1,205 research outputs found
Neuroinflammation in Multiple System Atrophy: Response to and Cause of α-Synuclein Aggregation
Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease presenting with combinations of autonomic dysfunction, parkinsonism, cerebellar ataxia and/or pyramidal signs. Oligodendroglial cytoplasmic inclusions (GCIs) rich in α-synuclein (α-syn) constitute the disease hallmark, accompanied by neuronal loss and activation of glial cells which indicate neuroinflammation. Recent studies demonstrate that α-syn may be released from degenerating neurons to mediate formation of abnormal inclusion bodies and to induce neuroinflammation which, interestingly, might also favor the formation of intracellular α-syn aggregates as a consequence of cytokine release and the shift to a pro-inflammatory environment. Here, we critically review the relationships between α-syn and astrocytic and microglial activation in MSA to explore the potential of therapeutics which target neuroinflammation.9 page(s
Adaptive nonlinear polynomial neural networks for control of boundary layer/structural interaction
The acoustic pressures developed in a boundary layer can interact with an aircraft panel to induce significant vibration in the panel. Such vibration is undesirable due to the aerodynamic drag and structure-borne cabin noises that result. The overall objective of this work is to develop effective and practical feedback control strategies for actively reducing this flow-induced structural vibration. This report describes the results of initial evaluations using polynomial, neural network-based, feedback control to reduce flow induced vibration in aircraft panels due to turbulent boundary layer/structural interaction. Computer simulations are used to develop and analyze feedback control strategies to reduce vibration in a beam as a first step. The key differences between this work and that going on elsewhere are as follows: that turbulent and transitional boundary layers represent broadband excitation and thus present a more complex stochastic control scenario than that of narrow band (e.g., laminar boundary layer) excitation; and secondly, that the proposed controller structures are adaptive nonlinear infinite impulse response (IIR) polynomial neural network, as opposed to the traditional adaptive linear finite impulse response (FIR) filters used in most studies to date. The controllers implemented in this study achieved vibration attenuation of 27 to 60 dB depending on the type of boundary layer established by laminar, turbulent, and intermittent laminar-to-turbulent transitional flows. Application of multi-input, multi-output, adaptive, nonlinear feedback control of vibration in aircraft panels based on polynomial neural networks appears to be feasible today. Plans are outlined for Phase 2 of this study, which will include extending the theoretical investigation conducted in Phase 2 and verifying the results in a series of laboratory experiments involving both bum and plate models
Novel allergen discovery through comprehensive de novo transcriptomic analyses of five shrimp species
Shellfish allergy affects 2% of the world's population and persists for life in most patients. The diagnosis of shellfish allergy, in particular shrimp, is challenging due to the similarity of allergenic proteins from other invertebrates. Despite the clinical importance of immunological cross-reactivity among shellfish species and between allergenic invertebrates such as dust mites, the underlying molecular basis is not well understood. Here we mine the complete transcriptome of five frequently consumed shrimp species to identify and compare allergens with all known allergen sources. The transcriptomes were assembled de novo, using Trinity, from raw RNA-Seq data of the whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon), banana shrimp (Fenneropenaeus merguiensis), king shrimp (Melicertus latisulcatus), and endeavour shrimp (Metapenaeus endeavouri). BLAST searching using the two major allergen databases, WHO/IUIS Allergen Nomenclature and AllergenOnline, successfully identified all seven known crustacean allergens. The analyses revealed up to 39 unreported allergens in the different shrimp species, including heat shock protein (HSP), alpha-tubulin, chymotrypsin, cyclophilin, beta-enolase, aldolase A, and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PD). Multiple sequence alignment (Clustal Omega) demonstrated high homology with allergens from other invertebrates including mites and cockroaches. This first transcriptomic analyses of allergens in a major food source provides a valuable resource for investigating shellfish allergens, comparing invertebrate allergens and future development of improved diagnostics for food allergy
The effects of an uncertain abandonment value on the investment decision
YesUsing a three-factor stochastic real option model framework, this paper examines the effects of abandonment on the investment decision. Abandonment is classified according to whether the opportunity arises for an active operating asset post-investment, or for holding the project opportunity pre-investment. Separate analytical models are developed for the alternative forms of abandonment optionality. Numerical sensitivity analysis shows that the presence of a post-investment abandonment opportunity makes the investment opportunity appear to be more attractive because of the abandonment option value, but not by a considerable amount. Also, in contrast to the standard real option finding, an abandonment value volatility increase produces a project value threshold fall owing to the increase in the abandonment option value
The State of “Omics” Research for Farmed Penaeids: Advances in Research and Impediments to Industry Utilization
Elucidating the underlying genetic drivers of production traits in agricultural and aquaculture species is critical to efforts to maximize farming efficiency. “Omics” based methods (i.e., transcriptomics, genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) are increasingly being applied to gain unprecedented insight into the biology of many aquaculture species. While the culture of penaeid shrimp has increased markedly, the industry continues to be impeded in many regards by disease, reproductive dysfunction, and a poor understanding of production traits. Extensive effort has been, and continues to be, applied to develop critical genomic resources for many commercially important penaeids. However, the industry application of these genomic resources, and the translation of the knowledge derived from “omics” studies has not yet been completely realized. Integration between the multiple “omics” resources now available (i.e., genome assemblies, transcriptomes, linkage maps, optical maps, and proteomes) will prove critical to unlocking the full utility of these otherwise independently developed and isolated resources. Furthermore, emerging “omics” based techniques are now available to address longstanding issues with completing keystone genome assemblies (e.g., through long-read sequencing), and can provide cost-effective industrial scale genotyping tools (e.g., through low density SNP chips and genotype-by-sequencing) to undertake advanced selective breeding programs (i.e., genomic selection) and powerful genome-wide association studies. In particular, this review highlights the status, utility and suggested path forward for continued development, and improved use of “omics” resources in penaeid aquaculture
The Grizzly, October 31, 1986
NCAA Drug Tests Bar All but Natural Highs • History in the Making: U.C. Hosts 1st Big Rock Concert Since Hooters \u2782 • Heefner Organ Pumps New Life Into Founder\u27s Day Rites • Letter: It\u27s All in Your Point of View • Hess Encourages Financial Aid Applicants • Jazzing It Up With Branker • Scope of New Course Broadens Science Offerings • Fear of Mosquitoes and Sex? AIDS Expert Tells What\u27s Next • Akin Follows Losing Teams; Laments Vanished Baseball Dream • C & C to Focus on Scientific and Economic Ideologies • Despite Bad Food and Lack of Beer Freshman Say, We Like It Here. • Grizzlies Clash with Stubborn Mules After Kicking Away at G-burg and \u27Nova • Lady Sticklers Stuck at 8-7 After St. Joe\u27s Loss • Sox Go Home Sans Joy Red Cross(e) Knight Named Series MVP • O\u27Donohue and Haux Power Lady Runners to PAIAW Championship • Ursinus Harries Race to a 5-0 Start • Volleyball\u27s Doleniak Back in Action • Win a VCR. Put Your Foot Where Your Mouth ishttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1173/thumbnail.jp
The effective temperature scale of FGK stars. II. Teff : color : [Fe/H] calibrations
We present up-to-date metallicity-dependent temperature vs. color
calibrations for main sequence and giant stars based on temperatures derived
with the infrared flux method (IRFM). Seventeen colors in the following
photometric systems: UBV, uvby, Vilnius, Geneva, RI(Cousins), DDO,
Hipparcos-Tycho, and 2MASS, have been calibrated. The spectral types covered
range from F0 to K5 (7000 K<Teff<4000 K) with some relations extending below
4000 K or up to 8000 K. Most of the calibrations are valid in the metallicity
range -3.5<[Fe/H]<0.4, although some of them extend to as low as [Fe/H]=-4.0.
All fits to the data have been performed with more than 100 stars; standard
deviations range from 30 K to 120 K. Fits were carefully performed and
corrected to eliminate the small systematic errors introduced by the
calibration formulae. Tables of colors as a function of Teff and [Fe/H] are
provided. (Abridged)Comment: To appear in ApJ. For online tables and figures, see
http://webspace.utexas.edu/ir68/tef
Governance and Susceptibility in Conflict Resolution: Possibilities Beyond Control
Governmentality analysis offers a nuanced critique of informal Western conflict resolution by arguing that recently emerged alternatives to adversarial court processes both govern subjects and help to constitute rather than challenge formal regulation. However, this analysis neglects possibilities for transforming governance from within conflict resolution that are suggested by Foucault's contention that there are no relations of power without resistances. To explore this lacuna, I theorise and explore the affective and interpersonal nature of governance in mediation through autoethnographic reflection upon mediation practice, and Levina's insights about the relatedness of selves. The paper argues that two qualitatively different mediator capacities - technical ability and susceptibility - operate in concert to effect liberal governance. Occasionally though, difficulties and failures in mediation practice bring these capacities into tension and reveal the limits of governance. By considering these limits in mediation with Aboriginal Australian people, I argue that the susceptibility of mediator selves contains prospects for mitigating and transforming the very operations of power occurring through conflict resolution. This suggests options for expanded critical thinking about power relations operating through informal processes, and for cultivating a susceptible sensibility to mitigate liberal governance and more ethically respond to difference through conflict resolution
Insights on geochemical cycling of U, Re and Mo from seasonal sampling in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, USA
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2006. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 71 (2007): 895-917, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2006.10.016.This study examined the removal of U, Mo, and Re from seawater by
sedimentary processes at a shallow-water site with near-saturation bottom water O2 levels
(240-380 ÎĽmol O2/L), very high organic matter oxidation rates (annually averaged rate is
870 ÎĽmol C/cm2/y), and shallow oxygen penetration depths (4 mm or less throughout the
year). Under these conditions, U, Mo, and Re were removed rapidly to asymptotic pore
water concentrations of 2.2–3.3 nmol/kg (U), 7–13 nmol/kg (Mo), and 11–14 pmol/kg
(Re). The order in which the three metals were removed, determined by fitting a
diffusion-reaction model to measured profiles, was Re < U < Mo. Model fits also suggest
that the Mo profiles clearly showed the presence of a near-interface layer in which Mo
was added to pore waters by remineralization of a solid phase. The importance of this
solid phase source of pore water Mo increased from January to October as the organic
matter oxidation rate increased, bottom water O2 decreased, and the O2 penetration depth
decreased. Experiments with in situ benthic flux chambers generally showed fluxes of U
and Mo into the sediments. However, when the overlying water O2 concentration in the
chambers was allowed to drop to very low levels, Mn and Fe were released to the
overlying water along with the simultaneous release of Mo and U. These experiments
suggest that remineralization of Mn and/or Fe oxides may be a source of Mo and perhaps
U to pore waters, and may complicate the accumulation of U and Mo in bioturbated
sediments with high organic matter oxidation rates and shallow O2 penetration depths.
Benthic chamber experiments including the nonreactive solute tracer, Br-,
indicated that sediment irrigation was very important to solute exchange at the study site.
The enhancement of sediment-seawater exchange due to irrigation was determined for
the nonreactive tracer (Br-), TCO2, NH4
+, U and Mo. The comparisons between these
solutes showed that reactions within and around the burrows were very important for
modulating the Mo flux, but less important for U. The effect of these reactions on Mo
exchange was highly variable, enhancing Mo (and, to a lesser extent, U) uptake at times
of relatively modest irrigation, but inhibiting exchange when irrigation rates were faster.
These results reinforce the observation that Mo can be released to and removed from pore
waters via sedimentary reactions.
The removal rate of U and Mo from seawater by sedimentary reactions was found
to agree with the rate of accumulation of authigenic U and Mo in the solid phase. The
fluxes of U and Mo determined by in situ benthic flux chamber measurements were the
largest that have been measured to date. These results confirm that removal of redoxsensitive
metals from continental margin sediments underlying oxic bottom water is
important, and suggest that continental margin sediments play a key role in the marine
budgets of these metals.We appreciate the financial support
from the National Science Foundation (OCE-0220892). Funding for this work was also
provided to JLM by the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at WHOI courtesy of the Cabot
Marine Environmental Science Fund and the J. Seward Johnson Fund. Financial support
to IMK was given by The Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research
and Higher Education
A model for uranium, rhenium, and molybdenum diagenesis in marine sediments based on results from coastal locations
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 73 (2009): 2938-2960, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2009.02.029.The purpose of this research is to characterize the mobilization and
immobilization processes that control the authigenic accumulation of uranium (U),
rhenium (Re) and molybdenum (Mo) in marine sediments. We analyzed these redox–
sensitive metals (RSM) in benthic chamber, pore water and solid phase samples at a site
in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, U.S.A., which has high bottom water oxygen
concentrations (230–300 mol/L) and high organic matter oxidation rates (390 mol
C/cm2/y). The oxygen penetration depth varies from 2–9 mm below the sediment–water
interface, but pore water sulfide is below detection (< 2M). The RSM pore water
profiles are modeled with a steady–state diagenetic model that includes irrigation, which
extends 10–20 cm below the sediment–water interface. To present a consistent
description of trace metal diagenesis in marine sediments, RSM results from sediments in
Buzzards Bay are compared with previous research from sulfidic sediments (Morford et
al., GCA 71).
Release of RSM to pore waters during the remineralization of solid phases occurs
near the sediment–water interface at depths above the zone of authigenic RSM formation.
This release occurs consistently for Mo at both sites, but only in the winter for Re in
Buzzards Bay and intermittently for U. At the Buzzards Bay site, Re removal to the solid
phase extends to the bottom of the profile, while the zone of removal is restricted to ~2–9
cm for U and Mo. Authigenic Re formation is independent of the anoxic
remineralization rate, which is consistent with an abiotic removal mechanism. The rate
of authigenic U formation and its modeled removal rate constant increase with increasing
anoxic remineralization rates, and is consistent with U reduction being microbially
mediated. Authigenic Mo formation is related to the formation of sulfidic
microenvironments. The depth and extent of Mo removal from pore water is closely
associated with the balance between iron and sulfate reduction and the consumption of
pore water sulfide via iron sulfide formation. Pore water RSM reach constant asymptotic
concentrations in sulfidic sediments, but only pore water Re is constant at depth in
Buzzards Bay. The increases in pore water U at the Buzzards Bay site are consistent with
addition via irrigation and subsequent upward diffusion to the removal zone. Deep pore
water Mo concentrations exceed its bottom water concentration due to irrigation–induced
oxidation and remobilization from the solid phase. In sulfidic sediments, there is no
evidence for higher pore water U or Mo concentrations at depth due to the absence of
irrigation and/or the presence of more stable authigenic RSM phases.
There are good correlations between benthic fluxes and authigenic accumulation
rates for U and Mo in sulfidic sediments. However, results from Buzzards Bay suggest
irrigation ultimately results in the partial loss of U and Mo from the solid phase, with
accumulation rates that are 20–30% of the modeled flux. Irrigation can augment (Re,
possibly U) or compromise (U, Mo) authigenic accumulation in sediments, and is
important when determining burial rates in continental margin sediments.The authors also acknowledge financial support from the National Science Foundation
(JLM, WRM: OCE–0220892), Research Corporation (JLM, CMC), Franklin & Marshall
College, and the Hackman Summer Research Program at F&M
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