User's manual for the model interface and plugboard cabinets in the 14- by 22-foot subsonic tunnel

The primary method of connection between the wind tunnel model instrumentation and the data acquisition system in the 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel is through the Model Interface (MIF) and Plugboard cabinets. The MIF and Plugboard cabinets allow versatility in the connection of the instrumentation to the different data systems in the facility. The User's Manual describes the components inside the MIF cabinet, the input and output of the MIF, and the MIF patchboard, and the Plugboard cabinets. There are examples of standard connections for most of the instrumentation used in the facility

Estimating willingness to pay for maternal health services: The Kenya reproductive health voucher programme

As part of a broad evaluation of a reproductive health voucher programme aimed at determining its effect on health outcomes, a willingness to pay (WTP) study was conducted. The purpose of the study was to estimate WTP values for a broad range of reproductive health (RH) services namely: antenatal care (ANC), delivery, postnatal care (PNC) and family planning (FP) services. The study also sought to investigate the effect of the voucher programme on respondents’ stated WTP values for the RH services. Women utilizing RH services at both voucher and non-voucher facilities were asked about their WTP for the RH services and WTP values were elicited using a stated preferences method. The study found that women were willing to pay a positive price to access RH services. Results also point to a differential learning effect or experience of the voucher on WTP for ANC, PNC, FP and delivery services. Further analysis also highlights endowment and reference effects with the voucher cost impacting on stated WTP amounts. The findings point to the potential for designing a sliding scale payment mechanism with effective targeting of subsidies such as vouchers to the neediest segments of the population. This will allow potential service users to pay for services within their willingness and ability to pay while also freeing resources to cater for the neediest segments of the population.The reproductive health voucher programme is implemented by the Government of Kenya with major funding from the German Development Bank (KfW). The evaluation project was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by the Population Council in collaboration with the National Council for Population and Development (NCPD), the Ministry of Health and PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Mechanisms that regulate androgen receptor transcriptional activity

Testosterone (T) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) are natural ligands for the androgen receptor (AR), an intracellular transcription factor and nuclear receptor. DHT is a more potent androgen than T in vivo. In this study, the mechanistic basis for the differential effects of T and DHT on AR activity was investigated. Dissociation kinetics, motif binding affinity and activation function 2 (AF2) transactivation measurements reveal that the slow dissociation of DHT relative to T from AR results from weaker T-induced AR FXXLF motif binding to the AF2 site. T acquires DHT-like activity when the AR ligand binding domain (LBD) contains the H874Y somatic prostate cancer mutation that results in the formation of direct hydrogen bonds between external and core helices 4 and 5, improving AF2 motif binding. The studies reveal that DHT better stabilizes the AR LBD core from the ligand binding pocket to the AF2 surface for maximal AR transactivation. To further define the mechanisms whereby the AR specific coregulator melanoma antigen gene protein-A11 (MAGE-11) modulates AR activity, we pursued observations that MAGE-11 increases AR transcriptional activity independent of AF2. We sought to characterize the effects of MAGE-11 and the coactivators transcription intermediary factor 2 (TIF2) and p300 on AR transcriptional activity. The site of interaction in MAGE-11 that binds the AR FXXLF motif is an F-box within the MAGE homology domain. MAGE-11 Ser-174 is phosphorylated by MAP kinase which influences the interaction of the MAGE-11 F-box with AR. MAGE-11 forms a complex with TIF2 and p300 to modulate AR transactivation independent of AF2. This research provides evidence for a novel function for an F-box protein in which F-box/FXXLF like motif interactions modulate AR transcriptional activity in the absence and presence of ligand

Androgen receptor regulation by histone methyltransferase Suppressor of variegation 3-9 homolog 2 and Melanoma antigen-A11

Androgen receptor (AR) transcriptional activity depends on interactions between the AR NH2-terminal region and transcriptional coregulators. A yeast two-hybrid screen of a human testis library using predicted α-helical NH2-terminal fragment AR-(370–420) as bait identified suppressor of variegation 3–9 homolog 2 (SUV39H2) histone methyltransferase as an AR interacting protein. SUV39H2 interaction with AR and the AR coregulator, melanoma antigen-A11 (MAGE-A11), was verified in two-hybrid, in vitro glutathione S-transferase affinity matrix and coimmunoprecipitation assays. Fluorescent immunocytochemistry colocalized SUV39H2 and AR in the cytoplasm without androgen, in the nucleus with androgen, and with MAGE-A11 in the nucleus independent of androgen. Chromatin immunoprecipitation using antibodies raised against SUV39H2 demonstrated androgen-dependent recruitment of AR and SUV39H2 to the androgen-responsive upstream enhancer of the prostate-specific antigen gene. SUV39H2 functioned cooperatively with MAGE-A11 to increase androgen-dependent AR transcriptional activity. SUV39H2 histone methyltransferase is an AR coactivator that increases androgen-dependent transcriptional activity through interactions with AR and MAGE-A11

THE GLUON DISTRIBUTION AT SMALL x OBTAINED FROM A UNIFIED EVOLUTION EQUATION.

We solve a unified integral equation to obtain the $x, Q_T$ and $Q$ dependence of the gluon distribution of a proton in the small $x$ regime; where $x$ and $Q_T$ are the longitudinal momentum fraction and the transverse momentum of the gluon probed at a scale $Q$. The equation generates a gluon with a steep $x^{- \lambda}$ behaviour, with $\lambda \sim 0.5$, and a $Q_T$ distribution which broadens as $x$ decreases. We compare our solutions with, on the one hand, those that we obtain using the double-leading-logarithm approximation to Altarelli-Parisi evolution and, on the other hand, to those that we determine from the BFKL equation.Comment: LaTeX file with 10 postscript figures (uuencoded

BFKL versus HERA

The BFKL equation and the kT-factorization theorem are used to obtain predictions for F2 in the small Bjorken-x region over a wide range of Q**2. The dependence on the parameters, especially on those concerning the infrared region, is discussed. After a background fit to recent experimental data obtained at HERA and at Fermilab (E665 experiment), we find that the predicted, almost Q**2 independent BFKL slope lambda >= 0.5 appears to be too steep at lower Q**2 values. Thus there seems to be a chance that future HERA data can distinguish between pure BFKL and conventional field theoretic renormalization group approaches.Comment: 26 pages, 6 eps figures, LaTeX2e using epsfig.sty and amssymb.st

Plasma ATP concentration and venous oxygen content in the forearm during dynamic handgrip exercise

Background It has been proposed that adenosine triphosphate (ATP) released from red blood cells (RBCs) may contribute to the tight coupling between blood flow and oxygen demand in contracting skeletal muscle. To determine whether ATP may contribute to the vasodilatory response to exercise in the forearm, we measured arterialised and venous plasma ATP concentration and venous oxygen content in 10 healthy young males at rest, and at 30 and 180 seconds during dynamic handgrip exercise at 45% of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). Results Venous plasma ATP concentration was elevated above rest after 30 seconds of exercise (P < 0.05), and remained at this higher level 180 seconds into exercise (P < 0.05 versus rest). The increase in ATP was mirrored by a decrease in venous oxygen content. While there was no significant relationship between ATP concentration and venous oxygen content at 30 seconds of exercise, they were moderately and inversely correlated at 180 seconds of exercise (r = -0.651, P = 0.021). Arterial ATP concentration remained unchanged throughout exercise, resulting in an increase in the venous-arterial ATP difference. Conclusions Collectively these results indicate that ATP in the plasma originated from the muscle microcirculation, and are consistent with the notion that deoxygenation of the blood perfusing the muscle acts as a stimulus for ATP release. That ATP concentration was elevated just 30 seconds after the onset of exercise also suggests that ATP may be a contributing factor to the blood flow response in the transition from rest to steady state exercise

Temperature drives pre-reproductive selection and shapes the biogeography of a female polymorphism

Acknowledgements We are grateful to the many field assistants, PhD students and postdocs who have participated in the field work and thereby directly and indirectly contributed to this study over many years, since 2000 when it was started. We also wish to thank David and Rosalyn Sparrow who kindly hosted B. Willink during a field trip to Cyprus in 2017 and who provided valuable field work help and guidance, enabling us to gather information about morph frequencies of I. elegans at one of the southernmost localities of this species in Europe. Funding information Funding for this study has been provided by research grants from The Swedish Research Council (VR: grant no. 2016‐03356), Carl Tryggers Foundation (CTS), Gyllenstiernska Krapperupstiftelsen (grant no. KR2018‐0038), Stina Werners Foundation and Erik Philip Sörensens Stiftelse to E.I.S.Peer reviewedPostprin