The role of ras gene in the development of haemic neoplasia in Mytilus trossulus

Disseminated neoplasia has been reported in mussels (Mytilus spp) from numerous locations worldwide. This condition is progressive and fatal and the aetiology is unknown. In vertebrates, oncogenes such as ras, and tumour suppressor genes such as p53, play important roles in carcinogenesis. We have cloned a Mytilus trossulus homologue of the vertebrate ras gene, which shows conserved sequence in regions of functional importance. Neoplastic hemolymph samples derived from M. trossulus have been investigated for the presence of ras gene mutations and changes in expression

GIS Applications

This roundtable discusses various GIS applications in different fields. Purdue\u27s Center for Regional Development presents harmonized space-time data and measures: a study of race, ethnicity and poverty . Prof. Darrell Schulze from Agronomy and Purdue Center for Environmental and Regulatory Information Systems showcase SoilExplorer, a soil map application for teaching and learning soil science. Mark Ehle, Tippcanoe County GIS administrator, introduces the county\u27s GIS services and maps

Freezing of Gait Detection in Parkinson's Disease: A Subject-Independent Detector Using Anomaly Scores

© 2012 IEEE. Freezing of gait (FoG) is common in Parkinsonian gait and strongly relates to falls. Current clinical FoG assessments are patients' self-report diaries and experts' manual video analysis. Both are subjective and yield moderate reliability. Existing detection algorithms have been predominantly designed in subject-dependent settings. In this paper, we aim to develop an automated FoG detector for subject independent. After extracting highly relevant features, we apply anomaly detection techniques to detect FoG events. Specifically, feature selection is performed using correlation and clusterability metrics. From a list of 244 feature candidates, 36 candidates were selected using saliency and robustness criteria. We develop an anomaly score detector with adaptive thresholding to identify FoG events. Then, using accuracy metrics, we reduce the feature list to seven candidates. Our novel multichannel freezing index was the most selective across all window sizes, achieving sensitivity (specificity) of 96% (79%). On the other hand, freezing index from the vertical axis was the best choice for a single input, achieving sensitivity (specificity) of 94% (84%) for ankle and 89% (94%) for back sensors. Our subject-independent method is not only significantly more accurate than those previously reported, but also uses a much smaller window (e.g., 3 s versus 7.5 s) and/or lower tolerance (e.g., 0.4 s versus 2 s)

Light Lepton Number Violating Sneutrinos and the Baryon Number of the Universe

Recent results of neutrino oscillation experiments point to a nonvanishing neutrino mass. Neutrino mass models favour Majorana-type neutrinos. In such circumstances it is natural that the supersymmetric counterpart of the neutrino, the sneutrino, bears also lepton number violating properties. On the other hand, the fact that the universe exhibits an asymmetry in the baryon and antibaryon numbers poses constraints on the extent of lepton number violation in the light sneutrino sector if the electroweak phase transition is second or weak first order. From the requirement that the Baryon Asymmetry of the Universe should not be washed out by sneutrino induced lepton number violating interactions and sphalerons below the critical temperature of the electroweak phase transition we find that the mass splitting of the light sneutrino mass states is compatible with the sneutrino Cold Dark Matter hypothesis only for heavy gauginos and opposite sign gaugino mass parameters.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Simulation of the sedimentary fill of basins

There are many forward models that simulate sedimentary processes. The significance and utility of any particular model is a matter of need, computer hardware, and programming resources. Some forward-model simulations are one-dimensional; they are used to define third-order sea-level curves to infer the origin of peritidal cyclic carbonates, model the interdependence of sea level, depth-dependent carbonate accumulation, and the flexural response of the earths crust, and handle diagenesis of carbonate in relation to the eustatic record. Other simulations are two-dimensional and may handle clastics alone; they are used to create synthetic seismograms for sediment packages by modeling subsidence, sea level, sediment supply, and erosion, provide sedimentation rates for clastic fluvial systems using sediment compaction and tectonic movement, and simulate transport, deposition, erosion, and compaction of clastic sediments, emphasizing fluid velocity. Other simulations are two-dimensional carbonate shelf models that respond to sea-level changes and erosion, allowing redeposition of sediment with user-defined production functions; still others are two-dimensional mixed clastic and carbonate basin fill models. Both of these last kinds of models respond to sea-level changes and erosion, allowing redeposition of sediment with user-defined production functions. The program SEDPAK models some of the functions described and tests seismic interpretations based on sea-level curves. These curves are input parameters to the program. The program responds to tectonic movement, eustasy, and sedimentation, modeling sedimentary bypass and erosion. It reproduces clastic systems (including lacustrine, alluvial, and coastal plains, marine shelf, basin slope, and basin floor systems, and carbonate systems) and accounts for progradation, development of hardgrounds, downslope aprons, keep-up, catch-up, back-step, and drowned reef systems, and lagoonal and epeiric sea settings. SEDPAK simulates extensional vertical faulting of the basin, sediment compaction, and isostatic response to sediment loading. Sediment geometries can be viewed immediately on a graphics terminal as they are computed. Based on the observed geometric patterns, the user can repeatedly change the parameter and rerun the program until satisfied with the resultant geometry. This simulation is implemented in the C programming language (Kernighan and Ritchie, 1978), uses the X window system for graphical plotting functions (Scheifler and Gettys, 1986), and is operated on a Unix-based workstation, such as DEC 3 100, Sun, and Apollo. The simulation output is illustrated with examples from the Permian basin of West Texas and New Mexico, the Permian of the Sichuan basin, and the Upper Devonian of western Canada

Simulation of the sedimentary fill of basins

There are many forward models that simulate sedimentary processes. The significance and utility of any particular model is a matter of need, computer hardware, and programming resources. Some forward-model simulations are one-dimensional; they are used to define third-order sea-level curves to infer the origin of peritidal cyclic carbonates, model the interdependence of sea level, depth-dependent carbonate accumulation, and the flexural response of the earths crust, and handle diagenesis of carbonate in relation to the eustatic record. Other simulations are two-dimensional and may handle clastics alone; they are used to create synthetic seismograms for sediment packages by modeling subsidence, sea level, sediment supply, and erosion, provide sedimentation rates for clastic fluvial systems using sediment compaction and tectonic movement, and simulate transport, deposition, erosion, and compaction of clastic sediments, emphasizing fluid velocity. Other simulations are two-dimensional carbonate shelf models that respond to sea-level changes and erosion, allowing redeposition of sediment with user-defined production functions; still others are two-dimensional mixed clastic and carbonate basin fill models. Both of these last kinds of models respond to sea-level changes and erosion, allowing redeposition of sediment with user-defined production functions. The program SEDPAK models some of the functions described and tests seismic interpretations based on sea-level curves. These curves are input parameters to the program. The program responds to tectonic movement, eustasy, and sedimentation, modeling sedimentary bypass and erosion. It reproduces clastic systems (including lacustrine, alluvial, and coastal plains, marine shelf, basin slope, and basin floor systems, and carbonate systems) and accounts for progradation, development of hardgrounds, downslope aprons, keep-up, catch-up, back-step, and drowned reef systems, and lagoonal and epeiric sea settings. SEDPAK simulates extensional vertical faulting of the basin, sediment compaction, and isostatic response to sediment loading. Sediment geometries can be viewed immediately on a graphics terminal as they are computed. Based on the observed geometric patterns, the user can repeatedly change the parameter and rerun the program until satisfied with the resultant geometry. This simulation is implemented in the C programming language (Kernighan and Ritchie, 1978), uses the X window system for graphical plotting functions (Scheifler and Gettys, 1986), and is operated on a Unix-based workstation, such as DEC 3 100, Sun, and Apollo. The simulation output is illustrated with examples from the Permian basin of West Texas and New Mexico, the Permian of the Sichuan basin, and the Upper Devonian of western Canada

Sedimentation and subsidence history of the Lomonosov Ridge

During the first scientific ocean drilling expedition to the Arctic Ocean (Arctic Coring Expedition [ACEX]; Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 302), four sites were drilled and cored atop the central part of the Lomonosov Ridge in the Arctic Ocean at ~88°N, 140°E (see Fig. F18 in the "Sites M0001–M0004" chapter). The ridge was rifted from the Eurasian continental margin at ~57 Ma (Fig. F1) (Jokat et al., 1992, 1995). Since the rifting event and the concurrent tilting and erosion of this sliver of the outer continental margin, the Lomonosov Ridge subsided while hemipelagic and pelagic sediments were deposited above the angular rifting unconformity (see Fig. F7A in the "Sites M0001–M0004" chapter).The sections recovered from the four sites drilled during Expedition 302 can be correlated using their seismic signature, physical properties (porosity, magnetic susceptibility, resistivity, and P-wave velocity), chemostratigraphy (ammonia content of pore waters), lithostratigraphy, and biostratigraphy. The lithostratigraphy of the composite section combined with biostratigraphy provides an insight into the complex history of deposition, erosion, and preservation of the biogenic fraction. Eventually, the ridge subsided to its present water depth as it drifted from the Eurasian margin. In this chapter, we compare a simple model of subsidence history with the sedimentary record recovered from atop the ridge

Accuracy of diabetes screening methods used for people with tuberculosis, Indonesia, Peru, Romania, South Africa

Objective To evaluate the performance of diagnostic tools for diabetes mellitus, including laboratory methods and clinical risk scores, in newly-diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis patients from four middle-income countries. Methods In a multicentre, prospective study, we recruited 2185 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis from sites in Indonesia, Peru, Romania and South Africa from January 2014 to September 2016. Using laboratory-measured glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) as the gold standard, we measured the diagnostic accuracy of random plasma glucose, point-of-care HbA1c, fasting blood glucose, urine dipstick, published and newly derived diabetes mellitus risk scores and anthropometric measurements. We also analysed combinations of tests, including a two-step test using point-of-care HbA1cwhen initial random plasma glucose was ≥ 6.1 mmol/L. Findings The overall crude prevalence of diabetes mellitus among newly diagnosed tuberculosis patients was 283/2185 (13.0%; 95% confidence interval, CI: 11.6–14.4). The marker with the best diagnostic accuracy was point-of-care HbA1c (area under receiver operating characteristic curve: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.75–0.86). A risk score derived using age, point-of-care HbA1c and random plasma glucose had the best overall diagnostic accuracy (area under curve: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.81–0.90). There was substantial heterogeneity between sites for all markers, but the two-step combination test performed well in Indonesia and Peru. Conclusion Random plasma glucose followed by point-of-care HbA1c testing can accurately diagnose diabetes in tuberculosis patients, particularly those with substantial hyperglycaemia, while reducing the need for more expensive point-of-care HbA1c testing. Risk scores with or without biochemical data may be useful but require validation

3D Printed Franz cells - update on optimization of manufacture and evaluation

The evaluation of permeation profiles from cosmetic formulations is considered to be a crucial component in both the development and quality assurance of any new product [1, 2]. Data gathered from such studies allow researchers to assess the viability of delivering different materials to and through biological membranes. To date, laboratory in vitro permeation processes require the use of modified Franz type diffusion cells, conventionally fabricated from glass, which are available in different formats that can be customised to experimental requirements [3]