LONTalk as a Standard Protocol For Underwater Sensor Platforms

Proceedings IEEE, Oceans 97, Halifax, Oct. 1997 IEEE CD-ROM 0-7803-4111-

Involvement of N-6 adenine-specific DNA methyltransferase 1 (N6AMT1) in arsenic biomethylation and its role in arsenic-induced toxicity.

BackgroundIn humans, inorganic arsenic (iAs) is metabolized to methylated arsenical species in a multistep process mainly mediated by arsenic (+3 oxidation state) methyltransferase (AS3MT). Among these metabolites is monomethylarsonous acid (MMAIII), the most toxic arsenic species. A recent study in As3mt-knockout mice suggests that unidentified methyltransferases could be involved in alternative iAs methylation pathways. We found that yeast deletion mutants lacking MTQ2 were highly resistant to iAs exposure. The human ortholog of the yeast MTQ2 is N-6 adenine-specific DNA methyltransferase 1 (N6AMT1), encoding a putative methyltransferase.ObjectiveWe investigated the potential role of N6AMT1 in arsenic-induced toxicity.MethodsWe measured and compared the cytotoxicity induced by arsenicals and their metabolic profiles using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry in UROtsa human urothelial cells with enhanced N6AMT1 expression and UROtsa vector control cells treated with different concentrations of either iAsIII or MMAIII.ResultsN6AMT1 was able to convert MMAIII to the less toxic dimethylarsonic acid (DMA) when overexpressed in UROtsa cells. The enhanced expression of N6AMT1 in UROtsa cells decreased cytotoxicity of both iAsIII and MMAIII. Moreover, N6AMT1 is expressed in many human tissues at variable levels, although at levels lower than those of AS3MT, supporting a potential participation in arsenic metabolism in vivo.ConclusionsConsidering that MMAIII is the most toxic arsenical, our data suggest that N6AMT1 has a significant role in determining susceptibility to arsenic toxicity and carcinogenicity because of its specific activity in methylating MMAIII to DMA and other unknown mechanisms

Towards an explanation for the 30 Dor (LMC) Honeycomb nebula - the impact of recent observations and spectral analysis

The unique Honeycomb nebula, most likely a peculiar supernova remnant, lies in 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Due to its proximity to SN1987A, it has been serendipitously and intentionally observed at many wavelengths. Here, an optical spectral analysis of forbidden line ratios is performed in order to compare the Honeycomb high-speed gas with supernova remnants in the Galaxy and the LMC, with galactic Wolf-Rayet nebulae and with the optical line emission from the interaction zone of the SS433 microquasar and W50 supernova remnant system. An empirical spatiokinematic model of the images and spectra for the Honeycomb reveals that its striking appearance is most likely due to a fortuitous viewing angle. The Honeycomb nebula is more extended in soft X-ray emission and could in fact be a small part of the edge of a giant LMC shell revealed for the first time in this short wavelength domain. It is also suggested that a previously unnoticed region of optical emission may in fact be an extension of the Honeycomb around the edge of this giant shell. A secondary supernova explosion in the edge of a giant shell is considered for the creation of the Honeycomb nebula. A microquasar origin of the Honeycomb nebula as opposed to a simple supernova origin is also evaluated.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Flexible Plug Repair for Shuttle Wing Leading Edge

In response to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report, a plug repair kit has been developed to enable astronauts to repair the space shuttle's wing leading edge (WLE) during orbit. The plug repair kit consists of several 17.78- cm-diameter carbon/silicon carbide (C/SiC) cover plates of various curvatures that can be attached to the refractory carbon-carbon WLE panels using a TZM refractory metal attach mechanism. The attach mechanism is inserted through the damage in the WLE panel and, as it is tightened, the cover plate flexes to conform to the curvature of the WLE panel within 0.050 mm. An astronaut installs the repair during an extravehicular activity (EVA). After installing the plug repair, edge gaps are checked and the perimeter of the repair is sealed using a proprietary material, developed to fill cracks and small holes in the WLE

Understanding policy integration in the EU—Insights from a multi-level lens on climate adaptation and the EU's coastal and marine policy

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd Integration of relatively new policy tasks like climate adaptation into established higher-level policy fields is insufficiently understood in the academic literature. This paper proposes a framework to evaluate the integration of climate adaptation into the sectoral policy-making of the European Commission, particularly following the publication of the EU Adaptation Strategy (in 2013). The paper uses a framework of micro, meso and macro-level institutional behaviour drawing strongly on new institutionalism perspectives to identify and explain factors enabling and hindering policy integration. It focuses on integration in the coastal and marine policy sector, which is expected to be particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts, and draws from data collected through a document review and interviews with key informants. The findings show that the integration of climate adaptation is still at an early stage. The integration process appears to be largely dependent on institutional dynamics at the EU-level combined with how member states and wider sectoral stakeholders engage with adaptation concerns. In particular, the ambivalence of some member states and a lack of urgency among sectoral stakeholders has hampered the integration of adaptation goals

Phase behavior and material properties of hollow nanoparticles

Effective pair potentials for hollow nanoparticles like the ones made from carbon (fullerenes) or metal dichalcogenides (inorganic fullerenes) consist of a hard core repulsion and a deep, but short-ranged, van der Waals attraction. We investigate them for single- and multi-walled nanoparticles and show that in both cases, in the limit of large radii the interaction range scales inversely with the radius, $R$, while the well depth scales linearly with $R$. We predict the values of the radius $R$ and the wall thickness $h$ at which the gas-liquid coexistence disappears from the phase diagram. We also discuss unusual material properties of the solid, which include a large heat of sublimation and a small surface energy.Comment: Revtex, 13 pages with 8 Postscript files included, submitted to Phys. Rev.

A systematic review of randomised controlled trials of the effects of digital health interventions on postpartum contraception use.

BACKGROUND: Digital health interventions (DHI) have been used to enhance the uptake of postpartum contraception and reduce unmet contraception needs. We conducted a systematic review of the effectiveness of DHI on postpartum contraceptive use and repeated pregnancy. METHOD: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health, CINAHL and Cochrane CENTRAL (January 1990-July 2020). Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of DHI promoting contraception among pregnant or postpartum women were included. Two researchers screened articles and extracted data. We assessed the risk of bias, certainty of evidence (CoE) and conducted meta-analyses following Cochrane guidance. RESULTS: Twelve trials with 5527 women were included. Interventions were delivered by video (four trials), mobile phone counselling (three trials), short message services (SMS) (four trials) and computer (one trial). During pregnancy or the postpartum period, mobile phone counselling had an uncertain effect on the use of postpartum contraception (risk ratio (RR) 1.37, 95% CI 0.82 to 2.29, very low CoE); video-based education may moderately improve contraception use (RR 1.48, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.17, low CoE); while SMS education probably modestly increased contraception use (RR 1.12, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.23, moderate CoE). Mobile phone counselling probably increased long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) use (RR 4.23, 95% CI 3.01 to 5.93, moderate CoE). Both mobile phone counselling (RR 0.27, 95% CI 0.01 to 5.77, very low CoE) and videos (RR 1.25, 95% CI 0.24 to 6.53, very low CoE) had uncertain effects on repeated pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: During pregnancy or in the postpartum period, videos may moderately increase postpartum contraception use and SMS probably modestly increase postpartum contraception use. The effects of DHI on repeated pregnancy are uncertain. Further well-conducted RCTs of DHI would strengthen the evidence of effects on contraception use and pregnancy

Site directed biotinylation of filamentous phage structural proteins

Filamentous bacteriophages have been used in numerous applications for the display of antibodies and random peptide libraries. Here we describe the introduction of a 13 amino acid sequence LASIFEAQKIEWR (designated BT, which is biotinylated in vivo by E. coli) into the N termini of four of the five structural proteins of the filamentous bacteriophage fd (Proteins 3, 7, 8 and 9). The in vivo and in vitro biotinylation of the various phages were compared. The production of multifunctional phages and their application as affinity reagents are demonstrated

Critical adsorption on curved objects

A systematic fieldtheoretic description of critical adsorption on curved objects such as spherical or rodlike colloidal particles immersed in a fluid near criticality is presented. The temperature dependence of the corresponding order parameter profiles and of the excess adsorption are calculated explicitly. Critical adsorption on elongated rods is substantially more pronounced than on spherical particles. It turns out that, within the context of critical phenomena in confined geometries, critical adsorption on a microscopically thin `needle' represents a distinct universality class of its own. Under favorable conditions the results are relevant for the flocculation of colloidal particles.Comment: 52 pages, 10 figure