Parton Propagation and Fragmentation in QCD Matter

We review recent progress in the study of parton propagation, interaction and fragmentation in both cold and hot strongly interacting matter. Experimental highlights on high-energy hadron production in deep inelastic lepton-nucleus scattering, proton-nucleus and heavy-ion collisions, as well as Drell-Yan processes in hadron-nucleus collisions are presented. The existing theoretical frameworks for describing the in-medium interaction of energetic partons and the space-time evolution of their fragmentation into hadrons are discussed and confronted to experimental data. We conclude with a list of theoretical and experimental open issues, and a brief description of future relevant experiments and facilities.Comment: Invited review paper for "Rivista del Nuovo Cimento". 112 pages, 67 figures, 13 table

Production Profitability of Ethanol from Alternative Feedstocks in the Texas Panhandle

The potential of three feedstocks: grain sorghum, sweet sorghum, and switchgrass for ethanol production in the top 26 counties of the Texas Panhandle Region is analyzed using yield and production costs of feedstock, processing cost of feedstock, final demand for ethanol, farm to wholesale marketing margin, and the derived demand price of feedstock. The calculated economic returns per acre of grain sorghum, sweet sorghum, and switchgrass are -$45.37, -$410.19, and -$150.17 respectively under irrigated condition and -$38.25, -$145.09, and -$29.04 respectively under dryland condition. The evaluation in this study demonstrates that ethanol production from grain sorghum, sweet sorghum, and switchgrass in the Texas Panhandle Region is not economically feasible given the current price for ethanol in Texas. This is consistent with the status of the ethanol industry in the Texas Panhandle.Ethanol production, Texas Panhandle, Grain sorghum, Sweet sorghum, and Switchgrass, Feedstock, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q16, Q25, Q27, and Q42,

Reduced Lean Mass in Early Alzheimer Disease and Its Association With Brain Atrophy

This is the published version. Copyright American Medical AssociationObjective: To examine body composition in individuals with early AD and without dementia and its relation to cognition and brain volume. Design: Cross-sectional case-control study. Participants: Individuals without dementia (Clinical Dementia Rating, 0; n=70) and with early-stage AD (Clinical Dementia Rating, 0.5 or 1; n=70) in the Alzheimer and Memory Program at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Main Outcome Measures: Participants were evaluated with brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), neuropsychological testing, and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry to determine whole-body fat and lean masses. Body mass index was calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. Results: Lean mass was reduced in persons with early AD compared with controls without dementia (F=7.73; P=.006) after controlling for sex. Whole-brain volume (=.20; P.001), white matter volume (=.19; P.001), and global cognitive performance (=.12; P=.007) were associated with lean mass (dependent variable) when controlling for age and sex. The total body fat and percentage of body fat values were not different across groups or related to cognition and brain volume. Conclusion: Loss of lean mass is accelerated in AD and is associated with brain atrophy and cognitive performance, perhaps as a direct or indirect consequence of AD pathophysiology or through shared mechanisms common to both AD and sarcopenia

Architecture for Cognitive Networking within NASAs Future Space Communications Infrastructure

Future space mission concepts and designs pose many networking challenges for command, telemetry, and science data applications with diverse end-to-end data delivery needs. For future end-to-end architecture designs, a key challenge is meeting expected application quality of service requirements for multiple simultaneous mission data flows with options to use diverse onboard local data buses, commercial ground networks, and multiple satellite relay constellations in LEO, MEO, GEO, or even deep space relay links. Effectively utilizing a complex network topology requires orchestration and direction that spans the many discrete, individually addressable computer systems, which cause them to act in concert to achieve the overall network goals. The system must be intelligent enough to not only function under nominal conditions, but also adapt to unexpected situations, and reorganize or adapt to perform roles not originally intended for the system or explicitly programmed. This paper describes architecture features of cognitive networking within the future NASA space communications infrastructure, and interacting with the legacy systems and infrastructure in the meantime. The paper begins by discussing the need for increased automation, including inter-system collaboration. This discussion motivates the features of an architecture including cognitive networking for future missions and relays, interoperating with both existing endpoint-based networking models and emerging information-centric models. From this basis, we discuss progress on a proof-of-concept implementation of this architecture as a cognitive networking on-orbit application on the SCaN Testbed attached to the International Space Station

Diagnostic Utility of Cerebral White Matter Integrity in Early Alzheimer's Disease

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Neuroscience on August 2010, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.3109/00207454.2010.494788.We compared white matter integrity with brain atrophy in healthy controls and participants with very mild dementia (Clinical Dementia Rating 0 vs. 0.5) from the Brain Aging Project, a longitudinal study of aging and memory at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Structural magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) including fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity were performed on 27 patients with very mild dementia (Clinical Dementia Rating = 0.5) of the Alzheimer's type (DAT), and 32 cognitively normal subjects. Patient groups were compared across 6 volumetric measures and 14 DTI regions of interest. Very mildly demented patients showed expected disease-related patterns of brain atrophy with reductions in whole-brain and hippocampal volumes most prominent. DTI indices of white matter integrity were mixed. Right parahippocampus showed significant but small disease-related reductions in fractional anisotropy. Right parahippocampus and left internal capsule showed greater mean diffusivity in early DAT compared with controls. A series of discriminant analyses demonstrated that gray matter atrophy was a significantly better predictor of dementia status than were DTI indices. Brain atrophy was most strongly related to very mild DAT. Modest disease-related white matter anomalies were present in temporal cortex, and deep white matter had limited discriminatory diagnostic power, probably because of the very mild stage of disease in these participants

Diagnostic Utility of Cerebral White Matter Integrity in Early Alzheimer\u27s Disease

We compared white matter integrity with brain atrophy in healthy controls and participants with very mild dementia (Clinical Dementia Rating 0 vs. 0.5) from the Brain Aging Project, a longitudinal study of aging and memory at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Structural magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) including fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity were performed on 27 patients with very mild dementia (Clinical Dementia Rating = 0.5) of the Alzheimer\u27s type (DAT), and 32 cognitively normal subjects. Patient groups were compared across 6 volumetric measures and 14 DTI regions of interest. Very mildly demented patients showed expected disease-related patterns of brain atrophy with reductions in whole-brain and hippocampal volumes most prominent. DTI indices of white matter integrity were mixed. Right parahippocampus showed significant but small disease-related reductions in fractional anisotropy. Right parahippocampus and left internal capsule showed greater mean diffusivity in early DAT compared with controls. A series of discriminant analyses demonstrated that gray matter atrophy was a significantly better predictor of dementia status than were DTI indices. Brain atrophy was most strongly related to very mild DAT. Modest disease-related white matter anomalies were present in temporal cortex, and deep white matter had limited discriminatory diagnostic power, probably because of the very mild stage of disease in these participants

msbB deletion confers acute sensitivity to CO2 in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium that can be suppressed by a loss-of-function mutation in zwf

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Pathogens tolerate stress conditions that include low pH, oxidative stress, high salt and high temperature in order to survive inside and outside their hosts. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which forms the outer-leaflet of the outer membrane in Gram-negative bacteria, acts as a permeability barrier. The lipid A moiety of LPS anchors it to the outer membrane bilayer. The MsbB enzyme myristoylates the lipid A precursor and loss of this enzyme, in <it>Salmonella</it>, is correlated with reduced virulence and severe growth defects that can both be compensated with extragenic suppressor mutations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We report here that <it>msbB </it>(or <it>msbB somA</it>) <it>Salmonella </it>are highly sensitive to physiological CO₂(5%), resulting in a 3-log reduction in plating efficiency. Under these conditions, <it>msbB Salmonella </it>form long filaments, bulge and lyse. These bacteria are also sensitive to acidic pH and high osmolarity. Although CO₂acidifies LB broth media, buffering LB to pH 7.5 did not restore growth of <it>msbB </it>mutants in CO₂, indicating that the CO₂-induced growth defects are not due to the effect of CO₂on the pH of the media. A transposon insertion in the glucose metabolism gene <it>zwf </it>compensates for the CO₂sensitivity of <it>msbB Salmonella</it>. The <it>msbB zwf </it>mutants grow on agar, or in broth, in the presence of 5% CO₂. In addition, <it>msbB zwf </it>strains show improved growth in low pH or high osmolarity media compared to the single <it>msbB </it>mutant.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results demonstrate that <it>msbB </it>confers acute sensitivity to CO₂, acidic pH, and high osmolarity. Disruption of <it>zwf </it>in <it>msbB </it>mutants restores growth in 5% CO₂and results in improved growth in acidic media or in media with high osmolarity. These results add to a growing list of phenotypes caused by <it>msbB </it>and mutations that suppress specific growth defects.</p