In Vitro Analysis of FGF-23 Induced Gene Expression

Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) has recently been shown to be involved in phosphate regulation and bone mineralization. This study evaluated the effect of FGF-23 on three human cell lines (Caco-2, HK-2, SaOS-2) representing three different sites of phosphate regulation (small intestine, kidney proximal tubules, and bone, respectively). FGF-23 induced gene expression was studied using Clontech human Atlas glass microarrays containing various assortments of genes and by a custom designed oligo microarray containing specific genes selected for their biological relevance to FGF-23\u27s potential function. FGF-23 induced differential gene expression in all three cell types, suggesting that FGF-23 may be capable of acting on these three primary sites of phosphate regulation. Human small intestine-like endothelial cell line, Caco-2, showed upregulation of several genes including parathyroid hormone receptors 1 and 2. FGF-23 inhibited the expression of water channel transporters aquaporin 5 and 6 in human osteoblast-like SaOS-2 cells while upregulating aquaporin expression in HK-2 cells. Somatostatin receptors 1-4 were identified to be upregulated in the human kidney, HK-2 cell line. Mucin 2, a gene that is linked to abnormal cellular growth, was consistently induced by FGF-23 in all three cell lines. Families of aquaporins, somatostatins, parathyroid hormones, and other identified differentially expressed genes are involved in different signaling pathways that are associated with phosphate and calcium regulation. Selected candidates were analyzed further by real-time RT-PCR. These data support FGF-23 induced regulation of aquaporin 5 mRNA in HK-2 cells and 1-alpha-hydroxylase mRNA in Caco cells. FGF-23 induced changes in mRNA analysis of four additional genes was less than two-fold in triplicate analysis of selected samples. Taken together, these results suggest that each cell type may have responded to FGF-23, but additional validation of the array data set will be required to identify those genes specifically regulated by FGF-23. Further refinement of this data set will undoubtedly uncover additional functions of FGF-23 and may provide valuable insight into designing therapeutic approaches for phosphate specific disorders

Potential Structural Materials and Design Concepts for Light Airplanes

Potential structural materials and design considerations for helicopters and light general aircraf

Potential structural materials and design concepts for light airplanes Final report

Potential structural materials and design concepts evaluated for light aircraft application

Implementation of polarization diversity pulse-pair technique using airborne W-band radar

This work describes the implementation of polarization diversity on the National Research Council Canada W-band Doppler radar and presents the first-ever airborne Doppler measurements derived via polarization diversity pulse-pair processing. The polarization diversity pulse-pair measurements are interleaved with standard pulse-pair measurements with staggered pulse repetition frequency, this allows a better understanding of the strengths and drawbacks of polarization diversity, a methodology that has been recently proposed for wind-focused Doppler radar space missions. Polarization diversity has the clear advantage of making possible Doppler observations of very fast decorrelating media (as expected when deploying Doppler radars on fast-moving satellites) and of widening the Nyquist interval, thus enabling the observation of very high Doppler velocities (up to more than 100 m s−1 in the present work). Crosstalk between the two polarizations, mainly caused by depolarization at backscattering, deteriorated the quality of the observations by introducing ghost echoes in the power signals and by increasing the noise level in the Doppler measurements. In the different cases analyzed during the field campaigns, the regions affected by crosstalk were generally associated with highly depolarized surface returns and depolarization of backscatter from hydrometeors located at short ranges from the aircraft. The variance of the Doppler velocity estimates can be well predicted from theory and were also estimated directly from the observed correlation between the H-polarized and V-polarized successive pulses. The study represents a key milestone towards the implementation of polarization diversity in Doppler space-borne radars

Between mountains and frontiers: the Roman settlement system in the provinces of Germania Superior, Raetia and Noricum

This study investigates the settlement system in the Roman provinces of Germania Superior, Raetia and Noricum by combining historical and archaeological sources. From this study it appears that a complex settlement system existed in the region before the Roman conquest. However, under influence of the Roman administration that settlement system changed. Transitions could be observed in the location of centres, in their lay-out and services. A total of 30 self-governing towns were found for the Roman period, founded between the 1st century and the early 3rd century AD. Because this relatively low number of towns allowed many subordinate centres in the region to take up central services of cultural or economic kind for a wider region. The study identified the presence of the Roman army as an important incentive for the urban development in the region. Many Roman towns originated from a military base and the needs for communication, agricultural products, utensils and cultural activities in order to sustain the soldiers encouraged the countryside and centres to flourish. In a final chapter the study takes a critical look at the numerous remains of this Roman settlement system which are nowadays considered as heritage.The Unification of the Mediterranean World (400 BC - 400 AD

Oiseaux et drones - comment éviter les conflits?/ Vögel und Drohnen – wie Konflikte vermieden warden.

L’utilisation privée et commer- ciale de drones a considérable- ment augmenté. Ces appareils peuvent gravement perturber oiseaux et autres animaux. Il est toutefois possible de limiter ces désagréments en respectant quelques règles simples. Die private und kommerzielle Nutzung von Drohnen hat enorm zugenommen. Für Vögel und an- dere Tiere können Drohnen eine erhebliche Störungsquelle dar- stellen. Durch das Einhalten ein- facher Richtlinien lassen sich Stö- rungen aber deutlich reduzieren

A low cost way for assessing bird risk hazards in power lines: Fixed-wing small Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Accidents on power lines are one of the most important causes of man-induced mortality for raptors and soaring birds. The factors that condition the hazard have been extensively studied, and currently there are a variety of technical solutions available to miti- gate the risk. Most of the resources in conservation projects to reduce avian mortality now are invested in fieldwork to monitor the lines, which diverts the resources available to install actual corrective measures to mitigate bird hazard. Little progress has been achieved in the methodology to characterize line risk, which is an expensive, tedious, and time- consuming task. In this work we describe the use of low cost small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) equipped with on-board cameras for power line surveillance. As a case study, we characterized four power lines, geo-referenced every pylon in selected portions, and assessed their hazard for birds. We compare the effectiveness of two variants of the sUAS method for data acquisition and two methods of plane control. This work provides evidence of the usefulness of sUAS as a fast, inexpensive, and practical tool in conservation biology, adding to their already known applications in wildlife monitoring, the environmental impact assessment of infrastructures

Drones: una nueva tecnología para el estudio y monitoreo de fauna y hábitats.

The study and management of wildlife requires constant monitoring of the state of the populations and their habitats. This information is necessary to detect possible threats and to carry out effectively the management and conservation work. In the last 15 years the incorporation of a new tool of aerial monitoring of wildlife, colloquially named “drones”, has been seen, and in this study a brief description of these and their application in wildlife monitoring is made. The purpose is to present the advantages but also alert about their possible limitation

STAREA “FITOSANITARA” A CIUPERCILOR COMESTIBILE

PHITOSANITARY STAGE OF SPONTANEOUS EATABLE MUSHROOMS Firstly, the outland and the inland literature concerning the phitosanitary stage of eatable mushrooms is written down. Then, there are presented several dates regarding the main insects species which harm and degrade the culinary quality of eatable mushrooms. Next, there are taking into account the results obtained by the authors concerning the infestation level with insects belonging to Diptera Ord. (Nematocera and Brachycera), especially those belonging to Sciaridae and Fungivoridae, of spontaneous mushrooms from Cluj area. The text is accompanied by suggestive pictures regarding the mushrooms morphology (Macromycetes) and those which are the most frequent insects species for mushrooms

Investigation of Advanced Radar Techniques for Atmospheric Hazard Detection with Airborne Weather Radar

In 2013 ProSensing Inc. conducted a study to investigate the hazard detection potential of aircraft weather radars with new measurement capabilities, such as multi-frequency, polarimetric and radiometric modes. Various radar designs and features were evaluated for sensitivity, measurement range and for detecting and quantifying atmospheric hazards in wide range of weather conditions. Projected size, weight, power consumption and cost of the various designs were also considered. Various cloud and precipitation conditions were modeled and used to conduct an analytic evaluation of the design options. This report provides an overview of the study and summarizes the conclusions and recommendations