1,299 research outputs found
Income Security for Workers: A Stressed Support System in Need of Innovation
The current mix of public and private programs to support workers after they experience disability onset provides benefits to millions of workers and former workers. Yet, despite the large and growing costs of these programs, the inflation-adjusted household incomes of workers with disabilities have been falling for over two decades, both absolutely and, especially, relative to the incomes of those without disabilities. The aging of the baby boom generation is likely to make matters worse, and the government’s fiscal circumstance will make it increasingly difficult to sustain existing public programs. Current public policy initiatives might eventually improve the disability support system, but they are not likely to ward off the adverse consequences of the pending crisis. Policy changes that leverage existing private sector practices and capabilities might achieve greater success, but have received little attention and are far from proven
Definition, conservation and epigenetics of housekeeping and tissue-enriched genes
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Housekeeping genes (HKG) are constitutively expressed in all tissues while tissue-enriched genes (TEG) are expressed at a much higher level in a single tissue type than in others. HKGs serve as valuable experimental controls in gene and protein expression experiments, while TEGs tend to represent distinct physiological processes and are frequently candidates for biomarkers or drug targets. The genomic features of these two groups of genes expressed in opposing patterns may shed light on the mechanisms by which cells maintain basic and tissue-specific functions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we generate gene expression profiles of 42 normal human tissues on custom high-density microarrays to systematically identify 1,522 HKGs and 975 TEGs and compile a small subset of 20 housekeeping genes which are highly expressed in all tissues with lower variance than many commonly used HKGs. Cross-species comparison shows that both the functions and expression patterns of HKGs are conserved. TEGs are enriched with respect to both segmental duplication and copy number variation, while no such enrichment is observed for HKGs, suggesting the high expression of HKGs are not due to high copy numbers. Analysis of genomic and epigenetic features of HKGs and TEGs reveals that the high expression of HKGs across different tissues is associated with decreased nucleosome occupancy at the transcription start site as indicated by enhanced DNase hypersensitivity. Additionally, we systematically and quantitatively demonstrated that the CpG islands' enrichment in HKGs transcription start sites (TSS) and their depletion in TEGs TSS. Histone methylation patterns differ significantly between HKGs and TEGs, suggesting that methylation contributes to the differential expression patterns as well.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We have compiled a set of high quality HKGs that should provide higher and more consistent expression when used as references in laboratory experiments than currently used HKGs. The comparison of genomic features between HKGs and TEGs shows that HKGs are more conserved than TEGs in terms of functions, expression pattern and polymorphisms. In addition, our results identify chromatin structure and epigenetic features of HKGs and TEGs that are likely to play an important role in regulating their strikingly different expression patterns.</p
Turbulence and Multiscaling in the Randomly Forced Navier Stokes Equation
We present an extensive pseudospectral study of the randomly forced
Navier-Stokes equation (RFNSE) stirred by a stochastic force with zero mean and
a variance , where is the wavevector and the dimension . We present the first evidence for multiscaling of velocity structure
functions in this model for . We extract the multiscaling exponent
ratios by using extended self similarity (ESS), examine their
dependence on , and show that, if , they are in agreement with those
obtained for the deterministically forced Navier-Stokes equation (NSE). We
also show that well-defined vortex filaments, which appear clearly in studies
of the NSE, are absent in the RFNSE.Comment: 4 pages (revtex), 6 figures (postscript
Finite size corrections to scaling in high Reynolds number turbulence
We study analytically and numerically the corrections to scaling in
turbulence which arise due to the finite ratio of the outer scale of
turbulence to the viscous scale , i.e., they are due to finite size
effects as anisotropic forcing or boundary conditions at large scales. We find
that the deviations \dzm from the classical Kolmogorov scaling of the velocity moments \langle |\u(\k)|^m\rangle \propto k^{-\zeta_m}
decrease like . Our numerics employ a
reduced wave vector set approximation for which the small scale structures are
not fully resolved. Within this approximation we do not find independent
anomalous scaling within the inertial subrange. If anomalous scaling in the
inertial subrange can be verified in the large limit, this supports the
suggestion that small scale structures should be responsible, originating from
viscosity either in the bulk (vortex tubes or sheets) or from the boundary
layers (plumes or swirls)
Circulation Statistics in Three-Dimensional Turbulent Flows
We study the large limit of the loop-dependent characteristic
functional , related
to the probability density function (PDF) of the circulation around a closed
contour . The analysis is carried out in the framework of the
Martin-Siggia-Rose field theory formulation of the turbulence problem, by means
of the saddle-point technique. Axisymmetric instantons, labelled by the
component of the strain field -- a partially annealed variable in
our formalism -- are obtained for a circular loop in the plane, with
radius defined in the inertial range. Fluctuations of the velocity field around
the saddle-point solutions are relevant, leading to the lorentzian asymptotic
behavior . The
subleading correction and the asymmetry between right and left PDF tails due to
parity breaking mechanisms are also investigated.Comment: Computations are discussed in a more detailed way; accepted for
publication in Physical Review
Yakhot's model of strong turbulence: A generalization of scaling models of turbulence
We report on some implications of the theory of turbulence developed by V.
Yakhot [V. Yakhot, Phys. Rev. E {\bf 57}(2) (1998)]. In particular we focus on
the expression for the scaling exponents . We show that Yakhot's
result contains three well known scaling models as special cases, namely K41,
K62 and the theory by V. L'vov and I. Procaccia [V. L'vov & I. Procaccia, Phys.
Rev. E {\bf 62}(6) (2000)]. The model furthermore yields a theoretical
justification for the method of extended self--similarity (ESS).Comment: 8 page
Lymph node removal enhances corneal graft survival in mice at high risk of rejection
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Precise Measurement of Gravity Variations During a Total Solar Eclipse
The variations of gravity were measured with a high precision LaCoste-Romberg
D gravimeter during a total solar eclipse to investigate the effect of solar
eclipse on the gravitational field. The observed anomaly m/s during the eclipse implies that there may be a shielding
property of gravitation
Reversible viscosity and Navier--Stokes fluids
Exploring the possibility of describing a fluid flow via a time-reversible
equation and its relevance for the fluctuations statistics in stationary
turbulent (or laminar) incompressible Navier-Stokes flows.Comment: 7 pages 6 figures, v2: replaced Fig.6 and few changes. Last version:
appendix cut shorter, because of a computational erro
Inertial- and Dissipation-Range Asymptotics in Fluid Turbulence
We propose and verify a wave-vector-space version of generalized extended
self similarity and broaden its applicability to uncover intriguing, universal
scaling in the far dissipation range by computing high-order (\leq 20\/)
structure functions numerically for: (1) the three-dimensional, incompressible
Navier Stokes equation (with and without hyperviscosity); and (2) the GOY shell
model for turbulence. Also, in case (2), with Taylor-microscale Reynolds
numbers 4 \times 10^{4} \leq Re_{\lambda} \leq 3 \times 10^{6}\/, we find
that the inertial-range exponents (\zeta_{p}\/) of the order - p\/
structure functions do not approach their Kolmogorov value p/3\/ as
Re_{\lambda}\/ increases.Comment: RevTeX file, with six postscript figures. epsf.tex macro is used for
figure insertion. Packaged using the 'uufiles' utilit
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