Extracting heading and temporal range from optic flow: Human performance issues

Pilots are able to extract information about their vehicle motion and environmental structure from dynamic transformations in the out-the-window scene. In this presentation, we focus on the information in the optic flow which specifies vehicle heading and distance to objects in the environment, scaled to a temporal metric. In particular, we are concerned with modeling how the human operators extract the necessary information, and what factors impact their ability to utilize the critical information. In general, the psychophysical data suggest that the human visual system is fairly robust to degradations in the visual display, e.g., reduced contrast and resolution or restricted field of view. However, extraneous motion flow, i.e., introduced by sensor rotation, greatly compromises human performance. The implications of these models and data for enhanced/synthetic vision systems are discussed

Global gene expression of histologically normal primary skin cells from BCNS subjects reveals "single-hit" effects that are influenced by rapamycin

Studies of dominantly heritable cancers enabled insights about tumor progression. BCNS is a dominantly inherited disorder that is characterized by developmental abnormalities and postnatal neoplasms, principally BCCs. We performed an exploratory gene expression profiling of primary cell cultures derived from clinically unaffected skin biopsies of BCNS gene-carriers (PTCH1 +/-) and normal individuals. PCA and HC of untreated keratinocytes or fibroblasts failed to clearly distinguish BCNS samples from controls. These results are presumably due to the common suppression of canonical HH signaling in vitro. We then used a relaxed threshold (p-value <0.05, no FDR cut-off; FC 1.3) that identified a total of 585 and 857 genes differentially expressed in BCNS keratinocytes and fibroblasts samples, respectively. A GSEA identified pancreatic β cell hallmark and mTOR signaling genes in BCNS keratinocytes, whereas analyses of BCNS fibroblasts identified gene signatures regulating pluripotency of stem cells, including WNT pathway. Significantly, rapamycin treatment (FDR<0.05), affected a total of 1411 and 4959 genes in BCNS keratinocytes and BCNS fibroblasts, respectively. In contrast, rapamycin treatment affected a total of 3214 and 4797 genes in normal keratinocytes and normal fibroblasts, respectively. The differential response of BCNS cells to rapamycin involved 599 and 1463 unique probe sets in keratinocytes and fibroblasts, respectively. An IPA of these genes in the presence of rapamycin pointed to hepatic fibrosis/stellate cell activation, and HIPPO signaling in BCNS keratinocytes, whereas mitochondrial dysfunction and AGRN expression were uniquely enriched in BCNS fibroblasts. The gene expression changes seen here are likely involved in the etiology of BCCs and they may represent biomarkers/targets for early intervention

Photo-detrapping of solvated electrons in an ionic liquid

金沢大学理工研究域自然システム学系We studied the dynamics of photo-detrapped solvated electrons in the ionic liquid trimethyl-N-propylammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (TMPA-TFSI) using laser flash photolysis. The solvated electrons were produced by the electron photodetachment from iodide via a 248 nm KrF excimer laser. The solvated electron decayed by first-order kinetics with a lifetime of about 240 ns. The spectrum of the solvated electron in the ionic liquid TMPA-TFSI is very broad with a peak around 1100 nm. After the 248 nm pulse, a 532 nm pulse was used to subsequently detrap the solvated electrons. After the detrapping pulse, quasi-permanent bleaching was observed. The relative magnitude of the bleaching in the solvated electron absorbance was measured from 500 to 1000 nm. The amount of bleaching depends on the probe wavelength. The fraction of bleached absorbance was larger at 500 nm than that at 1000 nm, suggesting that there are at least two species that absorb 532 nm light. We discuss the present results from viewpoint of the heterogeneity of ionic liquids. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd

Advanced Large Area Plastic Scintillator Project (ALPS): Final Report

The advanced Large-Area Plastic Scintillator (ALPS) Project at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory investigated possible technological avenues for substantially advancing the state-of-the-art in gamma-ray detection via large-area plastic scintillators. The three predominant themes of these investigations comprised the following: * Maximizing light collection efficiency from a single large-area sheet of plastic scintillator, and optimizing hardware event trigger definition to retain detection efficiency while exploiting the power of coincidence to suppress single-PMT "dark current" background; * Utilizing anti-Compton vetoing and supplementary spectral information from a co-located secondary, or "Back" detector, to both (1) minimize Compton background in the low-energy portion of the "Front" scintillator's pulse-height spectrum, and (2) sharpen the statistical accuracy of the front detector's low-energy response prediction as impelmented in suitable energy-windowing algorithms; and * Investigating alternative materials to enhance the intrinsic gamma-ray detection efficiency of plastic-based sensors

Visual tracking for the recovery of multiple interacting plant root systems from X-ray μCT images

We propose a visual object tracking framework for the extraction of multiple interacting plant root systems from three-dimensional X-ray micro computed tomography images of plants grown in soil. Our method is based on a level set framework guided by a greyscale intensity distribution model to identify object boundaries in image cross-sections. Root objects are followed through the data volume, while updating the tracker's appearance models to adapt to changing intensity values. In the presence of multiple root systems, multiple trackers can be used, but need to distinguish target objects from one another in order to correctly associate roots with their originating plants. Since root objects are expected to exhibit similar greyscale intensity distributions, shape information is used to constrain the evolving level set interfaces in order to lock trackers to their correct targets. The proposed method is tested on root systems of wheat plants grown in soil

Dose escalation of a curcuminoid formulation

BACKGROUND: Curcumin is the major yellow pigment extracted from turmeric, a commonly-used spice in India and Southeast Asia that has broad anticarcinogenic and cancer chemopreventive potential. However, few systematic studies of curcumin's pharmacology and toxicology in humans have been performed. METHODS: A dose escalation study was conducted to determine the maximum tolerated dose and safety of a single dose of standardized powder extract, uniformly milled curcumin (C(3 )Complex™, Sabinsa Corporation). Healthy volunteers were administered escalating doses from 500 to 12,000 mg. RESULTS: Seven of twenty-four subjects (30%) experienced only minimal toxicity that did not appear to be dose-related. No curcumin was detected in the serum of subjects administered 500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, 6,000 or 8,000 mg. Low levels of curcumin were detected in two subjects administered 10,000 or 12,000 mg. CONCLUSION: The tolerance of curcumin in high single oral doses appears to be excellent. Given that achieving systemic bioavailability of curcumin or its metabolites may not be essential for colorectal cancer chemoprevention, these findings warrant further investigation for its utility as a long-term chemopreventive agent

Implication of a Chromosome 15q15.2 Locus in Regulating UBR1 and Predisposing Smokers to MGMT Methylation in Lung

O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is a DNA repair enzyme that protects cells from carcinogenic effects of alkylating agents; however, MGMT is silenced by promoter hypermethylation during carcinogenesis. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in an enhancer in the MGMT promoter was previously identified to be highly significantly associated with risk for MGMT methylation in lung cancer and sputum from smokers. To further genetic investigations, a genome-wide association and replication study was conducted in two smoker cohorts to identify novel loci for MGMT methylation in sputum that were independent of the MGMT enhancer polymorphism. Two novel trans-acting loci (15q15.2 and 17q24.3) that were identified acted together with the enhancer SNP to empower risk prediction for MGMT methylation. We found that the predisposition to MGMT methylation arising from the 15q15.2 locus involved regulation of the ubiquitin protein ligase E3 component UBR1. UBR1 attenuation reduced turnover of MGMT protein and increased repair of O6-methylguanine in nitrosomethylurea-treated human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC), while also reducing MGMT promoter activity and abolishing MGMT induction. Overall, our results substantiate reduced gene transcription as a major mechanism for predisposition to MGMT methylation in the lungs of smokers, and support the importance of UBR1 in regulating MGMT homeostasis and DNA repair of alkylated DNA adducts in cells

Childhood in Sociology and Society: The US Perspective

The field of childhood studies in the US is comprised of cross-disciplinary researchers who theorize and conduct research on both children and youth. US sociologists who study childhood largely draw on the childhood literature published in English. This article focuses on American sociological contributions, but notes relevant contributions from non-American scholars published in English that have shaped and fueled American research. This article also profiles the institutional support of childhood research in the US, specifically outlining the activities of the ‘Children and Youth’ Section of the American Sociological Association (ASA), and assesses the contributions of this area of study for sociology as well as the implications for an interdisciplinary field.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline