Unitary groups over local rings

Structural properties of unitary groups over local, not necessarily commutative, rings are developed, with applications to the computation of the orders of these groups (when finite) and to the degrees of the irreducible constituents of the Weil representation of a unitary group associated to a ramified extension of finite local rings

Lower levels of damaged protein biomarkers in the plasma of overweight type 2 diabetic men following supplementation with a standardised bilberry extract

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Model for coiling and meandering instability of viscous threads

A numerical model is presented to describe both the transient and steady-state dynamics of viscous threads falling onto a plane. The steady-state coiling frequency w is calculated as a function of fall height H. In the case of weak gravity, w ~ H^{-1} and w ~ H are obtained for lower and higher fall heights respectively. When the effect of gravity is significant, the relation w ~ H^2 is observed. These results agree with the scaling laws previously predicted. The critical Reynolds number for coil-uncoil transition is discussed. When the gravity is weak, the transition occurs with hysteresis effects. If the plane moves horizontally at a constant speed, a variety of meandering oscillation modes can be observed experimentally. The present model also can describe this phenomenon. The numerically obtained state diagram for the meandering modes qualitatively agrees with the experiment.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure

Estimating The Value of Jointly Optimized Electric Power Generation and Residential Electrical Use

Automatic electric load shaping and modulation can increase the efficiency of existing thermal power plants and facilitate a transition to carbon-free generation from renewables. The ongoing electrification of buildings, industry, and transportation presents an ever-expanding set of opportunities to use the Internet of Things to introduce load elasticity and alter the traditional electricity supply-follows-demand paradigm. The problem addressed was creating a globally applicable framework to model the value of flexible residential load across a range of geographies in terms of electricity production cost and carbon dioxide emissions. This research extended models of optimal supervisory control of residential building thermal masses by investigating the complementary aspects of the model predictive control (MPC) of multiple degrees of freedom including air-conditioning, electric domestic hot water heating, and battery storage. The framework uses historical load, weather, building stock attributes, operating schedules of electrical devices, distribution feeder models, and generator constraints to quantify the value of residential load shaping for decision and policymakers. Three phases completed the research:Phase 1 adopted a data-driven perspective to analyze, synthesize, and statistically simulate diversity in residential load observed in empirical data associated with home appliances. Phase 2 quantified feeder-wide electric grid benefits resulting from the aggregation of flexible loads, with time-of-day sensitivities investigated across electrical distribution networks, seasons, and U.S. climate regions.Phase 3 estimated the system-wide impacts likely to result from jointly optimizing residential load with existing generation fleets and feasible penetrations of renewable generation in an annual case study of the large electric grid managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Results indicate a 1/3 reduction in annual generation costs and a 1/5 reduction in CO2 emissions at high renewable energy penetrations.</p

The effect of multidisciplinary rehabilitation on brain structure and cognition in Huntington\u27s disease: An exploratory study

Background: There is a wealth of evidence detailing gray matter degeneration and loss of cognitive function over time in individuals with Huntington\u27s disease (HD). Efforts to attenuate disease-related brain and cognitive changes have been unsuccessful to date. Multidisciplinary rehabilitation, comprising motor and cognitive intervention, has been shown to positively impact on functional capacity, depression, quality of life and some aspects of cognition in individuals with HD. This exploratory study aimed to evaluate, for the first time, whether multidisciplinary rehabilitation can slow further deterioration of disease-related brain changes and related cognitive deficits in individuals with manifest HD. Methods: Fifteen participants who manifest HD undertook a multidisciplinary rehabilitation intervention spanning 9 months. The intervention consisted of once-weekly supervised clinical exercise, thrice-weekly self-directed home based exercise and fortnightly occupational therapy. Participants were assessed using MR imaging and validated cognitive measures at baseline and after 9 months. Results: Participants displayed significantly increased gray matter volume in the right caudate and bilaterally in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex after 9 months of multidisciplinary rehabilitation. Volumetric increases in gray matter were accompanied by significant improvements in verbal learning and memory (Hopkins Verbal Learning-Test). A significant association was found between gray matter volume increases in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and performance on verbal learning and memory. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence that multidisciplinary rehabilitation positively impacts on gray matter changes and cognitive functions relating to verbal learning and memory in individuals with manifest HD. Larger controlled trials are required to confirm these preliminary findings

The N-terminus of hTERT contains a DNA-binding domain and is required for telomerase activity and cellular immortalization

Telomerase defers the onset of telomere damage-induced signaling and cellular senescence by adding DNA onto chromosome ends. The ability of telomerase to elongate single-stranded telomeric DNA depends on the reverse transcriptase domain of TERT, and also relies on protein:DNA contacts outside the active site. We purified the N-terminus of human TERT (hTEN) from Escherichia coli, and found that it binds DNA with a preference for telomeric sequence of a certain length and register. hTEN interacted with the C-terminus of hTERT in trans to reconstitute enzymatic activity in vitro. Mutational analysis of hTEN revealed that amino acids Y18 and Q169 were required for telomerase activity in vitro, but not for the interaction with telomere DNA or the C-terminus. These mutants did not reconstitute telomerase activity in cells, maintain telomere length, or extend cellular lifespan. In addition, we found that T116/T117/S118, while dispensable in vitro, were required for cellular immortalization. Thus, the interactions of hTEN with telomere DNA and the C-terminus of hTERT are functionally separable from the role of hTEN in telomere elongation activity in vitro and in vivo, suggesting other roles for the protein and nucleic acid interactions of hTEN within, and possibly outside, the telomerase catalytic core