Modeling pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis by epithelial deletion of the Npt2b sodium phosphate cotransporter reveals putative biomarkers and strategies for treatment

Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis (PAM) is a rare, autosomal recessive lung disorder associated with progressive accumulation of calcium phosphate microliths. Inactivating mutations in SLC34A2, which encodes the NPT2b sodiumdependent phosphate cotransporter, has been proposed as a cause of PAM.Weshow that epithelial deletion ofNpt2b in mice results in a progressive pulmonary process characterized by diffuse alveolar microlith accumulation, radiographic opacification, restrictive physiology, inflammation, fibrosis, and an unexpected alveolar phospholipidosis. Cytokine and surfactant protein elevations in the alveolar lavage and serum of PAM mice and confirmed in serum from PAM patients identify serum MCP-1 (monocyte chemotactic protein 1) and SP-D (surfactant protein D) as potential biomarkers.Microliths introduced by adoptive transfer into the lungs of wild-typemice produce markedmacrophagerich inflammation and elevation of serum MCP-1 that peaks at 1 week and resolves at 1 month, concomitant with clearance of stones. Microliths isolated by bronchoalveolar lavage readily dissolve in EDTA, and therapeutic wholelung EDTA lavage reduces the burden of stones in the lungs. A low-phosphate diet prevents microlith formation in young animals and reduces lung injury on the basis of reduction in serum SP-D. The burden of pulmonary calcium deposits in established PAM is also diminished within 4 weeks by a low-phosphate diet challenge. These data support a causative role for Npt2b in the pathogenesis of PAM and the use of the PAMmouse model as a preclinical platform for the development of biomarkers and therapeutic strategies

A framework to measure the properties of intergalactic metal systems with two-point flux statistics

The abundance, temperature, and clustering of metals in the intergalactic medium are important parameters for understanding their cosmic evolution and quantifying their impact on cosmological analysis with the Ly $\alpha$ forest. The properties of these systems are typically measured from individual quasar spectra redward of the quasar's Ly $\alpha$ emission line, yet that approach may provide biased results due to selection effects. We present an alternative approach to measure these properties in an unbiased manner with the two-point statistics commonly employed to quantify large-scale structure. Our model treats the observed flux of a large sample of quasar spectra as a continuous field and describes the one-dimensional, two-point statistics of this field with three parameters per ion: the abundance (column density distribution), temperature (Doppler parameter) and clustering (cloud-cloud correlation function). We demonstrate this approach on multiple ions (e.g., C IV, Si IV, Mg II) with early data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and high-resolution spectra from the literature. Our initial results show some evidence that the C IV abundance is higher than previous measurements and evidence for abundance evolution over time. The first full year of DESI observations will have over an order of magnitude more quasar spectra than this study. In a future paper we will use those data to measure the growth of clustering and its impact on the Ly $\alpha$ forest, as well as test other DESI analysis infrastructure such as the pipeline noise estimates and the resolution matrix.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figure

Determination of candidate teachers’ social activity preferences by pair-wise comparision scaling method

Bu araştırmada öğretmen adaylarının tercih ettikleri sosyal aktivitelerin öğretmen adaylarının görüşleri doğrultusunda ikili karşılaştırmalı ölçekleme yöntemiyle belirlenmesi ve elde edilen ölçek değerlerinin öğretmen adaylarının öğrenim gördüğü üniversiteye, üniversiteye giriş puan türüne ve cinsiyetlerine göre karşılaştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda hazırlanan Sosyal Aktivite Tercih Ölçeği, 2012-2013 eğitim öğretim yılında, Niğde Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Fen Bilgisi, Sınıf Öğretmenliği, Türkçe, Sosyal Bilgiler, Resim ve Müzik Eğitimi ve Rehberlik ve Psikolojik Danışmanlık bölümlerinde öğrenim gören 174 ile Bülent Ecevit Üniversitesi Ereğli Eğitim Fakültesi Sınıf Öğretmenliği, Fen Bilgisi, İlköğretim Matematik ve Türkçe Eğitimi bölümlerinde öğrenim gören 201 olmak üzere toplam 375 gönüllü öğretmen adayına uygulanmıştır. Yapılan ölçekleme sonucunda, her iki üniversitedeki öğretmen adaylarının sosyal aktivite tercihleri arasında uyum olduğu belirlenmiştir. Puan türüne göre sosyal aktivite tercihleri karşılaştırıldığında sayısal, eşit ağırlık ve sözel puan türüne göre üniversiteye giren öğretmen adaylarının tercihleri arasında uyum olduğu fakat yetenek puan türüne göre üniversiteye girenlerin sosyal aktivite tercihlerinde diğer puan türlerine göre farklılıklar olduğu belirlenmiştir. Öğretmen adaylarının sosyal aktivite tercihleri cinsiyetlerine göre karşılaştırıldığında ise kadın ve erkek öğretmen adaylarının en az ve en çok tercih ettikleri aktivitelerin aynı olduğu fakat diğer aktivite tercihleri arasında farklılıklar olduğu belirlenmiştir.The aim of this study is to determine the candidate teachers’ preferences of social activities in accordance with their opinions with the scaling method of pair wise comparison and compare the results according to the universities they graduate, their type of scores in University Entrance Exam and their genders. In the 2012- 2013 educational year, the Social Activity Preference Scale, prepared in accordance with this aim, has been conducted to 174 voluntary candidate teachers from the Science Teaching, Primary School Teaching, Turkish Teaching, Social Sciences Teaching, Art Teaching, Music Teaching and Psychological Counseling and Guidance departments of Niğde University Faculty of Education and 201 voluntary candidate teachers from the Science Teaching, Elementary Mathematics Teaching and Turkish Teaching departments of Bülent Ecevit University. As a result of the scaling, it has been determined that there is a consistency between the preferences of the candidate teachers from the two universities. When compared according to the types of University Entrance Exam scores, the preferences of the candidate teachers with the scores of numeric, verbal and equally weighted exams are consistent, while the candidate teachers who are accepted to university according to the scores of talent exam have different preferences of social activities. When compared according to the genders, the preferences of the candidate teachers it has been determined that the most and least preferred social activities of the two genders are the same but the preferences of the other activities are changeable