158 research outputs found
Markers of cognitive function in individuals with metabolic disease: Morquio Syndrome and Tyrosinemia Type III
We characterized cognitive function in two metabolic diseases. MPS–IVa (mucopolysaccharidosis IVa, Morquio) and tyrosinemia type III individuals were assessed using tasks of attention, language and oculomotor function. MPS–IVa individuals were slower in visual search, but the display size effects were normal, and slowing was not due to long reaction times (ruling out slow item processing or distraction). Maintaining gaze in an oculomotor task was difficult. Results implicated sustained attention and task initiation or response processing. Shifting attention, accumulating evidence and selecting targets were unaffected. Visual search was also slowed in tyrosinemia type III, and patterns in visual search and fixation tasks pointed to sustained attention impairments, although there were differences from MPS–IVa. Language was impaired in tyrosinemia type III but not MPS–IVa. Metabolic diseases produced selective cognitive effects. Our results, incorporating new methods for developmental data and model selection, illustrate how cognitive data can contribute to understanding function in biochemical brain systems
Episodic, compression-driven fluid venting in layered sedimentary basins
Fluid venting phenomena are prevalent in sedimentary basins globally.
Offshore, these localised fluid-expulsion events are archived in the geologic
record via the resulting pockmarks at the sea-floor. Venting is widely
interpreted to occur via hydraulic fracturing, which requires near-lithostatic
pore pressures for initiation. One common driver for these extreme pressures is
horizontal tectonic compression, which pressurises the entire sedimentary
column over a wide region. Fluid expulsion leads to a sudden, local relief of
this pressure, which then gradually recharges through continued compression,
leading to episodic venting. Pressure recharge will also occur through pressure
diffusion from neighboring regions that remain pressurised, but the combined
role of compression and pressure diffusion in episodic venting has not
previously been considered. Here, we develop a novel poroelastic model for
episodic, compression-driven venting. We show that compression and pressure
diffusion together set the resulting venting period. We derive a simple
analytical expression for this venting period, demonstrating that pressure
diffusion can significantly reduce the venting period associated with a given
rate of compression and allowing this rate of compression to be inferred from
observations of episodic venting. Our results indicate that pressure diffusion
is a major contributor to episodic fluid venting in mudstone-dominated basins
Episodic fluid venting from sedimentary basins fuelled by pressurised mudstones
Subsurface sandstone reservoirs sealed by overlying, low-permeability layers
provide capacity for long-term sequestration of anthropogenic waste. Leakage
can occur if reservoir pressures rise sufficiently to fracture the seal. Such
pressures can be generated within the reservoir by vigorous injection of waste
or, over thousands of years, by natural processes. In either case, the precise
role of intercalated mudstones in the long-term evolution of reservoir pressure
remains unclear; these layers have variously been viewed as seals, as pressure
sinks or as pressure sources. Here, we use the geological record of episodic
fluid venting in the Levant Basin to provide striking evidence for the
pressure-source hypothesis. We use a Bayesian framework to combine recently
published venting data, which record critical subsurface pressures since
2 Ma, with a stochastic model of pressure evolution to infer a
pressure-recharge rate of 30 MPa/Myr. To explain this large rate, we
quantify and compare a range of candidate mechanisms. We find that poroelastic
pressure diffusion from mudstones provides the most plausible explanation for
these observations, amplifying the 1 MPa/Myr recharge caused by tectonic
compression. Since pressurised mudstones are ubiquitous in sedimentary basins,
pressure diffusion from mudstones is likely to promote seal failure globally
The Impact of the Level of Feed-On-Offer Available to Merino Ewes During Winter-Spring on the Wool Production of Their Progeny as Adults
New opportunities for developing optimum ewe management systems, based on achieving liveweight and body condition score (CS) targets at critical stages of the reproductive cycle, have emerged from the acceptance that nutrition during pregnancy can have substantial impacts on the lifetime wool performance of the progeny (Kelly et al,. 1996). However, most studies of the impacts of nutrition on foetal growth and development tended to focus on late pregnancy and have also only considered extreme nutritional regimes often outside the boundaries of commercial reality. Hence, the Lifetime Wool team (Thompson & Oldham, 2004) conducted dose-response experiments to determine the levels of feed-on-offer (FOO; kg dry matter/ha; Hyder et al., 2004) needed at different stages of the reproductive cycle to optimise both wool and meat production per ha in the short term and the lifetime performance of the progeny in the long term. This paper reports the response in the first two years of the experiment of clean fleece weight (CFW) and fibre diameter (FD) of the progeny as adults to the level of FOO available to their mother in late pregnancy and lactation
Concurrent panel session 2: Challenges facing our youth and aged populations
Moderator: Dr. Ann McDonough, UNLV Gerontology Program Scribe: Lisa Gioia-Acres, UNLV Department of History Conference white paper & Full summary of panel session, 4 page
Analisis Faktor yang Mempengaruhi Pendapatan USAhatani Sayuran di Kecamatan Sungai Gelam Kabupaten Muaro Jambi
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk melihat besarnya pendapatan USAhatani sayuran di Kecamatan Sungai Gelam Kabupaten Muaro Jambi. Pemilihan lokasi penelitian dilakukan dengan sengaja atas dasar pertimbangan bahwa di Kecamatan Sungai Gelam merupakan salah satu daerah yang mengusahakan sayuran terbesar di Kabupaten Muaro Jambi.Sampel dalam penelitian ini adalah petani sayuran di Kecamatan Sungai Gelam Kabupaten Muaro Jambi.Penelitian dilakukan dari tanggal 10 September 2014 sampai dengan tanggal 10 Oktober 2014 dengan menggunakan metode simple random sampling. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa Rata – rata pendapatan USAhatani sayuran petani responden di daerah penelitian yaitu Rp. 21.673.293,87 /Tahun dengan rata – rata luas lahan sebesar 0,26 ha. Data ini menunjukkan bahwa kegiatan USAhatani sayuran yang dilakukan petani di Kecamatan Sungai Gelam Masih berskala kecil.Pendapatan USAhatani sayuran di daerah penelitian secara nyata dipengaruhi oleh variabel luas lahan dan modal dengan nilai koefisien positif.Hal ini berarti semakin tinggi luas lahan dan modal yang digunakan, maka pendapatan USAhatani sayuran tinggi.Sedangkan tenaga kerja tidak memberikan pengaruh secara nyata terhadap pendapatan USAhatani sayuran
The process of culturally adapting the Healthy Beginnings early obesity prevention program for Arabic and Chinese mothers in Australia
Upregulation of xCT by KSHV-Encoded microRNAs Facilitates KSHV Dissemination and Persistence in an Environment of Oxidative Stress
Upregulation of xCT, the inducible subunit of a membrane-bound amino acid transporter, replenishes intracellular glutathione stores to maintain cell viability in an environment of oxidative stress. xCT also serves as a fusion-entry receptor for the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), the causative agent of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Ongoing KSHV replication and infection of new cell targets is important for KS progression, but whether xCT regulation within the tumor microenvironment plays a role in KS pathogenesis has not been determined. Using gene transfer and whole virus infection experiments, we found that KSHV-encoded microRNAs (KSHV miRNAs) upregulate xCT expression by macrophages and endothelial cells, largely through miR-K12-11 suppression of BACH-1—a negative regulator of transcription recognizing antioxidant response elements within gene promoters. Correlative functional studies reveal that upregulation of xCT by KSHV miRNAs increases cell permissiveness for KSHV infection and protects infected cells from death induced by reactive nitrogen species (RNS). Interestingly, KSHV miRNAs simultaneously upregulate macrophage secretion of RNS, and biochemical inhibition of RNS secretion by macrophages significantly reduces their permissiveness for KSHV infection. The clinical relevance of these findings is supported by our demonstration of increased xCT expression within more advanced human KS tumors containing a larger number of KSHV-infected cells. Collectively, these data support a role for KSHV itself in promoting de novo KSHV infection and the survival of KSHV-infected, RNS-secreting cells in the tumor microenvironment through the induction of xCT
- …