On the Development of Agricultural Mechanization to Ensure a Long- Term World Food Supply

Rosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is an Invited Paper from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 4 (2002): J. Pawlak, G. Pellizzi and M. Fiala. On the Development of Agricultural Mechanization to Ensure a Long- Term World Food Supply. Club of Bologna. Vol. IV. June 200

MC4.3 - Optically Coupled Mode-Locked Laser Array for Spectroscopy in InP Generic Integration

We propose a two-element mode-locked laser array operating at 1.56 µm. Optical pulses with 14.5-ps width, spectral bandwidth exceeding 7 nm, and RF line width of 260 kHz at 12.448 GHz are experimentally reported

External optical self-injection stabilization of an InP generic foundry platform based passively mode-locked ring laser

Timing stabilization of a photonic integrated circuit extended cavity passively mode-locked semiconductor ring laser with four gain sections and two saturable absorbers in a symmetric ring geometry by optical self-injection is presented. The laser has been fabricated using an InP generic integration technology platform. Repetition rate tuning up to 5.5MHz and a timing jitter reduction by optical self-injection from 99 fs (solitary laser operation) to 20 fs is demonstrated. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with results obtained by a stochastic time domain model which yet had been solely applied to edge-emitting straight waveguide semiconductor lasers

Cross center single-cell RNA sequencing study of the immune microenvironment in rapid progressing multiple myeloma

Despite advancements in understanding the pathophysiology of Multiple Myeloma (MM), the cause of rapid progressing disease in a subset of patients is still unclear. MM\u27s progression is facilitated by complex interactions with the surrounding bone marrow (BM) cells, forming a microenvironment that supports tumor growth and drug resistance. Understanding the immune microenvironment is key to identifying factors that promote rapid progression of MM. To accomplish this, we performed a multi-center single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) study on 102,207 cells from 48 CD13

A generic transcoding tool for making web applications adaptive

Abstract. As personalization and device independence become prominent issues in Web development, tools to adapt existing Web Information Systems (WISs) are required. Still, current development approaches lack support for adding adaptation to existing WISs. This paper presents the Generic Adaptation Component (GAC), a transcoding tool for making Web applications adaptable and adaptive. It can be seamlessly integrated into existing Web architectures as an autonomous adaptation and personalization module. For configuring the GAC an RDF-based rule language is presented, allowing to define both content adaptation and context data update rules. Moreover, based on the document generation architecture of the AMACONT project a collection of transformation operations is provided to realize these rules. The main functionality of the GAC is elucidated by an example implementation

The N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist CPP alters synapse and spine structure and impairs long-term potentiation and long-term depression induced morphological plasticity in dentate gyrus of the awake rat

Long-term morphological synaptic changes associated with homosynaptic long-term potentiation (LTP) and heterosynaptic long-term depression (LTD) in vivo, in awake adult rats were analyzed using three-dimensional (3-D) reconstructions of electron microscope images of ultrathin serial sections from the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus. For the first time in morphological studies, the specificity of the effects of LTP and LTD on both spine and synapse ultrastructure was determined using an N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist CPP (3-[(R)-2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl]-propyl-1-phosphonic acid). There were no differences in synaptic density 24 h after LTP or LTD induction, and CPP alone had no effect on synaptic density. LTP increased significantly the proportion of mushroom spines, whereas LTD increased the proportion of thin spines, and both LTP and LTD decreased stubby spine number. Both LTP and LTD increased significantly spine head evaginations (spinules) into synaptic boutons and CPP blocked these changes. Synaptic boutons were smaller after LTD, indicating a pre-synaptic effect. Interestingly, CPP alone decreased bouton and mushroom spine volumes, as well as post-synaptic density (PSD) volume of mushroom spines.These data show similarities, but also some clear differences, between the effects of LTP and LTD on spine and synaptic morphology. Although CPP blocks both LTP and LTD, and impairs most morphological changes in spines and synapses, CPP alone was shown to exert effects on aspects of spine and synaptic structure

Sulforaphane, a cancer chemopreventive agent, induces pathways associated with membrane biosynthesis in response to tissue damage by aflatoxin B1

Aflatoxin B[subscript 1] (AFB[subscript 1]) is one of the major risk factors for liver cancer globally. A recent study showed that sulforaphane (SF), a potent inducer of phase II enzymes that occurs naturally in widely consumed vegetables, effectively induces hepatic glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and reduces levels of hepatic AFB[subscript 1]-DNA adducts in AFB[subscript 1]-exposed Sprague Dawley rats. The present study characterized the effects of SF pre-treatment on global gene expression in the livers of similarly treated male rats. Combined treatment with AFB[subscript 1] and SF caused reprogramming of a network of genes involved in signal transduction and transcription. Changes in gene regulation were observable 4 h after AFB[subscript 1] administration in SF-pretreated animals and may reflect regeneration of cells in the wake of AFB[subscript 1]-induced hepatotoxicity. At 24 h after AFB[subscript 1] administration, significant induction of genes that play roles in cellular lipid metabolism and acetyl-CoA biosynthesis was detected in SF-pretreated AFB[subscript 1]-dosed rats. Induction of this group of genes may indicate a metabolic shift toward glycolysis and fatty acid synthesis to generate and maintain pools of intermediate molecules required for tissue repair, cell growth and compensatory hepatic cell proliferation. Collectively, gene expression data from this study provide insights into molecular mechanisms underlying the protective effects of SF against AFB[subscript 1] hepatotoxicity and hepatocarcinogenicity, in addition to the chemopreventive activity of this compound as a GST inducer.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grants ES016313, P30-ES002109, P01 ES006052, P30 ES003819, and P30 CA006973