Missile Aerodynamics for Ascent and Re-entry

Aerodynamic force and moment equations are developed for 6-DOF missile simulations of both the ascent phase of flight and a tumbling re-entry. The missile coordinate frame (M frame) and a frame parallel to the M frame were used for formulating the aerodynamic equations. The missile configuration chosen as an example is a cylinder with fixed fins and a nose cone. The equations include both the static aerodynamic coefficients and the aerodynamic damping derivatives. The inclusion of aerodynamic damping is essential for simulating a tumbling re-entry. Appended information provides insight into aerodynamic damping

Horizontally transferred genes in plant-parasitic nematodes: a high-throughput genomic approach

BACKGROUND: Published accounts of horizontally acquired genes in plant-parasitic nematodes have not been the result of a specific search for gene transfer per se, but rather have emerged from characterization of individual genes. We present a method for a high-throughput genome screen for horizontally acquired genes, illustrated using expressed sequence tag (EST) data from three species of root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne species. RESULTS: Our approach identified the previously postulated horizontally transferred genes and revealed six new candidates. Screening was partially dependent on sequence quality, with more candidates identified from clustered sequences than from raw EST data. Computational and experimental methods verified the horizontal gene transfer candidates as bona fide nematode genes. Phylogenetic analysis implicated rhizobial ancestors as donors of horizontally acquired genes in Meloidogyne. CONCLUSIONS: High-throughput genomic screening is an effective way to identify horizontal gene transfer candidates. Transferred genes that have undergone amelioration of nucleotide composition and codon bias have been identified using this approach. Analysis of these horizontally transferred gene candidates suggests a link between horizontally transferred genes in Meloidogyne and parasitism

Cardiovascular disease risk factor responses to a type 2 diabetes care model including nutritional ketosis induced by sustained carbohydrate restriction at 1 year: An open label, non-randomized, controlled study

Additional file 1: Table S1. Detailed baseline characteristics for participants in the continuous care intervention (CCI) and usual care (UC) groups

Post hoc analyses of surrogate markers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and liver fibrosis in patients with type 2 diabetes in a digitally supported continuous care intervention: An open-label, non-randomised controlled study

OBJECTIVE: One year of comprehensive continuous care intervention (CCI) through nutritional ketosis improves glycosylated haemoglobin(HbA1c), body weight and liver enzymes among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Here, we report the effect of the CCI on surrogate scores of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and liver fibrosis. METHODS: This was a non-randomised longitudinal study, including adults with T2D who were self-enrolled to the CCI (n=262) or to receive usual care (UC, n=87) during 1 year. An NAFLD liver fat score (N-LFS) >-0.640 defined the presence of fatty liver. An NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS) of >0.675 identified subjects with advanced fibrosis. Changes in N-LFS and NFS at 1 year were the main endpoints. RESULTS: At baseline, NAFLD was present in 95% of patients in the CCI and 90% of patients in the UC. At 1 year, weight loss of ≥5% was achieved in 79% of patients in the CCI versus 19% of patients in UC (p<0.001). N-LFS mean score was reduced in the CCI group (-1.95±0.22, p<0.001), whereas it was not changed in the UC (0.47±0.41, p=0.26) (CCI vs UC, p<0.001). NFS was reduced in the CCI group (-0.65±0.06, p<0.001) compared with UC (0.26±0.11, p=0.02) (p<0.001 between two groups). In the CCI group, the percentage of individuals with a low probability of advanced fibrosis increased from 18% at baseline to 33% at 1 year (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: One year of a digitally supported CCI significantly improved surrogates of NAFLD and advanced fibrosis in patients with T2D

Two Novel Approaches for Electron Beam Polarization from Unstrained GaAs

Two novel approaches to producing highly-polarized electron beams from unstrained GaAs were tested using a micro-Mott polarimeter. Based on a suggestion by Nakanishi [1]], twophoton photoemission with 1560 nm light was used with photocathodes of varying thickness: 625m, 0.32m, and 0.18m. For each of these photocathodes, the degree of spin polarization of the photoemitted beam was less than 50%. Polarization via two-photon absorption was highest from the thinnest photocathode sample and close to that obtained from one-photon absorption (using 778 nm light), with values 40.3±1.0% and 42.6±1.0%, respectively. The second attempt to produce highly-polarized electrons used one-photon emission with 778 nm light in Laguerre-Gaussian modes with different amounts of orbital angular momentum. The degree of electron spin polarization was consistent with zero, with an upper limit of ~3% for light with up to ±5ħ of orbital angular momentum. In contrast, the degree of spin polarization was 32.3±1.4% using circularly-polarized laser light at the same wavelength, which is typical for thick, unstrained GaAs photocathodes

Sequence mining and transcript profiling to explore cyst nematode parasitism

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cyst nematodes are devastating plant parasites that become sedentary within plant roots and induce the transformation of normal plant cells into elaborate feeding cells with the help of secreted effectors, the parasitism proteins. These proteins are the translation products of parasitism genes and are secreted molecular tools that allow cyst nematodes to infect plants.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present here the expression patterns of all previously described parasitism genes of the soybean cyst nematode, <it>Heterodera glycines</it>, in all major life stages except the adult male. These insights were gained by analyzing our gene expression dataset from experiments using the Affymetrix Soybean Genome Array GeneChip, which contains probeset sequences for 6,860 genes derived from preparasitic and parasitic <it>H. glycines </it>life stages. Targeting the identification of additional <it>H. glycines </it>parasitism-associated genes, we isolated 633 genes encoding secretory proteins using algorithms to predict secretory signal peptides. Furthermore, because some of the known <it>H. glycines </it>parasitism proteins have strongest similarity to proteins of plants and microbes, we searched for predicted protein sequences that showed their highest similarities to plant or microbial proteins and identified 156 <it>H. glycines </it>genes, some of which also contained a signal peptide. Analyses of the expression profiles of these genes allowed the formulation of hypotheses about potential roles in parasitism. This is the first study combining sequence analyses of a substantial EST dataset with microarray expression data of all major life stages (except adult males) for the identification and characterization of putative parasitism-associated proteins in any parasitic nematode.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We have established an expression atlas for all known <it>H. glycines </it>parasitism genes. Furthermore, in an effort to identify additional <it>H. glycines </it>genes with putative functions in parasitism, we have reduced the currently known 6,860 <it>H. glycines </it>genes to a pool of 788 most promising candidate genes (including known parasitism genes) and documented their expression profiles. Using our approach to pre-select genes likely involved in parasitism now allows detailed functional analyses in a manner not feasible for larger numbers of genes. The generation of the candidate pool described here is an important enabling advance because it will significantly facilitate the unraveling of fascinating plant-animal interactions and deliver knowledge that can be transferred to other pathogen-host systems. Ultimately, the exploration of true parasitism genes verified from the gene pool delineated here will identify weaknesses in the nematode life cycle that can be exploited by novel anti-nematode efforts.</p

Type 2 diabetes prevention focused on normalization of glycemia: A two-year pilot study

The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of an alternative approach to type 2 diabetes prevention. Ninety-six patients with prediabetes (age 52 (10) years; 80% female; BMI 39.2 (7.1) kg/

A fluence convolution method to account for respiratory motion in three‐dimensional dose calculations of the liver: A Monte Carlo study

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134815/1/mp1412.pd