DNA methylation of ESR-1 and N-33 in colorectal mucosa of patients with Ulcerative Colitis (UC)

Introduction: Epigenetic marking such as DNA methylation influence gene transcription and chromosomal stability and may also be affected by environmental exposures. Few studies exist on alteration in DNA methylation profiles (genomic and gene specific methylation) in patients with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and none assessing its relationship with lifestyle exposures. Aims & Methods: To assess genomic methylation and promoter methylation of the ESR-1 (oestrogen receptor - 1) and N-33 (tumour suppressor candidate-3) genes in the macroscopically normal mucosa of UC patients as well as to investigate effects of anthropometric and lifestyle exposures on DNA methylation. Sixty eight subjects were recruited (24 UC and 44 age and sex matched controls). Colorectal mucosal biopsies were obtained and DNA was extracted. Genomic DNA methylation was quantified using the tritium-labelled cytosine extension assay (3[H] dCTP) whilst gene specific methylation was quantified using the COBRA method. Results: The methylation level of both ESR-1 and N-33 genes were significantly higher in UC subjects compared with controls (7.9% vs 5.9%; p = 0.015 and 66% vs 9.3%; p < 0.001 respectively). There was no detectable difference in global DNA methylation between patients with UC and age and sex matched controls. No associations between indices of DNA methylation and anthropometric measures or smoking patterns were detected. Conclusions: For the first time, we have shown increased methylation in the promoter regions of the putative tumour suppressor gene N-33 in macroscopically normal mucosa of patients with UC. In addition, we have confirmed that methylation of ESR-1 promoter is higher in UC patients compared with age and sex matched controls. These findings suggests that, inactivation through methylation of the putative tumour suppressor genes N-33 and ESR-1, may not be associated with colorectal carcinogenesis in UC

Interim report on the development of an expert system for the auditor\u27s loan loss evaluation

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/dl_proceedings/1170/thumbnail.jp

An experimental evaluation of software redundancy as a strategy for improving reliability

The strategy of using multiple versions of independently developed software as a means to tolerate residual software design faults is suggested by the success of hardware redundancy for tolerating hardware failures. Although, as generally accepted, the independence of hardware failures resulting from physical wearout can lead to substantial increases in reliability for redundant hardware structures, a similar conclusion is not immediate for software. The degree to which design faults are manifested as independent failures determines the effectiveness of redundancy as a method for improving software reliability. Interest in multi-version software centers on whether it provides an adequate measure of increased reliability to warrant its use in critical applications. The effectiveness of multi-version software is studied by comparing estimates of the failure probabilities of these systems with the failure probabilities of single versions. The estimates are obtained under a model of dependent failures and compared with estimates obtained when failures are assumed to be independent. The experimental results are based on twenty versions of an aerospace application developed and certified by sixty programmers from four universities. Descriptions of the application, development and certification processes, and operational evaluation are given together with an analysis of the twenty versions

Prey capture by the cosmopolitan hydromedusae, Obelia spp., in the viscous regime

Author Posting. © Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, 2016. This article is posted here by permission of Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Limnology and Oceanography 61 (2016): 2309–2317, doi:10.1002/lno.10390.Obelia spp. are cnidarian hydromedusae with a cosmopolitan distribution but very little is known about their feeding. The small size of Obelia (bell diameter ∼ 1 mm, tentacle width ∼ 0.05 mm) suggests that feeding occurs in a viscous regime characterized by thick boundary layers. During feeding observations with a natural prey assemblage the majority of prey were captured at the tentacle tips during the contraction phase. Swimming kinematics from high speed videography confirmed that swimming was a low Re number process (Re < 50) and showed that maximum tentacle velocities occurred at the tentacle tips midway through a bell contraction. Flow visualizations from particle image velocimetry demonstrated that fluid motion between the tentacles was limited and that velocities were highest at the tentacle tips, leading to a thinning of boundary layer in this region. The highest nematocyst densities were observed in this same region of the tentacle tips. Taken together, the body kinematics, flow visualizations and nematocyst distributions of Obelia explain how these predators are able to shed viscous boundary layers to effectively capture microplanktonic prey. Our findings help explain how other small feeding-current medusae whose feeding interactions are governed by viscosity are able to successfully forage.National Science Foundation Grant Numbers: OCE- 1155084, DBI- 1455471, OCE- 1536672, OCE- 153668

Ozone profile retrievals from the ESA GOME instrument

The potential of the ESA Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) to produce ozone profile information has been examined by carrying out two sample retrievals using simulated GOME data. The first retrieval examines the potential of the GOME instrument to produce stratospheric ozone profiles using the traditional back-scatter ultraviolet technique, while the second examines the possibility of obtaining tropospheric profile information, and improving the quality of the stratospheric profile retrievals, by exploiting the temperature dependence of the ozone Huggins bands

Maneuvering performance in the colonial siphonophore, Nanomia bijuga

© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Sutherland, K. R., Gemmell, B. J., Colin, S. P., & Costello, J. H. Maneuvering performance in the colonial siphonophore, Nanomia bijuga. Biomimetics, 4(3), (2019): 62, doi:10.3390/biomimetics4030062.The colonial cnidarian, Nanomia bijuga, is highly proficient at moving in three-dimensional space through forward swimming, reverse swimming and turning. We used high speed videography, particle tracking, and particle image velocimetry (PIV) with frame rates up to 6400 s−1 to study the kinematics and fluid mechanics of N. bijuga during turning and reversing. N. bijuga achieved turns with high maneuverability (mean length–specific turning radius, R/L = 0.15 ± 0.10) and agility (mean angular velocity, ω = 104 ± 41 deg. s−1). The maximum angular velocity of N. bijuga, 215 deg. s−1, exceeded that of many vertebrates with more complex body forms and neurocircuitry. Through the combination of rapid nectophore contraction and velum modulation, N. bijuga generated high speed, narrow jets (maximum = 1063 ± 176 mm s−1; 295 nectophore lengths s−1) and thrust vectoring, which enabled high speed reverse swimming (maximum = 134 ± 28 mm s−1; 37 nectophore lengths s−1) that matched previously reported forward swimming speeds. A 1:1 ratio of forward to reverse swimming speed has not been recorded in other swimming organisms. Taken together, the colonial architecture, simple neurocircuitry, and tightly controlled pulsed jets by N. bijuga allow for a diverse repertoire of movements. Considering the further advantages of scalability and redundancy in colonies, N. bijuga is a model system for informing underwater propulsion and navigation of complex environments.This research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) 1829932 and 173764 to K.R.S., NSF 1830015, 1536672, 1511721 to J.H.C., 1455440, 1536688, 1829913 to S.P.C., NSF 1511996 to B.J.G

INTRODUCTION: SUSTAINING THE LIFE OF THE POLIS.

How are publics of protection and care defined in African cities today? The effects of globalization and neo-liberal policies on urban space are well documented. From London to São Paulo, denationalization, privatization, offshoring and cuts in state expenditure are creating enclaves and exclusions, resulting in fragmented, stratified social geographies (see Caldeira 2000; Ong 2006; Harvey 2006; Murray 2011). 'Networked archipelagoes', islands connected by transnational circulations of capital, displace other spatial relations and imaginaries. Spaces of encompassment, especially, such as 'the nation' or simply 'society' as defined by inclusion within a whole, lose practical value and intellectual purchase as referents of citizenship (Gupta and Ferguson 2002; Ferguson 2005). In African cities, where humanitarian, experimental or market logics dominate the distribution of sanitation and healthcare, this fragmentation is particularly stark (see, for example, Redfield 2006, 2012; Fassin 2007; Bredeloup et al. 2008; Nguyen 2012). Privilege and crisis interrupt older contiguities, delineating spaces and times of exception. The 'public' of health is defined by survival or consumption, obscuring the human as bearer of civic rights and responsibilities, as inhabitants of 'objective' material worlds 'common to all of us' (Arendt 1958: 52). Is it possible, under these conditions, to enact and imagine public health as a project of citizens, animated in civic space

Ink release and swimming behavior in the oceanic Ctenophore Eurhamphaea vexilligera

Author Posting. © University of Chicago, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of University of Chicago for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Biological Bulletin 238(3), (2020): 206-213. doi:10.1086/709504.Of the more than 150 ctenophore species, the oceanic ctenophore Eurhamphaea vexilligera is notable for its bright orange-yellow ink, secreted from numerous small vesicles that line its substomodeal comb rows. To date, in situ observations by scuba divers have proved the most fruitful method of observing these animals’ natural behavior. We present the results of one such contemporary scuba-based observation of E. vexilligera, conducted in the Gulf Stream waters off the coast of Florida, using high-resolution photography and video. Utilizing underwater camera systems purpose built for filming gelatinous zooplankton, we observed E. vexilligera ink release and swimming behavior in situ. From these data, we describe the timeline and mechanics of E. vexilligera ink release in detail, as well as the animal’s different swimming behaviors and resulting ink dispersal patterns. We also describe a rolling swimming behavior, accompanied and possibly facilitated by a characteristic change in overall body shape. These observations provide further insight into the behavioral ecology of this distinctive ctenophore and may serve as the foundation for future kinematic studies.This work was funded by National Science Foundation awards OCE-1829945 to BJG, OCE-1829932 to KRS, OCE-1829913 to SPC, and OCE-1830015 to JHC. We thank the captain and crew of Calypso Dive Charters’ Miss Jackie for their assistance and field expertise, as well as two anonymous reviewers, whose insightful comments have improved the quality of the manuscript

Detecting and Studying e+e−→H0A0,H+H−e^+e^-\to H^0A^0,H^+H^- in the MSSM: Implications of Supersymmetric Decays and Discriminating GUT Scenarios

We demonstrate that supersymmetric decays, as typified by the predictions of several GUT-scale boundary condition choices, do not prevent detection of $Z^* \to H^0A^0,H^+H^-$, at a $1-4$ TeV $e^+e^-$ or $\mu^+\mu^-$ collider operating at anticipated luminosity. For much of parameter space the relative branching ratios for various SUSY and non-SUSY decays can be measured with sufficient accuracy that different GUT-scale boundary condition choices can be distinguished from one another at a very high confidence level.Comment: 54 pages, full postscript file also available via anonymous ftp at ftp://ucdhep.ucdavis.edu/gunion/pair.p