Brief of Defendant - Appellees in \u3cem\u3eEnvironmental Defense Fund v. TVA\u3c/em\u3e, No. 73-8174

Brief of the defendants/appellees in the case of Environmental Defense Fund, et al. v. TVA, et al. in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Applied Technological Direction of Power Plant Ash and Slag Waste Management when Kuznetsk Bituminous Coal is Burned

Currently a lot of power plants have a problem with storage of coal combustion solid by-products (ash and slag). Holding capacity of existing power plants available ash dumps were enlarged and modernized repeatedly. Many plants have two or even three of them. Today new ash dump construction is economically inconvenient due to need to assign new plots of land and their inconveniently big distance from a plant, which increase ash and slag transportation expenses. The goal of our research work is to find promising directions for ash and slag waste mass utilization based on Kuznetsk bituminous coals experimental data on ultimate composition and properties. The experimental research of ash, slag and their mixture samples from ash dumps brought us to conclusion that the most promising direction for these materials application in large quantities is construction industry including road construction. Be-sides, we lined up some other directions for ash, slag, and ash and slag mixture possible application. These directions might not provide mass utilization but they are promising from a point of view of the researched waste properties

Identification of copy number variants from exome sequence data

Background With advances in next generation sequencing technologies and genomic capture techniques, exome sequencing has become a cost-effective approach for mutation detection in genetic diseases. However, computational prediction of copy number variants (CNVs) from exome sequence data is a challenging task. Whilst numerous programs are available, they have different sensitivities, and have low sensitivity to detect smaller CNVs (1–4 exons). Additionally, exonic CNV discovery using standard aCGH has limitations due to the low probe density over exonic regions. The goal of our study was to develop a protocol to detect exonic CNVs (including shorter CNVs that cover 1–4 exons), combining computational prediction algorithms and a high-resolution custom CGH array. Results We used six published CNV prediction programs (ExomeCNV, CONTRA, ExomeCopy, ExomeDepth, CoNIFER, XHMM) and an in-house modification to ExomeCopy and ExomeDepth (ExCopyDepth) for computational CNV prediction on 30 exomes from the 1000 genomes project and 9 exomes from primary immunodeficiency patients. CNV predictions were tested using a custom CGH array designed to capture all exons (exaCGH). After this validation, we next evaluated the computational prediction of shorter CNVs. ExomeCopy and the in-house modified algorithm, ExCopyDepth, showed the highest capability in detecting shorter CNVs. Finally, the performance of each computational program was assessed by calculating the sensitivity and false positive rate. Conclusions In this paper, we assessed the ability of 6 computational programs to predict CNVs, focussing on short (1–4 exon) CNVs. We also tested these predictions using a custom array targeting exons. Based on these results, we propose a protocol to identify and confirm shorter exonic CNVs combining computational prediction algorithms and custom aCGH experiments

Tomographic image of melt storage beneath Askja Volcano, Iceland using local microseismicity

We use P wave and S wave arrivals from microseismic earthquakes to construct 3-D tomographic Vp and Vs images of the magma storage region beneath Askja's central volcano in the Northern Volcanic Zone of Iceland. A distinctive ellipsoidal low-velocity anomaly, with both Vp and Vsvelocities 8-12% below the background, is imaged at 6-11 km depth beneath the caldera. The presence of a shallow magma chamber is corroborated by geodetic and gravity studies. The small Vp/Vs anomaly suggests a lack of pervasive melt. We interpret this anomaly as a region of multiple sills, some frozen but hot, others containing partial melt. A second, smaller low-velocity anomaly beneath the main magma storage region may represent a magma migration pathway. This interpretation is supported by the close proximity to the anomaly of clusters of deep, magmatically induced earthquakes. However, the location and shape of this deep anomaly are poorly constrained by the current data set

Induction of humoral and cellular immune responses against the HIV-1 envelope protein using γ-retroviral virus-like particles

This study evaluates the immunogenicity of the HIV envelope protein (env) in mice presented either attached to γ-retroviral virus-like-particles (VLPs), associated with cell-derived microsomes or as solubilized recombinant protein (gp160). The magnitude and polyfunctionality of the cellular immune response was enhanced when delivering HIV env in the VLP or microsome form compared to recombinant gp160. Humoral responses measured by antibody titres were comparable across the groups and low levels of antibody neutralization were observed. Lastly, we identified stronger IgG2a class switching in the two particle-delivered antigen vaccinations modalities compared to recombinant gp160

25 Gbit/s QPSK Hybrid Fiber-Wireless Transmission in the W-Band (75–110 GHz) With Remote Antenna Unit for In-Building Wireless Networks

In this paper, we demonstrate a photonic up-converted 25 Gbit/s fiber-wireless quadrature phase shift-keying (QPSK) data transmission link at the W-band (75–110 GHz). By launching two free-running lasers spaced at 87.5 GHz into a standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) at the central office, a W-band radio-over-fiber (RoF) signal is generated and distributed to the remote antenna unit (RAU). One laser carries 12.5 Gbaud optical baseband QPSK data, and the other acts as a carrier frequency generating laser. The two signals are heterodyne mixed at a photodetector in the RAU, and the baseband QPSK signal is transparently up-converted to the W-band. After the wireless transmission, the received signal is first down-converted to an intermediate frequency (IF) at 13.5 GHz at an electrical balanced mixer before being sampled and converted to the digital domain. A digital-signal-processing (DSP)-based receiver is employed for offline digital down-conversion and signal demodulation. We successfully demonstrate a 25 Gbit/s QPSK wireless data transmission link over a 22.8 km SSMF plus up to 2.13 m air distance with a bit-error-rate performance below the $2 times 10^{-3}$ forward error correction (FEC) limit. The proposed system may have the potential for the integration of the in-building wireless networks with the fiber access networks, e.g., fiber-to-the-building (FTTB)

Biased signaling of lipids and allosteric actions of synthetic molecules for GPR119

AbstractGPR119 is a Gαs-coupled lipid-sensor in the gut, where it mediates release of incretin hormones from the enteroendocrine cells and in pancreatic α-cells, where it releases insulin. Naturally occurring lipids such as monoacylglycerols (MAGs) and N-acylethanolamines (NAEs), like oleoylethanolamide (OEA), activate GPR119, and multiple synthetic ligands have been described. Here, we extend the GPR119 signaling profile to Gαq and Gαi in addition to β-arrestin recruitment and the downstream transcription factors CRE (cAMP response element), SRE (serum response element) and NFAT (nuclear factor of activated T cells). The endogenous OEA and the synthetic AR231453 were full agonists in all pathways except for NFAT, where no ligand-modulation was observed. The potency of AR231453 varied <16-fold (EC50 from 6 to 95nM) across the different signaling pathways, whereas that of OEA varied >175-fold (from 85nM to 15μM) indicating a biased signaling for OEA. The degree of constitutive activity was 1–10%, 10–30% and 30–70% of OEA-induced Emax in Gαi, Gαq and Gαs-driven pathways, respectively. This coincided with the lowest and highest OEA potency observed in Gαi and Gαs-driven pathways, respectively. Incubation for 2h with the 2-MAG-lipase inhibitor JZL84 doubled the constitutive activity, indicating that endogenous lipids contribute to the apparent constitutive activity. Finally, besides being an agonist, AR231453 acted as a positive allosteric modulator of OEA and increased its potency by 54-fold at 100nM AR231453. Our studies uncovering broad and biased signaling, masked constitutive activity by endogenous MAGs, and ago-allosteric properties of synthetic ligands may explain why many GPR119 drug-discovery programs have failed so far