Observations of ozone production in a dissipating tropical convective cell during TC4

From 13 July–9 August 2007, 25 ozonesondes were launched from Las Tablas, Panama as part of the Tropical Composition, Cloud, and Climate Coupling (TC4) mission. On 5 August, a strong convective cell formed in the Gulf of Panama. World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) data indicated 563 flashes (09:00–17:00 UTC) in the Gulf. NO2 data from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) show enhancements, suggesting lightning production of NOx. At 15:05 UTC, an ozonesonde ascended into the southern edge of the now dissipating convective cell as it moved west across the Azuero Peninsula. The balloon oscillated from 2.5–5.1 km five times (15:12–17:00 UTC), providing a unique examination of ozone (O3) photochemistry on the edge of a convective cell. Ozone increased at a rate of 1.6–4.6 ppbv/hr between the first and last ascent, resulting cell wide in an increase of (2.1–2.5)×106 moles of O3. This estimate agrees to within a factor of two of our estimates of photochemical lightning O3 production from the WWLLN flashes, from the radar-inferred lightning flash data, and from the OMI NO2 data (1.2, 1.0, and 1.7×106 moles, respectively), though all estimates have large uncertainties. Examination of DC-8 in situ and lidar O3 data gathered around the Gulf that day suggests 70–97% of the O3 change occurred in 2.5–5.1 km layer. A photochemical box model initialized with nearby TC4 aircraft trace gas data suggests these O3 production rates are possible with our present understanding of photochemistry

An empirical evaluation of the common disease-common variant hypothesis

While genome-wide linkage studies have been successful in mapping variants underlying rare monogenic disorders, genome-wide association studies may be more appropriate for detecting common variants of modest effects that underlie common disorders. To this end, we were interested in determining whether genetic variants associated with a phenotype differed depending on whether they were within or outside of regions linked to the phenotype. In particular, we compared allele frequencies and effect sizes between associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms within and outside of linkage regions using the Genetic Analysis Workshop 15 Problem 1. We did not find any statistically significant differences between these two sets. However, our power calculations show that these results may be inconclusive

B854: Cost of Producing Milk in Maine: Results from the 2013 Cost-of-Production Survey

The state of Maine has a unique tier-pricing program for dairy farms, established in 2004, which has been funded by milk-handling fees paid by processors. Given the nature of volatile production costs in dairy farming, it is important to update the baseline cost estimates for each tier every three years. This study aims to provide a precise baseline estimate of cost of production for each tier so that state legisla­tors can better manage the tier-pricing program. The authors provide a historic overview of past Maine dairy cost-of-production studies. They analyze the trend of the cost of producing milk in Maine since 2010 using historic data of Maine dairy cost-of-production studies and evaluate their results by comparing them with other dairy cost studies. In general, this empirical study provides a comprehensive assessment of the cost of producing milk in Maine.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_bulletin/1083/thumbnail.jp

A scalable and portable framework for massively parallel variable selection in genetic association studies

Summary: The deluge of data emerging from high-throughput sequencing technologies poses large analytical challenges when testing for association to disease. We introduce a scalable framework for variable selection, implemented in C++ and OpenCL, that fits regularized regression across multiple Graphics Processing Units. Open source code and documentation can be found at a Google Code repository under the URL http://bioinformatics.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/01/10/bioinformatics.bts015.abstract

Kaempferol enhances cisplatin's effect on ovarian cancer cells through promoting apoptosis caused by down regulation of cMyc

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ovarian cancer is one of the most significant malignancies in the western world. Studies showed that Ovarian cancers tend to grow resistance to cisplatin treatment. Therefore, new approaches are needed in ovarian cancer treatment. Kaempferol is a dietary flavonoid that is widely distributed in fruits and vegetables, and epidemiology studies have revealed a protective effect of kaempferol against ovarian cancer risk. Our early studies also found that kaempferol is effective in reducing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in ovarian cancer cells. In this study, we investigated kaempferol's effects on sensitizing ovarian cancer cell growth in response to cisplatin treatment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ten chemicals were screened for sensitizing OVCAR-3 ovarian cancer cell growth in response to cisplatin treatment. For kaempferol, which shows a significant synergistic interaction with cisplatin, expression of ABCC1, ABCC5, ABCC6, NFkB1, cMyc, and CDKN1A genes was further examined. For cisplatin/kaempferol treatments on OVCAR-3 cancer cells, the mRNA levels of ABCC1, ABCC5, and NFkB1 did not change. However, significant inhibition of ABCC6 and cMyc mRNA levels was observed for the cisplatin/kaempferol combined treatment. The CDKN1A mRNA levels were significantly up-regulated by cisplatin/kaempferol treatment. A plot of CDKN1A mRNA levels against that of cMyc gene further revealed a reverse, linear relationship, proving cMyc's regulation on CDKN1A gene expressions. Our work found that kaempferol works synergistically with cisplatin in inhibiting ovarian cancer cell viability, and their inhibition on cell viabilities was induced through inhibiting ABCC6 and cMyc gene transcription. Apoptosis assay showed the addition of 20 μM kaempferol to the cisplatin treatment induces the apoptosis of the cancer cells.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Kaempferol enhances the effect of cisplatin through down regulation of cMyc in promoting apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells. As a dietary component, kaempferol sensitizes ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin treatment and deserves further studies for possible applications in chemotherapy of ovarian cancers.</p

Kaempferol enhances cisplatin\u27s effect on ovarian cancer cells through promoting apoptosis caused by down regulation of cMyc

Background Ovarian cancer is one of the most significant malignancies in the western world. Studies showed that Ovarian cancers tend to grow resistance to cisplatin treatment. Therefore, new approaches are needed in ovarian cancer treatment. Kaempferol is a dietary flavonoid that is widely distributed in fruits and vegetables, and epidemiology studies have revealed a protective effect of kaempferol against ovarian cancer risk. Our early studies also found that kaempferol is effective in reducing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in ovarian cancer cells. In this study, we investigated kaempferol\u27s effects on sensitizing ovarian cancer cell growth in response to cisplatin treatment. Results Ten chemicals were screened for sensitizing OVCAR-3 ovarian cancer cell growth in response to cisplatin treatment. For kaempferol, which shows a significant synergistic interaction with cisplatin, expression of ABCC1, ABCC5, ABCC6, NFkB1, cMyc, and CDKN1A genes was further examined. For cisplatin/kaempferol treatments on OVCAR-3 cancer cells, the mRNA levels of ABCC1, ABCC5, and NFkB1 did not change. However, significant inhibition of ABCC6 and cMyc mRNA levels was observed for the cisplatin/kaempferol combined treatment. The CDKN1A mRNA levels were significantly up-regulated by cisplatin/kaempferol treatment. A plot of CDKN1A mRNA levels against that of cMyc gene further revealed a reverse, linear relationship, proving cMyc\u27s regulation on CDKN1A gene expressions. Our work found that kaempferol works synergistically with cisplatin in inhibiting ovarian cancer cell viability, and their inhibition on cell viabilities was induced through inhibiting ABCC6 and cMyc gene transcription. Apoptosis assay showed the addition of 20 μM kaempferol to the cisplatin treatment induces the apoptosis of the cancer cells. Conclusions Kaempferol enhances the effect of cisplatin through down regulation of cMyc in promoting apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells. As a dietary component, kaempferol sensitizes ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin treatment and deserves further studies for possible applications in chemotherapy of ovarian cancers

Pressure and Temperature Effects on the Energy of Formation for Silicon Clusters

At present most theoretical studies of atomic clusters are limited to their physical properties referred to 0 K. To the best of our knowledge, there exists no theoretical study of the simultaneous dependence of cluster formation and cluster-size distributions on both pressure and temperature. In the present work both pressure and temperature effects on the formation of silicon clusters are explored. A universal semiempirical formula is obtained to show a general trend in the variation of binding energy as a function of cluster size for both atomic and molecular clusters

Carbon Capture with 4 m Piperazine/4 m 2-Methylpiperazine

AbstractAn equimolar diamine blend of 4 m 2-methylpiperazine (2MPZ) with 4 m piperazine (PZ) is shown to be an attractive solvent for CO2 capture. This blend overcomes the difficulties posed by the narrow solid solubility window of pure 8 m PZ while preserving its benefits. The solid solubility window at 20°C broadens from to . As the blend viscosity is nearly double that of pure PZ, normalizing the capacity by viscosity shows a practical capacity comparable to MEA at 0.63mol CO2/kg solvent. The CO2 absorption rate of the blend is lower, with at 40°C, 84% that of PZ. The heats of CO2 absorption of the blend and PZ are equal at ΔHabs=70kJ/mol. While the blend thermal stability is decreased, Tmax = 155 compared to 163°C, oxidative stability is similar. Lastly, their volatilities are nearly equal with amine Henry's constant near 23Pa at 40°C. In short, the equimolar blend of 4 m 2MPZ with 4 m PZ is a competitive solvent for amine scrubbing