Activation of mTOR coincides with autophagy during ligation-induced atrophy in the rat submandibular gland

Salivary gland atrophy is a common consequence of pathology, including Sjögren's syndrome, irradiation therapy and obstructive sialadenitis. During severe atrophy of the rat submandibular gland caused by excretory duct ligation, the majority of acinar cells disappear through apoptosis, whereas ductal cells proliferate and dedifferentiate; yet, the gland can survive in the atrophic state almost indefinitely, with an ability to fully recover if deligated. The control mechanisms governing these observations are not well understood. We report that ∼10% of acinar cells survive in ligation-induced atrophy. Microarray and quantitative real-time PCR analysis of ligated glands indicated sustained transcription of acinar cell-specific genes, whereas ductal-specific genes were reduced to background levels. After 3 days of ligation, activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway and autophagy occurred as shown by phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 and expression of autophagy-related proteins. These results suggest that activation of mTOR and the autophagosomal pathway are important mechanisms that may help to preserve acinar cells during atrophy of salivary glands after injury

Some psychosocial and cultural factors in the Arab-Israeli conflict: a review of the literature

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66497/2/10.1177_002200277201600210.pd

Challenges and opportunities for improved understanding of regional climate dynamics

Dynamical processes in the atmosphere and ocean are central to determining the large-scale drivers of regional climate change, yet their predictive understanding is poor. Here, we identify three frontline challenges in climate dynamics where significant progress can be made to inform adaptation: response of storms, blocks and jet streams to external forcing; basin-to-basin and tropical–extratropical teleconnections; and the development of non-linear predictive theory. We highlight opportunities and techniques for making immediate progress in these areas, which critically involve the development of high-resolution coupled model simulations, partial coupling or pacemaker experiments, as well as the development and use of dynamical metrics and exploitation of hierarchies of models

Travelers With Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Cured Without Systemic Therapy

Guidelines recommend wound care and/or local therapy as first-line treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis. An analysis of a referral treatment program in 135 travelers showed that this approach was feasible in 62% of patients, with positive outcome in 83% of evaluable patient

Simulating the midlatitude atmospheric circulation: what might we gain from high-resolution modeling of air-sea interactions?

Purpose of Review. To provide a snapshot of the current research on the oceanic forcing of the atmospheric circulation in midlatitudes and a concise update on previous review papers. Recent findings. Atmospheric models used for seasonal and longer timescales predictions are starting to resolve motions so far only studied in conjunction with weather forecasts. These phenomena have horizontal scales of ~ 10–100 km which coincide with energetic scales in the ocean circulation. Evidence has been presented that, as a result of this matching of scale, oceanic forcing of the atmosphere was enhanced in models with 10–100 km grid size, especially at upper tropospheric levels. The robustness of these results and their underlying mechanisms are however unclear. Summary. Despite indications that higher resolution atmospheric models respond more strongly to sea surface temperature anomalies, their responses are still generally weaker than those estimated empirically from observations. Coarse atmospheric models (grid size greater than 100 km) will miss important signals arising from future changes in ocean circulation unless new parameterizations are developed

The climate of a retrograde rotating Earth

To enhance understanding of Earth's climate, numerical experiments are performed contrasting a retrograde and prograde rotating Earth using the Max Planck Institute Earth system model. The experiments show that the sense of rotation has relatively little impact on the globally and zonally averaged energy budgets but leads to large shifts in continental climates, patterns of precipitation, and regions of deep water formation.Changes in the zonal asymmetries of the continental climates are expected given ideas developed more than a hundred years ago. Unexpected was, however, the switch in the character of the European–African climate with that of the Americas, with a drying of the former and a greening of the latter. Also unexpected was a shift in the storm track activity from the oceans to the land in the Northern Hemisphere. The different patterns of storms and changes in the direction of the trades influence fresh water transport, which may underpin the change of the role of the North Atlantic and the Pacific in terms of deep water formation, overturning and northward oceanic heat transport. These changes greatly influence northern hemispheric climate and atmospheric heat transport by eddies in ways that appear energetically consistent with a southward shift of the zonally and annually averaged tropical rain bands. Differences between the zonally averaged energy budget and the rain band shifts leave the door open, however, for an important role for stationary eddies in determining the position of tropical rains. Changes in ocean biogeochemistry largely follow shifts in ocean circulation, but the emergence of a super oxygen minimum zone in the Indian Ocean is not expected. The upwelling of phosphate-enriched and nitrate-depleted water provokes a dominance of cyanobacteria over bulk phytoplankton over vast areas – a phenomenon not observed in the prograde model.What would the climate of Earth look like if it would rotate in the reversed (retrograde) direction? Which of the characteristic climate patterns in the ocean, atmosphere, or land that are observed in a present-day climate are the result of the direction of Earth's rotation? Is, for example, the structure of the oceanic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) a consequence of the interplay of basin location and rotation direction? In experiments with the Max Planck Institute Earth system model (MPI-ESM), we investigate the effects of a retrograde rotation in all aspects of the climate system.The expected consequences of a retrograde rotation are reversals of the zonal wind and ocean circulation patterns. These changes are associated with major shifts in the temperature and precipitation patterns. For example, the temperature gradient between Europe and eastern Siberia is reversed, and the Sahara greens, while large parts of the Americas become deserts. Interestingly, the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) shifts southward and the modeled double ITCZ in the Pacific changes to a single ITCZ, a result of zonal asymmetries in the structure of the tropical circulation.One of the most prominent non-trivial effects of a retrograde rotation is a collapse of the Atlantic MOC, while a strong overturning cell emerges in the Pacific. This clearly shows that the position of the MOC is not controlled by the sizes of the basins or by mountain chains splitting the continents in unequal runoff basins but by the location of the basins relative to the dominant wind directions. As a consequence of the changes in the ocean circulation, a super oxygen minimum zone develops in the Indian Ocean leading to upwelling of phosphate-enriched and nitrate-depleted water. These conditions provoke a dominance of cyanobacteria over bulk phytoplankton over vast areas, a phenomenon not observed in the prograde model.</p

An overview of using small punch testing for mechanical characterization of MCrAlY bond coats

Considerable work has been carried out on overlay bond coats in the past several decades because of its excellent oxidation resistance and good adhesion between the top coat and superalloy substrate in the thermal barrier coating systems. Previous studies mainly focus on oxidation and diffusion behavior of these coatings. However, the mechanical behavior and the dominant fracture and deformation mechanisms of the overlay bond coats at different temperatures are still under investigation. Direct comparison between individual studies has not yet been achieved due to the fragmentary data on deposition processes, microstructure and, more apparently, the difficulty in accurately measuring the mechanical properties of thin coatings. One of the miniaturized specimen testing methods, small punch testing, appears to have the potential to provide such mechanical property measurements for thin coatings. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of using small punch testing to evaluate material properties and to summarize the available mechanical properties that include the ductile-to-brittle transition and creep of MCrAlY bond coat alloys, in an attempt to understand the mechanical behavior of MCrAlY coatings over a broad temperature range

Populist Mobilization: A New Theoretical Approach to Populism*

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112280/1/j.1467-9558.2011.01388.x.pd

Mechanical properties and microstructure of VPS and HVOF CoNiCrAlY coatings

HVOF and VPS coatings were sprayed using a Praxair (CO-210-24) CoNiCrAlY powder. Free standing coatings underwent vacuum annealing at different temperatures for times of up to 840h. Feedstock powder, as-sprayed and annealed coatings were characterised by SEM, EDS and XRD. The hardness and Young’s modulus of as-sprayed and annealed HVOF and VPS coatings were measured, including determination of Young’s moduli of the individual phases via nanoindentation and measurement of Young’s moduli of coatings at temperatures up to 500°C. The Eshelby inclusion model was used to investigate the effect of microstructure on the coatings’ mechanical properties. The sensitivity of the mechanical properties to microstructural details was confirmed. Young’s modulus was constant to ~200°C then decreased with increasing measurement temperature. Annealing increased Young’s modulus due to a combination of decreased porosity and β volume fraction. Oxide stringers in the HVOF coating maintained its higher hardness than the VPS coating even after annealing

Changes in northern hemisphere temperature variability shaped by regional warming patterns

Global warming involves changes not only in the mean atmospheric temperature, but also in its variability and extremes. Here we use a feature-tracking technique to investigate the dynamical contribution to temperature anomalies in the northern hemisphere in CMIP5 climate-change simulations. We develop a simple theory to explain how temperature variance and skewness changes are generated dynamically from mean temperature gradient changes, and demonstrate the crucial role of regional warming patterns in shaping the distinct response of cold and warm anomalies. We also show that skewness changes must be taken into account, in addition to variance changes, in order to correctly capture the projected temperature variability response. These changes in variability may impact humans, agriculture and animals, as they experience not only a warmer mean climate, but also a new likelihood of temperature anomalies within that climate