3,571 research outputs found
Caution, Drivers! Children Present: Traffic, Pollution, and Infant Health
Since the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA), atmospheric concentration of local pollutants has fallen drastically. A natural question is whether further reductions will yield additional health benefits. We further this research by addressing two related research questions: (1) what is the impact of automobile driving (and especially congestion) on ambient air pollution levels, and (2) what is the impact of modern air pollution levels on infant health? Our setting is California (with a focus on the Central Valley and Southern California) in the years 2002-2007. Using an instrumental variables approach that exploits the relationship between traffic, ambient weather conditions, and various pollutants, our findings suggest that ambient pollution levels, specifically particulate matter, still have large impacts on weekly infant mortality rates. Our results also illustrate the importance of weather controls in measuring pollution’s impact on infant mortality.University of California Energy Institute and UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies. UC Davis Institute of Governmental Affairs, the UC Davis Institute of
Transportation Studies, and the TSR&TP through the Atmospheric Aerosols and Health (AAH) Lead Campus
program
On the spin-statistics connection in curved spacetimes
The connection between spin and statistics is examined in the context of
locally covariant quantum field theory. A generalization is proposed in which
locally covariant theories are defined as functors from a category of framed
spacetimes to a category of -algebras. This allows for a more operational
description of theories with spin, and for the derivation of a more general
version of the spin-statistics connection in curved spacetimes than previously
available. The proof involves a "rigidity argument" that is also applied in the
standard setting of locally covariant quantum field theory to show how
properties such as Einstein causality can be transferred from Minkowski
spacetime to general curved spacetimes.Comment: 17pp. Contribution to the proceedings of the conference "Quantum
Mathematical Physics" (Regensburg, October 2014
Excitonic effects on coherent phonon dynamics in single wall carbon nanotubes
We discuss how excitons can affect the generation of coherent radial
breathing modes in ultrafast spectroscopy of single wall carbon nanotubes.
Photoexcited excitons can be localized spatially and give rise to a spatially
distributed driving force in real space which involves many phonon wavevectors
of the exciton-phonon interaction. The equation of motion for the coherent
phonons is modeled phenomenologically by the Klein-Gordon equation, which we
solve for the oscillation amplitudes as a function of space and time. By
averaging the calculated amplitudes per nanotube length, we obtain
time-dependent coherent phonon amplitudes that resemble the homogeneous
oscillations that are observed in some pump-probe experiments. We interpret
this result to mean that the experiments are only able to see a spatial average
of coherent phonon oscillations over the wavelength of light in carbon
nanotubes and the microscopic details are averaged out. Our interpretation is
justified by calculating the time-dependent absorption spectra resulting from
the macroscopic atomic displacements induced by the coherent phonon
oscillations. The calculated coherent phonon spectra including excitonic
effects show the experimentally observed symmetric peaks at the nanotube
transition energies in contrast to the asymmetric peaks that would be obtained
if excitonic effects were not included.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. B on 7 May 2013, revised on 17 July and 13
August 2013, published 30 August 201
Caution, Drivers! Children Present: Traffic, Pollution, and Infant Health
Since the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA), atmospheric concentration of local pollutants has fallen drastically. A natural question is whether further reductions will yield additional health benefits. We further this research by addressing two related research questions: (1) what is the impact of automobile driving (and especially congestion) on ambient air pollution levels, and (2) what is the impact of modern air pollution levels on infant health? Our setting is California (with a focus on the Central Valley and Southern California) in the years 2002-2007. Using an instrumental variables approach that exploits the relationship between traffic, ambient weather conditions, and various pollutants, our findings suggest that ambient pollution levels, specifically particulate matter, still have large impacts on weekly infant mortality rates. Our results also illustrate the importance of weather controls in measuring pollution’s impact on infant mortality.
Elevated O-GlcNAc levels activate epigenetically repressed genes and delay mouse ES cell differentiation without affecting naive to primed cell transition
The differentiation of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells is controlled by the interaction of multiple signaling pathways, typically mediated by post-translational protein modifications. The addition of O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) to serine and threonine residues of nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins is one such modification (O-GlcNAcylation), whose function in ES cells is only now beginning to be elucidated. Here we demonstrate that the specific inhibition of O-GlcNAc hydrolase (Oga) causes increased levels of protein O-GlcNAcylation and impairs differentiation of mouse ES cells both in serum-free monolayer and in embryoid bodies (EBs). Use of reporter cell lines demonstrates that Oga inhibition leads to a reduction in the number of Sox1-expressing neural progenitors generated following induction of neural differentiation, as well as maintained expression of the ES cell marker Oct4 (Pou5f1). In EBs expression of mesodermal and endodermal markers is also delayed. However, the transition of naïve cells to primed pluripotency indicated by Rex1 (Zfp42), Nanog, Esrrb and Dppa3 downregulation and Fgf5 upregulation remains unchanged. Finally, we demonstrate that increased O-GlcNAcylation results in upregulation of genes normally epigenetically silenced in ES cells, supporting the emerging role for this protein modification in the regulation of histone modifications and DNA methylation. Stem Cells 2014
Kinematic classifications of local interacting galaxies: implications for the merger/disk classifications at high-z
The classification of galaxy mergers and isolated disks is key for
understanding the relative importance of galaxy interactions and secular
evolution during the assembly of galaxies. The kinematic properties of galaxies
as traced by emission lines have been used to suggest the existence of a
significant population of high-z star-forming galaxies consistent with isolated
rotating disks. However, recent studies have cautioned that post-coalescence
mergers may also display disk-like kinematics. To further investigate the
robustness of merger/disk classifications based on kinematic properties, we
carry out a systematic classification of 24 local (U)LIRGs spanning a range of
galaxy morphologies: from isolated spiral galaxies, ongoing interacting
systems, to fully merged remnants. We artificially redshift the WiFeS
observations of these local (U)LIRGs to z=1.5 to make a realistic comparison
with observations at high-z, and also to ensure that all galaxies have the same
spatial sampling of ~900 pc. Using both kinemetry-based and visual
classifications, we find that the reliability of kinematic classification shows
a strong trend with the interaction stage of galaxies. Mergers with two nuclei
and tidal tails have the most distinct kinematic properties compared to
isolated disks, whereas a significant population of the interacting disks and
merger remnants are indistinguishable from isolated disks. The high fraction of
late-stage mergers showing disk-like kinematics reflects the complexity of the
dynamics during galaxy interactions. However, the exact fractions of
misidentified disks and mergers depend on the definition of kinematic
asymmetries and the classification threshold when using kinemetry-based
classifications. Our results suggest that additional indicators such as
morphologies traced by stars or molecular gas are required to further constrain
the merger/disk classifications at high-z.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, ApJ accepte
Visualisation of Bluetongue Virus in the Salivary Apparatus of Culicoides Biting Midges Highlights the Accessory Glands as a Primary Arboviral Infection Site.
BACKGROUND
Arthropods transmit a wide range of pathogens of importance for the global health of humans, animals, and plants. One group of these arthropod vectors, Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), is the biological vector of several human and animal pathogens, including economically important livestock viruses like bluetongue virus (BTV). Like other arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), Culicoides-borne viruses must reach and replicate in the salivary apparatus, from where they can be transmitted to susceptible hosts through the saliva during subsequent blood feeding. Despite the importance of the salivary gland apparatus for pathogen transmission to susceptible animals from the bite of infected Culicoides, these structures have received relatively little attention, perhaps due to the small size and fragility of these vectors.
RESULTS
In this study, we developed techniques to visualize the infection of the salivary glands and other soft tissues with BTV, in some of the smallest known arbovirus vectors, Culicoides biting midges, using three-dimensional immunofluorescence confocal microscopy. We showed BTV infection of specific structures of the salivary gland apparatus of female Culicoides vectors following oral virus uptake, related visualisation of viral infection in the salivary apparatus to high viral RNA copies in the body, and demonstrated for the first time, that the accessory glands are a primary site for BTV replication within the salivary apparatus.
CONCLUSIONS
Our work has revealed a novel site of virus-vector interactions, and a novel role of the accessory glands of Culicoides in arbovirus amplification and transmission. Our approach would also be applicable to a wide range of arbovirus vector groups including sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae), as well as provide a powerful tool to investigate arbovirus infection and dissemination, particularly where there are practical challenges in the visualization of small size and delicate tissues of arthropods
On the spin-statistics connection in curved spacetimes
The connection between spin and statistics is examined in the context of locally covariant quantum field theory. A generalization is proposed in which locally covariant theories are defined as functors from a category of framed spacetimes to a category of ∗-algebras. This allows for a more operational description of theories with spin, and for the derivation of a more general version of the spin-statistics connection in curved spacetimes than previously available. The proof involves a "rigidity argument" that is also applied in the standard setting of locally covariant quantum field theory to show how properties such as Einstein causality can be transferred from Minkowski spacetime to general curved spacetimes
Marine nutrient subsidies promote biogeochemical hotspots in undisturbed, highly humic estuaries
The land-ocean dissolved organic carbon (DOC) flux represents a significant term within the global carbon budget, with peatland-dominated regions representing the most intense sources of terrestrial DOC export. As the interface between freshwater and marine systems, estuaries have the potential to act as a filter of the land-ocean carbon flux, removing terrestrially derived DOC, which is present at low concentrations in the oceans, via a combination of physicochemical and biological processes. However, the fate of peat-derived DOC within estuaries remains poorly quantified, partly due to the complicating influences of heterogeneous soils, land-use, point sources, and upstream modification of organic matter. To minimize these modifying factors, we studied DOC and inorganic nutrients in four small, peat-dominated, minimally disturbed, and oligotrophic Falkland Island estuaries. Contrary to expectations, we found limited evidence of physicochemical estuarine DOC removal, and instead observed apparent "hot zones" of biogeochemical activity, where terrestrially-derived silicate mixed with inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus entering the estuaries from the nutrient-rich marine ecosystem. In two estuaries, this coincided with apparent in situ DOC production. We suggest that the observed phenomena of marine nutrient subsidy of estuarine productivity, and flexible utilization of multiple nutrients within the oligotrophic system, may once have been widespread in temperate estuaries. However, this function has been lost in many ecosystems due to catchment eutrophication by agricultural and urban development. We conclude that the estuaries of the Falkland Islands provide a valuable pre-disturbance analogue for natural biogeochemical functioning in temperate estuaries receiving high organic matter inputs
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A Physiological Trait-Based Approach To Predicting The Responses Of Species To Experimental Climatic Warming
Physiological tolerance of environmental conditions can influence species-level responses to climatic change. Here, we used species-specific thermal tolerances to predict the community responses of ant species to experimental forest-floor warming at the northern and southern boundaries of temperate hardwood forests in eastern North America. We then compared the predictive ability of thermal tolerance versus correlative species distribution models (SDMs) which are popular forecasting tools for modeling the effects of climatic change. Thermal tolerances predicted the responses of 19 ant species to experimental climatic warming at the southern site, where environmental conditions are relatively close to the ants' upper thermal limits. In contrast, thermal tolerances did not predict the responses of the 6 species in the northern site, where environmental conditions are relatively far from the ants' upper thermal limits. Correlative SDMs were not predictive at either site. Our results suggest that, in environments close to a species' physiological limits, physiological trait-based measurements can successfully forecast the responses of species to future conditions. Although correlative SDMs may predict large-scale responses, such models may not be accurate for predicting site-level responses.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog
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