Infrared imaging enhances retinal crystals in Bietti’s crystalline dystrophy

Infrared imaging dramatically increased the number of crystalline deposits visualized compared with clinical examination, standard color fundus photography, and red free imaging in patients with Bietti’s crystalline dystrophy. We believe that this imaging modality significantly improves the sensitivity with which these lesions are detected, facilitating earlier diagnosis and may potentially serve as a prognostic indicator when examined over time

The Induction of Tolerance to Heavy Metals in Natural and Laboratory Populations of Fish

Aquatic toxicity studies were performed on two natural populations of fathead minnows. One group of organisms was taken from a metal-contaminated flyash pond associated with a coal-fired power plant and the other group was collected from relatively uncontaminated hatchery ponds. Acute tests indicated that flyash pond fish were significantly more tolerant to cadmium and copper than were hatchery fish. At an exposure concentration of 6.0 mg Cd/L in moderately hard water, the median period of survival for flyash pond fish was 50.0 hr compared to 6.8 hr for hatchery fish. Both groups of organisms were about equally sensitive to zinc. The metal-induced tolerance observed with animals from the flyash pond was not a sustained response. Additional studies were undertaken to observe the responses of laboratory populations of fathead minnows to acutely toxic cadmium concentrations following acclimation to sublethal exposures of this metal. Based on 96-hr LC50 values, those animals which had received 35-days prior exposure to 10 and 50 μg Cd/L were 63 to 68% more tolerant to cadmium than were previously unexposed organisms. As with the natural population, tolerance to cadmium in the laboratory fish was not retained. After organisms which had been acclimated to 10 μg Cd/L were transferred to clean water, tolerance to cadmium decreased by three and one-half fold after only 7 days. Developing embryos of the fathead minnow and rainbow trout also acquired tolerance to cadmium. After eggs of the trout had been exposed to 0, 5, and 50 μg Cd/L for 24 days, subsequent acute toxicity tests conducted on the newly hatched larvae gave 7-day LC50 values of 0.70, 1.59, and 2.02 μg Cd/L, respectively

Measuring the cosmological lepton asymmetry through the CMB anisotropy

A large lepton asymmetry in the Universe is still a viable possibility and leads to many interesting phenomena such as gauge symmetry nonrestoration at high temperature. We show that a large lepton asymmetry changes the predicted cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy and that any degeneracy in the relic neutrino sea will be measured to a precision of 1% or better when the CMB anisotropy is measured at the accuracy expected to result from the planned satellite missions MAP and Planck. In fact, the current measurements already put an upper limit on the lepton asymmetry of the Universe which is stronger than the one coming from considerations of primordial nucleosynthesis and structure formation.Comment: 4 pagex LaTex, 1 color postscript figure, uses epsf. Version submitted to PRL. (Bug in code fixed, new figure, conclusions unchanged

Focus, Vol. 1 No. 1

A literary magazine of student writing published by the Department of English of Stephen F. Austin State College.https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/focus/1000/thumbnail.jp

A decision-making model for retired Li-ion batteries

The growth of electric vehicles (EVs) has raised concerns about the disposition of their batteries once they reach their end of life. Currently, recycling is regarded as the potential solution for retired Li-ion batteries (LIBs). However, these LIBs still retain around 80% of their original capacity, which can be repurposed for other energy storage system (ESS) applications in their "second life" before recycling. Yet, there is no guidance for deciding whether to reuse or recycle them. Here, we propose developing a decision-making model that evaluates retired batteries from both technical and economic perspectives. We develop data-driven models and combine them with an equivalent circuit model (ECM) to build module-level aging models. Simulations show that limiting the State of Charge (SOC) operating range and charge current in second life applications can extend the lifetime of LIBs. Upon when and how to use the battery in second life, the simulated lifetime is between 1-6 years..

The IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY in 2016: towards curated quantitative interactions between 1300 protein targets and 6000 ligands

The IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY (GtoPdb, http://www.guidetopharmacology.org) provides expert-curated molecular interactions between successful and potential drugs and their targets in the human genome. Developed by the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) and the British Pharmacological Society (BPS), this resource, and its earlier incarnation as IUPHAR-DB, is described in our 2014 publication. This update incorporates changes over the intervening seven database releases. The unique model of content capture is based on established and new target class subcommittees collaborating with in-house curators. Most information comes from journal articles, but we now also index kinase cross-screening panels. Targets are specified by UniProtKB IDs. Small molecules are defined by PubChem Compound Identifiers (CIDs); ligand capture also includes peptides and clinical antibodies. We have extended the capture of ligands and targets linked via published quantitative binding data (e.g. Ki, IC50 or Kd). The resulting pharmacological relationship network now defines a data-supported druggable genome encompassing 7% of human proteins. The database also provides an expanded substrate for the biennially published compendium, the Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY. This article covers content increase, entity analysis, revised curation strategies, new website features and expanded download options

Integrating Omic Technologies into Aquatic Ecological Risk Assessment and Environmental Monitoring: Hurdles, Achievements, and Future Outlook

Background: In this commentary we present the findings from an international consortium on fish toxicogenomics sponsored by the U.K. Natural Environment Research Council (Fish Toxicogenomics—Moving into Regulation and Monitoring, held 21–23 April 2008 at the Pacific Environmental Science Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada). Objectives: The consortium from government agencies, academia, and industry addressed three topics: progress in ecotoxicogenomics, regulatory perspectives on roadblocks for practical implementation of toxicogenomics into risk assessment, and dealing with variability in data sets. Discussion: Participants noted that examples of successful application of omic technologies have been identified, but critical studies are needed to relate molecular changes to ecological adverse outcome. Participants made recommendations for the management of technical and biological variation. They also stressed the need for enhanced interdisciplinary training and communication as well as considerable investment into the generation and curation of appropriate reference omic data. Conclusions: The participants concluded that, although there are hurdles to pass on the road to regulatory acceptance, omics technologies are already useful for elucidating modes of action of toxicants and can contribute to the risk assessment process as part of a weight-of-evidence approach