On Dwass' method for deriving the distribution of rank order statistics

summary:This note presents a critical examination of Dwass' method for obtaining the distribution of rank order statistics defined on random samples obtained from the same continuous population. New situations are discussed for the usefulness of the method

Lipids, Lipoproteins, and Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness among the elderly. While excellent treatment has emerged for neovascular disease, treatment for early AMD is lacking due to an incomplete understanding of the early molecular events. A prominent age-related change is the accumulation of neutral lipid in normal Bruch's membrane (BrM) throughout adulthood and also disease-related BrM accumulations called basal deposits and drusen. AMD lesion formation has thus been conceptualized as sharing mechanisms with atherosclerotic plaque formation, where low-density lipoprotein (LDL) retention within the arterial wall initiates a cascade of pathologic events. However, we do not yet understand how lipoproteins contribute to AMD. This paper explores how systemic and local production of lipoproteins might contribute to the pathogenesis of AMD

The cardiomyocyte "redox rheostat": Redox signalling via the AMPK-mTOR axis and regulation of gene and protein expression balancing survival and death.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a key role in development of heart failure but, at a cellular level, their effects range from cytoprotection to induction of cell death. Understanding how this is regulated is crucial to develop novel strategies to ameliorate only the detrimental effects. Here, we revisited the fundamental hypothesis that the level of ROS per se is a key factor in the cellular response by applying different concentrations of H2O2 to cardiomyocytes. High concentrations rapidly reduced intracellular ATP and inhibited protein synthesis. This was associated with activation of AMPK which phosphorylated and inhibited Raptor, a crucial component of mTOR complex-1 that regulates protein synthesis. Inhibition of protein synthesis by high concentrations of H2O2 prevents synthesis of immediate early gene products required for downstream gene expression, and such mRNAs (many encoding proteins required to deal with oxidant stress) were only induced by lower concentrations. Lower concentrations of H2O2 promoted mTOR phosphorylation, associated with differential recruitment of some mRNAs to the polysomes for translation. Some of the upregulated genes induced by low H2O2 levels are cytoprotective. We identified p21Cip1/WAF1 as one such protein, and preventing its upregulation enhanced the rate of cardiomyocyte apoptosis. The data support the concept of a "redox rheostat" in which different degrees of ROS influence cell energetics and intracellular signalling pathways to regulate mRNA and protein expression. This sliding scale determines cell fate, modulating survival vs death

Absence of molecular mobility on nano-second time scales in amorphous ice phases

High-resolution neutron backscattering techniques are exploited to study the elastic and quasi-elastic response of the high-density amorphous (HDA), the low-density amorphous (LDA) and the crystalline ice Ic upon temperature changes. Within the temperature ranges of their structural stability (HDA at T > 80 K, LDA at T > 135 K, ice Ic at T < 200 K) the Debye-Waller factors and mean-square displacements characterise all states as harmonic solids. During the transformations HDA->LDA (T ~ 100 K), LDA->Ic (T ~ 150K) and the supposed glass transition with Tg ~ 135 K no relaxation processes can be detected on a time scale t < 4 ns. It can be concluded from coherent scattering measurements (D_2O) that LDA starts to recrystallise into ice Ic at T ~ 135 K, i.e. at the supposed Tg. In the framework of the Debye model of harmonic solids HDA reveals the highest Debye temperature among the studied ice phases, which is in full agreement with the lowest Debye level in the generalised density of states derived from time-of-flight neutron scattering experiments. The elastic results at low T indicate the presence of an excess of modes in HDA, which do not obey the Bose statistics

Automated System for Detection of Apple Purity and Its Grading

It is always a common problem for all the people to identify the purity of all the fruits that has been purchased from the �fruit mandi� or local fruit stores. In this paper we would like to propose an idea for identifying the purity of apples. At present, among all the apples that are being sold in a shop, only few samples are collected and tested for purity in the laboratories by food Corporation of INDIA (FOI), which might not ensure that all the apples being sold in that respective shop/market are pure. In this paper we are proposing a device which can sense if the chosen apple is pure or not and which can be used by all the common people who are purchasing fruits from the market. Through this infections and disorders caused by fruits consumption can be eradicated to some extent

Radio and gamma-ray constraints on dark matter annihilation in the Galactic center

We determine upper limits on the dark matter (DM) self-annihilation cross section for scenarios in which annihilation leads to the production of electron--positron pairs. In the Galactic centre (GC), relativistic electrons and positrons produce a radio flux via synchroton emission, and a gamma ray flux via bremsstrahlung and inverse Compton scattering. On the basis of archival, interferometric and single-dish radio data, we have determined the radio spectrum of an elliptical region around the Galactic centre of extent 3 degrees semi-major axis (along the Galactic plane) and 1 degree semi-minor axis and a second, rectangular region, also centered on the GC, of extent 1.6 degrees x 0.6 degrees. The radio spectra of both regions are non-thermal over the range of frequencies for which we have data: 74 MHz -- 10 GHz. We also consider gamma-ray data covering the same region from the EGRET instrument (about GeV) and from HESS (around TeV). We show how the combination of these data can be used to place robust constraints on DM annihilation scenarios, in a way which is relatively insensitive to assumptions about the magnetic field amplitude in this region. Our results are approximately an order of magnitude more constraining than existing Galactic centre radio and gamma ray limits. For a DM mass of m_\chi =10 GeV, and an NFW profile, we find that the velocity-averaged cross-section must be less than a few times 10^-25 cm^3 s^-1.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. Version accepted for publication in PRD. Reference section updated/extended

Estrogen Receptors are Present in Neocortical Transplants

Fetal neocortical tissue was grafted into neocortical lesion cavities made in newborn rats. After two weeks survival, in vitro binding of [3H]- estradiol to cytosolic preparations provided evidence of estrogen receptors within the transplants. The observed high levels correspond to previous work demonstrating elevated estrogen receptor levels during the first postnatal week in the rat cerebral cortex

Geotechnical Investigations for Foundation Design for Multi-storeyed Building

Oil and Natural Gas Commission of India plans to construct a multi-storeyed building in Dehradun city at the foothills of Himalayas. The geotechnical investigations were carried out at site to determine soil parameters for foundation design. It was found that it was not possible to provide a raft foundation for the building and hence alternatively the pile foundation was suggested. The pile load capacity was predicted on the basis of soil parameters determined and a comparison was then made with the results obtained by carrying out load tests on constructed piles

Parker Instability in a Self-Gravitating Magnetized Gas Disk: I. Linear Stability Analysis

To be a formation mechanism of such large-scale structures as giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and HI superclouds, the classical Parker instability driven by external gravity has to overcome three major obstacles: The convective motion accompanying the instability generates thin sheets than large condensations. The degree of density enhancement achieved by the instability is too low to make dense interstellar clouds. The time and the length scales of the instability are significantly longer and larger than the estimated formation time and the observed mean separation of the GMCs, respectively. This paper examines whether a replacement of the driving agent from the external to the self gravity might remove these obstacles by activating the gravitational instability in the Galactic ISM disk. The self gravity can suppress the convective motions, and a cooperative action of the Jeans and the Parker instabilities can remove all the obstacles confronting the classical version of the Parker instability. The mass and mean separation of the structures resulting from the odd-parity undular mode solution are shown to agree better with the HI superclouds than with the GMCs. We briefly discuss how inclusions of the external gravity and cosmic rays would modify behaviors of the odd-parity undular mode solution.Comment: 53 pages, 21 figure