Predicting the solar maximum with the rising rate

The growth rate of solar activity in the early phase of a solar cycle has been known to be well correlated with the subsequent amplitude (solar maximum). It provides very useful information for a new solar cycle as its variation reflects the temporal evolution of the dynamic process of solar magnetic activities from the initial phase to the peak phase of the cycle. The correlation coefficient between the solar maximum (Rmax) and the rising rate ({\beta}a) at {\Delta}m months after the solar minimum (Rmin) is studied and shown to increase as the cycle progresses with an inflection point (r = 0.83) at about {\Delta}m = 20 months. The prediction error of Rmax based on {\beta}a is found within estimation at the 90% level of confidence and the relative prediction error will be less than 20% when {\Delta}m \geq 20. From the above relationship, the current cycle (24) is preliminarily predicted to peak around October 2013 with a size of Rmax =84 \pm 33 at the 90% level of confidence.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in SCIENCE CHINA Physics,Mechanics & Astronom

The Solar Cycle: A new prediction technique based on logarithmic values

A new prediction technique based on logarithmic values is proposed to predict the maximum amplitude (Rm) of a solar cycle from the preceding minimum aa geomagnetic index (aamin). The correlation between lnRm and lnaamin (r = 0.92) is slightly stronger than that between Rm and aamin (r = 0.90). From this method, cycle 24 is predicted to have a peak size of Rm (24) = 81.7(1\pm13.2%). If the suggested error in aa (3 nT) before 1957 is corrected, the correlation coefficient between Rm and aamin (r = 0.94) will be slightly higher, and the peak of cycle 24 is predicted much lower, Rm(24) = 52.5\pm13.1. Therefore, the prediction of Rm based on the relationship between Rm and aamin depends greatly on the accurate measurement of aa.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

Review of nanomaterials in dentistry: interactions with the oral microenvironment, clinical applications, hazards, and benefits.

Interest in the use of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) as either nanomedicines or dental materials/devices in clinical dentistry is growing. This review aims to detail the ultrafine structure, chemical composition, and reactivity of dental tissues in the context of interactions with ENMs, including the saliva, pellicle layer, and oral biofilm; then describes the applications of ENMs in dentistry in context with beneficial clinical outcomes versus potential risks. The flow rate and quality of saliva are likely to influence the behavior of ENMs in the oral cavity, but how the protein corona formed on the ENMs will alter bioavailability, or interact with the structure and proteins of the pellicle layer, as well as microbes in the biofilm, remains unclear. The tooth enamel is a dense crystalline structure that is likely to act as a barrier to ENM penetration, but underlying dentinal tubules are not. Consequently, ENMs may be used to strengthen dentine or regenerate pulp tissue. ENMs have dental applications as antibacterials for infection control, as nanofillers to improve the mechanical and bioactive properties of restoration materials, and as novel coatings on dental implants. Dentifrices and some related personal care products are already available for oral health applications. Overall, the clinical benefits generally outweigh the hazards of using ENMs in the oral cavity, and the latter should not prevent the responsible innovation of nanotechnology in dentistry. However, the clinical safety regulations for dental materials have not been specifically updated for ENMs, and some guidance on occupational health for practitioners is also needed. Knowledge gaps for future research include the formation of protein corona in the oral cavity, ENM diffusion through clinically relevant biofilms, and mechanistic investigations on how ENMs strengthen the tooth structure

The Protein Kinase Tor1 Regulates Adhesin Gene Expression in Candida albicans

Eukaryotic cell growth is coordinated in response to nutrient availability, growth factors, and environmental stimuli, enabling cell–cell interactions that promote survival. The rapamycin-sensitive Tor1 protein kinase, which is conserved from yeasts to humans, participates in a signaling pathway central to cellular nutrient responses. To gain insight into Tor-mediated processes in human fungal pathogens, we have characterized Tor signaling in Candida albicans. Global transcriptional profiling revealed evolutionarily conserved roles for Tor1 in regulating the expression of genes involved in nitrogen starvation responses and ribosome biogenesis. Interestingly, we found that in C. albicans Tor1 plays a novel role in regulating the expression of several cell wall and hyphal specific genes, including adhesins and their transcriptional repressors Nrg1 and Tup1. In accord with this transcriptional profile, rapamycin induced extensive cellular aggregation in an adhesin-dependent fashion. Moreover, adhesin gene induction and cellular aggregation of rapamycin-treated cells were strongly dependent on the transactivators Bcr1 and Efg1. These findings support models in which Tor1 negatively controls cellular adhesion by governing the activities of Bcr1 and Efg1. Taken together, these results provide evidence that Tor1-mediated cellular adhesion might be broadly conserved among eukaryotic organisms

The BLLAST field experiment: Boundary-Layer late afternoon and sunset turbulence

Due to the major role of the sun in heating the earth's surface, the atmospheric planetary boundary layer over land is inherently marked by a diurnal cycle. The afternoon transition, the period of the day that connects the daytime dry convective boundary layer to the night-time stable boundary layer, still has a number of unanswered scientific questions. This phase of the diurnal cycle is challenging from both modelling and observational perspectives: it is transitory, most of the forcings are small or null and the turbulence regime changes from fully convective, close to homogeneous and isotropic, toward a more heterogeneous and intermittent state. These issues motivated the BLLAST (Boundary-Layer Late Afternoon and Sunset Turbulence) field campaign that was conducted from 14 June to 8 July 2011 in southern France, in an area of complex and heterogeneous terrain. A wide range of instrumented platforms including full-size aircraft, remotely piloted aircraft systems, remote-sensing instruments, radiosoundings, tethered balloons, surface flux stations and various meteorological towers were deployed over different surface types. The boundary layer, from the earth's surface to the free troposphere, was probed during the entire day, with a focus and intense observation periods that were conducted from midday until sunset. The BLLAST field campaign also provided an opportunity to test innovative measurement systems, such as new miniaturized sensors, and a new technique for frequent radiosoundings of the low troposphere. Twelve fair weather days displaying various meteorological conditions were extensively documented during the field experiment. The boundary-layer growth varied from one day to another depending on many contributions including stability, advection, subsidence, the state of the previous day's residual layer, as well as local, meso- or synoptic scale conditions. Ground-based measurements combined with tethered-balloon and airborne observations captured the turbulence decay from the surface throughout the whole boundary layer and documented the evolution of the turbulence characteristic length scales during the transition period. Closely integrated with the field experiment, numerical studies are now underway with a complete hierarchy of models to support the data interpretation and improve the model representations.publishedVersio

Characterization of an Nmr Homolog That Modulates GATA Factor-Mediated Nitrogen Metabolite Repression in Cryptococcus neoformans

Nitrogen source utilization plays a critical role in fungal development, secondary metabolite production and pathogenesis. In both the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, GATA transcription factors globally activate the expression of catabolic enzyme-encoding genes required to degrade complex nitrogenous compounds. However, in the presence of preferred nitrogen sources such as ammonium, GATA factor activity is inhibited in some species through interaction with co-repressor Nmr proteins. This regulatory phenomenon, nitrogen metabolite repression, enables preferential utilization of readily assimilated nitrogen sources. In the basidiomycete pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, the GATA factor Gat1/Are1 has been co-opted into regulating multiple key virulence traits in addition to nitrogen catabolism. Here, we further characterize Gat1/Are1 function and investigate the regulatory role of the predicted Nmr homolog Tar1. While GAT1/ARE1 expression is induced during nitrogen limitation, TAR1 transcription is unaffected by nitrogen availability. Deletion of TAR1 leads to inappropriate derepression of non-preferred nitrogen catabolic pathways in the simultaneous presence of favoured sources. In addition to exhibiting its evolutionary conserved role of inhibiting GATA factor activity under repressing conditions, Tar1 also positively regulates GAT1/ARE1 transcription under non-repressing conditions. The molecular mechanism by which Tar1 modulates nitrogen metabolite repression, however, remains open to speculation. Interaction between Tar1 and Gat1/Are1 was undetectable in a yeast two-hybrid assay, consistent with Tar1 and Gat1/Are1 each lacking the conserved C-terminus regions present in ascomycete Nmr proteins and GATA factors that are known to interact with each other. Importantly, both Tar1 and Gat1/Are1 are suppressors of C. neoformans virulence, reiterating and highlighting the paradigm of nitrogen regulation of pathogenesis

Application of Bradford’s Law on journal citations: A study of Ph.D. theses in social sciences of University of Delhi

The study covers 260 Ph.D. theses submitted during 1995-2008 that have a total of 9,997 references scattered in 934 journals. The study found that the journal Economic & Political Weekly is the most cited journal with 22.8% citations, followed by The Punjab Past and Present with 1.80% citations. Bradford’s law of scattering fits to the present study

The GABA–working memory relationship in Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a highly debilitating neurodegenerative disease with no cure to date. Emerging evidence indicates aberrations of the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA in the frontal, parietal and temporal cortices, and hippocampal regions of the AD brains. GABA levels have been reported to predict working memory (WM) load capacity in the healthy young population. Since working memory is impaired in AD, it opens an active area of research to investigate the influence of GABA on WM performance in AD. Advancements in neuroimaging techniques and signal processing tools can aid in neurochemical profiling of GABA in AD as well as facilitate in probing the role of GABA in AD-specific impairments of working memory