The November 1987 eclipse of the zeta-Aur system HR 2554

It is confirmed that HR 2554 (G6 II + A0 V) is an atmospheric eclipsing system of the zeta-Aur type. The IUE observations of the Nov. 1987 eclipse indicate that the eclipse of the A star lasts 4 days and is not total. Absorption lines due to the extended atmosphere of the primary can be seen a day before and after the eclipse and are missing 2 days from first and 4th contact. Thus the outer envelope of the primary extends to less than 1 stellar radius beyond the photosphere. Compared to 22 Vul (G3 Ib-II + B9 V), where the absorption can be traced to a few stellar radii, HR 2554 is a more moderate case of mass outflow, which implies there is reduced interaction of the secondary within the wind from the primary as is seen in the other zeta-Aur systems

Geographic Analysis of Blood Lead Levels in New York State Children Born 1994–1997

We examined the geographic distribution of the blood lead levels (BLLs) of 677,112 children born between 1994 and 1997 in New York State and screened before 2 years of age. Five percent of the children screened had BLLs higher than the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention action level of 10 μg/dL. Rates were higher in upstate cities than in the New York City area. We modeled the relationship between BLLs and housing and socioeconomic characteristics at the ZIP code level. Older housing stock, a lower proportion of high school graduates, and a higher percentage of births to African-American mothers were the community characteristics most associated with elevated BLLs. Although the prevalence of children with elevated BLLs declined 44% between those born in 1994 and those born in 1997, the rate of improvement may be slowing down. Lead remains an environmental health problem in inner-city neighborhoods, particularly in upstate New York. We identified areas having a high prevalence of children with elevated BLLs. These communities can be targeted for educational and remediation programs. The model locates areas with a higher or lower prevalence of elevated BLLs than expected. These communities can be studied further at the individual level to better characterize the factors that contribute to these differences

GFP-Fragment Reassembly Screens for the Functional Characterization of Variants of Uncertain Significance in Protein Interaction Domains of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 Genes

Genetic testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes has led to the identification of many unique variants of uncertain significance (VUS). Multifactorial likelihood models that predict the odds ratio for VUS in favor or against cancer causality, have been developed, but their use is conditioned by the amount of necessary data, which are difficult to obtain if a variant is rare. As an alternative, variants mapping to the coding regions can be examined using in vitro functional assays. BRCA1 and BRCA2 proteins promote genome protection by interacting with different proteins. In this study, we assessed the functional effect of two sets of variants in BRCA genes by exploiting the green fluorescent protein (GFP)-reassembly in vitro assay, which was set-up to test the BRCA1/BARD1, BRCA1/UbcH5a, and BRCA2/DSS1 interactions. Based on the findings observed for the validation panels of previously classified variants, BRCA1/UbcH5a and BRCA2/DSS1 binding assays showed 100% sensitivity and specificity in identifying pathogenic and non-pathogenic variants. While the actual efficiency of these assays in assessing the clinical significance of BRCA VUS has to be verified using larger validation panels, our results suggest that the GFP-reassembly assay is a robust method to identify variants affecting normal protein functioning and contributes to the classification of VUS

Nicotinamide N-methyltransferase catalyses the N-methylation of the endogenous ß-carboline norharman: evidence for a novel detoxification pathway

Nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) is responsible for the N-methylation of nicotinamide to 1-methylnicotinamide. Our recent studies have demonstrated that NNMT regulates cellular processes fundamental to the correct functioning and survival of the cell. It has been proposed that NNMT may possess β-carboline (BC) N-methyltransferase activity, endogenously and exogenously produced pyridine-containing compounds which, when N-methylated, are potent inhibitors of Complex I and have been proposed to have a role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. We have investigated the ability of recombinant NNMT to N-methylate norharman (NH) to 2-N-methylnorharman (MeNH). In addition, we have investigated the toxicity of the BC NH, its precursor 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronorharman (THNH) and its N-methylated metabolite MeNH, using our in vitro SH-SY5Y NNMT expression model. Recombinant NNMT demonstrated NH 2N-methyltransferase activity, with a Km of 90 ± 20 µM, a kcat of 3 × 10(-4) ± 2 × 10(-5) s(-1) and a specificity constant (kcat/Km) of 3 ± 1 s(-1) M(-1) THNH was the least toxic of all three compounds investigated, whereas NH demonstrated the greatest, with no difference observed in terms of cell viability and cell death between NNMT-expressing and non-expressing cells. In NNMT-expressing cells, MeNH increased cell viability and cellular ATP concentration in a dose-dependent manner after 72 and 120 h incubation, an effect that was not observed after 24 h incubation or in non-NNNT-expressing cells at any time point. Taken together, these results suggest that NNMT may be a detoxification pathway for BCs such as NH

Driving performance in older adults: Current measures, findings, and implications for roadway safety

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Over 10,000 people a day turn 65 in the United States. For many older adults, driving represents an essential component of independence and is one of the most important factors in overall mobility. Recent survey studies in older adults suggest that up to 60% of older adult drivers with mild cognitive impairment, and up to 30% with dementia, continue to drive. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive and detailed resource on the topics of cognition and driving for clinicians, researchers, and policymakers working on efforts related to older adult drivers. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Publications on PubMed and Medline and discussions with experts working in geriatrics, technology, driving policy, psychology, and diverse aspects of driving performance were utilized to inform the current review. RESULTS: Research indicates that there is a complex and inverse correlation between multiple cognitive measures, driving performance, and risky driving behaviors. The fragmented nature of available peer-reviewed literature, and a reliance on correlative data, do not currently allow for the identification of the temporal and reciprocal nature of the interplay between cognition and driving endpoints. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: There are currently no widely accepted definitions, conceptual models, or uniform set of analyses for conducting geriatric research that is focused on driving. Establishing conventions for conducting research that harmonizes the fields of geriatrics, cognition, and driving research is critical for the development of the evidence base that will inform clinical practice and road safety policy

DISCUS: end-to-end network design for ubiquitous high speed broadband services

Fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) has been long sought as the ultimate solution to satisfy the demand for broadband access in the foreseeable future, and offer distance-independent data rate within access network reach. However, currently deployed FTTP networks have in most cases only replaced the transmission medium, without improving the overall architecture, resulting in deployments that are only cost efficient in densely populated areas (effectively increasing the digital divide). In addition, the large potential increase in access capacity cannot be matched by a similar increase in core capacity at competitive cost, effectively moving the bottleneck from access to core. DISCUS is a European Integrated Project that, building on optical-centric solutions such as Long-Reach Passive Optical access and flat optical core, aims to deliver a cost-effective architecture for ubiquitous broadband services. One of the key features of the project is the end-to-end approach, which promises to deliver a complete network design and a conclusive analysis of its economic viability