A constraint-logic based implementation of the coarse-grained approach to data acquisition scheduling of the International Ultraviolet Explorer orbiting observatory

The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite observatory has been in operation continuously since 1978. It typically carries out several thousand observations per year for over a hundred different science projects. These observations, which can occur in one of four different data-taking modes, fall under several satellite-related constraints and many other constraints which derive from the science goals of the projects being undertaken. One strategy which has made the scheduling problem tractable has been that of 'coarse-graining' the time into discrete blocks of equal size (8 hours), each of which is devoted to a single science program, and each of which is sufficiently long for several observations to be carried out. We call it 'coarse-graining' because the schedule is done at a 'coarse' level which ignores fine structure; i.e., no attempt is made to plan the sequence of observations occurring within each time block. We have incorporated the IUE's coarse-grained approach in new software which examines the science needs of the observations and produces a limited set of alternative schedules which meet all of the instrument and science-related constraints. With this algorithm, the IUE can still be scheduled by a single person using a standard workstation, as it has been. We believe that this software could could be adapted to a more complex mission while retaining the IUE's high flexibility and efficiency and scientific return of future satellite missions

The Effects of a High Carbohydrate vs. High Fat Pre-Fast Meal on Incretin Hormone Secretion: A Randomized Crossover Study

Chronic illness such as strokes, heart disease and diabetes all rank among the leading causes of death in the United States. Recently, fasting has gained popularity as a means of preventing and treating chronic illness. PURPOSE: Fasting produces multiple beneficial physiological responses that have been shown to aid in chronic disease prevention, one of which is observed in relation to incretin hormones such as glucose-dependent insulin tropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). These incretin hormones are released by the gut to augment the secretion of insulin to regulate postprandial glucose levels. During a fast, the decrease in incretin hormones, and resultant insulin levels can aid the body to regain insulin sensitivity. This can lead to more effective blood glucose management and chronic illness prevention. The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of an acute 24-hour fast started with either a high fat (HF) or high carbohydrate (HC) meal on plasma GIP and GLP-1. METHODS: Subjects were over the age of 55, had a BMI equal to or greater than 27, and had no diagnosed metabolic disorders or some other disqualifying medical issues. Using a randomized crossover design, each participant performed two 24-hour fasts. One fast beginning with a high carbohydrate meal and the other a high fat meal, both of equal calories. Venous blood draws were taken at 0, 1, 24, and 48 hours. RESULTS: GIP and GLP-1 (P \u3c 0.001) were both elevated 1 hour after consuming the pre-fast meal in both conditions. In addition, both GIP (P = 0.0122) and GLP-1 (P = 0.0068) were higher in the high fat condition compared to the high carbohydrate condition at 1 hour. There were no significant differences between conditions for either GIP or GLP-1 at any other time point. CONCLUSION: As expected, both incretin hormones spiked postprandially. We did find that GIP and GLP-1 levels were significantly higher at 1-hour postprandial for the HF meal compared to the HC meal. This could give evidence to show how macronutrient levels can affect incretin secretion and alter sensitivity to insulin. However, the impact of the pre-fast meal on GLP-1 and GIP did not persist throughout the fast

Global Phylogeography Of Mackerels Of The Genus Scomber

Inter- and intraspecific genetic relationships among and within three species of mackerels of the genus Scomber were investigated by restriction site analysis of the whole mitochondrial (mt) DNA genome and direct sequence analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. A total of 15 samples, averaging 19 individuals each, were collected from geographically isolated populations throughout the ranges of S. scombrus (two samples), S, australasicus (five samples), and S. japonicus (eight samples). Restriction site analysis with 12 restriction enzymes revealed substantial genetic variation within each species. Sample haplotype diversities ranged from 0.28 to 0.95, and nucleotide sequence diversities from 0.13% to 0.76%. Spatial partitioning of genetic variation was observed in each of the species. Eastern and western North Atlantic samples of S. scombrus exhibited significant heterogeneity in the distribution of mtDNA haplotypes, but no fixed restriction site differences were observed between samples. Similarly, no fixed restriction site differences occurred among samples of S. japonicus in the Atlantic Ocean, although there were significant differences in the distribution of haplotypes among samples. In contrast, samples of S. japonicus from within the Pacific Ocean were characterized by fixed restriction site differences. North and South Pacific samples of S. australasicus were highly divergent, and one of two divergent mtDNA matrilines was restricted to samples from the South Pacific. A 420-bp segment of the cytochrome b gene was sequenced for representatives of each of the major mtDNA lineages identified by restriction site analysis. Scomber scombrus differed from S. australasicus and S. japonicus by more than 11% net nucleotide sequence divergence, considerably greater than the 3.5% sequence divergence between S. australasicus and S. japonicus. Levels of interspecific genetic divergences based on restriction site data were similar in pattern, but were approximately 20% lower in magnitude when based on the cytochrome b sequences. Parsimony analysis and neighbor-joining of restriction site data, and parsimony analysis of cytochrome b sequences showed similar paraphyletic patterns in both S, japonicus and S. australasicus. Levels of divergence among samples of S. japonicus were similar to those between samples of S. australasicus and S. japonicus. Complete partitioning of halpotypes among some samples of S. japonicus that are morphologically distinct suggests that Atlantic and Indo-Pacific populations of S. japonicus may need to be recognized as separate species

A Cold-Inducible Coactivator of Nuclear Receptors Linked to Adaptive Thermogenesis

AbstractAdaptive thermogenesis is an important component of energy homeostasis and a metabolic defense against obesity. We have cloned a novel transcriptional coactivator of nuclear receptors, termed PGC-1, from a brown fat cDNA library. PGC-1 mRNA expression is dramatically elevated upon cold exposure of mice in both brown fat and skeletal muscle, key thermogenic tissues. PGC-1 greatly increases the transcriptional activity of PPARγ and the thyroid hormone receptor on the uncoupling protein (UCP-1) promoter. Ectopic expression of PGC-1 in white adipose cells activates expression of UCP-1 and key mitochondrial enzymes of the respiratory chain, and increases the cellular content of mitochondrial DNA. These results indicate that PGC-1 plays a key role in linking nuclear receptors to the transcriptional program of adaptive thermogenesis

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and multispectral studies of disturbed Lake Superior coastal environments

Due to its high spatial resolution and excellent water penetration, coastal light detection and ranging (LiDAR) coupled with multispectral imaging (MSS) has great promise for resolving shoreline features in the Great Lakes. Previous investigations in Lake Superior documented a metal-rich “halo” around the Keweenaw Peninsula, related to past copper mining practices. Grand Traverse Bay on the Keweenaw Peninsula provides an excellent Great Lakes example of global mine discharges into coastal environments. For more than a century, waste rock migrating from shoreline tailings piles has moved along extensive stretches of coast, damming stream outlets, intercepting wetlands and recreational beaches, suppressing benthic invertebrate communities, and threatening critical fish breeding grounds. In the bay, the magnitude of the discarded wastes literally “reset the shoreline” and provided an intriguing field experiment in coastal erosion and spreading environmental effects. Employing a combination of historic aerial photography and LiDAR, we estimate the time course and mass of tailings eroded into the bay and the amount of copper that contributed to the metal-rich halo. We also quantify underwater tailings spread across benthic substrates by using MSS imagery on spectral reflectance differences between tailings and natural sediment types, plus a depth-correction algorithm (Lyzenga Method). We show that the coastal detail from LiDAR and MSS opens up numerous applications for ecological, ecosystem, and geological investigations

Silent progression in disease activity-free relapsing multiple sclerosis.

ObjectiveRates of worsening and evolution to secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) may be substantially lower in actively treated patients compared to natural history studies from the pretreatment era. Nonetheless, in our recently reported prospective cohort, more than half of patients with relapsing MS accumulated significant new disability by the 10th year of follow-up. Notably, "no evidence of disease activity" at 2 years did not predict long-term stability. Here, we determined to what extent clinical relapses and radiographic evidence of disease activity contribute to long-term disability accumulation.MethodsDisability progression was defined as an increase in Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) of 1.5, 1.0, or 0.5 (or greater) from baseline EDSS = 0, 1.0-5.0, and 5.5 or higher, respectively, assessed from baseline to year 5 (±1 year) and sustained to year 10 (±1 year). Longitudinal analysis of relative brain volume loss used a linear mixed model with sex, age, disease duration, and HLA-DRB1*15:01 as covariates.ResultsRelapses were associated with a transient increase in disability over 1-year intervals (p = 0.012) but not with confirmed disability progression (p = 0.551). Relative brain volume declined at a greater rate among individuals with disability progression compared to those who remained stable (p < 0.05).InterpretationLong-term worsening is common in relapsing MS patients, is largely independent of relapse activity, and is associated with accelerated brain atrophy. We propose the term silent progression to describe the insidious disability that accrues in many patients who satisfy traditional criteria for relapsing-remitting MS. Ann Neurol 2019;85:653-666

EARTH SCIENCE MARKUP LANGUAGE

The Earth Science community is the processing and analyzing large amount and variety of data from space and ground-based observations and from models. These data are generally stored in physical media with different data formats. This large variety of data formats forces the scientists to spend significant amount of time in writing specialized data format specific, readers before their analysis can even begin. Formats for Earth Science data can be as simple as ASCII and binary formats or be as complex as Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) and HDF Earth Observing System (HDF-EOS) formats. In this paper, we introduce the Earth Science Markup Language (ESML), being currently developed at the Information Technology and Systems Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. ESML would make applications independent of data formats and facilitate easier searches for data via internet search engine. Primary purpose of this paper is to bring ESML to the attention of data consumers and producers, and invite comments and suggestions

EARTH SCIENCE MARKUP LANGUAGE

The Earth Science community is the processing and analyzing large amount and variety of data from space and ground-based observations and from models. These data are generally stored in physical media with different data formats. This large variety of data formats forces the scientists to spend significant amount of time in writing specialized data format specific, readers before their analysis can even begin. Formats for Earth Science data can be as simple as ASCII and binary formats or be as complex as Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) and HDF Earth Observing System (HDF-EOS) formats. In this paper, we introduce the Earth Science Markup Language (ESML), being currently developed at the Information Technology and Systems Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. ESML would make applications independent of data formats and facilitate easier searches for data via internet search engine. Primary purpose of this paper is to bring ESML to the attention of data consumers and producers, and invite comments and suggestions

Anatomy of a post-starburst minor merger: a multi-wavelength WFC3 study of NGC 4150

(Abridged) We present a spatially-resolved near-UV/optical study of NGC 4150, using the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on board the Hubble Space Telescope. Previous studies of this early-type galaxy (ETG) indicate that it has a large reservoir of molecular gas, exhibits a kinematically decoupled core (likely indication of recent merging) and strong, central H_B absorption (indicative of young stars). The core of NGC 4150 shows ubiquitous near-UV emission and remarkable dusty substructure. Our analysis shows this galaxy to lie in the near-UV green valley, and its pixel-by-pixel photometry exhibits a narrow range of near-UV/optical colours that are similar to those of nearby E+A (post-starburst) galaxies. We parametrise the properties of the recent star formation (age, mass fraction, metallicity and internal dust content) in the NGC 4150 pixels by comparing the observed near-UV/optical photometry to stellar models. The typical age of the recent star formation (RSF) is around 0.9 Gyrs, consistent with the similarity of the near-UV colours to post-starburst systems, while the morphological structure of the young component supports the proposed merger scenario. The RSF metallicity, representative of the metallicity of the gas fuelling star formation, is around 0.3 - 0.5 Zsun. Assuming that this galaxy is a merger and that the gas is sourced mainly from the infalling companion, these metallicities plausibly indicate the gas-phase metallicity (GPM) of the accreted satellite. Comparison to the local mass-GPM relation suggests (crudely) that the mass of the accreted system is around 3x10^8 Msun, making NGC 4150 a 1:20 minor merger. A summation of the pixel RSF mass fractions indicates that the RSF contributes about 2-3 percent of the stellar mass. This work reaffirms our hypothesis that minor mergers play a significant role in the evolution of ETGs at late epochs.Comment: 28 pages, 2 tables, accepted for publication in Ap