Optimizing Growth Options for the Wewahootee Pump and Transport System

Techniques for performance optimization and energy reduction were reviewed for application to water supply plants. Simple techniques were developed which permit intelligent management decisions for plant operation growth. The techniques were applied to the Wewahootee Water Supply Plant, Cocoa, Florida. Optimum performance for the existing plant was determined together with a growth plan for reducing energy consumption and increasing the maximum flow capacity to meet demand through the year 2000. The following recommendations were made: 1. Plant operators should incorporate the optimized pump operation schedule presented herein. 2. Four existing pumps should be modified for dual speed operation, and a large capacity dual speed pump should be added. 3. One 10,400 foot section should be added to the 42-inch pipe by 1985 and a second section by 1990. 4. An economic analysis should be performed to determine if it is advantageous to accelerate installation of the 42-inch pipe. 5. The use of stored water should be considered to smooth the flow demands placed on the pumps

Exposure to males, but not receipt of sex peptide, accelerates functional aging in female fruit flies

1. Increased exposure to males can affect females negatively, reducing female life span and fitness. These costs could derive from increased mating rate and also harassment by males. Additionally, early investment in reproduction can increase the onset or rate of senescence in reproductive traits. Hence, there is a tight link between reproduction and ageing. 2. Here, we assess how mating and encounter rate with males impacts declines in female functional traits that are not directly involved in reproduction. In Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies, exposure to males and mating reduces female life span through harassment and receipt of seminal proteins, including sex peptide (SP). We manipulated the intensity of female exposure to males and regularly assessed female stress responses and recorded physiological traits over her lifetime. 3. Both mating itself and increased exposure to males accelerate declines in female climbing ability and starvation resistance. However, this is not related to changes in female body mass or fat storage. Moreover, these declines are not driven by the receipt of SP. 4. Our results suggest some synchrony in senescence across traits in response to female exposure to males; however, this is not universal, as we did not find this for physiological traits. Synchrony in senescence has been theorized but little supported in the literature. It is clear that ageing is a multifaceted trait; to understand environmental impacts on ageing rates, we must measure more than life span and indeed measure senescence in multiple traits. Specifically, our work shows that we must identify which female traits are sensitive to elevated mating activity to understand the impact of antagonistic interactions between the sexes on female ageing patterns

The modulation of motor contagion by intrapersonal sensorimotor experience

Sensorimotor experiences can modify the internal models for action. These modifications can govern the discrepancies between predicted and actual sensory consequences, such as distinguishing self- and other-generated actions. This distinction may also contribute toward the inhibition of movement interference, which is strongly associated with the coupling of observed and executed actions. Therefore, movement interference could be mediated by the sensorimotor experiences underlying the self-other distinction. The present study examined the impact of sensorimotor experiences on involuntary movement interference (motor contagion). Participants were required to complete a motor contagion paradigm in which they executed horizontal arm movements while observing congruent (horizontal) or incongruent (vertical) arm movements of a model. This task was completed before and after a training protocol in which participants executed the same horizontal arm movements in the absence of the model stimuli. Different groups of participants trained with or without vision of their moving limb. Analysis of participants who were predisposed to motor contagion (involuntary movement interference during the observation of incongruent movements) revealed that the no vision group continued to demonstrate contagion at post-training, although the vision group did not. We propose that the vision group were able to integrate the visual afferent information with an internal model for action, which effectively refines the ability to match self-produced afferent and efferent sources of information during response-execution. This enhanced matching allows for a better distinction between self and other, which in turn, mediates the inhibition of motor contagion

Challenges and priorities for pediatric critical care clinician-researchers in low- and middle-income countries

IntroductionThere is need for more data on critical care outcomes and interventions from low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Global research collaborations could help improve health-care delivery for critically ill children in LMIC where child mortality rates remain high.Materials and methodsTo inform the role of collaborative research in health-care delivery for critically ill children in LMIC, an anonymous online survey of pediatric critical care (PCC) physicians from LMIC was conducted to assess priorities, major challenges, and potential solutions to PCC research. A convenience sample of 56 clinician-researchers taking care of critically ill children in LMIC was targeted. In addition, the survey was made available on a Latin American PCC website. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis.ResultsThe majority of the 47 survey respondents worked at urban, public teaching hospitals in LMIC. Respondents stated their primary PCC research motivations were to improve clinical care and establish guidelines to standardize care. Top challenges to conducting research were lack of funding, high clinical workload, and limited research support staff. Respondent-proposed solutions to these challenges included increasing research funding options for LMIC, better access to mentors from high-income countries, research training and networks, and higher quality medical record documentation.ConclusionLMIC clinician-researchers must be better empowered and resourced to lead and influence the local and global health research agenda for critically ill children. Increased funding options, access to training and mentorship in research methodology, and improved data collection systems for LMIC PCC researchers were recognized as key needs for success

Growth-differentiation factor-8 (GDF-8) in the uterus: its identification and functional significance in the golden hamster

Transforming growth factor-beta superfamily regulates many aspects of reproduction in the female. We identified a novel member of this family, growth-differentiation factor 8 (GDF-8) in the 72 h post coital uterine fluid of the golden hamster by proteomic techniques. Uterine GDF-8 mRNA decreased as pregnancy progressed while its active protein peaked at 72 h post coitus (hpc) and thereafter stayed at a lower level. At 72 hpc, the GDF-8 transcript was localized to the endometrial epithelium while its protein accumulated in the stroma. Exogenous GDF-8 slowed down proliferation of primary cultures of uterine smooth muscle cells (SMC) and endometrial epithelial cells (EEC). In addition, GDF-8 attenuated the release of LIF (leukaemia inhibiting factor) by EEC. As for the embryo in culture, GDF-8 promoted proliferation of the trophotoderm (TM) and hatching but discouraged attachment. Our study suggests that GDF-8 could regulate the behavior of preimplantation embryos and fine-tune the physiology of uterine environment during pregnancy

Correlated Strength in Nuclear Spectral Function

We have carried out an (e,e'p) experiment at high momentum transfer and in parallel kinematics to measure the strength of the nuclear spectral function S(k,E) at high nucleon momenta k and large removal energies E. This strength is related to the presence of short-range and tensor correlations, and was known hitherto only indirectly and with considerable uncertainty from the lack of strength in the independent-particle region. This experiment confirms by direct measurement the correlated strength predicted by theory.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev. Let

Electrophysiological and Imaging Calcium Biomarkers of Aging in Male and Female 5×FAD Mice

BACKGROUND: In animal models and tissue preparations, calcium dyshomeostasis is a biomarker of aging and Alzheimer\u27s disease that is associated with synaptic dysfunction, neuritic pruning, and dysregulated cellular processes. It is unclear, however, whether the onset of calcium dysregulation precedes, is concurrent with, or is the product of pathological cellular events (e.g., oxidation, amyloid-β production, and neuroinflammation). Further, neuronal calcium dysregulation is not always present in animal models of amyloidogenesis, questioning its reliability as a disease biomarker. OBJECTIVE: Here, we directly tested for the presence of calcium dysregulation in dorsal hippocampal neurons in male and female 5×FAD mice on a C57BL/6 genetic background using sharp electrodes coupled with Oregon-green Bapta-1 imaging. We focused on three ages that coincide with the course of amyloid deposition: 1.5, 4, and 10 months old. METHODS: Outcome variables included measures of the afterhyperpolarization, short-term synaptic plasticity, and calcium kinetics during synaptic activation. Quantitative analyses of spatial learning and memory were also conducted using the Morris water maze. Main effects of sex, age, and genotype were identified on measures of electrophysiology and calcium imaging. RESULTS: Measures of resting Oregon-green Bapta-1 fluorescence showed significant reductions in the 5×FAD group compared to controls. Deficits in spatial memory, along with increases in Aβ load, were detectable at older ages, allowing us to test for temporal associations with the onset of calcium dysregulation. CONCLUSION: Our results provide evidence that reduced, rather than elevated, neuronal calcium is identified in this 5×FAD model and suggests that this surprising result may be a novel biomarker of AD

Inclusive Electron-Nucleus Scattering at Large Momentum Transfer

Inclusive electron scattering is measured with 4.045 GeV incident beam energy from C, Fe and Au targets. The measured energy transfers and angles correspond to a kinematic range for Bjorken $x > 1$ and momentum transfers from $Q^2 = 1 - 7 (GeV/c)^2$. When analyzed in terms of the y-scaling function the data show for the first time an approach to scaling for values of the initial nucleon momenta significantly greater than the nuclear matter Fermi-momentum (i.e. $> 0.3$ GeV/c).Comment: 5 pages TEX, 5 Postscript figures also available at http://www.krl.caltech.edu/preprints/OAP.htm