Core sampling system spare parts assessment

Soon, there will be 4 independent core sampling systems obtaining samples from the underground tanks. It is desirable that these systems be available for sampling during the next 2 years. This assessment was prepared to evaluate the adequacy of the spare parts identified for the core sampling system and to provide recommendations that may remediate overages or inadequacies of spare parts

Annually repeated influenza vaccination improves humoral responses to several influenza virus strains in healthy elderly

The benefit of annually repeated influenza vaccination on antibody formation is still under debate. In this study the effect of annually repeated influenza vaccination on haemagglutination inhibiting (HI) antibody formation in the elderly is investigated. Between 1990 and 1993 healthy young and elde

Increased chromatin accessibility facilitates intron retention in specific cell differentiation states

Dynamic intron retention (IR) in vertebrate cells is of widespread biological importance. Aberrant IR is associated with numerous human diseases including several cancers. Despite consistent reports demonstrating that intrinsic sequence features can help introns evade splicing, conflicting findings about cell type or condition-specific IR regulation by trans-regulatory and epigenetic mechanisms demand an unbiased and systematic analysis of IR in a controlled experimental setting. We integrated matched mRNA sequencing (RNA-seq), whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS), nucleosome occupancy methylome sequencing (NOMe-Seq), and chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) data from primary human myeloid and lymphoid cells. Using these multi-omics data and machine learning we trained two complementary models to determine the role of epigenetic factors in the regulation of IR in cells of the innate immune system. We show that increased chromatin accessibility, as revealed by nucleosome-free regions, contributes substantially to the retention of introns in a cell-specific manner. We also confirm that intrinsic characteristics of introns are key for them to evade splicing. This study suggests an important role of chromatin architecture in IR regulation. With an increasing appreciation that pathogenic alterations are linked to RNA processing, our findings may provide useful insights for the development of novel therapeutic approaches that target aberrant splicing

Vegetation history and climatic fluctuations on a transect along the Dead Sea west shore and impact on past societies over the last 3500 years.

This study represents the vegetation history of the last 3500 years and conducts an analysis of the climatic fluctuations on a 75 km long transect on the western Dead Sea shore. Palynological and sedimentological data are available from six cores near Mount Sedom, Ein Boqueq, and Ein Gedi and from outcrops near Ze'elim and Ein Feshkha. The comparison of the pollen data with the lake levels shows synchronous trends. During the Middle Bronze Age, Iron Age and Hellenistic to Byzantine Period the high lake level of the Dead Sea signals an increase in precipitation. Contemporaneously, values of cultivated plants indicate an increase in agriculture. Lake level is low during the Late Bronze Age, within the Iron Age and at the end of the Byzantine period, indicating dry periods when all pds show a decrease of cultivated plants. Forest regeneration led by drought-resistant pines is observed in all pollen diagrams (pds) following the agricultural decline in the Byzantine period and, in the pds near Ein Boqeq, Ze'elim and Ein Feshkha, during the late Iron Age. The modern vegetation gradient is reflected in the palaeo-records: a stronger expansion of Mediterranean vegetation and cultivated plants in the northern sites is recognisable

Differential modulation of cisplatin accumulation in leukocytes and tumor cell lines by the paclitaxel vehicle Cremophor EL

Background: Several clinical studies have shown that polychemotherapy with the taxanes paclitaxel or docetaxel preceded or followed by cisplatin is associated with important schedule-dependent differences in toxicities, such as leukocytopenia. In general, the pharmacokinetics of both drugs during the combined treatment are unaltered, suggesting that a pharmacodynamic interaction might have occurred. Materials and methods: In order to gain insight into this pharmacologic interaction, we performed in vitro drug accumulation studies using peripheral blood leukocytes and a panel of tumor and non-malignant cell lines with paclitaxel and docetaxel, as well as with their respective formulation vehicles Cremophor EL and Tween 80. Results: Our results show a significant reduction in the intracellular cisplatin concentration in leukocytes of up to 42% in the presence of Cremophor EL and Tween 80 as compared to the control. This pharmacodynamic interaction of these surfactants with cisplatin seems to be specific for haematopoietic cells, and does not occur in solid tumor cells. Conclusion: The present data suggest that the pharmaceutical vehicles Cremophor EL and Tween 80 might contribute to the reduced cisplatin-associated myelotoxicity observed in the clinical combination chemotherapy studies with paclitaxel and docetaxel

Tracking Performance of the Scintillating Fiber Detector in the K2K Experiment

The K2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment uses a Scintillating Fiber Detector (SciFi) to reconstruct charged particles produced in neutrino interactions in the near detector. We describe the track reconstruction algorithm and the performance of the SciFi after three years of operation.Comment: 24pages,18 figures, and 1 table. Preprint submitted to NI

Exciton swapping in a twisted graphene bilayer as a solid-state realization of a two-brane model

It is shown that exciton swapping between two graphene sheets may occur under specific conditions. A magnetically tunable optical filter is described to demonstrate this new effect. Mathematically, it is shown that two turbostratic graphene layers can be described as a "noncommutative" two-sheeted (2+1)-spacetime thanks to a formalism previously introduced for the study of braneworlds in high energy physics. The Hamiltonian of the model contains a coupling term connecting the two layers which is similar to the coupling existing between two braneworlds at a quantum level. In the present case, this term is related to a K-K' intervalley coupling. In addition, the experimental observation of this effect could be a way to assess the relevance of some theoretical concepts of the braneworld hypothesis.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, final version published in European Physical Journal

Correlação Anátomo-Cito-Clínica de 249 Casos de Neoplasias Malignas da Boca

Os autores evidenciam o valor de emprego da Citologia exfoliativa na detecção do Câncer da Boca, estabelecendo correlação anátomo-cito-clínica em 249 casos estudados, que apresentem um percentual de 85,5% de correlacionamento diagnóstico. Consideram a Citologia um meio coadjuvante de grande valor no diagnóstico do Câncer Bucal e que pode ser empregado no controle das lesões iniciais, no controle dos pacientes submetidos a cirurgias extensas, em pacientes irradiados ou tratados pelo-quimioterapia, nos pacientes que se recusam a fazer biópsia, mas que de maneira alguma pode substituir o exame histopatológico, que será sempre obrigatório

Measurement of single pi0 production in neutral current neutrino interactions with water by a 1.3 GeV wide band muon neutrino beam

Neutral current single pi0 production induced by neutrinos with a mean energy of 1.3 GeV is measured at a 1000 ton water Cherenkov detector as a near detector of the K2K long baseline neutrino experiment. The cross section for this process relative to the total charged current cross section is measured to be 0.064 +- 0.001 (stat.) +- 0.007 (sys.). The momentum distribution of produced pi0s is measured and is found to be in good agreement with an expectation from the present knowledge of the neutrino cross sections.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to Phys. Lett.

Calibration of a Neutron Polarimeter

This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478