EUV Spectra of the Full Solar Disk: Analysis and Results of the Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS)

We analyze EUV spectra of the full solar disk from the Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS) spanning a period of two years. The observations were obtained via a fortuitous off-axis light path in the 140 -- 270 Angstrom passband. The general appearance of the spectra remained relatively stable over the two-year time period, but did show significant variations of up to 25% between two sets of Fe lines that show peak emission at 1 MK and 2 MK. The variations occur at a measured period of 27.2 days and are caused by regions of hotter and cooler plasma rotating into, and out of, the field of view. The CHIANTI spectral code is employed to determine plasma temperatures, densities, and emission measures. A set of five isothermal plasmas fit the full disk spectra well. A 1 -- 2 MK plasma of Fe contributes 85% of the total emission in the CHIPS passband. The standard Differential Emission Measures (DEMs) supplied with the CHIANTI package do not fit the CHIPS spectra well as they over-predict emission at temperatures below log(T) = 6.0 and above log(T) = 6.3. The results are important for cross-calibrating TIMED, SORCE, SOHO/EIT, and CDS/GIS, as well as the recently launched Solar Dynamics Observatory.Comment: 27 Pages, 13 Figure

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Hyperplasia of the lymphoepithelium of NALT in rats but not in mice upon 28-day exposure to 15 ppm formaldehyde vapor

To investigate if local lymphoid tissues are a target of FA, nasopharynx-associated lymphoid tissues (NALT) and upper-respiratory tract-draining lymph nodes were examined in a 28-day inhalation study with FA vapor in Fischer-344 rats and B6C3F1 mice. Paraffin-embedded tissues were sectioned and stained with H&E or stained immunohistochemically for cell proliferation (BrdU incorporation). Light microscopy revealed simple hyperplasia of NALT lymphoepithelium of rats exposed to 15 ppm and an increased proliferation rate of the epithelial cells. Principal component (discriminant) analysis of rat NALT and lymph nodes data did not reveal other effects or effects at lower exposure levels. Mice tissues were not affected. It was concluded that hyperplasia of the lymphoepithelium of NALT of rats exposed to 15 ppm was the only distinct effect of FA vapor on local lymphoid tissues (NALT and lymph nodes) of Fischer-344 rats and B3C3F1 mice

Hyperplasia of the lymphoepithelium of NALT in rats but not in mice upon 28-day exposure to 15 ppm formaldehyde vapor

To investigate if local lymphoid tissues are a target of FA, nasopharynx-associated lymphoid tissues (NALT) and upper-respiratory tract-draining lymph nodes were examined in a 28-day inhalation study with FA vapor in Fischer-344 rats and B6C3F1 mice. Paraffin-embedded tissues were sectioned and stained with H&E or stained immunohistochemically for cell proliferation (BrdU incorporation). Light microscopy revealed simple hyperplasia of NALT lymphoepithelium of rats exposed to 15 ppm and an increased proliferation rate of the epithelial cells. Principal component (discriminant) analysis of rat NALT and lymph nodes data did not reveal other effects or effects at lower exposure levels. Mice tissues were not affected. It was concluded that hyperplasia of the lymphoepithelium of NALT of rats exposed to 15 ppm was the only distinct effect of FA vapor on local lymphoid tissues (NALT and lymph nodes) of Fischer-344 rats and B3C3F1 mice

Glucose-regulated insulin expression in diabetic rats

Retroviral vectors encoding glucose-responsive promoters driving furin expression may provide an amplified, glucose-regulated secretion of insulin. We constructed LhI*TFSN virus to encode a glucose-regulatable transforming growth factor alpha promoter controlling furin expression with a viral LTR promoter driving constitutive expression of furin-cleavable human proinsulin. Autologous BB rat vascular smooth muscle cells transduced with LhI*TFSN virus and cultured in 1.7 and 16.7 mM glucose secreted 50.7 +/- 3.2 and 136.0 +/- 11.0 microU (mean +/- SD) of insulin per 10(6) cells per day, respectively. After the onset of diabetes spontaneously diabetic congenic DR lyp/lyp BB rats received stomach implants containing 2 x 10(6) LhI*TFSN-transduced primary rat vascular smooth muscle cells. In eight treated rats there was a major reduction in insulin requirement to as low as 25% of pretreatment level for up to 3 months and one rat became insulin free without hypoglycemia. Intraperitoneal glucose tolerance tests (IPGTTs) in diabetic rats receiving control implants did not show the characteristic decline in blood glucose of normal rats after glucose administration. In contrast, diabetic rats receiving LhI*TFSN-transduced cells showed significant clearances of blood glucose. These data suggest clinically significant levels of glucose-regulated insulin delivery from implanted vascular smooth muscle cells transduced with LhI*TFSN vector.Simon C. Barry, N. Ramesh, D.V. Lejnieks, William T. Simonson, Lynne Kemper, Ake Lernmark, William R.A. Osborn

The SWAP EUV Imaging Telescope. Part II: In-flight Performance and Calibration

The Sun Watcher with Active Pixel System detector and Image Processing (SWAP) telescope was launched on 2 November 2009 onboard the ESA PROBA2 technological mission and has acquired images of the solar corona every one to two minutes for more than two years. The most important technological developments included in SWAP are a radiation-resistant CMOS-APS detector and a novel onboard data-prioritization scheme. Although such detectors have been used previously in space, they have never been used for long-term scientific observations on orbit. Thus SWAP requires a careful calibration to guarantee the science return of the instrument. Since launch we have regularly monitored the evolution of SWAP’s detector response in-flight to characterize both its performance and degradation over the course of the mission. These measurements are also used to reduce detector noise in calibrated images (by subtracting dark-current). Because accurate measurements of detector dark-current require large telescope off-points, we also monitored straylight levels in the instrument to ensure that these calibration measurements are not contaminated by residual signal from the Sun. Here we present the results of these tests and examine the variation of instrumental response and noise as a function of both time and temperature throughout the mission

A CYP46 T/C SNP modulates parahippocampal and hippocampal morphology in young subjects

There is evidence that brain cholesterol metabolism modulates the vulnerability for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Previous data showed that brain beta-amyloid load in elderly subjects with the CYP46 (cholesterol 24S-hydroxylase) TT-positive genotype was higher than in CYP46 TT-negative elderly subjects. We investigated effects of the CYP46 T/C polymorphism on parahippocampal and hippocampal grey matter (GM) morphology in 81 young subjects using structural magnetic resonance imaging based morphometry. We found that young TT-homozygotes exhibited smallest and CC-homozygotes largest parahippocampal and hippocampal GM volumes with the volumes of the CT-heterozygotes ranging in between. Parahippocampal and hippocampal volumes were positively correlated with delayed memory performance in C-carriers and negatively with immediate memory performance in TT-homozygotes. It has been shown that the brain cholesterol metabolism in general modulates dendrite outgrowth, synaptogenesis, and neuron survival, and it was suggested that CYP46 indirectly influences beta-amyloid metabolism. CYP46 C-carriers are privileged both in terms of beta-amyloid metabolism and in terms of brain reserve due to their larger parahippocampal and hippocampal structures. The exact cellular mechanisms that translate the CYP46 allelic variation into volumetric brain differences in the parahippocampal gyrus and hippocampus are still unknown and need to be further investigated