1,304 research outputs found
The medicinal flora of Majouri-Kirchi forests (Jammu and Kashmir State), India
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/30218/1/0000610.pd
A global 3-D CTM evaluation of black carbon in the Tibetan Plateau
We systematically evaluate the black carbon (BC) simulations for 2006 over
the Tibetan Plateau by a global 3-D chemical transport model (CTM)
(GEOS-Chem) driven by GEOS-5 assimilated meteorological fields, using in situ
measurements of BC in surface air, BC in snow, and BC absorption aerosol
optical depth (AAOD). Using improved anthropogenic BC emission inventories
for Asia that account for rapid technology renewal and energy consumption
growth (Zhang et al., 2009; Lu et al., 2011) and improved global biomass
burning emission inventories that account for small fires (van der Werf et
al., 2010; Randerson et al., 2012), we find that model results of both BC in
surface air and in snow are statistically in good agreement with
observations (biases < 15%) away from urban centers. Model
results capture the seasonal variations of the surface BC concentrations at
rural sites in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, but the observed elevated values in
winter are absent. Modeled surface-BC concentrations are within a factor of 2 of the observations at remote sites. Part of the discrepancy is
explained by the deficiencies of the meteorological fields over the complex
Tibetan terrain. We find that BC concentrations in snow computed from
modeled BC deposition and GEOS-5 precipitation are spatiotemporally
consistent with observations (<i>r</i> = 0.85). The computed BC concentrations in
snow are a factor of 2–4 higher than the observations at several Himalayan
sites because of excessive BC deposition. The BC concentrations in snow are
biased low by a factor of 2 in the central plateau, which we attribute to
the absence of snow aging in the CTM and strong local emissions unaccounted
for in the emission inventories. Modeled BC AAOD is more than a factor of
2 lower than observations at most sites, particularly to the northwest of
the plateau and along the southern slopes of the Himalayas in winter and
spring, which is attributable in large part to underestimated emissions and
the assumption of external mixing of BC aerosols in the model. We find that
assuming a 50% increase of BC absorption associated with internal mixing
reduces the bias in modeled BC AAOD by 57% in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and
the northeastern plateau and to the northeast of the plateau, and by 16%
along the southern slopes of the Himalayas and to the northwest of the
plateau. Both surface BC concentration and AAOD are strongly sensitive to
anthropogenic emissions (from China and India), while BC concentration in
snow is especially responsive to the treatment of BC aerosol aging. We find
that a finer model resolution (0.5° × 0.667° nested over Asia) reduces the bias in modeled surface-BC concentration from
15 to 2%. The large range and non-homogeneity of discrepancies
between model results and observations of BC across the Tibetan Plateau
undoubtedly undermine current assessments of the climatic and hydrological
impact of BC in the region and thus warrant imperative needs for more extensive
measurements of BC, including its concentration in surface air and snow,
AAOD, vertical profile and deposition
TERT Promotes Epithelial Proliferation through Transcriptional Control of a Myc- and Wnt-Related Developmental Program
Telomerase serves a critical role in stem cell function and tissue homeostasis. This role depends on its ability to synthesize telomere repeats in a manner dependent on the reverse transcriptase (RT) function of its protein component telomerase RT (TERT), as well as on a novel pathway whose mechanism is poorly understood. Here, we use a TERT mutant lacking RT function (TERTci) to study the mechanism of TERT action in mammalian skin, an ideal tissue for studying progenitor cell biology. We show that TERTci retains the full activities of wild-type TERT in enhancing keratinocyte proliferation in skin and in activating resting hair follicle stem cells, which triggers initiation of a new hair follicle growth phase and promotes hair synthesis. To understand the nature of this RT-independent function for TERT, we studied the genome-wide transcriptional response to acute changes in TERT levels in mouse skin. We find that TERT facilitates activation of progenitor cells in the skin and hair follicle by triggering a rapid change in gene expression that significantly overlaps the program controlling natural hair follicle cycling in wild-type mice. Statistical comparisons to other microarray gene sets using pattern-matching algorithms revealed that the TERT transcriptional response strongly resembles those mediated by Myc and Wnt, two proteins intimately associated with stem cell function and cancer. These data show that TERT controls tissue progenitor cells via transcriptional regulation of a developmental program converging on the Myc and Wnt pathways
Life-threatening hypersplenism due to idiopathic portal hypertension in early childhood: case report and review of the literature
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Idiopathic portal hypertension (IPH) is a disorder of unknown etiology and is characterized clinically by portal hypertension, splenomegaly, and hypersplenism accompanied by pancytopenia. This study evaluates the pathogenic concept of the disease by a systematic review of the literature and illustrates novel pathologic and laboratory findings.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>We report the first case of uncontrolled splenic hyperperfusion and enlargement with subsequent hypersplenism leading to life-threatening complications of IPH in infancy and emergent splenectomy.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggest that splenic NO and VCAM-1, rather than ET-1, have a significant impact on the development of IPH, even at a very early stage of disease. The success of surgical interventions targeting the splenic hyperperfusion suggests that the primary defect in the regulation of splenic blood flow seems to be crucial for the development of IPH. Thus, beside other treatment options splenectomy needs to be considered as a prime therapeutic option for IPH.</p
A Hidden Markov Model for Copy Number Variant prediction from whole genome resequencing data
Motivation: Copy Number Variants (CNVs) are important genetic factors for studying human diseases. While high-throughput whole genome re-sequencing provides multiple lines of evidence for detecting CNVs, computational algorithms need to be tailored for different type or size of CNVs under different experimental designs. Results: To achieve optimal power and resolution of detecting CNVs at low depth of coverage, we implemented a Hidden Markov Model that integrates both depth of coverage and mate-pair relationship. The novelty of our algorithm is that we infer the likelihood of carrying a deletion jointly from multiple mate pairs in a region without the requirement of a single mate pairs being obvious outliers. By integrating all useful information in a comprehensive model, our method is able to detect medium-size deletions (200-2000bp) at low depth (<10× per sample). We applied the method to simulated data and demonstrate the power of detecting medium-size deletions is close to theoretical values. Availability: A program implemented in Java, Zinfandel, is available at http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~itsik/zinfandel
Pseudorapidity Distributions of Charged Particles in d + Au and p + p Collisions at = 200GeV
The measured pseudorapidity distributions of primary charged particles are
presented for d + Au and p + p collisions at 200 GeV
over a wide pseudorapidity range of 5.4. The results
for d + Au collisions are presented for minimum-bias events and as a function
of collision centrality. The measurements for p + p collisions are shown for
minimum-bias events. The ratio of the charged particle multiplicity in d + Au
and p + A collisions relative to that for inelastic p + p collisions is found
to depend only on , and it is remarkably independent of
collision energy and system mass. The deuteron and gold fragmentation regions
in d + Au collisions are in good agreement with proton nucleus data at lower
energies.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. To appear in the proceedings of Seventeenth
International Conference on Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions
(Quark Matter 2004), Oakland, California from January 11-17, 2004. Submitted
to Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physic
Rapidity and k_T dependence of HBT correlations in Au+Au collisions at 200 GeV with PHOBOS
Two-particle correlations of identical charged pion pairs from Au+Au
collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV were measured by the PHOBOS experiment at
RHIC. Data for the most central (0--15%) events were analyzed with
Bertsch-Pratt (BP) and Yano-Koonin-Podgoretskii (YKP) parameterizations using
pairs with rapidities of 0.4 < y < 1.3 and transverse momenta 0.1 < k_T < 1.4
GeV/c. The Bertsch-Pratt radii decrease as a function of pair transverse
momentum. The pair rapidity Y_pipi roughly scales with the source rapidity
Y_YKP, indicating strong dynamical correlations.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of Seventeenth
International Conference on Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions
(Quark Matter 2004), Oakland, California from January 11-17, 2004. Submitted
to Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physic
Search for gravitational waves from binary inspirals in S3 and S4 LIGO data
We report on a search for gravitational waves from the coalescence of compact
binaries during the third and fourth LIGO science runs. The search focused on
gravitational waves generated during the inspiral phase of the binary
evolution. In our analysis, we considered three categories of compact binary
systems, ordered by mass: (i) primordial black hole binaries with masses in the
range 0.35 M(sun) < m1, m2 < 1.0 M(sun), (ii) binary neutron stars with masses
in the range 1.0 M(sun) < m1, m2 < 3.0 M(sun), and (iii) binary black holes
with masses in the range 3.0 M(sun)< m1, m2 < m_(max) with the additional
constraint m1+ m2 < m_(max), where m_(max) was set to 40.0 M(sun) and 80.0
M(sun) in the third and fourth science runs, respectively. Although the
detectors could probe to distances as far as tens of Mpc, no gravitational-wave
signals were identified in the 1364 hours of data we analyzed. Assuming a
binary population with a Gaussian distribution around 0.75-0.75 M(sun), 1.4-1.4
M(sun), and 5.0-5.0 M(sun), we derived 90%-confidence upper limit rates of 4.9
yr^(-1) L10^(-1) for primordial black hole binaries, 1.2 yr^(-1) L10^(-1) for
binary neutron stars, and 0.5 yr^(-1) L10^(-1) for stellar mass binary black
holes, where L10 is 10^(10) times the blue light luminosity of the Sun.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure
First LIGO search for gravitational wave bursts from cosmic (super)strings
We report on a matched-filter search for gravitational wave bursts from
cosmic string cusps using LIGO data from the fourth science run (S4) which took
place in February and March 2005. No gravitational waves were detected in 14.9
days of data from times when all three LIGO detectors were operating. We
interpret the result in terms of a frequentist upper limit on the rate of
gravitational wave bursts and use the limits on the rate to constrain the
parameter space (string tension, reconnection probability, and loop sizes) of
cosmic string models.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. Replaced with version submitted to PR
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