CONSIDERING CYTONUCLEAR INTERACTIONS IN THE FACE OF HETEROPLASMY: EVIDENCE FROM DAUCUS CAROTA (APIACEAE), A GYNODIOECIOUS PLANT SPECIES

CONSIDERING CYTONUCLEAR INTERACTIONS IN THE FACE OF HETEROPLASMY: EVIDENCE FROM DAUCUS CAROTA (APIACEAE), A GYNODIOECIOUS PLANT SPECIE

Crossed products and C*-covers of semi-Dirichlet operator algebras

In this paper, we show that the semi-Dirichlet C*-covers of a semi-Dirichlet operator algebra form a complete lattice, establishing that there is a maximal semi-Dirichlet C*-cover. Given an operator algebra dynamical system we prove a dilation theory that shows that the full crossed product is isomorphic to the relative full crossed product with respect to this maximal semi-Dirichlet cover. In this way, we can show that every semi-Dirichlet dynamical system has a semi-Dirichlet full crossed product

Contemporary Patterns of Democratic Norms and Political Participation in Mexico

Mexico's cultural norms have been the subject of repeated inquiries because democratic and authoritarian patterns appear concomitantly. However, few have focused on the potential demographic and contextual sources of these divergent results. This study attempts to clarify the sources of Mexico's political culture, and then determine the extent to which these factors affect political participation. Statistical analysis of a LAPOP dataset from 2006 makes limited progress to this end. The sources of Mexican political culture remain somewhat a mystery, although some intriguing results were found. Most notably, demographic traits appear to have little influence on political culture variables and political participation rates in Mexico. In fact, political culture norms and political participation appears consistent across Mexico's infamous social and economic lines

The financial burden of juvenile idiopathic arthritis: A Nova Scotia experience

Background: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common childhood rheumatic illness. There is little published data on the financial burden of this illness. The primary objective of this study was to determine the annual costs borne by families of a child with JIA living in Nova Scotia (NS).Methods: All families in NS with a child followed in the Pediatric Rheumatology Clinic at the Izaak Walton Killam Health Centre (IWK) in 2009 were mailed a self-report questionnaire. The questionnaire evaluated disease related costs, gross household income and perceived financial burden. Dillman\u27s method was used to optimize return rates. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize results. Spearman\u27s correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationship of distance from the IWK and cost. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare median costs between groups.Results: Of 172 possible respondents, we received 54 completed questionnaires and 11 blank questionnaires (overall response rate 31.4%). Approximately one third (35.9%) of parents rated the financial burden as moderate or large and 36% rated financial resources available as poor. The median annual total cost per patient was $619.50 CAD (range 0,$5535) which was a median 0.7% (range 0, 37%) of gross household incomes. The largest expense for families was visit related costs. There was not a significant relationship between total annual costs and distance from the IWK (rs = 0.18, P = 0.2). Families of a child with oligoarthritis had significantly lower costs than the families of a child with another subtype of JIA ($359.00 CAD vs.$877.00 CAD, P = 0.02).Conclusions: The costs associated with having a child with JIA in NS are on average modest, but may be considerable for some families. Oligoarticular JIA is associated with smaller costs. Many families perceive the burden to be at least moderate and the availability of financial resources to be poor. Supports should be targeted to those families most in need. © 2013 Ens et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

The financial burden of juvenile idiopathic arthritis: A Nova Scotia experience

Background: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common childhood rheumatic illness. There is little published data on the financial burden of this illness. The primary objective of this study was to determine the annual costs borne by families of a child with JIA living in Nova Scotia (NS).Methods: All families in NS with a child followed in the Pediatric Rheumatology Clinic at the Izaak Walton Killam Health Centre (IWK) in 2009 were mailed a self-report questionnaire. The questionnaire evaluated disease related costs, gross household income and perceived financial burden. Dillman\u27s method was used to optimize return rates. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize results. Spearman\u27s correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationship of distance from the IWK and cost. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare median costs between groups.Results: Of 172 possible respondents, we received 54 completed questionnaires and 11 blank questionnaires (overall response rate 31.4%). Approximately one third (35.9%) of parents rated the financial burden as moderate or large and 36% rated financial resources available as poor. The median annual total cost per patient was $619.50 CAD (range 0,$5535) which was a median 0.7% (range 0, 37%) of gross household incomes. The largest expense for families was visit related costs. There was not a significant relationship between total annual costs and distance from the IWK (rs = 0.18, P = 0.2). Families of a child with oligoarthritis had significantly lower costs than the families of a child with another subtype of JIA ($359.00 CAD vs.$877.00 CAD, P = 0.02).Conclusions: The costs associated with having a child with JIA in NS are on average modest, but may be considerable for some families. Oligoarticular JIA is associated with smaller costs. Many families perceive the burden to be at least moderate and the availability of financial resources to be poor. Supports should be targeted to those families most in need. © 2013 Ens et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Shc depletion stimulates brown fat activity in vivo and in vitro.

Adipose tissue is an important metabolic organ that integrates a wide array of homeostatic processes and is crucial for whole-body insulin sensitivity and energy metabolism. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a key thermogenic tissue with a well-established role in energy expenditure. BAT dissipates energy and protects against both hypothermia and obesity. Thus, BAT stimulation therapy is a rational strategy for the looming pandemic of obesity, whose consequences and comorbidities have a huge impact on the aged. Shc-deficient mice (ShcKO) were previously shown to be lean, insulin sensitive, and resistant to high-fat diet and obesity. We investigated the contribution of BAT to this phenotype. Insulin-dependent BAT glucose uptake was higher in ShcKO mice. Primary ShcKO BAT cells exhibited increased mitochondrial respiration; increased expression of several mitochondrial and lipid-oxidative enzymes was observed in ShcKO BAT. Levels of brown fat-specific markers of differentiation, UCP1, PRDM16, ELOVL3, and Cox8b, were higher in ShcKO BAT. In vitro, Shc knockdown in BAT cell line increased insulin sensitivity and metabolic activity. In vivo, pharmacological stimulation of ShcKO BAT resulted in higher energy expenditure. Conversely, pharmacological inhibition of BAT abolished the improved metabolic parameters, that is the increased insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance of ShcKO mice. Similarly, in vitro Shc knockdown in BAT cell lines increased their expression of UCP1 and metabolic activity. These data suggest increased BAT activity significantly contributes to the improved metabolic phenotype of ShcKO mice

The Habitable-Zone Planet Finder: A Stabilized Fiber-Fed NIR Spectrograph for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope

We present the scientific motivation and conceptual design for the recently funded Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF), a stabilized fiber-fed near-infrared (NIR) spectrograph for the 10 meter class Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) that will be capable of discovering low mass planets around M dwarfs. The HPF will cover the NIR Y & J bands to enable precise radial velocities to be obtained on mid M dwarfs, and enable the detection of low mass planets around these stars. The conceptual design is comprised of a cryostat cooled to 200K, a dual fiber-feed with a science and calibration fiber, a gold coated mosaic echelle grating, and a Teledyne Hawaii-2RG (H2RG) NIR detector with a 1.7$\mu$m cutoff. A uranium-neon hollow-cathode lamp is the baseline wavelength calibration source, and we are actively testing laser frequency combs to enable even higher radial velocity precision. We will present the overall instrument system design and integration with the HET, and discuss major system challenges, key choices, and ongoing research and development projects to mitigate risk. We also discuss the ongoing process of target selection for the HPF survey.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. To appear in the proceedings of the SPIE 2012 Astronomical Instrumentation and Telescopes conferenc

Assessment of Ecosystem Management Strategies and Stakeholder Needs for Harmful Algal Blooms in the Great Lakes

This Master’s Project focused on improving the understanding of harmful algal blooms (HABs) within Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay as well as characterizing needs of water utility managers for information products. This research addressed four different topics: 1) In Chapter 2: Quantifying the impact of nutrient availability and form on the growth of HABs in Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay, we found that phosphorus was the main limiting nutrient based on nutrient addition treatments, but with nutrient reduction treatments, nitrogen appeared to be co-limiting, suggesting reductions in phosphorus alone may not eliminate blooms. 2) In Chapter 3: Mechanistic Assessment of Dreissenid Mussel Grazing Impacts on Phytoplankton Growth Rates, we found that the synergistic effect of nutrient excretion and dilution through grazing had the largest impact on total phytoplankton growth, followed by nutrient excretion and dilution through grazing, respectively. The overall impact of grazing by Dreissenid mussels on cyanobacteria growth rates was limited, and mussel-mediated nutrient recycling was the strongest explanatory mechanism. 3) In Chapter 4: Comparative Analysis of Microcystis Colony Buoyant Velocities in Western Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron: Effects of Colony Size and Light Intensity, we show that Western Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay differ in the way that Microcystis buoyancy responds to light and may therefore ultimately affect how the bloom is transported throughout each ecosystem. Understanding the effects of light on buoyancy will help explain observed differences in vertical distribution and movement of Microcystis in the two lakes. 4) In Chapter 5: Characterization of Public Water System Needs and Attitudes Related to HAB Toxicity in Saginaw Bay and Western Lake Erie, we describe a focus group and survey of water system managers in Saginaw Bay about how HABs impacted them and if a HAB forecast model would be useful. Our results show that managers believed the forecast would be useful, and that they would be willing to use it. It also suggested that managers feel unprepared in the event of a HAB beyond what has occurred recently in the Bay, so efforts should be taken to increase their knowledge and preparedness.Master of ScienceSchool for Environment and SustainabilityUniversity of Michiganhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155019/1/353 Mngmt & Stakeholder Harmful Algal Bloom.pd

An interlaboratory comparison of X-ray computed tomography measurement for texture and dimensional characterisation of additively manufactured parts

Abstract This paper presents the results of the CT-STARR (CT-Surface Texture for Additive Round Robin) Stage 1 interlaboratory comparison. The study compared the results obtained for the extraction of areal surface texture data per ISO 25178-2 from five X-ray computed tomography (CT) volume measurements from each of four laboratories. Two Ti6Al4V ELI (extra-low interstitial) components were included in each of the CT acquisitions. The first component was an additively manufactured (AM) cube manufactured using an Arcam Q10 electron beam melting (EBM) machine. Surface texture data was extracted from CT scans of this part. The values of selected parameters per ISO 25178-2 are reported, including Sa, the arithmetic mean height, for which the values from the Nikon MCT 225 metrology CT measurements were all within 0.5% of the mean reference focus variation measurement. CT resolution requirements are discussed. The second component was a machined dimensional test artefact designed to facilitate independent analysis of CT global voxel scaling errors and surface determination errors. The results of mathematical global scaling and surface determination correction of the dimensional artefact data is reported. The dimensional test artefact errors for the XT H 225 commercial CT for length, outside diameter and inside diameter reduced from -0.27%, -0.83% and -0.54% respectively to less than 0.02% after performing mathematical correction. This work will assist the development of surface texture correction protocols, help define surface-from-CT measurement envelope limits and provide valuable information for an expanded Stage 2 interlaboratory comparison, which will include a more diverse range of CT systems and technologies, further expanding the surface-from-CT knowledge base