A hybrid CA-PDE Model of chlamydia trachomatis infection in the female genital tract

Chlamydia trachomatis is amongst the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the world and when left untreated, may lead to serious sequelae particularly in women such as pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility. Currently, most mathematical modelling in the literature regarding Chlamydia is based on time dependent differential equations. The serious pathology associated with C. trachomatis occurs when the chlamydial infection ascends to the upper genital tract. But no modelling study has investigated the important spatial aspects of the disease. In this work, we include spatiotemporal considerations of the progression of chlamydial infection in the genital tract. This novel direction is achieved using cellular automata modelling with probabilistic decision processes. In this presentation, the modelling strategy will be described, as well as its relationship with existing models and the advances in understanding that are achieved with such a model. Such an approach provides valuable insights into disease progression and will lead to experimentally testable predictions and a basis for further investigation in this area

Induced p-wave superfluidity in strongly interacting imbalanced Fermi gases

The induced interaction among the majority spin species, due to the presence of the minority species, is computed for the case of a population-imbalanced resonantly-interacting Fermi gas. It is shown that this interaction leads to an instability, at low temperatures, of the recently observed polaron Fermi liquid phase of strongly imbalanced Fermi gases to a p-wave superfluid state. We find that the associated transition temperature, while quite small in the weakly interacting BCS regime, is experimentally accessible in the strongly interacting unitary regime.Comment: Published versio

Charter Schools as Nation Builders: Democracy Prep and Civic Education

This policy brief is the first in a series of in-depth case studies exploring how top-performing charter schools have incorporated civic learning in their school curriculum and school culture. For more information about AEI's Program on American Citizenship

PGC-1 coactivators: Inducible regulators of energy metabolism in health and disease

Members of the PPARγ coactivator-1 (PGC-1) family of transcriptional coactivators serve as inducible coregulators of nuclear receptors in the control of cellular energy metabolic pathways. This Review focuses on the biologic and physiologic functions of the PGC-1 coactivators, with particular emphasis on striated muscle, liver, and other organ systems relevant to common diseases such as diabetes and heart failure

POTENTIAL FARM-LEVEL IMPACTS OF PROPOSED FQPA IMPLEMENTATION: THE TENNESSEE CASE

This research estimates farm-level impacts of a potential ban on organophosphates and carbamates under the FQPA. Insecticide expenditure and first- and fifth-year yield impacts are estimated for five Tennessee representative farms. Results indicate that within five years, the ban could reduce net farm income on Tennessee farms by 16 to 46 percent.FQPA, organophosphates, carbamates, insecticides, farm-level analysis, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Using Exploratory Factor Analysis to Build a Self-Efficacy Scale for Three-dimensional Modeling

  Research on self-efficacy has provided evidence that it is a moderating factor that positively impacts stu­dents’ choices to pursue and persist in engineering. Engineering graphics is seen as the preferred method of communication for the profession, yet to date no instrument is available that measures students’ self-ef­ficacy as it relates to engineering graphics. This paper discusses an exploratory factor analysis conducted to determine the reliability and validity of a self-efficacy scale designed specific to the domain of engineer­ing graphics. Results from this study provided evidence that the instrument developed is reliable and valid for the investigation of students’ self-efficacy as it relates to engineering graphics

Adjuvant Immunotherapy Is Dependent on Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase

Rodents immunized with complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) are resistant to subsequent attempts to induce autoimmune disease, while animals immunized with incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA) remain susceptible. Mycobacterial extracts can stimulate inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS2) gene transcription. Robust expression of NOS2 has been linked to suppression of T cell proliferation and alterations in immune responses. Our studies investigated the hypothesis that the immunoprotective effect of CFA before immunization requires functional NOS2. NOS2 gene expression is chronically elevated in lymph nodes and spleens of CFA-immunized mice. Maximal expression of NOS2 after CFA immunization requires the presence of functional type I tumor necrosis factor α receptor (TNFR1) and interferon γ. Groups of nontreated and CFA-preimmunized male C57BL/6J or C57BL/6NOS2−/− mice were immunized with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) peptide 35–55 in CFA to induce experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). Wild-type C57BL/6J mice were protected from the development of symptoms of EAE, while the NOS2−/− mice failed to be protected. NOS2-dependent effects of CFA included an augmentation of the MOG-specific IgG1 response, a decrease in interleukin 6 production by MOG-reactive lymphocytes, and a marked decrease in mononuclear cell infiltrates in the central nervous system. These studies support the hypothesis that CFA immunization modulates immune responses through a nitric oxide–dependent mechanism

Fuel loading prediction models developed from aerial photographs of the Sangre de Cristo and Jemez mountains of New Mexico, USA

Fuel load prediction equations that made use of aerial photographs were developed for Mixed Conifer, Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) and Pinyon-Juniper (Pinus edulis Engelm.)-(Juniperusmonosperma Engelm.) cover types from one-time measurements made in the Santa Fe watershed (SFWS) located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico, and at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) located in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. The results of the watershed data set were favorable and exhibited a high degree of relative accuracy. The results from the LANL data set did not share the same degree of accuracy, but rather exhibited a high degree of error. Use of these or similar prediction equations may be limited to certain regions and community types that exhibit similar regional characteristics such as terrain, soil, and weather conditions. Applied use of the prediction equations required less time than traditional fuel sampling performed onsite, but suffered from a loss of accuracy. It is strongly suggested that additional study of this method be undertaken to generate more accurate and reliable equations. Hopefully, more accurate equations may augment existing fuel sampling techniques and be put to practical use for fire planning purposes