AltitudeOmics: The Integrative Physiology of Human Acclimatization to Hypobaric Hypoxia and Its Retention upon Reascent.

An understanding of human responses to hypoxia is important for the health of millions of people worldwide who visit, live, or work in the hypoxic environment encountered at high altitudes. In spite of dozens of studies over the last 100 years, the basic mechanisms controlling acclimatization to hypoxia remain largely unknown. The AltitudeOmics project aimed to bridge this gap. Our goals were 1) to describe a phenotype for successful acclimatization and assess its retention and 2) use these findings as a foundation for companion mechanistic studies. Our approach was to characterize acclimatization by measuring changes in arterial oxygenation and hemoglobin concentration [Hb], acute mountain sickness (AMS), cognitive function, and exercise performance in 21 subjects as they acclimatized to 5260 m over 16 days. We then focused on the retention of acclimatization by having subjects reascend to 5260 m after either 7 (n = 14) or 21 (n = 7) days at 1525 m. At 16 days at 5260 m we observed: 1) increases in arterial oxygenation and [Hb] (compared to acute hypoxia: PaO2 rose 9±4 mmHg to 45±4 while PaCO2 dropped a further 6±3 mmHg to 21±3, and [Hb] rose 1.8±0.7 g/dL to 16±2 g/dL; 2) no AMS; 3) improved cognitive function; and 4) improved exercise performance by 8±8% (all changes p<0.01). Upon reascent, we observed retention of arterial oxygenation but not [Hb], protection from AMS, retention of exercise performance, less retention of cognitive function; and noted that some of these effects lasted for 21 days. Taken together, these findings reveal new information about retention of acclimatization, and can be used as a physiological foundation to explore the molecular mechanisms of acclimatization and its retention

Diabetic retinopathy: loss of neuroretinal adaptation to the diabetic metabolic environment

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106882/1/nyas12412.pd

Detector Description and Performance for the First Coincidence Observations between LIGO and GEO

For 17 days in August and September 2002, the LIGO and GEO interferometer gravitational wave detectors were operated in coincidence to produce their first data for scientific analysis. Although the detectors were still far from their design sensitivity levels, the data can be used to place better upper limits on the flux of gravitational waves incident on the earth than previous direct measurements. This paper describes the instruments and the data in some detail, as a companion to analysis papers based on the first data.Comment: 41 pages, 9 figures 17 Sept 03: author list amended, minor editorial change

Analysis of LIGO data for gravitational waves from binary neutron stars

We report on a search for gravitational waves from coalescing compact binary systems in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds. The analysis uses data taken by two of the three LIGO interferometers during the first LIGO science run and illustrates a method of setting upper limits on inspiral event rates using interferometer data. The analysis pipeline is described with particular attention to data selection and coincidence between the two interferometers. We establish an observational upper limit of $\mathcal{R}<$1.7 \times 10^{2}$per year per Milky Way Equivalent Galaxy (MWEG), with 90coalescence rate of binary systems in which each component has a mass in the range 1--3$M_\odot$.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure

De variabiliteit van Veronica hederifolia L. in Nederland

The variation and distribution of Veronica hederifolia in the Netherlands is more thoroughly discussed than in the preliminary paper bij DE JONGH (1968). It is shown that only two of the five taxa distinguished by M. Fischer occur, V. hederifolia L. and V. sublobata M. Fischer. The earlier records for V. triloba Opiz refer to V. sublobata. In a rather large number of specimens the combination of morphological characters typical of the two indigenous taxa was not found. Therefore the authors agree with Hartl that Fischer’s microspecies do not deserve specific rank. The correct names on subspecific level appear to be V. hederifolia L. subsp. hederifolia, and V. hederifolia L. subsp. lucorum (Klett & Richt.) Hartl. The distribution of the latter subspecies in the Netherlands is still insufficiently known. It is in all probability much rarer than subsp. hederifolia. Thus far it has been collected only a few times in the eastern part of the country. In the extreme western part, however, it is rather common, especially in the woods behind the dunes

DS_10.1177_0022034518777751 – Supplemental material for The Zonal Architecture of the Mandibular Condyle Requires ADAMTS5

<p>Supplemental material, DS_10.1177_0022034518777751 for The Zonal Architecture of the Mandibular Condyle Requires ADAMTS5 by A.W. Rogers, S.E. Cisewski, and C.B. Kern in Journal of Dental Research</p

Does tumorigenesis select for or against mutations of the DNA repair-associated genes BRCA2 and MRE11? Considerations from somatic mutations in microsatellite unstable (MSI) gastrointestinal cancers

Background: The BRCA2 and MRE11 proteins participate in the repair of double-strand DNA breaks by homologous recombination. Germline BRCA2 mutations predispose to ovarian, breast and pancreatic cancer, while a germline MRE11 mutation is associated with an ataxia telangiectasia-like disorder. Somatic mutations of BRCA2 are rare in typical sporadic cancers. In tumors having microsatellite instability (MSI), somatic truncating mutations in a poly [ A] tract of BRCA2 are reported on occasion. Results: We analyzed gastrointestinal MSI cancers by whole gene BRCA2 sequencing, finding heterozygous truncating mutations in seven (47%) of 15 patients. There was no cellular functional defect in RAD51 focus-formation in three heterozygously mutated lines studied, although other potential functions of the BRCA2 protein could still be affected. A prior report of mutations in primary MSI tumors affecting the IVS5-(5 - 15) poly [T] tract of the MRE11 gene was confirmed and extended by analysis of the genomic sequence and protein expression in MSI cancer cell lines. Statistical analysis of the published MRE11 mutation rate in MSI tumors did not provide evidence for a selective pressure favoring biallelic mutations at this repeat. Conclusion: Perhaps conflicting with common suspicions, the data are not compatible with selective pressures during tumorigenesis promoting the functional loss of BRCA2 and MRE11 in MSI tumors. Instead, these data fit closely with an absence of selective pressures acting on BRCA2 and MRE11 gene status during tumorigenesi