1,001 research outputs found
Information Presentation: Human Research Program - Space Human Factors and Habitability, Space Human Factors Engineering Project
The goal of the Information Presentation Directed Research Project (DRP) is to address design questions related to the presentation of information to the crew. The major areas of work, or subtasks, within this DRP are: 1) Displays, 2) Controls, 3) Electronic Procedures and Fault Management, and 4) Human Performance Modeling. This DRP is a collaborative effort between researchers atJohnson Space Center and Ames Research Center.
A comparison of statistical hadronization models
We investigate the sensitivity of fits of hadron spectra produced in heavy
ion collisions to the choice of statistical hadronization model. We start by
giving an overview of statistical model ambiguities, and what they tell us
about freeze-out dynamics. We then use Montecarlo generated data to determine
sensitivity to model choice. We fit the statistical hadronization models under
consideration to RHIC data, and find that a comparison fits can shed
light on some presently contentious questions.Comment: Proceedings for SQM2003 [7th Int. Conf. on Strangeness in Quark
Matter (Atlantic Beach, NC, USA, Mar 12-17, 2003)], to be published in
Journal of Physics G (Typos corrected, reference added
New results from the NA57 experiment
We report results from the experiment NA57 at CERN SPS on hyperon production
at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 GeV/ and 40 GeV/.
, and yields are compared with those from the STAR
experiment at the higher energy of the BNL RHIC. , , \
and preliminary transverse mass spectra are presented and interpreted
within the framework of a hydro-dynamical blast wave model.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, contribution to the proceedings of The XXXVIIIth
Rencontres de Moriond "QCD and High Energy Hadronic Interactions
Results on hyperon production from the NA57 experiment
Recent results on hyperon production in Pb--Pb collisions from the NA57
experiment are reported. Strangeness enhancement and the transverse mass
spectra properties at 158 GeV per nucleon are described.Comment: submitted to Acta Phys. Hung. A (Heavy Ion Physics
Space-time analysis of reaction at RHIC
Space-time information about the Au-Au collisions produced at RHIC are key
tools to understand the evolution of the system and especially assess the
presence of collective behaviors. Using a parameterization of the system's
final state relying on collective expansion, we show that pion source radii can
be tied together with transverse mass spectra and elliptic flow within the same
framework. The consistency between these different measures provide a solid
ground to understand the characteristics of collective flow and especially the
possible peculiar behavior of particles such as Xi, Omega or phi. The validity
of the short time scales that are extracted from fits to the pion source size
is also addressed. The wealth of new data that will soon be available from
Au-Au collisions at sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV, will provide a stringet test of the
space-time analysis framework developped in these proceedings.Comment: Invited talk given at the SQM2003 conference (March 2003), to be
published in Journal of Physics G. 10 pages, 3 figure
Strange particle production in 158 and 40 GeV/ Pb-Pb and p-Be collisions
Results on strange particle production in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 and 40
GeV/ beam momentum from the NA57 experiment at CERN SPS are presented.
Particle yields and ratios are compared with those measured at RHIC.
Strangeness enhancements with respect to p-Be reactions at the same beam
momenta have been also measured: results about their dependence on centrality
and collision energy are reported and discussed.Comment: Contribution to the proceedings of the "Hot Quarks 2004" Conference,
July 18-24 2004, New Mexico, USA, submitted to Journal of Physics G 7 pages,
5 figure
A global phylogenomic analysis of the shiitake genus Lentinula
Lentinula is a broadly distributed group of fungi that contains the cultivated shiitake mushroom, L. edodes. We sequenced 24 genomes representing eight described species and several unnamed lineages of Lentinula from 15 countries on four continents. Lentinula comprises four major clades that arose in the Oligocene, three in the Americas and one in AsiaβAustralasia. To expand sampling of shiitake mushrooms, we assembled 60 genomes of L. edodes from China that were previously published as raw Illumina reads and added them to our dataset. Lentinula edodes sensu lato (s. lat.) contains three lineages that may warrant recognition as species, one including a single isolate from Nepal that is the sister group to the rest of L. edodes s. lat., a second with 20 cultivars and 12 wild isolates from China, Japan, Korea, and the Russian Far East, and a third with 28 wild isolates from China, Thailand, and Vietnam. Two additional lineages in China have arisen by hybridization among the second and third groups. Genes encoding cysteine sulfoxide lyase (lecsl) and Ξ³-glutamyl transpeptidase (leggt), which are implicated in biosynthesis of the organosulfur flavor compound lenthionine, have diversified in Lentinula. Paralogs of both genes that are unique to Lentinula (lecsl 3 and leggt 5b) are coordinately up-regulated in fruiting bodies of L. edodes. The pangenome of L. edodes s. lat. contains 20,308 groups of orthologous genes, but only 6,438 orthogroups (32%) are shared among all strains, whereas 3,444 orthogroups (17%) are found only in wild populations, which should be targeted for conservation
Effective Rheology of Bubbles Moving in a Capillary Tube
We calculate the average volumetric flux versus pressure drop of bubbles
moving in a single capillary tube with varying diameter, finding a square-root
relation from mapping the flow equations onto that of a driven overdamped
pendulum. The calculation is based on a derivation of the equation of motion of
a bubble train from considering the capillary forces and the entropy production
associated with the viscous flow. We also calculate the configurational
probability of the positions of the bubbles.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Pin1 Modulates the Type 1 Immune Response
BACKGROUND/ABSTRACT: Immune responses initiated by T cell receptor (TCR) and costimulatory molecule mediated signaling culminate in maximal cytokine mRNA production and stability. The transcriptional responses to co-stimulatory T cell signalling involve calcineurin and NF-AT, which can be antagonized by interference with the cis-trans peptidyl-prolyl isomerases (PPIase), cyclophilin A and FKBP. Signalling molecules downstream of CD28 which are essential for the stabilization of cytokine mRNAs are largely unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We now show that Pin1, a third member of the PPIase family mediates the post-transcriptional regulation of Th1 cytokines by activated T cells. Blockade of Pin1 by pharmacologic or genetic means greatly attenuated IFN-Ξ³, IL-2 and CXCL-10 mRNA stability, accumulation and protein expression after cell activation. In vivo, Pin1 blockade prevented both the acute and chronic rejection of MHC mismatched, orthotopic rat lung transplants by reducing the expression of IFN-Ξ³ and CXCL-10. Combined transcriptional and post-transcriptional blockade with cyclosporine A and the Pin1 inhibitor, juglone, was synergistic. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These data suggest Pin1 inhibitors should be explored for use as immunosuppressants and employed with available calcineurin inhibitors to reduce toxicity and enhance effectiveness
Distinct Mechanisms for Induction and Tolerance Regulate the Immediate Early Genes Encoding Interleukin 1Ξ² and Tumor Necrosis Factor Ξ±
Interleukin-1Ξ² and Tumor Necrosis Factor Ξ± play related, but distinct, roles in immunity and disease. Our study revealed major mechanistic distinctions in the Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling-dependent induction for the rapidly expressed genes (IL1B and TNF) coding for these two cytokines. Prior to induction, TNF exhibited pre-bound TATA Binding Protein (TBP) and paused RNA Polymerase II (Pol II), hallmarks of poised immediate-early (IE) genes. In contrast, unstimulated IL1B displayed very low levels of both TBP and paused Pol II, requiring the lineage-specific Spi-1/PU.1 (Spi1) transcription factor as an anchor for induction-dependent interaction with two TLR-activated transcription factors, C/EBPΞ² and NF-ΞΊB. Activation and DNA binding of these two pre-expressed factors resulted in de novo recruitment of TBP and Pol II to IL1B in concert with a permissive state for elongation mediated by the recruitment of elongation factor P-TEFb. This Spi1-dependent mechanism for IL1B transcription, which is unique for a rapidly-induced/poised IE gene, was more dependent upon P-TEFb than was the case for the TNF gene. Furthermore, the dependence on phosphoinositide 3-kinase for P-TEFb recruitment to IL1B paralleled a greater sensitivity to the metabolic state of the cell and a lower sensitivity to the phenomenon of endotoxin tolerance than was evident for TNF. Such differences in induction mechanisms argue against the prevailing paradigm that all IE genes possess paused Pol II and may further delineate the specific roles played by each of these rapidly expressed immune modulators. Β© 2013 Adamik et al
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