Evaluation of Alternative Refractory Materials for the Main Flame Deflectors at KSC Launch Complexes

The deterioration of the refractory materials used to protect the KSC launch complex steel base structures from the high temperatures during launches results in frequent and costly repairs and safety hazards. KSC-SPEC-P-0012, Specification for Refractory Concrete, is ineffective in qualifying refractory materials. This study of the specification and of alternative refractory materials recommends a complete revision of the specification and further investigation of materials that were found to withstand the environment of the Solid Rocket Booster main flame deflector better than the refractory materials in current use in terms of compressive strength, tensile strength, modulus of rupture, shrinkage, and abrasion

PAC II pilastro: prime valutazioni nella programmazione 2007-2013

Nowadays, there is no doubt that Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) represents the main support to rural development across the whole Italian territory. Offering the potential to learn from experience, the paper is here concerned with the quantitative evaluation of Italian regional programs under the 2007-2013 CAP’s Pillar II, considering both national and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development’s funding to Pillar II at the end of December 2013. The empirical analysis shows some relevant discrepancies in funding allocation among both rural development’s axis and measures and different regions in Italy, and also between planned and declared expenditure. This reflects a scarce efficiency of public spending and some unsatisfactory rural development’s performance

The Histone H3 K4me3, K27me3, and K27ac Genome-Wide Distributions Are Differently Influenced by Sex in Brain Cortexes and Gastrocnemius of the Alzheimer's Disease PSAPP Mouse Model

Background: Women represent the majority of Alzheimer's disease patients and show typical symptoms. Genetic, hormonal, and behavioral mechanisms have been proposed to explain sex differences in dementia prevalence. However, whether sex differences exist in the epigenetic landscape of neuronal tissue during the progression of the disease is still unknown. Methods: To investigate the differences of histone H3 modifications involved in transcription, we determined the genome-wide profiles of H3K4me3, H3K27ac, and H3K27me3 in brain cortexes of an Alzheimer mouse model (PSAPP). Gastrocnemius muscles were also tested since they are known to be different in the two sexes and are affected during the disease progression. Results: Correlation analysis distinguished the samples based on sex for H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 but not for H3K27ac. The analysis of transcription starting sites (TSS) signal distribution, and analysis of bounding sites revealed that gastrocnemius is more influenced than brain by sex for the three histone modifications considered, exception made for H3K27me3 distribution on the X chromosome which showed sex-related differences in promoters belonging to behavior and cellular or neuronal spheres in mice cortexes. Conclusions: H3K4me3, H3K27ac, and H3K27me3 signals are slightly affected by sex in brain, with the exception of H3K27me3, while a higher number of differences can be found in gastrocnemius

Sex‐specific alterations in whole body energetics and voluntary activity in heterozygous R163C malignant hyperthermia‐susceptible mice

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is characterized by induction of skeletal muscle hyperthermia in response to a dysregulated increase in myoplasmic calcium. Although altered energetics play a central role in MH, MH‐susceptible humans and mouse models are often described as having no phenotype until exposure to a triggering agent. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of the R163C ryanodine receptor 1 mutation, a common MH mutation in humans, on energy expenditure, and voluntary wheel running in mice. Energy expenditure was measured by indirect respiration calorimetry in wild‐type (WT) and heterozygous R163C (HET) mice over a range of ambient temperatures. Energy expenditure adjusted for body weight or lean mass was increased (P < .05) in male, but not female, HET mice housed at 22°C or when housed at 28°C with a running wheel. In female mice, voluntary wheel running was decreased (P < .05) in the HET vs WT animals when analyzed across ambient temperatures. The thermoneutral zone was also widened in both male and female HET mice. The results of the study show that the R163C mutations alters energetics even at temperatures that do not typically induce MH

Mass spectrometry imaging identifies palmitoylcarnitine as an immunological mediator during Salmonella Typhimurium infection

Salmonella Typhimurium causes a self-limiting gastroenteritis that may lead to systemic disease. Bacteria invade the small intestine, crossing the intestinal epithelium from where they are transported to the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) within migrating immune cells. MLNs are an important site at which the innate and adaptive immune responses converge but their architecture and function is severely disrupted during S. Typhimurium infection. To further understand host-pathogen interactions at this site, we used mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) to analyse MLN tissue from a murine model of S. Typhimurium infection. A molecule, identified as palmitoylcarnitine (PalC), was of particular interest due to its high abundance at loci of S. Typhimurium infection and MLN disruption. High levels of PalC localised to sites within the MLNs where B and T cells were absent and where the perimeter of CD169+ sub capsular sinus macrophages was disrupted. MLN cells cultured ex vivo and treated with PalC had reduced CD4+CD25+ T cells and an increased number of B220+CD19+ B cells. The reduction in CD4+CD25+ T cells was likely due to apoptosis driven by increased caspase-3/7 activity. These data indicate that PalC significantly alters the host response in the MLNs, acting as a decisive factor in infection outcome

Anti-apoptotic function of Xbp1 as an IL-3 signaling molecule in hematopoietic cells

Cytokine signaling is critical for proliferation, survival and differentiation of hematopoietic cell, and interleukin-3 (IL-3) is required for maintenance of many hematopoietic cell lines, such as BaF3. We have isolated apoptosis-resistant clones of BaF3 using retroviral insertional mutagenesis and the Xbp1 locus was identified as a retroviral integration site. Expression and splicing of the Xbp1 transcript was conserved in the resistant clone but was promptly disappeared on IL-3 withdrawal in parental BaF3. IL-3 stimulation of BaF3 cells enhanced Xbp1 promoter activity and induced phosphorylation of the endoplasmic reticulum stress sensor protein IRE1, resulting in the increase in Xbp1S that activates unfolded protein response. When downstream signaling from IL-3 was blocked by LY294002 and/or dn-Stat5, Xbp1 expression was downregulated and IRE1 phosphorylation was suppressed. Inhibition of IL-3 signaling as well as knockdown of Xbp1-induced apoptosis in BaF3 cells. In contrast, constitutive expression of Xbp1S protected BaF3 from apoptosis during IL-3 depletion. However, cell cycle arrest at the G1 stage was observed in BaF3 and myeloid differentiation was induced in IL-3-dependent 32Dcl3 cells. Expression of apoptosis-, cell cycle- and differentiation-related genes was modulated by Xbp1S expression. These results indicate that the proper transcriptional and splicing regulation of Xbp1 by IL-3 signaling is important in homeostasis of hematopoietic cells

Inquiries into writing and the construction of writerly identity in a twelfth-grade classroom

This practitioner inquiry investigates the writing practices of a particular twelfth-grade classroom in a suburban public high school. Grounded in the ideological frameworks of New Literacies, the study analyzes students\u27 experiences in an inquiry curriculum that conceptualized writing as an act of identity. Intertwined with these students\u27 deepening understandings are my own questions and insights as a practitioner inquiring into my own classroom. Through a deep description and analysis of the writing practices and written products of this classroom and its students, this study explores students\u27 negotiation of what it means to be a writer and the possibilities for writing as a mode of inquiry. More specifically, the study uses ethnographic methods to analyze how students took up the invitation to an inquiry curriculum about writing, how they developed a deeper sense of written annotation though inquiry, how they came to examine their own writerly moves and identities, and how these academic understandings traveled outside of the classroom. In light of these experiences, students came to see themselves as writers rather than as students of writing. This suggests an alternative vision for writing curricula in high school contexts and a reconsideration of the narrow view of writing as a set of fixed skills that dominates current educational policy

Inquiries into writing and the construction of writerly identity in a twelfth-grade classroom

This practitioner inquiry investigates the writing practices of a particular twelfth-grade classroom in a suburban public high school. Grounded in the ideological frameworks of New Literacies, the study analyzes students\u27 experiences in an inquiry curriculum that conceptualized writing as an act of identity. Intertwined with these students\u27 deepening understandings are my own questions and insights as a practitioner inquiring into my own classroom. Through a deep description and analysis of the writing practices and written products of this classroom and its students, this study explores students\u27 negotiation of what it means to be a writer and the possibilities for writing as a mode of inquiry. More specifically, the study uses ethnographic methods to analyze how students took up the invitation to an inquiry curriculum about writing, how they developed a deeper sense of written annotation though inquiry, how they came to examine their own writerly moves and identities, and how these academic understandings traveled outside of the classroom. In light of these experiences, students came to see themselves as writers rather than as students of writing. This suggests an alternative vision for writing curricula in high school contexts and a reconsideration of the narrow view of writing as a set of fixed skills that dominates current educational policy