon gas concentration and radionuclides levels in environmental samples (soil, water, plat). The results showed that indoor radon gas concentrations and radiation exposure rates are within the background levels. Also, the results showed that there is no artificial radiation in the area and there is no correlation between the natural radiation levels and the reported cancer cases. Therefore, the reported cancer cases in this area may be due to non-radiation cases, which must be investigated, or they are within the natural levels in Syria unless accurate statistics proves the opposite. (author)

  3. Hurricane Humberto Aerial Photography: Rapid Response Imagery of the Surrounding Regions After Landfall

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The imagery posted on this site is of the surrounding regions after Hurricane Humberto made landfall. The aerial photography missions were conducted by the NOAA...

  4. Fluid and gyrokinetic modelling of particle transport in plasmas with hollow density profiles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tegnered, D; Oberparleiter, M; Nordman, H; Strand, P

    2016-01-01

    Hollow density profiles occur in connection with pellet fuelling and L to H transitions. A positive density gradient could potentially stabilize the turbulence or change the relation between convective and diffusive fluxes, thereby reducing the turbulent transport of particles towards the center, making the fuelling scheme inefficient. In the present work, the particle transport driven by ITG/TE mode turbulence in regions of hollow density profiles is studied by fluid as well as gyrokinetic simulations. The fluid model used, an extended version of the Weiland transport model, Extended Drift Wave Model (EDWM), incorporates an arbitrary number of ion species in a multi-fluid description, and an extended wavelength spectrum. The fluid model, which is fast and hence suitable for use in predictive simulations, is compared to gyrokinetic simulations using the code GENE. Typical tokamak parameters are used based on the Cyclone Base Case. Parameter scans in key plasma parameters like plasma β, R/L T , and magnetic shear are investigated. It is found that β in particular has a stabilizing effect in the negative R/L n region, both nonlinear GENE and EDWM show a decrease in inward flux for negative R/L n and a change of direction from inward to outward for positive R/L n . This might have serious consequences for pellet fuelling of high β plasmas. (paper)

  5. Control of radial propagation and polarity in a plasma jet in surrounding Ar

    KAUST Repository

    Gong, W.

    2018-01-08

    In recent years, the use of shielding gas to prevent the diffusion of the ambient air, particularly oxygen and nitrogen species, into the effluent of the atmospheric pressure plasma jet, and thus control the nature of chemical species used in the plasma treatment has increased. In this paper, the radial propagation of a plasma jet in ambient Ar is examined to find the key determinants of the polarity of plasma jets. The dynamics of the discharge reveal that the radial diffusion discharge is a special phenomenon observed only at the falling edge of the pulses. The radial transport of electrons, which is driven by the radial component of the applied electric field at the falling edge of the pulse, is shown to play an important role in increasing the seed electron density in the surrounding Ar. This result suggests a method to provide seed electrons at atmospheric pressure with a negative discharge. The polarity of the plasma jet is found to be determined by the pulse width rather than the polarity of the applied voltage, as it dictates the relative difference in the intensity of the two discharges in a single pulse, where the stronger discharge in a pulse dominates the behavior of the plasma jet. Accordingly, a method to control the polarity of a plasma jet through varying the pulse width is developed. Since plasma jets of different polarities differ remarkably in terms of their characteristics, the method to control the polarity reported in this paper will be of use for such applications as plasma-enhanced processing of materials and plasma biomedicine.

  6. Control of radial propagation and polarity in a plasma jet in surrounding Ar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, W.; Yue, Y.; Ma, F.; Yu, F.; Wan, J.; Nie, L.; Bazaka, K.; Xian, Y.; Lu, X.; Ostrikov, K.

    2018-01-01

    In recent years, the use of shielding gas to prevent the diffusion of the ambient air, particularly oxygen and nitrogen species, into the effluent of the atmospheric pressure plasma jet, and thus control the nature of chemical species used in the plasma treatment has increased. In this paper, the radial propagation of a plasma jet in ambient Ar is examined to find the key determinants of the polarity of plasma jets. The dynamics of the discharge reveal that the radial diffusion discharge is a special phenomenon observed only at the falling edge of the pulses. The radial transport of electrons, which is driven by the radial component of the applied electric field at the falling edge of the pulse, is shown to play an important role in increasing the seed electron density in the surrounding Ar. This result suggests a method to provide seed electrons at atmospheric pressure with a negative discharge. The polarity of the plasma jet is found to be determined by the pulse width rather than the polarity of the applied voltage, as it dictates the relative difference in the intensity of the two discharges in a single pulse, where the stronger discharge in a pulse dominates the behavior of the plasma jet. Accordingly, a method to control the polarity of a plasma jet through varying the pulse width is developed. Since plasma jets of different polarities differ remarkably in terms of their characteristics, the method to control the polarity reported in this paper will be of use for such applications as plasma-enhanced processing of materials and plasma biomedicine.

  7. Model Insensitive and Calibration Independent Method for Determination of the Downstream Neutral Hydrogen Density Through Ly-alpha Glow Observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gangopadhyay, P.; Judge, D. L.

    1996-01-01

    Our knowledge of the various heliospheric phenomena (location of the solar wind termination shock, heliopause configuration and very local interstellar medium parameters) is limited by uncertainties in the available heliospheric plasma models and by calibration uncertainties in the observing instruments. There is, thus, a strong motivation to develop model insensitive and calibration independent methods to reduce the uncertainties in the relevant heliospheric parameters. We have developed such a method to constrain the downstream neutral hydrogen density inside the heliospheric tail. In our approach we have taken advantage of the relative insensitivity of the downstream neutral hydrogen density profile to the specific plasma model adopted. We have also used the fact that the presence of an asymmetric neutral hydrogen cavity surrounding the sun, characteristic of all neutral densities models, results in a higher multiple scattering contribution to the observed glow in the downstream region than in the upstream region. This allows us to approximate the actual density profile with one which is spatially uniform for the purpose of calculating the downstream backscattered glow. Using different spatially constant density profiles, radiative transfer calculations are performed, and the radial dependence of the predicted glow is compared with the observed I/R dependence of Pioneer 10 UV data. Such a comparison bounds the large distance heliospheric neutral hydrogen density in the downstream direction to a value between 0.05 and 0.1/cc.

  8. The dose distribution surrounding sup 192 Ir and sup 137 Cs seed sources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thomason, C [Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI (USA). Dept. of Medical Physics; Mackie, T R [Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI (USA). Dept. of Medical Physics Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI (USA). Dept. of Human Oncology; Lindstrom, M J [Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI (USA). Biostatistics Center; Higgins, P D [Cleveland Clinic Foundation, OH (USA). Dept. of Radiation Oncology

    1991-04-01

    Dose distributions in water were measured using LiF thermoluminescent dosemeters for {sup 192}Ir seed sources with stainless steel and with platinum encapsulation to determine the effect of differing encapsulation. Dose distribution was measured for a {sup 137}Cs seed source. In addition, dose distributions surrounding these sources were calculated using the EGS4 Monte Carlo code and were compared to measured data. The two methods are in good agreement for all three sources. Tables are given describing dose distribution surrounding each source as a function of distance and angle. Specific dose constants were also determined from results of Monte Carlo simulation. This work confirms the use of the EGS4 Monte Carlo code in modelling {sup 192}Ir and {sup 137}Cs seed sources to obtain brachytherapy dose distributions. (author).

  9. Involvement of DNA topoisomerase I in transcription of human ribosomal RNA genes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, H.; Wang, J.C.; Liu, L.F.

    1988-01-01

    Treatment of HeLa cells with a DNA topoisomerase I-specific inhibitor, camptothecin, results in rapid cessation of the synthesis of the 45S rRNA precursor. The inhibition of rRNA synthesis is reversible following drug removal and correlates with the presence of camptothecin-trapped topoisomerase I-DNA abortive complexes, which can be detected as topoisomerase I-linked DNA breaks upon lysis with sodium dodecyl sulfate. These breaks were found to be concentrated within the transcribed region of human rRNA genes. No such sites can be detected in the inactive human rRNA genes in mouse-human hybrid cells, suggesting a preferential association of topoisomerase I with actively transcribed genes. The distribution of RNA polymerase molecules along the transcription unit of human rRNA genes in camptothecin-treated HeLa cells, as assayed by nuclear run-on transcription, shows a graded decrease of the RNA polymerase density toward the 3' end of the transcription unit; the density is minimally affected near the 5' start of the transcription unit. These results suggest that DNA topoisomerase I is normally involved in the elongation step of transcription, especially when the transcripts are long, and that camptothecin interferes with this role

  10. Dynamical Analysis of Density-dependent Selection in a Discrete one-island Migration Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    James H. Roberds; James F. Selgrade

    2000-01-01

    A system of non-linear difference equations is used to model the effects of density-dependent selection and migration in a population characterized by two alleles at a single gene locus. Results for the existence and stability of polymorphic equilibria are established. Properties for a genetically important class of equilibria associated with complete dominance in...

  11. In vitro and in vivo MMP gene expression localisation by In Situ-RT-PCR in cell culture and paraffin embedded human breast cancer cell line xenografts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haupt, Larisa M; Thompson, Erik W; Trezise, Ann EO; Irving, Rachel E; Irving, Michael G; Griffiths, Lyn R

    2006-01-01

    Members of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family of proteases are required for the degradation of the basement membrane and extracellular matrix in both normal and pathological conditions. In vitro, MT1-MMP (MMP-14, membrane type-1-MMP) expression is higher in more invasive human breast cancer (HBC) cell lines, whilst in vivo its expression has been associated with the stroma surrounding breast tumours. MMP-1 (interstitial collagenase) has been associated with MDA-MB-231 invasion in vitro, while MMP-3 (stromelysin-1) has been localised around invasive cells of breast tumours in vivo. As MMPs are not stored intracellularly, the ability to localise their expression to their cells of origin is difficult. We utilised the unique in situ-reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (IS-RT-PCR) methodology to localise the in vitro and in vivo gene expression of MT1-MMP, MMP-1 and MMP-3 in human breast cancer. In vitro, MMP induction was examined in the MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 HBC cell lines following exposure to Concanavalin A (Con A). In vivo, we examined their expression in archival paraffin embedded xenografts derived from a range of HBC cell lines of varied invasive and metastatic potential. Mouse xenografts are heterogenous, containing neoplastic human parenchyma with mouse stroma and vasculature and provide a reproducible in vivo model system correlated to the human disease state. In vitro, exposure to Con A increased MT1-MMP gene expression in MDA-MB-231 cells and decreased MT1-MMP gene expression in MCF-7 cells. MMP-1 and MMP-3 gene expression remained unchanged in both cell lines. In vivo, stromal cells recruited into each xenograft demonstrated differences in localised levels of MMP gene expression. Specifically, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-435 and Hs578T HBC cell lines are able to influence MMP gene expression in the surrounding stroma. We have demonstrated the applicability and sensitivity of IS-RT-PCR for the examination of MMP gene expression both in vitro and in

  12. Stability Evaluation on Surrounding Rocks of Underground Powerhouse Based on Microseismic Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Feng Dai

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available To study the stability of underground powerhouse at Houziyan hydropower station during excavation, a microseismic monitoring system is adopted. Based on the space-time distribution characteristics of microseismic events during excavation of the main powerhouse, the correlation between microseismic events and blasting construction is established; and the microseismic clustering areas of the underground powerhouse are identified and delineated. The FLAC3D code is used to simulate the deformation of main powerhouse. The simulated deformation characteristics are consistent with that recorded by microseismic monitoring. Finally, the correlation between the macroscopic deformation of surrounding rock mass and microseismic activities is also revealed. The results show that multiple faults between 1# and 3# bus tunnels are activated during excavation of floors V and VI of the main powerhouse. The comprehensive method combining microseismic monitoring with numerical simulation as well as routine monitoring can provide an effective way to evaluate the surrounding rock mass stability of underground caverns.

  13. Binaural Rendering in MPEG Surround

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kristofer Kjörling

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes novel methods for evoking a multichannel audio experience over stereo headphones. In contrast to the conventional convolution-based approach where, for example, five input channels are filtered using ten head-related transfer functions, the current approach is based on a parametric representation of the multichannel signal, along with either a parametric representation of the head-related transfer functions or a reduced set of head-related transfer functions. An audio scene with multiple virtual sound sources is represented by a mono or a stereo downmix signal of all sound source signals, accompanied by certain statistical (spatial properties. These statistical properties of the sound sources are either combined with statistical properties of head-related transfer functions to estimate “binaural parameters” that represent the perceptually relevant aspects of the auditory scene or used to create a limited set of combined head-related transfer functions that can be applied directly on the downmix signal. Subsequently, a binaural rendering stage reinstates the statistical properties of the sound sources by applying the estimated binaural parameters or the reduced set of combined head-related transfer functions directly on the downmix. If combined with parametric multichannel audio coders such as MPEG Surround, the proposed methods are advantageous over conventional methods in terms of perceived quality and computational complexity.

  14. Control over surrounding rocks deformation of soft floor and whole-coal gateways with trapezoidal supports

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhai, X.; Li, D.; Shao, Q.; Sun, Y. [Henan Polytechnic University, Jaozuo (China). Dept. of Resource and Material Engineering

    2005-06-01

    The coal seams of Guengcun Coal mine of Yima Coal Group Co. Ltd. are prone to spontaneous combustion. Fully mechanized longwall mining with sublevel caving is used as the mining method. Based on the characteristics of the gateways of the 1301 coal face and of the roof coal seams, the natural equilibrium arch theory was used to design the parameters of 11 mine-type metal supports. Then, in-situ supporting experiments were carried out. The results indicate that under the action of virgin rock stress, the width of broken rocks zone of surrounding rocks is 1.7-2.0 m in the return heading and 1.1-1.3 m in the outgoing headway and their surrounding rocks belong to the IV-type soft rock and the III-type common surrounding rock respectively. Therefore, under the movable abutment pressure, the gateway deformation is serious. At the same time, the accumulated water on gateway floor must be drained in time. These measures were taken in the 1302 and 1304 coal faces in Gengcun colliery, and satisfactory results have been obtained. 8 refs., 3 figs.

  15. Importance of the Decompensative Correction of the Gravity Field for Study of the Upper Crust: Application to the Arabian Plate and Surroundings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaban, Mikhail K.; El Khrepy, Sami; Al-Arifi, Nassir

    2017-01-01

    The isostatic correction represents one of the most useful "geological" reduction methods of the gravity field. With this correction it is possible to remove a significant part of the effect of deep density heterogeneity, which dominates in the Bouguer gravity anomalies. However, even this reduction does not show the full gravity effect of unknown anomalies in the upper crust since their impact is substantially reduced by the isostatic compensation. We analyze a so-called decompensative correction of the isostatic anomalies, which provides a possibility to separate these effects. It was demonstrated that this correction is very significant at the mid-range wavelengths and may exceed 100 m/s2 (mGal), therefore ignoring this effect would lead to wrong conclusions about the upper crust structure. At the same time, the decompensative correction is very sensitive to the compensation depth and effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere. Therefore, these parameters should be properly determined based on other studies. Based on this technique, we estimate the decompensative correction for the Arabian plate and surrounding regions. The amplitude of the decompensative anomalies reaches ±250 m/s2 10-5 (mGal), evidencing for both, large density anomalies of the upper crust (including sediments) and strong isostatic disturbances of the lithosphere. These results improve the knowledge about the crustal structure in the Middle East.

  16. Analysis of mammary specific gene locus regulation in differentiated cells derived by somatic cell fusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robinson, Claire; Kolb, Andreas F.

    2009-01-01

    The transcriptional regulation of a gene is best analysed in the context of its normal chromatin surroundings. However, most somatic cells, in contrast to embryonic stem cells, are refractory to accurate modification by homologous recombination. We show here that it is possible to introduce precise genomic modifications in ES cells and to analyse the phenotypic consequences in differentiated cells by using a combination of gene targeting, site-specific recombination and somatic cell fusion. To provide a proof of principle, we have analysed the regulation of the casein gene locus in mammary gland cells derived from modified murine ES cells by somatic cell fusion. A β-galactosidase reporter gene was inserted in place of the β-casein gene and the modified ES cells, which do not express the reporter gene, were fused with the mouse mammary gland cell line HC11. The resulting cell clones expressed the β-galactosidase gene to a similar extent and with similar hormone responsiveness as the endogenous gene. However, a reporter gene under the control of a minimal β-casein promoter (encompassing the two consensus STAT5 binding sites which mediate the hormone response of the casein genes) was unable to replicate expression levels or hormone responsiveness of the endogenous gene when inserted into the same site of the casein locus. As expected, these results implicate sequences other than the STAT5 sites in the regulation of the β-casein gene

  17. Transcription factor CREB is involved in CaSR-mediated cytoskeleton gene expression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Shuaishuai; Ren, Yu; Wang, Ping; Li, Yanyuan; Wang, Xue; Zhuang, Haihui; Fang, Rong; Wang, Yuduo; Liu, Ningsheng; Hehir, Michael; Zhou, Jeff X

    2015-03-01

    Our previous studies illustrated that a steady increase of intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) was important for maintaining microtubules (MTs) rearrangement in apoptotic cells. However, little is known about the effect of calcium sensing receptor (CaSR)-mediated increase in [Ca2+]i on cytoskeleton gene expression. We examined the impact of taxol or CaSR agonist/antagonist on the regulation of [Ca2+]i concentration, cytoskeleton arrangement, phosphorylated CREB and cytoskeleton gene expressions in HeLa cells with dominant negative plasmid of CREB (PM). This study demonstrated that Gdcl3 (a specific CaSR agonist) evoked a rapid increase of [Ca2+]i, formed a rigid bundle of MTs which surrounded the nucleus and decreased the cytoskeleton gene expressions in HeLa cells. These effects were rescued by addition of NPS2390 (a specific CaSR antagonist). Moreover, CaSR activity affected cytoskeleton gene expression through transcription factor CREB. Histoscores of pCREB immunoreactivity in tissues of cervical adenocarcinoma, renal clear cell carcinoma, and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma were markedly increased compared with non malignant tissue. These data demonstrate, for the first time, that CaSR-mediated increase in [Ca2+]i probably modulate cytoskeleton organization and gene expression via transcription factor. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Efficient photoreceptor-targeted gene expression in vivo by recombinant adeno-associated virus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flannery, J G; Zolotukhin, S; Vaquero, M I; LaVail, M M; Muzyczka, N; Hauswirth, W W

    1997-06-24

    We describe a general approach for achieving efficient and cell type-specific expression of exogenous genes in photoreceptor cells of the mammalian retina. Recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors were used to transfer the bacterial lacZ gene or a synthetic green fluorescent protein gene (gfp) to mouse or rat retinas after injection into the subretinal space. Using a proximal murine rod opsin promoter (+86 to -385) to drive expression, reporter gene product was found exclusively in photoreceptors, not in any other retinal cell type or in the adjacent retinal pigment epithelium. GFP-expressing photoreceptors typically encompassed 10-20% of the total retinal area after a single 2-microl injection. Photoreceptors were transduced with nearly 100% efficiency in the region directly surrounding the injection site. We estimate approximately 2.5 million photoreceptors were transduced as a result of the single subretinal inoculation. This level of gene transfer and expression suggests the feasibility of genetic therapy for retinal disease. The gfp-containing rAAV stock was substantially free of both adenovirus and wild-type AAV, as judged by plaque assay and infectious center assay, respectively. Thus, highly purified, helper virus-free rAAV vectors can achieve high-frequency tissue-specific transduction of terminally differentiated, postmitotic photoreceptor cells.

  19. Genomic variation and its impact on gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreas Massouras

    Full Text Available Understanding the relationship between genetic and phenotypic variation is one of the great outstanding challenges in biology. To meet this challenge, comprehensive genomic variation maps of human as well as of model organism populations are required. Here, we present a nucleotide resolution catalog of single-nucleotide, multi-nucleotide, and structural variants in 39 Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel inbred lines. Using an integrative, local assembly-based approach for variant discovery, we identify more than 3.6 million distinct variants, among which were more than 800,000 unique insertions, deletions (indels, and complex variants (1 to 6,000 bp. While the SNP density is higher near other variants, we find that variants themselves are not mutagenic, nor are regions with high variant density particularly mutation-prone. Rather, our data suggest that the elevated SNP density around variants is mainly due to population-level processes. We also provide insights into the regulatory architecture of gene expression variation in adult flies by mapping cis-expression quantitative trait loci (cis-eQTLs for more than 2,000 genes. Indels comprise around 10% of all cis-eQTLs and show larger effects than SNP cis-eQTLs. In addition, we identified two-fold more gene associations in males as compared to females and found that most cis-eQTLs are sex-specific, revealing a partial decoupling of the genomic architecture between the sexes as well as the importance of genetic factors in mediating sex-biased gene expression. Finally, we performed RNA-seq-based allelic expression imbalance analyses in the offspring of crosses between sequenced lines, which revealed that the majority of strong cis-eQTLs can be validated in heterozygous individuals.

  20. Energy transmission transformer for a wireless capsule endoscope: analysis of specific absorption rate and current density in biological tissue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiba, Kenji; Nagato, Tomohiro; Tsuji, Toshio; Koshiji, Kohji

    2008-07-01

    This paper reports on the electromagnetic influences on the analysis of biological tissue surrounding a prototype energy transmission system for a wireless capsule endoscope. Specific absorption rate (SAR) and current density were analyzed by electromagnetic simulator in a model consisting of primary coil and a human trunk including the skin, fat, muscle, small intestine, backbone, and blood. First, electric and magnetic strength in the same conditions as the analytical model were measured and compared to the analytical values to confirm the validity of the analysis. Then, SAR and current density as a function of frequency and output power were analyzed. The validity of the analysis was confirmed by comparing the analytical values with the measured ones. The SAR was below the basic restrictions of the International Commission on Nonionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). At the same time, the results for current density show that the influence on biological tissue was lowest in the 300-400 kHz range, indicating that it was possible to transmit energy safely up to 160 mW. In addition, we confirmed that the current density has decreased by reducing the primary coil's current.

  1. Do plasma proteins distinguish between liposomes of varying charge density?

    KAUST Repository

    Capriotti, Anna Laura

    2012-03-01

    Cationic liposomes (CLs) are one of the most employed nonviral nanovector systems in gene therapy. However, their transfection efficiency is strongly affected by interactions with plasma components, that lead to the formation of a "protein corona" onto CL surface. The interactions between nanoparticles entering the body and biomolecules have an essential role for their biodistribution. Because the knowledge of proteins adsorbed onto vector surface could be useful in the screening of new, more efficient and more biocompatible liposomal formulations, the behavior of three CLs with different membrane charge densities was investigated. The proteins of the three coronas were identified by nano-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and quantified with label-free spectral counting strategy. Fibrinogen displayed higher association with CLs with high membrane charge density, while apolipoproteins and C4b-binding protein with CLs with low membrane charge density. These results are discussed in terms of the different lipid compositions of CLs and may have a deep biological impact for in vivo applications. Surface charge of nanoparticles is emerging as a relevant factor determining the corona composition after interaction with plasma proteins. Remarkably, it is also shown that the charge of the protein corona formed around CLs is strongly related to their membrane charge density. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

  2. Hawking radiation in a d-dimensional static spherically symmetric black hole surrounded by quintessence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Songbai; Wang Bin; Su Rukeng

    2008-01-01

    We present a solution of Einstein equations with quintessential matter surrounding a d-dimensional black hole, whose asymptotic structures are determined by the state of the quintessential matter. We examine the thermodynamics of this black hole and find that the mass of the black hole depends on the equation of state of the quintessence, while the first law is universal. Investigating the Hawking radiation in this black hole background, we observe that the Hawking radiation dominates on the brane in the low-energy regime. For different asymptotic structures caused by the equation of state of the quintessential matter surrounding the black hole, we learn that the influences by the state parameter of the quintessence on Hawking radiation are different

  3. Methodology of testing environmental samples from the area surrounding radioactive waste deposits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kropikova, S.; Pastuchova, D.

    1979-01-01

    Methods are described of environmental sample investigation in the area surrounding radioactive waste deposits, namely monitoring ground water, surface water, sediments, water flows and catchments, vegetation and soil. Methods of sample preparation, and methods of radionuclides determination in mixtures are also discussed, as are spot activity measurement methods. (author)

  4. Relationships between population density, fine-scale genetic structure, mating system and pollen dispersal in a timber tree from African rainforests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duminil, J; Daïnou, K; Kaviriri, D K; Gillet, P; Loo, J; Doucet, J-L; Hardy, O J

    2016-03-01

    Owing to the reduction of population density and/or the environmental changes it induces, selective logging could affect the demography, reproductive biology and evolutionary potential of forest trees. This is particularly relevant in tropical forests where natural population densities can be low and isolated trees may be subject to outcross pollen limitation and/or produce low-quality selfed seeds that exhibit inbreeding depression. Comparing reproductive biology processes and genetic diversity of populations at different densities can provide indirect evidence of the potential impacts of logging. Here, we analysed patterns of genetic diversity, mating system and gene flow in three Central African populations of the self-compatible legume timber species Erythrophleum suaveolens with contrasting densities (0.11, 0.68 and 1.72 adults per ha). The comparison of inbreeding levels among cohorts suggests that selfing is detrimental as inbred individuals are eliminated between seedling and adult stages. Levels of genetic diversity, selfing rates (∼16%) and patterns of spatial genetic structure (Sp ∼0.006) were similar in all three populations. However, the extent of gene dispersal differed markedly among populations: the average distance of pollen dispersal increased with decreasing density (from 200 m in the high-density population to 1000 m in the low-density one). Overall, our results suggest that the reproductive biology and genetic diversity of the species are not affected by current logging practices. However, further investigations need to be conducted in low-density populations to evaluate (1) whether pollen limitation may reduce seed production and (2) the regeneration potential of the species.

  5. Relationships between population density, fine-scale genetic structure, mating system and pollen dispersal in a timber tree from African rainforests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duminil, J; Daïnou, K; Kaviriri, D K; Gillet, P; Loo, J; Doucet, J-L; Hardy, O J

    2016-01-01

    Owing to the reduction of population density and/or the environmental changes it induces, selective logging could affect the demography, reproductive biology and evolutionary potential of forest trees. This is particularly relevant in tropical forests where natural population densities can be low and isolated trees may be subject to outcross pollen limitation and/or produce low-quality selfed seeds that exhibit inbreeding depression. Comparing reproductive biology processes and genetic diversity of populations at different densities can provide indirect evidence of the potential impacts of logging. Here, we analysed patterns of genetic diversity, mating system and gene flow in three Central African populations of the self-compatible legume timber species Erythrophleum suaveolens with contrasting densities (0.11, 0.68 and 1.72 adults per ha). The comparison of inbreeding levels among cohorts suggests that selfing is detrimental as inbred individuals are eliminated between seedling and adult stages. Levels of genetic diversity, selfing rates (∼16%) and patterns of spatial genetic structure (Sp ∼0.006) were similar in all three populations. However, the extent of gene dispersal differed markedly among populations: the average distance of pollen dispersal increased with decreasing density (from 200 m in the high-density population to 1000 m in the low-density one). Overall, our results suggest that the reproductive biology and genetic diversity of the species are not affected by current logging practices. However, further investigations need to be conducted in low-density populations to evaluate (1) whether pollen limitation may reduce seed production and (2) the regeneration potential of the species. PMID:26696137

  6. Validation of candidate genes associated with cardiovascular risk factors in psychiatric patients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Windemuth, Andreas; de Leon, Jose; Goethe, John W.; Schwartz, Harold I.; Woolley, Stephen; Susce, Margaret; Kocherla, Mohan; Bogaard, Kali; Holford, Theodore R.; Seip, Richard L.; Ruaño, Gualberto

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to identify genetic variants predictive of cardiovascular risk factors in a psychiatric population treated with second generation antipsychotics (SGA). 924 patients undergoing treatment for severe mental illness at four US hospitals were genotyped at 1.2 million single nucleotide polymorphisms. Patients were assessed for fasting serum lipid (low density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDLc], high density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDLc], and triglycerides) and obesity phenotypes (body mass index, BMI). Thirteen candidate genes from previous studies of the same phenotypes in non-psychiatric populations were tested for association. We confirmed 8 of the 13 candidate genes at the 95% confidence level. An increased genetic effect size was observed for triglycerides in the psychiatric population compared to that in the cardiovascular population. PMID:21851846

  7. Association of HS6ST3 gene polymorphisms with obesity and ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    ated with plasma triglyceride concentration will enrich our ..... aMinor allele; bminor allele frequency; codds ratio for the gene × gender interaction .... lower HDL-cholesterol levels. .... high density lipoprotein, obesity and triglycerides in a normal.

  8. Conserving Prairie Pothole Region wetlands and surrounding grasslands: evaluating effects on amphibians

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mushet, David M.; Neau, Jordan L.

    2014-01-01

    The maintenance of viable and genetically diverse populations of amphibians in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States depends on upland as well as wetland over-wintering and landscape level habitat features.Prairie pothole wetlands provide important amphibian breeding habitat while grasslands surrounding these wetlands provide foraging habitat for adults, overwintering habitat for some species, and important connectivity among breeding wetlands.Grasslands surrounding wetlands were found to be especially important for wood frogs and northern leopard frogs, while croplands dominated habitat utilized by Great Plains toads and Woodhouse’s toads.Habitat suitability mapping highlighted (1) the influence of deep-water overwintering wetlands on suitable habitat for four of five anuran species encountered; (2) the lack of overlap between areas of core habitat for both the northern leopard frog and wood frog compared to the core habitat for both toad species; and (3) the importance of conservation programs in providing grassland components of northern leopard frog and wood frog habitat.Currently, there are approximately 7.2 million acres (2.9 million hectares, ha) of habitat in the PPR identified as suitable for amphibians. WRP and CRP wetland and grassland habitats accounted for approximately 1.9 million acres (0.75 million ha) or 26 percent of this total area.Continued loss of amphibian habitat resulting from an ongoing trend of returning PPR conservation lands to crop production, will likely have significant negative effects on the region’s ability to maintain amphibian biodiversity. Conversely, increases in conservation wetlands and surrounding grasslands on the PPR landscape have great potential to positively influence the region’s amphibian populations.

  9. Determination of the pollution with lead in the batteries factory in Al-Saffera (Aleppo) and surrounding area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Oudat, M.; Al-Kharfan, K.; Al-Shamali, K.

    2007-10-01

    The study aimed to determine the lead concentrations in the ecosystem surrounding the batteries factory in Al-Saffera. The results showed that the lead levels were very high in both factory area and the surrounding agricultural area. Lead levels in air varied between 12 and 34 μg/m3 in the area outside the factory. The same trends were in both soil and plant samples, and normal washing does not decrease the lead level in plant samples to acceptable levels. Mean lead levels in blood was also high and ranged between 55 and 28 μg /dl for factory workers and village inhabitants respectively. In conclusion the authorities administration must take all necessary procedures to reduce the lead levels in the factory area and in the surrounding area.(Author)

  10. Determination of the pollution with lead in the batteries factory in Al-Saffera (Aleppo) and surrounding area

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Al-Oudat, M; Al-Kharfan, K; Al-Shamali, K [Atomic Energy Commission, Damascus (Syrian Arab Republic), Dept. of Protection and Safety

    2007-10-15

    The study aimed to determine the lead concentrations in the ecosystem surrounding the batteries factory in Al-Saffera. The results showed that the lead levels were very high in both factory area and the surrounding agricultural area. Lead levels in air varied between 12 and 34 {mu}g/m3 in the area outside the factory. The same trends were in both soil and plant samples, and normal washing does not decrease the lead level in plant samples to acceptable levels. Mean lead levels in blood was also high and ranged between 55 and 28 {mu}g /dl for factory workers and village inhabitants respectively. In conclusion the authorities administration must take all necessary procedures to reduce the lead levels in the factory area and in the surrounding area.(Author)

  11. INTERACTION OF A LONG PILE OF FINITE STIFFNESS WITH SURROUNDING SOIL AND FOUNDATION CAP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ter-Martirosyan Zaven Grigor’evich

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The article presents the formulation and analytical solution to a quantification of stress strain state of a two-layer soil cylinder enclosing a long pile, interacting with the cap. The solution of the problem is considered for two cases: with and without account for the settlement of the heel and the underlying soil. In the first case, the article is offering equations for determining the stresses of pile’s body and the surrounding soil according to their hardness and the ratio of radiuses of the pile and the surrounding soil cylinder, as well as formulating for determining equivalent deformation modulus of the system “cap-pile-surrounding soil” (the system. Assessing the carrying capacity of the soil under pile’s heel is of great necessity. In the second case, the article is solving a second-order differential equation. We gave the formulas for determining the stresses of the pile at its top and heel, as well as the variation of stresses along the pile’s body. The article is also formulating for determining the settlement of the foundation cap and equivalent deformation modulus of the system. It is shown that, pushing the pile into underlying layer results in the reducing of equivalent modulus of the system.

  12. An X-ray study of the supernova remnant G20.0-0.2 and its surroundings

    OpenAIRE

    Petriella, Alberto; Paron, Sergio; Giacani, Elsa

    2013-01-01

    Aims. We study the supernova remnant G20.0-0.2 and its surroundings in order to look for the high energy counterpart of the radio nebula and to find evidence of interaction between the shock front and the interstellar medium. Methods. We used Chandra archival observations to analyze the X-ray emission from the supernova remnant. The surrounding gas was investigated using data extracted from the Galactic Ring Survey, the VLA Galactic Plane Survey, the Galactic Legacy Infrared Midplane Survey E...

  13. Microbial functional genes enriched in the Xiangjiang River sediments with heavy metal contamination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jie, Shiqi; Li, Mingming; Gan, Min; Zhu, Jianyu; Yin, Huaqun; Liu, Xueduan

    2016-08-08

    Xiangjiang River (Hunan, China) has been contaminated with heavy metal for several decades by surrounding factories. However, little is known about the influence of a gradient of heavy metal contamination on the diversity, structure of microbial functional gene in sediment. To deeply understand the impact of heavy metal contamination on microbial community, a comprehensive functional gene array (GeoChip 5.0) has been used to study the functional genes structure, composition, diversity and metabolic potential of microbial community from three heavy metal polluted sites of Xiangjiang River. A total of 25595 functional genes involved in different biogeochemical processes have been detected in three sites, and different diversities and structures of microbial functional genes were observed. The analysis of gene overlapping, unique genes, and various diversity indices indicated a significant correlation between the level of heavy metal contamination and the functional diversity. Plentiful resistant genes related to various metal were detected, such as copper, arsenic, chromium and mercury. The results indicated a significantly higher abundance of genes involved in metal resistance including sulfate reduction genes (dsr) in studied site with most serious heavy metal contamination, such as cueo, mer, metc, merb, tehb and terc gene. With regard to the relationship between the environmental variables and microbial functional structure, S, Cu, Cd, Hg and Cr were the dominating factor shaping the microbial distribution pattern in three sites. This study suggests that high level of heavy metal contamination resulted in higher functional diversity and the abundance of metal resistant genes. These variation therefore significantly contribute to the resistance, resilience and stability of the microbial community subjected to the gradient of heavy metals contaminant in Xiangjiang River.

  14. Impact of the Surrounding Built Environment on Energy Consumption in Mixed-Use Building

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Young-Eun Woo

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available While a mixture of residential and non-residential uses in urban development has advantages in reducing transportation energy consumption and improving efficiency of land utilization, the patterns of energy consumption in mixed-use buildings are largely unknown. To understand associations between the built environment and energy consumption and to find effective strategies for energy saving, this study aims to examine how the gas and electricity energy consumption of mixed-use properties is influenced by the characteristics of the immediate surroundings of the building as well as by the building’s attributes. The sample for this study is 22,109 mixed-use buildings in Seoul, Korea and the main source of outcome is electricity and gas energy consumption data retrieved from the open system of building data in 2015 and 2016. The regression results showed that a higher proportion of non-residential uses in mixed-use buildings was positively associated with higher electricity consumption overall but that it reduced gas energy use during the winter. In particular, increased restaurant and service use significantly influenced electricity consumption in the buildings. With regard to surrounding built environment, higher impervious surfaces and dense development near the buildings increased the electricity consumption of the buildings but it reduced gas energy consumption. Our results imply that, through the mediating effects of UHIs, the built environment characteristics of immediate surroundings may have indirect effects on energy consumption in mixed-use buildings.

  15. Autism genome-wide copy number variation reveals ubiquitin and neuronal genes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glessner, Joseph T; Wang, Kai; Cai, Guiqing; Korvatska, Olena; Kim, Cecilia E; Wood, Shawn; Zhang, Haitao; Estes, Annette; Brune, Camille W; Bradfield, Jonathan P; Imielinski, Marcin; Frackelton, Edward C; Reichert, Jennifer; Crawford, Emily L; Munson, Jeffrey; Sleiman, Patrick M A; Chiavacci, Rosetta; Annaiah, Kiran; Thomas, Kelly; Hou, Cuiping; Glaberson, Wendy; Flory, James; Otieno, Frederick; Garris, Maria; Soorya, Latha; Klei, Lambertus; Piven, Joseph; Meyer, Kacie J; Anagnostou, Evdokia; Sakurai, Takeshi; Game, Rachel M; Rudd, Danielle S; Zurawiecki, Danielle; McDougle, Christopher J; Davis, Lea K; Miller, Judith; Posey, David J; Michaels, Shana; Kolevzon, Alexander; Silverman, Jeremy M; Bernier, Raphael; Levy, Susan E; Schultz, Robert T; Dawson, Geraldine; Owley, Thomas; McMahon, William M; Wassink, Thomas H; Sweeney, John A; Nurnberger, John I; Coon, Hilary; Sutcliffe, James S; Minshew, Nancy J; Grant, Struan F A; Bucan, Maja; Cook, Edwin H; Buxbaum, Joseph D; Devlin, Bernie; Schellenberg, Gerard D; Hakonarson, Hakon

    2009-05-28

    Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are childhood neurodevelopmental disorders with complex genetic origins. Previous studies focusing on candidate genes or genomic regions have identified several copy number variations (CNVs) that are associated with an increased risk of ASDs. Here we present the results from a whole-genome CNV study on a cohort of 859 ASD cases and 1,409 healthy children of European ancestry who were genotyped with approximately 550,000 single nucleotide polymorphism markers, in an attempt to comprehensively identify CNVs conferring susceptibility to ASDs. Positive findings were evaluated in an independent cohort of 1,336 ASD cases and 1,110 controls of European ancestry. Besides previously reported ASD candidate genes, such as NRXN1 (ref. 10) and CNTN4 (refs 11, 12), several new susceptibility genes encoding neuronal cell-adhesion molecules, including NLGN1 and ASTN2, were enriched with CNVs in ASD cases compared to controls (P = 9.5 x 10(-3)). Furthermore, CNVs within or surrounding genes involved in the ubiquitin pathways, including UBE3A, PARK2, RFWD2 and FBXO40, were affected by CNVs not observed in controls (P = 3.3 x 10(-3)). We also identified duplications 55 kilobases upstream of complementary DNA AK123120 (P = 3.6 x 10(-6)). Although these variants may be individually rare, they target genes involved in neuronal cell-adhesion or ubiquitin degradation, indicating that these two important gene networks expressed within the central nervous system may contribute to the genetic susceptibility of ASD.

  16. How patients experience the surroundings in relation to patient participation: a qualitative study of inpatients with intestinal failure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thyssen GD

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Gunvor Dichmann Thyssen, Anne BeckDepartment of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, DenmarkIntroduction: Patient participation is known to improve patients' motivation, compliance, treatment results, and satisfaction with the received care. It is well known that the physical environment is of great importance in supporting patient involvement. A systematic literature search has shown a lack of articles on the subject of “surroundings” in relation to patient participation, for all patient groups.Aim: We aimed to investigate how patients with intestinal failure experience their hospital surroundings in relation to patient participation.Methods: The study included eight patients admitted for at least 2 weeks at the Intestinal Failure Unit, H8, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom. Included patients had a good level of consciousness with no confusion. The included patients participated in a semistructured interview. The interviews were analyzed using Malterud's principles of systematic text condensation.Results: The patients described that the surroundings enabled them to participate in their treatment and care. The surroundings made it possible for them and encouraged them to participate through: the possibility to seek and get information and the possibility to participate in daily activities. This led to a feeling of independence, reassurance, normality, control, responsibility, and confidence.Conclusion: The findings in this study indicate that the hospital surroundings are essential for the patients with respect to their ability to participate in their own care and treatment. The surroundings, in relation to patient participation, should be considered when planning and organizing nursing care. Further research is needed to increase the understanding of the surroundings in relation to patient participation - this research could, for eg, include the nurse's perspective

  17. Lung density

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Garnett, E S; Webber, C E; Coates, G

    1977-01-01

    The density of a defined volume of the human lung can be measured in vivo by a new noninvasive technique. A beam of gamma-rays is directed at the lung and, by measuring the scattered gamma-rays, lung density is calculated. The density in the lower lobe of the right lung in normal man during quiet...... breathing in the sitting position ranged from 0.25 to 0.37 g.cm-3. Subnormal values were found in patients with emphsema. In patients with pulmonary congestion and edema, lung density values ranged from 0.33 to 0.93 g.cm-3. The lung density measurement correlated well with the findings in chest radiographs...... but the lung density values were more sensitive indices. This was particularly evident in serial observations of individual patients....

  18. The hydrogen bond in ice probed by soft x-ray spectroscopy and density functional theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nilsson, A.; Ogasawara, H.; Cavalleri, M.; Nordlund, D.; Nyberg, M.; Wernet, Ph.; Pettersson, L.G.M.

    2005-01-01

    We combine photoelectron and x-ray absorption spectroscopy with density functional theory to derive a molecular orbital picture of the hydrogen bond in ice. We find that the hydrogen bond involves donation and back-donation of charge between the oxygen lone pair and the O-H antibonding orbitals on neighboring molecules. Together with internal s-p rehybridization this minimizes the repulsive charge overlap of the connecting oxygen and hydrogen atoms, which is essential for a strong attractive electrostatic interaction. Our joint experimental and theoretical results demonstrate that an electrostatic model based on only charge induction from the surrounding medium fails to properly describe the internal charge redistributions upon hydrogen bonding

  19. Dependency of plasmon resonance sensitivity of colloidal gold nanoparticles on the identity of surrounding ionic media

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehrdel, B.; Aziz, A. Abdul

    2018-03-01

    The plasmon resonance sensitivity of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in sodium chloride (NaCl) liquid in near-infrared to the visible spectral region was investigated. The correlation between NaCl concentration and refractive index was analyzed using concentration dependency and Lorenz-Lorenz methods. The first derivative method was applied to the measured absorption spectra to quantitatively evaluate the plasmon resonance sensitivity. To understand the influence of the identity of the surrounding medium on the plasmon resonance sensitivity, experiments were repeated by replacing NaCl with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), followed by phosphate buffered saline (PBS). Experimental results showed that NaCl is the most effective ionic surrounding medium, which gives prominent plasmon resonance response. AuNPs size can have a significant influence on the plasmon resonance sensitivity. For tiny AuNPs (∼10 nm AuNPs), the plasmon resonance is insensitive to the identity of the surrounding medium due to their low cross-section value.

  20. Toward allotetraploid cotton genome assembly: integration of a high-density molecular genetic linkage map with DNA sequence information

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background Cotton is the world’s most important natural textile fiber and a significant oilseed crop. Decoding cotton genomes will provide the ultimate reference and resource for research and utilization of the species. Integration of high-density genetic maps with genomic sequence information will largely accelerate the process of whole-genome assembly in cotton. Results In this paper, we update a high-density interspecific genetic linkage map of allotetraploid cultivated cotton. An additional 1,167 marker loci have been added to our previously published map of 2,247 loci. Three new marker types, InDel (insertion-deletion) and SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) developed from gene information, and REMAP (retrotransposon-microsatellite amplified polymorphism), were used to increase map density. The updated map consists of 3,414 loci in 26 linkage groups covering 3,667.62 cM with an average inter-locus distance of 1.08 cM. Furthermore, genome-wide sequence analysis was finished using 3,324 informative sequence-based markers and publicly-available Gossypium DNA sequence information. A total of 413,113 EST and 195 BAC sequences were physically anchored and clustered by 3,324 sequence-based markers. Of these, 14,243 ESTs and 188 BACs from different species of Gossypium were clustered and specifically anchored to the high-density genetic map. A total of 2,748 candidate unigenes from 2,111 ESTs clusters and 63 BACs were mined for functional annotation and classification. The 337 ESTs/genes related to fiber quality traits were integrated with 132 previously reported cotton fiber quality quantitative trait loci, which demonstrated the important roles in fiber quality of these genes. Higher-level sequence conservation between different cotton species and between the A- and D-subgenomes in tetraploid cotton was found, indicating a common evolutionary origin for orthologous and paralogous loci in Gossypium. Conclusion This study will serve as a valuable genomic resource

  1. Detection and genetic characterization of porcine deltacoronavirus in Tibetan pigs surrounding the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, M; Wang, Y; Baloch, A R; Pan, Y; Tian, L; Xu, F; Shivaramu, S; Chen, S; Zeng, Q

    2018-04-01

    Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is a recently discovered RNA virus that belongs to the family Coronaviridae and genus Deltacoronavirus. This virus causes enteric disease in piglets that is characterized by enteritis and diarrhoea. In our present investigation, 189 diarrhoeic samples were collected between July 2016 and May 2017 from Tibetan pigs inhabiting in three different provinces surrounding the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China. We then applied the molecular-based method of reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCRs) to detect the presence of PDCoV in collected samples, and RT-PCR indicated that the prevalence of PDCoV was 3.70% (7/189) in Tibetan pigs. Four of 7 PDCoV-positive pigs were monoinfections of PDCoV, three samples were co-infections of PDCoV with porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV), and 52 (27.51%) samples were positive for PEDV. Four strains with different full-length genomes were identified (CHN/GS/2016/1, CHN/GS/2016/2, CHN/GS-/2017/1 and CHN/QH/2017/1), and their genomes were used to analyse the characteristics of PDCoV currently prevalent in Tibetan pigs. We found a 3-nt insertion in the spike gene in four strains in Tibetan pigs. Phylogenetic analysis of the complete genome and spike and nucleocapsid gene sequences revealed that these strains shared ancestors with the strain CHN-AH-2004, which was found in pigs from the Anhui province of China mainland. However, PDCoV strains from Tibetan pigs formed different branches within the same cluster, implying continuous evolution in the field. Our present findings highlight the importance of epidemiologic surveillance to limit the spread of PDCoV in livestock at high altitudes in China. © 2018 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  2. Improved methods and resources for paramecium genomics: transcription units, gene annotation and gene expression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnaiz, Olivier; Van Dijk, Erwin; Bétermier, Mireille; Lhuillier-Akakpo, Maoussi; de Vanssay, Augustin; Duharcourt, Sandra; Sallet, Erika; Gouzy, Jérôme; Sperling, Linda

    2017-06-26

    The 15 sibling species of the Paramecium aurelia cryptic species complex emerged after a whole genome duplication that occurred tens of millions of years ago. Given extensive knowledge of the genetics and epigenetics of Paramecium acquired over the last century, this species complex offers a uniquely powerful system to investigate the consequences of whole genome duplication in a unicellular eukaryote as well as the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that drive speciation. High quality Paramecium gene models are important for research using this system. The major aim of the work reported here was to build an improved gene annotation pipeline for the Paramecium lineage. We generated oriented RNA-Seq transcriptome data across the sexual process of autogamy for the model species Paramecium tetraurelia. We determined, for the first time in a ciliate, candidate P. tetraurelia transcription start sites using an adapted Cap-Seq protocol. We developed TrUC, multi-threaded Perl software that in conjunction with TopHat mapping of RNA-Seq data to a reference genome, predicts transcription units for the annotation pipeline. We used EuGene software to combine annotation evidence. The high quality gene structural annotations obtained for P. tetraurelia were used as evidence to improve published annotations for 3 other Paramecium species. The RNA-Seq data were also used for differential gene expression analysis, providing a gene expression atlas that is more sensitive than the previously established microarray resource. We have developed a gene annotation pipeline tailored for the compact genomes and tiny introns of Paramecium species. A novel component of this pipeline, TrUC, predicts transcription units using Cap-Seq and oriented RNA-Seq data. TrUC could prove useful beyond Paramecium, especially in the case of high gene density. Accurate predictions of 3' and 5' UTR will be particularly valuable for studies of gene expression (e.g. nucleosome positioning, identification of cis

  3. Targeted introgression of a wheat stem rust resistance gene by DNA marker-assisted chromosome engineering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niu, Zhixia; Klindworth, Daryl L; Friesen, Timothy L; Chao, Shiaoman; Jin, Yue; Cai, Xiwen; Xu, Steven S

    2011-04-01

    Chromosome engineering is a useful strategy for transfer of alien genes from wild relatives into modern crops. However, this strategy has not been extensively used for alien gene introgression in most crops due to low efficiency of conventional cytogenetic techniques. Here, we report an improved scheme of chromosome engineering for efficient elimination of a large amount of goatgrass (Aegilops speltoides) chromatin surrounding Sr39, a gene that provides resistance to multiple stem rust races, including Ug99 (TTKSK) in wheat. The wheat ph1b mutation, which promotes meiotic pairing between homoeologous chromosomes, was employed to induce recombination between wheat chromosome 2B and goatgrass 2S chromatin using a backcross scheme favorable for inducing and detecting the homoeologous recombinants with small goatgrass chromosome segments. Forty recombinants with Sr39 with reduced surrounding goatgrass chromatin were quickly identified from 1048 backcross progenies through disease screening and molecular marker analysis. Four of the recombinants carrying Sr39 with a minimal amount of goatgrass chromatin (2.87-9.15% of the translocated chromosomes) were verified using genomic in situ hybridization. Approximately 97% of the goatgrass chromatin was eliminated in one of the recombinants, in which a tiny goatgrass chromosome segment containing Sr39 was retained in the wheat genome. Localization of the goatgrass chromatin in the recombinants led to rapid development of three molecular markers tightly linked to Sr39. The new wheat lines and markers provide useful resources for the ongoing global effort to combat Ug99. This study has demonstrated great potential of chromosome engineering in genome manipulation for plant improvement.

  4. Gene expression plasticity resulting from parental leaf damage in Mimulus guttatus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colicchio, Jack M; Monnahan, Patrick J; Kelly, John K; Hileman, Lena C

    2015-01-01

    Leaf trichome density in Mimulus guttatus can be altered by the parental environment. In this study, we compared global gene expression patterns in progeny of damaged and control plants. Significant differences in gene expression probably explain the observed trichome response, and identify additional responsive pathways. Using whole transcriptome RNA sequencing, we estimated differential gene expression between isogenic seedlings whose parents had, or had not, been subject to leaf damage. We identified over 900 genes that were differentially expressed in response to parental wounding. These genes clustered into groups involved in cell wall and cell membrane development, stress response pathways, and secondary metabolism. Gene expression is modified as a consequence of the parental environment in a targeted way that probably alters multiple developmental pathways, and may increase progeny fitness if they experience environments similar to that of their parents. © 2014 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2014 New Phytologist Trust.

  5. Alterations in TNF- and IL-related gene expression in space-flown WI38 human fibroblasts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Semov, Alexandre; Semova, Nathalia; Lacelle, Chantale; Marcotte, Richard; Petroulakis, Emmanuel; Proestou, Gregory; Wang, Eugenia

    2002-01-01

    Spaceflight, just like aging, causes profound changes in musculoskeletal parameters, which result in decreased bone density and muscular weakness. As these conditions decrease our ability to conduct long-term manned space missions, and increase bone frailty in the elderly, the identification of genes responsible for the apparition of these physiological changes will be of great benefit. Thus, we developed and implemented a new microarray approach to investigate the changes in normal WI38 human fibroblast gene expression that arise as a consequence of space flight. Using our microarray, we identified changes in the level of expression of 10 genes, belonging to either the tumor necrosis factor- (TNF) or interleukin- (IL) related gene families in fibroblasts when WI38 cells exposed to microgravity during the STS-93 Space Shuttle mission were compared with ground controls. The genes included two ligands from the TNF superfamily, TWEAK and TNFSF15; two TNF receptor-associated proteins, NSMAF and PTPN13; three TNF-inducible genes, ABC50, PTX3, and SCYA13; TNF-alpha converting enzyme, IL-1 receptor antagonist, and IL-15 receptor alpha chain. Most of these are involved in either the regulation of bone density, and as such the development of spaceflight osteopenia, or in the development of proinflammatory status.

  6. Magnetic resonance fiber density mapping of age-related white matter changes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stadlbauer, Andreas; Ganslandt, Oliver; Salomonowitz, Erich; Buchfelder, Michael; Hammen, Thilo; Bachmair, Johanna; Eberhardt, Knut

    2012-01-01

    Objectives: To introduce fiber density mapping (FDM) for investigation of age-related white matter (WM) changes and to compare its capabilities with conventional diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) post-processing. Methods: DTI data with 1.9 mm 3 isotropic voxels were acquired from 44 healthy volunteers (18–88 years) at 3 T. FDM is a 3-step approach which includes diagonalization of the diffusion tensor, fiber reconstruction for the whole brain, and calculation of fiber density (FD) values. Maps of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were additionally calculated. Voxel-based analyses were performed to determine volume clusters of significant correlation with age. Bivariate linear regression models and Hotelling–Williams tests were used to detect significant differences between correlations. Results: FDM detected a larger WM volume affected by age-related changes concomitant with fewer significant clusters compared to FA and MD. This indicates that WM alterations due to normal aging occur rather globally than locally. FD values showed a significant stronger correlation with age in frontal lobes (prefrontal and precentral gyrus), limbic lobes (cingulate and parahippocampal gyrus), the corpus callosum (genu) and temporal lobes. Conclusions: FDM shows higher sensitivity for detection of age-related WM changes because it includes all surrounding fiber structures into the evaluation of each DTI data voxel.

  7. Magnetic resonance fiber density mapping of age-related white matter changes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stadlbauer, Andreas, E-mail: andi@nmr.at [MR Physics Group, Department of Radiology, Landesklinikum St. Poelten, Propst Fuehrer Strasse 4, A-3100 St. Poelten (Austria); Department of Neurosurgery, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054 Erlangen (Germany); Ganslandt, Oliver [Department of Neurosurgery, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054 Erlangen (Germany); Salomonowitz, Erich [MR Physics Group, Department of Radiology, Landesklinikum St. Poelten, Propst Fuehrer Strasse 4, A-3100 St. Poelten (Austria); Buchfelder, Michael [Department of Neurosurgery, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054 Erlangen (Germany); Hammen, Thilo [Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Center, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 6, D-90429 Erlangen (Germany); Bachmair, Johanna [MR Physics Group, Department of Radiology, Landesklinikum St. Poelten, Propst Fuehrer Strasse 4, A-3100 St. Poelten (Austria); Eberhardt, Knut [Krankenhaus Schloss Werneck, MRT-Kompetenzzentrum, Balthasar-Neumann-Platz 1, D-97440 Werneck (Germany)

    2012-12-15

    Objectives: To introduce fiber density mapping (FDM) for investigation of age-related white matter (WM) changes and to compare its capabilities with conventional diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) post-processing. Methods: DTI data with 1.9 mm{sup 3} isotropic voxels were acquired from 44 healthy volunteers (18–88 years) at 3 T. FDM is a 3-step approach which includes diagonalization of the diffusion tensor, fiber reconstruction for the whole brain, and calculation of fiber density (FD) values. Maps of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were additionally calculated. Voxel-based analyses were performed to determine volume clusters of significant correlation with age. Bivariate linear regression models and Hotelling–Williams tests were used to detect significant differences between correlations. Results: FDM detected a larger WM volume affected by age-related changes concomitant with fewer significant clusters compared to FA and MD. This indicates that WM alterations due to normal aging occur rather globally than locally. FD values showed a significant stronger correlation with age in frontal lobes (prefrontal and precentral gyrus), limbic lobes (cingulate and parahippocampal gyrus), the corpus callosum (genu) and temporal lobes. Conclusions: FDM shows higher sensitivity for detection of age-related WM changes because it includes all surrounding fiber structures into the evaluation of each DTI data voxel.

  8. Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Preterm Pigs Is Associated with Increased Density of Intestinal Mucosa-Associated Bacteria Including Clostridium perfringens

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Støy, Ann Cathrine Findal; Mølbak, Lars; Delègue, Camilla Lindholm

    2015-01-01

    correlates with NEC severity in preterm pigs and that in vitro infection with increasing densities of Clostridium perfringens, which has been associated with NEC in preterm infants, would lead to a transcriptional response related to the inflammatory conditions of NEC. Methods: First, we determined...... the density of total bacteria and C. perfringens in the distal small intestinal mucosa of 58 NEC and healthy preterm pigs using quantitative PCR. Next, we analyzed in IPEC-J2 cells the effect of different infection densities of C. perfringens type A on the expression of genes related to intestinal function...

  9. Effects of hepatocyte growth factor on glutathione synthesis, growth, and apoptosis is cell density-dependent

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Heping; Magilnick, Nathaniel; Xia Meng; Lu, Shelly C.

    2008-01-01

    Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a potent hepatocyte mitogen that exerts opposing effects depending on cell density. Glutathione (GSH) is the main non-protein thiol in mammalian cells that modulates growth and apoptosis. We previously showed that GSH level is inversely related to cell density of hepatocytes and is positively related to growth. Our current work examined whether HGF can modulate GSH synthesis in a cell density-dependent manner and how GSH in turn influence HGF's effects. We found HGF treatment of H4IIE cells increased cell GSH levels only under subconfluent density. The increase in cell GSH under low density was due to increased transcription of GSH synthetic enzymes. This correlated with increased protein levels and nuclear binding activities of c-Jun, c-Fos, p65, p50, Nrf1 and Nrf2 to the promoter region of these genes. HGF acts as a mitogen in H4IIE cells under low cell density and protects against tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα)-induced apoptosis by limiting JNK activation. However, HGF is pro-apoptotic under high cell density and exacerbates TNFα-induced apoptosis by potentiating JNK activation. The increase in cell GSH under low cell density allows HGF to exert its full mitogenic effect but is not necessary for its anti-apoptotic effect

  10. In Vivo Imaging of Local Gene Expression Induced by Magnetic Hyperthermia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olivier Sandre

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The present work aims to demonstrate that colloidal dispersions of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles stabilized with dextran macromolecules placed in an alternating magnetic field can not only produce heat, but also that these particles could be used in vivo for local and noninvasive deposition of a thermal dose sufficient to trigger thermo-induced gene expression. Iron oxide nanoparticles were first characterized in vitro on a bio-inspired setup, and then they were assayed in vivo using a transgenic mouse strain expressing the luciferase reporter gene under transcriptional control of a thermosensitive promoter. Iron oxide nanoparticles dispersions were applied topically on the mouse skin or injected subcutaneously with Matrigel™ to generate so-called pseudotumors. Temperature was monitored continuously with a feedback loop to control the power of the magnetic field generator and to avoid overheating. Thermo-induced luciferase expression was followed by bioluminescence imaging 6 h after heating. We showed that dextran-coated magnetic iron oxide nanoparticle dispersions were able to induce in vivo mild hyperthermia compatible with thermo-induced gene expression in surrounding tissues and without impairing cell viability. These data open new therapeutic perspectives for using mild magnetic hyperthermia as noninvasive modulation of tumor microenvironment by local thermo-induced gene expression or drug release.

  11. Gene copy number variation throughout the Plasmodium falciparum genome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stewart Lindsay B

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Gene copy number variation (CNV is responsible for several important phenotypes of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, including drug resistance, loss of infected erythrocyte cytoadherence and alteration of receptor usage for erythrocyte invasion. Despite the known effects of CNV, little is known about its extent throughout the genome. Results We performed a whole-genome survey of CNV genes in P. falciparum using comparative genome hybridisation of a diverse set of 16 laboratory culture-adapted isolates to a custom designed high density Affymetrix GeneChip array. Overall, 186 genes showed hybridisation signals consistent with deletion or amplification in one or more isolate. There is a strong association of CNV with gene length, genomic location, and low orthology to genes in other Plasmodium species. Sub-telomeric regions of all chromosomes are strongly associated with CNV genes independent from members of previously described multigene families. However, ~40% of CNV genes were located in more central regions of the chromosomes. Among the previously undescribed CNV genes, several that are of potential phenotypic relevance are identified. Conclusion CNV represents a major form of genetic variation within the P. falciparum genome; the distribution of gene features indicates the involvement of highly non-random mutational and selective processes. Additional studies should be directed at examining CNV in natural parasite populations to extend conclusions to clinical settings.

  12. Mammography density estimation with automated volumetic breast density measurement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ko, Su Yeon; Kim, Eun Kyung; Kim, Min Jung; Moon, Hee Jung

    2014-01-01

    To compare automated volumetric breast density measurement (VBDM) with radiologists' evaluations based on the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS), and to identify the factors associated with technical failure of VBDM. In this study, 1129 women aged 19-82 years who underwent mammography from December 2011 to January 2012 were included. Breast density evaluations by radiologists based on BI-RADS and by VBDM (Volpara Version 1.5.1) were compared. The agreement in interpreting breast density between radiologists and VBDM was determined based on four density grades (D1, D2, D3, and D4) and a binary classification of fatty (D1-2) vs. dense (D3-4) breast using kappa statistics. The association between technical failure of VBDM and patient age, total breast volume, fibroglandular tissue volume, history of partial mastectomy, the frequency of mass > 3 cm, and breast density was analyzed. The agreement between breast density evaluations by radiologists and VBDM was fair (k value = 0.26) when the four density grades (D1/D2/D3/D4) were used and moderate (k value = 0.47) for the binary classification (D1-2/D3-4). Twenty-seven women (2.4%) showed failure of VBDM. Small total breast volume, history of partial mastectomy, and high breast density were significantly associated with technical failure of VBDM (p 0.001 to 0.015). There is fair or moderate agreement in breast density evaluation between radiologists and VBDM. Technical failure of VBDM may be related to small total breast volume, a history of partial mastectomy, and high breast density.

  13. Tobacco outlet density and converted versus native non-daily cigarette use in a national US sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirchner, Thomas R; Anesetti-Rothermel, Andrew; Bennett, Morgane; Gao, Hong; Carlos, Heather; Scheuermann, Taneisha S; Reitzel, Lorraine R; Ahluwalia, Jasjit S

    2017-01-01

    Investigate whether non-daily smokers' (NDS) cigarette price and purchase preferences, recent cessation attempts, and current intentions to quit are associated with the density of the retail cigarette product landscape surrounding their residential address. Cross-sectional assessment of N=904 converted NDS (CNDS). who previously smoked every day, and N=297 native NDS (NNDS) who only smoked non-daily, drawn from a national panel. Kernel density estimation was used to generate a nationwide probability surface of tobacco outlets linked to participants' residential ZIP code. Hierarchically nested log-linear models were compared to evaluate associations between outlet density, non-daily use patterns, price sensitivity and quit intentions. Overall, NDS in ZIP codes with greater outlet density were less likely than NDS in ZIP codes with lower outlet density to hold 6-month quit intentions when they also reported that price affected use patterns (G 2 =66.1, ppurchase locations (G 2 =85.2, pprice influenced the amount they smoke (G 2 =43.9, pprices (G 2 =59.3, pprice affected their cigarette brand choice compared with those in ZIP codes with lower density. This paper provides initial evidence that the point-of-sale cigarette environment may be differentially associated with the maintenance of CNDS versus NNDS patterns. Future research should investigate how tobacco control efforts can be optimised to both promote cessation and curb the rising tide of non-daily smoking in the USA. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  14. On the transition to the normal phase for superconductors surrounded by normal conductors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fournais, Søren; Kachmar, Ayman

    2009-01-01

    For a cylindrical superconductor surrounded by a normal material, we discuss transition to the normal phase of stable, locally stable and critical configurations. Associated with those phase transitions, we define critical magnetic fields and we provide a sufficient condition for which those...

  15. Concept and Planning of Site Preparation for Radioactive Waste Disposal in Jawa and Surrounding Area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heru Sriwahyuni; Sastrowardoyo, Pratomo B.; Teddy Sumantri; Dewi Susilowati; Hendra Adhi Pratama; Syarmufni, A.

    2008-01-01

    Concept and planning for radioactive waste disposal in Jawa and surrounding area have been done. These activities were part of the investigation for preparation of repository location in Jawa. In this report, the summary of previous sitting activities, the waste inventory in Radioactive Waste Technology Centre, and list of important factors for sitting on radioactive waste disposal location. Several potential areas such as Karawang, Subang, Majalengka, Rembang, Tuban, Madura will be the focus for next activities. The result will be part of activities report regarding the preparation of repository location in Jawa and surrounding area, that will be used as recommendation prior to radioactive waste management policy. (author)

  16. Neurotoxin gene profiling of Clostridium botulinum types C and D gathered from different countries within Europe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Woudstra, C.; Skarin, A.; Anniballi, F.; Fenicia, F.; Bano, L.; Drigo, I.; Koene, M.G.J.; Bäyon-Auboyer, M.H.; Buffereau, J.P.; Medici, D.; Fach, P.

    2012-01-01

    Clostridium botulinum types C and D, as well as their mosaic variants C-D and D-C, are associated with avian and mammalian botulism. This study reports on the development of low-density macroarrays based on the GeneDisc cycler platform (Pall-GeneDisc Technologies) applied to the simultaneous

  17. Interference, heterogeneity and disease gene mapping

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Keats, B. [Louisiana State Univ. Medical Center, New Orleans, LA (United States)

    1996-12-31

    The Human Genome Project has had a major impact on genetic research over the past five years. The number of mapped genes is now over 3,000 compared with approximately 1,600 in 1989 and only about 260 ten years before that. The realization that extensive variation could be detected in anonymous DNA segments greatly enhanced the potential for mapping by linkage analysis. Previously, linkage studies had depended on polymorphisms that could be detected in red blood cell antigens, proteins (revealed by electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing), and cytogenetic heteromorphisms. The identification of thousands of polymorphic DNA markers throughout the human genome has led to the construction of high density genetic linkage maps. These maps provide the data necessary to test hypotheses concerning differences in recombination rates and levels of interference. They are also important for disease gene mapping because the existence of these genes must be inferred from the phenotype. Showing linkage of a disease gene to a DNA marker is the first step towards isolating the disease gene, determining its protein product, and developing effective therapies. However, interpretation of results is not always straightforward. Factors such as etiological heterogeneity and undetected irregular segregation can lead to confusing linkage results and incorrect conclusions about the locations of disease genes. This paper will discuss these phenomena and present examples that illustrate the problems, as well as approaches to dealing with them. 23 refs., 3 figs., 3 tabs.

  18. Genetic dissection of maize plant architecture with an ultra-high density bin map based on recombinant inbred lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Zhiqiang; Zhang, Chaoshu; Zhou, Yu; Hao, Zhuanfang; Wang, Zhenhua; Zeng, Xing; Di, Hong; Li, Mingshun; Zhang, Degui; Yong, Hongjun; Zhang, Shihuang; Weng, Jianfeng; Li, Xinhai

    2016-03-03

    Plant architecture attributes, such as plant height, ear height, and internode number, have played an important role in the historical increases in grain yield, lodging resistance, and biomass in maize (Zea mays L.). Analyzing the genetic basis of variation in plant architecture using high density QTL mapping will be of benefit for the breeding of maize for many traits. However, the low density of molecular markers in existing genetic maps has limited the efficiency and accuracy of QTL mapping. Genotyping by sequencing (GBS) is an improved strategy for addressing a complex genome via next-generation sequencing technology. GBS has been a powerful tool for SNP discovery and high-density genetic map construction. The creation of ultra-high density genetic maps using large populations of advanced recombinant inbred lines (RILs) is an efficient way to identify QTL for complex agronomic traits. A set of 314 RILs derived from inbreds Ye478 and Qi319 were generated and subjected to GBS. A total of 137,699,000 reads with an average of 357,376 reads per individual RIL were generated, which is equivalent to approximately 0.07-fold coverage of the maize B73 RefGen_V3 genome for each individual RIL. A high-density genetic map was constructed using 4183 bin markers (100-Kb intervals with no recombination events). The total genetic distance covered by the linkage map was 1545.65 cM and the average distance between adjacent markers was 0.37 cM with a physical distance of about 0.51 Mb. Our results demonstrated a relatively high degree of collinearity between the genetic map and the B73 reference genome. The quality and accuracy of the bin map for QTL detection was verified by the mapping of a known gene, pericarp color 1 (P1), which controls the color of the cob, with a high LOD value of 80.78 on chromosome 1. Using this high-density bin map, 35 QTL affecting plant architecture, including 14 for plant height, 14 for ear height, and seven for internode number were detected

  19. Comparison of dioxin-like PCBs in passive air and vegetation samples surrounding a metal reclamation incinerator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lucaciu, C.M.; Fayez, L.; Reiner, E.J.; Kolic, T.M.; MacPherson, K.A.; Crozier, P.W.; Emerson, R. [Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto, ON (Canada); Wania, F. [Toronto Univ., Scarborough, ON (Canada). Dept. of Physical and Environmental Sciences

    2004-09-15

    In 1998 the WHO identified 12 PCBs to be dioxin-like (DLPCB). This list includes 4 coplanar: 77, 81, 126, 169 and 8 mono-ortho: 105, 114, 118, 123, 156, 157, 167 and 189 congeners. Determination of DLPCBs allows results to be converted into TEQ (toxic equivalent quantity of 2,3,7,8-TCDD) values and enables data comparison at very low (sub ppt (pg/g)) levels. Vegetation and air samples were collected from an area surrounding a metal recovery incinerator in order to assess spatial and temporal trends for DLPCBs stemming from the long term operation of the incinerator. Foliage samples were harvested in September (1999 - 2 sets, 2000 to 2003) from maple and ash trees surrounding the incinerator at varying distances. Mature tree leaves are exposed to atmospheric deposition of PCBs for about 4 months (June to September) and the levels determined in foliage are representative of DLPCBs in the atmosphere surrounding each tree. Additionally, a passive air sampling technique based on the sorption of gaseous pollutants on XAD-2 (a styrene-divinylbenzene co-polymer) resin was used for measuring long-term average gas-phase concentrations in the area surrounding the incinerator. Ten passive samplers were placed adjacent to trees previously sampled for DLPCBs at locations presented in Figure 1. The deployment period, lasting approximately 4 month (June to September 2003), corresponds to the time that mature leaves were present on the adjacent trees. Four other air samplers were placed close to a main highway in Toronto in order to compare the concentration of DLPCB in the urban area with the concentration in the rural area surrounding the incineration facility. Passive air samplers allow the characterization of the gaseous distribution of DLPCBs in the atmosphere. The advantages of using this technique are that it is independent of the atmospheric conditions (winds, precipitation, UV exposure) and can be used for sampling year round. Atmospheric deposition is expected to control

  20. Isostatic and Decompensative Gravity Anomalies of the Arabian Plate and Surrounding Regions: a Key for the Crustal Structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaban, M. K.; El Khrepy, S.; Al-Arifi, N. S.

    2016-12-01

    The isostatic anomalies are often considered as one of the most useful correction of the gravity field for investigation of the upper crust structure in many practical applications. By applying this correction, a substantial part of the effect of deep density heterogeneity, which dominates in the Bouguer gravity anomaly, can be removed. With this approach, it is not even necessary to know the deep density structure of the crust and upper mantle in details; it is sufficient to prescribe some type of compensation (regional vs. local) and a compensation depth. However, even when all the parameters are chosen correctly, this reduction of the gravity field does not show the full gravity effect of unknown anomalies in the crust. The last ones should be also compensated to some extent; therefore their impact is substantially reduced by the isostatic compensation. Long ago (Cordell et al., 1991), it was suggested a so-called decompensative correction of the isostatic anomalies, which provides a possibility to separate these effects. However, the decompensative correction is very sensitive to the parameters of the compensation scheme. In the present study we analyse the ways to choose these parameters and extend this approach by assuming a possibility for the regional compensation via elastic deformations of the lithosphere. Based on this technique, we estimate the isostatic and decompensative anomalies for the Arabian plate and surrounding regions. The parameters of the isostatic model are chosen based on previous studies. It was demonstrated that the decompensative correction is very significant at the mid-range wavelengths and may exceed 100 mGal, therefore ignoring this effect would lead to wrong conclusions about the upper crust structure. The total amplitude of the decompensative anomalies reaches ±250 mGal, evidencing for both, large density anomalies of the upper crust (including sediments) and strong isostatic disturbances of the lithosphere. These results improve