Assay for free secretory component and methods for monitoring organ rejection

Methods of monitoring and detecting the early onset of organ injury incident rejection of a organ rejection in an animal are disclosed. The described methods are capable of distinguishing organ rejection injury from other organ tissue damage in the animal. Free secretory component levels in an animal biological fluid (e.g., bile, urine, blood, amniotic fluid) may be used to identify organ rejection in an animal. Multiple and single organ transplant patients may be monitored and diagnosed according to the claimed methods. Biological fluids, such as blood, (serum) or urine, are analyzed immunologically using a particularly adapted ELISA which are then compared to an FSC control concentration to identify elevated FSC values. Animals with test FSC above FSC control concentrations are diagnosed as having an ongoing organ rejection episode. The detection of congenital renal dysfunction in utero is also provided according to the present invention through the measurement of FSC in the amniotic fluid. The described methods are specific for indicating organ rejection tissue injury, and distinguish kidney rejection tissue injury, in particular, from other causes of kidney injury, such as cyclosporin toxicity, urinary tract infection, and urinary obstruction and toxicity (incident to immunosuppressive therapy with cyclosporin). A kit for use in the identification of an organ rejection episode in a patient through measurement of FSC in a biological sample is also provided.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste

Adversarially Robust Distillation

Knowledge distillation is effective for producing small, high-performance neural networks for classification, but these small networks are vulnerable to adversarial attacks. This paper studies how adversarial robustness transfers from teacher to student during knowledge distillation. We find that a large amount of robustness may be inherited by the student even when distilled on only clean images. Second, we introduce Adversarially Robust Distillation (ARD) for distilling robustness onto student networks. In addition to producing small models with high test accuracy like conventional distillation, ARD also passes the superior robustness of large networks onto the student. In our experiments, we find that ARD student models decisively outperform adversarially trained networks of identical architecture in terms of robust accuracy, surpassing state-of-the-art methods on standard robustness benchmarks. Finally, we adapt recent fast adversarial training methods to ARD for accelerated robust distillation.Comment: Accepted to AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 202

Taxation Law - Federal Income Taxation - Redemptions and Reorganizations

The Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Ninth Circuits are in conflict on the question of whether section 351 or section 304 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 governs a transfer of the stock of a brother corporation to a sister corporation by the common controlling shareholder in return for stock of the sister corporation and cash. Coates Trust v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 480 F.2d 468 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 94 S. Ct. 551 (1973). Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Stickney, 399 F.2d 838 (6th Cir. 1968)

Design of catalytic monoliths for closed-cycle carbon dioxide lasers

Pulsed carbon dioxide (CO2) lasers have many applications in aeronautics, space research, weather monitoring and other areas. Full exploitation of the potential of these lasers in hampered by the dissociation of CO2 that occurs during laser operation. The development of closed-cycle CO2 lasers requires active CO-O2 recombination (CO oxidation) catalyst and design methods for implementation of catalysts in CO2 laser systems. A monolith catalyst section model and associated design computer program, LASCAT, are presented to assist in the design of a monolith catalyst section of a closed cycle CO2 laser system. Using LASCAT,the designer is able to specify a number of system parameters and determine the monolith section performance. Trade-offs between the catalyst activity, catalyst dimensions, monolith dimensions, pressure drop, O2 conversion, and other variables can be explored and adjusted to meet system design specifications. An introduction describes a typical closed-cycle CO2 system, and indicates some advantages of a closed cycle laser system over an open cycle system and some advantages of monolith support over other types of supports. The development and use of a monolith catalyst model is presented. The results of a design study and a discussion of general design rules are given

Ceramic Entanglements In The Urartian Periphery: Technology As The Nexus Of Politics And Practice

This project examines the dynamic relationship between political context and technological practice by investigating how ceramic production at local centers in Nax�ıvan, Azerbaijan shifted with the changing political landscape. The regional center of Oğlanqala was one of many locally governed polities in the Early Iron Age (1200-800 BCE), became a vassal on the edge of the Urartian Empire in the Middle Iron Age (800-600 BCE), and finally had to survive on the battlefield between Parthia and Rome in the Classical Period (200 BCE-100 CE). Technological production is always embedded in a social context, and new political configurations create new desires, changing methods of identity construction, and shifting market access. In order to reconstruct the ceramic production sequence— including raw material acquisition, forming, decoration, and exchange— samples were analyzed using petrography, neutron activation analysis (NAA), scanning electron microscopy-electron dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), surface treatment analysis, and formal stylistic analysis. By layering this information, it was possible to document how inhabitants of Nax�ıvan employed ceramic technology as a means of negotiating changing relationships. In the Early Iron Age, ceramics were locally produced within a regional stylistic tradition. Later, Urartian imperial expansion promoted a diversification of style and local material use alongside a significant expansion of multi-directional exchange. In contrast, Roman Period ceramics were produced within a uniform stylistic and technological tradition common throughout the Roman east, but half of the pottery was imported from Artashat, the capital of Roman Armenia. This imperial borderland was never completely incorporated into its powerful neighbors, and technological practices materialized changing relationships of engagement, ambivalence, and resistance

Carbon Dynamics of Prairie Ecosystems

This study analyzes carbon cycle processes in prairie environments, with the goal of determining carbon sequestration (containment) capacity of prairies of varying quality. Results of the study will be used to aid in recommendations to land managers regarding ideal landscapes for prairie restoration and conservation, in order to mitigate atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. We incorporate scientific fieldwork, lab procedures, and data entry and analysis. Our research team analyzed soil respiration gas samples, soil samples, and above- and belowground biomass samples to quantify carbon emissions and retention. Additionally, terrain analyses are being conducted based on topographic and GPS measurements to determine optimal spatial orientation (i.e., slope, elevation, and exposure). Field research is conducted at Nachusa Grasslands, and in order to compare the carbon processes of prairies in two development stages, we chose one plot which was well-established and of high quality and one which was more recently restored and of poorer quality. We installed PVC rings in a grid-like formation across each plot, and used these to collect soil respiration gas samples for carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen analysis. Additional data collection included extraction of soil cores from the immediate vicinity of each PVC ring for belowground biomass and soil bulk density analyses; and collection of vegetation in close proximity to each ring for aboveground biomass analysis. All the data is currently being input into a GIS and analyzed in combination to determine optimal prairie conditions for carbon sequestration.B.A. (Bachelor of Arts

Functional characterization of orbicularis oculi and extraocular muscles

The orbicularis oculi are the sphincter muscles of the eyelids and are involved in modulating facial expression. They differ from both limb and extraocular muscles (EOMs) in their histology and biochemistry. Weakness of the orbicularis oculi muscles is a feature of neuromuscular disorders affecting the neuromuscular junction, and weakness of facial muscles and ptosis have also been described in patients with mutations in the ryanodine receptor gene. Here, we investigate human orbicularis oculi muscles and find that they are functionally more similar to quadriceps than to EOMs in terms of excitation-contraction coupling components. In particular, they do not express the cardiac isoform of the dihydropyridine receptor, which we find to be highly expressed in EOMs where it is likely responsible for the large depolarization-induced calcium influx. We further show that human orbicularis oculi and EOMs express high levels of utrophin and low levels of dystrophin, whereas quadriceps express dystrophin and low levels of utrophin. The results of this study highlight the notion that myotubes obtained by explanting satellite cells from different muscles are not functionally identical and retain the physiological characteristics of their muscle of origin. Furthermore, our results indicate that sparing of facial and EOMs in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the result of the higher levels of utrophin expression