Lagrangian Structure Functions in Turbulence: A Quantitative Comparison between Experiment and Direct Numerical Simulation

A detailed comparison between data from experimental measurements and numerical simulations of Lagrangian velocity structure functions in turbulence is presented. By integrating information from experiments and numerics, a quantitative understanding of the velocity scaling properties over a wide range of time scales and Reynolds numbers is achieved. The local scaling properties of the Lagrangian velocity increments for the experimental and numerical data are in good quantitative agreement for all time lags. The degree of intermittency changes when measured close to the Kolmogorov time scales or at larger time lags. This study resolves apparent disagreements between experiment and numerics.Comment: 13 RevTeX pages (2 columns) + 8 figures include

MR Spectroscopic Imaging of Peripheral Zone in Prostate Cancer Using a 3T MRI Scanner: Endorectal versus External Phased Array Coils.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) detects alterations in major prostate metabolites, such as citrate (Cit), creatine (Cr), and choline (Ch). We evaluated the sensitivity and accuracy of three-dimensional MRSI of prostate using an endorectal compared to an external phased array "receive" coil on a 3T MRI scanner. Eighteen patients with prostate cancer (PCa) who underwent endorectal MR imaging and proton (1H) MRSI were included in this study. Immediately after the endorectal MRSI scan, the PCa patients were scanned with the external phased array coil. The endorectal coil-detected metabolite ratio [(Ch+Cr)/Cit] was significantly higher in cancer locations (1.667 ± 0.663) compared to non-cancer locations (0.978 ± 0.420) (P < 0.001). Similarly, for the external phased array, the ratio was significantly higher in cancer locations (1.070 ± 0.525) compared to non-cancer locations (0.521 ± 0.310) (P < 0.001). The sensitivity and accuracy of cancer detection were 81% and 78% using the endorectal 'receive' coil, and 69% and 75%, respectively using the external phased array 'receive' coil

Gene expression in Leishmania is regulated predominantly by gene dosage

ABSTRACT Leishmania tropica, a unicellular eukaryotic parasite present in North and East Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent, has been linked to large outbreaks of cutaneous leishmaniasis in displaced populations in Iraq, Jordan, and Syria. Here, we report the genome sequence of this pathogen and 7,863 identified protein-coding genes, and we show that the majority of clinical isolates possess high levels of allelic diversity, genetic admixture, heterozygosity, and extensive aneuploidy. By utilizing paired genome-wide high-throughput DNA sequencing (DNA-seq) with RNA-seq, we found that gene dosage, at the level of individual genes or chromosomal “somy” (a general term covering disomy, trisomy, tetrasomy, etc.), accounted for greater than 85% of total gene expression variation in genes with a 2-fold or greater change in expression. High gene copy number variation (CNV) among membrane-bound transporters, a class of proteins previously implicated in drug resistance, was found for the most highly differentially expressed genes. Our results suggest that gene dosage is an adaptive trait that confers phenotypic plasticity among natural Leishmania populations by rapid down- or upregulation of transporter proteins to limit the effects of environmental stresses, such as drug selection. IMPORTANCE Leishmania is a genus of unicellular eukaryotic parasites that is responsible for a spectrum of human diseases that range from cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis (MCL) to life-threatening visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Developmental and strain-specific gene expression is largely thought to be due to mRNA message stability or posttranscriptional regulatory networks for this species, whose genome is organized into polycistronic gene clusters in the absence of promoter-mediated regulation of transcription initiation of nuclear genes. Genetic hybridization has been demonstrated to yield dramatic structural genomic variation, but whether such changes in gene dosage impact gene expression has not been formally investigated. Here we show that the predominant mechanism determining transcript abundance differences (>85%) in Leishmania tropica is that of gene dosage at the level of individual genes or chromosomal somy

Identification of the DNA-Binding Domains of Human Replication Protein A That Recognize G-Quadruplex DNA

Replication protein A (RPA), a key player in DNA metabolism, has 6 single-stranded DNA-(ssDNA-) binding domains (DBDs) A-F. SELEX experiments with the DBDs-C, -D, and -E retrieve a 20-nt G-quadruplex forming sequence. Binding studies show that RPA-DE binds preferentially to the G-quadruplex DNA, a unique preference not observed with other RPA constructs. Circular dichroism experiments show that RPA-CDE-core can unfold the G-quadruplex while RPA-DE stabilizes it. Binding studies show that RPA-C binds pyrimidine- and purine-rich sequences similarly. This difference between RPA-C and RPA-DE binding was also indicated by the inability of RPA-CDE-core to unfold an oligonucleotide containing a TC-region 5′ to the G-quadruplex. Molecular modeling studies of RPA-DE and telomere-binding proteins Pot1 and Stn1 reveal structural similarities between the proteins and illuminate potential DNA-binding sites for RPA-DE and Stn1. These data indicate that DBDs of RPA have different ssDNA recognition properties

Little angels: The mediation of parenting

This Article does not have an abstract

Temperature dependence of instantons in QCD

We investigate the temperature dependence of the instanton contents of gluon fields, using unquenched lattice QCD and the cooling method. The instanton size parameter deduced from the correlation function decreases from 0.44fm below the phase-transition temperature $T_c$ ($\approx 150$MeV) to 0.33fm at 1.3 $T_c$. The instanton charge distribution is Poissonian above $T_c$, but it deviates from the convoluted Poisson at low temperature. The topological susceptibility decreases rapidly below $T_c$, showing the apparent restoration of the $U(1)_A$ symmetry already at $T \approx T_c$.Comment: 8 pages TEX, 3 Postscript figures available at http://www.krl.caltech.edu/preprints/MAP.htm

He Scores Through a Screen: Mediating Masculinities Through Hockey Video Games

Hockey video games highlight the ways in which the video game medium shapes and conditions the experience of producing and/or performing the sport “in real life.” Indeed, the accumulation of advanced statistics in and through the constant evaluation, measurement, and surveillance which are inherent to video games—and increasingly seen as foundational for sport—reveals important contradictions not only in the way the embodied sport is played and understood, but also in terms of the proofs of masculinity upon which the sport is built. It then becomes clear that the building of masculinity and the empowerment of the character become one and the same. The ludic function reinforces the cultural imperative and vice versa. Thus, our chapter prizes apart the conflation of masculinity with hockey while showing the ways that video game studies can contribute to existing disciplines

Does the Supreme Court Follow the Economic Returns? A Response to A Macrotheory of the Court

Today, there is a widespread idea that parents need to learn how to carry out their roles as parents. Practices of parental learning operate throughout society. This article deals with one particular practice of parental learning, namely nanny TV, and the way in which ideal parents are constructed through such programmes. The point of departure is SOS family, a series broadcast on Swedish television in 2008. Proceeding from the theorising of governmentality developed in the wake of the work of Michel Foucault, we analyse the parental ideals conveyed in the series, as an example of the way parents are constituted as subjects in the ‘advanced liberal society’ of today. The ideal parent is a subject who, guided by the coach, is constantly endeavouring to achieve a makeover. The objective of this endeavour, however, is self-control, whereby the parents will in the end become their own coaches.

The sins of the child: Public opinion about parental responsibility for juvenile crime

Previous research indicates that people ascribe less responsibility to juvenile offenders than adult offenders for the crimes they have committed. Although assignment of responsibility to parents varies depending upon the youth’s age, we know little about the role of other factors. The current study used randomized factorial vignettes to examine whether the seriousness of the offense, peer involvement, and the offender's race, age, sex, and prior record influence support for parental responsibility. We found that participants in our study placed substantial responsibility on parents for dealing with juvenile offenders; however, support for punishing the parents was low, while the importance attached to enrolling parents in training was high. Views on parental responsibility were influenced by the age of the juvenile and the seriousness of the offense. The implications of these findings and how they fit in with previous work are discussed

Half Life of the Doubly-magic r-Process Nucleus 78Ni

Nuclei with magic numbers serve as important benchmarks in nuclear theory. In addition, neutron-rich nuclei play an important role in the astrophysical rapid neutron-capture process (r-process). 78Ni is the only doubly-magic nucleus that is also an important waiting point in the r-process, and serves as a major bottleneck in the synthesis of heavier elements. The half-life of 78Ni has been experimentally deduced for the first time at the Coupled Cyclotron Facility of the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University, and was found to be 110 (+100 -60) ms. In the same experiment, a first half-life was deduced for 77Ni of 128 (+27 -33) ms, and more precise half-lives were deduced for 75Ni and 76Ni of 344 (+20 -24) ms and 238 (+15 -18) ms respectively.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure