Space nuclear power, propulsion, and related technologies.

Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) is one of the nation's largest research and development (R&D) facilities, with headquarters at Albuquerque, New Mexico; a laboratory at Livermore, California; and a test range near Tonopah, Nevada. Smaller testing facilities are also operated at other locations. Established in 1945, Sandia was operated by the University of California until 1949, when, at the request of President Truman, Sandia Corporation was formed as a subsidiary of Bell Lab's Western Electric Company to operate Sandia as a service to the U.S. Government without profit or fee. Sandia is currently operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by AT&T Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T. Sandia's responsibility is national security programs in defense and energy with primary emphasis on nuclear weapon research and development (R&D). However, Sandia also supports a wide variety of projects ranging from basic materials research to the design of specialized parachutes. Assets, owned by DOE and valued at more than $1.2 billion, include about 600 major buildings containing about 372,000 square meters (m2) (4 million square feet [ft2]) of floor space, located on land totalling approximately 1460 square kilometers (km2) (562 square miles [mi]). Sandia employs about 8500 people, the majority in Albuquerque, with about 1000 in Livermore. Approximately 60% of Sandia's employees are in technical and scientific positions, and the remainder are in crafts, skilled labor, and administrative positions. As a multiprogram national laboratory, Sandia has much to offer both industrial and government customers in pursuing space nuclear technologies. The purpose of this brochure is to provide the reader with a brief summary of Sandia's technical capabilities, test facilities, and example programs that relate to military and civilian objectives in space. Sandia is interested in forming partnerships with industry and government organizations, and has already formed several cooperative alliances and agreements. Because of the synergism of multiple governmental and industrial sponsors of many programs, Sandia is frequently able to provide complex technical solutions in a relatively short time, and often at lower cost to a particular customer. They have listed a few ongoing programs at Sandia related to space nuclear technology as examples of the possible synergisms that could result from forming teams and partnerships with related technologies and objectives

Local field effects on the radiative lifetimes of Ce3+^{3+} in different hosts

For emitters embedded in media of various refractive indices, different theoretical models predicted substantially different dependencies of the spontaneous emission lifetime on refractive index. It has been claimed that various measurements on $4f\to 4f$ radiative transition of Eu$^{3+}$ in hosts with variable refractive index appear to favor the real-cavity model [J. Fluoresc. 13, 201 (2003) and references therein, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 203903 (2003)]. We notice that $5d\to 4f$ radiative transition of rare-earth ions, dominated by allowed electric-dipole transitions with line strengths less perturbed by the ligands, serves as a better test of different models. We analyze the lifetimes of $5d\to 4f$ transition of Ce$^{3+}$ in hosts of refractive indices varying from 1.4 to 2.2. The results favor the macroscopic virtual-cavity model based on Lorentz local field [J. Fluoresc. 13, 201 (2003)].Comment: 9pages, 1 figures, presented on AMN-2 and to appear on Current Applied Physic

Length-dependent disassembly maintains four different flagellar lengths in Giardia.

With eight flagella of four different lengths, the parasitic protist Giardia is an ideal model to evaluate flagellar assembly and length regulation. To determine how four different flagellar lengths are maintained, we used live-cell quantitative imaging and mathematical modeling of conserved components of intraflagellar transport (IFT)-mediated assembly and kinesin-13-mediated disassembly in different flagellar pairs. Each axoneme has a long cytoplasmic region extending from the basal body, and transitions to a canonical membrane-bound flagellum at the 'flagellar pore'. We determined that each flagellar pore is the site of IFT accumulation and injection, defining a diffusion barrier functionally analogous to the transition zone. IFT-mediated assembly is length-independent, as train size, speed, and injection frequencies are similar for all flagella. We demonstrate that kinesin-13 localization to the flagellar tips is inversely correlated to flagellar length. Therefore, we propose a model where a length-dependent disassembly mechanism controls multiple flagellar lengths within the same cell

An integrated computational pipeline and database to support whole-genome sequence annotation

We describe here our experience in annotating the Drosophila melanogaster genome sequence, in the course of which we developed several new open-source software tools and a database schema to support large-scale genome annotation. We have developed these into an integrated and reusable software system for whole-genome annotation. The key contributions to overall annotation quality are the marshalling of high-quality sequences for alignments and the design of a system with an adaptable and expandable flexible architecture

Role of Regulators of G-Protein Signaling 4 in Ca2+ Signaling in Mouse Pancreatic Acinar Cells

Regulators of G-protein signaling (RGS) proteins are regulators of Ca2+ signaling that accelerate the GTPase activity of the G-protein α-subunit. RGS1, RGS2, RGS4, and RGS16 are expressed in the pancreas, and RGS2 regulates G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR)-induced Ca2+ oscillations. However, the role of RGS4 in Ca2+ signaling in pancreatic acinar cells is unknown. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of GPCR-induced Ca2+ signaling in pancreatic acinar cells derived from RGS4-/- mice. RGS4-/- acinar cells showed an enhanced stimulus intensity response to a muscarinic receptor agonist in pancreatic acinar cells. Moreover, deletion of RGS4 increased the frequency of Ca2+ oscillations. RGS4-/- cells also showed increased expression of sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase type 2. However, there were no significant alterations, such as Ca2+ signaling in treated high dose of agonist and its related amylase secretion activity, in acinar cells from RGS4-/- mice. These results indicate that RGS4 protein regulates Ca2+ signaling in mouse pancreatic acinar cells

A comparative framework: how broadly applicable is a 'rigorous' critical junctures framework?

The paper tests Hogan and Doyle's (2007, 2008) framework for examining critical junctures. This framework sought to incorporate the concept of ideational change in understanding critical junctures. Until its development, frameworks utilized in identifying critical junctures were subjective, seeking only to identify crisis, and subsequent policy changes, arguing that one invariably led to the other, as both occurred around the same time. Hogan and Doyle (2007, 2008) hypothesized ideational change as an intermediating variable in their framework, determining if, and when, a crisis leads to radical policy change. Here we test this framework on cases similar to, but different from, those employed in developing the exemplar. This will enable us determine whether the framework's relegation of ideational change to a condition of crisis holds, or, if ideational change has more importance than is ascribed to it by this framework. This will also enable us determined if the framework itself is robust, and fit for the purposes it was designed to perform — identifying the nature of policy change

Effects of nutrients, salinity, pH and light:dark cycle on the production of reactive oxygen species in the alga Chattonella marina

Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2007. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 346 (2007): 76-86, doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2007.03.007.Experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of nutrients, salinity, pH and light:dark cycle on growth rate and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by Chattonella marina, a harmful algal bloom (HAB) species that often causes fish kills. Different nitrogen forms (organic-N and inorganic-N), N:P ratios, light:dark cycles and salinity significantly influenced algal growth, but not ROS production. However, iron concentration and pH significantly affected both growth and ROS production in C. marina. KCN (an inhibitor of mitochondrial respiration) and 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (an inhibitor of photosynthesis) had no significant effects on ROS production. Vitamin K3 (a plasma membrane electron shuttle) enhanced ROS production while its antagonist, dicumarol, decreased ROS production. Taken together, our results suggest that ROS production by C. marina is related to a plasma membrane enzyme system regulated by iron availability but is independent of growth, photosynthesis, availability of macronutrients, salinity and irradiance.The work described in this paper was supported by a CERG grant from the University Grants Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China to RSSW (Project No. 9040864). Support for DMA is provided by U.S. National Science Foundation grant # OCE-0136861

Speech and language therapy for aphasia following stroke

Background  Aphasia is an acquired language impairment following brain damage that affects some or all language modalities: expression and understanding of speech, reading, and writing. Approximately one third of people who have a stroke experience aphasia.  Objectives  To assess the effects of speech and language therapy (SLT) for aphasia following stroke.  Search methods  We searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register (last searched 9 September 2015), CENTRAL (2015, Issue 5) and other Cochrane Library Databases (CDSR, DARE, HTA, to 22 September 2015), MEDLINE (1946 to September 2015), EMBASE (1980 to September 2015), CINAHL (1982 to September 2015), AMED (1985 to September 2015), LLBA (1973 to September 2015), and SpeechBITE (2008 to September 2015). We also searched major trials registers for ongoing trials including ClinicalTrials.gov (to 21 September 2015), the Stroke Trials Registry (to 21 September 2015), Current Controlled Trials (to 22 September 2015), and WHO ICTRP (to 22 September 2015). In an effort to identify further published, unpublished, and ongoing trials we also handsearched theInternational Journal of Language and Communication Disorders(1969 to 2005) and reference lists of relevant articles, and we contacted academic institutions and other researchers. There were no language restrictions.  Selection criteria  Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing SLT (a formal intervention that aims to improve language and communication abilities, activity and participation) versus no SLT; social support or stimulation (an intervention that provides social support and communication stimulation but does not include targeted therapeutic interventions); or another SLT intervention (differing in duration, intensity, frequency, intervention methodology or theoretical approach).  Data collection and analysis  We independently extracted the data and assessed the quality of included trials. We sought missing data from investigators.  Main results  We included 57 RCTs (74 randomised comparisons) involving 3002 participants in this review (some appearing in more than one comparison). Twenty-seven randomised comparisons (1620 participants) assessed SLT versus no SLT; SLT resulted in clinically and statistically significant benefits to patients' functional communication (standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.06 to 0.49, P = 0.01), reading, writing, and expressive language, but (based on smaller numbers) benefits were not evident at follow-up. Nine randomised comparisons (447 participants) assessed SLT with social support and stimulation; meta-analyses found no evidence of a difference in functional communication, but more participants withdrew from social support interventions than SLT. Thirty-eight randomised comparisons (1242 participants) assessed two approaches to SLT. Functional communication was significantly better in people with aphasia that received therapy at a high intensity, high dose, or over a long duration compared to those that received therapy at a lower intensity, lower dose, or over a shorter period of time. The benefits of a high intensity or a high dose of SLT were confounded by a significantly higher dropout rate in these intervention groups. Generally, trials randomised small numbers of participants across a range of characteristics (age, time since stroke, and severity profiles), interventions, and outcomes.  Authors' conclusions  Our review provides evidence of the effectiveness of SLT for people with aphasia following stroke in terms of improved functional communication, reading, writing, and expressive language compared with no therapy. There is some indication that therapy at high intensity, high dose or over a longer period may be beneficial. HIgh-intensity and high dose interventions may not be acceptable to all

Dynamics of collapsing and exploding Bose-Einstein condensed vortex state

Using the time-dependent mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii equation we study the dynamics of small repulsive Bose-Einstein condensed vortex states of ^{85}Rb atoms in a cylindrical trap with low angular momentum hbar L per atom (L <= 6), when the atomic interaction is suddenly turned attractive by manipulating the external magnetic field near a Feshbach resonance. Consequently, the condensate collapses and ejects atoms via explosion and a remnant condensate with a smaller number of atoms emerges that survives for a long time. Detail of this collapse and explosion is compared critically with a similar experiment performed with zero angular momentum (L=0). Suggestion for future experiment with vortex state is made.Comment: 8 REVTEX4 pages, 8 EPS figures, final version accepted in Phys. Rev. A after minor change

Lexical Retrieval Behaviors of Subjects With Aphasia and Subjects Without Brain Damage on a Rebus Riddle Task

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