Design and Validation of A Modular Instrument to Measure Torque and Energy Consumption in Industrial Operations

A modular torque measuring instrument capable of performing tapping torque tests (TTT) according to the ASTM D-5619 standard was designed, developed, and validated. With this new instrument, the performance of different lubricants can be evaluated in terms of frictional torque and energy consumption during tapping processes. This instrument can adapt onto any conventional milling machine or CNC machine and operate under various machining operations such as tapping, drilling, and other processes. To validate the design and performance of this new device, three commercially available lubricants were evaluated. From the three tested conditions, the results showed good repeatability, with consistent results throughout the different tests for each lubricant. The impact of such a proposed instrument ranges from academic use to industrial business use

Presencia de Aphis arbuti Ferrari y Wahlgreniella nervata (Gillete) (Hemiptera, Aphididae) en los madroños de la Comunidad de Madrid y estudio de la fumagina asociada.

Determinación de los pulgones asociados al madroño y su relación con los hongos desarrollados sobre la melaza

Hot topics, urgent priorities, and ensuring success for racial/ethnic minority young investigators in academic pediatrics.

BackgroundThe number of racial/ethnic minority children will exceed the number of white children in the USA by 2018. Although 38% of Americans are minorities, only 12% of pediatricians, 5% of medical-school faculty, and 3% of medical-school professors are minorities. Furthermore, only 5% of all R01 applications for National Institutes of Health grants are from African-American, Latino, and American Indian investigators. Prompted by the persistent lack of diversity in the pediatric and biomedical research workforces, the Academic Pediatric Association Research in Academic Pediatrics Initiative on Diversity (RAPID) was initiated in 2012. RAPID targets applicants who are members of an underrepresented minority group (URM), disabled, or from a socially, culturally, economically, or educationally disadvantaged background. The program, which consists of both a research project and career and leadership development activities, includes an annual career-development and leadership conference which is open to any resident, fellow, or junior faculty member from an URM, disabled, or disadvantaged background who is interested in a career in academic general pediatrics.MethodsAs part of the annual RAPID conference, a Hot Topic Session is held in which the young investigators spend several hours developing a list of hot topics on the most useful faculty and career-development issues. These hot topics are then posed in the form of six "burning questions" to the RAPID National Advisory Committee (comprised of accomplished, nationally recognized senior investigators who are seasoned mentors), the RAPID Director and Co-Director, and the keynote speaker.Results/conclusionsThe six compelling questions posed by the 10 young investigators-along with the responses of the senior conference leadership-provide a unique resource and "survival guide" for ensuring the academic success and optimal career development of young investigators in academic pediatrics from diverse backgrounds. A rich conversation ensued on the topics addressed, consisting of negotiating for protected research time, career trajectories as academic institutions move away from an emphasis on tenure-track positions, how "non-academic" products fit into career development, racism and discrimination in academic medicine and how to address them, coping with isolation as a minority faculty member, and how best to mentor the next generation of academic physicians

Identification of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels in sea urchin sperm

AbstractFunctional evidence indicates that voltage-dependent Ca2+ (Cav) channels participate in sea urchin sperm motility and the acrosome reaction (AR), however, their molecular identity remains unknown. We have identified transcripts for two Ca2+ channel α1 subunits in sea urchin testis similar in sequence to Cav1.2 and Cav2.3. Antibodies against rat Cav1.2 and Cav2.3 channels differentially label proteins in the flagella and acrosome of mature sea urchin sperm. The Cav channel antagonists nifedipine and nimodipine, which inhibit the AR, diminish the intracellular Ca2+ elevation induced by a K+-induced depolarization in valinomycin-treated sperm. These findings reveal that Cav1.2 and Cav2.3 channels could participate in motility and/or the AR in sea urchin sperm

Characterization of Selective Antibacterial Peptides by Polarity Index

In the recent decades, antibacterial peptides have occupied a strategic position for pharmaceutical drug applications and became subject of intense research activities since they are used to strengthen the immune system of all living organisms by protecting them from pathogenic bacteria. This work proposes a simple and easy statistical/computational method through a peptide polarity index measure by which an antibacterial peptide subgroup can be efficiently identified, that is, characterized by a high toxicity to bacterial membranes but presents a low toxicity to mammal cells. These peptides also have the feature not to adopt to an alpha-helicoidal structure in aqueous solution. The double-blind test carried out to the whole Antimicrobial Peptide Database (November 2011) showed an accuracy of 90% applying the polarity index method for the identification of such antibacterial peptide groups

Salt Marsh Zonal Migration and Ecosystem Service Change in Response to Global Sea Level Rise: A Case Study from an Urban Region

Coastal wetland plants are expected to respond to global sea level rise by migrating toward higher elevations. Housing, infrastructure, and other anthropogenic modifications are expected to limit the space available for this potential migration. Here, we explore the ecological and economic effects of projected Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007 report sea level changes at the plant community scale using the highest horizontal (1 m) and vertical (0.01 m) resolution data available, using a 6 x 6 km area as an example. Our findings show that salt marshes do not always lose land with increasing rates of sea level rise. We found that the lower bound of the IPCC 2007 potential rise (0.18 m by 2095) actually increased the total marsh area. This low rise scenario resulted in a net gain in ecosystem service values on public property, whereas market-based economic losses were predicted for private property. The upper rise scenario (0.59 m by 2095) resulted in both public and private economic losses for this same area. Our work highlights the trade-offs between public and privately held value under the various IPCC 2007 climate change scenarios. We conclude that as wetlands migrate inland into urbanized regions, their survival is likely to be dependent on the rate of return on property and housing investments

OPserver: interactive online-computations of opacities and radiative accelerations

Codes to compute mean opacities and radiative accelerations for arbitrary chemical mixtures using the Opacity Project recently revised data have been restructured in a client--server architecture and transcribed as a subroutine library. This implementation increases efficiency in stellar modelling where element stratification due to diffusion processes is depth dependent, and thus requires repeated fast opacity reestimates. Three user modes are provided to fit different computing environments, namely a web browser, a local workstation and a distributed grid.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Novel mutations in the PITX2 gene in Pakistani and Mexican families with Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome

Purpose Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome (ARS) is a rare autosomal dominant disorder that affects the anterior segment of the eye. The aim of this study was to examine the PITX2 gene to identify possible novel mutations in Pakistani and Mexican families affected by the ARS phenotype. Methods Three unrelated probands with a diagnosis of ARS were recruited for this study. Genomic DNA was isolated from the peripheral blood of the probands and their family members. Polymerase chain reaction and Sanger sequencing were used for the analysis of coding exons and the flanking intronic regions of the PITX2 gene. Bioinformatics tools and database (VarSome, Provean, and MutationTaster, SIFT, PolyPhen-2, and HOPE) were evaluated to explore missense variants. Results We identified novel heterozygous variations in the PITX2 gene that segregated with the ARS phenotype within the families. The variant NM_153426.2(PITX2):c.226G > T or p.(Ala76Ser) and the mutation NM_153426.2(PITX2):c.455G > A or p.(Cys152Tyr) were identified in two Pakistani pedigrees, and the mutation NM_153426.2(PITX2):c.242_265del or p.(Lys81_Gln88del), segregated in a Mexican family. Conclusion Our study extends the spectrum of PITX2 mutations in individuals with ARS, enabling an improved diagnosis of this rare but serious syndrome