Enhancing Rural Manufacturers Competitiveness Through Design Automation For New Product Development

The competitiveness of third world manufacturing has placed pressure on U.S. manufacturers to create new products to survive.  Computer aided solid modeling and rapid prototyping technologies accelerate new product development, but rural manufacturers are often left behind.  This paper describes a cooperative venture between a state university and a federal agency to improve the new product development process of selected rural manufacturers by introducing them to leading-edge design automation technologies. Use of these tools allows better cross-functional communication among top management, marketing, designers, engineers, and manufacturing as they proceed through the new product creation process. Participating companies produced new product options, enhanced employment, and increased revenues

Tetrachloroethylene-contaminated drinking water and the risk of breast cancer.

We conducted a population-based case-control study to evaluate the relationship between cases of breast cancer and exposure to tetrachloroethylene (PCE) from public drinking water ( n = 258 cases and 686 controls). Women were exposed to PCE when it leached from the vinyl lining of water distribution pipes. The relative delivered dose was estimated using an algorithm that accounted for residential history, water flow, and pipe characteristics. Only small increases in breast cancer risk were seen among ever-exposed women either when latency was ignored or when 5 to 15 years of latency was considered. No or small increases were seen among highly exposed women either when latency was ignored or when 5 years of latency was considered. However, the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were more increased for highly exposed women when 7 and 9 years of latency, respectively, were considered (OR 1.5 95% CI 0.5-4.7 and OR 2.3, 95% CI 0.6-8.8 for the 75th percentile, and OR 2.7, 95% CI 0.4-15.8 and OR 7.6, 95% CI 0.9-161.3 for the 90th percentile). The number of highly exposed women was too small for meaningful analysis when more years of latency were considered. Because firm conclusions from these data are limited, we recently undertook a new study with a large number of more recently diagnosed cases

Perchloroethylene-contaminated drinking water and the risk of breast cancer: additional results from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA.

In 1998 we published the results of a study suggesting an association between breast cancer and perchloroethylene (PCE; also called tetrachloroethylene) exposure from public drinking water. The present case-control study was undertaken to evaluate this association further. The cases were composed of female residents of eight towns in the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts who had been diagnosed with breast cancer from 1987 through 1993 (n = 672). Controls were composed of demographically similar women from the same towns (n = 616). Women were exposed to PCE when it leached from the vinyl lining of water distribution pipes from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. A relative delivered dose of PCE that entered a home was estimated using an algorithm that took into account residential history, water flow, and pipe characteristics. Small to moderate elevations in risk were seen among women whose exposure levels were above the 75th and 90th percentiles when 0-15 years of latency were considered (adjusted odds ratios, 1.5-1.9 for > 75th percentile, 1.3-2.8 for > 90th percentile). When data from the present and prior studies were combined, small to moderate increases in risk were also seen among women whose exposure levels were above the 75th and 90th percentiles when 0-15 years of latency were considered (adjusted odds ratios, 1.6-1.9 for > 75th percentile, 1.3-1.9 for > 90th percentile). The results of the present study confirm those of the previous one and suggest that women with the highest PCE exposure levels have a small to moderate increased risk of breast cancer

What are the experiences of adults returning to work following recovery from Guillain-Barré syndrome? An interpretative phenomenological analysis

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2009 Informa UK Ltd.Purpose. Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a transient inflammatory disorder affecting peripheral nerves, characterised by weakness and numbness in limbs, upper body and face. Residual problems affect a large minority, and complicate return to work. This qualitative study explored the experiences of people who returned to work following their diagnosis of GBS and recovery, to gain insight into factors that facilitated or inhibited this process. Method. Five people participated in in-depth interviews. Individual and common experiences were explored through interpretative phenomenological analysis. Findings. Three recurring themes are presented: the perceived value of work; losing and recovering a familiar identity at work; and dilemmas around using support and adaptations at work. Certain individual issues also emerged but are beyond the scope of this article. Participants tended to measure their recovery in terms of returning to work yet continued to experience certain physical and psychosocial difficulties at work related to GBS, which required active coping strategies. Limited public awareness of GBS was perceived as a hindrance when returning to work. Conclusion. This study provides a rich account of the experiences that people encounter returning to work following GBS. Rehabilitation specialists may offer more effective preparation for this process, drawing upon the issues identified

Effects of Changing Climate and Water Availability on Four Riparian Species in the Southwestern United States

The Lower Colorado River and Rio Grande Basins are home to many riparian species of different degrees of rarity. In our study we focused on two species of birds and two species of gartersnakes that are associated with water: the Yellow-Breasted Chat (Icteria virens), the American Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia), the Mexican Gartersnake (Thamnophis eques) and the Narrow-headed Gartersnake (T. rufipunctatus). While the extent of distributions of these species is relatively large, they are often patchily distributed in populations that are small. To evaluate the vulnerability of these species at a landscape scale due to changes in hydrology, we built models of suitability of current and future landscapes for these species. We relied on climatic and hydrological predictions, developed by the Bureau of Reclamation (as part of the WATERSmart program) and NASA’s Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), to derive spatially-explicit metrics that quantify the greenness of riparian vegetation in time. Using WATERSmart data, we were able to project these metrics into the future. The projected changes in water availability by end of the century will directly affect the availability of permanent water and riparian vegetation that surrounds suitable habitats of our study species. Our results suggest significant changes in future landscape suitability (up to 64% of area) for all species that are in addition to other threats. Best models included riparian vegetation as an important component of the predictions but we note that finer scale examination of hydrology and climate effects on habitats would be more useful for effective management

Myosin II Motors and F-Actin Dynamics Drive the Coordinated Movement of the Centrosome and Soma during CNS Glial-Guided Neuronal Migration

SummaryLamination of cortical regions of the vertebrate brain depends on glial-guided neuronal migration. The conserved polarity protein Par6α localizes to the centrosome and coordinates forward movement of the centrosome and soma in migrating neurons. The cytoskeletal components that produce this unique form of cell polarity and their relationship to polarity signaling cascades are unknown. We show that F-actin and Myosin II motors are enriched in the neuronal leading process and that Myosin II activity is necessary for leading process actin dynamics. Inhibition of Myosin II decreased the speed of centrosome and somal movement, whereas Myosin II activation increased coordinated movement. Ectopic expression or silencing of Par6α inhibited Myosin II motors by decreasing Myosin light-chain phosphorylation. These findings suggest leading-process Myosin II may function to “pull” the centrosome and soma forward during glial-guided migration by a mechanism involving the conserved polarity protein Par6α

Final Report: Predicting Effects of Climate Change on Riparian Obligate Species in the Southwestern United States

The Lower Colorado River and Rio Grande Basins are home to many riparian vertebrate species with different degrees of rarity. In our study, we focused on two species of birds and two species of gartersnakes that are associated with riparian areas: the Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens), the Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia), the Northern Mexican Gartersnake (Thamnophis eques megalops) and the Narrow-headed Gartersnake (T. rufipunctatus). While the extent of distributions of these species is relatively large, they are often patchily distributed in populations that are small; in addition, both gartersnake species are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Aside from detrimental effects of direct habitat loss and degradation throughout the southwestern United States, future changes in water availability might threaten the long-term persistence of populations of any one of these species. To evaluate this vulnerability at a landscape scale, we built species distribution models under current and future projected climates for each species. For modeling, we relied on climatic and hydrological predictions (downscaled CMIP3 climate and hydrology projections) developed by the Bureau of Reclamation and its partners as part of the West-Wide Climate Risk Assessments within the WATERSmart initiative. We also relied on NASAs Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to derive a spatially explicit index that quantifies riparian vegetation in space and time. Using downscaled climate projections and other landscape data, we were able to project these riparian vegetation metric forward in time. The projected changes in water availability by end of the century will directly affect the availability of permanent water and riparian vegetation creating the habitats of our study species. Our results suggest significant and negative changes in future landscape suitability for all species (up to 64% loss of suitable area), which are in addition to already identified threats facing these species. Best models included the index of riparian vegetation (linked to water availability) as an important component of the predictions, but we also note that finer scale examination of hydrology and climate effects on habitats would be much more useful for effective management.\u2

A dynamic network approach for the study of human phenotypes

The use of networks to integrate different genetic, proteomic, and metabolic datasets has been proposed as a viable path toward elucidating the origins of specific diseases. Here we introduce a new phenotypic database summarizing correlations obtained from the disease history of more than 30 million patients in a Phenotypic Disease Network (PDN). We present evidence that the structure of the PDN is relevant to the understanding of illness progression by showing that (1) patients develop diseases close in the network to those they already have; (2) the progression of disease along the links of the network is different for patients of different genders and ethnicities; (3) patients diagnosed with diseases which are more highly connected in the PDN tend to die sooner than those affected by less connected diseases; and (4) diseases that tend to be preceded by others in the PDN tend to be more connected than diseases that precede other illnesses, and are associated with higher degrees of mortality. Our findings show that disease progression can be represented and studied using network methods, offering the potential to enhance our understanding of the origin and evolution of human diseases. The dataset introduced here, released concurrently with this publication, represents the largest relational phenotypic resource publicly available to the research community.Comment: 28 pages (double space), 6 figure

WNT3 inhibits cerebellar granule neuron progenitor proliferation and medulloblastoma formation via MAPK activation

During normal cerebellar development, the remarkable expansion of granule cell progenitors (GCPs) generates a population of granule neurons that outnumbers the total neuronal population of the cerebral cortex, and provides a model for identifying signaling pathways that may be defective in medulloblastoma. While many studies focus on identifying pathways that promote growth of GCPs, a critical unanswered question concerns the identification of signaling pathways that block mitogenic stimulation and induce early steps in differentiation. Here we identify WNT3 as a novel suppressor of GCP proliferation during cerebellar development and an inhibitor of medulloblastoma growth in mice. WNT3, produced in early postnatal cerebellum, inhibits GCP proliferation by down-regulating proproliferative target genes of the mitogen Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) and the bHLH transcription factor Atoh1. WNT3 suppresses GCP growth through a non-canonical Wnt signaling pathway, activating prototypic mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), the Ras-dependent extracellular-signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) and ERK5, instead of the classical β-catenin pathway. Inhibition of MAPK activity using a MAPK kinase (MEK) inhibitor reversed the inhibitory effect of WNT3 on GCP proliferation. Importantly, WNT3 inhibits proliferation of medulloblastoma tumor growth in mouse models by a similar mechanism. Thus, the present study suggests a novel role for WNT3 as a regulator of neurogenesis and repressor of neural tumors. © 2013 Anne et al

The effects of wildfire on the sediment yield of a coastal California watershed

The occurrence of two wildfires separated by 31 yr in the chaparral-dominated Arroyo Seco watershed (293 km²) of California provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the effects of wildfire on suspended-sediment yield. Here, we compile discharge and suspended-sediment sampling data from before and after the fires and show that the effects of the postfire responses differed markedly. The 1977 Marble Cone wildfire was followed by an exceptionally wet winter, which resulted in concentrations and fluxes of both fine and coarse suspended sediment that were ∼35 times greater than average (sediment yield during the 1978 water year was 11,000 t/km²/yr). We suggest that the combined 1977–1978 fire and flood had a recurrence interval of greater than 1000 yr. In contrast, the 2008 Basin Complex wildfire was followed by a drier than normal year, and although suspended-sediment fluxes and concentrations were significantly elevated compared to those expected for unburned conditions, the sediment yield during the 2009 water year was less than 1% of the post–Marble Cone wildfire yield. After the first postfire winters, sediment concentrations and yield decreased with time toward prefire relationships and continued to have significant rainfall dependence. We hypothesize that the differences in sediment yield were related to precipitation-enhanced hillslope erosion processes, such as rilling and mass movements. The millennial-scale effects of wildfire on sediment yield were explored further using Monte Carlo simulations, and these analyses suggest that infrequent wildfires followed by floods increase long-term suspended-sediment fluxes markedly. Thus, we suggest that the current approach of estimating sediment yield from sediment rating curves and discharge data—without including periodic perturbations from wildfires—may grossly underestimate actual sediment yields