The Quantitative Significance of the Transsulfuration Enzymes for H2S Production in Murine Tissues

The enzymes of the transsulfuration pathway, cystathionine --synthase (CBS) and cystathionine --lyase (CSE), are important for the endogenous production of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a gaseous signaling molecule. The relative contributions of CBS and CSE to H2S generation in different tissues are not known. In this study, we report quantification of CBS and CSE in murine liver and kidney and their contribution to H2S generation in these tissues and in brain at saturating substrate concentrations. We show that CBS protein levels are significantly lower than those of CSE; 60-fold and 20-fold in liver and kidney, respectively. Each enzyme is more abundant in liver compared with kidney, twofold and sixfold for CBS and CSE, respectively. At high substrate concentrations (20-mM each cysteine and homocysteine), the capacity for liver H2S production is approximately equal for CBS and CSE, whereas in kidney and brain, CBS constitutes the major source of H2S, accounting for -80% and -95%, respectively, of the total output. At physiologically relevant concentrations of substrate, and adjusting for the differences in CBS versus CSE levels, we estimate that CBS accounts for only 3% of H2S production by the transsulfuration pathway enzymes in liver. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 15, 363-372.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90506/1/ars-2E2010-2E3781.pd

Predicting replacement of smartphones with mobile app usage

© Springer International Publishing AG 2016. To identify right customers who intend to replace the smart phone can help to perform precision marketing and thus bring significant financial gains to cell phone retailers. In this paper,we provide a study of exploiting mobile app usage for predicting users who will change the phone in the future. We first analyze the characteristics of mobile log data and develop the temporal bag-of-apps model,which can transform the raw data to the app usage vectors. We then formularize the prediction problem,present the hazard based prediction model,and derive the inference procedure. Finally,we evaluate both data model and prediction model on real-world data. The experimental results show that the temporal usage data model can effectively capture the unique characteristics of mobile log data,and the hazard based prediction model is thus much more effective than traditional classification methods. Furthermore,the hazard model is explainable,that is,it can easily show how the replacement of smart phones relate to mobile app usage over time

Transcriptomic Response is More Sensitive to Water Deficit in Shoots than Roots of \u3cem\u3eVitis riparia\u3c/em\u3e (Michx.)

Background: Drought is an important constraint on grapevine sustainability. Vitis riparia, widely used in rootstock and scion breeding, has been studied in isolated leaf drying response studies; however, it is essential to identify key root and shoot water deficit signaling traits in intact plants. This information will aid improved scion and rootstock selection and management practices in grapevine. RNAseq data were generated from V. riparia roots and shoots under water deficit and well-watered conditions to determine root signaling and shoot responses to water deficit. Results: Shoot elongation, photosynthetic rate, and stomatal conductance were significantly reduced in water deficit (WD) treated than in well-watered grapevines. RNAseq analysis indicated greater transcriptional differences in shoots than in roots under WD, with 6925 and 1395 genes differentially expressed, respectively (q-value \u3c 0.05). There were 50 and 25 VitisNet pathways significantly enriched in WD relative to well-watered treatments in grapevine shoots and roots, respectively. The ABA biosynthesis genes beta-carotene hydroxylase, zeaxanthin epoxidase, and 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenases were up-regulated in WD root and WD shoot. A positive enrichment of ABA biosynthesis genes and signaling pathways in WD grapevine roots indicated enhanced root signaling to the shoot. An increased frequency of differentially expressed reactive oxygen species scavenging (ROS) genes were found in the WD shoot. Analyses of hormone signaling genes indicated a strong ABA, auxin, and ethylene network and an ABA, cytokinin, and circadian rhythm network in both WD shoot and WD root. Conclusions: This work supports previous findings in detached leaf studies suggesting ABA-responsive binding factor 2 (ABF2) is a central regulator in ABA signaling in the WD shoot. Likewise, ABF2 may have a key role in V. riparia WD shoot and WD root. A role for ABF3 was indicated only in WD root. WD shoot and WD root hormone expression analysis identified strong ABA, auxin, ethylene, cytokinin, and circadian rhythm signaling networks. These results present the first ABA, cytokinin, and circadian rhythm signaling network in roots under water deficit. These networks point to organ specific regulators that should be explored to further define the communication network from soil to shoo

An invisibility cloak using silver nanowires

In this paper, we use the parameter retrieval method together with an analytical effective medium approach to design a well-performed invisible cloak, which is based on an empirical revised version of the reduced cloak. The designed cloak can be implemented by silver nanowires with elliptical cross-sections embedded in a polymethyl methacrylate host. This cloak is numerically proved to be robust for both the inner hidden object as well as incoming detecting waves, and is much simpler thus easier to manufacture when compared with the earlier proposed one [Nat. Photon. 1, 224 (2007)].Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 2 table

Conteporarary Counter Terrorim in Pakistan and its Efficacy

The study aims to express counter-terrorism situation in Pakistan where terrorism has prevailed in last two decades. There have been more than 100,000 fatalities, the government bears 126 billion US dollars financially, 92 billion US dollars in terms of indirect losses and overall an estimated 10 million people nationally are affected by terrorism. NACTA was formed under National Action Plan to counter terrorism, it was the first step toward concrete anti-terrorism policy. This secondary data based qualitative research highlights efficacy of counter- terrorism policies. The results show the strengths and weaknesses of NACTA framework and its performance. The counter- terrorism strategies minimized security threats demonstrating considerable decrease in numbers of suicide attacks and violent activities.&nbsp

Bayesian optimization for materials design

We introduce Bayesian optimization, a technique developed for optimizing time-consuming engineering simulations and for fitting machine learning models on large datasets. Bayesian optimization guides the choice of experiments during materials design and discovery to find good material designs in as few experiments as possible. We focus on the case when materials designs are parameterized by a low-dimensional vector. Bayesian optimization is built on a statistical technique called Gaussian process regression, which allows predicting the performance of a new design based on previously tested designs. After providing a detailed introduction to Gaussian process regression, we introduce two Bayesian optimization methods: expected improvement, for design problems with noise-free evaluations; and the knowledge-gradient method, which generalizes expected improvement and may be used in design problems with noisy evaluations. Both methods are derived using a value-of-information analysis, and enjoy one-step Bayes-optimality

An experimental model to measure the ability of headphones with active noise control to reduce patient's exposure to noise in an intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: Defining the association between excessive noise in intensive care units, sleep disturbance and morbidity, including delirium, is confounded by the difficulty of implementing successful strategies to reduce patient's exposure to noise. Active noise control devices may prove to be useful adjuncts but there is currently little to quantify their ability to reduce noise in this complex environment. METHODS: Sound meters were embedded in the auditory meatus of three polystyrene model heads with no headphones (control), with headphones alone and with headphones using active noise control and placed in patient bays in a cardiac ICU. Ten days of recording sound levels at a frequency of 1 Hz were performed, and the noise levels in each group were compared using repeated measures MANOVA and subsequent pairwise testing. RESULTS: Multivariate testing demonstrated that there is a significant difference in the mean noise exposure levels between the three groups (p < 0.001). Subsequent pairwise testing between the three groups shows that the reduction in noise is greatest with headphones and active noise control. The mean reduction in noise exposure between the control and this group over 24 h is 6.8 (0.66) dB. The use of active noise control was also associated with a reduction in the exposure to high-intensity sound events over the course of the day. CONCLUSIONS: The use of active noise cancellation, as delivered by noise-cancelling headphones, is associated with a significant reduction in noise exposure in our model of noise exposure in a cardiac ICU. This is the first study to look at the potential effectiveness of active noise control in adult patients in an intensive care environment and shows that active noise control is a candidate technology to reduce noise exposure levels the patients experience during stays on intensive care

The BPS spectrum of the 4d N=2 SCFY's H1, H2, D4, E6, E7, E8

Extending results of 1112.3984, we show that all rank 1 N=2 SCFT's in the sequence H 1, H 2, D 4 E 6, E 7, E 8 have canonical finite BPS chambers containing precisely 2h(F) = 12(\ue2\u302\u2020 - 1) hypermultiplets. The BPS spectrum of the canonical BPS chambers saturates the conformal central charge c, and satisfies some intriguing numerology. \ua9 2013 SISSA, Trieste, Italy