Design report small-scale fuel alcohol plant. Volume 2: Detailed construction information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1980-12-01

The objectives are to provide potential alcohol producers with a reference design and provide a complete, demonstrated design of a small scale fuel alcohol plant. The plant has the capability for feedstock preparation, cooking, saccharification, fermentation, distillation, by-product dewatering, and process steam generation. An interesting feature is an instrumentation and control system designed to allow the plant to run 24 hours per day with only four hours of operator attention.

E-Mentoring for Small Business: An Examination of Effectiveness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rickard, Kim; Rickard, Alex

2009-01-01

Purpose: While information and communications technology provides new opportunities for supporting mentoring, there is a need to explore how effectively these potential benefits are being realized. This paper seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of a program in the small business context as a basis for proposing determinants of e-mentoring…

Survival and reproduction of small hive beetle (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) on commercial pollen substitutes

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

An assay was developed to investigate the small hive beetle’s (Aethina tumida) potential for survival and reproduction when providing artificial food resources in managed European honey bees (Apis mellifera). Supplemental feeding is done to maintain the health of the hive, initiate comb building, ex...

Competitive actions of small firms in a declining market

Treesearch

Matthew Bumgardner; Urs Buehlmann; Albert Schuler; Jeff Crissey

2011-01-01

Small firms, through their flexibility advantages and closeness to customers, potentially can increase their sales volume in economic downturns. The decline in U.S. housing construction (beginning in 2006) provided an opportunity to develop and test four hypotheses predicting the attributes and marketing actions associated with successful companies supplying housing...

Potential of an emissive cylindrical probe in plasma.

PubMed

Fruchtman, A; Zoler, D; Makrinich, G

2011-08-01

The floating potential of an emissive cylindrical probe in a plasma is calculated for an arbitrary ratio of Debye length to probe radius and for an arbitrary ion composition. In their motion to the probe the ions are assumed to be collisionless. For a small Debye length, a two-scale analysis for the quasineutral plasma and for the sheath provides analytical expressions for the emitted and collected currents and for the potential as functions of a generalized mass ratio. For a Debye length that is not small, it is demonstrated that, as the Debye length becomes larger, the probe potential approaches the plasma potential and that the ion density near the probe is not smaller but rather is larger than it is in the plasma bulk.

The Potential of Distance Education and Training for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Mediterranean Countries of the European Community. A Report for the Commission of the European Communities--Task Force Human Resources, Education, Training, and Youth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quintino, Luisa

An evaluation was made of the training needs of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Italy and the potential of open, distance, flexible, and multimedia learning to meet those needs. The methodology included contacts with training providers, governmental institutions, and SMEs and circulation of…

Integrating stand density management with fuel reduction

Treesearch

Joseph W. Sherlock

2007-01-01

The widespread effort to reduce fuel hazards in western forested ecosystems places significant emphasis on surface and small ladder fuels. Changes in canopy density, for purposes of either reducing potential crown fire impacts or insect/pathogen-related mortality, are less frequently considered. Providing a sound basis for treating more than surface and small ladder...

Current and Future Environmental Balance of Small-Scale Run-of-River Hydropower.

PubMed

Gallagher, John; Styles, David; McNabola, Aonghus; Williams, A Prysor

2015-05-19

Globally, the hydropower (HP) sector has significant potential to increase its capacity by 2050. This study quantifies the energy and resource demands of small-scale HP projects and presents methods to reduce associated environmental impacts based on potential growth in the sector. The environmental burdens of three (50-650 kW) run-of-river HP projects were calculated using life cycle assessment (LCA). The global warming potential (GWP) for the projects to generate electricity ranged from 5.5-8.9 g CO2 eq/kWh, compared with 403 g CO2 eq/kWh for UK marginal grid electricity. A sensitivity analysis accounted for alternative manufacturing processes, transportation, ecodesign considerations, and extended project lifespan. These findings were extrapolated for technically viable HP sites in Europe, with the potential to generate 7.35 TWh and offset over 2.96 Mt of CO2 from grid electricity per annum. Incorporation of ecodesign could provide resource savings for these HP projects: avoiding 800 000 tonnes of concrete, 10 000 tonnes of steel, and 65 million vehicle miles. Small additional material and energy contributions can double a HP system lifespan, providing 39-47% reductions for all environmental impact categories. In a world of finite resources, this paper highlights the importance of HP as a resource-efficient, renewable energy system.

Assessment of nuclear reactor concepts for low power space applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klein, Andrew C.; Gedeon, Stephen R.; Morey, Dennis C.

1988-01-01

The results of a preliminary small reactor concepts feasibility and safety evaluation designed to provide a first order validation of the nuclear feasibility and safety of six small reactor concepts are given. These small reactor concepts have potential space applications for missions in the 1 to 20 kWe power output range. It was concluded that low power concepts are available from the U.S. nuclear industry that have the potential for meeting both the operational and launch safety space mission requirements. However, each design has its uncertainties, and further work is required. The reactor concepts must be mated to a power conversion technology that can offer safe and reliable operation.

Robotic Reconnaissance Missions to Small Bodies and Their Potential Contributions to Human Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abell, P. A.; Rivkin, A. S.

2015-01-01

Introduction: Robotic reconnaissance missions to small bodies will directly address aspects of NASA's Asteroid Initiative and will contribute to future human exploration. The NASA Asteroid Initiative is comprised of two major components: the Grand Challenge and the Asteroid Mission. The first component, the Grand Challenge, focuses on protecting Earth's population from asteroid impacts by detecting potentially hazardous objects with enough warning time to either prevent them from impacting the planet, or to implement civil defense procedures. The Asteroid Mission involves sending astronauts to study and sample a near- Earth asteroid (NEA) prior to conducting exploration missions of the Martian system, which includes Phobos and Deimos. The science and technical data obtained from robotic precursor missions that investigate the surface and interior physical characteristics of an object will help identify the pertinent physical properties that will maximize operational efficiency and reduce mission risk for both robotic assets and crew operating in close proximity to, or at the surface of, a small body. These data will help fill crucial strategic knowledge gaps (SKGs) concerning asteroid physical characteristics that are relevant for human exploration considerations at similar small body destinations. Small Body Strategic Knowledge Gaps: For the past several years NASA has been interested in identifying the key SKGs related to future human destinations. These SKGs highlight the various unknowns and/or data gaps of targets that the science and engineering communities would like to have filled in prior to committing crews to explore the Solar System. An action team from the Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG) was formed specifically to identify the small body SKGs under the direction of the Human Exploration and Operations Missions Directorate (HEOMD), given NASA's recent interest in NEAs and the Martian moons as potential human destinations [1]. The action team organized the SKGs into four broad themes: 1) Identify human mission targets; 2) Understand how to work on and interact with the small body surface; 3) Understand the small body environment and its potential risk/benefit to crew, systems, and operational assets; and 4) Understand the small body resource potential. Each of these themes were then further subdivided into categories to address specific SKG issues. Robotic Precursor Contributions to SKGs: Robotic reconnaissance missions should be able to address specific aspects related to SKG themes 1 through 4. Theme 1 deals with the identification of human mission targets within the NEA population. The current guideline indicates that human missions to fastspinning, tumbling, or binary asteroids may be too risky to conduct successfully from an operational perspective. However, no spacecraft mission has been to any of these types of NEAs before. Theme 2 addresses the concerns about interacting on the small body surface under microgravity conditions, and how the surface and/or sub-surface properties affect or restrict the interaction for human exploration. The combination of remote sensing instruments and in situ payloads will provide good insight into the asteroid's surface and subsurface properties. SKG theme 3 deals with the environment in and around the small body that may present a nuisance or hazard to any assets operating in close proximity. Impact and surface experiments will help address issues related to particle size, particle longevity, internal structure, and the near-surface mechanical stability of the asteroid. Understanding or constraining these physical characteristics are important for mission planning. Theme 4 addresses the resource potential of the small body. This is a particularly important aspect of human exploration since the identification and utilization of resources is a key aspect for deep space mission architectures to the Martian system (i.e., Phobos and Deimos). Conclusions: Robotic reconnaissance of small bodies can provide a wealth of information relevant to the science and planetary defense of NEAs. However, such missions to investigate NEAs can also provide key insights into small body strategic knowledge gaps and contribute to the overall success for human exploration missions to asteroids.

The 1995 Shuttle Small Payloads Symposium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldsmith, Frann (Editor); Mosier, Frances L. (Editor)

1995-01-01

The 1995 Shuttle Small Payloads Symposium is a combined symposia of the Get Away Special (GAS) and Hitchhiker programs, and is proposed to continue as an annual conference. The focus of this conference is to educate potential Space Shuttle Payload Bay users as to the types of carrier systems provided and for current users to share experiment concepts.

1999 Shuttle Small Payloads Symposium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daelemans, Gerard (Editor); Mosier, Frances L. (Editor)

1999-01-01

The 1999 Shuttle Small Payloads Symposium is a combined symposia of the Get Away Special (GAS), Space Experiment Module (SEM), and Hitchhiker programs, and is proposed to continue as an annual conference. The focus of this conference is to educate potential Space Shuttle Payload Bay users as to the types of carrier systems provided and for current users to share experiment concepts.

The 1992 Shuttle Small Payloads Symposium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, Lawrence R. (Editor); Mosier, Frances L. (Editor)

1992-01-01

The 1992 Shuttle Small Payloads Symposium is a continuation of the Get Away Special Symposium convened from 1984 through 1988, and is proposed to continue as an annual conference. The focus of this conference is to educate potential Space Shuttle Payload Bay users as to the types of carrier systems provided and for current users to share experiment concepts.

Fuel cell powered small unmanned aerial systems (UASs) for extended endurance flights

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Deryn; Jiang, R.; Dunbar, Z.; Grew, Kyle; McClure, J.

2015-05-01

Small unmanned aerial systems (UASs) have been used for military applications and have additional potential for commercial applications [1-4]. For the military, these systems provide valuable intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and target acquisition (ISRTA) capabilities for units at the infantry, battalion, and company levels. The small UASs are light-weight, manportable, can be hand-launched, and are capable of carrying payloads. Currently, most small UASs are powered by lithium-ion or lithium polymer batteries; however, the flight endurance is usually limited less than two hours and requires frequent battery replacement. Long endurance small UAS flights have been demonstrated through the implementation of a fuel cell system. For instance, a propane fueled solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack has been used to power a small UAS and shown to extend mission flight time. The research and development efforts presented here not only apply to small UASs, but also provide merit to the viability of extending mission operations for other unmanned systems applications.

Small cities face greater impact from automation.

PubMed

Frank, Morgan R; Sun, Lijun; Cebrian, Manuel; Youn, Hyejin; Rahwan, Iyad

2018-02-01

The city has proved to be the most successful form of human agglomeration and provides wide employment opportunities for its dwellers. As advances in robotics and artificial intelligence revive concerns about the impact of automation on jobs, a question looms: how will automation affect employment in cities? Here, we provide a comparative picture of the impact of automation across US urban areas. Small cities will undertake greater adjustments, such as worker displacement and job content substitutions. We demonstrate that large cities exhibit increased occupational and skill specialization due to increased abundance of managerial and technical professions. These occupations are not easily automatable, and, thus, reduce the potential impact of automation in large cities. Our results pass several robustness checks including potential errors in the estimation of occupational automation and subsampling of occupations. Our study provides the first empirical law connecting two societal forces: urban agglomeration and automation's impact on employment. © 2018 The Authors.

Small cities face greater impact from automation

PubMed Central

Sun, Lijun; Cebrian, Manuel; Rahwan, Iyad

2018-01-01

The city has proved to be the most successful form of human agglomeration and provides wide employment opportunities for its dwellers. As advances in robotics and artificial intelligence revive concerns about the impact of automation on jobs, a question looms: how will automation affect employment in cities? Here, we provide a comparative picture of the impact of automation across US urban areas. Small cities will undertake greater adjustments, such as worker displacement and job content substitutions. We demonstrate that large cities exhibit increased occupational and skill specialization due to increased abundance of managerial and technical professions. These occupations are not easily automatable, and, thus, reduce the potential impact of automation in large cities. Our results pass several robustness checks including potential errors in the estimation of occupational automation and subsampling of occupations. Our study provides the first empirical law connecting two societal forces: urban agglomeration and automation's impact on employment. PMID:29436514

Synthetic Small Molecule Inhibitors of Hh Signaling As Anti-Cancer Chemotherapeutics

PubMed Central

Maschinot, C.A.; Pace, J.R.; Hadden, M.K.

2016-01-01

The hedgehog (Hh) pathway is a developmental signaling pathway that is essential to the proper embryonic development of many vertebrate systems. Dysregulation of Hh signaling has been implicated as a causative factor in the development and progression of several forms of human cancer. As such, the development of small molecule inhibitors of Hh signaling as potential anti-cancer chemotherapeutics has been a major area of research interest in both academics and industry over the past ten years. Through these efforts, synthetic small molecules that target multiple components of the Hh pathway have been identified and advanced to preclinical or clinical development. The goal of this review is to provide an update on the current status of several synthetic small molecule Hh pathway inhibitors and explore the potential of several recently disclosed inhibitory scaffolds. PMID:26310919

The Location of Sources of Human Computer Processed Cerebral Potentials for the Automated Assessment of Visual Field Impairment

PubMed Central

Leisman, Gerald; Ashkenazi, Maureen

1979-01-01

Objective psychophysical techniques for investigating visual fields are described. The paper concerns methods for the collection and analysis of evoked potentials using a small laboratory computer and provides efficient methods for obtaining information about the conduction pathways of the visual system.

In silico screening of drug-membrane thermodynamics reveals linear relations between bulk partitioning and the potential of mean force

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menichetti, Roberto; Kanekal, Kiran H.; Kremer, Kurt; Bereau, Tristan

2017-09-01

The partitioning of small molecules in cell membranes—a key parameter for pharmaceutical applications—typically relies on experimentally available bulk partitioning coefficients. Computer simulations provide a structural resolution of the insertion thermodynamics via the potential of mean force but require significant sampling at the atomistic level. Here, we introduce high-throughput coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations to screen thermodynamic properties. This application of physics-based models in a large-scale study of small molecules establishes linear relationships between partitioning coefficients and key features of the potential of mean force. This allows us to predict the structure of the insertion from bulk experimental measurements for more than 400 000 compounds. The potential of mean force hereby becomes an easily accessible quantity—already recognized for its high predictability of certain properties, e.g., passive permeation. Further, we demonstrate how coarse graining helps reduce the size of chemical space, enabling a hierarchical approach to screening small molecules.

Extracellular vesicles for personalized therapy decision support in advanced metastatic cancers and its potential impact for prostate cancer.

PubMed

Soekmadji, Carolina; Corcoran, Niall M; Oleinikova, Irina; Jovanovic, Lidija; Ramm, Grant A; Nelson, Colleen C; Jenster, Guido; Russell, Pamela J

2017-10-01

The use of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs), such as exosomes, as liquid biopsy-derived biomarkers for cancers have been investigated. CTC enumeration using the CellSearch based platform provides an accurate insight on overall survival where higher CTC counts indicate poor prognosis for patients with advanced metastatic cancer. EVs provide information based on their lipid, protein, and nucleic acid content and can be isolated from biofluids and analyzed from a relatively small volume, providing a routine and non-invasive modality to monitor disease progression. Our pilot experiment by assessing the level of two subpopulations of small EVs, the CD9 positive and CD63 positive EVs, showed that the CD9 positive EV level is higher in plasma from patients with advanced metastatic prostate cancer with detectable CTCs. These data show the potential utility of a particular EV subpopulation to serve as biomarkers for advanced metastatic prostate cancer. EVs can potentially be utilized as biomarkers to provide accurate genotypic and phenotypic information for advanced prostate cancer, where new strategies to design a more personalized therapy is currently the focus of considerable investigation. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Small mitochondria-targeting molecules as anti-cancer agents

PubMed Central

Wang, Feng; Ogasawara, Marcia A.; Huang, Peng

2009-01-01

Alterations in mitochondrial structure and functions have long been observed in cancer cells. Targeting mitochondria as a cancer therapeutic strategy has gained momentum in the recent years. The signaling pathways that govern mitochondrial function, apoptosis and molecules that affect mitochondrial integrity and cell viability have been important topics of the recent review in the literature. In this article, we first briefly summarize the rationale and biological basis for developing mitochondrial-targeted compounds as potential anticancer agents, and then provide key examples of small molecules that either directly impact mitochondria or functionally affect the metabolic alterations in cancer cells with mitochondrial dysfunction. The main focus is on the small molecular weight compounds with potential applications in cancer treatment. We also summarize information on the drug developmental stages of the key mitochondria-targeted compounds and their clinical trial status. The advantages and potential shortcomings of targeting the mitochondria for cancer treatment are also discussed. PMID:19995573

Genericness of inflation in isotropic loop quantum cosmology.

PubMed

Date, Ghanashyam; Hossain, Golam Mortuza

2005-01-14

Nonperturbative corrections from loop quantum cosmology (LQC) to the scalar matter sector are already known to imply inflation. We prove that the LQC modified scalar field generates exponential inflation in the small scale factor regime, for all positive definite potentials, independent of initial conditions and independent of ambiguity parameters. For positive semidefinite potentials it is always possible to choose, without fine-tuning, a value of one of the ambiguity parameters such that exponential inflation results, provided zeros of the potential are approached at most as a power law in the scale factor. In conjunction with the generic occurrence of bounce at small volumes, particle horizon is absent, thus eliminating the horizon problem of the standard big bang model.

Investigation of Planets and Small Bodies Using Decameter Wavelength Radar Sounders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Safaeinili, A.

2003-12-01

Decameter wavelength radar sounders provide a unique capability for the exploration of subsurface of planets and internal structure of small bodies. Recently, a number of experimental radar sounding instruments have been proposed and/or are planned to become operational in the near future. The first of these radar sounders is MARSIS (Picardi et al.) that is about to arrive at Mars on ESA's Mars Express for a two-year mission. The second radar sounder, termed SHARAD (Seu et. al), will fly on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance orbiter in 2005. MARSIS and SHARAD have complementary science objectives in that MARSIS (0.1-5.5 MHz) is designed to explore the deep subsurface with a depth resolution of ˜100 m while SHARAD (15-25 MHz) focuses its investigation to near-surface (< 1000 m) with a higher depth resolution of ˜ 10-15 m. In addition to its subsurface exploration goals, MARSIS, that has a frequency range between 0.1 to 5.5 MHz, will study the ionosphere of Mars and providing a wealth of new information on Martian ionosphere. Both MARSIS and SHARAD have the potential of providing answers to a number of questions such as depth of ice-layers in the polar region and recently discovered ice-rich regions in both northern and southern hemispheres of Mars. The next generation of radar sounders will benefit from high power and high data rate capability that is made available through the use of Nuclear Electric generators. An example of such high-capability mission is the Jovian Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) where, for example, the radar sounder can be used to explore beneath the icy surfaces of Europa in search of the ice/ocean interface. The decameter wave radar sounder is probably the only instrument that has the potential of providing an accurate estimate for the ocean depth. Another exciting and rewarding area of application for planetary radar sounding is the investigation of the deep interior of small bodies (asteroids and comets). The small size of asteroids and comets provides the opportunity to collect data in a manner that enables Radio Reflection Tomographic (RRT) reconstruction of the body in the same manner that a medical ultrasound probe can image the interior of our body. This paper provides an overview of current technical capabilities and challenges and the potential of radio sounders in the investigation of planets and small bodies.

The 1993 Shuttle Small Payloads Symposium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, Lawrence R. (Editor); Mosier, Frances L. (Editor)

1993-01-01

The 1993 Shuttle Small Payloads Symposium is a combined symposia of the Get Away Special (GAS), Hitchhiker, and Complex Autonomous Payloads (CAP) programs, and is proposed to continue as an annual conference. The focus of this conference is to educate potential Space Shuttle Payload Bay users as to the types of carrier systems provided and for current users to share experiment concepts.

Study of dispersed small wind systems interconnected with a utility distribution system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Curtice, D.; Patton, J.; Bohn, J.; Sechan, N.

1980-03-01

Operating problems for various penetrations of small wind systems connected to the distribution system on a utility are defined. Protection equipment, safety hazards, feeder voltage regulation, line losses, and voltage flicker problems are studied, assuming different small wind systems connected to an existing distribution system. To identify hardware deficiencies, possible solutions provided by off-the-shelf hardware and equipment are assessed. Results of the study indicate that existing techniques are inadequate for detecting isolated operation of a small wind system. Potential safety hazards posed by small wind systems are adequately handled by present work procedures although these procedures require a disconnect device at synchronous generator and self commutated inverter small wind systems.

Public-private partnerships in practice: collaborating to improve health finance policy in Ghana and Kenya.

PubMed

Suchman, Lauren; Hart, Elizabeth; Montagu, Dominic

2018-06-13

Social health insurance (SHI), one mechanism for achieving universal health coverage, has become increasingly important in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as they work to achieve this goal. Although small private providers supply a significant proportion of healthcare in LMICs, integrating these providers into SHI systems is often challenging. Public-private partnerships in health are one way to address these challenges, but we know little about how these collaborations work, how effectively, and why. Drawing on semi-structured interviews conducted with National Health Insurance (NHI) officials in Kenya and Ghana, as well as with staff from several international NGOs (INGOs) representing social franchise networks that are partnering to increase private provider accreditation into the NHIs, this article examines one example of public-private collaboration in practice. We found that interviewees initially had incomplete knowledge about the potential for cross-sector synergy, but both sides were motivated to work together around shared goals and the potential for mutual benefit. The public-private relationship then evolved over time through regular face-to-face interactions, reciprocal feedback, and iterative workplan development. This process led to a collegial relationship that also has given small private providers more voice in the health system. In order to sustain this relationship, we recommend that both public and private sector representatives develop formalized protocols for working together, as well as less formal open channels for communication. Models for aggregating small private providers and delivering them to government programmes as a package have potential to facilitate public-private partnerships as well, but there is little evidence on how these models work in LMICs thus far.

The role of citizen science in monitoring small-scale pollution events.

PubMed

Hyder, Kieran; Wright, Serena; Kirby, Mark; Brant, Jan

2017-07-15

Small-scale pollution events involve the release of potentially harmful substances into the marine environment. These events can affect all levels of the ecosystem, with damage to both fauna and flora. Numerous reporting structures are currently available to document spills, however there is a lack of information on small-scale events due to their magnitude and patchy distribution. To this end, volunteers may provide a useful tool in filling this data gap, especially for coastal environments with a high usage by members of the public. The potential for citizen scientists to record small-scale pollution events is explored using the UK as an example, with a focus on highlighting methods and issues associated with using this data source. An integrated monitoring system is proposed which combines citizen science and traditional reporting approaches. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Computing Evaporation Using Meteorological Data for Hydrological Budget of Lake Wapalanne in NJ School of Conservation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jordan, J. J.; Barrett, K. R.; Galster, J. C.; Ophori, D. U.; Flores, D.; Kelly, S. A.; Lutey, A. M.

2011-12-01

Lake Wapalanne is small manmade lake about 5.4 hectares in northwest New Jersey in the Highlands Physiographic province within permanently protected land. The lake's surrounding area consists of forested vegetation and is relatively unoccupied which minimizes human influence. The lake's small size, minimal external influence, geographic isolation, and protected status provide an optimal research environment to record meteorological data used in calculation of potential evaporation. Between July 7h and August 3rd meteorological data was collected from a professional weather station placed on an island directly in the center of Lake Wapalanne. The Vantage Pro2 weather station provided accurate readings of temperate, humidity, wind-speed and direction, precipitation, and atmospheric pressure. A bathometric survey of the lake was conducted to determine the surface area with variations in depth of the lake's water level. Using the collected weather station data, a rate of potential evaporation was determined with several evaporation equations. A quantified volume was then derived from the rate and surface area of the lake. Using small scale evaporation measurements of known volumes of water within small pans placed in the lake water and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration evaporation stations near the experiment site, a comparison and validation of the calculated potential evaporation accuracy and regional evaporation is achieved. This three year study is part of an ongoing NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) project that encompasses additional topics of lake research; see abstract from Kelly et al. AGU 2011 for more information on the lake's hydrologic budget. The results and methods of this study will be of use in future forecasting and baseline measurements of hydrologic budgets for lakes and reservoirs within regional proximity, which provide drinking water to over five million people in the State of New Jersey.

Solo and Small Practices: A Vital, Diverse Part of Primary Care.

PubMed

Liaw, Winston R; Jetty, Anuradha; Petterson, Stephen M; Peterson, Lars E; Bazemore, Andrew W

2016-01-01

Solo and small practices are facing growing pressure to consolidate. Our objectives were to determine (1) the percentage of family physicians in solo and small practices, and (2) the characteristics of and services provided by these practices. A total of 10,888 family physicians seeking certification through the American Board of Family Medicine in 2013 completed a demographic survey. Their practices were split into categories by size: solo, small (2 to 5 providers), medium (6 to 20 providers), and large (more than 20 providers). We also determined the rurality of the county where the physicians practiced. We developed 2 logistic regression models: one assessed predictors of practicing in a solo or small practice, while the other was restricted to solo and small practices and assessed predictors of practicing in a solo practice. More than one-half of respondents worked in solo or small practices. Small practices were the largest group (36%) and were the most likely to be located in a rural setting (20%). The likelihood of having a care coordinator and medical home certification increased with practice size. Physicians were more likely to be practicing in small or solo practices (vs medium-sized or large ones) if they were African American or Hispanic, had been working for more than 30 years, and worked in rural areas. Physicians were more likely to be practicing in small practices (vs solo ones) if they worked in highly rural areas. Family physicians in solo and small practices comprised the majority among all family physicians seeking board certification and were more likely to work in rural geographies. Extension programs and community health teams have the potential to support transformation within these practices. © 2016 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.

Solo and Small Practices: A Vital, Diverse Part of Primary Care

PubMed Central

Liaw, Winston R.; Jetty, Anuradha; Petterson, Stephen M.; Peterson, Lars E.; Bazemore, Andrew W.

2016-01-01

PURPOSE Solo and small practices are facing growing pressure to consolidate. Our objectives were to determine (1) the percentage of family physicians in solo and small practices, and (2) the characteristics of and services provided by these practices. METHODS A total of 10,888 family physicians seeking certification through the American Board of Family Medicine in 2013 completed a demographic survey. Their practices were split into categories by size: solo, small (2 to 5 providers), medium (6 to 20 providers), and large (more than 20 providers). We also determined the rurality of the county where the physicians practiced. We developed 2 logistic regression models: one assessed predictors of practicing in a solo or small practice, while the other was restricted to solo and small practices and assessed predictors of practicing in a solo practice. RESULTS More than one-half of respondents worked in solo or small practices. Small practices were the largest group (36%) and were the most likely to be located in a rural setting (20%). The likelihood of having a care coordinator and medical home certification increased with practice size. Physicians were more likely to be practicing in small or solo practices (vs medium-sized or large ones) if they were African American or Hispanic, had been working for more than 30 years, and worked in rural areas. Physicians were more likely to be practicing in small practices (vs solo ones) if they worked in highly rural areas. CONCLUSIONS Family physicians in solo and small practices comprised the majority among all family physicians seeking board certification and were more likely to work in rural geographies. Extension programs and community health teams have the potential to support transformation within these practices. PMID:26755778

Innovation in Deep Space Habitat Interior Design: Lessons Learned From Small Space Design in Terrestrial Architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, Matthew A.; Toups, Larry

2014-01-01

Increased public awareness of carbon footprints, crowding in urban areas, and rising housing costs have spawned a 'small house movement' in the housing industry. Members of this movement desire small, yet highly functional residences which are both affordable and sensitive to consumer comfort standards. In order to create comfortable, minimum-volume interiors, recent advances have been made in furniture design and approaches to interior layout that improve both space utilization and encourage multi-functional design for small homes, apartments, naval, and recreational vehicles. Design efforts in this evolving niche of terrestrial architecture can provide useful insights leading to innovation and efficiency in the design of space habitats for future human space exploration missions. This paper highlights many of the cross-cutting architectural solutions used in small space design which are applicable to the spacecraft interior design problem. Specific solutions discussed include reconfigurable, multi-purpose spaces; collapsible or transformable furniture; multi-purpose accommodations; efficient, space saving appliances; stowable and mobile workstations; and the miniaturization of electronics and computing hardware. For each of these design features, descriptions of how they save interior volume or mitigate other small space issues such as confinement stress or crowding are discussed. Finally, recommendations are provided to provide guidance for future designs and identify potential collaborations with the small spaces design community.

Small employers and self-insured health benefits: too small to succeed?

PubMed

Yee, Tracy; Christianson, Jon B; Ginsburg, Paul B

2012-07-01

Over the past decade, large employers increasingly have bypassed traditional health insurance for their workers, opting instead to assume the financial risk of enrollees' medical care through self-insurance. Because self-insurance arrangements may offer advantages--such as lower costs, exemption from most state insurance regulation and greater flexibility in benefit design--they are especially attractive to large firms with enough employees to spread risk adequately to avoid the financial fallout from potentially catastrophic medical costs of some employees. Recently, with rising health care costs and changing market dynamics, more small firms--100 or fewer workers--are interested in self-insuring health benefits, according to a new qualitative study from the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). Self-insured firms typically use a third-party administrator (TPA) to process medical claims and provide access to provider networks. Firms also often purchase stop-loss insurance to cover medical costs exceeding a predefined amount. Increasingly competitive markets for TPA services and stop-loss insurance are making self-insurance attractive to more employers. The 2010 national health reform law imposes new requirements and taxes on health insurance that may spur more small firms to consider self-insurance. In turn, if more small firms opt to self-insure, certain health reform goals, such as strengthening consumer protections and making the small-group health insurance market more viable, may be undermined. Specifically, adverse selection--attracting sicker-than-average people--is a potential issue for the insurance exchanges created by reform.

Chinese Biogas Digester. A Potential Model for Small-Scale, Rural Applications. (A Manual for Construction and Operation). Reprint No. R-51.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nakagawa, Charles H.; Honquilada, Q. L.

This book provides the basic knowledge and guides for the construction and operation of a small-scale, family-size biogas unit. The first chapter discusses the benefits of biogas production and the Chinese biogas model. The second chapter shows the components, design formulas, and sizing units of the biogas model. Chapter 3 describes actual…

Targeting Programmed Cell Death Using Small-Molecule Compounds to Improve Potential Cancer Therapy.

PubMed

Ke, Bowen; Tian, Mao; Li, Jingjing; Liu, Bo; He, Gu

2016-11-01

Evasion of cell death is one of the hallmarks of cancer cells, beginning with long-established apoptosis and extending to other new forms of cell death. An elaboration of cell death pathways thus will contribute to a better understanding of cancer pathogenesis and therapeutics. With the recent substantial biochemical and genetic explorations of cell death subroutines, their classification has switched from primarily morphological to more molecular definitions. According to their measurable biochemical features and intricate mechanisms, cell death subroutines can be divided into apoptosis, autophagic cell death, mitotic catastrophe, necroptosis, parthanatos, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, pyronecrosis, anoikis, cornification, entosis, and NETosis. Supportive evidence has gradually revealed the prime molecular mechanisms of each subroutine and thus providing series of possible targets in cancer therapy, while the intricate relationships between different cell death subroutines still remain to be clarified. Over the past decades, cancer drug discovery has significantly benefited from the use of small-molecule compounds to target classical modalities of cell death such as apoptosis, while newly identified cell death subroutines has also emerging their potential for cancer drug discovery in recent years. In this review, we comprehensively focus on summarizing 12 cell death subroutines and discussing their corresponding small-molecule compounds in potential cancer therapy. Together, these inspiring findings may provide more evidence to fill in the gaps between cell death subroutines and small-molecule compounds to better develop novel cancer therapeutic strategies. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Technical Potential in the United States. A Detailed Assessment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gagnon, Pieter; Margolis, Robert; Melius, Jennifer

2016-01-01

How much energy could be generated if PV modules were installed on all of the suitable roof area in the nation? To answer this question, we first use GIS methods to process a lidar dataset and determine the amount of roof area that is suitable for PV deployment in 128 cities nationwide, containing 23% of U.S. buildings, and provide PV-generation results for a subset of those cities. We then extend the insights from that analysis to the entire continental United States. We develop two statistical models--one for small buildings and one for medium and large buildings--and populate them with geographicmore » variables that correlate with rooftop's suitability for PV. We simulate the productivity of PV installed on the suitable roof area, and present the technical potential of PV on both small buildings and medium/large buildings for every state in the continental US. Within the 128 cities covered by lidar data, 83% of small buildings have a location suitable for a PV installation, but only 26% of the total rooftop area of small buildings is suitable for development. The sheer number of buildings in this class, however, gives small buildings the greatest technical potential. Small building rooftops could accommodate 731 GW of PV capacity and generate 926 TWh/year of PV energy, approximately 65% of rooftop PV's total technical potential. We conclude by summing the PV-generation results for all building sizes and therefore answering our original question, estimating that the total national technical potential of rooftop PV is 1,118 GW of installed capacity and 1,432 TWh of annual energy generation. This equates to 39% of total national electric-sector sales.« less

Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Technical Potential in the United States

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gagnon, Pieter; Margolis, Robert; Melius, Jennifer

2016-01-01

How much energy could we generate if PV modules were installed on all of the suitable roof area in the nation? To answer this question, we first use GIS methods to process a lidar dataset and determine the amount of roof area that is suitable for PV deployment in 128 cities nationwide, containing 23% of U.S. buildings, and provide PV-generation results for a subset of those cities. We then extend the insights from that analysis to the entire continental United States. We develop two statistical models -- one for small buildings and one for medium and large buildings -- andmore » populate them with geographic variables that correlate with rooftop's suitability for PV. We simulate the productivity of PV installed on the suitable roof area, and present the technical potential of PV on both small buildings and medium/large buildings for every state in the continental US. Within the 128 cities covered by lidar data, 83% of small buildings have a location suitable for a PV installation, but only 26% of the total rooftop area of small buildings is suitable for development. The sheer number of buildings in this class, however, gives small buildings the greatest technical potential. Small building rooftops could accommodate 731 GW of PV capacity and generate 926 TWh/year of PV energy, approximately 65% of rooftop PV's total technical potential. We conclude by summing the PV-generation results for all building sizes and therefore answering our original question, estimating that the total national technical potential of rooftop PV is 1,118 GW of installed capacity and 1,432 TWh of annual energy generation. This equates to 39% of total national electric-sector sales.« less

Beginning Research with the 1.8-meter Spacewatch Telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gehrels, Tom

1997-01-01

The purpose of Spacewatch is to explore the various populations of small objects within the solar system. Spacewatch provides data for studies of comets and asteroids, finds potential targets for space missions, and provides information on the environmental problem of possible impacts. This grant provided some of the funds to implement Spacewatch operations on the new 1.8-m Spacewatch Telescope.

"Small" data in a big data world: archiving terrestrial ecology data at ORNL DAAC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santhana Vannan, S. K.; Beaty, T.; Boyer, A.; Deb, D.; Hook, L.; Shrestha, R.; Thornton, M.; Virdi, M.; Wei, Y.; Wright, D.

2016-12-01

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center (ORNL DAAC http://daac.ornl.gov), a NASA-funded data center, archives a diverse collection of terrestrial biogeochemistry and ecological dynamics observations and models in support of NASA's Earth Science program. The ORNL DAAC has been addressing the increasing challenge of publishing diverse small data products into an online archive while dealing with the enhanced need for integration and availability of these data to address big science questions. This paper will show examples of "small" diverse data holdings - ranging from the Daymet model output data to site-based soil moisture observation data. We define "small" by the data volume of these data products compared to petabyte scale observations. We will highlight the use of tools and services for visualizing diverse data holdings and subsetting services such as the MODIS land products subsets tool (at ORNL DAAC) that provides big MODIS data in small chunks. Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) and data citations have enhanced the availability of data. The challenge faced by data publishers now is to deal with the increased number of publishable data products and most importantly the difficulties of publishing small diverse data products into an online archive. This paper will also present our experiences designing a data curation system for these types of data. The characteristics of these data will be examined and their scientific value will be demonstrated via data citation metrics. We will present case studies of leveraging specialized tools and services that have enabled small data sets to realize their "big" scientific potential. Overall, we will provide a holistic view of the challenges and potential of small diverse terrestrial ecology data sets from data curation to distribution.

Repackaging of Intravenous Fat Emulsions: A Clinical Conundrum.

PubMed

Cober, M Petrea

2016-10-01

To accommodate small fluid volumes, repackaging of intravenous fat emulsions (IVFEs) is frequently performed in institutions providing parenteral nutrition to neonates and smaller pediatric patients. However, some consider this an unsafe practice. Concerns for potential administration errors leading to an overdose of IVFEs are weighed against the potential for microbial contamination from the repackaging process. The clinician providing pediatric nutrition support should tailor repackaging practices to ensure patient safety and quality. This discussion aims to describe the strengths and limitations surrounding IVFE repackaging to provide guidance regarding the practice. © 2016 American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.

Characterization of Carbon Onion Nanomaterials for Environmental Remediation

EPA Science Inventory

The unique properties of carbonaceous nanomaterials, including small particle size, high surface area, and manipulatable surface chemistry, provide high potential for their application to environmental remediation. While research has devoted to develop nanotechnology for environm...

Peer Assessment Enhances Student Learning: The Results of a Matched Randomized Crossover Experiment in a College Statistics Class.

PubMed

Sun, Dennis L; Harris, Naftali; Walther, Guenther; Baiocchi, Michael

2015-01-01

Feedback has a powerful influence on learning, but it is also expensive to provide. In large classes it may even be impossible for instructors to provide individualized feedback. Peer assessment is one way to provide personalized feedback that scales to large classes. Besides these obvious logistical benefits, it has been conjectured that students also learn from the practice of peer assessment. However, this has never been conclusively demonstrated. Using an online educational platform that we developed, we conducted an in-class matched-set, randomized crossover experiment with high power to detect small effects. We establish that peer assessment causes a small but significant gain in student achievement. Our study also demonstrates the potential of web-based platforms to facilitate the design of high-quality experiments to identify small effects that were previously not detectable.

Personal computer study of finite-difference methods for the transonic small disturbance equation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bland, Samuel R.

1989-01-01

Calculation of unsteady flow phenomena requires careful attention to the numerical treatment of the governing partial differential equations. The personal computer provides a convenient and useful tool for the development of meshes, algorithms, and boundary conditions needed to provide time accurate solution of these equations. The one-dimensional equation considered provides a suitable model for the study of wave propagation in the equations of transonic small disturbance potential flow. Numerical results for effects of mesh size, extent, and stretching, time step size, and choice of far-field boundary conditions are presented. Analysis of the discretized model problem supports these numerical results. Guidelines for suitable mesh and time step choices are given.

CRISPR Approaches to Small Molecule Target Identification. | Office of Cancer Genomics

Cancer.gov

A long-standing challenge in drug development is the identification of the mechanisms of action of small molecules with therapeutic potential. A number of methods have been developed to address this challenge, each with inherent strengths and limitations. We here provide a brief review of these methods with a focus on chemical-genetic methods that are based on systematically profiling the effects of genetic perturbations on drug sensitivity.

Solar Thermal Small Power Systems Study. Inventory of US industrial small electric power generating systems. [Less than 10 MW

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

This inventory of small industrial electric generating systems was assembled by The Aerospace Corporation to provide a data base for analyses being conducted to estimate the potential for displacement of these fossil-fueled systems by solar thermal electric systems no larger than 10 MW in rated capacity. The approximately 2100 megawatts generating capacity of systems in this category constitutes a potential market for small solar thermal and other solar electric power systems. The sources of data for this inventory were the (former) Federal Power Commission (FPC) Form 4 Industrial Ledger and Form 12-C Ledger for 1976. Table 1 alphabetically lists generatingmore » systems located at industrial plants and at Federal government installations in each of the 50 states. These systems are differentiated by type of power plant: steam turbine, diesel generator, or gas turbine. Each listing is designated as a power system rather than a power unit because the FPC Ledgers do not provide a means of determining whether more than one unit is associated with each industrial installation. Hence, the user should consider each listing to be a system capacity rating wherein the system may consist of one or more generating units with less than 10 MW/sub e/ combined rating. (WHK)« less

The influence of electrolyte additives on the anodic dissolution of aluminum in alkaline solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boehnstedt, W.

1980-09-01

The paper describes the effect of electrolyte additives on the anodic dissolution of aluminum in alkaline solutions. The dissolution is accelerated by the addition of small quantities of gallium or indium ions to the electrolyte indicated by the shift of the zero current potential by about 250 mV on the current-potential curve. Scanning electron microscope studies showed that gallium ions produce many small cracks in the aluminum electrode and collect at the grain boundary areas, increasing the electrode surface; this enlargement, in combination with increased electrolyte agitation due to greater hydrogen evolution, provides higher current densities at the same potential. It is concluded that this process will widen the possibilities of using aluminum and its alloys in high-rate batteries.

Small Engine Component Technology (SECT) study. Program report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Almodovar, E.; Exley, T.; Kaehler, H.; Schneider, W.

1986-01-01

The study was conducted to identify high payoff technologies for year 2000 small gas turbine applications and to provide a technology plan for guiding future research and technology efforts. A regenerative cycle turboprop engine was selected for a 19 passenger commuter aircraft application. A series of engines incorporating eight levels of advanced technologies were studied and their impact on aircraft performance was evaluated. The study indicated a potential reduction in fuel burn of 38.3 percent. At $1.00 per gallon fuel price, a potential DOC benefit of 12.5 percent would be achieved. At $2.00 per gallon, the potential DOC benefit would increase to 17.0 percent. Four advanced technologies are recommended and appropriate research and technology programs were established to reach the year 2000 goals.

NASA Near Earth Network (NEN) and Space Network (SN) CubeSat Communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schaire, Scott H.; Shaw, Harry; Altunc, Serhat; Bussey, George; Celeste, Peter; Kegege, Obadiah; Wong, Yen; Zhang, Yuwen; Patel, Chitra; Raphael, David;

NASA Near Earth Network (NEN) and Space Network (SN) Support of CubeSat Communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schaire, Scott H.; Shaw, Harry C.; Altunc, Serhat; Bussey, George; Celeste, Peter; Kegege, Obadiah; Wong, Yen; Zhang, Yuwen; Patel, Chitra; Raphael, David;

The onset of plasma potential locking

DOE PAGES

Hopkins, Matthew M.; Yee, Benjamin T.; Baalrud, Scott D.; ...

2016-06-22

In this study, we provide insight into the role and impact that a positively biased electrode (anode) has on bulk plasma potential. Using two-dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations, we investigate the plasma potential as an anode transitions from very small (“probe” mode) to large (“locking” mode). Prior theory provides some guidance on when and how this transition takes place. Initial experimental results are also compared. The simulations demonstrate that as the surface area of the anode is increased transitions in plasma potential and sheath polarity occur, consistent with experimental observations and theoretical predictions. It is expected that understanding this basic plasma behaviormore » will be of interest to basic plasma physics communities, diagnostic developers, and plasma processing devices where control of bulk plasma potential is important.« less

Mineral resource potential map of the Raywood Flat Roadless Areas, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Matti, Jonathan C.; Cox, Brett F.; Iverson, Stephen R.

1983-01-01

The area having moderate potential for base-metal resources forms a small zone in the eastern part of the recommended wilderness (A5-187). Within this zone, evidence provided by stream-sediment geochemistry suggests that crystalline bedrocks in several drainages contain concentrations of metallic elements. Because the terrain is inaccessible and covered with dense brush, most of the bedrock in the specific drainages containing the geochemical anomalies could not be examined. Thus, although we infer that mineral occurrences exist in the drainage basins, we have little data on which to base an estimate of their extent and quality. Locally, the crystalline rocks probably contain hydrothermal veins or disseminated occurrences where lead, copper, molybdenum, tin, cobalt, bismuth, and arsenic have been concentrated. However, the geochemical anomalies for these metals are small, and the stream drainages also are relatively small. Therefore, the inferred occurrences of metallic minerals probably are small scale, scattered, and low grade. There is only low probability that the inferred mineral occurrences are large scale.

Identification of 88 regulatory small RNAs in the TIGR4 strain of the human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae

PubMed Central

Acebo, Paloma; Martin-Galiano, Antonio J.; Navarro, Sara; Zaballos, Ángel; Amblar, Mónica

2012-01-01

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the main etiological agent of community-acquired pneumonia and a major cause of mortality and morbidity among children and the elderly. Genome sequencing of several pneumococcal strains revealed valuable information about the potential proteins and genetic diversity of this prevalent human pathogen. However, little is known about its transcriptional regulation and its small regulatory noncoding RNAs. In this study, we performed deep sequencing of the S. pneumoniae TIGR4 strain RNome to identify small regulatory RNA candidates expressed in this pathogen. We discovered 1047 potential small RNAs including intragenic, 5′- and/or 3′-overlapping RNAs and 88 small RNAs encoded in intergenic regions. With this approach, we recovered many of the previously identified intergenic small RNAs and identified 68 novel candidates, most of which are conserved in both sequence and genomic context in other S. pneumoniae strains. We confirmed the independent expression of 17 intergenic small RNAs and predicted putative mRNA targets for six of them using bioinformatics tools. Preliminary results suggest that one of these six is a key player in the regulation of competence development. This study is the biggest catalog of small noncoding RNAs reported to date in S. pneumoniae and provides a highly complete view of the small RNA network in this pathogen. PMID:22274957

In Vivo Small Animal Imaging using Micro-CT and Digital Subtraction Angiography

PubMed Central

Badea, C.T.; Drangova, M.; Holdsworth, D.W.; Johnson, G.A.

2009-01-01

Small animal imaging has a critical role in phenotyping, drug discovery, and in providing a basic understanding of mechanisms of disease. Translating imaging methods from humans to small animals is not an easy task. The purpose of this work is to review in vivo X-ray based small animal imaging, with a focus on in vivo micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA). We present the principles, technologies, image quality parameters and types of applications. We show that both methods can be used not only to provide morphological, but also functional information, such as cardiac function estimation or perfusion. Compared to other modalities, x-ray based imaging is usually regarded as being able to provide higher throughput at lower cost and adequate resolution. The limitations are usually associated with the relatively poor contrast mechanisms and potential radiation damage due to ionizing radiation, although the use of contrast agents and careful design of studies can address these limitations. We hope that the information will effectively address how x-ray based imaging can be exploited for successful in vivo preclinical imaging. PMID:18758005

QUADrATiC: scalable gene expression connectivity mapping for repurposing FDA-approved therapeutics.

PubMed

O'Reilly, Paul G; Wen, Qing; Bankhead, Peter; Dunne, Philip D; McArt, Darragh G; McPherson, Suzanne; Hamilton, Peter W; Mills, Ken I; Zhang, Shu-Dong

2016-05-04

Gene expression connectivity mapping has proven to be a powerful and flexible tool for research. Its application has been shown in a broad range of research topics, most commonly as a means of identifying potential small molecule compounds, which may be further investigated as candidates for repurposing to treat diseases. The public release of voluminous data from the Library of Integrated Cellular Signatures (LINCS) programme further enhanced the utilities and potentials of gene expression connectivity mapping in biomedicine. We describe QUADrATiC ( http://go.qub.ac.uk/QUADrATiC ), a user-friendly tool for the exploration of gene expression connectivity on the subset of the LINCS data set corresponding to FDA-approved small molecule compounds. It enables the identification of compounds for repurposing therapeutic potentials. The software is designed to cope with the increased volume of data over existing tools, by taking advantage of multicore computing architectures to provide a scalable solution, which may be installed and operated on a range of computers, from laptops to servers. This scalability is provided by the use of the modern concurrent programming paradigm provided by the Akka framework. The QUADrATiC Graphical User Interface (GUI) has been developed using advanced Javascript frameworks, providing novel visualization capabilities for further analysis of connections. There is also a web services interface, allowing integration with other programs or scripts. QUADrATiC has been shown to provide an improvement over existing connectivity map software, in terms of scope (based on the LINCS data set), applicability (using FDA-approved compounds), usability and speed. It offers potential to biological researchers to analyze transcriptional data and generate potential therapeutics for focussed study in the lab. QUADrATiC represents a step change in the process of investigating gene expression connectivity and provides more biologically-relevant results than previous alternative solutions.

Computational Approaches for Identifying Adverse Outcome Pathways

EPA Science Inventory

Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) provide a framework for organizing toxicity information to improve predictions of the potential adverse impact of environment stressors on humans or wildlife populations, but these benefits are currently limited by the small number of AOPs currentl...

Alignment between values of dryland pastoralists and conservation needs for small mammals.

PubMed

Addison, Jane; Pavey, Chris R

2017-04-01

Policies for conservation outside protected areas, such as those designed to address the decline in Australian mammals, will not result in net improvements unless they address barriers to proenvironmental behavior. We used a mixed-methods approach to explore potential value-action gaps (disconnects between values and subsequent action) for small mammal conservation behaviors among pastoralists in dryland Australia. Using semistructured surveys and open-ended interviews (n = 43), we explored values toward small mammals; uptake of a range of current and intended actions that may provide benefit to small mammals; and potential perceived barriers to their uptake. Pastoralists assigned great conservation value to small mammals; over 80% (n = 36) agreed to strongly agreed that small mammals on their property were important. These values did not translate into stated willingness to engage in voluntary cessation of wild-dog control (r 2 = 0.187, p = 0.142, n = 43). However, assigning great conservation value to small mammals was strongly related to stated voluntary willingness to engage in the proenvironmental behavior most likely to result in benefits to small mammals: cat and fox control (r 2 = 0.558, p = 0.000, n = 43). There was no significant difference between stated voluntarily and incentivized willingness to engage in cat and fox control (p = 0.862, n = 43). The high levels of willingness to engage in voluntary cat and fox control highlight a potential entry point for addressing Australia's mammal declines because the engagement of pastoralists in conservation programs targeting cat and fox control is unlikely to be prevented by attitudinal constraints. Qualitative data suggest there is likely a subpopulation of pastoralists who value small mammals but do not wish to engage in formal conservation programs due to relational barriers with potential implementers. A long-term commitment to engagement with pastoralists by implementers will thus be necessary for conservation success. On-property cat and fox control programs that build and leverage trust, shared goals, collaboration, and shared learning experiences between stakeholders and that explicitly recognize the complexity of small mammal dynamics and the property-level ecological knowledge of pastoralists are more likely to gain traction. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

Profiling protein function with small molecule microarrays

PubMed Central

Winssinger, Nicolas; Ficarro, Scott; Schultz, Peter G.; Harris, Jennifer L.

2002-01-01

The regulation of protein function through posttranslational modification, local environment, and protein–protein interaction is critical to cellular function. The ability to analyze on a genome-wide scale protein functional activity rather than changes in protein abundance or structure would provide important new insights into complex biological processes. Herein, we report the application of a spatially addressable small molecule microarray to an activity-based profile of proteases in crude cell lysates. The potential of this small molecule-based profiling technology is demonstrated by the detection of caspase activation upon induction of apoptosis, characterization of the activated caspase, and inhibition of the caspase-executed apoptotic phenotype using the small molecule inhibitor identified in the microarray-based profile. PMID:12167675

Small deformations of kinks and walls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morris, J. R.

2018-06-01

A Rayleigh-Schrödinger type of perturbation scheme is employed to study weak self-interacting scalar potential perturbations occurring in scalar field models describing 1D domain kinks and 3D domain walls. The solutions for the unperturbed defects are modified by the perturbing potentials. An illustration is provided by adding a cubic potential to the familiar quartic kink potential and solving for the first order correction to the kink solution, using a "slab approximation". A result is the appearance of an asymmetric scalar potential with different, nondegenerate, vacuum values and the subsequent formation of vacuum bubbles.

Harvesting river water through small dams promote positive environmental impact.

PubMed

Agoramoorthy, Govindasamy; Chaudhary, Sunita; Chinnasamy, Pennan; Hsu, Minna J

2016-11-01

While deliberations relating to negative consequences of large dams on the environment continue to dominate world attention, positive benefits provided by small dams, also known as check dams, go unobserved. Besides, little is known about the potential of check dams in mitigating global warming impacts due to less data availability. Small dams are usually commissioned to private contractors who do not have clear mandate from their employers to post their work online for public scrutiny. As a result, statistics on the design, cost, and materials used to build check dams are not available in public domain. However, this review paper presents data for the first time on the often ignored potential of check dams mitigating climate-induced hydrological threats. We hope that the scientific analysis presented in this paper will promote further research on check dams worldwide to better comprehend their eco-friendly significance serving society.

Investigation of selected imagery from SKYLAB/EREP S190 system for medium and small scale mapping

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stewart, R. A.

1975-01-01

Satellite photography provided by the Skylab mission was investigated as a tool in planimetric mapping at medium and small scales over land surface in Canada. The main interest involved the potential usage of Skylab imagery for new and revision line mapping, photomapping possibilities, and the application of this photography as control for conventional high altitude aerial surveys. The results of six independent investigations clearly indicate that certain selected sets of this photography are adequate for planimetric mapping purposes at scales of 1:250,000 and smaller. In limited cases, the NATO planimetric accuracy requirements for Class B 1:50,000 scale mapping were also achieved. Of the S190A photography system, the camera containing the Pan X Aerial Black and White film offers the greatest potential to mapping at small scales. However, the S190B system continually proved to offer more versatility throughout the entire investigation.

Data gaps in evidence-based research on small water enterprises in developing countries.

PubMed

Opryszko, Melissa C; Huang, Haiou; Soderlund, Kurt; Schwab, Kellogg J

2009-12-01

Small water enterprises (SWEs) are water delivery operations that predominantly provide water at the community level. SWEs operate beyond the reach of piped water systems, selling water to households throughout the world. Their ubiquity in the developing world and access to vulnerable populations suggests that these small-scale water vendors may prove valuable in improving potable water availability. This paper assesses the current literature on SWEs to evaluate previous studies and determine gaps in the evidence base. Piped systems and point-of-use products were not included in this assessment. Results indicate that SWES are active in urban, peri-urban and rural areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Benefits of SWEs include: no upfront connection fees; demand-driven and flexible to local conditions; and service to large populations without high costs of utility infrastructure. Disadvantages of SWEs include: higher charges for water per unit of volume compared with infrastructure-based utilities; lack of regulation; operation often outside legal structures; no water quality monitoring; increased potential for conflict with local utilities; and potential for extortion by local officials. No rigorous, evidence-based, peer-reviewed scientific studies that control for confounders examining the effectiveness of SWEs in providing potable water were identified.

Steps to Starting a Small Business. Student Notebook.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Vocational Studies Center.

This student notebook provides student materials for a program of study made up of a series of community-based activities potentially leading to the start-up of one's own business, while at the same time providing a better understanding of the American economic system of free enterprise. It begins with a glossary. For each of 15 units (1 more unit…

Lightweight Inflatable Solar Array: Providing a Flexible, Efficient Solution to Space Power Systems for Small Spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Les; Fabisinski, Leo; Justice, Stefanie

2014-01-01

Affordable and convenient access to electrical power is critical to consumers, spacecraft, military and other applications alike. In the aerospace industry, an increased emphasis on small satellite flights and a move toward CubeSat and NanoSat technologies, the need for systems that could package into a small stowage volume while still being able to power robust space missions has become more critical. As a result, the Marshall Space Flight Center's Advanced Concepts Office identified a need for more efficient, affordable, and smaller space power systems to trade in performing design and feasibility studies. The Lightweight Inflatable Solar Array (LISA), a concept designed, prototyped, and tested at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama provides an affordable, lightweight, scalable, and easily manufactured approach for power generation in space or on Earth. This flexible technology has many wide-ranging applications from serving small satellites to soldiers in the field. By using very thin, ultraflexible solar arrays adhered to an inflatable structure, a large area (and thus large amount of power) can be folded and packaged into a relatively small volume (shown in artist rendering in Figure 1 below). The proposed presentation will provide an overview of the progress to date on the LISA project as well as a look at its potential, with continued development, to revolutionize small spacecraft and portable terrestrial power systems.

Microfinance investments in quality at private clinics in Uganda: a case-control study.

PubMed

Seiber, Eric E; Robinson, Amara L

2007-10-18

Small private-sector health care providers can play an important role in meeting the developing country health care needs, but a lack of credit can prove major constraint to small-provider expansion. This study examines the potential of small, microfinance loans to strengthen the private health sector and improve access to quality preventive and curative health services in Uganda. This study estimates logistic regressions using 2,387 client exit interviews to assess the impact of microfinance loans on perceived quality and the viability and sustainability of small, private clinics. The study finds perceived quality improved with loan recipients' clients being more likely to choose clinics on the basis of drug availability, fair charges, cleanliness, and confidentiality. In addition, the assessment found evidence of increased client flows, but the changes produced mixed results for sustainability with respondents being only half as likely to "always" visit a particular clinic. The results indicate that the microfinance program improved perceived quality at loan recipient clinics, especially as reliable drug outlets.

Maybe Small Is Too Small a Term: Introduction to Advancing Small Sample Prevention Science.

PubMed

Fok, Carlotta Ching Ting; Henry, David; Allen, James

2015-10-01

Prevention research addressing health disparities often involves work with small population groups experiencing such disparities. The goals of this special section are to (1) address the question of what constitutes a small sample; (2) identify some of the key research design and analytic issues that arise in prevention research with small samples; (3) develop applied, problem-oriented, and methodologically innovative solutions to these design and analytic issues; and (4) evaluate the potential role of these innovative solutions in describing phenomena, testing theory, and evaluating interventions in prevention research. Through these efforts, we hope to promote broader application of these methodological innovations. We also seek whenever possible, to explore their implications in more general problems that appear in research with small samples but concern all areas of prevention research. This special section includes two sections. The first section aims to provide input for researchers at the design phase, while the second focuses on analysis. Each article describes an innovative solution to one or more challenges posed by the analysis of small samples, with special emphasis on testing for intervention effects in prevention research. A concluding article summarizes some of their broader implications, along with conclusions regarding future directions in research with small samples in prevention science. Finally, a commentary provides the perspective of the federal agencies that sponsored the conference that gave rise to this special section.

Alternative approaches to providing passenger transportation in low density cities : the case of Council Bluffs, Iowa

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-09-01

This study explores transportation alternatives for Council Bluffs. The intention is to explore alternatives that may potentially prove viable for other small cities faced with scattered development patterns and limited population density. The study ...

Distance-Learning Technologies: Curriculum Equalizers in Rural and Small Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barker, Bruce O.

1986-01-01

Discusses potential of new and advancing distance learning methods for meeting educational reform mandates for increased curricular offerings in rural schools. Describes specific successful programs now using interactive television via satellite, audio teleconferencing, videotapes, and microcomputer linking. Provides names, addresses, and…

Deliquescence and efflorescence of small particles.

PubMed

McGraw, Robert; Lewis, Ernie R

2009-11-21

We examine size-dependent deliquescence/efflorescence phase transformation for particles down to several nanometers in size. Thermodynamic properties of inorganic salt particles, coated with aqueous solution layers of varying thickness and surrounded by vapor, are analyzed. A thin layer criterion (TLC) is introduced to define a limiting deliquescence relative humidity (RH(D)) for small particles. This requires: (1) equality of chemical potentials between salt in an undissolved core, and thin adsorbed solution layer, and (2) equality of chemical potentials between water in the thin layer and vapor phase. The usual bulk deliquescence conditions are recovered in the limit of large dry particle size. Nanosize particles are found to deliquesce at relative humidity just below the RH(D) on crossing a nucleation barrier, located at a critical solution layer thickness. This barrier vanishes precisely at the RH(D) defined by the TLC. Concepts and methods from nucleation theory including the kinetic potential, self-consistent nucleation theory, nucleation theorems, and the Gibbs dividing surface provide theoretical foundation and point to unifying features of small particle deliquescence/efflorescence processes. These include common thermodynamic area constructions, useful for interpretation of small particle water uptake measurements, and a common free-energy surface, with constant RH cross sections describing deliquescence and efflorescence related through the nucleation theorem.

Early-Late Heterobimetallic Complexes Linked by Phosphinoamide Ligands. Tuning Redox Potentials and Small Molecule Activation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thomas, Christine M.

2015-08-01

Recent attention in the chemical community has been focused on the energy efficient and environmentally benign conversion of abundant small molecules (CO2, H2O, etc.) to useful liquid fuels. This project addresses these goals by examining fundamental aspects of catalyst design to ultimately access small molecule activation processes under mild conditions. Specifically, Thomas and coworkers have targetted heterobimetallic complexes that feature metal centers with vastly different electronic properties, dictated both by their respective positions on the periodic table and their coordination environment. Unlike homobimetallic complexes featuring identical or similar metals, the bonds between metals in early/late heterobimetallics are more polarized, withmore » the more electron-rich late metal center donating electron density to the more electron-deficient early metal center. While metal-metal bonds pose an interesting strategy for storing redox equivalents and stabilizing reactive metal fragments, the polar character of metal-metal bonds in heterobimetallic complexes renders these molecules ideally poised to react with small molecule substrates via cleavage of energy-rich single and double bonds. In addition, metal-metal interactions have been shown to dramatically affect redox potentials and promote multielectron redox activity, suggesting that metal-metal interactions may provide a mechanism to tune redox potentials and access substrate reduction/activation at mild overpotentials. This research project has provided a better fundamental understanding of how interactions between transition metals can be used as a strategy to promote and/or control chemical transformations related to the clean production of fuels. While this project focused on the study of homogeneous systems, it is anticipated that the broad conclusions drawn from these investigations will be applicable to heterogeneous catalysis as well, particularly on heterogeneous processes that occur at interfaces in multicomponent systems.« less

Concept Test of a Smoking Cessation Smart Case.

PubMed

Comello, Maria Leonora G; Porter, Jeannette H

2018-04-05

Wearable/portable devices that unobtrusively detect smoking and contextual data offer the potential to provide Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention (JITAI) support for mobile cessation programs. Little has been reported on the development of these technologies. To address this gap, we offer a case report of users' experiences with a prototype "smart" cigarette case that automatically tracks time and location of smoking. Small-scale user-experience studies are typical of iterative product design and are especially helpful when proposing novel ideas. The purpose of the study was to assess concept acceptability and potential for further development. We tested the prototype case with a small sample of potential users (n = 7). Participants used the hardware/software for 2 weeks and reconvened for a 90-min focus group to discuss experiences and provide feedback. Participants liked the smart case in principle but found the prototype too bulky for easy portability. The potential for the case to convey positive messages about self also emerged as a finding. Participants indicated willingness to pay for improved technology (USD $15-$60 on a one-time basis). The smart case is a viable concept, but design detail is critical to user acceptance. Future research should examine designs that maximize convenience and that explore the device's ability to cue intentions and other cognitions that would support cessation. This study is the first to our knowledge to report formative research on the smart case concept. This initial exploration provides insights that may be helpful to other developers of JITAI-support technology.

Fluctuations of the gluon distribution from the small- x effective action

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dumitru, Adrian; Skokov, Vladimir

The computation of observables in high-energy QCD involves an average over stochastic semiclassical small-x gluon fields. The weight of various configurations is determined by the effective action. We introduce a method to study fluctuations of observables, functionals of the small-x fields, which does not explicitly involve dipoles. We integrate out those fluctuations of the semiclassical gluon field under which a given observable is invariant. Thereby we obtain the effective potential for that observable describing its fluctuations about the average. Here, we determine explicitly the effective potential for the covariant gauge gluon distribution both for the McLerran-Venugopalan (MV) model and formore » a (nonlocal) Gaussian approximation for the small-x effective action. This provides insight into the correlation of fluctuations of the number of hard gluons versus their typical transverse momentum. We find that the spectral shape of the fluctuations of the gluon distribution is fundamentally different in the MV model, where there is a pileup of gluons near the saturation scale, versus the solution of the small-x JIMWLK renormalization group, which generates essentially scale-invariant fluctuations above the absorptive boundary set by the saturation scale.« less

Fluctuations of the gluon distribution from the small- x effective action

DOE PAGES

Dumitru, Adrian; Skokov, Vladimir

2017-09-29

The computation of observables in high-energy QCD involves an average over stochastic semiclassical small-x gluon fields. The weight of various configurations is determined by the effective action. We introduce a method to study fluctuations of observables, functionals of the small-x fields, which does not explicitly involve dipoles. We integrate out those fluctuations of the semiclassical gluon field under which a given observable is invariant. Thereby we obtain the effective potential for that observable describing its fluctuations about the average. Here, we determine explicitly the effective potential for the covariant gauge gluon distribution both for the McLerran-Venugopalan (MV) model and formore » a (nonlocal) Gaussian approximation for the small-x effective action. This provides insight into the correlation of fluctuations of the number of hard gluons versus their typical transverse momentum. We find that the spectral shape of the fluctuations of the gluon distribution is fundamentally different in the MV model, where there is a pileup of gluons near the saturation scale, versus the solution of the small-x JIMWLK renormalization group, which generates essentially scale-invariant fluctuations above the absorptive boundary set by the saturation scale.« less

A semantic web ontology for small molecules and their biological targets.

PubMed

Choi, Jooyoung; Davis, Melissa J; Newman, Andrew F; Ragan, Mark A

2010-05-24

A wide range of data on sequences, structures, pathways, and networks of genes and gene products is available for hypothesis testing and discovery in biological and biomedical research. However, data describing the physical, chemical, and biological properties of small molecules have not been well-integrated with these resources. Semantically rich representations of chemical data, combined with Semantic Web technologies, have the potential to enable the integration of small molecule and biomolecular data resources, expanding the scope and power of biomedical and pharmacological research. We employed the Semantic Web technologies Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Web Ontology Language (OWL) to generate a Small Molecule Ontology (SMO) that represents concepts and provides unique identifiers for biologically relevant properties of small molecules and their interactions with biomolecules, such as proteins. We instanced SMO using data from three public data sources, i.e., DrugBank, PubChem and UniProt, and converted to RDF triples. Evaluation of SMO by use of predetermined competency questions implemented as SPARQL queries demonstrated that data from chemical and biomolecular data sources were effectively represented and that useful knowledge can be extracted. These results illustrate the potential of Semantic Web technologies in chemical, biological, and pharmacological research and in drug discovery.

Joint IKI/ROSCOSMOS - NASA Science Definition Team and concept mission to Venus based on Venera-D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zasova, L.; Senske, D.; Economou, T.; Eismont, N.; Esposito, L.; Gerasimov, M.; Gorinov, D.; Ignatiev, N.; Ivanov, M.; Jessup, K. Lea; Khatuntsev, I.; Korablev, O.; Kremic, T.; Limaye, S.; Lomakin, I.; Martynov, A.; Ocampo, A.; Vaisberg, O.; Burdanov, A.

2017-09-01

NASA and IKI/Roscosmos established in 2015 a Joint Science Definition Team (JSDT), a key task of which was to codify the synergy between the goals of Venera-D with those of NASA. In addition, the JSDT studied potential NASA provided mission augmentations (experiments /elements) that could to fill identified science gaps. The first report to NASA - IKI/Roscosmos was provided in January 2017. The baseline Venera-D concept includes two elements, and orbiter and a lander, with potential contributions consisting of an aerial platform/balloon, small long-lived surface stations or a sub-satellite.

High-Affinity Small-Molecule Inhibitors of the Menin-Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL) Interaction Closely Mimic a Natural Protein-Protein Interaction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

He, Shihan; Senter, Timothy J.; Pollock, Jonathan

2014-10-02

The protein–protein interaction (PPI) between menin and mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) plays a critical role in acute leukemias, and inhibition of this interaction represents a new potential therapeutic strategy for MLL leukemias. We report development of a novel class of small-molecule inhibitors of the menin–MLL interaction, the hydroxy- and aminomethylpiperidine compounds, which originated from HTS of ~288000 small molecules. We determined menin–inhibitor co-crystal structures and found that these compounds closely mimic all key interactions of MLL with menin. Extensive crystallography studies combined with structure-based design were applied for optimization of these compounds, resulting in MIV-6R, which inhibits the menin–MLL interactionmore » with IC 50 = 56 nM. Treatment with MIV-6 demonstrated strong and selective effects in MLL leukemia cells, validating specific mechanism of action. Our studies provide novel and attractive scaffold as a new potential therapeutic approach for MLL leukemias and demonstrate an example of PPI amenable to inhibition by small molecules.« less

ACTP: A webserver for predicting potential targets and relevant pathways of autophagy-modulating compounds

PubMed Central

Ouyang, Liang; Cai, Haoyang; Liu, Bo

2016-01-01

Autophagy (macroautophagy) is well known as an evolutionarily conserved lysosomal degradation process for long-lived proteins and damaged organelles. Recently, accumulating evidence has revealed a series of small-molecule compounds that may activate or inhibit autophagy for therapeutic potential on human diseases. However, targeting autophagy for drug discovery still remains in its infancy. In this study, we developed a webserver called Autophagic Compound-Target Prediction (ACTP) (http://actp.liu-lab.com/) that could predict autophagic targets and relevant pathways for a given compound. The flexible docking of submitted small-molecule compound (s) to potential autophagic targets could be performed by backend reverse docking. The webpage would return structure-based scores and relevant pathways for each predicted target. Thus, these results provide a basis for the rapid prediction of potential targets/pathways of possible autophagy-activating or autophagy-inhibiting compounds without labor-intensive experiments. Moreover, ACTP will be helpful to shed light on identifying more novel autophagy-activating or autophagy-inhibiting compounds for future therapeutic implications. PMID:26824420

EIA - Its Potential Application to Appropriate Technology in Developing Countries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goode, Pamela M.; Johnstone, Alastair I.

1988-01-01

Provided is a definition of "appropriate technology." Describes some of the less apparent adverse effects of such technology on society and the environment. Stresses the need for environmental impact assessment of small-scale projects and the advantages and disadvantages of such practices. (CW)

Cell therapy-processing economics: small-scale microfactories as a stepping stone toward large-scale macrofactories.

PubMed

Harrison, Richard P; Medcalf, Nicholas; Rafiq, Qasim A

2018-03-01

Manufacturing methods for cell-based therapies differ markedly from those established for noncellular pharmaceuticals and biologics. Attempts to 'shoehorn' these into existing frameworks have yielded poor outcomes. Some excellent clinical results have been realized, yet emergence of a 'blockbuster' cell-based therapy has so far proved elusive.  The pressure to provide these innovative therapies, even at a smaller scale, remains. In this process, economics research paper, we utilize cell expansion research data combined with operational cost modeling in a case study to demonstrate the alternative ways in which a novel mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy could be provided at small scale. This research outlines the feasibility of cell microfactories but highlighted that there is a strong pressure to automate processes and split the quality control cost-burden over larger production batches. The study explores one potential paradigm of cell-based therapy provisioning as a potential exemplar on which to base manufacturing strategy.

Testing a small UAS for mapping artisanal diamond mining sites in Africa

USGS Publications Warehouse

Malpeli, Katherine C.; Chirico, Peter G.

2015-01-01

Remote sensing technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate. At the forefront of the new technological developments are unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The advent of small, lightweight, low-cost, and user-friendly UAS is greatly expanding the potential applications of remote sensing technology and improving the set of tools available to researchers seeking to map and monitor terrain from above. In this article, we explore the applications of a small UAS for mapping informal diamond mining sites in Africa. We found that this technology provides aerial imagery of unparalleled resolution in a data-sparse, difficult to access, and remote terrain.

Small-Grid Dithers for the JWST Coronagraphs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lajoie, Charles-Philippe; Soummer, Remi; Pueyo, Laurent; Hines, Dean C.; Nelan, Edmund P.; Perrin, Marshall; Clampin, Mark; Isaacs, John C.

2016-01-01

We discuss new results of coronagraphic simulations demonstrating a novel mode for JWST that utilizes sub-pixel dithered reference images, called Small-Grid Dithers, to optimize coronagraphic PSF subtraction. These sub-pixel dithers are executed with the Fine Steering Mirror under fine guidance, are accurate to approx.2-3 milliarcseconds (1-s/axis), and provide ample speckle diversity to reconstruct an optimized synthetic reference PSF using LOCI or KLIP. We also discuss the performance gains of Small-Grid Dithers compared to the standard undithered scenario, and show potential contrast gain factors for the NIRCam and MIRI coronagraphs ranging from 2 to more than 10, respectively.

On the Potential of Hydrogen-Powered Hydraulic Pumps for Soft Robotics.

PubMed

Desbiens, Alexandre B; Bigué, Jean-Philippe Lucking; Véronneau, Catherine; Masson, Patrice; Iagnemma, Karl; Plante, Jean-Sébastien

2017-12-01

To perform untethered operations, soft robots require mesoscale power units (10-1000 W) with high energy densities. In this perspective, air-breathing combustion offers an interesting alternative to battery-powered systems, provided sufficient overall energy conversion efficiency can be reached. Implementing efficient air-breathing combustion in mesoscale soft robots is notoriously difficult, however, as it requires optimization of very small combustion actuators and simultaneous minimization of fluidic (e.g., hydraulic) losses, which are both inversely impacted by actuations speeds. To overcome such challenges, this article proposes and evaluates the potential of hydrogen-powered, hydraulic free-piston pump architecture. Experimental data, taken from two combustion-driven prototypes, reveal (1) the fundamental role of using hydrogen as the source of fuel to reduce heat losses, (2) the significant impact of compression ratio, equivalence ratio, and surface-to-volume ratio on energy conversion efficiency, and (3) the importance of load matching between combustion and fluidic transmission. In this work, a small-bore combustion actuator demonstrated a 20% efficiency and a net mean output power of 26 W, while a big-bore combustion actuator reached a substantially higher efficiency of 35% and a net mean output power of 197 W. Using the small-bore combustion actuator, the hydrogen-powered, hydraulic free-piston pump provided a 4.6% overall efficiency for a 2.34 W net mean output power, thus underlying the potential of the approach for mesoscale soft robotic applications.

Robotic Missions to Small Bodies and Their Potential Contributions to Human Exploration and Planetary Defense

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abell, Paul A.; Rivkin, Andrew S.

2015-01-01

Introduction: Robotic missions to small bodies will directly address aspects of NASA's Asteroid Initiative and will contribute to future human exploration and planetary defense. The NASA Asteroid Initiative is comprised of two major components: the Grand Challenge and the Asteroid Mission. The first component, the Grand Challenge, focuses on protecting Earth's population from asteroid impacts by detecting potentially hazardous objects with enough warning time to either prevent them from impacting the planet, or to implement civil defense procedures. The Asteroid Mission involves sending astronauts to study and sample a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) prior to conducting exploration missions of the Martian system, which includes Phobos and Deimos. The science and technical data obtained from robotic precursor missions that investigate the surface and interior physical characteristics of an object will help identify the pertinent physical properties that will maximize operational efficiency and reduce mission risk for both robotic assets and crew operating in close proximity to, or at the surface of, a small body. These data will help fill crucial strategic knowledge gaps (SKGs) concerning asteroid physical characteristics that are relevant for human exploration considerations at similar small body destinations. These data can also be applied for gaining an understanding of pertinent small body physical characteristics that would also be beneficial for formulating future impact mitigation procedures. Small Body Strategic Knowledge Gaps: For the past several years NASA has been interested in identifying the key SKGs related to future human destinations. These SKGs highlight the various unknowns and/or data gaps of targets that the science and engineering communities would like to have filled in prior to committing crews to explore the Solar System. An action team from the Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG) was formed specifically to identify the small body SKGs under the direction of the Human Exploration and Operations Missions Directorate (HEOMD), given NASA's recent interest in NEAs and the Martian moons as potential human destinations. The action team organized the SKGs into four broad themes: 1) Identify human mission targets; 2) Understand how to work on and interact with the small body surface; 3) Understand the small body environment and its potential risk/benefit to crew, systems, and operational assets; and 4) Understand the small body resource potential. Of these four SKG themes, the first three have significant overlap with planetary defense considerations. The data obtained from investigations of small body physical characteristics under these three themes can be directly applicable to planetary defense initiatives. Conclusions: Missions to investigate small bodies can address small body strategic knowledge gaps and contribute to the overall success for human exploration missions to asteroids and the Martian moons. In addition, such reconnaissance of small bodies can also provide a wealth of information relevant to the science and planetary defense of NEAs.

Support for the existence of invertible maps between electronic densities and non-analytic 1-body external potentials in non-relativistic time-dependent quantum mechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mosquera, Martín A.

2017-10-01

Provided the initial state, the Runge-Gross theorem establishes that the time-dependent (TD) external potential of a system of non-relativistic electrons determines uniquely their TD electronic density, and vice versa (up to a constant in the potential). This theorem requires the TD external potential and density to be Taylor-expandable around the initial time of the propagation. This paper presents an extension without this restriction. Given the initial state of the system and evolution of the density due to some TD scalar potential, we show that a perturbative (not necessarily weak) TD potential that induces a non-zero divergence of the external force-density, inside a small spatial subset and immediately after the initial propagation time, will cause a change in the density within that subset, implying that the TD potential uniquely determines the TD density. In this proof, we assume unitary evolution of wavefunctions and first-order differentiability (which does not imply analyticity) in time of the internal and external force-densities, electronic density, current density, and their spatial derivatives over the small spatial subset and short time interval.

Investigation of Phase Transition-Based Tethered Systems for Small Body Sample Capture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quadrelli, Marco; Backes, Paul; Wilkie, Keats; Giersch, Lou; Quijano, Ubaldo; Scharf, Daniel; Mukherjee, Rudranarayan

2009-01-01

This paper summarizes the modeling, simulation, and testing work related to the development of technology to investigate the potential that shape memory actuation has to provide mechanically simple and affordable solutions for delivering assets to a surface and for sample capture and possible return to Earth. We investigate the structural dynamics and controllability aspects of an adaptive beam carrying an end-effector which, by changing equilibrium phases is able to actively decouple the end-effector dynamics from the spacecraft dynamics during the surface contact phase. Asset delivery and sample capture and return are at the heart of several emerging potential missions to small bodies, such as asteroids and comets, and to the surface of large bodies, such as Titan.

Modeling and Testing of Phase Transition-Based Deployable Systems for Small Body Sample Capture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quadrelli, Marco; Backes, Paul; Wilkie, Keats; Giersch, Lou; Quijano, Ubaldo; Keim, Jason; Mukherjee, Rudranarayan

2009-01-01

This paper summarizes the modeling, simulation, and testing work related to the development of technology to investigate the potential that shape memory actuation has to provide mechanically simple and affordable solutions for delivering assets to a surface and for sample capture and return. We investigate the structural dynamics and controllability aspects of an adaptive beam carrying an end-effector which, by changing equilibrium phases is able to actively decouple the end-effector dynamics from the spacecraft dynamics during the surface contact phase. Asset delivery and sample capture and return are at the heart of several emerging potential missions to small bodies, such as asteroids and comets, and to the surface of large bodies, such as Titan.

Untapped Resources: Biotechnological Potential of Peptides and Secondary Metabolites in Archaea

PubMed Central

Charlesworth, James C.; Burns, Brendan P.

2015-01-01

Archaea are an understudied domain of life often found in “extreme” environments in terms of temperature, salinity, and a range of other factors. Archaeal proteins, such as a wide range of enzymes, have adapted to function under these extreme conditions, providing biotechnology with interesting activities to exploit. In addition to producing structural and enzymatic proteins, archaea also produce a range of small peptide molecules (such as archaeocins) and other novel secondary metabolites such as those putatively involved in cell communication (acyl homoserine lactones), which can be exploited for biotechnological purposes. Due to the wide array of metabolites produced there is a great deal of biotechnological potential from antimicrobials such as diketopiperazines and archaeocins, as well as roles in the cosmetics and food industry. In this review we will discuss the diversity of small molecules, both peptide and nonpeptide, produced by archaea and their potential biotechnological applications. PMID:26504428

Dynamic P-Technique for Modeling Patterns of Data: Applications to Pediatric Psychology Research

PubMed Central

Aylward, Brandon S.; Rausch, Joseph R.

2011-01-01

Objective Dynamic p-technique (DPT) is a potentially useful statistical method for examining relationships among dynamic constructs in a single individual or small group of individuals over time. The purpose of this article is to offer a nontechnical introduction to DPT. Method An overview of DPT analysis, with an emphasis on potential applications to pediatric psychology research, is provided. To illustrate how DPT might be applied, an example using simulated data is presented for daily pain and negative mood ratings. Results The simulated example demonstrates the application of DPT to a relevant pediatric psychology research area. In addition, the potential application of DPT to the longitudinal study of adherence is presented. Conclusion Although it has not been utilized frequently within pediatric psychology, DPT could be particularly well-suited for research in this field because of its ability to powerfully model repeated observations from very small samples. PMID:21486938

Dynamic p-technique for modeling patterns of data: applications to pediatric psychology research.

PubMed

Nelson, Timothy D; Aylward, Brandon S; Rausch, Joseph R

2011-10-01

Dynamic p-technique (DPT) is a potentially useful statistical method for examining relationships among dynamic constructs in a single individual or small group of individuals over time. The purpose of this article is to offer a nontechnical introduction to DPT. An overview of DPT analysis, with an emphasis on potential applications to pediatric psychology research, is provided. To illustrate how DPT might be applied, an example using simulated data is presented for daily pain and negative mood ratings. The simulated example demonstrates the application of DPT to a relevant pediatric psychology research area. In addition, the potential application of DPT to the longitudinal study of adherence is presented. Although it has not been utilized frequently within pediatric psychology, DPT could be particularly well-suited for research in this field because of its ability to powerfully model repeated observations from very small samples.

Creative Partnerships for Funding Nursing Research

PubMed Central

McCann, Judith J.; Hills, Elizabeth Blanchard; Zauszniewski, Jaclene A.; Smith, Carol E.; Farran, Carol J.; Wilkie, Diana J.

2013-01-01

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) program are two federal funding mechanisms that some nurses in academic positions have used to support research and development of innovative nursing products or services. Both the SBIR and STTR mechanisms are excellent sources of funding for nurse researchers who want to capitalize on relationships with small businesses or obtain seed money to fund high risk projects with potential to attract new venture capital. This paper provides an overview of NIH-funded SBIR and STTR programs and summarizes similarities and differences between the programs. The paper also describes unique features of NIH SBIR and STTR funding mechanisms that differentiate them from other R-series funding mechanisms, reviews evaluation criteria for SBIR and STTR projects, and discusses critical partners and resources for proposal development. Finally, the paper describes characteristics of successful partnerships and provides examples of SBIR/STTR-funded projects. PMID:20719996

Advanced technology for future regional transport aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, L. J.

1982-01-01

In connection with a request for a report coming from a U.S. Senate committee, NASA formed a Small Transport Aircraft Technology (STAT) team in 1978. STAT was to obtain information concerning the technical improvements in commuter aircraft that would likely increase their public acceptance. Another area of study was related to questions regarding the help which could be provided by NASA's aeronautical research and development program to commuter aircraft manufacturers with respect to the solution of technical problems. Attention is given to commuter airline growth, current commuter/region aircraft and new aircraft in development, prospects for advanced technology commuter/regional transports, and potential benefits of advanced technology. A list is provided of a number of particular advances appropriate to small transport aircraft, taking into account small gas turbine engine component technology, propeller technology, three-dimensional wing-design technology, airframe aerodynamics/propulsion integration, and composite structure materials.

Creative partnerships for funding nursing research.

PubMed

McCann, Judith J; Hills, Elizabeth Blanchard; Zauszniewski, Jaclene A; Smith, Carol E; Farran, Carol J; Wilkie, Diana J

2011-02-01

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) program are two federal funding mechanisms that some nurses in academic positions have used to support research and development of innovative nursing products or services. Both the SBIR and STTR mechanisms are excellent sources of funding for nurse researchers who want to capitalize on relationships with small businesses or obtain seed money to fund high-risk projects with potential to attract new venture capital. This article provides an overview of National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded SBIR and STTR programs and summarizes similarities and differences between the programs. The article also describes unique features of NIH SBIR and STTR funding mechanisms that differentiate them from other R-series funding mechanisms, reviews evaluation criteria for SBIR and STTR projects, and discusses critical partners and resources for proposal development. Finally, the article describes characteristics of successful partnerships and provides examples of SBIR/STTR-funded projects.

Small Hydropower Development in Rwanda: Trends, Opportunities and Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geoffrey, Gasore; Zimmerle, Daniel; Ntagwirumugara, Etienne

2018-04-01

The Rift Valley region of Sub-Saharan Africa represents a promising area for the development of small (<5MW) hydropower resources. This study compiles data from government and UN agency reports to analyze different development outlooks. The study found that there has been a rapid deployment of small hydropower in the last 10 years. From the current total deployed small hydro of 47.5 MW, 16.5MW (35%) were deployed from 1957 to 1984 while the remaining 31 MW (65%) were deployed from 2007 to 2017. While all systems constructed prior to 1985 are grid-connected, one third of the 24 facilities constructed after 2007 are connected to off-grid systems. The study provides an overview of the economic incentives for developing small hydropower systems in Rwanda and the potential contribution of that development to Rwanda’s electrification goals.

Disruptive Potential of the Internet to Transform Illicit Drug Markets and Impact on Future Patterns of Drug Consumption.

PubMed

Griffiths, P; Mounteney, J

2017-02-01

The internet facilitates rapid and covert communication, knowledge transfer, and has the potential to disrupt and transform drug market models and associated consumption patterns. Innovation and new trends diffuse rapidly through this medium and new operational models are emerging. Although the online drug markets currently only account for a small share of all drug transactions, the potential of the surface and deep web to provide a new platform for drug sale and exchanges is considerable. © 2016 American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

The Importance of Supratidal Habitats for Wintering Shorebirds and the Potential Impacts of Shrimp Aquaculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yasué, M.; Dearden, P.

2009-06-01

Intensive black tiger shrimp ( Penaeus monodon) aquaculture ponds have replaced significant areas of coastal wetlands throughout tropical Asia. Few studies have assessed potential impacts on avian foraging habitats. At Khao Sam Roi Yod National Park, Thailand, seminatural wetlands have been converted to either shrimp ponds or to salinization ponds that provide saline water for shrimp aquaculture. Although shorebirds cannot feed in aquaculture ponds, hypersaline ponds can provide productive foraging areas. Thus, the overall impact of the shrimp industry on shorebirds depends partly on the relative quality of the salt ponds compared to seminatural wetlands. In this study, we examined wintering shorebird use of tidal ( N = 5 sites) and supratidal areas (four wetland sites, four salt pond sites) and compared the shorebird community (14 species), prey availability, profitability, and disturbance rates between wetlands and salt ponds. Two shorebird species fed in higher densities in wetlands, whereas seven species were more abundant in salt ponds. Large juvenile fish and dragonfly larvae were more abundant in wetlands, whereas there were more small Chironomid midge and fly larvae in salt ponds. We conclude that salt ponds might provide higher-quality foraging habitats compared to wetlands for small shorebirds species because of the abundance of small larvae. However, the shrimp aquaculture industry reduces habitat availability for shorebirds feeding on larger prey. This study demonstrates a comprehensive, multispecies approach to assess the impacts of a large-scale change in coastal habitats for wintering shorebirds.

Measurement of the membrane potential in small cells using patch clamp methods

PubMed Central

Wilson, James R; Clark, Robert B; Banderali, Umberto

2011-01-01

The resting membrane potential, Em, of mammalian cells is a fundamental physiological parameter. Even small changes in Em can modulate excitability, contractility and rates of cell migration. At present accurate, reproducible measurements of Em and determination of its ionic basis remain significant challenges when patch clamp methods are applied to small cells. In this study, a mathematical model has been developed which incorporates many of the main biophysical principles which govern recordings of the resting potential of “small cells”. Such a prototypical cell (approx. capacitance, 6 pF; input resistance 5 GΩ) is representative of neonatal cardiac myocytes, and other cells in the cardiovascular system (endothelium, fibroblasts) and small cells in other tissues, e.g., bone (osteoclasts) articular joints (chondrocytes) and the pancreas (β cells). Two common experimental conditions have been examined: (1) when the background K+ conductance is linear; and (2) when this K+ conductance is highly nonlinear and shows pronounced inward rectification. In the case of a linear K+ conductance, the presence of a “leakage” current through the seal resistance between the cell membrane and the patch pipette always depolarizes Em. Our calculations confirm that accurate characterization of Em is possible when the seal resistance is at least five times larger than the input resistance of the targeted cell. Measurement of Em under conditions in which the main background current includes a markedly nonlinear K+ conductance (due to inward rectification) yields complex and somewhat counter-intuitive findings. In fact, there are at least two possible stable values of resting membrane potential for a cell when the nonlinear, inwardly rectifying K+ conductance interacts with the seal current. This type of bistable behavior has been reported in a variety of small mammalian cells, including those from the heart, endothelium, smooth muscle and bone. Our theoretical treatment of these two common experimental situations provides useful mechanistic insights, and suggests practical methods by which these significant limitations, and their impact, can be minimized. PMID:21829090

Novel Cs-Based Upconversion Nanoparticles as Dual-Modal CT and UCL Imaging Agents for Chemo-Photothermal Synergistic Therapy.

PubMed

Liu, Yuxin; Li, Luoyuan; Guo, Quanwei; Wang, Lu; Liu, Dongdong; Wei, Ziwei; Zhou, Jing

2016-01-01

Lanthanide-based contrast agents have attracted increasing attention for their unique properties and potential applications in cancer theranostics. To date, many of these agents have been studied extensively in cells and small animal models. However, performance of these theranostic nanoparticles requires further improvement. In this study, a novel CsLu2F7:Yb,Er,Tm-based visual therapeutic platform was developed for imaging-guided synergistic cancer therapy. Due to the presence of the heavy alkali metal Cesium (Cs) in host lattice, the nanoplatform can provide a higher resolution X-ray CT imaging than many other reported lanthanide-based CT contrast agents. Furthermore, by using the targeted RGD motif, chemotherapy drug alpha-tocopheryl succinate (α-TOS), and photothermal coupling agent ICG, this nanoplatform simultaneously provides multifunctional imaging and targeted synergistic therapy. To demonstrate the theranostic performance of this novel nanoplatform in vivo, visual diagnosis in the small animal model was realized by UCL/CT imaging which was further integrated with targeted chemo-photothermal synergistic therapy. These results provided evidence for the successful construction of a novel lanthanide-based nanoplatform coupled with multimodal imaging diagnosis and potential application in synergistic cancer theranostics.

Small-volume potentiometric titrations: EPR investigations of Fe-S cluster N2 in mitochondrial complex I.

PubMed

Wright, John J; Salvadori, Enrico; Bridges, Hannah R; Hirst, Judy; Roessler, Maxie M

2016-09-01

EPR-based potentiometric titrations are a well-established method for determining the reduction potentials of cofactors in large and complex proteins with at least one EPR-active state. However, such titrations require large amounts of protein. Here, we report a new method that requires an order of magnitude less protein than previously described methods, and that provides EPR samples suitable for measurements at both X- and Q-band microwave frequencies. We demonstrate our method by determining the reduction potential of the terminal [4Fe-4S] cluster (N2) in the intramolecular electron-transfer relay in mammalian respiratory complex I. The value determined by our method, E m7 =-158mV, is precise, reproducible, and consistent with previously reported values. Our small-volume potentiometric titration method will facilitate detailed investigations of EPR-active centres in non-abundant and refractory proteins that can only be prepared in small quantities. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Modulation of RNA function by aminoglycoside antibiotics.

PubMed

Schroeder, R; Waldsich, C; Wank, H

2000-01-04

One of the most important families of antibiotics are the aminoglycosides, including drugs such as neomycin B, paromomycin, gentamicin and streptomycin. With the discovery of the catalytic potential of RNA, these antibiotics became very popular due to their RNA-binding capacity. They serve for the analysis of RNA function as well as for the study of RNA as a potential therapeutic target. Improvements in RNA structure determination recently provided first insights into the decoding site of the ribosome at high resolution and how aminoglycosides might induce misreading of the genetic code. In addition to inhibiting prokaryotic translation, aminoglycosides inhibit several catalytic RNAs such as self-splicing group I introns, RNase P and small ribozymes in vitro. Furthermore, these antibiotics interfere with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication by disrupting essential RNA-protein contacts. Most exciting is the potential of many RNA-binding antibiotics to stimulate RNA activities, conceiving small-molecule partners for the hypothesis of an ancient RNA world. SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) has been used in this evolutionary game leading to small synthetic RNAs, whose NMR structures gave valuable information on how aminoglycosides interact with RNA, which could possibly be used in applied science.

Polymers in Small-Interfering RNA Delivery

PubMed Central

Singha, Kaushik; Namgung, Ran

2011-01-01

This review will cover the current strategies that are being adopted to efficiently deliver small interfering RNA using nonviral vectors, including the use of polymers such as polyethylenimine, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), polypeptides, chitosan, cyclodextrin, dendrimers, and polymers-containing different nanoparticles. The article will provide a brief and concise account of underlying principle of these polymeric vectors and their structural and functional modifications which were intended to serve different purposes to affect efficient therapeutic outcome of small-interfering RNA delivery. The modifications of these polymeric vectors will be discussed with reference to stimuli-responsiveness, target specific delivery, and incorporation of nanoconstructs such as carbon nanotubes, gold nanoparticles, and silica nanoparticles. The emergence of small-interfering RNA as the potential therapeutic agent and its mode of action will also be mentioned in a nutshell. PMID:21749290

Pelargonic acid - a potential organic aquatic herbicide for duckweed management

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Duckweed (Lemna spp.) are small, free floating aquatic plants that flourish on stagnant, or slow moving, water surfaces throughout the continental U.S. Members of the genus are among the smallest flowering plants, providing food for fish and fowl, but their aggressive growth and invasive habit make...

Predicting root biomass of burned and unburned white oak advance reproduction from diameter and height

Treesearch

Benjamin O. Knapp; G. Geoff Wang; David H. Van Lear; Joan L. Walker

2006-01-01

The size, especially the root size, of advance oak (Quercus spp.) reproduction provides the best indication of the growth potential after release or top-kill. This study examined the relationship between the size of the root system and various diameter height measurements for small (

Lightweight Innovative Solar Array (LISA): Providing Higher Power to Small Spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Les; Carr, John; Fabisinski, Leo; Russell,Tiffany; Smith, Leigh

2015-01-01

Affordable and convenient access to electrical power is essential for all spacecraft and is a critical design driver for the next generation of smallsats, including cubesats, which are currently extremely power limited. The Lightweight Innovative Solar Array (LISA), a concept designed, prototyped, and tested at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama provides an affordable, lightweight, scalable, and easily manufactured approach for power generation in space. This flexible technology has many wide-ranging applications from serving small satellites to providing abundant power to large spacecraft in GEO and beyond. By using very thin, ultra-flexible solar arrays adhered to an inflatable structure, a large area (and thus large amount of power) can be folded and packaged into a relatively small volume. The LISA array comprises a launch-stowed, orbit-deployed structure on which lightweight photovoltaic devices and, potentially, transceiver elements are embedded. The system will provide a 2.5 to 5 fold increase in specific power generation (Watts/kilogram) coupled with a >2x enhancement of stowed volume (Watts/cubic-meter) and a decrease in cost (dollars/Watt) when compared to state-of-the-art solar arrays.

Features of Modularly Assembled Compounds That Impart Bioactivity Against an RNA Target

PubMed Central

Rzuczek, Suzanne G.; Gao, Yu; Tang, Zhen-Zhi; Thornton, Charles A.; Kodadek, Thomas; Disney, Matthew D.

2013-01-01

Transcriptomes provide a myriad of potential RNAs that could be the targets of therapeutics or chemical genetic probes of function. Cell permeable small molecules, however, generally do not exploit these targets, owing to the difficulty in the design of high affinity, specific small molecules targeting RNA. As part of a general program to study RNA function using small molecules, we designed bioactive, modularly assembled small molecules that target the non-coding expanded RNA repeat that causes myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), r(CUG)exp. Herein, we present a rigorous study to elucidate features in modularly assembled compounds that afford bioactivity. Different modular assembly scaffolds were investigated including polyamines, α-peptides, β-peptides, and peptide tertiary amides (PTAs). Based on activity as assessed by improvement of DM1-associated defects, stability against proteases, cellular permeability, and toxicity, we discovered that constrained backbones, namely PTAs, are optimal. Notably, we determined that r(CUG)exp is the target of the optimal PTA in cellular models and that the optimal PTA improves DM1-associated defects in a mouse model. Biophysical analyses were employed to investigate potential sources of bioactivity. These investigations show that modularly assembled compounds have increased residence times on their targets and faster on rates than the RNA-binding modules from which they were derived and faster on rates than the protein that binds r(CUG)exp, the inactivation of which gives rise to DM1-associated defects. These studies provide information about features of small molecules that are programmable for targeting RNA, allowing for the facile optimization of therapeutics or chemical probes against other cellular RNA targets. PMID:24032410

Features of modularly assembled compounds that impart bioactivity against an RNA target.

PubMed

Rzuczek, Suzanne G; Gao, Yu; Tang, Zhen-Zhi; Thornton, Charles A; Kodadek, Thomas; Disney, Matthew D

2013-10-18

Transcriptomes provide a myriad of potential RNAs that could be the targets of therapeutics or chemical genetic probes of function. Cell-permeable small molecules, however, generally do not exploit these targets, owing to the difficulty in the design of high affinity, specific small molecules targeting RNA. As part of a general program to study RNA function using small molecules, we designed bioactive, modularly assembled small molecules that target the noncoding expanded RNA repeat that causes myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), r(CUG)(exp). Herein, we present a rigorous study to elucidate features in modularly assembled compounds that afford bioactivity. Different modular assembly scaffolds were investigated, including polyamines, α-peptides, β-peptides, and peptide tertiary amides (PTAs). On the basis of activity as assessed by improvement of DM1-associated defects, stability against proteases, cellular permeability, and toxicity, we discovered that constrained backbones, namely, PTAs, are optimal. Notably, we determined that r(CUG)(exp) is the target of the optimal PTA in cellular models and that the optimal PTA improves DM1-associated defects in a mouse model. Biophysical analyses were employed to investigate potential sources of bioactivity. These investigations show that modularly assembled compounds have increased residence times on their targets and faster on rates than the RNA-binding modules from which they were derived. Moreover, they have faster on rates than the protein that binds r(CUG)(exp), the inactivation of which gives rise to DM1-associated defects. These studies provide information about features of small molecules that are programmable for targeting RNA, allowing for the facile optimization of therapeutics or chemical probes against other cellular RNA targets.

Microfinance investments in quality at private clinics in Uganda: a case-control study

PubMed Central

Seiber, Eric E; Robinson, Amara L

2007-01-01

Background Small private-sector health care providers can play an important role in meeting the developing country health care needs, but a lack of credit can prove major constraint to small-provider expansion. This study examines the potential of small, microfinance loans to strengthen the private health sector and improve access to quality preventive and curative health services in Uganda. Methods This study estimates logistic regressions using 2,387 client exit interviews to assess the impact of microfinance loans on perceived quality and the viability and sustainability of small, private clinics. Results The study finds perceived quality improved with loan recipients' clients being more likely to choose clinics on the basis of drug availability, fair charges, cleanliness, and confidentiality. In addition, the assessment found evidence of increased client flows, but the changes produced mixed results for sustainability with respondents being only half as likely to "always" visit a particular clinic. Conclusion The results indicate that the microfinance program improved perceived quality at loan recipient clinics, especially as reliable drug outlets. PMID:17945024

On inflation, cosmological constant, and SUSY breaking

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Linde, Andrei

2016-11-02

We consider a broad class of inflationary models of two unconstrained chiral superfields, the stabilizer S and the inflaton Φ, which can describe inflationary models with nearly arbitrary potentials. These models include, in particular, the recently introduced theories of cosmological attractors, which provide an excellent fit to the latest Planck data. We show that by adding to the superpotential of the fields S and Φ a small term depending on a nilpotent chiral superfield P one can break SUSY and introduce a small cosmological constant without affecting main predictions of the original inflationary scenario.

A Systemic Small RNA Signaling System in Plants

PubMed Central

Yoo, Byung-Chun; Kragler, Friedrich; Varkonyi-Gasic, Erika; Haywood, Valerie; Archer-Evans, Sarah; Lee, Young Moo; Lough, Tony J.; Lucas, William J.

2004-01-01

Systemic translocation of RNA exerts non-cell-autonomous control over plant development and defense. Long-distance delivery of mRNA has been proven, but transport of small interfering RNA and microRNA remains to be demonstrated. Analyses performed on phloem sap collected from a range of plants identified populations of small RNA species. The dynamic nature of this population was reflected in its response to growth conditions and viral infection. The authenticity of these phloem small RNA molecules was confirmed by bioinformatic analysis; potential targets for a set of phloem small RNA species were identified. Heterografting studies, using spontaneously silencing coat protein (CP) plant lines, also established that transgene-derived siRNA move in the long-distance phloem and initiate CP gene silencing in the scion. Biochemical analysis of pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) phloem sap led to the characterization of C. maxima Phloem SMALL RNA BINDING PROTEIN1 (CmPSRP1), a unique component of the protein machinery probably involved in small RNA trafficking. Equivalently sized small RNA binding proteins were detected in phloem sap from cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and lupin (Lupinus albus). PSRP1 binds selectively to 25-nucleotide single-stranded RNA species. Microinjection studies provided direct evidence that PSRP1 could mediate the cell-to-cell trafficking of 25-nucleotide single-stranded, but not double-stranded, RNA molecules. The potential role played by PSRP1 in long-distance transmission of silencing signals is discussed with respect to the pathways and mechanisms used by plants to exert systemic control over developmental and physiological processes. PMID:15258266

CubeSat Launch Initiative

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Higginbotham, Scott

2016-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recognizes the tremendous potential that CubeSats (very small satellites) have to inexpensively demonstrate advanced technologies, collect scientific data, and enhance student engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) was created to provide launch opportunities for CubeSats developed by academic institutions, non-profit entities, and NASA centers. This presentation will provide an overview of the CSLI, its benefits, and its results.

NALDB: nucleic acid ligand database for small molecules targeting nucleic acid

PubMed Central

Kumar Mishra, Subodh; Kumar, Amit

2016-01-01

Nucleic acid ligand database (NALDB) is a unique database that provides detailed information about the experimental data of small molecules that were reported to target several types of nucleic acid structures. NALDB is the first ligand database that contains ligand information for all type of nucleic acid. NALDB contains more than 3500 ligand entries with detailed pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic information such as target name, target sequence, ligand 2D/3D structure, SMILES, molecular formula, molecular weight, net-formal charge, AlogP, number of rings, number of hydrogen bond donor and acceptor, potential energy along with their Ki, Kd, IC50 values. All these details at single platform would be helpful for the development and betterment of novel ligands targeting nucleic acids that could serve as a potential target in different diseases including cancers and neurological disorders. With maximum 255 conformers for each ligand entry, our database is a multi-conformer database and can facilitate the virtual screening process. NALDB provides powerful web-based search tools that make database searching efficient and simplified using option for text as well as for structure query. NALDB also provides multi-dimensional advanced search tool which can screen the database molecules on the basis of molecular properties of ligand provided by database users. A 3D structure visualization tool has also been included for 3D structure representation of ligands. NALDB offers an inclusive pharmacological information and the structurally flexible set of small molecules with their three-dimensional conformers that can accelerate the virtual screening and other modeling processes and eventually complement the nucleic acid-based drug discovery research. NALDB can be routinely updated and freely available on bsbe.iiti.ac.in/bsbe/naldb/HOME.php. Database URL: http://bsbe.iiti.ac.in/bsbe/naldb/HOME.php PMID:26896846

Errors in Measuring Water Potentials of Small Samples Resulting from Water Adsorption by Thermocouple Psychrometer Chambers 1

PubMed Central

Bennett, Jerry M.; Cortes, Peter M.

1985-01-01

The adsorption of water by thermocouple psychrometer assemblies is known to cause errors in the determination of water potential. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of sample size and psychrometer chamber volume on measured water potentials of leaf discs, leaf segments, and sodium chloride solutions. Reasonable agreement was found between soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) leaf water potentials measured on 5-millimeter radius leaf discs and large leaf segments. Results indicated that while errors due to adsorption may be significant when using small volumes of tissue, if sufficient tissue is used the errors are negligible. Because of the relationship between water potential and volume in plant tissue, the errors due to adsorption were larger with turgid tissue. Large psychrometers which were sealed into the sample chamber with latex tubing appeared to adsorb more water than those sealed with flexible plastic tubing. Estimates are provided of the amounts of water adsorbed by two different psychrometer assemblies and the amount of tissue sufficient for accurate measurements of leaf water potential with these assemblies. It is also demonstrated that water adsorption problems may have generated low water potential values which in prior studies have been attributed to large cut surface area to volume ratios. PMID:16664367

Errors in measuring water potentials of small samples resulting from water adsorption by thermocouple psychrometer chambers.

PubMed

Bennett, J M; Cortes, P M

1985-09-01

The adsorption of water by thermocouple psychrometer assemblies is known to cause errors in the determination of water potential. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of sample size and psychrometer chamber volume on measured water potentials of leaf discs, leaf segments, and sodium chloride solutions. Reasonable agreement was found between soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) leaf water potentials measured on 5-millimeter radius leaf discs and large leaf segments. Results indicated that while errors due to adsorption may be significant when using small volumes of tissue, if sufficient tissue is used the errors are negligible. Because of the relationship between water potential and volume in plant tissue, the errors due to adsorption were larger with turgid tissue. Large psychrometers which were sealed into the sample chamber with latex tubing appeared to adsorb more water than those sealed with flexible plastic tubing. Estimates are provided of the amounts of water adsorbed by two different psychrometer assemblies and the amount of tissue sufficient for accurate measurements of leaf water potential with these assemblies. It is also demonstrated that water adsorption problems may have generated low water potential values which in prior studies have been attributed to large cut surface area to volume ratios.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Langner, Rois; Hendron, Bob; Pless, Shanti

Small buildings have been left behind in the energy efficiency marketplace because financial and technical resources have flowed to larger commercial buildings. DOE's Building Technologies Office works with the commercial building industry to accelerate the uptake of energy efficiency technologies and techniques in existing and new commercial buildings (DOE 2013). BTO recognizes the SBSP sector'spotential for significant energy savings and the need for investments in resources that are tailored to this sector's unique needs. The industry research and recommendations described in this report identify potential approaches and strategic priorities that BTO could explore over the next 3-5 years that willmore » support the implementation of high-potential energy efficiency opportunities for thisimportant sector. DOE is uniquely positioned to provide national leadership, objective information, and innovative tools, technologies, and services to support cost-effective energy savings in the fragmented and complex SBSP sector. Properly deployed, the DOE effort could enhance and complement current energy efficiency approaches. Small portfolios are loosely and qualitatively defined asportfolios of buildings that include only a small number of small buildings. This distinction is important because the report targets portfolio owners and managers who generally do not have staff and other resources to track energy use and pursue energy efficiency solutions.« less

Portrait of a small population of boreal toads (Anaxyrus boreas)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Muths, Erin; Scherer, Rick D.

2011-01-01

Much attention has been given to the conservation of small populations, those that are small because of decline, and those that are naturally small. Small populations are of particular interest because ecological theory suggests that they are vulnerable to the deleterious effects of environmental, demographic, and genetic stochasticity as well as natural and human-induced catastrophes. However, testing theory and developing applicable conservation measures for small populations is hampered by sparse data. This lack of information is frequently driven by computational issues with small data sets that can be confounded by the impacts of stressors. We present estimates of demographic parameters from a small population of Boreal Toads (Anaxyrus boreas) that has been surveyed since 2001 by using capture-recapture methods. Estimates of annual adult survival probability are high relative to other Boreal Toad populations, whereas estimates of recruitment rate are low. Despite using simple models, clear patterns emerged from the analyses, suggesting that population size is constrained by low recruitment of adults and is declining slowly. These patterns provide insights that are useful in developing management directions for this small population, and this study serves as an example of the potential for small populations to yield robust and useful information despite sample size constraints.

Small Solar Electric Propulsion Spacecraft Concept for Near Earth Object and Inner Solar System Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lang, Jared J.; Randolph, Thomas M.; McElrath, Timothy P.; Baker, John D.; Strange, Nathan J.; Landau, Damon; Wallace, Mark S.; Snyder, J. Steve; Piacentine, Jamie S.; Malone, Shane;

Late-season corn measurements to assess soil residual nitrate and nitrogen management

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Evaluation of corn (Zea mays L.) nitrogen (N) management and soil residual nitrate (NO3-N) late in the growing season could provide important management information for subsequent small grain crops and about potential NO3-N loss. Our objective was to evaluate the ability of several late-season corn...

Factors affecting potential for Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) suppression by winter rye in Georgia, USA

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Herbicide resistant Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) has rapidly become a dominant weed management issue in agronomic crops of the Southeast US. The small size of Palmer amaranth seeds, relative to other common weeds, provides an opportunity to use physical weed control through high-residue, ro...

Small NGO Schools in India: Implications for Access and Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blum, Nicole

2009-01-01

In addition to the proliferation of private, fee-paying schools in India, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play an important role in providing educational services, especially in un-served and under-served communities. This paper uses qualitative research to critically examine the nature and potential of NGO provision of primary schooling in…

Factors affecting potential for Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) suppression by winter rye in Georgia, USA

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Herbicide resistant Palmer amaranth has rapidly become a dominant weed management issue in agronomic crops of the Southeast U. S. The small size of Palmer amaranth seeds, relative to other common weeds, provides an opportunity to use physical weed control through high-biomass, rolled cover crop mul...

Impoverished Students with Academic Promise in Rural Settings: 10 Lessons from Project Aspire

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burney, Virginia H.; Cross, Tracy L.

2006-01-01

Project Aspire was created to identify poor rural students with academic potential and to provide them with academic and counseling support in advanced placement courses and prerequisites. This article describes Project Aspire and its foundations; the relevant lessons learned from the literature on poverty, small schools, rural schools, and gifted…

Recruitment to Physics and Mathematics Teaching: A Personality Problem?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smithers, Alan; Hill, Susan

1989-01-01

Results of a British study indicate that, among potential applicants (N=177), a small demand exists for a proposed science education degree program. Findings suggest that recruitment of science and math teachers may be hampered because the satisfactions provided by teaching are unlike those sought by science and math specialists. (IAH)

How Small Can We Go: Exploring the Limitations and Scaling laws of Air-Microfluidic Particulate Matter Sensors

EPA Science Inventory

Air-microfluidics is a field that has the potential to dramatically reduce the size, cost, and power requirements of future air quality sensors. Microfabrication provides a suite of relatively new tools for the development of micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) that can be ap...

78 FR 52657 - Migratory Bird Hunting; Final Frameworks for Early-Season Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-23

... Working Group conducted this assessment work, which included a thorough assessment of the harvest... Potential Working Group indicated that additional opportunity could be provided for blue-winged teal and...; thus, a small technical group comprised of members from the Flyway Councils and Service should be...

Small Projects Rapid Integration and Test Environment (SPRITE): Application for Increasing Robustness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rakoczy, John; Heater, Daniel; Lee, Ashley

2013-01-01

Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC) Small Projects Rapid Integration and Test Environment (SPRITE) is a Hardware-In-The-Loop (HWIL) facility that provides rapid development, integration, and testing capabilities for small projects (CubeSats, payloads, spacecraft, and launch vehicles). This facility environment focuses on efficient processes and modular design to support rapid prototyping, integration, testing and verification of small projects at an affordable cost, especially compared to larger type HWIL facilities. SPRITE (Figure 1) consists of a "core" capability or "plant" simulation platform utilizing a graphical programming environment capable of being rapidly re-configured for any potential test article's space environments, as well as a standard set of interfaces (i.e. Mil-Std 1553, Serial, Analog, Digital, etc.). SPRITE also allows this level of interface testing of components and subsystems very early in a program, thereby reducing program risk.

Thermal power systems small power systems applications project. Volume 2: Detailed report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marriott, A. T.

1979-01-01

Small power system technology as applied to power plants up to 10 MW in size was considered. Markets for small power systems were characterized and cost goals were established for the project. Candidate power plant system design concepts were selected for evaluation and preliminary performance and cost assessments were made. Breakeven capital costs were determined for leading contenders among the candidate systems. The potential use of small power systems in providing part of the demand for pumping power by the extensive aqueduct system of California, was studied. Criteria and methodologies were developed for the ranking of candidate power plant system design concepts. Experimental power plant concepts of 1 MW rating were studied to define a power plant configuration for subsequent detail design construction, testing and evaluation. Site selection criteria and ground rules were developed.

The aerodynamics of bodies in a rarefied ionized gas with applications to spacecraft environmental dynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, N. H.

1981-01-01

The objectives are to provide a parametric description of the electrostatic interaction of a mesosonic, collisionless plasma with conducting bodies on the order of 1 to 10 Debye lengths in size, and to extend this description to the satellite-ionospheric interaction, where possible. Experimental findings include: the wake of the geometrically complex body appears to be a linear superposition of the wakes of its simple geometric components; and vector ion flux measurements show converging ion streams at the wake axis and direct evidence of ion streams deflected from the wake axis by the positive space charge potential associated with the axial ion peak. The extension to the satellite-ionospheric interaction utilizes qualitative scaling and indicates that similar, but smaller amplitude, wake structures may be expected for small or highly charged bodies. However, for large bodies at small potentials, the structure may be diffused by the thermal ion motion and the dispersion resulting for space charge potentials.

MiR-29a: a potential therapeutic target and promising biomarker in tumors

PubMed Central

Wang, Jin-yan; Zhang, Qian; Wang, Dan-dan; Yan, Wei; Sha, Huan-huan; Zhao, Jian-hua; Yang, Su-jin; Zhang, He-da; Hou, Jun-chen; Xu, Han-zi; He, Yun-jie; Hu, Jia-hua

2017-01-01

MiRNAs, small non-coding RNA molecules, were recognized to be associated with the incidence and development of diverse neoplasms. MiRNAs were small non-coding RNAs that could regulate post-transcriptional level by binding to 3′-UTR of target mRNAs. Amongst which, miR-29a was demonstrated that it had significant impact on oncogenicity in various neoplasms through binding to critical genes which enhanced or inhibited the progression of cancers. MiR-29a participated in kinds of physiological and pathological processes, including virus replication, cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, fibrosis, angiogenesis, tumorigenicity, metastasis, drug-resistance, and so on. According to its sufficient sensitivity and specificity, many studies showed that miR-29a might serve as a potential therapeutic target and promising biomarker in various tumors. In this review, we discussed the functions of miR-29a and its potential application in the diagnosis, treatment and stages of carcinoma, which could provide additional insight to develop a novel therapeutic strategy. PMID:29217524

The importance of dietary carbohydrates.

PubMed

Sánchez-Castillo, Claudia P; Hudson, Geoffrey J; Englyst, Hans N; Dewey, Peter; James, W Philip T

2002-12-01

Forty years ago carbohydrates (CHO) were regarded as a simple energy source whereas they are now recognized as important food components. The human diet contains a wide range of CHO, the vast majority of which are of plant origin. Modern techniques based on chemical classification of dietary CHO replaced the traditional "by difference" measurement. They provide a logical basis for grouping into categories of specific nutritional importance. The physiological effects of dietary CHO are highly dependent on the rate and extent of digestion and absorption in the small intestine and fermentation in the large intestine, interactions which promote human health. Current knowledge of the fate of dietary CHO means that the potentially undesirable properties of many modern foods could be altered by using processing techniques that yield foods with more intact plant cell wall structures. Such products would more closely resemble the foods in the pre-agriculture diet with respect to the rate of digestion and absorption of CHO in the small intestine. The potentially detrimental physiological consequences of eating sugars and starch that are rapidly digested and absorbed in the small intestine suggest that, as fibre, the form, as well as the amount of starch should be considered. Increasing consumer awareness of the relationship between diet and health has led to demands for more widespread nutrition labelling. The entry "carbohydrate" is required in most countries, and the value is usually obtained "by difference" and used in the calculation of energy content. However, the value provides no nutritional information per se. Food labels should provide values that aid consumers in selecting a healthy diet.

Low-Power Ion Propulsion for Small Spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patterson, Michael J.; Oleson, Steven R.

1997-01-01

Analyses were conducted which indicate that sub kW-class ion thrusters may provide performance benefits for near-Earth space commercial and science missions. Small spacecraft applications with masses ranging from 50 to 500 kg and power levels less than 0.5 kW were considered. To demonstrate the efficacy of propulsion systems of this class, two potential missions were chosen as examples; a geosynchronous north-south station keeping application, and an Earth orbit magnetospheric mapping satellite constellation. Xenon ion propulsion system solutions using small thrusters were evaluated for these missions. A payload mass increase of more than 15% is provided by a 300-W ion system for the north-south station keeping mission. A launch vehicle reduction from four to one results from using the ion thruster for the magnetospheric mapping mission. Typical projected thruster performance over the input power envelope of 100-300 W range from approximately 40% to 54% efficiency and approximately 2000 to 3000 seconds specific impulse. Thruster technologies required to achieve the mission-required performance and lifetime are identified.

CrossTalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering. Volume 21, Number 2

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-02-01

data systems are select- ed as tools to provide the data. For example, the Air Force decided to initiate a Reliability Pathfinder to study and define...small projects, and someone just sitting will certainly be noticed more readily. Providing tools for communication such as white boards and open space...community may have to pay for both. In the case of DRILS, we saw that it could potentially interface with the Reliability and Maintainability Infor- mation

Toward Automated Cochlear Implant Fitting Procedures Based on Event-Related Potentials.

PubMed

Finke, Mareike; Billinger, Martin; Büchner, Andreas

Cochlear implants (CIs) restore hearing to the profoundly deaf by direct electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve. To provide an optimal electrical stimulation pattern the CI must be individually fitted to each CI user. To date, CI fitting is primarily based on subjective feedback from the user. However, not all CI users are able to provide such feedback, for example, small children. This study explores the possibility of using the electroencephalogram (EEG) to objectively determine if CI users are able to hear differences in tones presented to them, which has potential applications in CI fitting or closed loop systems. Deviant and standard stimuli were presented to 12 CI users in an active auditory oddball paradigm. The EEG was recorded in two sessions and classification of the EEG data was performed with shrinkage linear discriminant analysis. Also, the impact of CI artifact removal on classification performance and the possibility to reuse a trained classifier in future sessions were evaluated. Overall, classification performance was above chance level for all participants although performance varied considerably between participants. Also, artifacts were successfully removed from the EEG without impairing classification performance. Finally, reuse of the classifier causes only a small loss in classification performance. Our data provide first evidence that EEG can be automatically classified on single-trial basis in CI users. Despite the slightly poorer classification performance over sessions, classifier and CI artifact correction appear stable over successive sessions. Thus, classifier and artifact correction weights can be reused without repeating the set-up procedure in every session, which makes the technique easier applicable. With our present data, we can show successful classification of event-related cortical potential patterns in CI users. In the future, this has the potential to objectify and automate parts of CI fitting procedures.

Variable-range-hopping magnetoresistance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azbel, Mark Ya

1991-03-01

The hopping magnetoresistance R of a two-dimensional insulator with metallic impurities is considered. In sufficiently weak magnetic fields it increases or decreases depending on the impurity density n: It decreases if n is low and increases if n is high. In high magnetic fields B, it always exponentially increases with √B . Such fields yield a one-dimensional temperature dependence: lnR~1/ √T . The calculation provides an accurate leading approximation for small impurities with one eigenstate in their potential well. In the limit of infinitesimally small impurities, an impurity potential is described by a generalized function. This function, similar to a δ function, is localized at a point, but, contrary to a δ function in the dimensionality above 1, it has finite eigenenergies. Such functions may be helpful in the study of scattering and localization of any waves.

What are the potential benefits of including latent storage in common wallboard?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stovall, T.K.; Tomlinson, J.J.

1995-11-01

Previous work has shown that wallboard can be successfully manufactured to contain up to 30% phase-change material (PCM), or wax, thus enabling this common building material to serve as a thermal energy storage device. The PCM wallboard was analyzed for passive solar applications and found to save energy with a reasonable payback time period of five years. Further evaluations of the wallboard are reported in this paper. This analysis looks at potential applications of PCM wallboard as a load management device and as a comfort enhancer. Results show that the wallboard is ineffective in modifying the comfort level but canmore » provide significant load management relief. In some applications the load management strategy also serves to save a small amount of energy, in others there is a small energy penalty.« less

Small angle slot divertor concept for long pulse advanced tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, H. Y.; Sang, C. F.; Stangeby, P. C.; Lao, L. L.; Taylor, T. S.; Thomas, D. M.

2017-04-01

SOLPS-EIRENE edge code analysis shows that a gas-tight slot divertor geometry with a small-angle (glancing-incidence) target, named the small angle slot (SAS) divertor, can achieve cold, dissipative/detached divertor conditions at relatively low values of plasma density at the outside midplane separatrix. SAS exhibits the following key features: (1) strong enhancement of the buildup of neutral density in a localized region near the plasma strike point on the divertor target; (2) spreading of the cooling front across the divertor target with the slot gradually flaring out from the strike point, thus effectively reducing both heat flux and erosion on the entire divertor target surface. Such a divertor may potentially provide a power and particle handling solution for long pulse advanced tokamaks.

Small mammals taphonomy and environmental evolution during Late Pleistocene-Holocene in Monte Desert: The evidence of Gruta del Indio (central west Argentina)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernández, Fernando J.; Pardiñas, Ulyses F. J.

2018-07-01

Very few excavated sequences in southern South America provide an approximation to the environmental evolution covering the segment Late Pleistocene-Holocene. Here we present the taphonomic analysis and paleoenvironmental reconstruction based on the small mammal remains retrieved from the archaeological and paleontological site Gruta del Indio (Mendoza Province, Argentina). Radiocarbon dates situate the small mammal deposits studied within the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Thus, these assemblages provide a record for inferring environmental evolution in the middle basin of Atuel River during the last ∼31 ky BP. Taphonomic analysis revealed that most of small mammal remains were incorporated by a little destructive nocturnal owl. Recorded species include mainly cricetid and caviomorph rodents and a single marsupial. While Pleistocene assemblages have not exclusive species, the specific richness increases towards the Holocene probably linked with the climatic variability related to ENSO. In overall, the recorded small mammals suggest environmental stability during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene, mostly associated with Monte Desert conditions. Conversely, the pollen sequence studied from Gruta del Indio was interpreted as indicator of a deep environmental change during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, when the Patagonian steppe was replaced by Monte Desert. Potential biases linked with these kinds of proxies are discussed.

Perivascular Spaces, Glymphatic Dysfunction, and Small Vessel Disease

PubMed Central

Mestre, Humberto; Kostrikov, Serhii; Mehta, Rupal I.; Nedergaard, Maiken

2017-01-01

Cerebral small vessel diseases (SVD) range broadly in etiology but share a remarkably overlapping pathology. Features of SVD including enlarged perivascular spaces and formation of abluminal protein deposits cannot be completely explained by the putative pathophysiology. The recently discovered glymphatic system provides a new perspective to potentially address these gaps. This work provides a comprehensive review of the known factors that regulate glymphatic function and the disease mechanisms underlying glymphatic impairment emphasizing the role that aquaporin-4 (AQP4)-lined perivascular spaces, cerebrovascular pulsatility, and metabolite clearance play in normal CNS physiology. This review also discusses the implications that glymphatic impairment may have on SVD inception and progression with the aim of exploring novel therapeutic targets and highlighting the key questions that remain to be answered. PMID:28798076

Exploring the Energy Landscapes of Protein Folding Simulations with Bayesian Computation

PubMed Central

Burkoff, Nikolas S.; Várnai, Csilla; Wells, Stephen A.; Wild, David L.

2012-01-01

Nested sampling is a Bayesian sampling technique developed to explore probability distributions localized in an exponentially small area of the parameter space. The algorithm provides both posterior samples and an estimate of the evidence (marginal likelihood) of the model. The nested sampling algorithm also provides an efficient way to calculate free energies and the expectation value of thermodynamic observables at any temperature, through a simple post processing of the output. Previous applications of the algorithm have yielded large efficiency gains over other sampling techniques, including parallel tempering. In this article, we describe a parallel implementation of the nested sampling algorithm and its application to the problem of protein folding in a Gō-like force field of empirical potentials that were designed to stabilize secondary structure elements in room-temperature simulations. We demonstrate the method by conducting folding simulations on a number of small proteins that are commonly used for testing protein-folding procedures. A topological analysis of the posterior samples is performed to produce energy landscape charts, which give a high-level description of the potential energy surface for the protein folding simulations. These charts provide qualitative insights into both the folding process and the nature of the model and force field used. PMID:22385859

Exploring the energy landscapes of protein folding simulations with Bayesian computation.

PubMed

Burkoff, Nikolas S; Várnai, Csilla; Wells, Stephen A; Wild, David L

2012-02-22

Nested sampling is a Bayesian sampling technique developed to explore probability distributions localized in an exponentially small area of the parameter space. The algorithm provides both posterior samples and an estimate of the evidence (marginal likelihood) of the model. The nested sampling algorithm also provides an efficient way to calculate free energies and the expectation value of thermodynamic observables at any temperature, through a simple post processing of the output. Previous applications of the algorithm have yielded large efficiency gains over other sampling techniques, including parallel tempering. In this article, we describe a parallel implementation of the nested sampling algorithm and its application to the problem of protein folding in a Gō-like force field of empirical potentials that were designed to stabilize secondary structure elements in room-temperature simulations. We demonstrate the method by conducting folding simulations on a number of small proteins that are commonly used for testing protein-folding procedures. A topological analysis of the posterior samples is performed to produce energy landscape charts, which give a high-level description of the potential energy surface for the protein folding simulations. These charts provide qualitative insights into both the folding process and the nature of the model and force field used. Copyright © 2012 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of the intra-layer potential distributions and spatial currents on the performance of graphene SymFETs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hasan, Mehdi; Sensale-Rodriguez, Berardi, E-mail: berardi.sensale@utah.edu

2015-09-15

In this paper, a two-dimensional (2-D) model for a graphene symmetric field effect transistor (SymFET), which considers (a) the intra-graphene layer potential distributions and (b) the internal current flows through the device, is presented and discussed. The local voltages along the graphene electrodes as well as the current-voltage characteristics of the device are numerically calculated based on a single-particle tunneling model. Our numerical results show that: (i) when the tunneling current is small, due to either a large tunneling thickness (≥ 2 atomic layers of BN) or a small coherence length, the voltage distributions along the graphene electrodes have almostmore » zero variations upon including these distributed effects, (ii) when the tunnel current is large, due to either a small tunneling thickness (∼ 1 atomic layer of BN) or due to a large coherence length, the local voltage distributions along the graphene electrodes become appreciable and the device behavior deviates from that predicted by a 1-D approximation. These effects, which are not captured in one-dimensional SymFET models, can provide a better understanding about the electron dynamics in the device and might indicate potential novel applications for this proposed device.« less

Making big communities small: using network science to understand the ecological and behavioral requirements for community social capital.

PubMed

Neal, Zachary

2015-06-01

The concept of social capital is becoming increasingly common in community psychology and elsewhere. However, the multiple conceptual and operational definitions of social capital challenge its utility as a theoretical tool. The goals of this paper are to clarify two forms of social capital (bridging and bonding), explicitly link them to the structural characteristics of small world networks, and explore the behavioral and ecological prerequisites of its formation. First, I use the tools of network science and specifically the concept of small-world networks to clarify what patterns of social relationships are likely to facilitate social capital formation. Second, I use an agent-based model to explore how different ecological characteristics (diversity and segregation) and behavioral tendencies (homophily and proximity) impact communities' potential for developing social capital. The results suggest diverse communities have the greatest potential to develop community social capital, and that segregation moderates the effects that the behavioral tendencies of homophily and proximity have on community social capital. The discussion highlights how these findings provide community-based researchers with both a deeper understanding of the contextual constraints with which they must contend, and a useful tool for targeting their efforts in communities with the greatest need or greatest potential.

Genetic diversity and genomic resources available for the small millet crops to accelerate a New Green Revolution.

PubMed

Goron, Travis L; Raizada, Manish N

2015-01-01

Small millets are nutrient-rich food sources traditionally grown and consumed by subsistence farmers in Asia and Africa. They include finger millet (Eleusine coracana), foxtail millet (Setaria italica), kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum), proso millet (Panicum miliaceum), barnyard millet (Echinochloa spp.), and little millet (Panicum sumatrense). Local farmers value the small millets for their nutritional and health benefits, tolerance to extreme stress including drought, and ability to grow under low nutrient input conditions, ideal in an era of climate change and steadily depleting natural resources. Little scientific attention has been paid to these crops, hence they have been termed "orphan cereals." Despite this challenge, an advantageous quality of the small millets is that they continue to be grown in remote regions of the world which has preserved their biodiversity, providing breeders with unique alleles for crop improvement. The purpose of this review, first, is to highlight the diverse traits of each small millet species that are valued by farmers and consumers which hold potential for selection, improvement or mechanistic study. For each species, the germplasm, genetic and genomic resources available will then be described as potential tools to exploit this biodiversity. The review will conclude with noting current trends and gaps in the literature and make recommendations on how to better preserve and utilize diversity within these species to accelerate a New Green Revolution for subsistence farmers in Asia and Africa.

Two techniques for mapping and area estimation of small grains in California using Landsat digital data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sheffner, E. J.; Hlavka, C. A.; Bauer, E. M.

1984-01-01

Two techniques have been developed for the mapping and area estimation of small grains in California from Landsat digital data. The two techniques are Band Ratio Thresholding, a semi-automated version of a manual procedure, and LCLS, a layered classification technique which can be fully automated and is based on established clustering and classification technology. Preliminary evaluation results indicate that the two techniques have potential for providing map products which can be incorporated into existing inventory procedures and automated alternatives to traditional inventory techniques and those which currently employ Landsat imagery.

Minimal non-abelian supersymmetric Twin Higgs

DOE PAGES

Badziak, Marcin; Harigaya, Keisuke

2017-10-17

We propose a minimal supersymmetric Twin Higgs model that can accommodate tuning of the electroweak scale for heavy stops better than 10% with high mediation scales of supersymmetry breaking. A crucial ingredient of this model is a new SU(2) X gauge symmetry which provides a D-term potential that generates a large SU(4) invariant coupling for the Higgs sector and only small set of particles charged under SU(2) X , which allows the model to be perturbative around the Planck scale. The new gauge interaction drives the top yukawa coupling small at higher energy scales, which also reduces the tuning.

Seismic monitoring of small alpine rockfalls - validity, precision and limitations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dietze, Michael; Mohadjer, Solmaz; Turowski, Jens M.; Ehlers, Todd A.; Hovius, Niels

2017-10-01

Rockfall in deglaciated mountain valleys is perhaps the most important post-glacial geomorphic process for determining the rates and patterns of valley wall erosion. Furthermore, rockfall poses a significant hazard to inhabitants and motivates monitoring efforts in populated areas. Traditional rockfall detection methods, such as aerial photography and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data evaluation, provide constraints on the location and released volume of rock but have limitations due to significant time lags or integration times between surveys, and deliver limited information on rockfall triggering mechanisms and the dynamics of individual events. Environmental seismology, the study of seismic signals emitted by processes at the Earth's surface, provides a complementary solution to these shortcomings. However, this approach is predominantly limited by the strength of the signals emitted by a source and their transformation and attenuation towards receivers. To test the ability of seismic methods to identify and locate small rockfalls, and to characterise their dynamics, we surveyed a 2.16 km2 large, near-vertical cliff section of the Lauterbrunnen Valley in the Swiss Alps with a TLS device and six broadband seismometers. During 37 days in autumn 2014, 10 TLS-detected rockfalls with volumes ranging from 0.053 ± 0.004 to 2.338 ± 0.085 m3 were independently detected and located by the seismic approach, with a deviation of 81-29+59 m (about 7 % of the average inter-station distance of the seismometer network). Further potential rockfalls were detected outside the TLS-surveyed cliff area. The onset of individual events can be determined within a few milliseconds, and their dynamics can be resolved into distinct phases, such as detachment, free fall, intermittent impact, fragmentation, arrival at the talus slope and subsequent slope activity. The small rockfall volumes in this area require significant supervision during data processing: 2175 initially picked potential events reduced to 511 potential events after applying automatic rejection criteria. The 511 events needed to be inspected manually to reveal 19 short earthquakes and 37 potential rockfalls, including the 10 TLS-detected events. Rockfall volume does not show a relationship with released seismic energy or peak amplitude at this spatial scale due to the dominance of other, process-inherent factors, such as fall height, degree of fragmentation, and subsequent talus slope activity. The combination of TLS and environmental seismology provides, despite the significant amount of manual data processing, a detailed validation of seismic detection of small volume rockfalls, and revealed unprecedented temporal, spatial and geometric details about rockfalls in steep mountainous terrain.

Constraining the Bulk Density of 10m-Class Near-Earth Asteroid 2012 LA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mommert, Michael; Hora, Joseph; Farnocchia, Davide; Trilling, David; Chesley, Steve; Harris, Alan; Mueller, Migo; Smith, Howard

2016-08-01

The physical properties of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) provide important hints on their origin, as well as their past physical and orbital evolution. Recent observations seem to indicate that small asteroids are different than expected: instead of being monolithic bodies, some of them instead resemble loose conglomerates of smaller rocks, so called 'rubble piles'. This is surprising, since self-gravitation is practically absent in these bodies. Hence, bulk density measurements of small asteroids, from which their internal structure can be estimated, provide unique constraints on asteroid physical models, as well as models for asteroid evolution. We propose Spitzer Space Telescope observations of 10 m-sized NEA 2012 LA, which will allow us to constrain the diameter, albedo, bulk density, macroporosity, and mass of this object. We require 30 hrs of Spitzer time to detect our target with a minimum SNR of 3 in CH2. In order to interpret our observational results, we will use the same analysis technique that we used in our successful observations and analyses of tiny asteroids 2011 MD and 2009 BD. Our science goal, which is the derivation of the target's bulk density and its internal structure, can only be met with Spitzer. Our observations will produce only the third comprehensive physical characterization of an asteroid in the 10m size range (all of which have been carried out by our team, using Spitzer). Knowledge of the physical properties of small NEAs, some of which pose an impact threat to the Earth, is of importance for understanding their evolution and estimating the potential of destruction in case of an impact, as well as for potential manned missions to NEAs for either research or potential commercial uses.

Life Cycle Analysis of Dedicated Nano-Launch Technologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zapata, Edgar; McCleskey, Carey (Editor); Martin, John; Lepsch, Roger; Ternani, Tosoc

2014-01-01

Recent technology advancements have enabled the development of small cheap satellites that can perform useful functions in the space environment. Currently, the only low cost option for getting these payloads into orbit is through ride share programs - small satellites awaiting the launch of a larger satellite, and then riding along on the same launcher. As a result, these small satellite customers await primary payload launches and a backlog exists. An alternative option would be dedicated nano-launch systems built and operated to provide more flexible launch services, higher availability, and affordable prices. The potential customer base that would drive requirements or support a business case includes commercial, academia, civil government and defense. Further, NASA technology investments could enable these alternative game changing options. With this context, in 2013 the Game Changing Development (GCD) program funded a NASA team to investigate the feasibility of dedicated nano-satellite launch systems with a recurring cost of less than $2 million per launch for a 5 kg payload to low Earth orbit. The team products would include potential concepts, technologies and factors for enabling the ambitious cost goal, exploring the nature of the goal itself, and informing the GCD program technology investment decision making process. This paper provides an overview of the life cycle analysis effort that was conducted in 2013 by an inter-center NASA team. This effort included the development of reference nano-launch system concepts, developing analysis processes and models, establishing a basis for cost estimates (development, manufacturing and launch) suitable to the scale of the systems, and especially, understanding the relationship of potential game changing technologies to life cycle costs, as well as other factors, such as flights per year.

Evaluating the Mentor-Mentee Relationship in the 4-H Tech Wizards Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toelle, Andy; Terry, Bryan D.; Broaddus, Brent; Kent, Heather; Barnett, Lauren

2015-01-01

Youth rely on mentors to provide camaraderie, encouragement, and guidance. The authors asserted that the measurement of youth-mentor relationship would vastly improve the reaching effects of mentorship and expose areas of potential improvement. A questionnaire was given to youth at the beginning and end of a small group mentoring program. The…

Student Use of Animated Pedagogical Agents in a Middle School Science Inquiry Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowman, Catherine D. D.

2012-01-01

Animated pedagogical agents (APAs) have the potential to provide one-on-one, just-in-time instruction, guidance or mentoring in classrooms where such individualized human interactions may be infeasible. Much current APA research focuses on a wide range of design variables tested with small samples or in laboratory settings, while overlooking…

Higher Education Engagement in Leadership Development: Using Autobiographical Narrative to Understand Potential Impact

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Karen; Sambrook, Sally; Henley, Andrew; Norbury, Heather

2012-01-01

This paper explores the lived experience of leadership learning and development in a single case study of an entrepreneur participating in a major leadership development programme for owner-managers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Based on autobiographical research, it provides a rich contextual account of the nature and underlying…

Potential effects of sudden oak death on small mammals and herpetofauna in coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia woodlands

Treesearch

Douglas J. Tempel; William D. Tietje

2006-01-01

Within San Luis Obispo County, California, coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia) woodlands provide important habitat for many wildlife species (see Tietje and others, this volume). Unfortunately, many of these woodlands are at high risk of sudden oak death (SOD) infection should the pathogen (Phytophthora ramorum) become established...

Dual-cropping loblolly pine for biomass energy and conventional wood products

Treesearch

D. Andrew Scott; Allan Tiarks

2008-01-01

Southern pine stands have the potential to provide significant feedstocks for the growing biomass energy and biofuel markets. Although initial feedstocks likely will come from low-value small-diameter trees, understory vegetation, and slash, a sustainable and continuous supply of biomass is necessary to support and grow a wood bioenergy market. As long as solidwood...

Potential use of food/activity, parenting style, and caregiver feeding style measurement tools with American Indian families: A brief report

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

To provide preliminary descriptive data on caregiver and child weight status, parenting styles, feeding styles, and feeding practices of a small American Indian sample. Participants included a subsample of American Indian caregivers (n = 23) identified from a larger study that was conducted in five ...

Economic comparison of two application methods for potential organic control of duckweed utilizing pelargonic acid as an aquatic herbicide

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Duckweeds (Lemna spp.) are small, free floating, aquatic plants that flourish on stagnant or slow moving, water surfaces throughout the world. Members of the genus are among the smallest flowering plants, providing food for fish and fowl, but their aggressive growth and invasive tendencies make the...

Powder-driven-nail connections for round timber

Treesearch

Ronald W. Wolfe; KugBo Shim; Marshall Begel

2003-01-01

In an effort to encourage the development of value-added engineered applications for small diameter round timber, research is being conducted at the US Forest Products Laboratory to develop and verify design guidelines for connections with specific application to round timbers. The objective of this work is to provide potential users with a number of viable connection...

An Interlibrary Loan Cost Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Connolly, Bruce; LaGuardia, Cheryl

This interlibrary loan (ILL) cost study was conducted at Union College Library in Schenectady, New York, in order to provide immediate feedback about ILL as well as to serve as a potential management tool for library and college administrators. This report describes the financial statistics of a 3-year period of use of ILL services at this small,…

Starting a General Surgery Program at a Small Rural Critical Access Hospital: A Case Study from Southeastern Oregon

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doty, Brit Cruse; Heneghan, Steven; Zuckerman, Randall

2007-01-01

Context: Surgical services are frequently unavailable in rural American communities. Therefore, rural residents often must travel long distances to receive surgical care. Rural hospitals commonly have difficulty providing surgical services despite potential economic benefits. Purpose: The purpose of this project was to identify the key challenges…

Comparison of two application methods for potential organic control of duckweed utilizing pelargonic acid as an aquatic herbicide

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Duckweeds (Lemna spp.) are small, free-floating, aquatic plants that flourish on stagnant or slow moving water surfaces throughout the world. Members of the genus are among the smallest flowering plants, providing food for fish and fowl. But their aggressive growth and invasive tendencies make them...

Economic comparison of two application methods for potential organic control of duckweed utilizing pelargonic acid as an aquatic herbicide

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Duckweeds (Lemna spp.) are small, free-floating, aquatic plants that flourish on stagnant or slow-moving water surfaces throughout the world. Members of the genus are among the smallest flowering plants, providing food for fish and fowl, but their aggressive growth and invasive tendencies make them...

SInCRe—structural interactome computational resource for Mycobacterium tuberculosis

PubMed Central

Metri, Rahul; Hariharaputran, Sridhar; Ramakrishnan, Gayatri; Anand, Praveen; Raghavender, Upadhyayula S.; Ochoa-Montaño, Bernardo; Higueruelo, Alicia P.; Sowdhamini, Ramanathan; Chandra, Nagasuma R.; Blundell, Tom L.; Srinivasan, Narayanaswamy

2015-01-01

We have developed an integrated database for Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (Mtb) that collates information on protein sequences, domain assignments, functional annotation and 3D structural information along with protein–protein and protein–small molecule interactions. SInCRe (Structural Interactome Computational Resource) is developed out of CamBan (Cambridge and Bangalore) collaboration. The motivation for development of this database is to provide an integrated platform to allow easily access and interpretation of data and results obtained by all the groups in CamBan in the field of Mtb informatics. In-house algorithms and databases developed independently by various academic groups in CamBan are used to generate Mtb-specific datasets and are integrated in this database to provide a structural dimension to studies on tuberculosis. The SInCRe database readily provides information on identification of functional domains, genome-scale modelling of structures of Mtb proteins and characterization of the small-molecule binding sites within Mtb. The resource also provides structure-based function annotation, information on small-molecule binders including FDA (Food and Drug Administration)-approved drugs, protein–protein interactions (PPIs) and natural compounds that bind to pathogen proteins potentially and result in weakening or elimination of host–pathogen protein–protein interactions. Together they provide prerequisites for identification of off-target binding. Database URL: http://proline.biochem.iisc.ernet.in/sincre PMID:26130660

Removal mechanisms of dew via self-propulsion off the gecko skin

PubMed Central

Watson, Gregory S.; Schwarzkopf, Lin; Cribb, Bronwen W.; Myhra, Sverre; Gellender, Marty; Watson, Jolanta A.

2015-01-01

Condensation resulting in the formation of water films or droplets is an unavoidable process on the cuticle or skin of many organisms. This process generally occurs under humid conditions when the temperature drops below the dew point. In this study, we have investigated dew conditions on the skin of the gecko Lucasium steindachneri. When condensation occurs, we show that small dew drops, as opposed to a thin film, form on the lizard's scales. As the droplets grow in size and merge, they can undergo self-propulsion off the skin and in the process can be carried away a sufficient distance to freely engage with external forces. We show that factors such as gravity, wind and fog provide mechanisms to remove these small droplets off the gecko skin surface. The formation of small droplets and subsequent removal from the skin may aid in reducing microbial contact (e.g. bacteria, fungi) and limit conducive growth conditions under humid environments. As well as providing an inhospitable microclimate for microorganisms, the formation and removal of small droplets may also potentially aid in other areas such as reduction and cleaning of some surface contaminants consisting of single or multiple aggregates of particles. PMID:25762647

Optimizing Airspace System Capacity Through a Small Aircraft Transportation System: An Analysis of Economic and Operational Considerations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tarry, Scott E.; Bowen, Brent D.

2001-01-01

America's air transport system is currently faced with two equally important dilemmas. First, congestion and delays associated with the overburdened hub and spoke system will continue to worsen unless dramatic changes are made in the way air transportation services are provided. Second, many communities and various regions of the country have not benefited from the air transport system, which tends to focus its attention on major population centers. An emerging solution to both problems is a Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS), which will utilize a new generation of advanced small aircraft to provide air transport services to those citizens who are poorly served by the hub and spoke system and those citizens who are not served at all. Using new innovations in navigation, communication, and propulsion technologies, these aircraft will enable users to safely and reliably access the over 5,000 general aviation landing facilities around the United States. A small aircraft transportation system holds the potential to revolutionize the way Americans travel and to greatly enhance the use of air transport as an economic development tool in rural and isolated communities across the nation.

The Potential of Small Satellites for Crop Monitoring in Emerging Economies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bydekerke, L.; Meuleman, K.

2008-08-01

The use of low resolution data for monitoring of the overall vegetation condition and crops is nowadays wide spread in emerging economies. Various initiatives, global and local, have promoted the use of this type of imagery for assessing the progress of the growing season since the eighties. The normalized difference vegetation Index (NDVI), from various sensors with 250m to 8 km resolution, are used to identify potential anomalies in vegetation development which, in combination with other data, are used to identify emerging crisis situations in crop development and production before harvest time. Satellite data is analyzed by specialized centers and crop / vegetation assessments are summarized into bulletins, which are then used for communication with non-remote sensing specialists at the policy level. Satellite data is currently provided by large expensive space infrastructures and centrally distributed to the users. In this paper the current flow of information from satellite to information for agriculture is analyzed and the potential contribution of low cost small satellite in addressing the needs of the users is discussed. Two scenario's are presented: i. a centralized system whereby a few institutes have access to data generated by small satellites which process and analyze the data for use by analysts; ii. a decentralized system whereby a variety of users have direct access to data generated by small satellites who are capable of extracting, processing and analyzing information relevant for crop monitoring. The work shows that with affordable space infrastructure, as small satellites, the second scenario may become possible, but the complexity and the cost of the ground segment service remain limiting factors. Expertise and knowledge for processing, analysis and maintenance of IT/infrastructure is currently not enough, specifically in Institutions whose mandate is dealing with crop monitoring, such as the Ministries of Agriculture. However, in the short term, a limited number of specialized centers, can play a key role in gradually facilitating the integration of remote sensing information into the daily workflow, and gradually optimizing costs and efforts. The potential use of future small satellite missions such as e.g. SPOT-Vegetation continuity mission (Proba-V) is also addressed.

Small molecule alteration of RNA sequence in cells and animals.

PubMed

Guan, Lirui; Luo, Yiling; Ja, William W; Disney, Matthew D

2017-10-18

RNA regulation and maintenance are critical for proper cell function. Small molecules that specifically alter RNA sequence would be exceptionally useful as probes of RNA structure and function or as potential therapeutics. Here, we demonstrate a photochemical approach for altering the trinucleotide expanded repeat causative of myotonic muscular dystrophy type 1 (DM1), r(CUG) exp . The small molecule, 2H-4-Ru, binds to r(CUG) exp and converts guanosine residues to 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine upon photochemical irradiation. We demonstrate targeted modification upon irradiation in cell culture and in Drosophila larvae provided a diet containing 2H-4-Ru. Our results highlight a general chemical biology approach for altering RNA sequence in vivo by using small molecules and photochemistry. Furthermore, these studies show that addition of 8-oxo-G lesions into RNA 3' untranslated regions does not affect its steady state levels. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Technology Overview and Assessment for Small-Scale EDL Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heidrich, Casey R.; Smith, Brandon P.; Braun, Robert D.

2016-01-01

Motivated by missions to land large rovers and humans at Mars and other bodies, high-mass EDL technologies are a prevalent trend in the research community. In contrast, EDL systems for low-mass payloads have attracted less attention. Significant potential in science and discovery exists in small-scale EDL systems. Payloads acting secondary to a flagship mission are a currently under-utilzed resource. Before taking advantage of these opportunities, further developed of scaled EDL technologies is required. The key limitations identified in this study are compact decelerators and deformable impact systems. Current technologies may enable rough landing of small payloads, with moderate restrictions in packaging volume. Utilization of passive descent and landing stages will greatly increase the applicability of small systems, allowing for vehicles robust to entry environment uncertainties. These architectures will provide an efficient means of achieving science and support objectives while reducing cost and risk margins of a parent mission.

Implementing Technology with Industrial Community: The SBIR Example

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ghuman, Parminder

2005-01-01

The Earth-Sun system Technology Office (ESTO) works with Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs to supplement its own technology development program. The SBIR/STTR program is a highly competitive program that encourages small business to explore their technological potential to fulfill technology needs identified by ESTO. SBIR program has three phases. The Phase 1 contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $70,000, and Phase 2 contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $600,000. For Phase 3, the small business must find funding in the private sector or other non-SBIR federal agency funding. During this phase ESTO evaluates Phase 2 graduates and selects those that need to be further developed for airborne or spaceflight demonstration and provides funding. This paper will discuss the all three phases in and role of ESTO in this program.

Insights from Smart Meters: Ramp-Up, Dependability, and Short-Term Persistence of Savings from Home Energy Reports

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Todd, A.; Perry, M.; Smith, B.

2015-04-01

Smart meters, smart thermostats, and other new technologies provide previously unavailable high-frequency and location-specific energy usage data. Many utilities are now able to capture real-time, customer-specific hourly interval usage data for a large proportion of their residential and small commercial customers. These vast, constantly growing streams of rich data (or big data) have the potential to provide novel insights into key policy questions about how people make energy decisions.

Statistical techniques for the characterization of partially observed epidemics.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Safta, Cosmin; Ray, Jaideep; Crary, David

Techniques appear promising to construct and integrate automated detect-and-characterize technique for epidemics - Working off biosurveillance data, and provides information on the particular/ongoing outbreak. Potential use - in crisis management and planning, resource allocation - Parameter estimation capability ideal for providing the input parameters into an agent-based model, Index Cases, Time of Infection, infection rate. Non-communicable diseases are easier than communicable ones - Small anthrax can be characterized well with 7-10 days of data, post-detection; plague takes longer, Large attacks are very easy.

Identifying the preferred RNA motifs and chemotypes that interact by probing millions of combinations.

PubMed

Tran, Tuan; Disney, Matthew D

2012-01-01

RNA is an important therapeutic target but information about RNA-ligand interactions is limited. Here, we report a screening method that probes over 3,000,000 combinations of RNA motif-small molecule interactions to identify the privileged RNA structures and chemical spaces that interact. Specifically, a small molecule library biased for binding RNA was probed for binding to over 70,000 unique RNA motifs in a high throughput solution-based screen. The RNA motifs that specifically bind each small molecule were identified by microarray-based selection. In this library-versus-library or multidimensional combinatorial screening approach, hairpin loops (among a variety of RNA motifs) were the preferred RNA motif space that binds small molecules. Furthermore, it was shown that indole, 2-phenyl indole, 2-phenyl benzimidazole and pyridinium chemotypes allow for specific recognition of RNA motifs. As targeting RNA with small molecules is an extremely challenging area, these studies provide new information on RNA-ligand interactions that has many potential uses.

Design of a bioactive small molecule that targets r(AUUCU) repeats in spinocerebellar ataxia 10.

PubMed

Yang, Wang-Yong; Gao, Rui; Southern, Mark; Sarkar, Partha S; Disney, Matthew D

2016-06-01

RNA is an important target for chemical probes of function and lead therapeutics; however, it is difficult to target with small molecules. One approach to tackle this problem is to identify compounds that target RNA structures and utilize them to multivalently target RNA. Here we show that small molecules can be identified to selectively bind RNA base pairs by probing a library of RNA-focused small molecules. A small molecule that selectively binds AU base pairs informed design of a dimeric compound (2AU-2) that targets the pathogenic RNA, expanded r(AUUCU) repeats, that causes spinocerebellar ataxia type 10 (SCA10) in patient-derived cells. Indeed, 2AU-2 (50 nM) ameliorates various aspects of SCA10 pathology including improvement of mitochondrial dysfunction, reduced activation of caspase 3, and reduction of nuclear foci. These studies provide a first-in-class chemical probe to study SCA10 RNA toxicity and potentially define broadly applicable compounds targeting RNA AU base pairs in cells.

Identifying the Preferred RNA Motifs and Chemotypes that Interact by Probing Millions of Combinations

PubMed Central

Tran, Tuan; Disney, Matthew D.

2012-01-01

RNA is an important therapeutic target but information about RNA-ligand interactions is limited. Here we report a screening method that probes over 3,000,000 combinations of RNA motif-small molecule interactions to identify the privileged RNA structures and chemical spaces that interact. Specifically, a small molecule library biased for binding RNA was probed for binding to over 70,000 unique RNA motifs in a high throughput solution-based screen. The RNA motifs that specifically bind each small molecule were identified by microarray-based selection. In this library-versus-library or multidimensional combinatorial screening approach, hairpin loops (amongst a variety of RNA motifs) were the preferred RNA motif space that binds small molecules. Furthermore, it was shown that indole, 2-phenyl indole, 2-phenyl benzimidazole, and pyridinium chemotypes allow for specific recognition of RNA motifs. Since targeting RNA with small molecules is an extremely challenging area, these studies provide new information on RNA-ligand interactions that has many potential uses. PMID:23047683

Off disk-center potential field calculations using vector magnetograms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Venkatakrishnan, P.; Gary, G. Allen

1989-01-01

A potential field calculation for off disk-center vector magnetograms that uses all the three components of the measured field is investigated. There is neither any need for interpolation of grid points between the image plane and the heliographic plane nor for an extension or a truncation to a heliographic rectangle. Hence, the method provides the maximum information content from the photospheric field as well as the most consistent potential field independent of the viewing angle. The introduction of polarimetric noise produces a less tolerant extrapolation procedure than using the line-of-sight extrapolation, but the resultant standard deviation is still small enough for the practical utility of this method.

Unlocking the potential of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for Earth observation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hugenholtz, C.; Riddell, K.; Barchyn, T. E.

2012-12-01

Small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS, < 25 kg) are emerging as a viable alternative to conventional remote sensing platforms for Earth observation (EO). sUAS technology affords greater control, lower cost, and flexibility for scientists, and provides new opportunities to match the scale of sUAS data to the scale of the geophysical phenomenon under investigation. Although a mechanism is in place to make sUAS available to researchers and other non-military users through the US Federal Aviation Administration's Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (FAAMRA), there are many regulatory hurdles before they are fully accepted and integrated into the National Airspace System. In this talk we will provide a brief overview of the regulatory landscape for sUAS, both in the USA and in Canada, where sUAS regulations are more flexible. We critically outline potential advantages and disadvantages of sUAS for EO applications under current and potential regulations. We find advantages: relatively low cost, potentially high temporal resolution, rapidly improving technology, and operational flexibility. We also find disadvantages: limited temporal and spatial extent, limited accuracy assessment and methodological development, and an immature regulatory landscape. From a case study we show an example of the accuracy of a photogrammetrically-derived digital terrain map (DTM) from sUAS imagery. We also compare the sUAS DTM to a LiDAR DTM. Our results suggest that sUAS-acquired imagery may provide a low-cost, rapid, and flexible alternative to airborne LiDAR. Overall, we are encouraged about the potential of sUAS for geophysical measurements; however, understanding and compliance with regulations is paramount to ensure that research is conducted legally and responsibly. Because UAS are new outside of military operations, we hope researchers will proceed carefully to ensure this great scientific opportunity remains a long term tool.

Portrait of a small population of boreal toads (anaxyrus boreas)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Muths, E.; Scherer, R. D.

2011-01-01

Much attention has been given to the conservation of small populations, those that are small because of decline, and those that are naturally small. Small populations are of particular interest because ecological theory suggests that they are vulnerable to the deleterious effects of environmental, demographic, and genetic stochasticity as well as natural and human-induced catastrophes. However, testing theory and developing applicable conservation measures for small populations is hampered by sparse data. This lack of information is frequently driven by computational issues with small data sets that can be confounded by the impacts of stressors. We present estimates of demographic parameters from a small population of Boreal Toads (Anaxyrus boreas) that has been surveyed since 2001 by using capturerecapture methods. Estimates of annual adult survival probability are high relative to other Boreal Toad populations, whereas estimates of recruitment rate are low. Despite using simple models, clear patterns emerged from the analyses, suggesting that population size is constrained by low recruitment of adults and is declining slowly. These patterns provide insights that are useful in developing management directions for this small population, and this study serves as an example of the potential for small populations to yield robust and useful information despite sample size constraints. ?? 2011 The Herpetologists' League, Inc.

Ray-theory approach to electrical-double-layer interactions.

PubMed

Schnitzer, Ory

2015-02-01

A novel approach is presented for analyzing the double-layer interaction force between charged particles in electrolyte solution, in the limit where the Debye length is small compared with both interparticle separation and particle size. The method, developed here for two planar convex particles of otherwise arbitrary geometry, yields a simple asymptotic approximation limited to neither small zeta potentials nor the "close-proximity" assumption underlying Derjaguin's approximation. Starting from the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann formulation, boundary-layer solutions describing the thin diffuse-charge layers are asymptotically matched to a WKBJ expansion valid in the bulk, where the potential is exponentially small. The latter expansion describes the bulk potential as superposed contributions conveyed by "rays" emanating normally from the boundary layers. On a special curve generated by the centers of all circles maximally inscribed between the two particles, the bulk stress-associated with the ray contributions interacting nonlinearly-decays exponentially with distance from the center of the smallest of these circles. The force is then obtained by integrating the traction along this curve using Laplace's method. We illustrate the usefulness of our theory by comparing it, alongside Derjaguin's approximation, with numerical simulations in the case of two parallel cylinders at low potentials. By combining our result and Derjaguin's approximation, the interaction force is provided at arbitrary interparticle separations. Our theory can be generalized to arbitrary three-dimensional geometries, nonideal electrolyte models, and other physical scenarios where exponentially decaying fields give rise to forces.

Unexpected Importance of Potential Parasites in the Composition of the Freshwater Small-Eukaryote Community▿

PubMed Central

Lepère, Cécile; Domaizon, Isabelle; Debroas, Didier

2008-01-01

The diversity of small eukaryotes (0.2 to 5 μm) in a mesotrophic lake (Lake Bourget) was investigated using 18S rRNA gene library construction and fluorescent in situ hybridization coupled with tyramide signal amplification (TSA-FISH). Samples collected from the epilimnion on two dates were used to extend a data set previously obtained using similar approaches for lakes with a range of trophic types. A high level of diversity was recorded for this system with intermediate trophic status, and the main sequences from Lake Bourget were affiliated with ciliates (maximum, 19% of the operational taxonomic units [OTUs]), cryptophytes (33%), stramenopiles (13.2%), and cercozoa (9%). Although the comparison of TSA-FISH results and clone libraries suggested that the level of Chlorophyceae may have been underestimated using PCR with 18S rRNA primers, heterotrophic organisms dominated the small-eukaryote assemblage. We found that a large fraction of the sequences belonged to potential parasites of freshwater phytoplankton, including sequences affiliated with fungi and Perkinsozoa. On average, these sequences represented 30% of the OTUs (40% of the clones) obtained for each of two dates for Lake Bourget. Our results provide information on lacustrine small-eukaryote diversity and structure, adding to the phylogenetic data available for lakes with various trophic types. PMID:18359836

Unexpected importance of potential parasites in the composition of the freshwater small-eukaryote community.

PubMed

Lepère, Cécile; Domaizon, Isabelle; Debroas, Didier

2008-05-01

The diversity of small eukaryotes (0.2 to 5 mum) in a mesotrophic lake (Lake Bourget) was investigated using 18S rRNA gene library construction and fluorescent in situ hybridization coupled with tyramide signal amplification (TSA-FISH). Samples collected from the epilimnion on two dates were used to extend a data set previously obtained using similar approaches for lakes with a range of trophic types. A high level of diversity was recorded for this system with intermediate trophic status, and the main sequences from Lake Bourget were affiliated with ciliates (maximum, 19% of the operational taxonomic units [OTUs]), cryptophytes (33%), stramenopiles (13.2%), and cercozoa (9%). Although the comparison of TSA-FISH results and clone libraries suggested that the level of Chlorophyceae may have been underestimated using PCR with 18S rRNA primers, heterotrophic organisms dominated the small-eukaryote assemblage. We found that a large fraction of the sequences belonged to potential parasites of freshwater phytoplankton, including sequences affiliated with fungi and Perkinsozoa. On average, these sequences represented 30% of the OTUs (40% of the clones) obtained for each of two dates for Lake Bourget. Our results provide information on lacustrine small-eukaryote diversity and structure, adding to the phylogenetic data available for lakes with various trophic types.

An Investigation into the Potential Benefits of Distributed Electric Propulsion on Small UAVs at Low Reynolds Numbers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baris, Engin

Distributed electric propulsion systems benefit from the inherent scale independence of electric propulsion. This property allows the designer to place multiple small electric motors along the wing of an aircraft instead of using a single or several internal combustion motors with gear boxes or other power train components. Aircraft operating at low Reynolds numbers are ideal candidates for benefiting from increased local flow velocities as provided by distributed propulsion systems. In this study, a distributed electric propulsion system made up of eight motor/propellers was integrated into the leading edge of a small fixed wing-body model to investigate the expected improvements on the aerodynamics available to small UAVs operating at low Reynolds numbers. Wind tunnel tests featuring a Design of Experiments (DOE) methodology were used for aerodynamic characterization. Experiments were performed in four modes: all-propellers-on, wing-tip-propellers-alone-on, wing-alone mode, and two-inboard-propellers-on-alone mode. In addition, the all-propeller-on, wing-alone, and a single-tractor configuration were analyzed using VSPAERO, a vortex lattice code, to make comparisons between these different configurations. Results show that the distributed propulsion system has higher normal force, endurance, and range features, despite a potential weight penalty.

Evaluation of Potential Locations for Siting Small Modular Reactors near Federal Energy Clusters to Support Federal Clean Energy Goals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Belles, Randy J.; Omitaomu, Olufemi A.

2014-09-01

Geographic information systems (GIS) technology was applied to analyze federal energy demand across the contiguous US. Several federal energy clusters were previously identified, including Hampton Roads, Virginia, which was subsequently studied in detail. This study provides an analysis of three additional diverse federal energy clusters. The analysis shows that there are potential sites in various federal energy clusters that could be evaluated further for placement of an integral pressurized-water reactor (iPWR) to support meeting federal clean energy goals.

Proximate, mineral composition and antioxidant activity of traditional small millets cultivated and consumed in Rayalaseema region of south India.

PubMed

Vali Pasha, Kotwal; Ratnavathi, Chamarthy Venkata; Ajani, Jayanna; Raju, Dugyala; Manoj Kumar, Sriramoju; Beedu, Sashidhar Rao

2018-01-01

Millets are a diverse group of small seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal foods. This communication details the proximate, mineral profile and antioxidant activity of six different small millets (Finger, Foxtail, Proso, Little, Barnyard and Kodo millets) and their 21 cultivars that are traditionally cultivated and consumed in the region of Ralayaseema, south India. The proximate analysis revealed that these millets are rich in protein, fat, ash (mineral), total dietary fibre and total phenols with appreciable antioxidant activity. However, starch and amylose content was comparatively lower as compared to major millet sorghum. ICP-MS analysis of small millets demonstrated that they are rich in minerals such as Ca, P, K, Mg, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, Cr, Mo and Se. Finger and kodo millets were found to be nutritionally superior over other small millets. The results suggest that small millets have a potential to provide food security and can combat micronutrient malnutrition. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Lung Cancer Screening with Low-Dose Computed Tomography for Primary Care Providers

PubMed Central

Richards, Thomas B.; White, Mary C.; Caraballo, Ralph S.

2015-01-01

This review provides an update on lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) and its implications for primary care providers. One of the unique features of lung cancer screening is the potential complexity in patient management if an LDCT scan reveals a small pulmonary nodule. Additional tests, consultation with multiple specialists, and follow-up evaluations may be needed to evaluate whether lung cancer is present. Primary care providers should know the resources available in their communities for lung cancer screening with LDCT and smoking cessation, and the key points to be addressed in informed and shared decision-making discussions with patients. PMID:24830610

Electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide on electrodeposited tin-based surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alba, Bianca Christina S.; Camayang, John Carl A.; Mopon, Marlon L.; del Rosario, Julie Anne D.

2017-08-01

The electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide to small organic molecular compounds provides a means of generating alternative fuel source while suppressing climate change. Suitable catalysts, however, are necessary to optimize its reaction kinetics towards more valuable products. Consequently, in this study, electrodeposited Sn electrodes have been developed as catalysts for CO2 electroreduction. Deposition potential was varied to produce different Sn catalysts. SEM showed varying morphologies and increasing amount as the applied potential becomes more negative. Cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry showed that the activity and stability of the catalysts towards CO2 reduction depend on the morphology and presence of tin oxides. These results provide a better understanding on the performance of electrodeposited Sn-based surfaces as catalysts for CO2 reduction.

Large-scale annotation of small-molecule libraries using public databases.

PubMed

Zhou, Yingyao; Zhou, Bin; Chen, Kaisheng; Yan, S Frank; King, Frederick J; Jiang, Shumei; Winzeler, Elizabeth A

2007-01-01

While many large publicly accessible databases provide excellent annotation for biological macromolecules, the same is not true for small chemical compounds. Commercial data sources also fail to encompass an annotation interface for large numbers of compounds and tend to be cost prohibitive to be widely available to biomedical researchers. Therefore, using annotation information for the selection of lead compounds from a modern day high-throughput screening (HTS) campaign presently occurs only under a very limited scale. The recent rapid expansion of the NIH PubChem database provides an opportunity to link existing biological databases with compound catalogs and provides relevant information that potentially could improve the information garnered from large-scale screening efforts. Using the 2.5 million compound collection at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) as a model, we determined that approximately 4% of the library contained compounds with potential annotation in such databases as PubChem and the World Drug Index (WDI) as well as related databases such as the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and ChemIDplus. Furthermore, the exact structure match analysis showed 32% of GNF compounds can be linked to third party databases via PubChem. We also showed annotations such as MeSH (medical subject headings) terms can be applied to in-house HTS databases in identifying signature biological inhibition profiles of interest as well as expediting the assay validation process. The automated annotation of thousands of screening hits in batch is becoming feasible and has the potential to play an essential role in the hit-to-lead decision making process.

Therapeutic implications of small interfering RNA in cardiovascular diseases.

PubMed

Raghunathan, Suchi; Patel, Bhoomika M

2013-02-01

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) place a heavy burden on the economies of low- and middle-income countries. Comprehensive action requires combining approaches that seek to reduce the risks throughout the entire population with strategies that target individuals at high risk or with established disease. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) as a functional mediator for regulation of gene expression has been evaluated for potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of various cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, heart failure etc. The present review attempts have been made to provide a brief outline of the current understanding of the mechanism of RNAi and the delivery system and describe the therapeutic application of siRNAs and their potential for treating CVDs which are taking a heavy toll on human life. © 2012 The Authors Fundamental and Clinical Pharmacology © 2012 Société Française de Pharmacologie et de Thérapeutique.

Molecular Dynamics Studies of Structure and Functions of Water-Membrane Interfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pohorille, Andrew; Wilson, Michael A.; DeVincenzi, Donald L. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

A large number of essential cellular processes occur at the interfaces between water and membranes. The selectivity and dynamics of these processes are largely determined by the structural and electrical properties of the water-membrane interface. We investigate these properties by the molecular dynamics method. Over the time scales of the simulations, the membrane undergoes fluctuations described by the capillary wave model. These fluctuations produce occasional thinning defects in the membrane which provide effective pathways for passive transport of ions and small molecules across the membrane. Ions moving through the membrane markedly disrupt its structure and allow for significant water penetration into the membrane interior. Selectivity of transport, with respect to ionic charge, is determined by the interfacial electrostatic potential. Many small molecules. of potential significance in catalysis, bioenergetics and pharmacology, are shown to bind to the interface. The energetics and dynamics of this process will be discussed.

Sample Return from Small Solar System Bodies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orgel, L.; A'Hearn, M.; Bada, J.; Baross, J.; Chapman, C.; Drake, M.; Kerridge, J.; Race, M.; Sogin, M.; Squyres, S.

With plans for multiple sample return missions in the next decade, NASA requested guidance from the National Research Council's SSB on how to treat samples returned from solar system bodies such as planetary satellites, asteroids and comets. A special Task Group assessed the potential for a living entity to be included in return samples from various bodies as well as the potential for large scale effects if such an entity were inadvertently introduced into the Earth's biosphere. The Group also assessed differences among solar system bodies, identified investigations that could reduce uncertainty about the bodies, and considered risks of returned samples compared to natural influx of material to the Earth in the form of interplanetary dust particles, meteorites and other small impactors. The final report (NRC, 1998) provides a decision making framework for future missions and makes recommendations on how to handle samples from different planetary satellites and primitive solar system bodies

Characterization of the influence of external stimulus on protein-nucleic acid complex through multiscale computations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gosai, Agnivo

The concomitant detection, monitoring and analysis of biomolecules have assumed utmost importance in the field of medical diagnostics as well as in different spheres of biotechnology research such as drug development, environmental hazard detection and biodefense. There is an increased demand for the modulation of the biological response for such detection / sensing schemes which will be facilitated by the sensitive and controllable transmission of external stimuli. Electrostatic actuation for the controlled release/capture of biomolecules through conformational transformations of bioreceptors provides an efficient and feasible mechanism to modulate biological response. In addition, electrostatic actuation mechanism has the advantage of allowing massively parallel schemes and measurement capabilities that could ultimately be essential for biomedical applications. Experiments have previously demonstrated the unbinding of thrombin from its aptamer in presence of small positive electrode potential whereas the complex remained associated in presence of small negative potentials / zero potential. However, the nanoscale physics/chemistry involved in this process is not clearly understood. In this thesis a combination of continuum mechanics based modeling and a variety of atomistic simulation techniques have been utilized to corroborate the aforementioned experimental observations. It is found that the computational approach can satisfactorily predict the dynamics of the electrically excited aptamer-thrombin complex as well as provide an analytical model to characterize the forced binding of the complex.

Scalar pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson in nuclei and dense nuclear matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Hyun Kyu; Paeng, Won-Gi; Rho, Mannque

2015-12-01

The notion that the scalar listed as f0(500 ) in the particle data booklet is a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone (NG) boson of spontaneously broken scale symmetry, explicitly broken by a small departure from an infrared fixed point, is explored in nuclear dynamics. This notion—which puts the scalar (which we shall identify as the "dilaton") on the same footing as the pseudoscalar pseudo-NG bosons, i.e., octet π , while providing a simple explanation for the Δ I =1 /2 rule for kaon decay—generalizes the standard chiral perturbation theory (χ PT ) to "scale chiral perturbation theory," denoted χPT σ , with one infrared mass scale for both symmetries, with the σ figuring as a chiral singlet NG mode in the nonstrange sector. Applied to nuclear dynamics, it is seen to provide answers to various hitherto unclarified nuclear phenomena, such as the success of one-boson-exchange potentials, the large cancellation of a strongly attractive scalar potential by a strongly repulsive vector potential in relativistic mean-field theory of nuclear systems and in-medium QCD sum rules, the interplay of the dilaton and the vector meson ω in dense Skyrmion matter, the Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfeld Skyrmion structure of nuclei accounting for small binding energies of medium-heavy nuclei, and the suppression of hyperon degrees of freedom in compact-star matter.

Potential drug delivery approaches for XFS-associated and XFS-associated glaucoma.

PubMed

Kulkarni, Shreya S; Kompella, Uday B

2014-01-01

Key tissue targets in treating exfoliation syndrome (XFS) and the associated glaucoma include lens, iris, and ciliary body, which produce the exfoliative material, and the trabecular meshwork, which may be impaired by the exfoliative material. In addition to antiglaucoma drug therapy, strategies for treating the disease include approaches for preventing formation of exfoliative material as well as those aimed at digesting exfoliative material. A variety of drug molecules including small molecules, protein drugs, and nucleic acids are potential candidates for treating XFS. Potential drug classes include antioxidants, lysyl oxidase-like 1 enhancers, antifibrotics, anti-inflammatory agents, proteases, and chaperones. However, the delivery of these agents to the target tissues in the anterior segment is hindered by protective static and dynamic barriers of the eye. Thus, unique drug delivery approaches are needed for each drug type (small molecules, proteins, and nucleic acids). In addition, there is a need for sustaining drug therapy for treating XFS, which can potentially be addressed by using nanoparticles, microparticles, implants, and contact lens delivery systems. This article provides an overview of drug delivery challenges and opportunities in treating XFS with the focus being on nanomedicines.

The present and future of opioid analgesics in small animal practice.

PubMed

Simon, B T; Steagall, P V

2017-08-01

Opioids are the cornerstone for the treatment of acute pain in small animal patients. This is primarily because of their remarkable safety profile, high efficacy, and benefit of reversibility. There have been some significant advances in our knowledge on opioid pharmacology and clinical usage in companion animal medicine. This review discusses the progression of opioid use in small animal practice providing current misconceptions and controversies in light of routes of administration. Potential targets for research and drug development and novel therapies are discussed in addition to the concepts of glial cell modulators, individual variability, and opioid tolerance and hyperalgesia. The future brings an interesting perspective with the application of pharmacogenetics and individualized pain management in canine and feline practice. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Generation of small molecules to interfere with regulated necrosis.

PubMed

Degterev, Alexei; Linkermann, Andreas

2016-06-01

Interference with regulated necrosis for clinical purposes carries broad therapeutic relevance and, if successfully achieved, has a potential to revolutionize everyday clinical routine. Necrosis was interpreted as something that no clinician might ever be able to prevent due to the unregulated nature of this form of cell death. However, given our growing understanding of the existence of regulated forms of necrosis and the roles of key enzymes of these pathways, e.g., kinases, peroxidases, etc., the possibility emerges to identify efficient and selective small molecule inhibitors of pathologic necrosis. Here, we review the published literature on small molecule inhibition of regulated necrosis and provide an outlook on how combination therapy may be most effective in treatment of necrosis-associated clinical situations like stroke, myocardial infarction, sepsis, cancer and solid organ transplantation.

Exposure assessment in SMES: a low-cost approach to bring OHS services to small-scale enterprises.

PubMed

Seneviratne, Mahinda; Phoon, Wai On

2006-01-01

There is increased attention to improving occupational health and safety in small to medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The Workers Health Centre, a not-for-profit OHS service in western Sydney, assessed workplace exposures in two SMEs following intervention by regulatory agencies. A low-cost monitoring program for noise, airbone dust, fibers and chemicals was conducted at these two metal working industry workplaces. Results showed that exposure to the hazards were above the statutory limits and there was generally an unhealthy access to OHS information by the predominantly immigrant or low literate worker population, were identified. The potential for using a program of low-cost exposure assessments, accompanied by a strategy to provide OHSs information for workers in small-scale enterprises, is discussed.

Kinematic measurement from panned cinematography.

PubMed

Gervais, P; Bedingfield, E W; Wronko, C; Kollias, I; Marchiori, G; Kuntz, J; Way, N; Kuiper, D

1989-06-01

Traditional 2-D cinematography has used a stationary camera with its optical axis perpendicular to the plane of motion. This method has constrained the size of the object plane or has introduced potential errors from a small subject image size with large object field widths. The purpose of this study was to assess a panning technique that could overcome the inherent limitations of small object field widths, small object image sizes and limited movement samples. The proposed technique used a series of reference targets in the object field that provided the necessary scales and origin translations. A 102 m object field was panned. Comparisons between criterion distances and film measured distances for field widths of 46 m and 22 m resulted in absolute mean differences that were comparable to that of the traditional method.

Small business innovation research program solicitation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration invites eligible small business concerns to submit Phase 1 proposals for its 1994 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, which is described in this twelfth annual NASA SBIR Program Solicitation. The 1994 solicitation period for Phase 1 proposals begins April 4, 1994 and ends June 15, 1994. Eligible firms with research or research and development capabilities (R/R&D) in any of the listed topic and subtopic areas are encouraged to participate. Through SBIR, NASA seeks innovative concepts addressing the program needs described in the SBIR solicitation subtopics and offering commercial application potential. This document contains program background information, outlines eligibility requirements for SBIR participants, describes the three SBIR program phases, and provides the information qualified offerors need to prepare and submit responsive proposals.

Perivascular spaces, glymphatic dysfunction, and small vessel disease.

PubMed

Mestre, Humberto; Kostrikov, Serhii; Mehta, Rupal I; Nedergaard, Maiken

2017-09-01

Cerebral small vessel diseases (SVDs) range broadly in etiology but share remarkably overlapping pathology. Features of SVD including enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS) and formation of abluminal protein deposits cannot be completely explained by the putative pathophysiology. The recently discovered glymphatic system provides a new perspective to potentially address these gaps. This work provides a comprehensive review of the known factors that regulate glymphatic function and the disease mechanisms underlying glymphatic impairment emphasizing the role that aquaporin-4 (AQP4)-lined perivascular spaces (PVSs), cerebrovascular pulsatility, and metabolite clearance play in normal CNS physiology. This review also discusses the implications that glymphatic impairment may have on SVD inception and progression with the aim of exploring novel therapeutic targets and highlighting the key questions that remain to be answered. © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

Satellite Application for Disaster Management Information Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okpanachi, George

Abstract Satellites are becoming increasingly vital to modern day disaster management activities. Earth observation (EO) satellites provide images at various wavelengths that assist rapid-mapping in all phases of the disaster management cycle: mitigation of potential risks in a given area, preparedness for eventual disasters, immediate response to a disaster event, and the recovery/reconstruction efforts follo wing it. Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) assist all the phases by providing precise location and navigation data, helping manage land and infrastructures, and aiding rescue crews coordinate their search efforts. Effective disaster management is a complex problem, because it involves many parameters, which are usually not easy to measure and even identify: Analysis of current situation, planning, optimum resource management, coordination, controlling and monitoring current activities and making quick and correct decisions are only some of these parameters, whose complete list is very long. Disaster management information systems (DMIS) assist disaster management to analyse the situation better, make decisions and suggest further actions following the emergency plans. This requires not only fast and thorough processing and optimization abilities, but also real-time data provided to the DMIS. The need of DMIS for disaster’s real-time data can be satisfied by small satellites data utilization. Small satellites can provide up-to-data, plus a better media to transfer data. This paper suggests a rationale and a framework for utilization of small Satellite data by DMIS. DMIS should be used ‘’before’’, ‘’during’’ and ‘’after’’ the disasters. Data provided by the Small Satellites are almost crucial in any period of the disasters, because early warning can save lives, and satellite data may help to identify disasters before they occur. The paper also presents’ ‘when’’, ‘’where’’ and ‘’how’’ small satellite data should be used by DMIS.

Superior Educational Attainment and Strategies of Land Inheritance in Post-Famine Ireland: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hillas, Sarah

2018-01-01

To date no major study exists on the impact of the Great Famine on patterns of participation in superior education in Ireland, or on the impact of superior education on the life courses and inheritance potential of boys from small farming families. This paper provides a historical analysis and interpretation of patterns of participation in…

Discovery of a small-molecule HIV-1 integrase inhibitor-binding site | Center for Cancer Research

Cancer.gov

The lowest energy-binding conformation of an inhibitor bound to the dimeric interface of HIV-1 integrase core domain. The yellow region represents a unique allosteric binding site identified by affinity labeling and mass spectrometry and validated through mutagenesis. This site can provide a potential platform for the rational design of inhibitors selective for disruption of

Small diameter symmetric networks from linear groups

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, Lowell; Carlsson, Gunnar E.; Dinneen, Michael J.; Faber, Vance; Fellows, Michael R.; Langston, Michael A.; Moore, James W.; Multihaupt, Andrew P.; Sexton, Harlan B.

1992-01-01

In this note is reported a collection of constructions of symmetric networks that provide the largest known values for the number of nodes that can be placed in a network of a given degree and diameter. Some of the constructions are in the range of current potential engineering significance. The constructions are Cayley graphs of linear groups obtained by experimental computation.

Cornell University remote sensing program. [New York State

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liang, T.; Philipson, W. R. (Principal Investigator); Stanturf, J. A.

1980-01-01

High altitude, color infrared aerial photography as well as imagery from Skylab and LANDSAT were used to inventory timber and assess potential sites for industrial development in New York State. The utility of small scale remotely sensed data for monitoring clearcutting in hardwood forests was also investigated. Consultation was provided regarding the Love Canal Landfill as part of environment protection efforts.

Coronal in vivo forward-imaging of rat brain morphology with an ultra-small optical coherence tomography fiber probe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Yijing; Bonin, Tim; Löffler, Susanne; Hüttmann, Gereon; Tronnier, Volker; Hofmann, Ulrich G.

2013-02-01

A well-established navigation method is one of the key conditions for successful brain surgery: it should be accurate, safe and online operable. Recent research shows that optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a potential solution for this application by providing a high resolution and small probe dimension. In this study a fiber-based spectral-domain OCT system utilizing a super-luminescent-diode with the center wavelength of 840 nm providing 14.5 μm axial resolution was used. A composite 125 μm diameter detecting probe with a gradient index (GRIN) fiber fused to a single mode fiber was employed. Signals were reconstructed into grayscale images by horizontally aligning A-scans from the same trajectory with different depths. The reconstructed images can display brain morphology along the entire trajectory. For scans of typical white matter, the signals showed a higher reflection of light intensity with lower penetration depth as well as a steeper attenuation rate compared to the scans typical for gray matter. Micro-structures such as axon bundles (70 μm) in the caudate nucleus are visible in the reconstructed images. This study explores the potential of OCT to be a navigation modality in brain surgery.

Modelling Coastal Cliff Recession Based on the GIM-DDD Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Bin; Wang, Shanyong; Sloan, Scott William; Sheng, Daichao; Tang, Chun'an

2018-04-01

The unpredictable and instantaneous collapse behaviour of coastal rocky cliffs may cause damage that extends significantly beyond the area of failure. Gravitational movements that occur during coastal cliff recession involve two major stages: the small deformation stage and the large displacement stage. In this paper, a method of simulating the entire progressive failure process of coastal rocky cliffs is developed based on the gravity increase method (GIM), the rock failure process analysis method and the discontinuous deformation analysis method, and it is referred to as the GIM-DDD method. The small deformation stage, which includes crack initiation, propagation and coalescence processes, and the large displacement stage, which includes block translation and rotation processes during the rocky cliff collapse, are modelled using the GIM-DDD method. In addition, acoustic emissions, stress field variations, crack propagation and failure mode characteristics are further analysed to provide insights that can be used to predict, prevent and minimize potential economic losses and casualties. The calculation and analytical results are consistent with previous studies, which indicate that the developed method provides an effective and reliable approach for performing rocky cliff stability evaluations and coastal cliff recession analyses and has considerable potential for improving the safety and protection of seaside cliff areas.

A nano-disperse ferritin-core mimetic that efficiently corrects anemia without luminal iron redox activity

PubMed Central

Powell, Jonathan J.; Bruggraber, Sylvaine F.A.; Faria, Nuno; Poots, Lynsey K.; Hondow, Nicole; Pennycook, Timothy J.; Latunde-Dada, Gladys O.; Simpson, Robert J.; Brown, Andy P.; Pereira, Dora I.A.

2014-01-01

The 2-5 nm Fe(III) oxo-hydroxide core of ferritin is less ordered and readily bioavailable compared to its pure synthetic analogue, ferrihydrite. We report the facile synthesis of tartrate-modified, nano-disperse ferrihydrite of small primary particle size, but with enlarged or strained lattice structure (~ 2.7 Å for the main Bragg peak versus 2.6 Å for synthetic ferrihydrite). Analysis indicated that co-precipitation conditions can be achieved for tartrate inclusion into the developing ferrihydrite particles, retarding both growth and crystallization and favoring stabilization of the cross-linked polymeric structure. In murine models, gastrointestinal uptake was independent of luminal Fe(III) reduction to Fe(II) and, yet, absorption was equivalent to that of ferrous sulphate, efficiently correcting the induced anemia. This process may model dietary Fe(III) absorption and potentially provide a side effect-free form of cheap supplemental iron. From the Clinical Editor Small size tartrate-modified, nano-disperse ferrihydrite was used for efficient gastrointestinal delivery of soluble Fe(III) without the risk for free radical generation in murine models. This method may provide a potentially side effect-free form iron supplementation. PMID:24394211

Protection against lethal Marburg virus infection mediated by lipid encapsulated small interfering RNA.

PubMed

Ursic-Bedoya, Raul; Mire, Chad E; Robbins, Marjorie; Geisbert, Joan B; Judge, Adam; MacLachlan, Ian; Geisbert, Thomas W

2014-02-15

Marburg virus (MARV) infection causes severe morbidity and mortality in humans and nonhuman primates. Currently, there are no licensed therapeutics available for treating MARV infection. Here, we present the in vitro development and in vivo evaluation of lipid-encapsulated small interfering RNA (siRNA) as a potential therapeutic for the treatment of MARV infection. The activity of anti-MARV siRNAs was assessed using dual luciferase reporter assays followed by in vitro testing against live virus. Lead candidates were tested in lethal guinea pig models of 3 different MARV strains (Angola, Ci67, Ravn). Treatment resulted in 60%-100% survival of guinea pigs infected with MARV. Although treatment with siRNA targeting other MARV messenger RNA (mRNA) had a beneficial effect, targeting the MARV NP mRNA resulted in the highest survival rates. NP-718m siRNA in lipid nanoparticles provided 100% protection against MARV strains Angola and Ci67, and 60% against Ravn. A cocktail containing NP-718m and NP-143m provided 100% protection against MARV Ravn. These data show protective efficacy against the most pathogenic Angola strain of MARV. Further development of the lipid nanoparticle technology has the potential to yield effective treatments for MARV infection.

Small Payload Integration and Testing Project Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sorenson, Tait R.

2014-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has mainly focused on large payloads for space flight beginning with the Apollo program to the assembly and resupply of the International Space Station using the Space Shuttle. NASA KSC is currently working on contracting manned Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to commercial providers, developing Space Launch System, the Orion program, deep space manned programs which could reach Mars, and providing technical expertise for the Launch Services Program for science mission payloads/satellites. KSC has always supported secondary payloads and smaller satellites as the launch provider; however, they are beginning to take a more active role in integrating and testing secondary payloads into future flight opportunities. A new line of business, the Small Payload Integration and Testing Services (SPLITS), has been established to provide a one stop shop that can integrate and test payloads. SPLITS will assist high schools, universities, companies and consortiums interested in testing or launching small payloads. The goal of SPLITS is to simplify and facilitate access to KSC's expertise and capabilities for small payloads integration and testing and to help grow the space industry. An effort exists at Kennedy Space Center to improve the external KSC website. External services has partnered with SPLITS as a content test bed for attracting prospective customers. SPLITS is an emerging effort that coincides with the relaunch of the website and has a goal of attracting external partnerships. This website will be a "front door" access point for all potential partners as it will contain an overview of KSC's services, expertise and includes the pertinent contact information.

A Mapping of Drug Space from the Viewpoint of Small Molecule Metabolism

PubMed Central

Basuino, Li; Chambers, Henry F.; Lee, Deok-Sun; Wiest, Olaf G.; Babbitt, Patricia C.

2009-01-01

Small molecule drugs target many core metabolic enzymes in humans and pathogens, often mimicking endogenous ligands. The effects may be therapeutic or toxic, but are frequently unexpected. A large-scale mapping of the intersection between drugs and metabolism is needed to better guide drug discovery. To map the intersection between drugs and metabolism, we have grouped drugs and metabolites by their associated targets and enzymes using ligand-based set signatures created to quantify their degree of similarity in chemical space. The results reveal the chemical space that has been explored for metabolic targets, where successful drugs have been found, and what novel territory remains. To aid other researchers in their drug discovery efforts, we have created an online resource of interactive maps linking drugs to metabolism. These maps predict the “effect space” comprising likely target enzymes for each of the 246 MDDR drug classes in humans. The online resource also provides species-specific interactive drug-metabolism maps for each of the 385 model organisms and pathogens in the BioCyc database collection. Chemical similarity links between drugs and metabolites predict potential toxicity, suggest routes of metabolism, and reveal drug polypharmacology. The metabolic maps enable interactive navigation of the vast biological data on potential metabolic drug targets and the drug chemistry currently available to prosecute those targets. Thus, this work provides a large-scale approach to ligand-based prediction of drug action in small molecule metabolism. PMID:19701464

Small space reactor power systems for unmanned solar system exploration missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bloomfield, Harvey S.

1987-01-01

A preliminary feasibility study of the application of small nuclear reactor space power systems to the Mariner Mark II Cassini spacecraft/mission was conducted. The purpose of the study was to identify and assess the technology and performance issues associated with the reactor power system/spacecraft/mission integration. The Cassini mission was selected because study of the Saturn system was identified as a high priority outer planet exploration objective. Reactor power systems applied to this mission were evaluated for two different uses. First, a very small 1 kWe reactor power system was used as an RTG replacement for the nominal spacecraft mission science payload power requirements while still retaining the spacecraft's usual bipropellant chemical propulsion system. The second use of reactor power involved the additional replacement of the chemical propulsion system with a small reactor power system and an electric propulsion system. The study also provides an examination of potential applications for the additional power available for scientific data collection. The reactor power system characteristics utilized in the study were based on a parametric mass model that was developed specifically for these low power applications. The model was generated following a neutronic safety and operational feasibility assessment of six small reactor concepts solicited from U.S. industry. This assessment provided the validation of reactor safety for all mission phases and generatad the reactor mass and dimensional data needed for the system mass model.

Small non-coding RNA profiling in human biofluids and surrogate tissues from healthy individuals: description of the diverse and most represented species.

PubMed

Ferrero, Giulio; Cordero, Francesca; Tarallo, Sonia; Arigoni, Maddalena; Riccardo, Federica; Gallo, Gaetano; Ronco, Guglielmo; Allasia, Marco; Kulkarni, Neha; Matullo, Giuseppe; Vineis, Paolo; Calogero, Raffaele A; Pardini, Barbara; Naccarati, Alessio

2018-01-09

The role of non-coding RNAs in different biological processes and diseases is continuously expanding. Next-generation sequencing together with the parallel improvement of bioinformatics analyses allows the accurate detection and quantification of an increasing number of RNA species. With the aim of exploring new potential biomarkers for disease classification, a clear overview of the expression levels of common/unique small RNA species among different biospecimens is necessary. However, except for miRNAs in plasma, there are no substantial indications about the pattern of expression of various small RNAs in multiple specimens among healthy humans. By analysing small RNA-sequencing data from 243 samples, we have identified and compared the most abundantly and uniformly expressed miRNAs and non-miRNA species of comparable size with the library preparation in four different specimens (plasma exosomes, stool, urine, and cervical scrapes). Eleven miRNAs were commonly detected among all different specimens while 231 miRNAs were globally unique across them. Classification analysis using these miRNAs provided an accuracy of 99.6% to recognize the sample types. piRNAs and tRNAs were the most represented non-miRNA small RNAs detected in all specimen types that were analysed, particularly in urine samples. With the present data, the most uniformly expressed small RNAs in each sample type were also identified. A signature of small RNAs for each specimen could represent a reference gene set in validation studies by RT-qPCR. Overall, the data reported hereby provide an insight of the constitution of the human miRNome and of other small non-coding RNAs in various specimens of healthy individuals.

Role of Transmembrane Potential and Defects on the Permeabilization of Lipid Bilayers by Alamethicin, an Ion-Channel-Forming Peptide.

PubMed

Su, ZhangFei; Shodiev, Muzaffar; Leitch, J Jay; Abbasi, Fatemeh; Lipkowski, Jacek

2018-05-29

The insertion and ion-conducting channel properties of alamethicin reconstituted into a 1,2-di- O-phytanyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine bilayer floating on the surface of a gold (111) electrode modified with a 1-thio-β-d-glucose (β-Tg) self-assembled monolayer were investigated using a combination of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS). The hydrophilic β-Tg monolayer separated the bilayer from the gold substrate and created a water-rich spacer region, which better represents natural cell membranes. The EIS measurements acquired information about the membrane resistivity (a measure of membrane porosity), and the PM-IRRAS experiments provided insight into the conformation and orientation of the membrane constituents as a function of the transmembrane potential. The results showed that the presence of alamethicin had a small effect on the conformation and orientation of phospholipid molecules within the bilayer for all studied potentials. In contrast, the alamethicin peptides assumed a surface state, where the helical axes adopted a large tilt angle with respect to the surface normal, at small transmembrane potentials, and inserted into the bilayer at sufficiently negative transmembrane potentials forming pores, which behaved as barrel-stave ion channels for ionic transport across the membrane. The results indicated that insertion of alamethincin peptides into the bilayer was driven by the dipole-field interactions and that the transitions between the inserted and surface states were electrochemically reversible. Additionally, the EIS measurements performed on phospholipid bilayers without alamethicin also showed that the application of negative transmembrane potentials introduces defects into the bilayer. The membrane resistances measured in both the absence and presence of alamethicin show similar dependencies on the electrode potential, suggesting that the insertion of the peptide may also be assisted by the electroporation of the membrane. The findings in this study provide new insights into the mechanism of alamethicin insertion into phospholipid bilayers.

Comparison of permutationally invariant polynomials, neural networks, and Gaussian approximation potentials in representing water interactions through many-body expansions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Thuong T.; Székely, Eszter; Imbalzano, Giulio; Behler, Jörg; Csányi, Gábor; Ceriotti, Michele; Götz, Andreas W.; Paesani, Francesco

2018-06-01

The accurate representation of multidimensional potential energy surfaces is a necessary requirement for realistic computer simulations of molecular systems. The continued increase in computer power accompanied by advances in correlated electronic structure methods nowadays enables routine calculations of accurate interaction energies for small systems, which can then be used as references for the development of analytical potential energy functions (PEFs) rigorously derived from many-body (MB) expansions. Building on the accuracy of the MB-pol many-body PEF, we investigate here the performance of permutationally invariant polynomials (PIPs), neural networks, and Gaussian approximation potentials (GAPs) in representing water two-body and three-body interaction energies, denoting the resulting potentials PIP-MB-pol, Behler-Parrinello neural network-MB-pol, and GAP-MB-pol, respectively. Our analysis shows that all three analytical representations exhibit similar levels of accuracy in reproducing both two-body and three-body reference data as well as interaction energies of small water clusters obtained from calculations carried out at the coupled cluster level of theory, the current gold standard for chemical accuracy. These results demonstrate the synergy between interatomic potentials formulated in terms of a many-body expansion, such as MB-pol, that are physically sound and transferable, and machine-learning techniques that provide a flexible framework to approximate the short-range interaction energy terms.

Epigenetic therapy potential of suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid on invasive human non-small cell lung cancer cells.

PubMed

Zhang, Shirong; Wu, Kan; Feng, Jianguo; Wu, Zhibing; Deng, Qinghua; Guo, Chao; Xia, Bing; Zhang, Jing; Huang, Haixiu; Zhu, Lucheng; Zhang, Ke; Shen, Binghui; Chen, Xufeng; Ma, Shenglin

2016-10-18

Metastasis is the reason for most cancer death, and a crucial primary step for cancer metastasis is invasion of the surrounding tissue, which may be initiated by some rare tumor cells that escape the heterogeneous primary tumor. In this study, we isolated invasive subpopulations of cancer cells from human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) H460 and H1299 cell lines, and determined the gene expression profiles and the responses of these invasive cancer cells to treatments of ionizing radiation and chemotherapeutic agents. The subpopulation of highly invasive NSCLC cells showed epigenetic signatures of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, cancer cell stemness, increased DNA damage repair and cell survival signaling. We also investigated the epigenetic therapy potential of suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) on invasive cancer cells, and found that SAHA suppresses cancer cell invasiveness and sensitizes cancer cells to treatments of IR and chemotherapeutic agents. Our results provide guidelines for identification of metastatic predictors and for clinical management of NSCLC. This study also suggests a beneficial clinical potential of SAHA as a chemotherapeutic agent for NSCLC patients.

Potential for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems applications for identifying groundwater-surface water exchange in a meandering river reach

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pai, H.; Malenda, H.; Briggs, Martin A.; Singha, K.; González-Pinzón, R.; Gooseff, M.; Tyler, S.W.; ,

2017-01-01

The exchange of groundwater and surface water (GW-SW), including dissolved constituents and energy, represents a critical yet challenging characterization problem for hydrogeologists and stream ecologists. Here, we describe the use of a suite of high spatial-resolution remote-sensing techniques, collected using a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS), to provide novel and complementary data to analyze GW-SW exchange. sUAS provided centimeter-scale resolution topography and water surface elevations, which are often drivers of exchange along the river corridor. Additionally, sUAS-based vegetation imagery, vegetation-top elevation, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) mapping indicated GW-SW exchange patterns that are difficult to characterize from the land surface and may not be resolved from coarser satellite-based imagery. We combined these data with estimates of sediment hydraulic conductivity to provide a direct estimate of GW “shortcutting” through meander necks, which was corroborated by temperature data at the riverbed interface.

Potential for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Applications for Identifying Groundwater-Surface Water Exchange in a Meandering River Reach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pai, H.; Malenda, H. F.; Briggs, M. A.; Singha, K.; González-Pinzón, R.; Gooseff, M. N.; Tyler, S. W.

2017-12-01

The exchange of groundwater and surface water (GW-SW), including dissolved constituents and energy, represents a critical yet challenging characterization problem for hydrogeologists and stream ecologists. Here we describe the use of a suite of high spatial resolution remote sensing techniques, collected using a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS), to provide novel and complementary data to analyze GW-SW exchange. sUAS provided centimeter-scale resolution topography and water surface elevations, which are often drivers of exchange along the river corridor. Additionally, sUAS-based vegetation imagery, vegetation-top elevation, and normalized difference vegetation index mapping indicated GW-SW exchange patterns that are difficult to characterize from the land surface and may not be resolved from coarser satellite-based imagery. We combined these data with estimates of sediment hydraulic conductivity to provide a direct estimate of GW "shortcutting" through meander necks, which was corroborated by temperature data at the riverbed interface.

Genetic diversity and genomic resources available for the small millet crops to accelerate a New Green Revolution

PubMed Central

Goron, Travis L.; Raizada, Manish N.

2015-01-01

Small millets are nutrient-rich food sources traditionally grown and consumed by subsistence farmers in Asia and Africa. They include finger millet (Eleusine coracana), foxtail millet (Setaria italica), kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum), proso millet (Panicum miliaceum), barnyard millet (Echinochloa spp.), and little millet (Panicum sumatrense). Local farmers value the small millets for their nutritional and health benefits, tolerance to extreme stress including drought, and ability to grow under low nutrient input conditions, ideal in an era of climate change and steadily depleting natural resources. Little scientific attention has been paid to these crops, hence they have been termed “orphan cereals.” Despite this challenge, an advantageous quality of the small millets is that they continue to be grown in remote regions of the world which has preserved their biodiversity, providing breeders with unique alleles for crop improvement. The purpose of this review, first, is to highlight the diverse traits of each small millet species that are valued by farmers and consumers which hold potential for selection, improvement or mechanistic study. For each species, the germplasm, genetic and genomic resources available will then be described as potential tools to exploit this biodiversity. The review will conclude with noting current trends and gaps in the literature and make recommendations on how to better preserve and utilize diversity within these species to accelerate a New Green Revolution for subsistence farmers in Asia and Africa. PMID:25852710

Parametric distribution approach for flow availability in small hydro potential analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdullah, Samizee; Basri, Mohd Juhari Mat; Jamaluddin, Zahrul Zamri; Azrulhisham, Engku Ahmad; Othman, Jamel

2016-10-01

Small hydro system is one of the important sources of renewable energy and it has been recognized worldwide as clean energy sources. Small hydropower generation system uses the potential energy in flowing water to produce electricity is often questionable due to inconsistent and intermittent of power generated. Potential analysis of small hydro system which is mainly dependent on the availability of water requires the knowledge of water flow or stream flow distribution. This paper presented the possibility of applying Pearson system for stream flow availability distribution approximation in the small hydro system. By considering the stochastic nature of stream flow, the Pearson parametric distribution approximation was computed based on the significant characteristic of Pearson system applying direct correlation between the first four statistical moments of the distribution. The advantage of applying various statistical moments in small hydro potential analysis will have the ability to analyze the variation shapes of stream flow distribution.

Accuracy, resolution, and cost comparisons between small format and mapping cameras for environmental mapping

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clegg, R. H.; Scherz, J. P.

1975-01-01

Successful aerial photography depends on aerial cameras providing acceptable photographs within cost restrictions of the job. For topographic mapping where ultimate accuracy is required only large format mapping cameras will suffice. For mapping environmental patterns of vegetation, soils, or water pollution, 9-inch cameras often exceed accuracy and cost requirements, and small formats may be better. In choosing the best camera for environmental mapping, relative capabilities and costs must be understood. This study compares resolution, photo interpretation potential, metric accuracy, and cost of 9-inch, 70mm, and 35mm cameras for obtaining simultaneous color and color infrared photography for environmental mapping purposes.

P1198: software for tracing decision behavior in lending to small businesses.

PubMed

Andersson, P

2001-05-01

This paper describes a process-tracing software program specially designed to capture decision behavior in lending to small businesses. The source code was written in Lotus Notes. The software runs in a Web browser and consists of two interacting systems: a database and a user interface. The database includes three realistic loan applications. The user interface consists of different but interacting screens that enable the participant to operate the software. Log files register the decision behavior of the participant. An empirical example is presented in order to show the software's potential in providing insights into judgment and decision making. The implications of the software are discussed.

Physicians in nonprimary care and small practices and those age 55 and older lag in adopting electronic health record systems.

PubMed

Decker, Sandra L; Jamoom, Eric W; Sisk, Jane E

2012-05-01

By 2011 more than half of all office-based physicians were using electronic health record systems, but only about one-third of those physicians had systems with basic features such as the abilities to record information on patient demographics, view laboratory and imaging results, maintain problem lists, compile clinical notes, or manage computerized prescription ordering. Basic features are considered important to realize the potential of these systems to improve health care. We found that although trends in adoption of electronic health record systems across geographic regions converged from 2002 through 2011, adoption continued to lag for non-primary care specialists, physicians age fifty-five and older, and physicians in small (1-2 providers) and physician-owned practices. Federal policies are specifically aimed at encouraging primary care providers and small practices to achieve widespread use of electronic health records. To achieve their nationwide adoption, federal policies may also have to focus on encouraging adoption among non-primary care specialists, as well as addressing persistent gaps in the use of electronic record systems by practice size, physician age, and ownership status.

Wireless capsule endoscopy: perspectives beyond gastrointestinal bleeding.

PubMed

Redondo-Cerezo, Eduardo; Sánchez-Capilla, Antonio Damián; De La Torre-Rubio, Paloma; De Teresa, Javier

2014-11-14

Wireless capsule endoscopy (CE) is a technology developed for the endoscopic exploration of the small bowel. The first capsule model was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2001, and its first and essential indication was occult gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. Over subsequent years, this technology has been refined to provide superior resolution, increased battery life, and capabilities to view different parts of the GI tract. Indeed, cases for which CE proved useful have increased significantly over the last few years, with new indications for the small bowel and technical improvements that have expanded its use to other parts of the GI tract, including the esophagus and colon. The main challenges in the development of CE are new devices with the ability to provide therapy, air inflation for a better vision of the small bowel, biopsy sampling systems attached to the capsule and the possibility to guide and move the capsule with an external motion control. In this article we review the current and new indications of CE, and the evolving technological changes shaping this technology, which has a promising potential in the coming future of gastroenterology.

COCAP: a carbon dioxide analyser for small unmanned aircraft systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kunz, Martin; Lavric, Jost V.; Gerbig, Christoph; Tans, Pieter; Neff, Don; Hummelgård, Christine; Martin, Hans; Rödjegård, Henrik; Wrenger, Burkhard; Heimann, Martin

2018-03-01

Unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) could provide a cost-effective way to close gaps in the observation of the carbon cycle, provided that small yet accurate analysers are available. We have developed a COmpact Carbon dioxide analyser for Airborne Platforms (COCAP). The accuracy of COCAP's carbon dioxide (CO2) measurements is ensured by calibration in an environmental chamber, regular calibration in the field and by chemical drying of sampled air. In addition, the package contains a lightweight thermal stabilisation system that reduces the influence of ambient temperature changes on the CO2 sensor by 2 orders of magnitude. During validation of COCAP's CO2 measurements in simulated and real flights we found a measurement error of 1.2 µmol mol-1 or better with no indication of bias. COCAP is a self-contained package that has proven well suited for the operation on board small UASs. Besides carbon dioxide dry air mole fraction it also measures air temperature, humidity and pressure. We describe the measurement system and our calibration strategy in detail to support others in tapping the potential of UASs for atmospheric trace gas measurements.

NALDB: nucleic acid ligand database for small molecules targeting nucleic acid.

PubMed

Kumar Mishra, Subodh; Kumar, Amit

2016-01-01

Nucleic acid ligand database (NALDB) is a unique database that provides detailed information about the experimental data of small molecules that were reported to target several types of nucleic acid structures. NALDB is the first ligand database that contains ligand information for all type of nucleic acid. NALDB contains more than 3500 ligand entries with detailed pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic information such as target name, target sequence, ligand 2D/3D structure, SMILES, molecular formula, molecular weight, net-formal charge, AlogP, number of rings, number of hydrogen bond donor and acceptor, potential energy along with their Ki, Kd, IC50 values. All these details at single platform would be helpful for the development and betterment of novel ligands targeting nucleic acids that could serve as a potential target in different diseases including cancers and neurological disorders. With maximum 255 conformers for each ligand entry, our database is a multi-conformer database and can facilitate the virtual screening process. NALDB provides powerful web-based search tools that make database searching efficient and simplified using option for text as well as for structure query. NALDB also provides multi-dimensional advanced search tool which can screen the database molecules on the basis of molecular properties of ligand provided by database users. A 3D structure visualization tool has also been included for 3D structure representation of ligands. NALDB offers an inclusive pharmacological information and the structurally flexible set of small molecules with their three-dimensional conformers that can accelerate the virtual screening and other modeling processes and eventually complement the nucleic acid-based drug discovery research. NALDB can be routinely updated and freely available on bsbe.iiti.ac.in/bsbe/naldb/HOME.php. Database URL: http://bsbe.iiti.ac.in/bsbe/naldb/HOME.php. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Genetic variants in Alzheimer disease – molecular and brain network approaches

PubMed Central

Gaiteri, Chris; Mostafavi, Sara; Honey, Christopher; De Jager, Philip L.; Bennett, David A.

2016-01-01

Genetic studies in late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD) are aimed at identifying core disease mechanisms and providing potential biomarkers and drug candidates to improve clinical care for AD. However, due to the complexity of LOAD, including pathological heterogeneity and disease polygenicity, extracting actionable guidance from LOAD genetics has been challenging. Past attempts to summarize the effects of LOAD-associated genetic variants have used pathway analysis and collections of small-scale experiments to hypothesize functional convergence across several variants. In this review, we discuss how the study of molecular, cellular and brain networks provides additional information on the effect of LOAD-associated genetic variants. We then discuss emerging combinations of omic data types in multiscale models, which provide a more comprehensive representation of the effect of LOAD-associated genetic variants at multiple biophysical scales. Further, we highlight the clinical potential of mechanistically coupling genetic variants and disease phenotypes with multiscale brain models. PMID:27282653

A systematic approach to prioritize drug targets using machine learning, a molecular descriptor-based classification model, and high-throughput screening of plant derived molecules: a case study in oral cancer.

PubMed

Randhawa, Vinay; Kumar Singh, Anil; Acharya, Vishal

2015-12-01

Systems-biology inspired identification of drug targets and machine learning-based screening of small molecules which modulate their activity have the potential to revolutionize modern drug discovery by complementing conventional methods. To utilize the effectiveness of such pipelines, we first analyzed the dysregulated gene pairs between control and tumor samples and then implemented an ensemble-based feature selection approach to prioritize targets in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) for therapeutic exploration. Based on the structural information of known inhibitors of CXCR4-one of the best targets identified in this study-a feature selection was implemented for the identification of optimal structural features (molecular descriptor) based on which a classification model was generated. Furthermore, the CXCR4-centered descriptor-based classification model was finally utilized to screen a repository of plant derived small-molecules to obtain potential inhibitors. The application of our methodology may assist effective selection of the best targets which may have previously been overlooked, that in turn will lead to the development of new oral cancer medications. The small molecules identified in this study can be ideal candidates for trials as potential novel anti-oral cancer agents. Importantly, distinct steps of this whole study may provide reference for the analysis of other complex human diseases.

Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes Regenerate Non-Human Primate Hearts

PubMed Central

Chong, James J.H.; Yang, Xiulan; Don, Creighton W.; Minami, Elina; Liu, Yen-Wen; Weyers, Jill J; Mahoney, William M.; Van Biber, Benjamin; Cook, Savannah M.; Palpant, Nathan J; Gantz, Jay; Fugate, James A.; Muskheli, Veronica; Gough, G. Michael; Vogel, Keith W.; Astley, Cliff A.; Hotchkiss, Charlotte E.; Baldessari, Audrey; Pabon, Lil; Reinecke, Hans; Gill, Edward A.; Nelson, Veronica; Kiem, Hans-Peter; Laflamme, Michael A.; Murry, Charles E.

2014-01-01

Pluripotent stem cells provide a potential solution to current epidemic rates of heart failure 1 by providing human cardiomyocytes to support heart regeneration 2. Studies of human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) in small animal models have shown favorable effects of this treatment 3–7. It remains unknown, however, whether clinical scale hESC-CMs transplantation is feasible, safe or can provide large-scale myocardial regeneration. Here we show that hESC-CMs can be produced at a clinical scale (>1 billion cells/batch) and cryopreserved with good viability. Using a non-human primate (NHP) model of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion, we show that that cryopreservation and intra-myocardial delivery of 1 billion hESC-CMs generates significant remuscularization of the infarcted heart. The hESC-CMs showed progressive but incomplete maturation over a three-month period. Grafts were perfused by host vasculature, and electromechanical junctions between graft and host myocytes were present within 2 weeks of engraftment. Importantly, grafts showed regular calcium transients that were synchronized to the host electrocardiogram, indicating electromechanical coupling. In contrast to small animal models 7, non-fatal ventricular arrhythmias were observed in hESC-CM engrafted primates. Thus, hESC-CMs can remuscularize substantial amounts of the infarcted monkey heart. Comparable remuscularization of a human heart should be possible, but potential arrhythmic complications need to be overcome. PMID:24776797

Primordial Black Holes as Generators of Cosmic Structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carr, Bernard; Silk, Joseph

2018-05-01

Primordial black holes (PBHs) could provide the dark matter in various mass windows below 102M⊙ and those of 30M⊙ might explain the LIGO events. PBHs much larger than this might have important consequences even if they provide only a small fraction of the dark matter. In particular, they could generate cosmological structure either individually through the `seed' effect or collectively through the `Poisson' effect, thereby alleviating some problems associated with the standard CDM scenario. If the PBHs all have a similar mass and make a small contribution to the dark matter, then the seed effect dominates on small scales, in which case PBHs could generate the supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei or even galaxies themselves. If they have a similar mass and provide the dark matter, the Poisson effect dominates on all scales and the first bound clouds would form earlier than in the usual scenario, with interesting observational consequences. If the PBHs have an extended mass spectrum, which is more likely, they could fulfill all three roles - providing the dark matter, binding the first bound clouds and generating galaxies. In this case, the galactic mass function naturally has the observed form, with the galaxy mass being simply related to the black hole mass. The stochastic gravitational wave background from the PBHs in this scenario would extend continuously from the LIGO frequency to the LISA frequency, offering a potential goal for future surveys.

Permutation on hybrid natural inflation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carone, Christopher D.; Erlich, Joshua; Ramos, Raymundo; Sher, Marc

2014-09-01

We analyze a model of hybrid natural inflation based on the smallest non-Abelian discrete group S3. Leading invariant terms in the scalar potential have an accidental global symmetry that is spontaneously broken, providing a pseudo-Goldstone boson that is identified as the inflaton. The S3 symmetry restricts both the form of the inflaton potential and the couplings of the inflaton field to the waterfall fields responsible for the end of inflation. We identify viable points in the model parameter space. Although the power in tensor modes is small in most of the parameter space of the model, we identify parameter choices that yield potentially observable values of r without super-Planckian initial values of the inflaton field.

Temporal trends and stationarity in annual peak flow and peak-flow timing for selected long-term streamflow-gaging stations in or near Montana through water year 2011: Chapter B in Montana StreamStats

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sando, Steven K.; McCarthy, Peter M.; Sando, Roy; Dutton, DeAnn M.

2016-04-05

The two low-elevation gaging stations in eastern Montana (Poplar River at international boundary [gaging station 06178000] and Powder River at Moorhead, Montana [gaging station 06324500]) had considerable changes in annual-peakflow characteristics after the mid-1970s, which might provide evidence of potential nonstationarity in the peak-flow records. The two low-elevation gaging stations that have potential nonstationarity are located in drainage basins that are strongly affected by agricultural activities that potentially affect the hydrologic regimes. Primary agricultural activities that might alter natural hydrologic conditions include construction of small impoundments (primarily for stock-watering purposes) and irrigation diversions. Temporal variability in these activities might contribute to the potential nonstationarity issues. Changes in climatic characteristics after the mid-1970s also possibly contribute to the potential nonstationarity issues. Lack of considerable indication of potential nonstationarity in annual peak flow for the other long-term gaging stations in this study might indicate that climatic changes have been more pronounced with respect to effects on peak flows in low elevation areas in eastern Montana than in areas represented by the other long-term gaging stations. Another possibility is that climatic changes after the mid-1970s are exacerbated in low-elevation areas where small-impoundment development and potential effects of irrigation diversions might be more extensive.

Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garrison, Lynn; Jasper, Gwen

2015-01-01

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA's needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. The only eligible participants are small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a nonprofit research institute such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC. These programs are potential sources of seed funding for the development of small business innovations.

Target identification for small bioactive molecules: finding the needle in the haystack.

PubMed

Ziegler, Slava; Pries, Verena; Hedberg, Christian; Waldmann, Herbert

2013-03-04

Identification and confirmation of bioactive small-molecule targets is a crucial, often decisive step both in academic and pharmaceutical research. Through the development and availability of several new experimental techniques, target identification is, in principle, feasible, and the number of successful examples steadily grows. However, a generic methodology that can successfully be applied in the majority of the cases has not yet been established. Herein we summarize current methods for target identification of small molecules, primarily for a chemistry audience but also the biological community, for example, the chemist or biologist attempting to identify the target of a given bioactive compound. We describe the most frequently employed experimental approaches for target identification and provide several representative examples illustrating the state-of-the-art. Among the techniques currently available, protein affinity isolation using suitable small-molecule probes (pulldown) and subsequent mass spectrometric analysis of the isolated proteins appears to be most powerful and most frequently applied. To provide guidance for rapid entry into the field and based on our own experience we propose a typical workflow for target identification, which centers on the application of chemical proteomics as the key step to generate hypotheses for potential target proteins. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Removal mechanisms of dew via self-propulsion off the gecko skin.

PubMed

Watson, Gregory S; Schwarzkopf, Lin; Cribb, Bronwen W; Myhra, Sverre; Gellender, Marty; Watson, Jolanta A

2015-04-06

Condensation resulting in the formation of water films or droplets is an unavoidable process on the cuticle or skin of many organisms. This process generally occurs under humid conditions when the temperature drops below the dew point. In this study, we have investigated dew conditions on the skin of the gecko Lucasium steindachneri. When condensation occurs, we show that small dew drops, as opposed to a thin film, form on the lizard's scales. As the droplets grow in size and merge, they can undergo self-propulsion off the skin and in the process can be carried away a sufficient distance to freely engage with external forces. We show that factors such as gravity, wind and fog provide mechanisms to remove these small droplets off the gecko skin surface. The formation of small droplets and subsequent removal from the skin may aid in reducing microbial contact (e.g. bacteria, fungi) and limit conducive growth conditions under humid environments. As well as providing an inhospitable microclimate for microorganisms, the formation and removal of small droplets may also potentially aid in other areas such as reduction and cleaning of some surface contaminants consisting of single or multiple aggregates of particles. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Targeting Cullin–RING E3 ubiquitin ligases for drug discovery: structure, assembly and small-molecule modulation

PubMed Central

Bulatov, Emil; Ciulli, Alessio

2015-01-01

In the last decade, the ubiquitin–proteasome system has emerged as a valid target for the development of novel therapeutics. E3 ubiquitin ligases are particularly attractive targets because they confer substrate specificity on the ubiquitin system. CRLs [Cullin–RING (really interesting new gene) E3 ubiquitin ligases] draw particular attention, being the largest family of E3s. The CRLs assemble into functional multisubunit complexes using a repertoire of substrate receptors, adaptors, Cullin scaffolds and RING-box proteins. Drug discovery targeting CRLs is growing in importance due to mounting evidence pointing to significant roles of these enzymes in diverse biological processes and human diseases, including cancer, where CRLs and their substrates often function as tumour suppressors or oncogenes. In the present review, we provide an account of the assembly and structure of CRL complexes, and outline the current state of the field in terms of available knowledge of small-molecule inhibitors and modulators of CRL activity. A comprehensive overview of the reported crystal structures of CRL subunits, components and full-size complexes, alone or with bound small molecules and substrate peptides, is included. This information is providing increasing opportunities to aid the rational structure-based design of chemical probes and potential small-molecule therapeutics targeting CRLs. PMID:25886174

Metabolomics applied to the pancreatic islet.

PubMed

Gooding, Jessica R; Jensen, Mette V; Newgard, Christopher B

2016-01-01

Metabolomics, the characterization of the set of small molecules in a biological system, is advancing research in multiple areas of islet biology. Measuring a breadth of metabolites simultaneously provides a broad perspective on metabolic changes as the islets respond dynamically to metabolic fuels, hormones, or environmental stressors. As a result, metabolomics has the potential to provide new mechanistic insights into islet physiology and pathophysiology. Here we summarize advances in our understanding of islet physiology and the etiologies of type-1 and type-2 diabetes gained from metabolomics studies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical Structure and Morphology of Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons from Naive and Inflamed Mice*

PubMed Central

Barabas, Marie E.; Mattson, Eric C.; Aboualizadeh, Ebrahim; Hirschmugl, Carol J.; Stucky, Cheryl L.

2014-01-01

Fourier transform infrared spectromicroscopy provides label-free imaging to detect the spatial distribution of the characteristic functional groups in proteins, lipids, phosphates, and carbohydrates simultaneously in individual DRG neurons. We have identified ring-shaped distributions of lipid and/or carbohydrate enrichment in subpopulations of neurons which has never before been reported. These distributions are ring-shaped within the cytoplasm and are likely representative of the endoplasmic reticulum. The prevalence of chemical ring subtypes differs between large- and small-diameter neurons. Peripheral inflammation increased the relative lipid content specifically in small-diameter neurons, many of which are nociceptive. Because many small-diameter neurons express an ion channel involved in inflammatory pain, transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1), we asked whether this increase in lipid content occurs in TRPA1-deficient (knock-out) neurons. No statistically significant change in lipid content occurred in TRPA1-deficient neurons, indicating that the inflammation-mediated increase in lipid content is largely dependent on TRPA1. Because TRPA1 is known to mediate mechanical and cold sensitization that accompanies peripheral inflammation, our findings may have important implications for a potential role of lipids in inflammatory pain. PMID:25271163

Meta-analysis of global metabolomics and proteomics data to link alterations with phenotype

DOE PAGES

Patti, Gary J.; Tautenhahn, Ralf; Fonslow, Bryan R.; ...

2011-01-01

Global metabolomics has emerged as a powerful tool to interrogate cellular biochemistry at the systems level by tracking alterations in the levels of small molecules. One approach to define cellular dynamics with respect to this dysregulation of small molecules has been to consider metabolic flux as a function of time. While flux measurements have proven effective for model organisms, acquiring multiple time points at appropriate temporal intervals for many sample types (e.g., clinical specimens) is challenging. As an alternative, meta-analysis provides another strategy for delineating metabolic cause and effect perturbations. That is, the combination of untargeted metabolomic data from multiplemore » pairwise comparisons enables the association of specific changes in small molecules with unique phenotypic alterations. We recently developed metabolomic software called metaXCMS to automate these types of higher order comparisons. Here we discuss the potential of metaXCMS for analyzing proteomic datasets and highlight the biological value of combining meta-results from both metabolomic and proteomic analyses. The combined meta-analysis has the potential to facilitate efforts in functional genomics and the identification of metabolic disruptions related to disease pathogenesis.« less

A large array of high-performance artificial stars using airship-supported small mirrors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Content, Robert; Foxwell, Mark; Murray, Graham J.

2004-10-01

We propose a practical system that can provide a large number of high performance artificial stars, of the order of a few hundred, using an array of small mirrors on an airship supported platform illuminated from the ground by a laser. Our concept offers several advantages over other guide star schemes: Airborne mirror arrays can furnish tip-tilt information; they also permit a considerable reduction in the total ground-laser power required; high intensity guide stars with very small angular image size are possible; and finally they offer very low scattered parasite laser light. More basic & simpler launch-laser & AO technologies can therefore be employed, with potentially huge cost savings, with potentially significant improvement in the quality of the AO correction. The general platform scheme and suitable lift technologies are also discussed. A novel concept for achieving precise positioning is presented whereby the platform & the lifting vehicle are linked by a tether, the platform having a degree of independent control. Our proposal would employ as the lift vehicle an autonomous high altitude airship of the type currently under widespread development in the commercial sector, for use as hubs for telecommunication networks, mobile telephone relay stations, etc.

Application of assisted reproduction for population management in felids: the potential and reality for conservation of small cats.

PubMed

Swanson, William F

2006-07-01

Assisted reproductive technology (ART), using the primary applied tools of AI, ET, and sperm and embryo cryopreservation, has been promoted over the past decades for its potential to conserve endangered wildlife, including felids. However, if the goal is efficient, consistent production of viable offspring for population management, then the 'potential' of ART has yet to become 'reality' for any non-domestic cat species. For the five small-sized felids (i.e., Brazilian ocelot, fishing cat, Pallas' cat, Arabian sand cat, black-footed cat) managed by Species Survival Plans (SSPs) in North American zoos, achieving this potential may be an absolute necessity if genetically viable captive populations are to be maintained into the next century. Modeling programs suggest that current SSP populations are not sustainable without periodic introduction of new founders and improved demographic parameters, including longer generation intervals and larger population sizes. ART provides the means to address each of these management challenges. In each small cat SSP species, fecal hormone metabolite assays and seminal analysis have proven useful for characterizing basal reproductive parameters, a necessary prerequisite to developing ART. Of the five SSP species, ART has been used to produce living offspring only in the ocelot, including after AI with frozen-thawed spermatozoa and following transfer of frozen-thawed IVF embryos. The true efficacy of these techniques, however, is still unknown. To improve the applicability of ART for population management, priorities for immediate research include further investigation of ovarian stimulation protocols, sperm and embryo cryopreservation methods, embryo culture systems, and fetal and neonatal viability following ART.

Small-size biofuel cell on paper.

PubMed

Zhang, Lingling; Zhou, Ming; Wen, Dan; Bai, Lu; Lou, Baohua; Dong, Shaojun

2012-05-15

In this work, we demonstrated a novel paper-based mediator-less and compartment-less biofuel cell (BFC) with small size (1.5 cm × 1.5 cm). Ionic liquid functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs-IL) nanocomposite was used as support for both stably confining the anodic biocatalyst (i.e., NAD(+)-dependent glucose dehydrogenase, GDH) for glucose electrooxidation and for facilitating direct electrochemistry of the cathodic biocatalyst (i.e., bilirubin oxidase, BOD) for O(2) electroreduction. Such BFC provided a simple approach to fabricate low-cost and portable power devices on small-size paper, which can harvest energy from a wide range of commercial beverages containing glucose (e.g., Nescafe instant coffee, Maidong vitamin water, Watermelon fresh juice, and Minute Maid grape juice). These made the low-cost paper-based biodevice potential for broad energy applications. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A qualitative systematic review of service user and service provider perspectives on the acceptability, relative benefits, and potential harms of art therapy for people with non-psychotic mental health disorders.

PubMed

Scope, Alison; Uttley, Lesley; Sutton, Anthea

2017-03-01

This systematic review aimed to synthesize qualitative evidence relating to user and service provider perspective on the acceptability and relative benefits and potential harms of art therapy for people with non-psychotic mental disorders. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in 13 major bibliographic databases from May to July 2013. A qualitative evidence synthesis was conducted using thematic framework synthesis. The searches identified 10,270 citations from which 12 studies were included. Ten studies included data from 183 service users, and two studies included data from 16 service providers. The evidence demonstrated that art therapy was an acceptable treatment. The benefits associated with art therapy included the following: the development of relationships with the therapist and other group members; understanding the self/own illness/the future; gaining perspective; distraction; personal achievement; expression; relaxation; and empowerment. Small numbers of patients reported varying reasons for not wanting to take part, and some highlighted potentially negative effects of art therapy which included the evoking of feelings which could not be resolved. The findings suggest that for the majority of respondents art therapy was an acceptable intervention, although this was not the case for all respondents. Therefore, attention should be focussed on both identifying those who are most likely to benefit from art therapy and ensuring any potential harms are minimized. The findings provide evidence to commissioners and providers of mental health services about the value of future art therapy services. Art therapy was reported to be an acceptable treatment for the majority of respondents. Art therapy may not be a preferred treatment option for a small number of patients, emphasizing the importance of considering patient preference in choice of treatment, and selection of the most suitable patients for art therapy. Consideration should be made of adjustments to make art therapy inclusive, particularly for those with physical illnesses. Ensuring the competence of the deliverer, providing patients with additional support, such as other therapies if required, and ensuring continuity of care should be key considerations in service provision. © 2016 Crown copyright. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Global warming of salmon and trout rivers in the northwestern U.S.: Road to ruin or path through purgatory?

Treesearch

Daniel J. Isaak; Charles H. Luce; Dona L. Horan; Gwynne Chandler; Sherry Wollrab; David E. Nagel

2018-01-01

Large rivers constitute small portions of drainage networks but provide important migratory habitats and fisheries for salmon and trout when and where temperatures are sufficiently cold. Management and conservation of cold‐water fishes in the current era of rapid climate change requires knowing how riverine thermal environments are evolving and the potential for...

The use of Zero-valent iron biosand filters to reduce E. coli O157:H12 in irrigation water applied to spinach plants in a field setting

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Contaminated irrigation water is a potential source for the introduction of foodborne pathogens on to produce commodities. Zero-valent iron (ZVI) may provide a simple cheap method to mitigate the contamination of produce groups through irrigation water. A small field scale system was utilized to e...

Regulation of endocytic traffic by Rho GTPases.

PubMed Central

Qualmann, Britta; Mellor, Harry

2003-01-01

The members of the Rho subfamily of small GTPases are key regulators of the actin cytoskeleton. However, recent studies have provided evidence for multiple additional roles for these signalling proteins in controlling endocytic traffic. Here we review our current understanding of Rho GTPase action within the endocytic pathway and examine the potential points of convergence with the more established, actin-based functions of these signalling proteins. PMID:12564953

Stereoscopic Configurations To Minimize Distortions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Diner, Daniel B.

1991-01-01

Proposed television system provides two stereoscopic displays. Two-camera, two-monitor system used in various camera configurations and with stereoscopic images on monitors magnified to various degrees. Designed to satisfy observer's need to perceive spatial relationships accurately throughout workspace or to perceive them at high resolution in small region of workspace. Potential applications include industrial, medical, and entertainment imaging and monitoring and control of telemanipulators, telerobots, and remotely piloted vehicles.

Mechanical Limits to Size in Wave-Swept Organisms.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-11-10

complanata, the probability of destruction and the size- specific increase in the risk of destruction are both substantial. It is conjectured that the...barnacle, Semibalanus cariosus) the size-specific increment in the risk of destruction is small and the size limits imposed on these organisms are...constructed here provides an experimental approach to examining many potential effects of environmental stress caused by flowing water. For example, these

Analysis of conditions favourable for small vertical axis wind turbines between building passages in urban areas of Sweden

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Awan, Muhammad Rizwan; Riaz, Fahid; Nabi, Zahid

2017-05-01

This paper presents the analysis of installing the vertical axis wind turbines between the building passages on an island in Stockholm, Sweden. Based on the idea of wind speed amplification due to the venture effect in passages, practical measurements were carried out to study the wind profile for a range of passage widths in parallel building passages. Highest increment in wind speed was observed in building passages located on the periphery of sland as wind enters from free field. Wind mapping was performed in the island to choose the most favourable location to install the vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT). Using the annual wind speed data for location and measured amplification factor, energy potential of the street was calculated. This analysis verified that small vertical axis wind turbines can be installed in the passage centre line provided that enough space is provided for traffic and passengers.

Can small island mountains provide relief from the Subtropical Precipitation Decline? Simulating future precipitation regimes for small island nations using high resolution Regional Climate Models.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bowden, J.; Terando, A. J.; Misra, V.; Wootten, A.

2017-12-01

Small island nations are vulnerable to changes in the hydrologic cycle because of their limited water resources. This risk to water security is likely even higher in sub-tropical regions where anthropogenic forcing of the climate system is expected to lead to a drier future (the so-called `dry-get-drier' pattern). However, high-resolution numerical modeling experiments have also shown an enhancement of existing orographically-influenced precipitation patterns on islands with steep topography, potentially mitigating subtropical drying on windward mountain sides. Here we explore the robustness of the near-term (25-45 years) subtropical precipitation decline (SPD) across two island groupings in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These islands, forming the boundary between the Greater and Lesser Antilles, significantly differ in size, topographic relief, and orientation to prevailing winds. Two 2-km horizontal resolution regional climate model simulations are used to downscale a total of three different GCMs under the RCP8.5 emissions scenario. Results indicate some possibility for modest increases in precipitation at the leading edge of the Luquillo Mountains in Puerto Rico, but consistent declines elsewhere. We conclude with a discussion of potential explanations for these patterns and the attendant risks to water security that subtropical small island nations could face as the climate warms.

Small Molecule Deubiquitinase Inhibitors Promote Macrophage Anti-Infective Capacity

PubMed Central

Charbonneau, Marie-Eve; Gonzalez-Hernandez, Marta J.; Showalter, Hollis D.; Donato, Nicholas J.; Wobus, Christiane E.; O’Riordan, Mary X. D.

2014-01-01

The global spread of anti-microbial resistance requires urgent attention, and diverse alternative strategies have been suggested to address this public health concern. Host-directed immunomodulatory therapies represent one approach that could reduce selection for resistant bacterial strains. Recently, the small molecule deubiquitinase inhibitor WP1130 was reported as a potential anti-infective drug against important human food-borne pathogens, notably Listeria monocytogenes and noroviruses. Utilization of WP1130 itself is limited due to poor solubility, but given the potential of this new compound, we initiated an iterative rational design approach to synthesize new derivatives with increased solubility that retained anti-infective activity. Here, we test a small library of novel synthetic molecules based on the structure of the parent compound, WP1130, for anti-infective activity in vitro. Our studies identify a promising candidate, compound 9, which reduced intracellular growth of L. monocytogenes at concentrations that caused minimal cellular toxicity. Compound 9 itself had no bactericidal activity and only modestly slowed Listeria growth rate in liquid broth culture, suggesting that this drug acts as an anti-infective compound by modulating host-cell function. Moreover, this new compound also showed anti-infective activity against murine norovirus (MNV-1) and human norovirus, using the Norwalk virus replicon system. This small molecule inhibitor may provide a chemical platform for further development of therapeutic deubiquitinase inhibitors with broad-spectrum anti-infective activity. PMID:25093325

Small molecule deubiquitinase inhibitors promote macrophage anti-infective capacity.

PubMed

Charbonneau, Marie-Eve; Gonzalez-Hernandez, Marta J; Showalter, Hollis D; Donato, Nicholas J; Wobus, Christiane E; O'Riordan, Mary X D

2014-01-01

The global spread of anti-microbial resistance requires urgent attention, and diverse alternative strategies have been suggested to address this public health concern. Host-directed immunomodulatory therapies represent one approach that could reduce selection for resistant bacterial strains. Recently, the small molecule deubiquitinase inhibitor WP1130 was reported as a potential anti-infective drug against important human food-borne pathogens, notably Listeria monocytogenes and noroviruses. Utilization of WP1130 itself is limited due to poor solubility, but given the potential of this new compound, we initiated an iterative rational design approach to synthesize new derivatives with increased solubility that retained anti-infective activity. Here, we test a small library of novel synthetic molecules based on the structure of the parent compound, WP1130, for anti-infective activity in vitro. Our studies identify a promising candidate, compound 9, which reduced intracellular growth of L. monocytogenes at concentrations that caused minimal cellular toxicity. Compound 9 itself had no bactericidal activity and only modestly slowed Listeria growth rate in liquid broth culture, suggesting that this drug acts as an anti-infective compound by modulating host-cell function. Moreover, this new compound also showed anti-infective activity against murine norovirus (MNV-1) and human norovirus, using the Norwalk virus replicon system. This small molecule inhibitor may provide a chemical platform for further development of therapeutic deubiquitinase inhibitors with broad-spectrum anti-infective activity.

Radiobiology of Small Hive Beetle (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) and Prospects for Management Using Sterile Insect Releases.

PubMed

Downey, Danielle; Chun, Stacey; Follett, Peter

2015-06-01

Small hive beetle, Aethina tumida Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), is considered a serious threat to beekeeping in the Western Hemisphere, Australia, and Europe mainly due to larval feeding on honey, pollen, and brood of the European honeybee, Apis mellifera L. Control methods are limited for this pest. Studies were conducted to provide information on the radiobiology of small hive beetle and determine the potential for sterile insect releases as a control strategy. Adult males and females were equally sensitive to a radiation dose of 80 Gy and died within 5-7 d after treatment. In reciprocal crossing studies, irradiation of females only lowered reproduction to a greater extent than irradiation of males only. For matings between unirradiated males and irradiated females, mean reproduction was reduced by >99% at 45 and 60 Gy compared with controls, and no larvae were produced at 75 Gy. Irradiation of prereproductive adults of both sexes at 45 Gy under low oxygen (1-4%) caused a high level of sterility (>99%) while maintaining moderate survivorship for several weeks, and should suffice for sterile insect releases. Sterile insect technique holds potential for suppressing small hive beetle populations in newly invaded areas and limiting its spread. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America 2015. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.

Time-Resolved CubeSat Photometry with a Low Cost Electro-Optics System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gasdia, F.; Barjatya, A.; Bilardi, S.

2016-09-01

Once the orbits of small debris or CubeSats are determined, optical rate-track follow-up observations can provide information for characterization or identification of these objects. Using the Celestron 11" RASA telescope and an inexpensive CMOS machine vision camera, we have obtained time-series photometry from dozens of passes of small satellites and CubeSats over sites in Florida and Massachusetts. The fast readout time of the CMOS detector allows temporally resolved sampling of glints from small wire antennae and structural facets of rapidly tumbling objects. Because the shape of most CubeSats is known, these light curves can be used in a mission support function for small satellite operators to diagnose or verify the proper functioning of an attitude control system or deployed antenna or instrument. We call this telescope system and the accompanying analysis tools OSCOM for Optical tracking and Spectral characterization of CubeSats for Operational Missions. We introduce the capability of OSCOM for space object characterization, and present photometric observations demonstrating the potential of high frame rate small satellite photometry.

Quantification, validation, and follow-up of small bowel motility in Crohn's disease

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerrolaza, Juan J.; Peng, Jennifer Q.; Safdar, Nabile M.; Conklin, Laurie; Sze, Raymond; Linguraru, Marius George

2015-03-01

The use of magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) has become a mainstay in the evaluation, assessment and follow up of inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn's disease (CD), thanks to its high image quality and its non-ionizing nature. In particular, the advent of faster MRE sequences less sensitive to image-motion artifacts offers the possibility to obtain visual, structural and functional information of the patient's small bowel. However, the inherent subjectivity of the mere visual inspection of these images often hinders the accurate identification and monitoring of the pathological areas. In this paper, we present a framework that provides quantitative and objective motility information of the small bowel from free-breathing MRE dynamic sequences. After compensating for the breathing motion of the patient, we create personalized peristaltic activity maps via optical flow analysis. The result is the creation of a new set of images providing objective and precise functional information of the small bowel. The accuracy of the new method was also evaluated from two different perspectives: objective accuracy (1.1 ± 0.6 mm/s of error), i.e., the ability of the system to provide quantitative and accurate information about the motility of moving bowel landmarks, and subjective accuracy (avg. difference of 0.7 ± 0.7 in a range of 1 to 5), i.e., the degree of agreement with the subjective evaluation of an expert. Finally, the practical utility of the new method was successfully evaluated in a preliminary study with 32 studies of healthy and CD cases, showing its potential for the fast and accurate assessment and follow up of CD in the small bowel.

Receiving money for medicine: some tensions and resolutions for community-based private complementary therapists.

PubMed

Andrews, Gavin J; Peter, Elizabeth; Hammond, Robin

2003-03-01

During recent years, private complementary medicine has grown as a significant provider of healthcare in the UK and much of this provision is through small private businesses financed by out-of-pocket payments made by privately paying clients. Using a combined questionnaire (n = 426) and interview survey (n = 49), the present paper considers the potential tensions and dilemmas which therapists face and the resolutions which they come to in being carers, but in market terms, also profit makers. Therapists generally identified with being carers first and business people second, and this was reflected in their caring decisions. Indeed, under circumstances where the roles potentially conflicted (e.g. when clients could no longer afford to pay for their treatments), most therapists claimed that they continued to provide care, either by providing their services free-of-charge, at a reduced rate, by deferring payment or by accepting alternative forms of compensation. There is a relative lack of dedicated research literature on complementary therapists, their attitudes and actions, and this paper provides some important data on their specific management and caring decisions. At the same time, the evidence also provides some initial food-for-thought and indicates some potential research directions for exploring ethical issues in the private practice of complementary medicine.

Problems and pitfalls in cardiac drug therapy.

PubMed

Stone, S M; Rai, N; Nei, J

2001-01-01

Medical errors in the care of patients may account for 44,000 to 98,000 deaths per year, and 7,000 deaths per year are attributed to medication errors alone. Increasing awareness among health care providers of potential errors is a critical step toward improving the safety of medical care. Because today's medications are increasingly complex, approved at an accelerated rate, and often have a narrow therapeutic window with only a small margin of safety, patient and provider education is critical in assuring optimal therapeutic outcomes. Providers can use electronic resources such as Web sites to keep informed on drug-drug, drug-food, and drug-nutritional supplements interactions.

Siting Issues for Solar Thermal Power Plants with Small Community Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holbeck, J. J.; Ireland, S. J.

1978-01-01

Technologies for solar thermal plants are being developed to provide energy alternatives for the future. Implementation of these plants requires consideration of siting issues as well as power system technology. While many conventional siting considerations are applicable, there is also a set of unique siting issues for solar thermal plants. Early experimental plants will have special siting considerations. The siting issues associated with small, dispersed solar thermal power plants in the 1 to 10 MWe power range for utility/small community applications are considered. Some specific requirements refer to the first 1 MWe engineering experiment for the Small Power Systems Applications (SPSA) Project. The siting issues themselves are discussed in three categories: (1) system resource requirements, (2) environmental effects on the system, and (3) potential impact of the plant on the environment. Within these categories, specific issues are discussed in a qualitative manner. Examples of limiting factors for some issues are taken from studies of other solar systems.

Current Research on Non-Coding Ribonucleic Acid (RNA).

PubMed

Wang, Jing; Samuels, David C; Zhao, Shilin; Xiang, Yu; Zhao, Ying-Yong; Guo, Yan

2017-12-05

Non-coding ribonucleic acid (RNA) has without a doubt captured the interest of biomedical researchers. The ability to screen the entire human genome with high-throughput sequencing technology has greatly enhanced the identification, annotation and prediction of the functionality of non-coding RNAs. In this review, we discuss the current landscape of non-coding RNA research and quantitative analysis. Non-coding RNA will be categorized into two major groups by size: long non-coding RNAs and small RNAs. In long non-coding RNA, we discuss regular long non-coding RNA, pseudogenes and circular RNA. In small RNA, we discuss miRNA, transfer RNA, piwi-interacting RNA, small nucleolar RNA, small nuclear RNA, Y RNA, single recognition particle RNA, and 7SK RNA. We elaborate on the origin, detection method, and potential association with disease, putative functional mechanisms, and public resources for these non-coding RNAs. We aim to provide readers with a complete overview of non-coding RNAs and incite additional interest in non-coding RNA research.

Brain microvascular endothelium induced-annexin A1 secretion contributes to small cell lung cancer brain metastasis.

PubMed

Liu, Yi; Liu, Yong-Shuo; Wu, Peng-Fei; Li, Qiang; Dai, Wu-Min; Yuan, Shuai; Xu, Zhi-Hua; Liu, Ting-Ting; Miao, Zi-Wei; Fang, Wen-Gang; Chen, Yu-Hua; Li, Bo

2015-09-01

Small cell lung cancer is the most aggressive histologic subtype of lung cancer, with a strong predilection for metastasizing to brain early. However, the cellular and molecular basis is poorly known. Here, we provided evidence to reveal the role of annexin A1 in small cell lung cancer metastasis to brain. Firstly, the elevated annexin A1 serum levels in small cell lung cancer patients were associated with brain metastasis. The levels of annexin A1 were also upregulated in NCI-H446 cells, a small cell lung cancer cell line, upon migration into the mice brain. More interestingly, annexin A1 was secreted by NCI-H446 cells in a time-dependent manner when co-culturing with human brain microvascular endothelial cells, which was identified with the detections of annexin A1 in the co-cultured cellular supernatants by ELISA and western blot. Further results showed that blockage of annexin A1 in the co-cultured cellular supernatants using a neutralized antibody significantly inhibited NCI-H446 cells adhesion to brain endothelium and its transendothelial migration. Conversely, the addition of Ac2-26, an annexin A1 mimic peptide, enhanced these effects. Furthermore, knockdown of annexin A1 in NCI-H446 cells prevented its transendothelial migration in vitro and metastasis to mice brain in vivo. Our data showed that small cell lung cancer cell in brain microvasculature microenvironment could express much more annexin A1 and release it outside, which facilitated small cell lung cancer cell to gain malignant properties of entry into brain. These findings provided a potential target for the management of SCLC brain metastasis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Increasing Small Satellite Reliability- A Public-Private Initiative

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Michael A.; Beauchamp, Patricia; Schone, Harald; Sheldon, Doug; Fuhrman, Linda; Sullivan, Erica; Fairbanks, Tom; Moe, Miquel; Leitner, Jesse

2017-01-01

At present, CubeSat components and buses are generally not appropriate for missions where significant risk of failure, or the inability to quantify risk or confidence, is acceptable. However, in the future we anticipate that CubeSats will be used for missions requiring reliability of 1-3 years for Earth-observing missions and even longer for Planetary, Heliophysics, and Astrophysics missions. Their growing potential utility is driving an interagency effort to improve and quantify CubeSat reliability, and more generally, small satellite mission risk. The Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI)—an ongoing activity with broad collaborative participation from civil, DoD, and commercial space systems providers and stakeholders—targets this challenge. The Initiative seeks to define implementable and broadly-accepted approaches to achieve reliability and acceptable risk postures associated with several SmallSat mission risk classes—from “do no harm” missions, to those associated with missions whose failure would result in loss or delay of key national objectives. These approaches will maintain, to the extent practical, cost efficiencies associated with small satellite missions and consider constraints associated with supply chain elements, as appropriate. The SSRI addresses this challenge from two architectural levels—the mission- or system-level, and the component- or subsystem-level. The mission- or system-level scope targets assessment approaches that are efficient and effective, with mitigation strategies that facilitate resiliency to mission or system anomalies while the component- or subsystem-level scope addresses the challenge at lower architectural levels. The initiative does not limit strategies and approaches to proven and traditional methodologies, but is focused on fomenting thought on novel and innovative solutions. This paper discusses the genesis of and drivers for this initiative, how the public-private collaboration is being executed, findings and recommendations derived to date, and next steps towards broadening small satellite mission potential.

Current state of the art in small mass and force metrology within the International System of Units

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaw, Gordon A.

2018-07-01

This review article summarizes new scientific trends in research for metrology of small mass (1 mg and lower) and small force (10 micronewtons and lower). After a brief introduction to the field, this paper provides an overview of recent developments in methods that demonstrate traceability to the International System of Units (SI) with emphasis on the implications of redefining the kilogram in terms of Planck’s constant. Specific research applications include new metrology facilities, calibration of small mass and force references such as milligram to submilligram masses or atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers, and laser power measurement using radiation pressure forces. Also discussed are recent scientific developments that may impact the field moving forward in the study of ultrasmall forces present in trapped and cooled quantum mechanical systems, resonant micro- and nanomechanical mass sensors, and other areas that are potentially well suited for SI metrology. The work reviewed is not intended as a comprehensive review of all research in which small forces are measured, but rather as an overview of a field in which the accurate measurement of small mass and force with quantified uncertainty is the primary goal.

Assessment of the role of small mammals in the transmission cycle of tegumentary leishmaniasis and first report of natural infection with Leishmania braziliensis in two sigmodontines in northeastern Argentina.

PubMed

Fernández, María S; Fraschina, Jimena; Acardi, Soraya; Liotta, Domingo J; Lestani, Eduardo; Giuliani, Magalí; Busch, María; Salomón, O Daniel

2018-02-01

To contribute to the knowledge of the role of small mammals in the transmission cycle of tegumentary leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania braziliensis, we studied the small mammal community and its temporal and spatial association with phlebotominae, as well as small mammal infection by Leishmania spp. by PCR-RFLP analyses in an endemic area of northeastern Argentina. Ten small mammal samplings were conducted (2007-2009, 7506 Sherman trap nights and 422 cage trap nights). In two of these samplings, 16 capture stations each one consisting of a CDC light trap to capture phlebotominae, two to four Sherman traps and two cage traps were placed. We found co-occurrence of phlebotominae and small mammal captures in four stations, which were all the stations with small mammal captures and yielded 97% (2295 specimens, including 21 gravid females) of the total phlebotominae captures, suggesting that small mammals may provide a potential source of blood for phlebotominae females. One Didelphis albiventris and two Rattus rattus were associated with high captures of Nyssomyia whitmani, vector of L. braziliensis in the study area. The PCR-RFLP analyses confirm the presence of L. braziliensis in two sigmodontine small mammals (Akodon sp. and Euryoryzomys russatus) for the first time in Argentina, to our knowledge.

Using Small Unmanned Aerial Systems to Advance Hydrological Models in Coastal Watersheds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moorhead, R.; Hathcock, L.; Coffey, J. J.; Hood, R. E.; van Cooten, S.; Choate, K.; Rawson, H.; Kosturock, A.

2014-12-01

Small unmanned aerial systems (sUASs) have the potential to provide highly useful information for models of earth systems that vary over time intervals of days and for which sub-meter resolution is crucial. In particular, the state of coastal watershed plains are highly dependent on vegetation type and cover, soil type, weather, river flooding, and coastal inundation. The vegetation type and cover affect the drying potential, as well as the watershed's resistance to flood water movement. The soil type, soil moisture, and pond depths affect the ability of the watershed to absorb river flood waters and inundation from the sea. In this presentation we will describe a data collection campaign and model modification effort for hydrological models in a coastal watershed. The data collection campaign is obtaining data bimonthly using multiple UASs to capture the state of the watershed quicker. In particular, the vegetation cover and the extent of the water surface expression are captured at approximately a 1 inch spatial resolution over a few days with sUASs that can image 1-2 square miles per hour. The vegetation data provides a time-varying input to improve the estimation of the roughness coefficient and the dry potential from the traditionally static datasets. By correlating the high spatio-temporal resolution surface water expression with data from approximately ten river gauges, models can be improved and validated under more conditions. The presentation will also discuss the requisite sUAS capabilities and our experience in using them.

Coastal management strategy for small island: ecotourism potency development in Karimata Island, West Kalimantan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rudiastuti, A. W.; Munawaroh; Setyawan, I. E.; Pramono, G. H.

2018-04-01

Sustainable coastal management is playing an important role in coastal resources conservation, particularly on small islands. Karimata archipelago has unique characteristics and great potential to be developed as a tourism object, one of which is Karimata Island as the largest island and also reserve area. The concept of ecotourism focuses on the ecology conservation, economic benefits, and social life. Ecotourism aims to build sustainable tourism that provides economically viable and social benefits to the community. This study aims to develop coastal management strategy based on ecotourism at Karimata Island. Spatial approaching through coastal type was done. Qualitative descriptive analysis and SWOT are used to develop sustainable management strategies for the coast of Karimata Island, where the opportunities and challenges to the development of coastal ecotourism Karimata Island also included. If this potential is optimally utilized, it can be relied as an economic opportunity for local communities. Structurally shaped coast, marine depositional coast and coast build by organism are several of coastal types found at Karimata Island. Coastal ecosystems inhabited Karimata Island are mangroves, coral reefs, and macro-algae. Karimata Island have not been optimally utilized for tourist destinations. The biggest obstacle encountered is the accessibility from Kalimantan or other island at Karimata islands. Several problems related to the utilization of coastal resources were found such as mangrove and coral reef damage, also regulation that less supportive. The results of this study are expected to provide an overview of solutions for the development of coastal tourism potentials in Karimata Island.

The Sheath-less Planar Langmuir Probe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooke, D. L.

2017-12-01

The Langmuir probe is one of the oldest plasma diagnostics, provided the plasma density and species temperature from analysis of a current-voltage curve as the voltage is swept over a practically chosen range. The analysis depends on a knowledge or theory of the many factors that influence the current-voltage curve including, probe shape, size, nearby perturbations, and the voltage reference. For applications in Low Earth Orbit, the Planar Langmuir Probe, PLP, is an attractive geometry because the ram ion current is very constant over many Volts of a sweep, allowing the ion density and electron temperature to be determined independently with the same instrument, at different points on the sweep. However, when the physical voltage reference is itself small and electrically floating as with a small spacecraft, the spacecraft and probe system become a double probe where the current collection theory depends on the interaction of the spacecraft with the plasma which is generally not as simple as the probe itself. The Sheath-less PLP, SPLP, interlaces on a single ram facing surface, two variably biased probe elements, broken into many small and intertwined segments on a scale smaller than the plasma Debye length. The SPLP is electrically isolated from the rest of the spacecraft. For relative bias potentials of a few volts, the ion current to all segments of each element will be constant, while the electron currents will vary as a function of the element potential and the electron temperature. Because the segments are small, intertwined, and floating, the assembly will always present the same floating potential to the plasma, with minimal growth as a function of voltage, thus sheath-less and still planar. This concept has been modelled with Nascap, and tested with a physical model inserted into a Low Earth Orbit-like chamber plasma. Results will be presented.

Identification and Small Molecule Inhibition of an Activating Transcription Factor 4 (ATF4)-dependent Pathway to Age-related Skeletal Muscle Weakness and Atrophy*

PubMed Central

Ebert, Scott M.; Dyle, Michael C.; Bullard, Steven A.; Dierdorff, Jason M.; Murry, Daryl J.; Fox, Daniel K.; Bongers, Kale S.; Lira, Vitor A.; Meyerholz, David K.; Talley, John J.; Adams, Christopher M.

2015-01-01

Aging reduces skeletal muscle mass and strength, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we used mouse models to investigate molecular mechanisms of age-related skeletal muscle weakness and atrophy as well as new potential interventions for these conditions. We identified two small molecules that significantly reduce age-related deficits in skeletal muscle strength, quality, and mass: ursolic acid (a pentacyclic triterpenoid found in apples) and tomatidine (a steroidal alkaloid derived from green tomatoes). Because small molecule inhibitors can sometimes provide mechanistic insight into disease processes, we used ursolic acid and tomatidine to investigate the pathogenesis of age-related muscle weakness and atrophy. We found that ursolic acid and tomatidine generate hundreds of small positive and negative changes in mRNA levels in aged skeletal muscle, and the mRNA expression signatures of the two compounds are remarkably similar. Interestingly, a subset of the mRNAs repressed by ursolic acid and tomatidine in aged muscle are positively regulated by activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4). Based on this finding, we investigated ATF4 as a potential mediator of age-related muscle weakness and atrophy. We found that a targeted reduction in skeletal muscle ATF4 expression reduces age-related deficits in skeletal muscle strength, quality, and mass, similar to ursolic acid and tomatidine. These results elucidate ATF4 as a critical mediator of age-related muscle weakness and atrophy. In addition, these results identify ursolic acid and tomatidine as potential agents and/or lead compounds for reducing ATF4 activity, weakness, and atrophy in aged skeletal muscle. PMID:26338703

Identification and Small Molecule Inhibition of an Activating Transcription Factor 4 (ATF4)-dependent Pathway to Age-related Skeletal Muscle Weakness and Atrophy.

PubMed

Ebert, Scott M; Dyle, Michael C; Bullard, Steven A; Dierdorff, Jason M; Murry, Daryl J; Fox, Daniel K; Bongers, Kale S; Lira, Vitor A; Meyerholz, David K; Talley, John J; Adams, Christopher M

2015-10-16

Aging reduces skeletal muscle mass and strength, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we used mouse models to investigate molecular mechanisms of age-related skeletal muscle weakness and atrophy as well as new potential interventions for these conditions. We identified two small molecules that significantly reduce age-related deficits in skeletal muscle strength, quality, and mass: ursolic acid (a pentacyclic triterpenoid found in apples) and tomatidine (a steroidal alkaloid derived from green tomatoes). Because small molecule inhibitors can sometimes provide mechanistic insight into disease processes, we used ursolic acid and tomatidine to investigate the pathogenesis of age-related muscle weakness and atrophy. We found that ursolic acid and tomatidine generate hundreds of small positive and negative changes in mRNA levels in aged skeletal muscle, and the mRNA expression signatures of the two compounds are remarkably similar. Interestingly, a subset of the mRNAs repressed by ursolic acid and tomatidine in aged muscle are positively regulated by activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4). Based on this finding, we investigated ATF4 as a potential mediator of age-related muscle weakness and atrophy. We found that a targeted reduction in skeletal muscle ATF4 expression reduces age-related deficits in skeletal muscle strength, quality, and mass, similar to ursolic acid and tomatidine. These results elucidate ATF4 as a critical mediator of age-related muscle weakness and atrophy. In addition, these results identify ursolic acid and tomatidine as potential agents and/or lead compounds for reducing ATF4 activity, weakness, and atrophy in aged skeletal muscle. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

No evidence of infection or exposure to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenzas in peridomestic wildlife on an affected poultry facility

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grear, Daniel A.; Dusek, Robert J.; Walsh, Daniel P.; Hall, Jeffrey S.

2017-01-01

We evaluated the potential transmission of avian influenza viruses (AIV) in wildlife species in three settings in association with an outbreak at a poultry facility: 1) small birds and small mammals on a poultry facility that was affected with highly pathogenic AIV (HPAIV) in April 2015; 2) small birds and small mammals on a nearby poultry facility that was unaffected by HPAIV; and 3) small birds, small mammals, and waterfowl in a nearby natural area. We live-captured small birds and small mammals and collected samples from hunter-harvested waterfowl to test for active viral shedding and evidence of exposure (serum antibody) to AIV and the H5N2 HPAIV that affected the poultry facility. We detected no evidence of shedding or specific antibody to AIV in small mammals and small birds 5 mo after depopulation of the poultry. We detected viral shedding and exposure to AIV in waterfowl and estimated approximately 15% viral shedding and 60% antibody prevalence. In waterfowl, we did not detect shedding or exposure to the HPAIV that affected the poultry facility. We also conducted camera trapping around poultry carcass depopulation composting barns and found regular visitation by four species of medium-sized mammals. We provide preliminary data suggesting that peridomestic wildlife were not an important factor in the transmission of AIV during the poultry outbreak, nor did small birds and mammals in natural wetland settings show wide evidence of AIV shedding or exposure, despite the opportunity for exposure.

NO EVIDENCE OF INFECTION OR EXPOSURE TO HIGHLY PATHOGENIC AVIAN INFLUENZAS IN PERIDOMESTIC WILDLIFE ON AN AFFECTED POULTRY FACILITY.

PubMed

Grear, Daniel A; Dusek, Robert J; Walsh, Daniel P; Hall, Jeffrey S

2017-01-01

We evaluated the potential transmission of avian influenza viruses (AIV) in wildlife species in three settings in association with an outbreak at a poultry facility: 1) small birds and small mammals on a poultry facility that was affected with highly pathogenic AIV (HPAIV) in April 2015; 2) small birds and small mammals on a nearby poultry facility that was unaffected by HPAIV; and 3) small birds, small mammals, and waterfowl in a nearby natural area. We live-captured small birds and small mammals and collected samples from hunter-harvested waterfowl to test for active viral shedding and evidence of exposure (serum antibody) to AIV and the H5N2 HPAIV that affected the poultry facility. We detected no evidence of shedding or specific antibody to AIV in small mammals and small birds 5 mo after depopulation of the poultry. We detected viral shedding and exposure to AIV in waterfowl and estimated approximately 15% viral shedding and 60% antibody prevalence. In waterfowl, we did not detect shedding or exposure to the HPAIV that affected the poultry facility. We also conducted camera trapping around poultry carcass depopulation composting barns and found regular visitation by four species of medium-sized mammals. We provide preliminary data suggesting that peridomestic wildlife were not an important factor in the transmission of AIV during the poultry outbreak, nor did small birds and mammals in natural wetland settings show wide evidence of AIV shedding or exposure, despite the opportunity for exposure.

High-throughput sequencing of small RNAs and analysis of differentially expressed microRNAs associated with pistil development in Japanese apricot

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous, small, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression by mediating gene silencing at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels in high plants. However, the diversity of miRNAs and their roles in floral development in Japanese apricot (Prunus mume Sieb. et Zucc) remains largely unexplored. Imperfect flowers with pistil abortion seriously decrease production yields. To understand the role of miRNAs in pistil development, pistil development-related miRNAs were identified by Solexa sequencing in Japanese apricot. Results Solexa sequencing was used to identify and quantitatively profile small RNAs from perfect and imperfect flower buds of Japanese apricot. A total of 22,561,972 and 24,952,690 reads were sequenced from two small RNA libraries constructed from perfect and imperfect flower buds, respectively. Sixty-one known miRNAs, belonging to 24 families, were identified. Comparative profiling revealed that seven known miRNAs exhibited significant differential expression between perfect and imperfect flower buds. A total of 61 potentially novel miRNAs/new members of known miRNA families were also identified by the presence of mature miRNAs and corresponding miRNA*s in the sRNA libraries. Comparative analysis showed that six potentially novel miRNAs were differentially expressed between perfect and imperfect flower buds. Target predictions of the 13 differentially expressed miRNAs resulted in 212 target genes. Gene ontology (GO) annotation revealed that high-ranking miRNA target genes are those implicated in the developmental process, the regulation of transcription and response to stress. Conclusions This study represents the first comparative identification of miRNAomes between perfect and imperfect Japanese apricot flowers. Seven known miRNAs and six potentially novel miRNAs associated with pistil development were identified, using high-throughput sequencing of small RNAs. The findings, both computationally and experimentally, provide valuable information for further functional characterisation of miRNAs associated with pistil development in plants. PMID:22863067

The use of Natural Flood Management to mitigate local flooding in the rural landscape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilkinson, Mark; Quinn, Paul; Ghimire, Sohan; Nicholson, Alex; Addy, Steve

2014-05-01

The past decade has seen increases in the occurrence of flood events across Europe, putting a growing number of settlements of varying sizes at risk. The issue of flooding in smaller villages is usually not well publicised. In these small communities, the cost of constructing and maintaining traditional flood defences often outweigh the potential benefits, which has led to a growing quest for more cost effective and sustainable approaches. Here we aim to provide such an approach that alongside flood risk reduction, also has multipurpose benefits of sediment control, water quality amelioration, and habitat creation. Natural flood management (NFM) aims to reduce flooding by working with natural features and characteristics to slow down or temporarily store flood waters. NFM measures include dynamic water storage ponds and wetlands, interception bunds, channel restoration and instream wood placement, and increasing soil infiltration through soil management and tree planting. Based on integrated monitoring and modelling studies, we demonstrate the potential to manage runoff locally using NFM in rural systems by effectively managing flow pathways (hill slopes and small channels) and by exploiting floodplains and buffers strips. Case studies from across the UK show that temporary storage ponds (ranging from 300 to 3000m3) and other NFM measures can reduce peak flows in small catchments (5 to 10 km2) by up to 15 to 30 percent. In addition, increasing the overall effective storage capacity by a network of NFM measures was found to be most effective for total reduction of local flood peaks. Hydraulic modelling has shown that the positioning of such features within the catchment, and how they are connected to the main channel, may also affect their effectiveness. Field evidence has shown that these ponds can collect significant accumulations of fine sediment during flood events. On the other hand, measures such as wetlands could also play an important role during low flow conditions, by providing base flows during drought conditions. Ongoing research using hydrological datasets aims to assess how these features function during low flow conditions and how storage ponds could be used as irrigation ponds in arable areas. To allow for effective implementation and upkeep of NFM measures on the ground, demonstration sites have been developed through a process of iterative stakeholder engagement. Coupled with the use of novel visualisation techniques, results are currently being communicated to a wider community of local landowners and catchment managers. The approach of using networks of interception bunds and offline storage areas in the rural landscape could potentially provide a cost effective means to reduce flood risk in small responsive catchments across Europe. As such it could provide an alternative or addition to traditional engineering techniques, while also effectively managing catchments to achieve multiple environmental objectives.

Robotic liquid handling and automation in epigenetics.

PubMed

Gaisford, Wendy

2012-10-01

Automated liquid-handling robots and high-throughput screening (HTS) are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry for the screening of large compound libraries, small molecules for activity against disease-relevant target pathways, or proteins. HTS robots capable of low-volume dispensing reduce assay setup times and provide highly accurate and reproducible dispensing, minimizing variation between sample replicates and eliminating the potential for manual error. Low-volume automated nanoliter dispensers ensure accuracy of pipetting within volume ranges that are difficult to achieve manually. In addition, they have the ability to potentially expand the range of screening conditions from often limited amounts of valuable sample, as well as reduce the usage of expensive reagents. The ability to accurately dispense lower volumes provides the potential to achieve a greater amount of information than could be otherwise achieved using manual dispensing technology. With the emergence of the field of epigenetics, an increasing number of drug discovery companies are beginning to screen compound libraries against a range of epigenetic targets. This review discusses the potential for the use of low-volume liquid handling robots, for molecular biological applications such as quantitative PCR and epigenetics.

Increasing the applicability of density functional theory. V. X-ray absorption spectra with ionization potential corrected exchange and correlation potentials.

PubMed

Verma, Prakash; Bartlett, Rodney J

2016-07-21

Core excitation energies are computed with time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) using the ionization energy corrected exchange and correlation potential QTP(0,0). QTP(0,0) provides C, N, and O K-edge spectra to about an electron volt. A mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.77 and a maximum error of 2.6 eV is observed for QTP(0,0) for many small molecules. TD-DFT based on QTP (0,0) is then used to describe the core-excitation spectra of the 22 amino acids. TD-DFT with conventional functionals greatly underestimates core excitation energies, largely due to the significant error in the Kohn-Sham occupied eigenvalues. To the contrary, the ionization energy corrected potential, QTP(0,0), provides excellent approximations (MAE of 0.53 eV) for core ionization energies as eigenvalues of the Kohn-Sham equations. As a consequence, core excitation energies are accurately described with QTP(0,0), as are the core ionization energies important in X-ray photoionization spectra or electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis.

Estimating air-drying times of small-diameter ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir logs

Treesearch

William T. Simpson; Xiping Wang

2004-01-01

One potential use for small-diameter ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir timber is in log form. Many potential uses of logs require some degree of drying. Even though these small diameters may be considered small in the forestry context, their size when compared to typical lumber thickness dimensions is large. These logs, however, may require uneconomically long kiln-drying...

Spatiotemporal dynamics of processing nonsymbolic number: an event-related potential source localization study.

PubMed

Hyde, Daniel C; Spelke, Elizabeth S

2012-09-01

Coordinated studies with adults, infants, and nonhuman animals provide evidence for two distinct systems of nonverbal number representation. The "parallel individuation" (PI) system selects and retains information about one to three individual entities and the "numerical magnitude" system establishes representations of the approximate cardinal value of a group. Recent event-related potential (ERP) work has demonstrated that these systems reliably evoke functionally and temporally distinct patterns of brain response that correspond to established behavioral signatures. However, relatively little is known about the neural generators of these ERP signatures. To address this question, we targeted known ERP signatures of these systems, by contrasting processing of small versus large nonsymbolic numbers, and used a source localization algorithm (LORETA) to identify their cortical origins. Early processing of small numbers, showing the signature effects of PI on the N1 (∼150 ms), was localized primarily to extrastriate visual regions. In contrast, qualitatively and temporally distinct processing of large numbers, showing the signatures of approximate number representation on the mid-latency P2p (∼200-250 ms), was localized primarily to right intraparietal regions. In comparison, mid-latency small number processing was localized to the right temporal-parietal junction and left-lateralized intraparietal regions. These results add spatial information to the emerging ERP literature documenting the process by which we represent number. Furthermore, these results substantiate recent claims that early attentional processes determine whether a collection of objects will be represented through PI or as an approximate numerical magnitude by providing evidence that downstream processing diverges to distinct cortical regions. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

OFF-SITE SMARTPHONE VS. STANDARD WORKSTATION IN THE RADIOGRAPHIC DIAGNOSIS OF SMALL INTESTINAL MECHANICAL OBSTRUCTION IN DOGS AND CATS.

PubMed

Noel, Peter G; Fischetti, Anthony J; Moore, George E; Le Roux, Alexandre B

2016-09-01

Off-site consultations by board-certified veterinary radiologists benefit residents and emergency clinicians by providing immediate feedback and potentially improving patient outcome. Smartphone devices and compressed images transmitted by email or text greatly facilitate availability of these off-site consultations. Criticism of a smartphone interface for off-site consultation is mostly directed at image degradation relative to the standard radiographic viewing room and monitors. The purpose of this retrospective, cross-sectional, methods comparison study was to compare the accuracy of abdominal radiographs in two imaging interfaces (Joint Photographic Experts Group, off-site, smartphone vs. Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine, on-site, standard workstation) for the diagnosis of small intestinal mechanical obstruction in vomiting dogs and cats. Two board-certified radiologists graded randomized abdominal radiographs using a five-point Likert scale for the presence of mechanical obstruction in 100 dogs or cats presenting for vomiting. The area under the receiver operator characteristic curves for both imaging interfaces was high. The accuracy of the smartphone and traditional workstation was not statistically significantly different for either reviewer (P = 0.384 and P = 0.536). Correlation coefficients were 0.821 and 0.705 for each reviewer when the same radiographic study was viewed in different formats. Accuracy differences between radiologists were potentially related to years of experience. We conclude that off-site expert consultation with a smartphone provides an acceptable interface for accurate diagnosis of small intestinal mechanical obstruction in dogs and cat. © 2016 American College of Veterinary Radiology.

The utility of injury narratives for prioritising future prevention activities in small and medium enterprises in rural Vietnam.

PubMed

Marucci-Wellman, Helen; Willetts, Joanna L; Diep, Nguyen Bich; Binh, Ta Thi Tuyet

2013-04-01

Injuries are a leading cause of work-related disability and death in rapidly developing countries such as Vietnam. The authors' objective was to demonstrate the utility of detailed injury narratives, derived from a household survey, in providing information on the determinants of work-related injuries to inform potential intervention targets. In a cross-sectional survey administered to 2615 households of a rapidly developing community of Vietnam where many workers engage in both agriculture and industrial work, the authors collected information about self-reported work-related injuries, annual hours worked in each industry and narrative text describing the circumstances of each injury. The authors used a customised coding taxonomy to describe injury scenarios. Several intervention themes emerged, including the implementation of machine guarding, the use of cut resistant gloves and safety glasses which would benefit the small- and medium-sized enterprises. Calculation of incidence rates using full-time equivalents, stratified by work group, provided some unexpected observations of the risks of working in agriculture; workers who work in agriculture in addition to another industry are at an increased risk of fatigue or overexertion and other consequences of working too hard in their agricultural activities. A lack of aggregate injury statistics makes it difficult for the owners of small- and medium-sized enterprises to recognise a priori the most effective safety interventions. This analysis of detailed injury narratives with an appropriate taxonomic basis offers the ability to focus on the level of cause, activity and source and may inform the choice of various potential interventions at the workplace or enterprise level.

Optical aptasensors for quantitative detection of small biomolecules: a review.

PubMed

Feng, Chunjing; Dai, Shuang; Wang, Lei

2014-09-15

Aptasensors are aptamer-based biosensors with excellent recognition capability towards a wide range of targets. Specially, there have been ever-growing interests in the development of aptasensors for the detection of small molecules. This phenomenon is contributed to two reasons. On one hand, small biomolecules play an important role in living organisms with many kinds of biological function, such as antiarrhythmic effect and vasodilator activity of adenosine. On the other hand, the concentration of small molecules can be an indicator for disease diagnosis, for example, the concentration of ATP is closely associated with cell injury and cell viability. As a potential analysis tool in the construction of aptasensors, optical analysis has attracted much more interest of researchers due to its high sensitivity, quick response and simple operation. Besides, it promises the promotion of aptasensors in performance toward a new level. Review the development of optical aptasensors for small biomolecules will give readers an overall understanding of its progress and provide some theoretical guidelines for its future development. Hence, we give a mini-review on the advance of optical aptasensors for small biomolecules. This review focuses on recent achievements in the design of various optical aptasensors for small biomolecules, containing fluorescence aptasensors, colorimetric aptasensors, chemiluminescence aptasensors and other optical aptasensors. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Expanding Horizons: A Pilot Mentoring Program Linking College/Graduate Students and Teens With ASD.

PubMed

Curtin, Carol; Humphrey, Kristin; Vronsky, Kaela; Mattern, Kathryn; Nicastro, Susan; Perrin, Ellen C

2016-02-01

A small pilot program of 9 youth 13 to 18 years old with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or Asperger's syndrome assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of an individualized mentoring program. Youth met weekly for 6 months with trained young adult mentors at a local boys and girls club. Participants reported improvements in self-esteem, social anxiety, and quality of life. Participants, parents, mentors, and staff reported that the program improved participants' social connectedness. Although the pilot study was small, it provides preliminary data that mentoring for youth with ASD has promise for increasing self-esteem, social skills, and quality of life. © The Author(s) 2015.

The Role of Histone Deacetylases in Neurodegenerative Diseases and Small-Molecule Inhibitors as a Potential Therapeutic Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bürli, Roland W.; Thomas, Elizabeth; Beaumont, Vahri

Neurodegenerative disorders are devastating for patients and their social environment. Their etiology is poorly understood and complex. As a result, there is clearly an urgent need for therapeutic agents that slow down disease progress and alleviate symptoms. In this respect, interference with expression and function of multiple gene products at the epigenetic level has offered much promise, and histone deacetylases play a crucial role in these processes. This review presents an overview of the biological pathways in which these enzymes are involved and illustrates the complex network of proteins that governs their activity. An overview of small molecules that interfere with histone deacetylase function is provided.

EXPANDING HORIZONS: A PILOT MENTORING PROGRAM LINKING COLLEGE/GRADUATE STUDENTS AND TEENS WITH ASD

PubMed Central

Curtin, Carol; Humphrey, Kristin; Vronsky, Kaela; Mattern, Kathryn; Nicastro, Susan; Perrin, Ellen C.

2015-01-01

A small pilot program of nine youth ages 13–18 with high functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or Asperger’s syndrome assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of an individualized mentoring program. Youth met weekly for 6 months with trained young adult mentors at a local Boys and Girls Clubs. Participants reported improvements in self-esteem, social anxiety, and quality of life. Participants, parents, mentors, and staff reported that the program improved participants’ social connectedness. While the pilot study was small, it provides preliminary data that mentoring for youth with ASD has promise for increasing self-esteem, social skills, and quality of life. PMID:26016838

Mixed-mode oscillations and interspike interval statistics in the stochastic FitzHugh-Nagumo model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berglund, Nils; Landon, Damien

2012-08-01

We study the stochastic FitzHugh-Nagumo equations, modelling the dynamics of neuronal action potentials in parameter regimes characterized by mixed-mode oscillations. The interspike time interval is related to the random number of small-amplitude oscillations separating consecutive spikes. We prove that this number has an asymptotically geometric distribution, whose parameter is related to the principal eigenvalue of a substochastic Markov chain. We provide rigorous bounds on this eigenvalue in the small-noise regime and derive an approximation of its dependence on the system's parameters for a large range of noise intensities. This yields a precise description of the probability distribution of observed mixed-mode patterns and interspike intervals.

Structural Characterization of the Interaction of the Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor with a Small Molecule Allosteric Inhibitor.

PubMed

Kappert, Franziska; Sreeramulu, Sridhar; Jonker, Hendrik R A; Richter, Christian; Rogov, Vladimir V; Proschak, Ewgenij; Hargittay, Bruno; Saxena, Krishna; Schwalbe, Harald

2018-06-04

The interaction of fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) with their fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs) are important in the signaling network of cell growth and development. SSR128129E (SSR), a ligand of small molecular weight with potential anti-cancer properties, acts allosterically on the extracellular domains of FGFRs. Up to now, the structural basis of SSR binding to the D3 domain of FGFR remained elusive. This work reports the structural characterization of the interaction of SSR with one specific receptor, FGFR3, by NMR spectroscopy. This information provides a basis for rational drug design for allosteric FGFR inhibitors. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Small Scale Irrigation within Water, Energy and Food Nexus Framework in Ethiopia.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerik, T.; Worqlul, A. W.; Yihun, D.; Bizimana, J. C.; Jeong, J.; Schmitter, P.; Srinivasan, R.; Richardson, J. W.; Clark, N.

2017-12-01

This study presents the nexus of food, energy and water framework in the context of small scale irrigation for vegetable production during the dry season in an irrigated agriculture system in Ethiopia. The study is based on detailed data collected in three sites of the Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation (ILSSI) project in Ethiopia. The sites were Robit, Dangishta and Lemo and detailed field data was collected in 18 households in each site. The field data collected includes crop management (such as irrigation amount and dates, fertilizer rates, tillage practices, irrigation technologies, etc.) and agricultural production (crop yield, biomass, etc.) on tomato, onion and cabbage during the dry season. Four different water lifting technologies - namely rope with pulley and bucket, rope and washer pump, solar pump and motor pump - were used for water withdrawal from shallow groundwater wells. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and Agricultural Policy Environmental eXtender (APEX) models were used in an integrated manner to assess water resource potential and develop water use efficiency of vegetables, which is a relationship between amount of water applied and vegetable yield. The water use efficiency for each vegetable crops were translated into energy requirement as pumping hours and potential irrigable areas for the water lifting technologies. This integrated approach was found useful to optimize water and energy use for sustainable food production using small scale irrigation. The holistic approach will not only provide a significant contribution to achieving food self-sufficiency, but will also be effective for optimizing agricultural input. Keyword: small scale irrigation, integrated modeling, water lifting technology, East Africa

Use of dissolved chloride concentrations in tributary streams to support geospatial estimates of Cl contamination potential near Skiatook Lake, northeastern Oklahoma

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rice, C.A.; Abbott, M.M.; Zielinski, R.A.

2007-01-01

Releases of NaCl-rich (>100 000 mg/L) water that is co-produced from petroleum wells can adversely affect the quality of ground and surface waters. To evaluate produced water impacts on lakes, rivers and streams, an assessment of the contamination potential must be attainable using reliable and cost-effective methods. This study examines the feasibility of using geographic information system (GIS) analysis to assess the contamination potential of Cl to Skiatook Lake in the Hominy Creek drainage basin in northeastern Oklahoma. GIS-based predictions of affects of Cl within individual subdrainages are supported by measurements of Cl concentration and discharge in 19 tributaries to Skiatook Lake. Dissolved Cl concentrations measured in October, 2004 provide a snapshot of conditions assumed to be reasonably representative of typical inputs to the lake. Chloride concentrations ranged from 5.8 to 2300 mg/L and compare to a value of 34 mg/L in the lake. At the time of sampling, Hominy Creek provided 63% of the surface water entering the lake and 80% of the Cl load. The Cl load from the other tributaries is relatively small (150 mg/L) were generally in subdrainages with greater well density (>15 wells/km2), relatively large numbers of petroleum wells in close proximity (>2 proximity wells/stream km), and relatively small discharge (<0.005 m3/s). GIS calculations of subdrainage areas can be used to estimate the expected discharge of the tributary for each subdrainage. GIS-based assessment of Cl contamination potential at Skiatook Lake and at other lakes surrounded by oil fields can proceed even when direct measurements of Cl or discharge in tributary streams may be limited or absent.

Generalized Sagdeev potential theory for shock waves modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akbari-Moghanjoughi, M.

2017-05-01

In this paper, we develop an innovative approach to study the shock wave propagation using the Sagdeev potential method. We also present an analytical solution for Korteweg de Vries Burgers (KdVB) and modified KdVB equation families with a generalized form of the nonlinearity term which agrees well with the numerical one. The novelty of the current approach is that it is based on a simple analogy of the particle in a classical potential with the variable particle energy providing one with a deeper physical insight into the problem and can easily be extended to more complex physical situations. We find that the current method well describes both monotonic and oscillatory natures of the dispersive-diffusive shock structures in different viscous fluid configurations. It is particularly important that all essential parameters of the shock structure can be deduced directly from the Sagdeev potential in small and large potential approximation regimes. Using the new method, we find that supercnoidal waves can decay into either compressive or rarefactive shock waves depending on the initial wave amplitude. Current investigation provides a general platform to study a wide range of phenomena related to nonlinear wave damping and interactions in diverse fluids including plasmas.

Primordial black holes from polynomial potentials in single field inflation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hertzberg, Mark P.; Yamada, Masaki

2018-04-01

Within canonical single field inflation models, we provide a method to reverse engineer and reconstruct the inflaton potential from a given power spectrum. This is not only a useful tool to find a potential from observational constraints, but also gives insight into how to generate a large amplitude spike in density perturbations, especially those that may lead to primordial black holes (PBHs). In accord with other works, we find that the usual slow-roll conditions need to be violated in order to generate a significant spike in the spectrum. We find that a way to achieve a very large amplitude spike in single field models is for the classical roll of the inflaton to overshoot a local minimum during inflation. We provide an example of a quintic polynomial potential that implements this idea and leads to the observed spectral index, observed amplitude of fluctuations on large scales, significant PBH formation on small scales, and is compatible with other observational constraints. We quantify how much fine-tuning is required to achieve this in a family of random polynomial potentials, which may be useful to estimate the probability of PBH formation in the string landscape.

Intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury in horses: pathogenesis and therapeutics.

PubMed

Wong, David M; Moore, Rustin M; Brockus, Charles W

2012-08-01

This article discusses the potential role of oxidative injury to the intestinal tract of horses and the therapeutic approaches that have been investigated to decrease cellular damage secondary to ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury. Equine colic is a major concern for horse owners and veterinary practitioners. Strangulating and obstructive lesions of the small and large intestines commonly require intervention in patients via exploratory celiotomy. However, the application of information from experimentally induced IR injury in horses to clinical cases of naturally occurring equine colic is not clear. Thus, while the exact mechanisms and clinical significance of intestinal IR are being defined and may be matters of academic debate, a review of the available information may provide knowledge of potential underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms contributing to intestinal injury in equine colic. This information may allow clinicians to offer additional therapeutic strategies for horses with strangulating obstruction of the small or large intestine. Further clinical study of the therapeutic options for horses with naturally occurring disease is warranted.

Is there room for all of us? Renewable energy and Xerospermophilus mohavensis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Inman, Richard D.; Esque, Todd C.; Nussear, Kenneth E.; Leitner, Philip; Matocq, Marjorie D.; Weisberg, Peter J.; Dilts, Tomas E.; Vandergast, Amy G.

2013-01-01

Mohave ground squirrels Xerospermophilus mohavensis Merriam are small ground-dwelling rodents that have a highly restricted range in the northwest Mojave Desert, California, USA. Their small natural range is further reduced by habitat loss from agriculture, urban development, military training and recreational activities. Development of wind and solar resources for renewable energy has the potential to further reduce existing habitat. We used maximum entropy habitat models with observation data to describe current potential habitat in the context of future renewable energy development in the region. While 16% of historic habitat has been impacted by, or lost to, urbanization at present, an additional 10% may be affected by renewable energy development in the near future. Our models show that X. mohavensis habitat suitability is higher in areas slated for renewable energy development than in surrounding areas. We provide habitat maps that can be used to develop sampling designs, evaluate conservation corridors and inform development planning in the region.

An Analysis of Military Disability Compensation

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-01-01

injured in the workplace. The study also compares the civilian labor market outcomes of disabled retirees with those of similar other retirees who are not...earning potential in the civilian sector. This study shows small differences in labor market outcomes (participation and earnings) between disabled and...encouragement of this study . Robert Tinney of the Defense Manpower Data Center provided valuable advice and informa- tion about the 2003 Survey of Retired

Estimating individual tree leaf area in loblolly pine plantations using LiDAR-derived measurments of height and crown dimensions

Treesearch

Scott D. Roberts; Thomas J. Dean; David L. Evans; John W. McCombs; Richard L. Harrington; Partick A. Glass

2005-01-01

Accurate estimates of leaf area index (LAI) could provide useful information to forest managers, but due to difficulties in measurement, leaf area is rarely used in decision-making. A reliable approach to remotely estimating LA1 would greatly facilitate its use in forest management. This study investigated the potential for using small-footprint iDAR, a laser-based...

Oceanic Chemistry and Biology Group (ONR Code 422CB) Program Science Report, FY 81,

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-03-01

instruments to provide the tools needed by the marine chemical conmunity to address small scale length features and rapidly f evolving phenomena. Underway...Through a combined application of field and laboratory studies an attempt is being made to identify the marine abiotic processes which are potentially...Biodeterioration Dissolved Organics Particulate Matter Bioluminescence HEBBLE Sediment Traps Bioturbation Marine Biology STIE Boring Organisms Marine Chemistry

Density-Difference-Driven Optimized Embedding Potential Method To Study the Spectroscopy of Br₂ in Water Clusters.

PubMed

Roncero, Octavio; Aguado, Alfredo; Batista-Romero, Fidel A; Bernal-Uruchurtu, Margarita I; Hernández-Lamoneda, Ramón

2015-03-10

A variant of the density difference driven optimized embedding potential (DDD-OEP) method, proposed by Roncero et al. (J. Chem. Phys. 2009, 131, 234110), has been applied to the calculation of excited states of Br2 within small water clusters. It is found that the strong interaction of Br2 with the lone electronic pair of the water molecules makes necessary to optimize specific embedding potentials for ground and excited electronic states, separately and using the corresponding densities. Diagnosis and convergence studies are presented with the aim of providing methods to be applied for the study of chromophores in solution. Also, some preliminary results obtained for the study of electronic states of Br2 in clathrate cages are presented.

Nanosail-D: The Small Satellite That Could!

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alhorn, Dean C.; Casas, Joseph P.; Agasid, Elwood F.; Adams, Charles L.; Laue, Greg; Kitts, Christopher; O'Brien, Sue

2011-01-01

Three years from its initial design review, NanoSail-D successfully deployed its sail on January 20th, 2011. It became the first solar sail vehicle to orbit the earth and the second sail ever unfurled in space. The NanoSail-D mission had two main objectives: eject a nanosatellite from a microsatellite; deploy its sail from a highly compacted volume and low mass system to validate large structure deployment and potential de-orbit technologies. These objectives were successfully achieved and the de-orbit analysis is in process. This paper presents an overview of the NanoSail-D project and insights into how potential setbacks were overcome. Many lessons have been learned during these past three years and are discussed in light of the phenomenal success and interest that this small satellite has generated. NanoSail-D was jointly designed and built by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and NASA's Ames Research Center. ManTech/NeXolve Corporation also provided key sail design support. The NanoSail-D experiment is managed by Marshall and jointly sponsored by the Army Space and Missile Defense Command, the Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation and Dynetics Inc. Ground operations support was provided by Santa Clara University, with radio beacon packets received from amateur operators around the world.

The Translational Role of Diffusion Tensor Image Analysis in Animal Models of Developmental Pathologies

PubMed Central

Oguz, Ipek; McMurray, Matthew S.; Styner, Martin; Johns, Josephine M.

2013-01-01

Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DTI) has proven itself a powerful technique for clinical investigation of the neurobiological targets and mechanisms underlying developmental pathologies. The success of DTI in clinical studies has demonstrated its great potential for understanding translational animal models of clinical disorders, and preclinical animal researchers are beginning to embrace this new technology to study developmental pathologies. In animal models, genetics can be effectively controlled, drugs consistently administered, subject compliance ensured, and image acquisition times dramatically increased to reduce between-subject variability and improve image quality. When pairing these strengths with the many positive attributes of DTI, such as the ability to investigate microstructural brain organization and connectivity, it becomes possible to delve deeper into the study of both normal and abnormal development. The purpose of this review is to provide new preclinical investigators with an introductory source of information about the analysis of data resulting from small animal DTI studies to facilitate the translation of these studies to clinical data. In addition to an in depth review of translational analysis techniques, we present a number of relevant clinical and animal studies using DTI to investigate developmental insults in order to further illustrate techniques and to highlight where small animal DTI could potentially provide a wealth of translational data to inform clinical researchers. PMID:22627095

Small-wind-systems application analysis. Technical report and executive summary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1981-06-01

A small wind energy conversion systems (SWECS) analysis was conducted to estimate the potential market for SWEC, or wind machines smaller than 100 kW for five selected applications. The goals were to aid manufacturers in attaining financing by convincing venture capital investors of the potential of SWECS and to aid government planners in allocating R and D expenditures that will effectively advance SWECS commercialization. Based on these goals, the study: (1) provides a basis for assisting the DOE in planning R and D programs that will advance the state of SWECS industry; (2) quantifies estimates of market size vs. installed system cost to enable industry to plan expansion of capacity and product lines; (3) identifies marketing strategies for industry to use in attaining financing from investors and in achieving sales goals; and (4) provides DOE with data that will assist in determining actions, incentives, and/or legislation required to achieve a commercially viable SWECS industry. The five applications were selected through an initial screening and priority-ranking analysis. The year of analysis was 1985, but all dollar amounts, such as fuel costs, are expressed in 1980 dollars. The five SWECS applications investigated were farm residences, non-farm residences, rural electric cooperatives, feed grinders, and remote communities.

Complementary methods to plan pedestrian evacuation of the French Riviera's beaches in case of tsunami threat: graph- and multi-agent-based modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahal, A.; Leone, F.; Péroche, M.

2013-07-01

Small amplitude tsunamis have impacted the French Mediterranean shore (French Riviera) in the past centuries. Some caused casualties; others only generated economic losses. While the North Atlantic and Mediterranean tsunami warning system is being tested and is almost operational, no awareness and preparedness measure is being implemented at a local scale. Evacuation is to be considered along the French Riviera, but no plan exists within communities. We show that various approaches can provide local stakeholders with evacuation capacities assessments to develop adapted evacuation plans through the case study of the Cannes-Antibes region. The complementarity between large- and small-scale approaches is demonstrated with the use of macro-simulators (graph-based) and micro-simulators (multi-agent-based) to select shelter points and choose evacuation routes for pedestrians located on the beach. The first one allows automatically selecting shelter points and measuring and mapping their accessibility. The second one shows potential congestion issues during pedestrian evacuations, and provides leads for the improvement of urban environment. Temporal accessibility to shelters is compared to potential local and distal tsunami travel times, showing a 40 min deficit for an adequate crisis management in the first scenario, and a 30 min surplus for the second one.

Could Better Phenotyping Small Vessel Disease Provide New Insights into Alzheimer Disease and Improve Clinical Trial Outcomes?

PubMed

Marnane, Michael; Hsiung, Ging-Yuek R

2016-01-01

Alzheimer Disease (AD) is the most common primary cause of dementia with a burgeoning epidemic as life expectancy and general medical care improve worldwide. Recent data from pathologic studies has shown that the cooccurrence of other neurodegenerative and vascular pathologies is in fact the rule rather than the exception. In late onset AD, cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is almost invariably co-existent to a greater or lesser extent and is known to promote cognitive deterioration. Previous observational studies and clinical trials have largely sought to divide dementia based on predominant neurodegenerative or vascular mechanisms. Given the high degree of overlap, findings from such studies may be difficult to interpret and apply to population cohorts. Additionally opportunities may be lost for uncovering novel interventions that target interactions between co-existent vascular and neurodegenerative pathologies. In the current review, we consider potential pathophysiologic mechanisms through which SVD may be associated with and promote AD pathology. In particular we explore shared environmental and genetic associations and how these may converge via neuroinflammatory pathways potentially providing novel therapeutic targets. SVD has heterogenous manifestations on cerebral imaging and at pathology. We discuss how studying SVD topography may enable us to better identify those at risk for more rapid cognitive decline and improve future clinical trial design.

Roles of urea and TMAO on the interaction between extended non-polar peptides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Zhaoqian; Dias, Cristiano

Urea and trimethylamine n-oxide (TMAO) are small molecules known to destabilize and stabilize, respectively, the structure of proteins when added to aqueous solution. To unravel the molecular mechanisms of these cosolvents on protein structure we perform explicit all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of extended poly-alanine and polyleucine dimers. We use an umbrella sampling protocol to compute the potential of mean force (PMF) of dimers at different concentrations of urea and TMAO. We find that the large non-polar side chain of leucine is affected by urea whereas backbone atoms and alanine's side chain are not. Urea is found to occupy positions between leucine's side chains that are not accessible to water. This accounts for extra Lennard-Jones bonds between urea and side chains that favors the unfolded state. These bonds compete with urea-solvent interactions that favor the folded state. The sum of these two energetic terms provide the enthalpic driving force for unfolding. We show here that this enthalpy correlate with the potential of mean force of poly-leucine dimers. Moreover, the framework developed here is general and may be used to provide insights into effects of other small molecules on protein interactions. The effect of the TMAO will be in the presentation. Department of Physics, University Heights, Newark, New Jersey, 07102-1982.

Protection Against Lethal Marburg Virus Infection Mediated by Lipid Encapsulated Small Interfering RNA

PubMed Central

Ursic-Bedoya, Raul; Mire, Chad E.; Robbins, Marjorie; Geisbert, Joan B.; Judge, Adam; MacLachlan, Ian; Geisbert, Thomas W.

2014-01-01

Background. Marburg virus (MARV) infection causes severe morbidity and mortality in humans and nonhuman primates. Currently, there are no licensed therapeutics available for treating MARV infection. Here, we present the in vitro development and in vivo evaluation of lipid-encapsulated small interfering RNA (siRNA) as a potential therapeutic for the treatment of MARV infection. Methods. The activity of anti-MARV siRNAs was assessed using dual luciferase reporter assays followed by in vitro testing against live virus. Lead candidates were tested in lethal guinea pig models of 3 different MARV strains (Angola, Ci67, Ravn). Results. Treatment resulted in 60%–100% survival of guinea pigs infected with MARV. Although treatment with siRNA targeting other MARV messenger RNA (mRNA) had a beneficial effect, targeting the MARV NP mRNA resulted in the highest survival rates. NP-718m siRNA in lipid nanoparticles provided 100% protection against MARV strains Angola and Ci67, and 60% against Ravn. A cocktail containing NP-718m and NP-143m provided 100% protection against MARV Ravn. Conclusions. These data show protective efficacy against the most pathogenic Angola strain of MARV. Further development of the lipid nanoparticle technology has the potential to yield effective treatments for MARV infection. PMID:23990568

Lesion location and cognitive impact of cerebral small vessel disease.

PubMed

Biesbroek, J Matthijs; Weaver, Nick A; Biessels, Geert Jan

2017-04-25

Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is an important cause of cognitive impairment. Important MRI manifestations of SVD include white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and lacunes. This narrative review addresses the role of anatomical lesion location in the impact of SVD on cognition, integrating findings from early autopsy studies with emerging findings from recent studies with advanced image analysis techniques. Early autopsy and imaging studies of small case series indicate that single lacunar infarcts in, for example the thalamus, caudate nucleus or internal capsule can cause marked cognitive impairment. However, the findings of such case studies may not be generalizable. Emerging location-based image analysis approaches are now being applied to large cohorts. Recent studies show that WMH burden in strategic white matter tracts, such as the forceps minor or anterior thalamic radiation (ATR), is more relevant in explaining variance in cognitive functioning than global WMH volume. These findings suggest that the future diagnostic work-up of memory clinic patients could potentially be improved by shifting from a global assessment of WMH and lacune burden towards a quantitative assessment of lesion volumes within strategic brain regions. In this review, a summary of currently known strategic regions for SVD-related cognitive impairment is provided, highlighting recent technical developments in SVD research. The potential and challenges of location-based approaches for diagnostic purposes in clinical practice are discussed, along with their potential prognostic and therapeutic applications. © 2017 The Author(s). published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

Design flood hydrograph estimation procedure for small and fully-ungauged basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grimaldi, S.; Petroselli, A.

2013-12-01

The Rational Formula is the most applied equation in practical hydrology due to its simplicity and the effective compromise between theory and data availability. Although the Rational Formula is affected by several drawbacks, it is reliable and surprisingly accurate considering the paucity of input information. However, after more than a century, the recent computational, theoretical, and large-scale monitoring progresses compel us to try to suggest a more advanced yet still empirical procedure for estimating peak discharge in small and ungauged basins. In this contribution an alternative empirical procedure (named EBA4SUB - Event Based Approach for Small and Ungauged Basins) based on the common modelling steps: design hyetograph, rainfall excess, and rainfall-runoff transformation, is described. The proposed approach, accurately adapted for the fully-ungauged basin condition, provides a potentially better estimation of the peak discharge, a design hydrograph shape, and, most importantly, reduces the subjectivity of the hydrologist in its application.

Pre-clinical evaluation of small molecule LOXL2 inhibitors in breast cancer

PubMed Central

Chang, Joan; Lucas, Morghan C.; Leonte, Lidia E.; Garcia-Montolio, Marc; Singh, Lukram Babloo; Findlay, Alison D.; Deodhar, Mandar; Foot, Jonathan S.; Jarolimek, Wolfgang; Timpson, Paul; Erler, Janine T.; Cox, Thomas R.

2017-01-01

Lysyl Oxidase-like 2 (LOXL2), a member of the lysyl oxidase family of amine oxidases is known to be important in normal tissue development and homeostasis, as well as the onset and progression of solid tumors. Here we tested the anti-tumor properties of two generations of novel small molecule LOXL2 inhibitor in the MDA-MB-231 human model of breast cancer. We confirmed a functional role for LOXL2 activity in the progression of primary breast cancer. Inhibition of LOXL2 activity inhibited the growth of primary tumors and reduced primary tumor angiogenesis. Dual inhibition of LOXL2 and LOX showed a greater effect and also led to a lower overall metastatic burden in the lung and liver. Our data provides the first evidence to support a role for LOXL2 specific small molecule inhibitors as a potential therapy in breast cancer. PMID:28199967

Identification of a small molecule that inhibits herpes simplex virus DNA Polymerase subunit interactions and viral replication.

PubMed

Pilger, Beatrice D; Cui, Can; Coen, Donald M

2004-05-01

The interaction between the catalytic subunit Pol and the processivity subunit UL42 of herpes simplex virus DNA polymerase has been characterized structurally and mutationally and is a potential target for novel antiviral drugs. We developed and validated an assay for small molecules that could disrupt the interaction of UL42 and a Pol-derived peptide and used it to screen approximately 16,000 compounds. Of 37 "hits" identified, four inhibited UL42-stimulated long-chain DNA synthesis by Pol in vitro, of which two exhibited little inhibition of polymerase activity by Pol alone. One of these specifically inhibited the physical interaction of Pol and UL42 and also inhibited viral replication at concentrations below those that caused cytotoxic effects. Thus, a small molecule can inhibit this protein-protein interaction, which provides a starting point for the discovery of new antiviral drugs.

A novel role for bioactive lipids in stem cell mobilization during cardiac ischemia

PubMed Central

Nagareddy, Prabhakara R.; Asfour, Ahmed; Klyachkin, Yuri M.; Abdel-Latif, Ahmed

2014-01-01

Despite major advances in pharmacological and reperfusion therapies, regenerating and/or replacing the infarcted myocardial tissue is an enormous challenge and therefore ischemic heart disease (IHD) remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Adult bone marrow is home for a variety of hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic stem cells including a small subset of primitive cells that carry a promising regenerative potential. It is now well established that myocardial ischemia (MI) induces mobilization of bone marrow-derived cells including differentiated lineage as well as undifferentiated stem cells. While the numbers of stem cells carrying pluripotent features among the mobilized stem cells is small, their regenerative capacity appears immense. Therapies aimed at selective mobilization of these pluripotent stem cells during myocardial ischemia have a promising potential to regenerate the injured myocardium. Emerging evidence suggest that bioactive sphingolipids such as sphingosine-1 phosphate and ceramide-1 phosphate hold a great promise in selective mobilization of pluripotent stem cells to the infarcted region during MI. This review highlights the recent advances in the mechanisms of stem cell mobilization and provides newer evidence in support of bioactive lipids as potential therapeutic agents in the treatment of ischemic heart disease. PMID:24318213

Metabolomic applications in radiation biodosimetry: exploring radiation effects through small molecules.

PubMed

Pannkuk, Evan L; Fornace, Albert J; Laiakis, Evagelia C

2017-10-01

Exposure of the general population to ionizing radiation has increased in the past decades, primarily due to long distance travel and medical procedures. On the other hand, accidental exposures, nuclear accidents, and elevated threats of terrorism with the potential detonation of a radiological dispersal device or improvised nuclear device in a major city, all have led to increased needs for rapid biodosimetry and assessment of exposure to different radiation qualities and scenarios. Metabolomics, the qualitative and quantitative assessment of small molecules in a given biological specimen, has emerged as a promising technology to allow for rapid determination of an individual's exposure level and metabolic phenotype. Advancements in mass spectrometry techniques have led to untargeted (discovery phase, global assessment) and targeted (quantitative phase) methods not only to identify biomarkers of radiation exposure, but also to assess general perturbations of metabolism with potential long-term consequences, such as cancer, cardiovascular, and pulmonary disease. Metabolomics of radiation exposure has provided a highly informative snapshot of metabolic dysregulation. Biomarkers in easily accessible biofluids and biospecimens (urine, blood, saliva, sebum, fecal material) from mouse, rat, and minipig models, to non-human primates and humans have provided the basis for determination of a radiation signature to assess the need for medical intervention. Here we provide a comprehensive description of the current status of radiation metabolomic studies for the purpose of rapid high-throughput radiation biodosimetry in easily accessible biofluids and discuss future directions of radiation metabolomics research.

Reward and punishment hyposensitivity in problem gamblers: A study of event-related potentials using a principal components analysis.

PubMed

Lole, Lisa; Gonsalvez, Craig J; Barry, Robert J

2015-07-01

To investigate whether the latent neural correlates of incentive processing differ between problem gamblers (PGs) and healthy controls (HCs). Event-related potential (ERP) data were derived while 16 PGs and 20 HCs played a computer electronic gaming machine (EGM) task. Psychophysiological responses to outcomes commonly encountered during EGM gambling, including Large wins, Small wins, Near-wins, and Losses, were examined using a spatiotemporal principal components analysis (PCA). Subjects also completed questionnaires that assessed their levels of impulsivity, attraction to appetitive stimuli, and avoidance of aversive stimuli. Losses elicited a feedback-related negativity (FRN), whereas wins elicited a feedback-related positivity (FRP) at the same latency and topography. PGs exhibited both attenuated FRN amplitudes following Losses and FRP amplitudes following Wins. Greater P3b amplitudes were found following Wins compared to Losses. FRN amplitudes following Near-wins were significantly reduced compared to Losses for both PGs and HCs. Trends for reduced P3b amplitudes following all outcome types, and for similar P3b amplitudes following Large and Small wins, were found for the PG group. We provide evidence that PGs are hyposensitive to both positive and negative outcomes. The finding that PGs are hyposensitive to reward and punishment provides valuable insight into the nature of deficit in this disorder, and provides a foundation for future research and clinical interventions. Copyright © 2014 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA IN NERVE

PubMed Central

Shanes, Abraham M.

1949-01-01

The action of a number of agents, which may be classified as "stabilizers" and "unstabilizers" on the electrical oscillations and after-potentials in the squid giant axon has been examined. The effects on the spike, "positive overshoot," and "potassium potential" were also observed, but where possible concentrations were employed which left these phenomena unaltered. Veratrine augmented the oscillations and the negative after-potential, particularly with repetitive stimulation. Yohimbine caused a small long lasting positive after-potential and depressed the oscillations, effects also enhanced with repetitive activity. Cocaine and procaine suppressed the oscillations and the negative after-potential but DDT was completely inert. An elevation in the medium calcium depressed the oscillations and the naturally occurring negative after-potential; negative after-potentials induced with veratrine were increased by calcium. A decrease in the potassium augmented the oscillations and the negative after-potential. A hypothesis is presented in which these effects are interpreted in terms of potassium concentration at the fiber surface as regulated by a labile permeability and metabolism. This is discussed in relation to the available evidence for these factors. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the author's indebtedness to Dr. D. E. S. Brown, Director, and to his staff at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research for the cooperation and special facilities provided during the initiation of this work. Dr. T. Baylor of Princeton University very kindly provided the camera and film used in Bermuda. PMID:18139008

Benefits of Group Foraging Depend on Prey Type in a Small Marine Predator, the Little Penguin.

PubMed

Sutton, Grace J; Hoskins, Andrew J; Arnould, John P Y

2015-01-01

Group foraging provides predators with advantages in over-powering prey larger than themselves or in aggregating small prey for efficient exploitation. For group-living predatory species, cooperative hunting strategies provide inclusive fitness benefits. However, for colonial-breeding predators, the benefit pay-offs of group foraging are less clear due to the potential for intra-specific competition. We used animal-borne cameras to determine the prey types, hunting strategies, and success of little penguins (Eudyptula minor), a small, colonial breeding air-breathing marine predator that has recently been shown to display extensive at-sea foraging associations with conspecifics. Regardless of prey type, little penguins had a higher probability of associating with conspecifics when hunting prey that were aggregated than when prey were solitary. In addition, success was greater when individuals hunted schooling rather than solitary prey. Surprisingly, however, success on schooling prey was similar or greater when individuals hunted on their own than when with conspecifics. These findings suggest individuals may be trading-off the energetic gains of solitary hunting for an increased probability of detecting prey within a spatially and temporally variable prey field by associating with conspecifics.

On the shear instability in relativistic neutron stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corvino, Giovanni; Rezzolla, Luciano; Bernuzzi, Sebastiano; De Pietri, Roberto; Giacomazzo, Bruno

2010-06-01

We present new results on instabilities in rapidly and differentially rotating neutron stars. We model the stars in full general relativity and describe the stellar matter adopting a cold realistic equation of state based on the unified SLy prescription (Douchin and Haensel 2001 Astron. Astrophys. 380 151-67). We provide evidence that rapidly and differentially rotating stars that are below the expected threshold for the dynamical bar-mode instability, βc ≡ T/|W| ~= 0.25, do nevertheless develop a shear instability on a dynamical timescale and for a wide range of values of β. This class of instability, which has so far been found only for small values of β and with very small growth rates, is therefore more generic than previously found and potentially more effective in producing strong sources of gravitational waves. Overall, our findings support the phenomenological predictions made by Watts et al (2005 Astrophys. J. 618 L37) on the nature of the low-T/|W| instability as the manifestation of a shear instability in a region where the latter is possible only for small values of β. Furthermore, our results provide additional insight on shear instabilities and on the necessary conditions for their development.

Small RNA Transcriptome of Hibiscus Syriacus Provides Insights into the Potential Influence of microRNAs in Flower Development and Terpene Synthesis.

PubMed

Kim, Taewook; Park, June Hyun; Lee, Sang-Gil; Kim, Soyoung; Kim, Jihyun; Lee, Jungho; Shin, Chanseok

2017-08-01

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are essential small RNA molecules that regulate the expression of target mRNAs in plants and animals. Here, we aimed to identify miRNAs and their putative targets in Hibiscus syriacus , the national flower of South Korea. We employed high-throughput sequencing of small RNAs obtained from four different tissues ( i.e. , leaf, root, flower, and ovary) and identified 33 conserved and 30 novel miRNA families, many of which showed differential tissue-specific expressions. In addition, we computationally predicted novel targets of miRNAs and validated some of them using 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends analysis. One of the validated novel targets of miR477 was a terpene synthase, the primary gene involved in the formation of disease-resistant terpene metabolites such as sterols and phytoalexins. In addition, a predicted target of conserved miRNAs, miR396, is SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE , which is involved in flower initiation and is duplicated in H. syriacus . Collectively, this study provides the first reliable draft of the H. syriacus miRNA transcriptome that should constitute a basis for understanding the biological roles of miRNAs in H. syriacus.

Expanding the host range of small insect RNA viruses: Providence virus (Carmotetraviridae) infects and replicates in a human tissue culture cell line.

PubMed

Jiwaji, Meesbah; Short, James Roswell; Dorrington, Rosemary Ann

2016-10-01

Tetraviruses are small, positive (+ve)-sense ssRNA viruses that infect the midgut cells of lepidopteran larvae. Providence virus (PrV) is the only member of the family Carmotetraviridae (previously Tetraviridae). PrV particles exhibit the characteristic tetraviral T=4 icosahedral symmetry, but PrV is distinct from other tetraviruses with respect to genome organization and viral non-structural proteins. Currently, PrV is the only tetravirus known to infect and replicate in lepidopteran cell culture lines. In this report we demonstrate, using immunofluorescence microscopy, that PrV infects and replicates in a human tissue culture cell line (HeLa), producing infectious virus particles. We also provide evidence for PrV replication in vitro in insect, mammalian and plant cell-free systems. This study challenges the long-held view that tetraviruses have a narrow host range confined to one or a few lepidopteran species and highlights the need to consider the potential for apparently non-infectious viruses to be transferred to new hosts in the laboratory.

Effects of Epidermal Growth Factor-Loaded Mucoadhesive Films on Wounded Oral Tissue Rafts

PubMed Central

Ramineni, Sandeep K.; Fowler, Craig B.; Fisher, Paul D.; Cunningham, Larry L.; Puleo, David A.

2015-01-01

Current treatments for traumatic oral mucosal wounds include the gold standard of autologous tissue and alternative tissue engineered grafts. While use of autografts has disadvantages of minimal availability of oral keratinized tissue, second surgery, and donor site discomfort, tissue engineered grafts are limited by their unavailability as off-the-shelf products owing to their fabrication time of 4–8 weeks. Hence, the current work aimed to develop a potentially cost-effective, readily available device capable of enhancing native mucosal regeneration. Considering the key role of epidermal growth factor (EGF) in promoting mucosal wound regeneration and the advantages of mucoadhesive delivery systems, mucoadhesive films composed of polyvinylpyrrolidone and carboxymethylcellulose were developed to provide sustained release of EGF for minimum of 6 hours. Bioactivity of released EGF supernatants was then confirmed by its ability to promote proliferation of BALB/3T3 fibroblasts. Efficacy of the developed system was then investigated in vitro using buccal tissues (ORL 300-FT) as a potential replacement for small animal studies. Although the mucoadhesive films achieved their desired role of delivering bioactive EGF in a sustained manner, treatment with EGF, irrespective of its release from the films or solubilized in medium, caused a hyperparakeratotic response from in vitro tissues with distinguishable histological features including thickening of the spinous layer, intra- and intercellular edema, and pyknotic nuclei. These significant morphological changes were associated with no improvements in wound closure. These observations raise questions about the potential of using in vitro tissues as a wound healing model and substitute for small animal studies. The mucoadhesive delivery system developed, however, with its potential for sustained release of bioactive growth factors and small molecules, may be loaded with other desired compounds, with or without EGF, to accelerate the process of wound healing. PMID:25729882

Alpha-Synuclein: From Early Synaptic Dysfunction to Neurodegeneration.

PubMed

Ghiglieri, Veronica; Calabrese, Valeria; Calabresi, Paolo

2018-01-01

Over the last two decades, many experimental and clinical studies have provided solid evidence that alpha-synuclein (α-syn), a small, natively unfolded protein, is closely related to Parkinson's disease (PD) pathology. To provide an overview on the different roles of this protein, here we propose a synopsis of seminal and recent studies that explored the many aspects of α-syn. Ranging from the physiological functions to its neurodegenerative potential, the relationship with the possible pathogenesis of PD will be discussed. Close attention will be paid on early cellular and molecular alterations associated with the presence of α-syn aggregates.

Near-term high potential counties for SWECS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osborn, W. C.; Downey, W. T.

1981-02-01

Up-to-date market information to manufacturers of small wind energy conversion system (SWECS) to assist them in developing marketing strategies for their products are provided. The data are arranged in a format that permits rapid identification of a particular location or market segment for further investigation. Extensive backup information by state and county in state SWECS Market reports are appended. It is suggested that the information are useful to SWECS manufacturers for planning new marketing and advertising activities. Background information essential to market studies is synthesized and an initial framework to start such a study is provided.

Small and big Hodgkin-Reed-Sternberg cells of Hodgkin lymphoma cell lines L-428 and L-1236 lack consistent differences in gene expression profiles and are capable to reconstitute each other.

PubMed

Rengstl, Benjamin; Kim, Sooji; Döring, Claudia; Weiser, Christian; Bein, Julia; Bankov, Katrin; Herling, Marco; Newrzela, Sebastian; Hansmann, Martin-Leo; Hartmann, Sylvia

2017-01-01

The hallmark of classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is the presence of giant, mostly multinucleated Hodgkin-Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells. Whereas it has recently been shown that giant HRS cells evolve from small Hodgkin cells by incomplete cytokinesis and re-fusion of tethered sister cells, it remains unsolved why this phenomenon particularly takes place in this lymphoma and what the differences between these cell types of variable sizes are. The aim of the present study was to characterize microdissected small and giant HRS cells by gene expression profiling and to assess differences of clonal growth behavior as well as susceptibility toward cytotoxic intervention between these different cell types to provide more insight into their distinct cellular potential. Applying stringent filter criteria, only two differentially expressed genes between small and giant HRS cells, SHFM1 and LDHB, were identified. With looser filter criteria, 13 genes were identified to be differentially overexpressed in small compared to giant HRS cells. These were mainly related to energy metabolism and protein synthesis, further suggesting that small Hodgkin cells resemble the proliferative compartment of cHL. SHFM1, which is known to be involved in the generation of giant cells, was downregulated in giant RS cells at the RNA level. However, reduced mRNA levels of SHFM1, LDHB and HSPA8 did not translate into decreased protein levels in giant HRS cells. In cell culture experiments it was observed that the fraction of small and big HRS cells was adjusted to the basic level several days after enrichment of these populations via cell sorting, indicating that small and big HRS cells can reconstitute the full spectrum of cells usually observed in the culture. However, assessment of clonal growth of HRS cells indicated a significantly reduced potential of big HRS cells to form single cell colonies. Taken together, our findings pinpoint to strong similarities but also some differences between small and big HRS cells.

FINAL REPORT: DOE CONTRACT NUMBER FG0205ER64026 Biological Neutron Scattering: A Collaboration with the Oak Ridge Center for Structural Molecular Biology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Trewhella, Jill

2011-01-12

The overarching goal of this project was to promote applications of small-angle scattering in structural molecular biology by providing model examples of cutting edge applications that demonstrate the unique capabilities and potential of the DOE national user facilities at Oak Ridge, especially the newly commissioned BioSANS. The approach taken was three-fold: (1) to engage in high impact collaborative research projects that would benefit from small-angle neutron scattering to both demonstrate the power of the technique while expanding the potential user community; (2) to provide access to scattering facilities established at the University of Utah to as broad a set ofmore » researchers as possible to increase the expertise in small-angle scattering generally; and (3) to develop new methods and tools for small-angle scattering. To these ends, three major research collaborations were pursued that resulted in a significant body of published work where neutron scattering and contrast variation played a major role. These major collaborations involved studies of protein complexes involved in (1) bacterial transcription regulation and adaptive response (a DOE/BER priority area); (2) regulation of cardiac muscle; and (3) neuronal disorders. In addition, to broaden the impact of the project, smaller collaborative efforts were supported that used either small-angle X-ray or neutron scattering. Finally, the DOE supported facilities at the University of Utah were made available to researchers on a service basis and a number of independent groups took advantage of this opportunity. In all of this work, there was an emphasis on the training of students and post docs in scattering techniques, and a set of publications (a book chapter, a review, and an encyclopedia article) were produced to guide the non-specialist potential user of scattering techniques in successful applications of the techniques. We also developed a suite of user friendly web-based computational tools currently being accessed world-wide by researchers as an aid in neutron scattering data interpretation. In all, these collaborative projects and resulted in 29 original refereed journal articles published between 2005 and 2010 and engaged groups from at least 14 Universities (10 US, 4 international) and 3 National Laboratories (2 US, 1 international). An important final initiative from this project was to begin a process for international community agreement on a set of standards for the publication of biomolecular small-angle scattering data. This initiative is being championed with the International Union of Crystallography and has engaged a number of Journal Editors and is a very important step in the maturing of this now burgeoning field.« less

Generically large nongaussianity in small multifield inflation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bramante, Joseph

If forthcoming measurements of cosmic photon polarization restrict the primordial tensor-to-scalar ratio to r<0.01, small field inflation will be a principal candidate for the origin of the universe. Here we show that small multifield inflation, without the hybrid mechanism, typically results in large squeezed nongaussianity. Small multifield potentials contain multiple flat field directions, often identified with the gauge invariant field directions in supersymmetric potentials. We find that unless these field directions have equal slopes, large nongaussianity arises. After identifying relevant differences between large and small two-field potentials, we demonstrate that the latter naturally fulfill the Byrnes-Choi-Hall large nongaussianity conditions. Computationsmore » of the primordial power spectrum, spectral index, and squeezed bispectrum, reveal that small two-field models which otherwise match observed primordial perturbations, produce excludably large nongaussianity if the inflatons’ field directions have unequal slopes.« less

Generically large nongaussianity in small multifield inflation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bramante, Joseph, E-mail: josephbramante@gmail.com

If forthcoming measurements of cosmic photon polarization restrict the primordial tensor-to-scalar ratio to r < 0.01, small field inflation will be a principal candidate for the origin of the universe. Here we show that small multifield inflation, without the hybrid mechanism, typically results in large squeezed nongaussianity. Small multifield potentials contain multiple flat field directions, often identified with the gauge invariant field directions in supersymmetric potentials. We find that unless these field directions have equal slopes, large nongaussianity arises. After identifying relevant differences between large and small two-field potentials, we demonstrate that the latter naturally fulfill the Byrnes-Choi-Hall large nongaussianity conditions. Computationsmore » of the primordial power spectrum, spectral index, and squeezed bispectrum, reveal that small two-field models which otherwise match observed primordial perturbations, produce excludably large nongaussianity if the inflatons' field directions have unequal slopes.« less

Improving small-angle X-ray scattering data for structural analyses of the RNA world

PubMed Central

Rambo, Robert P.; Tainer, John A.

2010-01-01

Defining the shape, conformation, or assembly state of an RNA in solution often requires multiple investigative tools ranging from nucleotide analog interference mapping to X-ray crystallography. A key addition to this toolbox is small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). SAXS provides direct structural information regarding the size, shape, and flexibility of the particle in solution and has proven powerful for analyses of RNA structures with minimal requirements for sample concentration and volumes. In principle, SAXS can provide reliable data on small and large RNA molecules. In practice, SAXS investigations of RNA samples can show inconsistencies that suggest limitations in the SAXS experimental analyses or problems with the samples. Here, we show through investigations on the SAM-I riboswitch, the Group I intron P4-P6 domain, 30S ribosomal subunit from Sulfolobus solfataricus (30S), brome mosaic virus tRNA-like structure (BMV TLS), Thermotoga maritima asd lysine riboswitch, the recombinant tRNAval, and yeast tRNAphe that many problems with SAXS experiments on RNA samples derive from heterogeneity of the folded RNA. Furthermore, we propose and test a general approach to reducing these sample limitations for accurate SAXS analyses of RNA. Together our method and results show that SAXS with synchrotron radiation has great potential to provide accurate RNA shapes, conformations, and assembly states in solution that inform RNA biological functions in fundamental ways. PMID:20106957

Reliability and cost evaluation of small isolated power systems containing photovoltaic and wind energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karki, Rajesh

Renewable energy application in electric power systems is growing rapidly worldwide due to enhanced public concerns for adverse environmental impacts and escalation in energy costs associated with the use of conventional energy sources. Photovoltaics and wind energy sources are being increasingly recognized as cost effective generation sources. A comprehensive evaluation of reliability and cost is required to analyze the actual benefits of utilizing these energy sources. The reliability aspects of utilizing renewable energy sources have largely been ignored in the past due the relatively insignificant contribution of these sources in major power systems, and consequently due to the lack of appropriate techniques. Renewable energy sources have the potential to play a significant role in the electrical energy requirements of small isolated power systems which are primarily supplied by costly diesel fuel. A relatively high renewable energy penetration can significantly reduce the system fuel costs but can also have considerable impact on the system reliability. Small isolated systems routinely plan their generating facilities using deterministic adequacy methods that cannot incorporate the highly erratic behavior of renewable energy sources. The utilization of a single probabilistic risk index has not been generally accepted in small isolated system evaluation despite its utilization in most large power utilities. Deterministic and probabilistic techniques are combined in this thesis using a system well-being approach to provide useful adequacy indices for small isolated systems that include renewable energy. This thesis presents an evaluation model for small isolated systems containing renewable energy sources by integrating simulation models that generate appropriate atmospheric data, evaluate chronological renewable power outputs and combine total available energy and load to provide useful system indices. A software tool SIPSREL+ has been developed which generates risk, well-being and energy based indices to provide realistic cost/reliability measures of utilizing renewable energy. The concepts presented and the examples illustrated in this thesis will help system planners to decide on appropriate installation sites, the types and mix of different energy generating sources, the optimum operating policies, and the optimum generation expansion plans required to meet increasing load demands in small isolated power systems containing photovoltaic and wind energy sources.

CubeSat Launch Initiative Overview and CubeSat 101

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Higginbotham, Scott

2017-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recognizes the tremendous potential that CubeSats (very small satellites) have to inexpensively demonstrate advanced technologies, collect scientific data, and enhance student engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) was created to provide launch opportunities for CubeSats developed by academic institutions, non-profit entities, and NASA centers. This presentation will provide an overview of the CSLI, its benefits, and its results. This presentation will also provide high level CubeSat 101 information for prospective CubeSat developers, describing the development process from concept through mission operations while highlighting key points that developers need to be mindful of.

Augmented reality cube game for cognitive training: an interaction study.

PubMed

Boletsis, Costas; Mccallum, Simon

2014-01-01

There is the potential that cognitive activity may delay cognitive decline in people with mild cognitive impairment. Games provide both cognitive challenge and motivation for repeated use, a prerequisite for long lasting effect. Recent advances in technology introduce several new interaction methods, potentially leading to more efficient, personalized cognitive gaming experiences. In this paper, we present an Augmented Reality (AR) cognitive training game, utilizing cubes as input tools, and we test the cube interaction with a pilot study. The results of the study revealed the marker occlusion problem, and that novice AR users can adjust to the developed AR environment after a small number of sessions.

Environmental cleaning and disinfection.

PubMed

Traverse, Michelle; Aceto, Helen

2015-03-01

The guidelines in this article provide veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and veterinary health care workers with an overview of evidence-based recommendations for the best practices associated with environmental cleaning and disinfection of a veterinary clinic that deals with small animals. Hospital-associated infections and the control and prevention programs necessary to alleviate them are addressed from an environmental perspective. Measures of hospital cleaning and disinfection include understanding mechanisms and types of contamination in veterinary settings, recognizing areas of potential concern, addressing appropriate decontamination techniques and selection of disinfectants, the management of potentially contaminated equipment, laundry, and waste management, and environmental surveillance strategies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The catheter hub disinfection cap as esophageal foreign body.

PubMed

Tawfik, Kareem O; Myer, Charles M; Shikary, Tasneem; Goldschneider, Kenneth R

2015-12-01

Disinfection caps are increasingly being used to prevent catheter-associated bloodstream infections. These devices, designed for continuous passive disinfection of catheter hubs, are typically small and often brightly colored. As such, they have the potential to become pediatric airway and esophageal foreign bodies. We report two patients who developed esophageal foreign body following ingestion of disinfection caps. Given the increasing use of these devices, it is imperative that health care providers be aware of this potential iatrogenic problem. We propose that the use of disinfection caps may not be appropriate in pediatric patients with risk factors for foreign body ingestion. © 2015 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Systematic Sustainability Assessment (SSA) Tool for Hydroelectric Project in Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina

2017-08-01

Sustainably developed and managed hydropower has enormous potential to contribute to global sustainability goals. It is known that hydroelectricity contributing small amounts to greenhouse gas emissions and other atmospheric pollutants. However, developing the remaining hydroelectric potential offers many challenges, and public pressure and expectations on the environmental and social performance of hydroelectric tend to increase over time. This paper aims to develop Systematic Sustainability Assessment (SSA) Tool that promotes and guides more sustainable hydroelectric projects in the context of Malaysia. The proposed SSA tool which not only provide a quality and quantitative report of sustainability performance but also act as Self-Assessment Report (SAR) to provide roadmap to achieve greater level of sustainability in project management for continuous improvement. It is expected to provide a common language that allow government, civil society, financial institutions and the hydroelectric sector to talk about and evaluate sustainability issues. The advantage of SSA tool is it can be used at any stage of hydroelectric development, from the earliest planning stages right through to operation.

Primary Care Integration of Psychiatric and Behavioral Health Services: A Primer for Providers and Case Report of Local Implementation.

PubMed

Guerrero, Anthony Ps; Takesue, Cori L; Medeiros, Jared Hn; Duran, Aileen A; Humphry, Joseph W; Lunsford, Ryan M; Shaw, Diana V; Fukuda, Michael H; Hishinuma, Earl S

2017-06-01

Mental health conditions are common, disabling, potentially life-threatening, and costly; however, they are mostly treatable with early detection and intervention. Unfortunately, mental healthcare is in significantly short supply both nationally and locally, and particularly in small, rural, and relatively isolated communities. This article provides physicians and other health practitioners with a primer on the basic rationale and principles of integrating behavioral healthcare - particularly psychiatric specialty care - in primary care settings, including effective use of teleconferencing. Referring to a local-based example, this paper describes the programmatic components (universal screening, telephone availability, mutually educational team rounds, as-needed consultations, etc) that operationalize and facilitate successful primary care integration, and illustrates how these elements are applied to population segments with differing needs for behavioral healthcare involvement. Lastly, the article discusses the potential value of primary care integration in promoting quality, accessibility, and provider retention; discusses how new developments in healthcare financing could enhance the sustainability of primary care integration models; and summarizes lessons learned.

Biological Insights From 108 Schizophrenia-Associated Genetic Loci

PubMed Central

Ripke, Stephan; Neale, Benjamin M; Corvin, Aiden; Walters, James TR; Farh, Kai-How; Holmans, Peter A; Lee, Phil; Bulik-Sullivan, Brendan; Collier, David A; Huang, Hailiang; Pers, Tune H; Agartz, Ingrid; Agerbo, Esben; Albus, Margot; Alexander, Madeline; Amin, Farooq; Bacanu, Silviu A; Begemann, Martin; Belliveau, Richard A; Bene, Judit; Bergen, Sarah E; Bevilacqua, Elizabeth; Bigdeli, Tim B; Black, Donald W; Bruggeman, Richard; Buccola, Nancy G; Buckner, Randy L; Byerley, William; Cahn, Wiepke; Cai, Guiqing; Campion, Dominique; Cantor, Rita M; Carr, Vaughan J; Carrera, Noa; Catts, Stanley V; Chambert, Kimberley D; Chan, Raymond CK; Chan, Ronald YL; Chen, Eric YH; Cheng, Wei; Cheung, Eric FC; Chong, Siow Ann; Cloninger, C Robert; Cohen, David; Cohen, Nadine; Cormican, Paul; Craddock, Nick; Crowley, James J; Curtis, David; Davidson, Michael; Davis, Kenneth L; Degenhardt, Franziska; Del Favero, Jurgen; Demontis, Ditte; Dikeos, Dimitris; Dinan, Timothy; Djurovic, Srdjan; Donohoe, Gary; Drapeau, Elodie; Duan, Jubao; Dudbridge, Frank; Durmishi, Naser; Eichhammer, Peter; Eriksson, Johan; Escott-Price, Valentina; Essioux, Laurent; Fanous, Ayman H; Farrell, Martilias S; Frank, Josef; Franke, Lude; Freedman, Robert; Freimer, Nelson B; Friedl, Marion; Friedman, Joseph I; Fromer, Menachem; Genovese, Giulio; Georgieva, Lyudmila; Giegling, Ina; Giusti-Rodríguez, Paola; Godard, Stephanie; Goldstein, Jacqueline I; Golimbet, Vera; Gopal, Srihari; Gratten, Jacob; de Haan, Lieuwe; Hammer, Christian; Hamshere, Marian L; Hansen, Mark; Hansen, Thomas; Haroutunian, Vahram; Hartmann, Annette M; Henskens, Frans A; Herms, Stefan; Hirschhorn, Joel N; Hoffmann, Per; Hofman, Andrea; Hollegaard, Mads V; Hougaard, David M; Ikeda, Masashi; Joa, Inge; Julià, Antonio; Kahn, René S; Kalaydjieva, Luba; Karachanak-Yankova, Sena; Karjalainen, Juha; Kavanagh, David; Keller, Matthew C; Kennedy, James L; Khrunin, Andrey; Kim, Yunjung; Klovins, Janis; Knowles, James A; Konte, Bettina; Kucinskas, Vaidutis; Kucinskiene, Zita Ausrele; Kuzelova-Ptackova, Hana; Kähler, Anna K; Laurent, Claudine; Lee, Jimmy; Lee, S Hong; Legge, Sophie E; Lerer, Bernard; Li, Miaoxin; Li, Tao; Liang, Kung-Yee; Lieberman, Jeffrey; Limborska, Svetlana; Loughland, Carmel M; Lubinski, Jan; Lönnqvist, Jouko; Macek, Milan; Magnusson, Patrik KE; Maher, Brion S; Maier, Wolfgang; Mallet, Jacques; Marsal, Sara; Mattheisen, Manuel; Mattingsdal, Morten; McCarley, Robert W; McDonald, Colm; McIntosh, Andrew M; Meier, Sandra; Meijer, Carin J; Melegh, Bela; Melle, Ingrid; Mesholam-Gately, Raquelle I; Metspalu, Andres; Michie, Patricia T; Milani, Lili; Milanova, Vihra; Mokrab, Younes; Morris, Derek W; Mors, Ole; Murphy, Kieran C; Murray, Robin M; Myin-Germeys, Inez; Müller-Myhsok, Bertram; Nelis, Mari; Nenadic, Igor; Nertney, Deborah A; Nestadt, Gerald; Nicodemus, Kristin K; Nikitina-Zake, Liene; Nisenbaum, Laura; Nordin, Annelie; O’Callaghan, Eadbhard; O’Dushlaine, Colm; O’Neill, F Anthony; Oh, Sang-Yun; Olincy, Ann; Olsen, Line; Van Os, Jim; Pantelis, Christos; Papadimitriou, George N; Papiol, Sergi; Parkhomenko, Elena; Pato, Michele T; Paunio, Tiina; Pejovic-Milovancevic, Milica; Perkins, Diana O; Pietiläinen, Olli; Pimm, Jonathan; Pocklington, Andrew J; Powell, John; Price, Alkes; Pulver, Ann E; Purcell, Shaun M; Quested, Digby; Rasmussen, Henrik B; Reichenberg, Abraham; Reimers, Mark A; Richards, Alexander L; Roffman, Joshua L; Roussos, Panos; Ruderfer, Douglas M; Salomaa, Veikko; Sanders, Alan R; Schall, Ulrich; Schubert, Christian R; Schulze, Thomas G; Schwab, Sibylle G; Scolnick, Edward M; Scott, Rodney J; Seidman, Larry J; Shi, Jianxin; Sigurdsson, Engilbert; Silagadze, Teimuraz; Silverman, Jeremy M; Sim, Kang; Slominsky, Petr; Smoller, Jordan W; So, Hon-Cheong; Spencer, Chris C A; Stahl, Eli A; Stefansson, Hreinn; Steinberg, Stacy; Stogmann, Elisabeth; Straub, Richard E; Strengman, Eric; Strohmaier, Jana; Stroup, T Scott; Subramaniam, Mythily; Suvisaari, Jaana; Svrakic, Dragan M; Szatkiewicz, Jin P; Söderman, Erik; Thirumalai, Srinivas; Toncheva, Draga; Tosato, Sarah; Veijola, Juha; Waddington, John; Walsh, Dermot; Wang, Dai; Wang, Qiang; Webb, Bradley T; Weiser, Mark; Wildenauer, Dieter B; Williams, Nigel M; Williams, Stephanie; Witt, Stephanie H; Wolen, Aaron R; Wong, Emily HM; Wormley, Brandon K; Xi, Hualin Simon; Zai, Clement C; Zheng, Xuebin; Zimprich, Fritz; Wray, Naomi R; Stefansson, Kari; Visscher, Peter M; Adolfsson, Rolf; Andreassen, Ole A; Blackwood, Douglas HR; Bramon, Elvira; Buxbaum, Joseph D; Børglum, Anders D; Cichon, Sven; Darvasi, Ariel; Domenici, Enrico; Ehrenreich, Hannelore; Esko, Tõnu; Gejman, Pablo V; Gill, Michael; Gurling, Hugh; Hultman, Christina M; Iwata, Nakao; Jablensky, Assen V; Jönsson, Erik G; Kendler, Kenneth S; Kirov, George; Knight, Jo; Lencz, Todd; Levinson, Douglas F; Li, Qingqin S; Liu, Jianjun; Malhotra, Anil K; McCarroll, Steven A; McQuillin, Andrew; Moran, Jennifer L; Mortensen, Preben B; Mowry, Bryan J; Nöthen, Markus M; Ophoff, Roel A; Owen, Michael J; Palotie, Aarno; Pato, Carlos N; Petryshen, Tracey L; Posthuma, Danielle; Rietschel, Marcella; Riley, Brien P; Rujescu, Dan; Sham, Pak C; Sklar, Pamela; St Clair, David; Weinberger, Daniel R; Wendland, Jens R; Werge, Thomas; Daly, Mark J; Sullivan, Patrick F; O’Donovan, Michael C

2014-01-01

Summary Schizophrenia is a highly heritable disorder. Genetic risk is conferred by a large number of alleles, including common alleles of small effect that might be detected by genome-wide association studies. Here, we report a multi-stage schizophrenia genome-wide association study of up to 36,989 cases and 113,075 controls. We identify 128 independent associations spanning 108 conservatively defined loci that meet genome-wide significance, 83 of which have not been previously reported. Associations were enriched among genes expressed in brain providing biological plausibility for the findings. Many findings have the potential to provide entirely novel insights into aetiology, but associations at DRD2 and multiple genes involved in glutamatergic neurotransmission highlight molecules of known and potential therapeutic relevance to schizophrenia, and are consistent with leading pathophysiological hypotheses. Independent of genes expressed in brain, associations were enriched among genes expressed in tissues that play important roles in immunity, providing support for the hypothesized link between the immune system and schizophrenia. PMID:25056061

Implementation of a boundary element method to solve for the near field effects of an array of WECs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oskamp, J. A.; Ozkan-Haller, H. T.

2010-12-01

When Wave Energy Converters (WECs) are installed, they affect the shoreline wave climate by removing some of the wave energy which would have reached the shore. Before large WEC projects are launched, it is important to understand the potential coastal impacts of these installations. The high cost associated with ocean scale testing invites the use of hydrodynamic models to play a major role in estimating these effects. In this study, a wave structure interaction program (WAMIT) is used to model an array of WECs. The program predicts the wave field throughout the array using a boundary element method to solve the potential flow fluid problem, taking into account the incident waves, the power dissipated, and the way each WEC moves and interacts with the others. This model is appropriate for a small domain near the WEC array in order to resolve the details in the interactions, but not extending to the coastline (where the far-field effects must be assessed). To propagate these effects to the coastline, the waves leaving this small domain will be used as boundary conditions for a larger model domain which will assess the shoreline effects caused by the array. The immediate work is concerned with setting up the WAMIT model for a small array of point absorbers. A 1:33 scale lab test is planned and will provide data to validate the WAMIT model on this small domain before it is nested with the larger domain to estimate shoreline effects.

Overview of GX launch services by GALEX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Koji; Kondou, Yoshirou

2006-07-01

Galaxy Express Corporation (GALEX) is a launch service company in Japan to develop a medium size rocket, GX rocket and to provide commercial launch services for medium/small low Earth orbit (LEO) and Sun synchronous orbit (SSO) payloads with a future potential for small geo-stationary transfer orbit (GTO). It is GALEX's view that small/medium LEO/SSO payloads compose of medium scaled but stable launch market due to the nature of the missions. GX rocket is a two-stage rocket of well flight proven liquid oxygen (LOX)/kerosene booster and LOX/liquid natural gas (LNG) upper stage. This LOX/LNG propulsion under development by Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is robust with comparable performance as other propulsions and have future potential for wider application such as exploration programs. GX rocket is being developed through a joint work between the industries and GX rocket is applying a business oriented approach in order to realize competitive launch services for which well flight proven hardware and necessary new technology are to be introduced as much as possible. It is GALEX's goal to offer “Easy Access to Space”, a highly reliable and user-friendly launch services with a competitive price. GX commercial launch will start in Japanese fiscal year (JFY) 2007 2008.

Chemical structure and morphology of dorsal root ganglion neurons from naive and inflamed mice.

PubMed

Barabas, Marie E; Mattson, Eric C; Aboualizadeh, Ebrahim; Hirschmugl, Carol J; Stucky, Cheryl L

2014-12-05

Fourier transform infrared spectromicroscopy provides label-free imaging to detect the spatial distribution of the characteristic functional groups in proteins, lipids, phosphates, and carbohydrates simultaneously in individual DRG neurons. We have identified ring-shaped distributions of lipid and/or carbohydrate enrichment in subpopulations of neurons which has never before been reported. These distributions are ring-shaped within the cytoplasm and are likely representative of the endoplasmic reticulum. The prevalence of chemical ring subtypes differs between large- and small-diameter neurons. Peripheral inflammation increased the relative lipid content specifically in small-diameter neurons, many of which are nociceptive. Because many small-diameter neurons express an ion channel involved in inflammatory pain, transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1), we asked whether this increase in lipid content occurs in TRPA1-deficient (knock-out) neurons. No statistically significant change in lipid content occurred in TRPA1-deficient neurons, indicating that the inflammation-mediated increase in lipid content is largely dependent on TRPA1. Because TRPA1 is known to mediate mechanical and cold sensitization that accompanies peripheral inflammation, our findings may have important implications for a potential role of lipids in inflammatory pain. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for Vermont

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vanacore, J.

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in Vermont the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obtaining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for New Hampshire

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wersan, D.; O'Connell, J.

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1979 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in New Hampshire the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obtaining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for Massachusetts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vanacore, J.

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in Massachusetts the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obtaining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for Oregon

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vanacore, J.; Forbes, K.

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in Oregon the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obtaining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for New York

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in New York the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obtaining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for Georgia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in Georgia the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obtaining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for the Tennessee Valley Authority

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wersan, D.; Dabuliewicz, J.

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in the Tennessee Valley Region the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obtaining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for Virginia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in Virginia the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obtaining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for Montana

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baker, C.

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in Montana the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obtaining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for North Carolina

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Whitelaw, J.; Getz, T.B.

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in North Carolina the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obtaining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for Maine

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

O'Connell, J.

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in Maine the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obtaining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for Arkansas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in Arkansas the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obtaining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for Colorado

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in Colorado the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obtaining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for Pennsylvania

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in Pennsylvania the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obtaining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for Connecticut

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

O'Connell, J.

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in Connecticut the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obatining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Developer handbook for Section 210 of PURPA for Rhode Island

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meyer, D.; Vanacore, J.

The essential element of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) for developers is a reordering by Congress of the relationship between electric utilities and small power producers. The goal of PURPA is to encourage development of alternative sources of electricity by helping small power production become economically viable. The strategy adopted by Congress for encouraging development has two main components. First, the utility must purchase the power produced by a project meeting certain definitional requirements; and second, the utility must pay a price for the power, determined in accordance with guidelines set out in the FERC regulations.more » This handbook is designed to explain to developers in Rhode Island the requirements of PURPA, including: who may qualify for treatment as a facility that may invoke the mandates of PURPA; the impact of PURPA on the state; the role of the state utility commission and the impact of state laws on the developer. Thus, the primary goal of the handbook is to provide potential small producers with a working understanding of their status and rights vis a vis the state utility commissions and electric utilities, and to aid the potential developer in obtaining the information needed to stimulate further research and development.« less

Market Assessment of Biomass Gasification and Combustion Technology for Small- and Medium-Scale Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peterson, D.; Haase, S.

2009-07-01

This report provides a market assessment of gasification and direct combustion technologies that use wood and agricultural resources to generate heat, power, or combined heat and power (CHP) for small- to medium-scale applications. It contains a brief overview of wood and agricultural resources in the U.S.; a description and discussion of gasification and combustion conversion technologies that utilize solid biomass to generate heat, power, and CHP; an assessment of the commercial status of gasification and combustion technologies; a summary of gasification and combustion system economics; a discussion of the market potential for small- to medium-scale gasification and combustion systems; andmore » an inventory of direct combustion system suppliers and gasification technology companies. The report indicates that while direct combustion and close-coupled gasification boiler systems used to generate heat, power, or CHP are commercially available from a number of manufacturers, two-stage gasification systems are largely in development, with a number of technologies currently in demonstration. The report also cites the need for a searchable, comprehensive database of operating combustion and gasification systems that generate heat, power, or CHP built in the U.S., as well as a national assessment of the market potential for the systems.« less

Functional recordings from awake, behaving rodents through a microchannel based regenerative neural interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gore, Russell K.; Choi, Yoonsu; Bellamkonda, Ravi; English, Arthur

2015-02-01

Objective. Neural interface technologies could provide controlling connections between the nervous system and external technologies, such as limb prosthetics. The recording of efferent, motor potentials is a critical requirement for a peripheral neural interface, as these signals represent the user-generated neural output intended to drive external devices. Our objective was to evaluate structural and functional neural regeneration through a microchannel neural interface and to characterize potentials recorded from electrodes placed within the microchannels in awake and behaving animals. Approach. Female rats were implanted with muscle EMG electrodes and, following unilateral sciatic nerve transection, the cut nerve was repaired either across a microchannel neural interface or with end-to-end surgical repair. During a 13 week recovery period, direct muscle responses to nerve stimulation proximal to the transection were monitored weekly. In two rats repaired with the neural interface, four wire electrodes were embedded in the microchannels and recordings were obtained within microchannels during proximal stimulation experiments and treadmill locomotion. Main results. In these proof-of-principle experiments, we found that axons from cut nerves were capable of functional reinnervation of distal muscle targets, whether regenerating through a microchannel device or after direct end-to-end repair. Discrete stimulation-evoked and volitional potentials were recorded within interface microchannels in a small group of awake and behaving animals and their firing patterns correlated directly with intramuscular recordings during locomotion. Of 38 potentials extracted, 19 were identified as motor axons reinnervating tibialis anterior or soleus muscles using spike triggered averaging. Significance. These results are evidence for motor axon regeneration through microchannels and are the first report of in vivo recordings from regenerated motor axons within microchannels in a small group of awake and behaving animals. These unique findings provide preliminary evidence that efferent, volitional motor potentials can be recorded from the microchannel-based peripheral neural interface; a critical requirement for any neural interface intended to facilitate direct neural control of external technologies.

Value of in vivo electrophysiological measurements to evaluate canine small bowel autotransplants.

PubMed Central

Meijssen, M A; Heineman, E; de Bruin, R W; Veeze, H J; Bijman, J; de Jonge, H R; ten Kate, F J; Marquet, R L; Molenaar, J C

1991-01-01

This study aimed to develop a non-invasive method for in vivo measurement of the transepithelial potential difference in the canine small bowel and to evaluate this parameter in small bowel autotransplants. In group 0 (control group, n = 4), two intestinal loops were created without disturbing their vascular, neural, and lymphatic supplies. In group I (successful autotransplants, n = 11), two heterotopic small bowel loops were constructed. Long term functional sequelae of vascular, neural, and lymphatic division were studied. Group II (n = 6) consisted of dogs with unsuccessful autotransplants suffering thrombosis of the vascular anastomosis, which resulted in ischaemic small bowel autografts. In group I, values of spontaneous transepithelial potential difference, an index of base line active electrolyte transport, were significantly lower compared with group 0 (p less than 0.05), probably as a result of denervation of the autotransplants. Both theophylline and glucose stimulated potential difference responses, measuring cyclic adenosine monophosphate mediated chloride secretion and sodium coupled glucose absorption respectively, showed negative luminal values in group I at all time points after transplantation. These transepithelial potential difference responses diminished progressively with time. From day 21 onwards both theophylline and glucose stimulated potential difference responses were significantly less than the corresponding responses at day seven (p less than 0.05). Morphometric analysis showed that the reduction of transepithelial potential difference responses preceded degenerative mucosal changes in the heterotopic small bowel autografts. In group II, potential difference responses to theophylline and glucose showed positive luminal values (p<0.01 v group I), probably as a result of passive potassium effusion from necrotic enterocytes. Images Figure 3 PMID:1752464

Recreational Small Boat Moorage Study: Puget Sound and Adjacent Waters, State of Washington

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-10-01

pro - tection is normally required. Additional floats at established marinas will, in most instances- be sufficient to supply the needs of the...others. Information is provided on pleasure boat dwership; wet and dry moorage supply ; and demand for permanent, teppar y, and transient summer and...and 4 cover moorage supply and demand, respectively, while potential marina sites are con- sidered in chapter 5 and boat launching facilities in

Civilian Health Insurance Options of Military Retirees: Findings from a Pilot Survey

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

while providing important information, was a pilot study with a small sample size. Understanding the potential impact of an increase in TRICARE...that relies on TRICARE—even if they do not currently use TRICARE—is relevant from an actuarial standpoint. Nonusers who view TRICARE as their...primary source of health insurance coverage will pose an actuarial risk if they become unhealthy in the future. Purpose of This Report This report

Optimizing a liquid propellant rocket engine with an automated combustor design code (AUTOCOM)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hague, D. S.; Reichel, R. H.; Jones, R. T.; Glatt, C. R.

1972-01-01

A procedure for automatically designing a liquid propellant rocket engine combustion chamber in an optimal fashion is outlined. The procedure is contained in a digital computer code, AUTOCOM. The code is applied to an existing engine, and design modifications are generated which provide a substantial potential payload improvement over the existing design. Computer time requirements for this payload improvement were small, approximately four minutes in the CDC 6600 computer.

Structure-activity relationships in beta-defensin peptides.

PubMed

Taylor, Karen; Barran, Perdita E; Dorin, Julia R

2008-01-01

The beta-defensins comprise a large family of small cationic antimicrobial peptides widely distributed in plants, mammals and insects. These cysteine rich peptides display multifunctional properties with implications as potential therapeutic agents. Recent research has highlighted their role in both the innate and adaptive immune systems as well as being novel melanocortin ligands. Studies investigating structure and function provide an insight into the molecular basis of their immunological properties. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

21st Century Small Unit Leaders: Developing the Ultimate Smart Power Weapon

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-06-17

potential threat.53 Proxemics can also be used to identify key leaders and persons of interest by understanding the concepts of adoration, mimicry ...group becoming silent or providing their undivided attention when an individual speaks would be an example of adoration. Mimicry is when one...tomato packing plant in Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Incorporating over 10 years of research, the IIT was built by the Office of

Small unmanned aerial vehicles (micro-UAVs, drones) in plant ecology.

PubMed

Cruzan, Mitchell B; Weinstein, Ben G; Grasty, Monica R; Kohrn, Brendan F; Hendrickson, Elizabeth C; Arredondo, Tina M; Thompson, Pamela G

2016-09-01

Low-elevation surveys with small aerial drones (micro-unmanned aerial vehicles [UAVs]) may be used for a wide variety of applications in plant ecology, including mapping vegetation over small- to medium-sized regions. We provide an overview of methods and procedures for conducting surveys and illustrate some of these applications. Aerial images were obtained by flying a small drone along transects over the area of interest. Images were used to create a composite image (orthomosaic) and a digital surface model (DSM). Vegetation classification was conducted manually and using an automated routine. Coverage of an individual species was estimated from aerial images. We created a vegetation map for the entire region from the orthomosaic and DSM, and mapped the density of one species. Comparison of our manual and automated habitat classification confirmed that our mapping methods were accurate. A species with high contrast to the background matrix allowed adequate estimate of its coverage. The example surveys demonstrate that small aerial drones are capable of gathering large amounts of information on the distribution of vegetation and individual species with minimal impact to sensitive habitats. Low-elevation aerial surveys have potential for a wide range of applications in plant ecology.

Sensory Neuropathy Due to Loss of Bcl-w

PubMed Central

Courchesne, Stephanie L.; Karch, Christoph; Pazyra-Murphy, Maria F.; Segal, Rosalind A.

2010-01-01

Small fiber sensory neuropathy is a common disorder in which progressive degeneration of small diameter nociceptors causes decreased sensitivity to thermal stimuli and painful sensations in the extremities. In the majority of patients, the cause of small fiber sensory neuropathy is unknown, and treatment options are limited. Here, we show that Bcl-w (Bcl-2l2) is required for the viability of small fiber nociceptive sensory neurons. Bcl-w −/− mice demonstrate an adult-onset progressive decline in thermosensation and a decrease in nociceptor innervation of the epidermis. This denervation occurs without cell body loss, indicating that lack of Bcl-w results in a primary axonopathy. Consistent with this phenotype, we show that Bcl-w, in contrast to the closely related Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, is enriched in axons of sensory neurons and that Bcl-w prevents the dying back of axons. Bcl-w −/− sensory neurons exhibit mitochondrial abnormalities, including alterations in axonal mitochondrial size, axonal mitochondrial membrane potential, and cellular ATP levels. Collectively, these data establish bcl-w −/− mice as an animal model of small fiber sensory neuropathy, and provide new insight regarding the role of bcl-w and of mitochondria in preventing axonal degeneration. PMID:21289171

Small molecules as therapy for uveitis: a selected perspective of new and developing agents.

PubMed

Pleyer, Uwe; Algharably, Engi Abdel-Hady; Feist, Eugen; Kreutz, Reinhold

2017-09-01

Intraocular inflammation (uveitis) remains a significant burden of legal blindness. Because of its immune mediated and chronic recurrent nature, common therapy includes corticosteroids, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and more recently biologics as immune modulatory agents. The purpose of this article is to identify the role of new treatment approaches focusing on small molecules as therapeutic option in uveitis. Areas covered: A MEDLINE database search was conducted through February 2017 using the terms 'uveitis' and 'small molecule'. To provide ongoing and future perspectives in treatment options, also clinical trials as registered at ClinicalTrials.gov were included. Both, results from experimental as well as clinical research in this field were included. Since this field is rapidly evolving, a selection of promising agents had to be made. Expert opinion: Small molecules may interfere at different steps of the inflammatory cascade and appear as an interesting option in the treatment algorithm of uveitis. Because of their highly targeted molecular effects and their favorable bioavailability with the potential of topical application small molecules hold great promise. Nevertheless, a careful evaluation of these agents has to be made, since current experience is almost exclusively based on experimental uveitis models and few registered trials.

Adapting environmental function analysis for management of protected areas in small islands--case of Pico Island (the Azores).

PubMed

Calado, Helena; Bragagnolo, Chiara; Silva, Susana; Vergílio, Marta

2016-04-15

Protected areas (PAs) are considered key priorities for ensuring long-term sustainability of small islands. The traditional approach of conservation versus development is currently being replaced by an approach of "win-win" relationships. During the last decades PAs have been increasingly requested to simultaneously ensure biodiversity conservation, mainstream ecosystem services into main development policies, and accounting for leisure-related revenues to sustain local and regional economies. Following this new paradigm, the Smartparks project (Planning and Management System for Small Islands Protected Areas), encompassing this study, aimed at an innovative approach for supporting the management of PAs in small islands. In this study, we propose a methodology based on Environmental Functional Analyses (EFA) to compare the potential for conservation and the potential for use of PAs that can be used not only on small islands but also in other territories. For this purpose, a set of environmental and socio-economic components was defined and selected indicators describing each component to calculate conservation and use/development functions of PAs were established. Pico Island, in the Azores archipelago (Portugal), was selected as the case study for testing the methodology. The EFA for all PAs of Pico Island was performed identifying those with more potential for conservation or for development of human activities, and also those with high levels of conflict. A total of 34 indicators was applied (assigning a value from 1 to 3) to the 22 PAs composing the INP of Pico Island: 44% were scored with a value of 1, in both ecological and social components; 22% and 29% were scored 3 in ecological and social components respectively. Social indicators were generally considered less important than environmental ones. In general, PAs presented higher values for conservation. The results further show that the potential for conservation and/or development was consistent with the IUCN category and the objectives assigned to each PA at the time of its classification. However, most PAs are located in the conflict zone of the EFA matrix, revealing a high interaction between PAs conservation objectives and human activities, which brings concern to decision makers and PAs managers. Despite several limitations, the method allowed the performances of PAs to be compared, providing a suitable tool to support rapid assessments and monitoring of PA networks in small islands. The adaptation of the EFA to the PA domain traces a new path for estimating the multiple values of PAs and it may contribute to improve PA management and decision-making. The method could be further included as part of scenario exercise and adaptive management, supporting the prediction of the future evolution of PAs and assessing their potential for conservation in the future throughout the proposed indicators. Thus, the methodology is not exclusive for small islands contexts and, with necessary adaptations and rescaling, it could be a powerful tool in PAs network management worldwide. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Oasis 2: improved online analysis of small RNA-seq data.

PubMed

Rahman, Raza-Ur; Gautam, Abhivyakti; Bethune, Jörn; Sattar, Abdul; Fiosins, Maksims; Magruder, Daniel Sumner; Capece, Vincenzo; Shomroni, Orr; Bonn, Stefan

2018-02-14

Small RNA molecules play important roles in many biological processes and their dysregulation or dysfunction can cause disease. The current method of choice for genome-wide sRNA expression profiling is deep sequencing. Here we present Oasis 2, which is a new main release of the Oasis web application for the detection, differential expression, and classification of small RNAs in deep sequencing data. Compared to its predecessor Oasis, Oasis 2 features a novel and speed-optimized sRNA detection module that supports the identification of small RNAs in any organism with higher accuracy. Next to the improved detection of small RNAs in a target organism, the software now also recognizes potential cross-species miRNAs and viral and bacterial sRNAs in infected samples. In addition, novel miRNAs can now be queried and visualized interactively, providing essential information for over 700 high-quality miRNA predictions across 14 organisms. Robust biomarker signatures can now be obtained using the novel enhanced classification module. Oasis 2 enables biologists and medical researchers to rapidly analyze and query small RNA deep sequencing data with improved precision, recall, and speed, in an interactive and user-friendly environment. Oasis 2 is implemented in Java, J2EE, mysql, Python, R, PHP and JavaScript. It is freely available at https://oasis.dzne.de.

An assessment of change in risk perception and optimistic bias for hurricanes among Gulf Coast residents.

PubMed

Trumbo, Craig; Meyer, Michelle A; Marlatt, Holly; Peek, Lori; Morrissey, Bridget

2014-06-01

This study focuses on levels of concern for hurricanes among individuals living along the Gulf Coast during the quiescent two-year period following the exceptionally destructive 2005 hurricane season. A small study of risk perception and optimistic bias was conducted immediately following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Two years later, a follow-up was done in which respondents were recontacted. This provided an opportunity to examine changes, and potential causal ordering, in risk perception and optimistic bias. The analysis uses 201 panel respondents who were matched across the two mail surveys. Measures included hurricane risk perception, optimistic bias for hurricane evacuation, past hurricane experience, and a small set of demographic variables (age, sex, income, and education). Paired t-tests were used to compare scores across time. Hurricane risk perception declined and optimistic bias increased. Cross-lagged correlations were used to test the potential causal ordering between risk perception and optimistic bias, with a weak effect suggesting the former affects the latter. Additional cross-lagged analysis using structural equation modeling was used to look more closely at the components of optimistic bias (risk to self vs. risk to others). A significant and stronger potentially causal effect from risk perception to optimistic bias was found. Analysis of the experience and demographic variables' effects on risk perception and optimistic bias, and their change, provided mixed results. The lessening of risk perception and increase in optimistic bias over the period of quiescence suggest that risk communicators and emergency managers should direct attention toward reversing these trends to increase disaster preparedness. © 2013 Society for Risk Analysis.

Within-population Y-linked genetic variation for lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster.

PubMed

Griffin, R M; Le Gall, D; Schielzeth, H; Friberg, U

2015-11-01

The view that the Y chromosome is of little importance for phenotypic evolution stems from early studies of Drosophila melanogaster. This species' Y chromosome contains only 13 protein-coding genes, is almost entirely heterochromatic and is not necessary for male viability. Population genetic theory further suggests that non-neutral variation can only be maintained at the Y chromosome under special circumstances. Yet, recent studies suggest that the D. melanogaster Y chromosome trans-regulates hundreds to thousands of X and autosomal genes. This finding suggests that the Y chromosome may play a far more active role in adaptive evolution than has previously been assumed. To evaluate the potential for the Y chromosome to contribute to phenotypic evolution from standing genetic variation, we test for Y-linked variation in lifespan within a population of D. melanogaster. Assessing variation for lifespan provides a powerful test because lifespan (i) shows sexual dimorphism, which the Y is primarily predicted to contribute to, (ii) is influenced by many genes, which provides the Y with many potential regulatory targets and (iii) is sensitive to heterochromatin remodelling, a mechanism through which the Y chromosome is believed to regulate gene expression. Our results show a small but significant effect of the Y chromosome and thus suggest that the Y chromosome has the potential to respond to selection from standing genetic variation. Despite its small effect size, Y-linked variation may still be important, in particular when evolution of sexual dimorphism is genetically constrained elsewhere in the genome. © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Mineral resource potential map of the Bighorn Mountains Wilderness Study Area (CDCA-217), San Bernardino County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Matti, Jonathan C.; Cox, Brett F.; Rodriguez, Eduardo A.; Obi, Curtis M.; Powell, Robert E.; Hinkle, Margaret E.; Griscom, Andrew; Sabine, Charles; Cwick, Gary J.

1982-01-01

Geological, geochemical, and geophysical evidence, together with a review of historical mining and prospecting activities, suggests that most of the Bighorn Mountains Wilderness Study Area has low potential for the discovery of all types of mineral and energy resources-including precious and base metals, building stone and aggregate, fossil fuels, radioactive-mineral resources, and geothermal resources. Low-grade mineralization has been documented in one small area near Rattlesnake Canyon, and this area has low to moderate potential for future small-scale exploration and development of precious and base metals. Thorium and uranium enrichment have been documented in two small areas in the eastern part of the wilderness study area; these two areas have low to moderate potential for future small-scale exploration and development of radioactive-mineral resources.

A small hemispherical helical antenna array for two-dimensional GPS beam-forming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hui, H. T.; Aditya, S.; Mohamed, F. Bin S.; Hafiedz-Ul, A. Bin T.

2005-02-01

A small hemispherical helical antenna array with multibeam output for GPS beam-forming is designed and characterized. A Butler matrix beam-forming network is designed to provide four spatial beams in a two-dimensional directional space. The original design of the hemispherical helical antenna elements is modified in order to match it to the system impedance. Our study shows that even after an ˜30° scan from the normal direction, the maximum change in beam width is only 6°, the maximum change in axial ratio is 1.4 dB, and the maximum change in power gain is 1.1 dB. These characteristics indicate that the array can be potentially used for GPS beam-forming.

Fire monitoring capability of the joint Landsat and Sentinel 2 constellation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murphy, S.; Wright, R.

2017-12-01

Fires are a global hazard. Landsat and Sentinel 2 can monitor the Earth's surface every 2 - 4 days. This provides an important opportunity to complement the operational (lower resolution) fire monitoring systems. Landsat-class sensors can detect small fires that would be missed by MODIS-classed sensors. All large fires start out as small fires. We analyze fire patterns in California from 1984 to 2017 and compare the performance of Landsat-type and MODIS-type sensors. Had an operational Landsat-Sentinel 2 fire detection system been in place at the time of the Soberanes fire last year (i.e. August 2016), the cost of suppressing of this fire event (US $236 million) could potentially have been reduced by an order of magnitude.

Simulation studies for surfaces and materials strength

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halicioglu, Timur

1987-01-01

A realistic potential energy function comprising angle dependent terms was employed to describe the potential surface of the N+O2 system. The potential energy parameters were obtained from high level ab-initio results using a nonlinear fitting procedure. It was shown that the potential function is able to reproduce a large number of points on the potential surface with a small rms deviation. A literature survey was conducted to analyze exclusively the status of current small cluster research. This survey turned out to be quite useful in understanding and finding out the existing relationship between theoretical as well as experimental investigative techniques employed by different researchers. Additionally, the importance of the role played by computer simulation in small cluster research, was documented.

Measured Performance of a Varied Airflow Small-Diameter Duct System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Poerschke, Andrew

2017-03-01

This study tests the performance of a variable airflow small-diameter duct heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in a new construction unoccupied low-load test house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The duct system was installed entirely in conditioned space and was operated from the winter through summer seasons. Measurements were collected on the in-room temperatures and energy consumed by the air handler and heat pump unit. Operation modes with three different volumes of airflow were compared to determine the ideal airflow scenario that maximizes room-to-room thermal uniformity while minimizing fan energy consumption. Black felt infrared imagery was used as a measuremore » of diffuser throw and in-room air mixing. Measured results indicate the small-diameter, high velocity airflow system can provide comfort under some conditions. Solar heat gains resulted in southern rooms drifting beyond acceptable temperature limits. Insufficient airflow to some bedrooms also resulted in periods of potential discomfort. Homebuilders or HVAC contractors can use these results to assess whether this space conditioning strategy is an attractive alternative to a traditional duct system. The team performed a cost analysis of two duct system configurations: (1) a conventional diameter and velocity duct system, and (2) the small-diameter duct system. This work applies to both new and retrofit homes that have achieved a low heating and cooling density either by energy conservation or by operation in a mild climate with few heating or cooling degree days. Guidance is provided on cost trade-offs between the conventional duct system and the small-diameter duct system.« less

Measured Performance of a Varied Airflow Small-Diameter Duct System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Poerschke, Andrew

This study tests the performance of a variable airflow small-diameter duct heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in a new construction unoccupied low-load test house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The duct system was installed entirely in conditioned space and was operated from the winter through summer seasons. Measurements were collected on the in-room temperatures and energy consumed by the air handler and heat pump unit. Operation modes with three different volumes of airflow were compared to determine the ideal airflow scenario that maximizes room-to-room thermal uniformity while minimizing fan energy consumption. Black felt infrared imagery was used as a measuremore » of diffuser throw and in-room air mixing. Measured results indicate the small-diameter, high velocity airflow system can provide comfort under some conditions. Solar heat gains resulted in southern rooms drifting beyond acceptable temperature limits. Insufficient airflow to some bedrooms also resulted in periods of potential discomfort. Homebuilders or HVAC contractors can use these results to assess whether this space conditioning strategy is an attractive alternative to a traditional duct system. The team performed a cost analysis of two duct system configurations: (1) a conventional diameter and velocity duct system, and (2) the small-diameter duct system. This work applies to both new and retrofit homes that have achieved a low heating and cooling density either by energy conservation or by operation in a mild climate with few heating or cooling degree days. Guidance is provided on cost trade-offs between the conventional duct system and the small-diameter duct system.« less

Building America Case Study: High-Velocity Small-Diameter Duct System, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

A. Poerschke

This study tests the performance of a variable airflow small-diameter duct heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in a new construction unoccupied low-load test house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The duct system was installed entirely in conditioned space and was operated from the winter through summer seasons. Measurements were collected on the in-room temperatures and energy consumed by the air handler and heat pump unit. Operation modes with three different volumes of airflow were compared to determine the ideal airflow scenario that maximizes room-to-room thermal uniformity while minimizing fan energy consumption. Black felt infrared imagery was used as a measuremore » of diffuser throw and in-room air mixing. Measured results indicate the small-diameter, high velocity airflow system can provide comfort under some conditions. Solar heat gains resulted in southern rooms drifting beyond acceptable temperature limits. Insufficient airflow to some bedrooms also resulted in periods of potential discomfort. Homebuilders or HVAC contractors can use these results to assess whether this space conditioning strategy is an attractive alternative to a traditional duct system. The team performed a cost analysis of two duct system configurations: (1) a conventional diameter and velocity duct system, and (2) the small-diameter duct system. This work applies to both new and retrofit homes that have achieved a low heating and cooling density either by energy conservation or by operation in a mild climate with few heating or cooling degree days. Guidance is provided on cost trade-offs between the conventional duct system and the small-diameter duct system.« less

Exploring the potential for using 210Pbex measurements within a re-sampling approach to document recent changes in soil redistribution rates within a small catchment in southern Italy.

PubMed

Porto, Paolo; Walling, Desmond E; Cogliandro, Vanessa; Callegari, Giovanni

2016-11-01

In recent years, the fallout radionuclides caesium-137 ( 137 Cs) and unsupported lead-210 ( 210 Pb ex) have been successfully used to document rates of soil erosion in many areas of the world, as an alternative to conventional measurements. By virtue of their different half-lives, these two radionuclides are capable of providing information related to different time windows. 137 Cs measurements are commonly used to generate information on mean annual erosion rates over the past ca. 50-60 years, whereas 210 Pb ex measurements are able to provide information relating to a longer period of up to ca. 100 years. However, the time-integrated nature of the estimates of soil redistribution provided by 137 Cs and 210 Pb ex measurements can be seen as a limitation, particularly when viewed in the context of global change and interest in the response of soil redistribution rates to contemporary climate change and land use change. Re-sampling techniques used with these two fallout radionuclides potentially provide a basis for providing information on recent changes in soil redistribution rates. By virtue of the effectively continuous fallout input, of 210 Pb, the response of the 210 Pb ex inventory of a soil profile to changing soil redistribution rates and thus its potential for use with the re-sampling approach differs from that of 137 Cs. Its greater sensitivity to recent changes in soil redistribution rates suggests that 210 Pb ex may have advantages over 137 Cs for use in the re-sampling approach. The potential for using 210 Pb ex measurements in re-sampling studies is explored further in this contribution. Attention focuses on a small (1.38 ha) forested catchment in southern Italy. The catchment was originally sampled for 210 Pb ex measurements in 2001 and equivalent samples were collected from points very close to the original sampling points again in 2013. This made it possible to compare the estimates of mean annual erosion related to two different time windows. This comparison suggests that mean annual rates of net soil loss had increased during the period between the two sampling campaigns and that this increase was associated with a shift to an increased sediment delivery ratio. This change was consistent with independent information on likely changes in the sediment response of the study catchment provided by the available records of annual sediment yield and changes in the annual rainfall documented for the local area. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of emergency general surgery care based on formally developed quality indicators.

PubMed

Ingraham, Angela; Nathens, Avery; Peitzman, Andrew; Bode, Allison; Dorlac, Gina; Dorlac, Warren; Miller, Preston; Sadeghi, Mahsa; Wasserman, Deena D; Bilimoria, Karl

2017-08-01

Emergency general surgery outcomes vary widely across the United States. The utilization of quality indicators can reduce variation and assist providers in administering care aligned with established recommendations. Previous quality indicators have not focused on emergency general surgery patients. We identified indicators of high-quality emergency general surgery care and assessed patient- and hospital-level compliance with these indicators. We utilized a modified Delphi technique (RAND Appropriateness Methodology) to develop quality indicators. Through 2 rankings, an expert panel ranked potential quality indicators for validity. We then examined historic compliance with select quality indicators after 4 nonelective procedures (cholecystectomy, appendectomy, colectomy, small bowel resection) at 4 academic centers. Of 25 indicators rated as valid, 13 addressed patient-level quality and 12 addressed hospital-level quality. Adherence with 18 indicators was assessed. Compliance with performing a cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis within 72 hours of symptom onset ranged from 45% to 76%. Compliance with surgery start times within 3 hours from the decision to operate for uncontained perforated viscus ranged from 20% to 100%. Compliance with exploration of patients with small bowel obstructions with ischemia/impending perforation within 3 hours of the decision to operate was 0% to 88%. For 3 quality indicators (auditing 30-day unplanned readmissions/operations for patients previously managed nonoperatively, monitoring time to source control for intra-abdominal infections, and having protocols for bypass/transfer), none of the hospitals were compliant. Developing indicators for providers to assess their performance provides a foundation for specific initiatives. Adherence to quality indicators may improve the quality of emergency general surgery care provided for which current outcomes are potentially modifiable. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Precise control of the frequency and amount of food provided for small laboratory animals by a new electronic metering technique, used to evaluate the cariogenic potential of chocolate.

PubMed

Grenby, T H; Mistry, M

1995-01-01

A new electronic system was set up for accurately regulating the amount and frequency of food dispensed to laboratory rats so that investigations of the cariogenic potential of foods can be carried out under strictly controlled conditions according to the stipulations of the San Antonio Consensus Conference, 1985. The system was used to evaluate the cariogenicity of sucrose incorporated into plain and milk chocolate. The results suggested that 18.75% of sucrose in the diet had the same cariogenic potential no matter whether it was in the form of fine crystals or incorporated into plain chocolate, but mean caries scores were nearly 30% higher on a plain chocolate than on a milk chocolate regime.

Explicit polarization (X-Pol) potential using ab initio molecular orbital theory and density functional theory.

PubMed

Song, Lingchun; Han, Jaebeom; Lin, Yen-lin; Xie, Wangshen; Gao, Jiali

2009-10-29

The explicit polarization (X-Pol) method has been examined using ab initio molecular orbital theory and density functional theory. The X-Pol potential was designed to provide a novel theoretical framework for developing next-generation force fields for biomolecular simulations. Importantly, the X-Pol potential is a general method, which can be employed with any level of electronic structure theory. The present study illustrates the implementation of the X-Pol method using ab initio Hartree-Fock theory and hybrid density functional theory. The computational results are illustrated by considering a set of bimolecular complexes of small organic molecules and ions with water. The computed interaction energies and hydrogen bond geometries are in good accord with CCSD(T) calculations and B3LYP/aug-cc-pVDZ optimizations.

Ultrahigh-efficiency solution-processed simplified small-molecule organic light-emitting diodes using universal host materials

PubMed Central

Han, Tae-Hee; Choi, Mi-Ri; Jeon, Chan-Woo; Kim, Yun-Hi; Kwon, Soon-Ki; Lee, Tae-Woo

2016-01-01

Although solution processing of small-molecule organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) has been considered as a promising alternative to standard vacuum deposition requiring high material and processing cost, the devices have suffered from low luminous efficiency and difficulty of multilayer solution processing. Therefore, high efficiency should be achieved in simple-structured small-molecule OLEDs fabricated using a solution process. We report very efficient solution-processed simple-structured small-molecule OLEDs that use novel universal electron-transporting host materials based on tetraphenylsilane with pyridine moieties. These materials have wide band gaps, high triplet energy levels, and good solution processabilities; they provide balanced charge transport in a mixed-host emitting layer. Orange-red (~97.5 cd/A, ~35.5% photons per electron), green (~101.5 cd/A, ~29.0% photons per electron), and white (~74.2 cd/A, ~28.5% photons per electron) phosphorescent OLEDs exhibited the highest recorded electroluminescent efficiencies of solution-processed OLEDs reported to date. We also demonstrate a solution-processed flexible solid-state lighting device as a potential application of our devices. PMID:27819053

G-Guidance Interface Design for Small Body Mission Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Acikmese, Behcet; Carson, John; Phan, Linh

2008-01-01

The G-Guidance software implements a guidance and control (G and C) algorithm for small-body, autonomous proximity operations, developed under the Small Body GN and C task at JPL. The software is written in Matlab and interfaces with G-OPT, a JPL-developed optimization package written in C that provides G-Guidance with guaranteed convergence to a solution in a finite computation time with a prescribed accuracy. The resulting program is computationally efficient and is a prototype of an onboard, real-time algorithm for autonomous guidance and control. Two thruster firing schemes are available in G-Guidance, allowing tailoring of the software for specific mission maneuvers. For example, descent, landing, or rendezvous benefit from a thruster firing at the maneuver termination to mitigate velocity errors. Conversely, ascent or separation maneuvers benefit from an immediate firing to avoid potential drift toward a second body. The guidance portion of this software explicitly enforces user-defined control constraints and thruster silence times while minimizing total fuel usage. This program is currently specialized to small-body proximity operations, but the underlying method can be generalized to other applications.

Pediatric Small Bowel Crohn Disease: Correlation of US and MR Enterography

PubMed Central

Smith, Ethan A.; Sanchez, Ramon J.; DiPietro, Michael A.; DeMatos-Maillard, Vera; Strouse, Peter J.; Darge, Kassa

2015-01-01

Small bowel Crohn disease is commonly diagnosed during the pediatric period, and recent investigations show that its incidence is increasing in this age group. Diagnosis and follow-up of this condition are commonly based on a combination of patient history and physical examination, disease activity surveys, laboratory assessment, and endoscopy with biopsy, but imaging also plays a central role. Ultrasonography (US) is an underutilized well-tolerated imaging modality for screening and follow-up of small bowel Crohn disease in children and adolescents. US has numerous advantages over computed tomographic (CT) enterography and magnetic resonance (MR) enterography, including low cost and no required use of oral or intravenous contrast material. US also has the potential to provide images with higher spatial resolution than those obtained at CT enterography and MR enterography, allows faster examination than does MR enterography, does not involve ionizing radiation, and does not require sedation or general anesthesia. US accurately depicts small bowel and mesenteric changes related to pediatric Crohn disease, and US findings show a high correlation with MR imaging findings in this patient population. ©RSNA, 2015 PMID:25839736

Thermal power systems, small power systems application project. Volume 1: Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marriott, A. T.

1979-01-01

Current small power system technology as applied to power plants up to 10 MWe in size was assessed. Markets for small power systems were characterized and cost goals were established. Candidate power plant system design concepts were selected for evaluation and preliminary performance and cost assessments were made. Economic studies were conducted and breakeven capital costs were determined for leading contenders among the candidate systems. An application study was made of the potential use of small power systems in providing part of the demand for pumping power by the extensive aqueduct system of California, estimated to be 1000 MWe by 1985. Criteria and methodologies were developed for application to the ranking of candidate power plant system design concepts. Experimental power plants concepts of 1 MWe rating were studied leading toward the definition of a power plant configuration for subsequent detail design, construction, testing and evaluation as Engineering Experiment No. 1 (EE No. 1). Site selection criteria and ground rules for the solicitation of EE No. 1 site participation proposals by DOE were developed.

Self-insurance and the potential effects of health reform on the small-group market.

PubMed

Linehan, Kathryn

2010-12-21

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) as amended by the Health Care Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 makes landmark changes to health insurance markets. Individual and small-group insurance plans and markets will see the biggest changes, but PPACA also affects large employer and self-insured plans by imposing rules for benefit design and health plan practices. Over half of workers--most often those in very large firms--are covered by self-insured health plans in which employers (or employee groups) bear all or some of the risk of providing insurance coverage to a defined population of workers and their dependents. As PPACA provisions become effective, some have argued that smaller firms that offer insurance may opt to self-insure their health benefits because of new small-group market rules. Such a shift could affect risk pooling in the small-group market. This paper examines the definition and prevalence of self-insured health plans, the application of PPACA provisions to these plans, and the possible effects on the broader health insurance market, should many more employers decide to self-insure.

Real-time 3D motion tracking for small animal brain PET

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kyme, A. Z.; Zhou, V. W.; Meikle, S. R.; Fulton, R. R.

2008-05-01

High-resolution positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of conscious, unrestrained laboratory animals presents many challenges. Some form of motion correction will normally be necessary to avoid motion artefacts in the reconstruction. The aim of the current work was to develop and evaluate a motion tracking system potentially suitable for use in small animal PET. This system is based on the commercially available stereo-optical MicronTracker S60 which we have integrated with a Siemens Focus-220 microPET scanner. We present measured performance limits of the tracker and the technical details of our implementation, including calibration and synchronization of the system. A phantom study demonstrating motion tracking and correction was also performed. The system can be calibrated with sub-millimetre accuracy, and small lightweight markers can be constructed to provide accurate 3D motion data. A marked reduction in motion artefacts was demonstrated in the phantom study. The techniques and results described here represent a step towards a practical method for rigid-body motion correction in small animal PET. There is scope to achieve further improvements in the accuracy of synchronization and pose measurements in future work.

Small-world human brain networks: Perspectives and challenges.

PubMed

Liao, Xuhong; Vasilakos, Athanasios V; He, Yong

2017-06-01

Modelling the human brain as a complex network has provided a powerful mathematical framework to characterize the structural and functional architectures of the brain. In the past decade, the combination of non-invasive neuroimaging techniques and graph theoretical approaches enable us to map human structural and functional connectivity patterns (i.e., connectome) at the macroscopic level. One of the most influential findings is that human brain networks exhibit prominent small-world organization. Such a network architecture in the human brain facilitates efficient information segregation and integration at low wiring and energy costs, which presumably results from natural selection under the pressure of a cost-efficiency balance. Moreover, the small-world organization undergoes continuous changes during normal development and ageing and exhibits dramatic alterations in neurological and psychiatric disorders. In this review, we survey recent advances regarding the small-world architecture in human brain networks and highlight the potential implications and applications in multidisciplinary fields, including cognitive neuroscience, medicine and engineering. Finally, we highlight several challenging issues and areas for future research in this rapidly growing field. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developing advanced X-ray scattering methods combined with crystallography and computation.

PubMed

Perry, J Jefferson P; Tainer, John A

2013-03-01

The extensive use of small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) over the last few years is rapidly providing new insights into protein interactions, complex formation and conformational states in solution. This SAXS methodology allows for detailed biophysical quantification of samples of interest. Initial analyses provide a judgment of sample quality, revealing the potential presence of aggregation, the overall extent of folding or disorder, the radius of gyration, maximum particle dimensions and oligomerization state. Structural characterizations include ab initio approaches from SAXS data alone, and when combined with previously determined crystal/NMR, atomistic modeling can further enhance structural solutions and assess validity. This combination can provide definitions of architectures, spatial organizations of protein domains within a complex, including those not determined by crystallography or NMR, as well as defining key conformational states of a protein interaction. SAXS is not generally constrained by macromolecule size, and the rapid collection of data in a 96-well plate format provides methods to screen sample conditions. This includes screening for co-factors, substrates, differing protein or nucleotide partners or small molecule inhibitors, to more fully characterize the variations within assembly states and key conformational changes. Such analyses may be useful for screening constructs and conditions to determine those most likely to promote crystal growth of a complex under study. Moreover, these high throughput structural determinations can be leveraged to define how polymorphisms affect assembly formations and activities. This is in addition to potentially providing architectural characterizations of complexes and interactions for systems biology-based research, and distinctions in assemblies and interactions in comparative genomics. Thus, SAXS combined with crystallography/NMR and computation provides a unique set of tools that should be considered as being part of one's repertoire of biophysical analyses, when conducting characterizations of protein and other macromolecular interactions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Instrumentation used for hydraulic testing of potential water-bearing formations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site in southeastern New Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Basler, J.A.

1983-01-01

Requirements for testing hydrologic test wells at the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico, necessitated the use of inflatable formation packers and pressure transducers. Observations during drilling and initial development indicated small formation yields which would require considerable test times by conventional open-casing methods. A pressure-monitoring system was assembled for performance evaluation utilizing commercially available components. Formation pressures were monitored with a down-hole strain-gage transducer. An inflatable packer equipped with a 1/4-inch-diameter steel tube extending through the inflation element permitted sensing formation pressures in isolated test zones. Surface components of the monitoring system provided AC transducer excitation, signal conditioning for recording directly in engineering units, and both analog and digital recording. Continuous surface monitoring of formation pressures provided a means of determining test status and projecting completion times during any phase of testing. Maximum portability was afforded by battery operation with all surface components mounted in a small self-contained trailer. (USGS)

Hosting a Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) on CubeSat Spacecraft Platforms for Global Measurements of Three-Dimensional Winds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scott, D. K.; Neilsen, T. L.; Weston, C.; Frazier, C.; Smith, T.; Shumway, A.

2015-12-01

Global measurements of vertically-resolved atmospheric wind profiles offer the potential for improved weather forecasts and superior predictions of atmospheric wind patterns. A small-satellite constellation that uses a Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) instrument onboard 12U CubeSats can provide measurements of global tropospheric wind profiles from space at a very low cost. These small satellites are called FTS CubeSats. This presentation will describe a spacecraft concept that provides a stable, robust platform to host the FTS payload. Of importance to the payload are power, data, station keeping, thermal, and accommodations that enable high spectral measurements to be made from a LEO orbit. The spacecraft concept draws on Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) heritage and the recent success of the Dynamic Ionosphere Cubesat Experiment (DICE) and HyperAngular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP) missions. Working with team members, SDL built a prototype observatory (spacecraft and payload) for testing and proof of concept.

Delivery of small molecules for bone regenerative engineering: preclinical studies and potential clinical applications.

PubMed

Laurencin, Cato T; Ashe, Keshia M; Henry, Nicole; Kan, Ho Man; Lo, Kevin W-H

2014-06-01

Stimulation of bone regeneration using growth factors is a promising approach for musculoskeletal regenerative engineering. However, common limitations with protein growth factors, such as high manufacturing costs, protein instability, contamination issues, and unwanted immunogenic responses of the host reduce potential clinical applications. New strategies for bone regeneration that involve inexpensive and stable small molecules can obviate these problems and have a significant impact on the treatment of skeletal injury and diseases. Over the past decade, a large number of small molecules with the potential of regenerating skeletal tissue have been reported in the literature. Here, we review this literature, paying specific attention to the prospects for small molecule-based bone-regenerative engineering. We also review the preclinical study of small molecules associated with bone regeneration. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mesoporous Silicate Materials in Sensing

PubMed Central

Melde, Brian J.; Johnson, Brandy J.; Charles, Paul T.

2008-01-01

Mesoporous silicas, especially those exhibiting ordered pore systems and uniform pore diameters, have shown great potential for sensing applications in recent years. Morphological control grants them versatility in the method of deployment whether as bulk powders, monoliths, thin films, or embedded in coatings. High surface areas and pore sizes greater than 2 nm make them effective as adsorbent coatings for humidity sensors. The pore networks also provide the potential for immobilization of enzymes within the materials. Functionalization of materials by silane grafting or through co-condensation of silicate precursors can be used to provide mesoporous materials with a variety of fluorescent probes as well as surface properties that aid in selective detection of specific analytes. This review will illustrate how mesoporous silicas have been applied to sensing changes in relative humidity, changes in pH, metal cations, toxic industrial compounds, volatile organic compounds, small molecules and ions, nitroenergetic compounds, and biologically relevant molecules. PMID:27873810

Vector Galileon and inflationary magnetogenesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nandi, Debottam; Shankaranarayanan, S.

2018-01-01

Cosmological inflation provides the initial conditions for the structure formation. However, the origin of large-scale magnetic fields can not be addressed in this framework. The key issue for this long-standing problem is the conformal invariance of the electromagnetic (EM) field in 4-D. While many approaches have been proposed in the literature for breaking conformal invariance of the EM action, here, we provide a completely new way of looking at the modifications to the EM action and generation of primordial magnetic fields during inflation. We explicitly construct a higher derivative EM action that breaks conformal invariance by demanding three conditions—theory be described by vector potential Aμ and its derivatives, Gauge invariance be satisfied, and equations of motion be linear in second derivatives of vector potential. The unique feature of our model is that appreciable magnetic fields are generated at small wavelengths while tiny magnetic fields are generated at large wavelengths that are consistent with current observations.

Novel and simple alternative to create nanofibrillar matrices of interest for tissue engineering.

PubMed

Sohier, Jérôme; Corre, Pierre; Perret, Christophe; Pilet, Paul; Weiss, Pierre

2014-04-01

Synthetic analogs to natural extracellular matrix (ECM) at the nanometer level are of great potential for regenerative medicine. This study introduces a novel and simple method to produce polymer nanofibers and evaluates the properties of the resulting structures, as well as their suitability to support cells and their potential interest for bone and vascular applications. The devised approach diffracts a polymer solution by means of a spraying apparatus and of an airstream as sole driving force. The resulting nanofibers were produced in an effective fashion and a factorial design allowed isolating the processing parameters that control nanofiber size and distribution. The nanofibrillar matrices revealed to be of very high porosity and were effectively colonized by human bone marrow mesenchymal cells, while allowing ECM production and osteoblastic differentiation. In vivo, the matrices provided support for new bone formation and provided a good patency as small diameter vessel grafts.

Measuring Pressure Volume Loops in the Mouse.

PubMed

Townsend, DeWayne

2016-05-02

Understanding the causes and progression of heart disease presents a significant challenge to the biomedical community. The genetic flexibility of the mouse provides great potential to explore cardiac function at the molecular level. The mouse's small size does present some challenges in regards to performing detailed cardiac phenotyping. Miniaturization and other advancements in technology have made many methods of cardiac assessment possible in the mouse. Of these, the simultaneous collection of pressure and volume data provides a detailed picture of cardiac function that is not available through any other modality. Here a detailed procedure for the collection of pressure-volume loop data is described. Included is a discussion of the principles underlying the measurements and the potential sources of error. Anesthetic management and surgical approaches are discussed in great detail as they are both critical to obtaining high quality hemodynamic measurements. The principles of hemodynamic protocol development and relevant aspects of data analysis are also addressed.

Magnetic induction tomography of objects for security applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, Rob; Joseph, Max; Langley, Abbi; Taylor, Stuart; Watson, Joe C.

2017-10-01

A coil array imaging system has been further developed from previous investigations, focusing on designing its application for fast screening of small bags or parcels, with a view to the production of a compact instrument for security applications. In addition to reducing image acquisition times, work was directed toward exploring potential cost effective manufacturing routes. Based on magnetic induction tomography and eddy-current principles, the instrument captured images of conductive targets using a lock-in amplifier, individually multiplexing signals between a primary driver coil and a 20 by 21 imaging array of secondary passive coils constructed using a reproducible multiple tile design. The design was based on additive manufacturing techniques and provided 2 orthogonal imaging planes with an ability to reconstruct images in less than 10 seconds. An assessment of one of the imaging planes is presented. This technique potentially provides a cost effective threat evaluation technique that may compliment conventional radiographic approaches.

Assessment of band gaps for alkaline-earth chalcogenides using improved Tran Blaha-modified Becke Johnson potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yedukondalu, N.; Kunduru, Lavanya; Roshan, S. C. Rakesh; Sainath, M.

2018-04-01

Assessment of band gaps for nine alkaline-earth chalcogenides namely MX (M = Ca, Sr, Ba and X = S, Se Te) compounds are reported using Tran Blaha-modified Becke Johnson (TB-mBJ) potential and its new parameterization. From the computed electronic band structures at the equilibrium lattice constants, these materials are found to be indirect band gap semiconductors at ambient conditions. The calculated band gaps are improved using TB-mBJ and its new parameterization when compared to local density approximation (LDA) and Becke Johnson potentials. We also observe that TB-mBJ new parameterization for semiconductors below 7 eV reproduces the experimental trends very well for the small band gap semiconducting alkaline-earth chalcogenides. The calculated band profiles look similar for MX compounds (electronic band structures are provided for BaS for representation purpose) using LDA and new parameterization of TB-mBJ potentials.

Atomistic modelling of scattering data in the Collaborative Computational Project for Small Angle Scattering (CCP-SAS).

PubMed

Perkins, Stephen J; Wright, David W; Zhang, Hailiang; Brookes, Emre H; Chen, Jianhan; Irving, Thomas C; Krueger, Susan; Barlow, David J; Edler, Karen J; Scott, David J; Terrill, Nicholas J; King, Stephen M; Butler, Paul D; Curtis, Joseph E

2016-12-01

The capabilities of current computer simulations provide a unique opportunity to model small-angle scattering (SAS) data at the atomistic level, and to include other structural constraints ranging from molecular and atomistic energetics to crystallography, electron microscopy and NMR. This extends the capabilities of solution scattering and provides deeper insights into the physics and chemistry of the systems studied. Realizing this potential, however, requires integrating the experimental data with a new generation of modelling software. To achieve this, the CCP-SAS collaboration (http://www.ccpsas.org/) is developing open-source, high-throughput and user-friendly software for the atomistic and coarse-grained molecular modelling of scattering data. Robust state-of-the-art molecular simulation engines and molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo force fields provide constraints to the solution structure inferred from the small-angle scattering data, which incorporates the known physical chemistry of the system. The implementation of this software suite involves a tiered approach in which GenApp provides the deployment infrastructure for running applications on both standard and high-performance computing hardware, and SASSIE provides a workflow framework into which modules can be plugged to prepare structures, carry out simulations, calculate theoretical scattering data and compare results with experimental data. GenApp produces the accessible web-based front end termed SASSIE-web , and GenApp and SASSIE also make community SAS codes available. Applications are illustrated by case studies: (i) inter-domain flexibility in two- to six-domain proteins as exemplified by HIV-1 Gag, MASP and ubiquitin; (ii) the hinge conformation in human IgG2 and IgA1 antibodies; (iii) the complex formed between a hexameric protein Hfq and mRNA; and (iv) synthetic 'bottlebrush' polymers.

Distress, need for help, and positive feelings derived from participation in sex research: findings of a population study in The Netherlands.

PubMed

Kuyper, Lisette; Wijsen, Ciel; de Wit, John

2014-01-01

To inform cost-benefit analyses of potential harms and benefits for participants in sex research, the current study investigated potential effects of completing a self-report sex survey. The data stem from a sexual health study in a population sample in the Netherlands (N = 8,064; 15 to 70 years old). Three measures assessed potential effects of participation: distress, need for help, and positive feelings related to research participation. Analyses showed that levels of experienced distress and need for help resulting from participation in a self-report sex survey were low, while participants reported positive feelings to a considerable extent. Only few participants reported levels of positive experiences that were lower than the levels of distress (4.8%) or need for help (1.7%) they experienced. Although differences were found according to sociodemographic characteristics and sexual experiences, the proportion of variance explained by these variables was generally small. While the findings of this study show that the balance between potential harm and positive outcomes seems disturbed for few participants, researchers should provide participants with the details of care providers in case they experience any distress or need for help.

Molecular Imaging of Experimental Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

PubMed Central

Ramaswamy, Aneesh K.; Hamilton, Mark; Joshi, Rucha V.; Kline, Benjamin P.; Li, Rui; Wang, Pu; Goergen, Craig J.

2013-01-01

Current laboratory research in the field of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) disease often utilizes small animal experimental models induced by genetic manipulation or chemical application. This has led to the use and development of multiple high-resolution molecular imaging modalities capable of tracking disease progression, quantifying the role of inflammation, and evaluating the effects of potential therapeutics. In vivo imaging reduces the number of research animals used, provides molecular and cellular information, and allows for longitudinal studies, a necessity when tracking vessel expansion in a single animal. This review outlines developments of both established and emerging molecular imaging techniques used to study AAA disease. Beyond the typical modalities used for anatomical imaging, which include ultrasound (US) and computed tomography (CT), previous molecular imaging efforts have used magnetic resonance (MR), near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF), bioluminescence, single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and positron emission tomography (PET). Mouse and rat AAA models will hopefully provide insight into potential disease mechanisms, and the development of advanced molecular imaging techniques, if clinically useful, may have translational potential. These efforts could help improve the management of aneurysms and better evaluate the therapeutic potential of new treatments for human AAA disease. PMID:23737735

Big and small: menisci in soil pores affect water pressures, dynamics of groundwater levels, and catchment-scale average matric potentials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Rooij, G. H.

2010-09-01

Soil water is confined behind the menisci of its water-air interface. Catchment-scale fluxes (groundwater recharge, evaporation, transpiration, precipitation, etc.) affect the matric potential, and thereby the interface curvature and the configuration of the phases. In turn, these affect the fluxes (except precipitation), creating feedbacks between pore-scale and catchment-scale processes. Tracking pore-scale processes beyond the Darcy scale is not feasible. Instead, for a simplified system based on the classical Darcy's Law and Laplace-Young Law we i) clarify how menisci transfer pressure from the atmosphere to the soil water, ii) examine large-scale phenomena arising from pore-scale processes, and iii) analyze the relationship between average meniscus curvature and average matric potential. In stagnant water, changing the gravitational potential or the curvature of the air-water interface changes the pressure throughout the water. Adding small amounts of water can thus profoundly affect water pressures in a much larger volume. The pressure-regulating effect of the interface curvature showcases the meniscus as a pressure port that transfers the atmospheric pressure to the water with an offset directly proportional to its curvature. This property causes an extremely rapid rise of phreatic levels in soils once the capillary fringe extends to the soil surface and the menisci flatten. For large bodies of subsurface water, the curvature and vertical position of any meniscus quantify the uniform hydraulic potential under hydrostatic equilibrium. During unit-gradient flow, the matric potential corresponding to the mean curvature of the menisci should provide a good approximation of the intrinsic phase average of the matric potential.

Small molecule screening with laser cytometry can be used to identify pro-survival molecules in human embryonic stem cells.

PubMed

Sherman, Sean P; Pyle, April D

2013-01-01

Differentiated cells from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) provide an unlimited source of cells for use in regenerative medicine. The recent derivation of human induced pluripotent cells (hiPSCs) provides a potential supply of pluripotent cells that avoid immune rejection and could provide patient-tailored therapy. In addition, the use of pluripotent cells for drug screening could enable routine toxicity testing and evaluation of underlying disease mechanisms. However, prior to establishment of patient specific cells for cell therapy it is important to understand the basic regulation of cell fate decisions in hESCs. One critical issue that hinders the use of these cells is the fact that hESCs survive poorly upon dissociation, which limits genetic manipulation because of poor cloning efficiency of individual hESCs, and hampers production of large-scale culture of hESCs. To address the problems associated with poor growth in culture and our lack of understanding of what regulates hESC signaling, we successfully developed a screening platform that allows for large scale screening for small molecules that regulate survival. In this work we developed the first large scale platform for hESC screening using laser scanning cytometry and were able to validate this platform by identifying the pro-survival molecule HA-1077. These small molecules provide targets for both improving our basic understanding of hESC survival as well as a tool to improve our ability to expand and genetically manipulate hESCs for use in regenerative applications.

A NASA Strategy for Leveraging Emerging Launch Vehicles for Routine, Small Payload Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Underwood, Bruce E.

2005-01-01

Orbital flight opportunities for small payloads have always been few and far between, and then on February 1, 2002, the situation got worse. In the wake of the loss of the Columbia during STS- 107, changing NASA missions and priorities led to the termination of the Shuttle Small Payloads Projects, including Get-Away Special, Hitcbker, and Space Experiment Module. In spite of the limited opportunities, long queue, and restrictions associated with flying experiments on a man-rated transportation system; the carriers provided a sustained, high quality experiment services for education, science, and technology payloads, and was one of the few games in town. Attempts to establish routine opportunities aboard existing ELVs have been unsuccessful, as the cost-per-pound on small ELVs and conflicts with primary spacecraft on larger vehicles have proven prohibitive. Ths has led to a backlog of existing NASA-sponsored payloads and no prospects or plans for fbture opportunities within the NASA community. The prospects for breaking out of this paradigm appear promising as a result of NASA s partnership with DARPA in pursuit of low-cost, responsive small ELVs under the Falcon Program. Through this partnership several new small ELVs, providing 1000 lbs. to LEO will be demonstrated in less than two years that promise costs that are reasonable enough that NASA, DoD, and other sponsors can once again invest in small payload opportunities. Within NASA, planning has already begun. NASA will be populating one or more of the Falcon demonstration flights with small payloads that are already under development. To accommodate these experiments, Goddard s Wallops Flight Facility has been tasked to develop a multi-payload ejector (MPE) to accommodate the needs of these payloads. The MPE capabilities and design is described in detail in a separately submitted abstract. Beyond use of the demonstration flights however, Goddard has already begun developing strategies to leverage these new ELVs as elements of a larger system designed to provide routine, low-cost end-to-end services for small science, Exploration, and education payloads. The plan leverages the management approaches of the successful Sounding Rocket Program and Shuttle Small Payloads Projects. The strategy consists of using a systems implementation approach of elements, including 1) Falcon ELVs, 2) advanced launch site technologies and processes, 3) suite of experiment carriers accommodating different mission requirements, 4) streamlined integration and test operations, 5 ) experiment brokering and management, and 6) standardized, distributed payload operations. The envisioned suite of carriers includes the MPE, a standard interface experiment carrier, and potentially a reentry fieeflyer experiment carrier. Key to the success of this strategy is standard experiment interfaces within the carriers to limit mission- unique tasks, establishmg and managing a program of scheduled reoccurring flights rather than discrete missions, and streamlined, centralized implementation of the elements. These individual elements are each under development and Goddard will demonstrate the overall system strategy low-cost small payload missions on the initial Falcon demonstration launches from Wallops. goal is to show that this model should be converted to a sustained NASA program supporting science, technology, and education, with annual flight opportunities. The paper will define in detail the various elements of the overall program, as well as provide status, philosophy, and strategy for the program that will hopefully once-and-for-all provide low-cost, routine access to space for the small payloads community.

YAC contigs covering an 8-megabase region of 3p deleted in the small-cell lung cancer cell line U2020

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Todd, S.; Bolin, R.; Drabkin, H.A.

1995-01-01

Somatic deletions of chromosome 3p occur at high frequencies in cancers of kidney, breast, cervix, head and neck, nasopharynx, and lung. The frequency of 3p deletion in lung cancer approaches 100% among small cell lesions and 70 to 80% in non-small cell lesions. This evidence strongly implies that one or more tumor suppressor genes of potentially widespread significance reside within the deleted region(s). Precise definition of the deleted target region(s) has been difficult due to the extensive area(s) lost and use of markers with low informativeness. However, improved definition remains essential to permit isolation of putative tumor suppressor genes frommore » 3p. The identification of several small, homozygous 3p deletions in lung cancer cell lines has provided a critical resource that will assist this search. The U2020 cell line contains a small homozygous deletion that maps to a very proximal region of 3p and includes the marker D3S3. We previously identified a subset of DNA markers located within the deleted region and determined their relative order by pulsed-field gel mapping studies. In the present report, we describe the development of YAC contigs that span the majority of the deleted region and link up to flanking markers on both sides. The centromere proximal portion of the contig crosses the breakpoint from an X;3 translocation located within 3p12 providing both location and orientation to the map. PCR-based (CA){sub n} microsatellite polymorphisms have been localized within and flanking the deletion region. These markers should greatly facilitate loss-of-heterozygosity studies of this region in human cancer. The contig provides a direct means for isolation of putative tumor suppressor genes from this segment of 3p. 51 refs., 3 figs., 3 tabs.« less

Enabling Science and Deep Space Exploration through Space Launch System (LSL) Secondary Payload Opportunities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Singer, Jody; Pelfrey, Joseph; Norris, George

2016-01-01

For the first time in almost 40 years, a NASA human-rated launch vehicle has completed its Critical Design Review (CDR). By reaching this milestone, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft are on the path to launch a new era of deep space exploration. NASA is making investments to expand science and exploration capability of the SLS by developing the capability to deploy small satellites during the trans-lunar phase of the mission trajectory. Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1), currently planned for launch no earlier than July 2018, will be the first mission to carry such payloads on the SLS. The EM-1 launch will include thirteen 6U Cubesat small satellites that will be deployed beyond low earth orbit. By providing an earth-escape trajectory, opportunities are created for advancement of small satellite subsystems, including deep space communications and in-space propulsion. This SLS capability also creates low-cost options for addressing existing Agency strategic knowledge gaps and affordable science missions. A new approach to payload integration and mission assurance is needed to ensure safety of the vehicle, while also maintaining reasonable costs for the small payload developer teams. SLS EM-1 will provide the framework and serve as a test flight, not only for vehicle systems, but also payload accommodations, ground processing, and on-orbit operations. Through developing the requirements and integration processes for EM-1, NASA is outlining the framework for the evolved configuration of secondary payloads on SLS Block upgrades. The lessons learned from the EM-1 mission will be applied to processes and products developed for future block upgrades. In the heavy-lift configuration of SLS, payload accommodations will increase for secondary opportunities including small satellites larger than the traditional Cubesat class payload. The payload mission concept of operations, proposed payload capacity of SLS, and the payload requirements for launch and deployment will be described to provide potential payload users an understanding of this unique exploration capability.

Surface areas of fractally rough particles studied by scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hurd, Alan J.; Schaefer, Dale W.; Smith, Douglas M.; Ross, Steven B.; Le Méhauté, Alain; Spooner, Steven

1989-05-01

The small-angle scattering from fractally rough surfaces has the potential to give information on the surface area at a given resolution. By use of quantitative neutron and x-ray scattering, a direct comparison of surface areas of fractally rough powders was made between scattering and adsorption techniques. This study supports a recently proposed correction to the theory for scattering from fractal surfaces. In addition, the scattering data provide an independent calibration of molecular adsorbate areas.

No cost-saving target too small for this hospital's product reengineering program.

PubMed

1998-02-01

It pays to put every product purchase under the microscope. By creating a multidisciplinary value analysis committee to review staff ideas on potential savings for products, as well as internal services and processes, this New Jersey health care provider is slashing costs and standardizing products across clinical service lines. Learn how the committee operates and what it's doing to get vital employee participation, plus read about specific products targeted for cost reduction.

Passive Reactive Berm to Provide Low Maintenance Lead Containment at Active Small Arms Firing Ranges: Field Demonstration

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-08-01

These factors can be related to more directly measured parameters such as pH, alkalinity, and total dissolved solids (TDS) (Vaccari 1992). In any...efficiency of 37 to 100 percent can be achieved through the process of hydroxyapatite dissolution and hydroxypyromorphite [Pb10(PO4)6(OH)2...potential metals leaving the range, TSS was an additional parameter that was evaluated. Research performed by the Engineer Research and Development

Small molecule-mediated duplex formation of nucleic acids with 'incompatible' backbones.

PubMed

Cafferty, Brian J; Musetti, Caterina; Kim, Keunsoo; Horowitz, Eric D; Krishnamurthy, Ramanarayanan; Hud, Nicholas V

2016-04-07

Proflavine, a known intercalator of DNA and RNA, promotes duplex formation by nucleic acids with natural and non-natural backbones that otherwise form duplexes with low thermal stability, and even some that show no sign of duplex formation in the absence of proflavine. These findings demonstrate the potential for intercalators to be used as cofactors for the assembly of rationally designed nucleic acid structures, and could provide fundamental insights regarding intercalation of natural nucleic acid duplexes.

Smart Rotorcraft Field Assistants for Terrestrial and Planetary Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, Larry A.; Aiken, Edwin W.; Briggs, Geoffrey A.

2004-01-01

Field science in extreme terrestrial environments is often difficult and sometimes dangerous. Field seasons are also often short in duration. Robotic field assistants, particularly small highly mobile rotary-wing platforms, have the potential to significantly augment a field season's scientific return on investment for geology and astrobiology researchers by providing an entirely new suite of sophisticated field tools. Robotic rotorcraft and other vertical lift planetary aerial vehicle also hold promise for supporting planetary science missions.

Singular-value decomposition of a tomosynthesis system

PubMed Central

Burvall, Anna; Barrett, Harrison H.; Myers, Kyle J.; Dainty, Christopher

2010-01-01

Tomosynthesis is an emerging technique with potential to replace mammography, since it gives 3D information at a relatively small increase in dose and cost. We present an analytical singular-value decomposition of a tomosynthesis system, which provides the measurement component of any given object. The method is demonstrated on an example object. The measurement component can be used as a reconstruction of the object, and can also be utilized in future observer studies of tomosynthesis image quality. PMID:20940966

A decision support system for drinking water production integrating health risks assessment.

PubMed

Delpla, Ianis; Monteith, Donald T; Freeman, Chris; Haftka, Joris; Hermens, Joop; Jones, Timothy G; Baurès, Estelle; Jung, Aude-Valérie; Thomas, Olivier

2014-07-18

The issue of drinking water quality compliance in small and medium scale water services is of paramount importance in relation to the 98/83/CE European Drinking Water Directive (DWD). Additionally, concerns are being expressed over the implementation of the DWD with respect to possible impacts on water quality from forecast changes in European climate with global warming and further anticipated reductions in north European acid emissions. Consequently, we have developed a decision support system (DSS) named ARTEM-WQ (AwaReness Tool for the Evaluation and Mitigation of drinking Water Quality issues resulting from environmental changes) to support decision making by small and medium plant operators and other water stakeholders. ARTEM-WQ is based on a sequential risk analysis approach that includes consideration of catchment characteristics, climatic conditions and treatment operations. It provides a holistic evaluation of the water system, while also assessing human health risks of organic contaminants potentially present in treated waters (steroids, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, bisphenol-a, polychlorobiphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, petrochemical hydrocarbons and disinfection by-products; n = 109). Moreover, the system provides recommendations for improvement while supporting decision making in its widest context. The tool has been tested on various European catchments and shows a promising potential to inform water managers of risks and appropriate mitigative actions. Further improvements should include toxicological knowledge advancement, environmental background pollutant concentrations and the assessment of the impact of distribution systems on water quality variation.

Achieving universal health coverage in small island states: could importing health services provide a solution?

PubMed Central

Walls, Helen; Smith, Richard

2018-01-01

Background Universal health coverage (UHC) is difficult to achieve in settings short of medicines, health workers and health facilities. These characteristics define the majority of the small island developing states (SIDS), where population size negates the benefits of economies of scale. One option to alleviate this constraint is to import health services, rather than focus on domestic production. This paper provides empirical analysis of the potential impact of this option. Methods Analysis was based on publicly accessible data for 14 SIDS, covering health-related travel and health indicators for the period 2003–2013, together with in-depth review of medical travel schemes for the two highest importing SIDS—the Maldives and Tuvalu. Findings Medical travel from SIDS is accelerating. The SIDS studied generally lacked health infrastructure and technologies, and the majority of them had lower than the recommended number of physicians in a country, which limits their capacity for achieving UHC. Tuvalu and the Maldives were the highest importers of healthcare and notably have public schemes that facilitate medical travel and help lower the out-of-pocket expenditure on medical travel. Although different in approach, design and performance, the medical travel schemes in Tuvalu and the Maldives are both examples of measures used to increase access to health services that cannot feasibly be provided in SIDS. Interpretation Our findings suggest that importing health services (through schemes to facilitate medical travel) is a potential mechanism to help achieve universal healthcare for SIDS but requires due diligence over cost, equity and quality control. PMID:29527349

Using qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate small-scale disease management pilot programs.

PubMed

Esposito, Dominick; Taylor, Erin Fries; Gold, Marsha

2009-02-01

Interest in disease management programs continues to grow as managed care plans, the federal and state governments, and other organizations consider such efforts as a means to improve health care quality and reduce costs. These efforts vary in size, scope, and target population. While large-scale programs provide the means to measure impacts, evaluation of smaller interventions remains valuable as they often represent the early planning stages of larger initiatives. This paper describes a multi-method approach for evaluating small interventions that sought to improve the quality of care for Medicaid beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions. Our approach relied on quantitative and qualitative methods to develop a complete understanding of each intervention. Quantitative data in the form of both process measures, such as case manager contacts, and outcome measures, such as hospital use, were reported and analyzed. Qualitative information was collected through interviews and the development of logic models to document the flow of intervention activities and how they were intended to affect outcomes. The logic models helped us to understand the underlying reasons for the success or lack thereof of each intervention. The analysis provides useful information on several fronts. First, qualitative data provided valuable information about implementation. Second, process measures helped determine whether implementation occurred as anticipated. Third, outcome measures indicated the potential for favorable results later, possibly suggesting further study. Finally, the evaluation of qualitative and quantitative data in combination helped us assess the potential promise of each intervention and identify common themes and challenges across all interventions.

Risk selection and risk adjustment: improving insurance in the individual and small group markets.

PubMed

Baicker, Katherine; Dow, William H

2009-01-01

Insurance market reforms face the key challenge of addressing the threat that risk selection poses to the availability, of stable, high-value insurance policies that provide long-term risk protection. Many of the strategies in use today fail to address this breakdown in risk pooling, and some even exacerbate it. Flexible risk adjustment schemes are a promising avenue for promoting market stability and limiting insurer cream-skimming, potentially providing greater benefits at lower cost. Reforms intended to increase insurance coverage and the value of care delivered will be much more effective if implemented in conjunction with policies that address these fundamental selection issues.

Health and Safety Benefits of Small Pressurized Suitport Rovers as EVA Surface Support Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gernhardt, Michael L.; Abercromby, Andrew F. J.

2008-01-01

Pressurized safe-haven providing SPE protection and decompression sickness (DCS) treatment capabilities within 20 mins at all times. Up to 50% reduction in time spent in EVA suits (vs. Unpressurized Rovers) for equal or greater Boots-on-Surface EVA exploration time. Reduces suit-induced trauma and provides improved options for nutrition, hydration, and waste-management. Time spent inside SPR during long translations may be spent performing resistive and cardiovascular exercise. Multiple shorter EVAs versus single 8 hr EVAs increases DCS safety and decreases prebreathe requirements. SPRs also offer many potential operational, engineering and exploration benefits not addressed here.

Continuing Care in High Schools: A Descriptive Study of Recovery High School Programs

PubMed Central

Finch, Andrew J.; Moberg, D. Paul; Krupp, Amanda Lawton

2014-01-01

Data from 17 recovery high schools suggest programs are dynamic and vary in enrollment, fiscal stability, governance, staffing, and organizational structure. Schools struggle with enrollment, funding, lack of primary treatment accessibility, academic rigor, and institutional support. Still, for adolescents having received treatment for substance abuse, recovery schools appear to successfully function as continuing care providers reinforcing and sustaining therapeutic benefits gained from treatment. Small size and therapeutic programming allow for a potentially broader continuum of services than currently exists in most of the schools. Recovery schools thus provide a useful design for continuing care warranting further study and policy support. PMID:24591808

Significance of dual polarized long wavelength radar for terrain analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Macdonald, H. C.; Waite, W. P.

1978-01-01

Long wavelength systems with improved penetration capability have been considered to have the potential for minimizing the vegetation contribution and enhancing the surface return variations. L-band imagery of the Arkansas geologic test site provides confirmatory evidence of this effect. However, the increased wavelength increases the sensitivity to larger scale structure at relatively small incidence angles. The regularity of agricultural and urban scenes provides large components in the low frequency-large scale portion of the roughness spectrum that are highly sensitive to orientation. The addition of a cross polarized channel is shown to enable the interpreter to distinguish vegetation and orientational perturbations in the surface return.

An evaluation of potential decompression hazards in small pressurized aircraft.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1967-06-01

Over 300 decompression tests were conducted to determine potential hazards of ejection or incapacitating or fatal head injuries in small volume pressurized aircraft in the event of sudden decompression following the loss of a window, emergency exit, ...

A potential flight evaluation of an upper-surface-blowing/circulation-control-wing concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Riddle, Dennis W.; Eppel, Joseph C.

1987-01-01

The technology data base for powered lift aircraft design has advanced over the last 15 years. NASA's Quiet Short Haul Research Aircraft (QSRA) has provided a flight verification of upper surface blowing (USB) technology. The A-6 Circulation Control Wing flight demonstration aricraft has provide data for circulation control wing (CCW) technology. Recent small scale wind tunnel model tests and full scale static flow turning test have shown the potential of combining USB with CCW technology. A flight research program is deemed necessary to fully explore the performance and control aspects of CCW jet substitution for the mechanical USB Coanda flap. The required hardware design would also address questions about the development of flight weight ducts and CCW jets and the engine bleed-air capabilities vs requirements. NASA's QSRA would be an optimum flight research vehicle for modification to the USB/CCW configuration. The existing QSRA data base, the design simplicity of the QSRA wing trailing edge controls, availability of engine bleed-air, and the low risk, low cost potential of the suggested program is discussed.

Predicting the propagation of concentration and saturation fronts in fixed-bed filters.

PubMed

Callery, O; Healy, M G

2017-10-15

The phenomenon of adsorption is widely exploited across a range of industries to remove contaminants from gases and liquids. Much recent research has focused on identifying low-cost adsorbents which have the potential to be used as alternatives to expensive industry standards like activated carbons. Evaluating these emerging adsorbents entails a considerable amount of labor intensive and costly testing and analysis. This study proposes a simple, low-cost method to rapidly assess the potential of novel media for potential use in large-scale adsorption filters. The filter media investigated in this study were low-cost adsorbents which have been found to be capable of removing dissolved phosphorus from solution, namely: i) aluminum drinking water treatment residual, and ii) crushed concrete. Data collected from multiple small-scale column tests was used to construct a model capable of describing and predicting the progression of adsorbent saturation and the associated effluent concentration breakthrough curves. This model was used to predict the performance of long-term, large-scale filter columns packed with the same media. The approach proved highly successful, and just 24-36 h of experimental data from the small-scale column experiments were found to provide sufficient information to predict the performance of the large-scale filters for up to three months. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Key Questions for Translation of FFA Receptors: From Pharmacology to Medicines.

PubMed

Suckow, Arthur T; Briscoe, Celia P

2017-01-01

The identification of fatty acids as ligands for the G-protein coupled free fatty acid (FFA) receptor family over 10 years ago led to intensive chemistry efforts to find small-molecule ligands for this class of receptors. Identification of potent, selective modulators of the FFA receptors and their utility in medicine has proven challenging, in part due to their complex pharmacology. Nevertheless, ligands have been identified that are sufficient for exploring the therapeutic potential of this class of receptors in rodents and, in the case of FFA1, FFA2, FFA4, and GPR84, also in humans. Expression profiling, the phenotyping of FFA receptor knockout mice, and the results of studies exploring the effects of these ligands in rodents have uncovered a number of indications where engagement of one or a combination of FFA receptors might provide some clinical benefit in areas including diabetes, inflammatory bowel syndrome, Alzheimer's, pain, and cancer. In this chapter, we will review the clinical potential of modulating FFA receptors based on preclinical and in some cases clinical studies with synthetic ligands. In particular, key aspects and challenges associated with small-molecule ligand identification and FFA receptor pharmacology will be addressed with a view of the hurdles that need to be overcome to fully understand the potential of the receptors as therapeutic targets.

The high energy demand of neuronal cells caused by passive leak currents is not a waste of energy.

PubMed

Berndt, Nikolaus; Holzhütter, Hermann-Georg

2013-11-01

It is estimated that maintenance of the resting potential of neurons consumes between 15% (in gray matter) and 44% (in fully myelinated white matter) of the brain's total energy budget [1]. This poses the intriguing question why evolution has not strived to lower the permeability of passive ion channels to cut the high resting-state energy budget of the brain. Based on a conceptual mathematical model of neuronal ion currents and action potential (AP) firing we demonstrate that a neuron endowed with small leak currents and correspondingly low energy consumption by the Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase in the resting state may indeed recapitulate all features of normal AP firing. However, the activation and inactivation of such a "low-energy-cost neuron" turns out to be extremely sensitive to small fluctuation of Na(+) currents associated with Na(+)-dependent secondary-active transport that is indispensable for the metabolic integrity of the cell and neurotransmitter recycling. We provide evidence that sufficiently large leak currents function as important stabilizers of the membrane potential and thus are required to allow robust AP firing. Our simulations suggest that the energy demand of the Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase needed to counterbalance passive leak currents cannot be significantly dropped below observed values.

Management of Candida biofilms: state of knowledge and new options for prevention and eradication.

PubMed

Bujdáková, Helena

2016-01-01

Biofilms formed by Candida species (spp.) on medical devices represent a potential health risk. The focus of current research is searching for new options for the treatment and prevention of biofilm-associated infections using different approaches including modern nanotechnology. This review summarizes current information concerning the most relevant resistance/tolerance mechanisms to conventional drugs and a role of additional factors contributing to these phenomena in Candida spp. (mostly Candida albicans). Additionally, it provides an information update in prevention and eradication of a Candida biofilm including experiences with 'lock' therapy, potential utilization of small molecules in biomedical applications, and perspectives of using photodynamic inactivation in the control of a Candida biofilm.

Electrochemical biosensors for biocontaminant detection consisting of carbon nanotubes, platinum nanoparticles, dendrimers, and enzymes.

PubMed

Siriviriyanun, Ampornphan; Imae, Toyoko; Nagatani, Naoki

2013-12-15

The presented approach provides the advanced development of effective, rapid, and versatile electrochemical sensors for a small amount of analytes on potential, cheap, and disposable printed chips. The electrocatalytic activity of this biosensor revealed the feasible detection of hydrogen peroxide at low potential (~0.09 V) and the detection of a biocontaminant inhibitor (organophosphorus pesticide) in a wide range of concentrations. This efficiency comes from the chemical immobilization of catalysts (Pt nanoparticles) and electron transfer-enlarging materials (carbon nanotubes) on an electrode. Especially, dendrimers raise the stable conjugation of enzymes (acetylcholinesterase/choline oxidase/peroxidase) as well as nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes on an electrode. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Studies on the interference of wings and propeller slipstreams

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prabhu, R. K.; Tiwari, S. N.

1985-01-01

The small disturbance potential flow theory is applied to determine the lift of an airfoil in a nonuniform parallel stream. The given stream is replaced by an equivalent stream with a certain number of velocity discontinuities, and the influence of these discontinuities is obtained by the method of images. Next, this method is extended to the problem of an airfoil in a nonuniform stream of smooth velocity profile. This model allows perturbation velocity potential in a rotational undisturbed stream. A comparison of these results with numerical solutions of Euler equations indicates that, although approximate, the present method provides useful information about the interaction problem while avoiding the need to solve the Euler equations.

Inventory and analysis of natural vegetation and related resources from space and high altitude photography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Poulton, C. E.; Faulkner, D. P.; Johnson, J. R.; Mouat, D. A.; Schrumpf, B. J.

1971-01-01

A high altitude photomosaic resource map of Site 29 was produced which provided an opportunity to test photo interpretation accuracy of natural vegetation resource features when mapped at a small (1:133,400) scale. Helicopter reconnaissance over 144 previously selected test points revealed a highly adequate level of photo interpretation accuracy. In general, the reasons for errors could be accounted for. The same photomosaic resource map enabled construction of interpretive land use overlays. Based on features of the landscape, including natural vegetation types, judgements for land use suitability were made and have been presented for two types of potential land use. These two, agriculture and urbanization, represent potential land use conflicts.

Molecular dynamics simulation of metal nanoislands growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kapralov, N. V.; Babich, E. S.; Redkov, A. V.

2017-11-01

We present the atomistic model and the simulation of a self-assembled growth of a silver nanoisland film and small groups of nanoislands on a glass substrate after thermal poling of the glass with a profiled electrode. The calculations were performed in molecular dynamics simulator LAMMPS taking into account the diffusion of the metal atoms towards and along the glass surface and their clustering. Lennard-Jones potential was used to describe metal-metal and metal-glass interaction. The potential parameters were determined to provide qualitative coincidence of the simulated configurations of the metal nanostructures and the experimental ones, such as an isolated nanoisland, a pair and a set of three nanoislands and a “plasmonic molecule”.

Potentiodynamic Corrosion Testing.

PubMed

Munir, Selin; Pelletier, Matthew H; Walsh, William R

2016-09-04

Different metallic materials have different polarization characteristics as dictated by the open circuit potential, breakdown potential, and passivation potential of the material. The detection of these electrochemical parameters identifies the corrosion factors of a material. A reliable and well-functioning corrosion system is required to achieve this. Corrosion of the samples was achieved via a potentiodynamic polarization technique employing a three-electrode configuration, consisting of reference, counter, and working electrodes. Prior to commencement a baseline potential is obtained. Following the stabilization of the corrosion potential (Ecorr), the applied potential is ramped at a slow rate in the positive direction relative to the reference electrode. The working electrode was a stainless steel screw. The reference electrode was a standard Ag/AgCl. The counter electrode used was a platinum mesh. Having a reliable and well-functioning in vitro corrosion system to test biomaterials provides an in-expensive technique that allows for the systematic characterization of the material by determining the breakdown potential, to further understand the material's response to corrosion. The goal of the protocol is to set up and run an in vitro potentiodynamic corrosion system to analyze pitting corrosion for small metallic medical devices.

Techno-economic projections for advanced small solar thermal electric power plants to years 1990-2000

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fujita, T.; Manvi, R.; Roschke, E. J.; El-Gabalawi, N.; Herrera, G.; Kuo, T. J.; Chen, K. H.

1979-01-01

Advanced technologies applicable to solar thermal electric power systems in the 1990-200 time-frame are delineated for power applications that fulfill a wide spectrum of small power needs with primary emphasis on power ratings less than 10MWe. Projections of power system characteristics (energy and capital costs as a function of capacity factor) are made based on development of identified promising technologies and are used as the basis for comparing technology development options and combinations of these options to determine developmental directions offering potential for significant improvements. Stirling engines, Brayton/Rankine combined cycles and storage/transport concepts encompassing liquid metals, and reversible-reaction chemical systems are considered for two-axis tracking systems such as the central receiver or power tower concept and distributed parabolic dish receivers which can provide efficient low-cost solar energy collection while achieving high temperatures for efficient energy conversion. Pursuit of advanced technology across a broad front can result in post-1985 solar thermal systems having the potential of approaching the goal of competitiveness with conventional power systems.

Identification of benzothiazoles as potential polyglutamine aggregation inhibitors of Huntington's disease by using an automated filter retardation assay

PubMed Central

Heiser, Volker; Engemann, Sabine; Bröcker, Wolfgang; Dunkel, Ilona; Boeddrich, Annett; Waelter, Stephanie; Nordhoff, Eddi; Lurz, Rudi; Schugardt, Nancy; Rautenberg, Susanne; Herhaus, Christian; Barnickel, Gerhard; Böttcher, Henning; Lehrach, Hans; Wanker, Erich E.

2002-01-01

Preventing the formation of insoluble polyglutamine containing protein aggregates in neurons may represent an attractive therapeutic strategy to ameliorate Huntington's disease (HD). Therefore, the ability to screen for small molecules that suppress the self-assembly of huntingtin would have potential clinical and significant research applications. We have developed an automated filter retardation assay for the rapid identification of chemical compounds that prevent HD exon 1 protein aggregation in vitro. Using this method, a total of 25 benzothiazole derivatives that inhibit huntingtin fibrillogenesis in a dose-dependent manner were discovered from a library of ≈184,000 small molecules. The results obtained by the filter assay were confirmed by immunoblotting, electron microscopy, and mass spectrometry. Furthermore, cell culture studies revealed that 2-amino-4,7-dimethyl-benzothiazol-6-ol, a chemical compound similar to riluzole, significantly inhibits HD exon 1 aggregation in vivo. These findings may provide the basis for a new therapeutic approach to prevent the accumulation of insoluble protein aggregates in Huntington's disease and related glutamine repeat disorders. PMID:12200548

Turbofan forced mixer lobe flow modeling. 2: Three-dimensional inviscid mixer analysis (FLOMIX)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barber, T.

1988-01-01

A three-dimensional potential analysis (FLOMIX) was formulated and applied to the inviscid flow over a turbofan foced mixer. The method uses a small disturbance formulation to analytically uncouple the circumferential flow from the radial and axial flow problem, thereby reducing the analysis to the solution of a series of axisymmetric problems. These equations are discretized using a flux volume formulation along a Cartesian grid. The method extends earlier applications of the Cartesian method to complex cambered geometries. The effects of power addition are also included within the potential formulation. Good agreement is obtained with an alternate small disturbance analysis for a high penetration symmetric mixer in a planar duct. In addition, calculations showing pressure distributions and induced secondary vorticity fields are presented for practical trubofan mixer configurations, and where possible, comparison was made with available experimental data. A detailed description of the required data input and coordinate definition is presented along with a sample data set for a practical forced mixer configuration. A brief description of the program structure and subroutines is also provided.

Case studies of the legal and institutional obstacles and incentives to the development of small-scale hydroelectric power: Bull Run, Portland, Oregon

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

1980-05-01

The National Conference of State Legislatures' Small-Scale Hydroelectric Policy Project is designed to assist selected state legislatures in looking at the benefits that a state can derive from the development of small-scale hydro, and in carrying out a review of state laws and regulations that affect the development of the state's small-scale hydro resources. The successful completion of the project should help establish state statutes and regulations that are consistent with the efficient development of small-scale hydro. As part of the project's work with state legislatures, seven case studies of small-scale hydro sites were conducted to provide a general analysismore » and overview of the significant problems and opportunities for the development of this energy resource. The case study approach was selected to expose the actual difficulties and advantages involved in developing a specific site. Such an examination of real development efforts will clearly reveal the important aspects about small-scale hydro development which could be improved by statutory or regulatory revision. Moreover, the case study format enables the formulation of generalized opportunities for promoting small-scale hydro based on specific development experiences. The case study for small-scale hydro power development at the City of Portland's water reserve in the Bull Run Forest is presented with information included on the Bull Run hydro power potential, current water usage, hydro power regulations and plant licensing, technical and economic aspects of Bull Run project, and the environmental impact. (LCL)« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

This study tests the performance of a variable airflow small-diameter duct heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in a new construction unoccupied low-load test house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The duct system was installed entirely in conditioned space and was operated from the winter through summer seasons. Measurements were collected on the in-room temperatures and energy consumed by the air handler and heat pump unit. Operation modes with three different volumes of airflow were compared to determine the ideal airflow scenario that maximizes room-to-room thermal uniformity while minimizing fan energy consumption. Black felt infrared imagery was used as a measuremore » of diffuser throw and in-room air mixing. Measured results indicate the small-diameter, high velocity airflow system can provide comfort under some conditions. Solar heat gains resulted in southern rooms drifting beyond acceptable temperature limits. Insufficient airflow to some bedrooms also resulted in periods of potential discomfort. Homebuilders or HVAC contractors can use these results to assess whether this space conditioning strategy is an attractive alternative to a traditional duct system. The team performed a cost analysis of two duct system configurations: (1) a conventional diameter and velocity duct system, and (2) the small-diameter duct system. This work applies to both new and retrofit homes that have achieved a low heating and cooling density either by energy conservation or by operation in a mild climate with few heating or cooling degree days. Guidance is provided on cost trade-offs between the conventional duct system and the small-diameter duct system.« less

[Strategy for molecular testing in pulmonary carcinoma].

PubMed

Penault-Llorca, Frédérique; Tixier, Lucie; Perrot, Loïc; Cayre, Anne

2016-01-01

Nowadays, the analysis of theranostic molecular markers is central in the management of lung cancer. As those tumors are diagnosed in two third of the cases at an advanced stage, molecular screening is frequently performed on "small samples". The screening strategy starts by an accurate histopathological characterization, including on biopsies or cytological specimens. WHO 2015 provided a new classification for small biopsy and cytology, defining categories such as non-small cell carcinoma (NSCC), favor adenocarcinoma (TTF1 positive), or favor squamous cell carcinoma (p40 positive). Only the NSCC tumors, non-squamous, are eligible to molecular testing. A strategy aiming at tissue sparing for the small biopsies has to be organized. Tests corresponding to available drugs are prioritized. Blank slides will be prepared for immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization based tests such as ALK. DNA will then be extracted for the other tests, EGFR mutation screening first associated or not to KRAS. Then, the emerging biomarkers (HER2, ROS1, RET, BRAF…) as well as potentially other markers in case of clinical trials, can been tested. The spread of next generation sequencing technologies, with a very sensitive all-in-one approach will allow the identification of minority clones. Eventually, the development of liquid biopsies will provide the opportunity to monitor the apparition of resistance clones during treatment. This non-invasive approach allows patients with a contraindication to perform biopsy or with non-relevant biopsies to access to molecular screening. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Zhiqiang; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706; Geng, Dalong

A simple and effective decoupled finite element analysis method was developed for simulating both the piezoelectric and flexoelectric effects of zinc oxide (ZnO) and barium titanate (BTO) nanowires (NWs). The piezoelectric potential distribution on a ZnO NW was calculated under three deformation conditions (cantilever, three-point, and four-point bending) and compared to the conventional fully coupled method. The discrepancies of the electric potential maximums from these two methods were found very small, validating the accuracy and effectiveness of the decoupled method. Both ZnO and BTO NWs yielded very similar potential distributions. Comparing the potential distributions induced by the piezoelectric and flexoelectricmore » effects, we identified that the middle segment of a four-point bending NW beam is the ideal place for measuring the flexoelectric coefficient, because the uniform parallel plate capacitor-like potential distribution in this region is exclusively induced by the flexoelectric effect. This decoupled method could provide a valuable guideline for experimental measurements of the piezoelectric effects and flexoelectric effects in the nanometer scale.« less

Saddle point localization of molecular wavefunctions.

PubMed

Mellau, Georg Ch; Kyuberis, Alexandra A; Polyansky, Oleg L; Zobov, Nikolai; Field, Robert W

2016-09-15

The quantum mechanical description of isomerization is based on bound eigenstates of the molecular potential energy surface. For the near-minimum regions there is a textbook-based relationship between the potential and eigenenergies. Here we show how the saddle point region that connects the two minima is encoded in the eigenstates of the model quartic potential and in the energy levels of the [H, C, N] potential energy surface. We model the spacing of the eigenenergies with the energy dependent classical oscillation frequency decreasing to zero at the saddle point. The eigenstates with the smallest spacing are localized at the saddle point. The analysis of the HCN ↔ HNC isomerization states shows that the eigenstates with small energy spacing relative to the effective (v1, v3, ℓ) bending potentials are highly localized in the bending coordinate at the transition state. These spectroscopically detectable states represent a chemical marker of the transition state in the eigenenergy spectrum. The method developed here provides a basis for modeling characteristic patterns in the eigenenergy spectrum of bound states.

Current Challenges in Delivery and Cytosolic Translocation of Therapeutic RNAs

PubMed Central

Lucchino, Marco

2018-01-01

RNA interference (RNAi) is a fundamental cellular process for the posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression. RNAi can exogenously be modulated by small RNA oligonucleotides, such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), or by antisense oligonucleotides. These small oligonucleotides provided the scientific community with powerful and versatile tools to turn off the expression of genes of interest, and hold out the promise of new therapeutic solutions against a wide range of gene-associated pathologies. However, unmodified nucleic acids are highly instable in biological systems, and their weak interaction with plasma proteins confers an unfavorable pharmacokinetics. In this review, we first provide an overview of the most efficient chemical strategies that, over the past 30 years, have been used to significantly improve the therapeutic potential of oligonucleotides. Oligonucleotides targeting and delivery technologies are then presented, including covalent conjugates between oligonucleotides and targeting ligand, and noncovalent association with lipid or polymer nanoparticles. Finally, we specifically focus on the endosomal escape step, which represents a major stumbling block for the effective use of oligonucleotides as therapeutic agents. The need for approaches to quantitatively measure endosomal escape and cytosolic arrival of biomolecules is discussed in the context of the development of efficient oligonucleotide targeting and delivery vectors. PMID:29883296

Spatial attention determines the nature of nonverbal number representation.

PubMed

Hyde, Daniel C; Wood, Justin N

2011-09-01

Coordinated studies of adults, infants, and nonhuman animals provide evidence for two systems of nonverbal number representation: a "parallel individuation" system that represents individual items and a "numerical magnitude" system that represents the approximate cardinal value of a group. However, there is considerable debate about the nature and functions of these systems, due largely to the fact that some studies show a dissociation between small (1-3) and large (>3) number representation, whereas others do not. Using event-related potentials, we show that it is possible to determine which system will represent the numerical value of a small number set (1-3 items) by manipulating spatial attention. Specifically, when attention can select individual objects, an early brain response (N1) scales with the cardinal value of the display, the signature of parallel individuation. In contrast, when attention cannot select individual objects or is occupied by another task, a later brain response (P2p) scales with ratio, the signature of the approximate numerical magnitude system. These results provide neural evidence that small numbers can be represented as approximate numerical magnitudes. Further, they empirically demonstrate the importance of early attentional processes to number representation by showing that the way in which attention disperses across a scene determines which numerical system will deploy in a given context.

Regulatory/Scientific Supports for Micro-, Small-, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) With Medicinal Products Provided by the PMDA and EMA.

PubMed

Kondo, Hideyuki; Shibatsuji, Masayoshi; Yasuda, Naoyuki

2018-01-01

Micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been considered as key players who can bring innovative medicinal products and/or technologies into the field. However, they may need much regulatory/scientific supports to provide their products, technologies, or services to the market in a timely way. Both the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), regulatory authorities for medicinal products in Japan and the EU, respectively, have prepared supportive measures for SMEs from the early phase of product/technology development to the postmarketing phase. With respect to supports for SMEs, both agencies have provided similar SME-specific supportive activities, including routine administrative assistance, consultations about product development strategy from an early phase, as well as specific regulatory/scientific issues and fee incentives. In addition, there is a system to register SME status in the EU, which can be a tool for regulators to know how much potential SME-driven activities have and with whom they should communicate to provide necessary supports. Furthermore, as new technologies and novel products from SMEs are not limited to the region where they are developed, close communication about these topics between the PMDA and the EMA will contribute to advancing patients' access to necessary medicinal products.

Real-time clinically oriented array-based in vivo combined photoacoustic and power Doppler imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harrison, Tyler; Jeffery, Dean; Wiebe, Edward; Zemp, Roger J.

2014-03-01

Photoacoustic imaging has great potential for identifying vascular regions for clinical imaging. In addition to assessing angiogenesis in cancers, there are many other disease processes that result in increased vascularity that present novel targets for photoacoustic imaging. Doppler imaging can provide good localization of large vessels, but poor imaging of small or low flow speed vessels and is susceptible to motion artifacts. Photoacoustic imaging can provide visualization of small vessels, but due to the filtering effects of ultrasound transducers, only shows the edges of large vessels. Thus, we have combined photoacoustic imaging with ultrasound power Doppler to provide contrast agent- free vascular imaging. We use a research-oriented ultrasound array system to provide interlaced ultrasound, Doppler, and photoacoustic imaging. This system features realtime display of all three modalities with adjustable persistence, rejection, and compression. For ease of use in a clinical setting, display of each mode can be disabled. We verify the ability of this system to identify vessels with varying flow speeds using receiver operating characteristic curves, and find that as flow speed falls, photoacoustic imaging becomes a much better method for identifying blood vessels. We also present several in vivo images of the thyroid and several synovial joints to assess the practicality of this imaging for clinical applications.

Projected Demand and Potential Impacts to the National Airspace System of Autonomous, Electric, On-Demand Small Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Jeremy C.; Viken, Jeffrey K.; Guerreiro, Nelson M.; Dollyhigh, Samuel M.; Fenbert, James W.; Hartman, Christopher L.; Kwa, Teck-Seng; Moore, Mark D.

2012-01-01

Electric propulsion and autonomy are technology frontiers that offer tremendous potential to achieve low operating costs for small-aircraft. Such technologies enable simple and safe to operate vehicles that could dramatically improve regional transportation accessibility and speed through point-to-point operations. This analysis develops an understanding of the potential traffic volume and National Airspace System (NAS) capacity for small on-demand aircraft operations. Future demand projections use the Transportation Systems Analysis Model (TSAM), a tool suite developed by NASA and the Transportation Laboratory of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Demand projections from TSAM contain the mode of travel, number of trips and geographic distribution of trips. For this study, the mode of travel can be commercial aircraft, automobile and on-demand aircraft. NASA's Airspace Concept Evaluation System (ACES) is used to assess NAS impact. This simulation takes a schedule that includes all flights: commercial passenger and cargo; conventional General Aviation and on-demand small aircraft, and operates them in the simulated NAS. The results of this analysis projects very large trip numbers for an on-demand air transportation system competitive with automobiles in cost per passenger mile. The significance is this type of air transportation can enhance mobility for communities that currently lack access to commercial air transportation. Another significant finding is that the large numbers of operations can have an impact on the current NAS infrastructure used by commercial airlines and cargo operators, even if on-demand traffic does not use the 28 airports in the Continental U.S. designated as large hubs by the FAA. Some smaller airports will experience greater demand than their current capacity allows and will require upgrading. In addition, in future years as demand grows and vehicle performance improves other non-conventional facilities such as short runways incorporated into shopping mall or transportation hub parking areas could provide additional capacity and convenience.

The contemporary role of ablative treatment approaches in the management of renal cell carcinoma (RCC): focus on radiofrequency ablation (RFA), high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), and cryoablation.

PubMed

Klatte, Tobias; Kroeger, Nils; Zimmermann, Uwe; Burchardt, Martin; Belldegrun, Arie S; Pantuck, Allan J

2014-06-01

Currently, most of renal tumors are small, low grade, with a slow growth rate, a low metastatic potential, and with up to 30 % of these tumors being benign on the final pathology. Moreover, they are often diagnosed in elderly patients with preexisting medical comorbidities in whom the underlying medical conditions may pose a greater risk of death than the small renal mass. Concerns regarding overdiagnosis and overtreatment of patients with indolent small renal tumors have led to an increasing interest in minimally invasive, ablative as an alternative to extirpative interventions for selected patients. To provide an overview about the state of the art in radiofrequency ablation (RFA), high-intensity focused ultrasound, and cryoablation in the clinical management of renal cell carcinoma. A PubMed wide the literature search of was conducted. International consensus panels recommend ablative techniques in patients who are unfit for surgery, who are not considered candidates for or elect against elective surveillance, and who have small renal masses. The most often used techniques are cryoablation and RFA. These ablative techniques offer potentially curative outcomes while conferring several advantages over extirpative surgery, including improved patient procedural tolerance, faster recovery, preservation of renal function, and reduction in the risk of intraoperative and postsurgical complications. While it is likely that outcomes associated with ablative modalities will improve with further advances in technology, their application will expand to more elective indications as longer-term efficacy data become available. Ablative techniques pose a valid treatment option in selected patients.

A novel small molecule, Rosline, inhibits growth and induces caspase-dependent apoptosis in human lung cancer cells A549 through a reactive oxygen species-dependent mechanism.

PubMed

Zhao, Ting; Feng, Yang; Jin, Wenling; Pan, Hui; Li, Haizhou; Zhao, Yang

2016-06-01

Chemical screening using synthetic small molecule libraries has provided a huge amount of novel active molecules. It generates lead compound for drug development and brings focus on molecules for mechanistic investigations on many otherwise intangible biological processes. In this study, using non-small cell lung cancer cell A549 to screen against a structurally novel and diverse synthetic small molecule library of 2,400 compounds, we identified a molecule named rosline that has strong anti-proliferation activity on A549 cells with a 50% cell growth inhibitory concentration (IC50 ) of 2.87 ± 0.39 µM. We showed that rosline treatment increased the number of Annexin V-positive staining cell, as well as G2/M arrest in their cell cycle progression. Further, we have demonstrated that rosline induces a decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δφm ) and an increase of caspases 3/7 and 9 activities in A549 cells, although having no effect on the activity of caspase 8. Moreover, we found that rosline could induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inhibit the phosphorylation of signaling molecule Akt in A549 cells. Alternatively, an antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) significantly attenuated rosline's effects on the mitochondrial membrane potential, caspases 3/7 and 9 activities, cell viabilities and the phosphorylation of Akt. Our results demonstrated that ROS played an important role in the apoptosis of A549 cells induced by rosline. © 2016 International Federation for Cell Biology.

A comparison of working in small-scale and large-scale nursing homes: A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative evidence.

PubMed

Vermeerbergen, Lander; Van Hootegem, Geert; Benders, Jos

2017-02-01

Ongoing shortages of care workers, together with an ageing population, make it of utmost importance to increase the quality of working life in nursing homes. Since the 1970s, normalised and small-scale nursing homes have been increasingly introduced to provide care in a family and homelike environment, potentially providing a richer work life for care workers as well as improved living conditions for residents. 'Normalised' refers to the opportunities given to residents to live in a manner as close as possible to the everyday life of persons not needing care. The study purpose is to provide a synthesis and overview of empirical research comparing the quality of working life - together with related work and health outcomes - of professional care workers in normalised small-scale nursing homes as compared to conventional large-scale ones. A systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies. A systematic literature search (April 2015) was performed using the electronic databases Pubmed, Embase, PsycInfo, CINAHL and Web of Science. References and citations were tracked to identify additional, relevant studies. We identified 825 studies in the selected databases. After checking the inclusion and exclusion criteria, nine studies were selected for review. Two additional studies were selected after reference and citation tracking. Three studies were excluded after requesting more information on the research setting. The findings from the individual studies suggest that levels of job control and job demands (all but "time pressure") are higher in normalised small-scale homes than in conventional large-scale nursing homes. Additionally, some studies suggested that social support and work motivation are higher, while risks of burnout and mental strain are lower, in normalised small-scale nursing homes. Other studies found no differences or even opposing findings. The studies reviewed showed that these inconclusive findings can be attributed to care workers in some normalised small-scale homes experiencing isolation and too high job demands in their work roles. This systematic review suggests that normalised small-scale homes are a good starting point for creating a higher quality of working life in the nursing home sector. Higher job control enables care workers to manage higher job demands in normalised small-scale homes. However, some jobs would benefit from interventions to address care workers' perceptions of too low social support and of too high job demands. More research is needed to examine strategies to enhance these working life issues in normalised small-scale settings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Wireless Implantable Micropump for Chronic Drug Infusion Against Cancer

PubMed Central

Cobo, Angelica; Sheybani, Roya; Tu, Heidi; Meng, Ellis

2016-01-01

We present an implantable micropump with a miniature form factor and completely wireless operation that enables chronic drug administration intended for evaluation and development of cancer therapies in freely moving small research animals such as rodents. The low power electrolysis actuator avoids the need for heavy implantable batteries. The infusion system features a class E inductive powering system that provides on-demand activation of the pump as well as remote adjustment of the delivery regimen without animal handling. Micropump performance was demonstrated using a model anti-cancer application in which daily doses of 30 μL were supplied for several weeks with less than 6% variation in flow rate within a single pump and less than 8% variation across different pumps. Pumping under different back pressure, viscosity, and temperature conditions were investigated; parameters were chosen so as to mimic in vivo conditions. In benchtop tests under simulated in vivo conditions, micropumps provided consistent and reliable performance over a period of 30 days with less than 4% flow rate variation. The demonstrated prototype has potential to provide a practical solution for remote chronic administration of drugs to ambulatory small animals for research as well as drug discovery and development applications. PMID:26855476

Identification of the functional binding pocket for compounds targeting small-conductance Ca2+-activated potassium channels

PubMed Central

Zhang, Miao; Pascal, John M.; Schumann, Marcel; Armen, Roger S.; Zhang, Ji-fang

2012-01-01

Small- and intermediate-conductance Ca2+-activated potassium channels, activated by Ca2+-bound calmodulin, play an important role in regulating membrane excitability. These channels are also linked to clinical abnormalities. A tremendous amount of effort has been devoted to developing small molecule compounds targeting these channels. However, these compounds often suffer from low potency and lack of selectivity, hindering their potentials for clinical use. A key contributing factor is the lack of knowledge of the binding site(s) for these compounds. Here we demonstrate by X-ray crystallography that the binding pocket for the compounds of the 1-EBIO class is located at the calmodulin-channel interface. We show that, based on structure data and molecular docking, mutations of the channel can effectively change the potency of these compounds. Our results provide insight into the molecular nature of the binding pocket and its contribution to the potency and selectivity of the compounds of the 1-EBIO class. PMID:22929778

Identification of the functional binding pocket for compounds targeting small-conductance Ca²⁺-activated potassium channels.

PubMed

Zhang, Miao; Pascal, John M; Schumann, Marcel; Armen, Roger S; Zhang, Ji-Fang

2012-01-01

Small- and intermediate-conductance Ca(2+)-activated potassium channels, activated by Ca(2+)-bound calmodulin, have an important role in regulating membrane excitability. These channels are also linked to clinical abnormalities. A tremendous amount of effort has been devoted to developing small molecule compounds targeting these channels. However, these compounds often suffer from low potency and lack of selectivity, hindering their potential for clinical use. A key contributing factor is the lack of knowledge of the binding site(s) for these compounds. Here we demonstrate by X-ray crystallography that the binding pocket for the compounds of the 1-ethyl-2-benzimidazolinone (1-EBIO) class is located at the calmodulin-channel interface. We show that, based on structure data and molecular docking, mutations of the channel can effectively change the potency of these compounds. Our results provide insight into the molecular nature of the binding pocket and its contribution to the potency and selectivity of the compounds of the 1-EBIO class.

Effect of simulated transport stress on the rat small intestine: A morphological and gene expression study.

PubMed

Wan, Changrong; Yin, Peng; Xu, Xiaolong; Liu, Mingjiang; He, Shasha; Song, Shixiu; Liu, Fenghua; Xu, Jianqin

2014-04-01

The present study investigated the effects of simulated transport stress on morphology and gene expression in the small intestine of laboratory rats. Sprague Dawley rats were subjected to 35°C and 0.1×g on a constant temperature shaker for physiological, biochemical, morphological and microarray analysis before and after treatment. The treatment induced obvious stress responses with significant decreases in body weight (P<0.01), increases in rectal temperature, serum corticosterone (CORT), serum glucose (GLU), creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels (P<0.01), as well as expression of Hsp27/70/90 mRNA (P<0.05; P<0.01). The rat jejunum was severely damaged and apoptotic after mimicking transport stress, which may mainly be related to cell death, oxidation reduction and hormone imbalance determined by microarray analysis. The bioinformatics analysis from the present study would provide insight into the potential mechanisms underlying transport stress-induced injury in the rat small intestine. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Kinetic Inductance Photodetectors Based on Nonequilibrium Response in Superconducting Thin-Film Structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sergeev, A. V.; Karasik, B. S.; Gogidze, I. G.; Mitin, V. V.

2001-01-01

While experimental studies of kinetic-inductance sensors have been limited so far by the temperature range near the superconducting transition, these detectors can be very sensitivity at temperatures well below the transition, where the number of equilibrium quasiparticles is exponentially small. In this regime, a shift of the quasiparticle chemical potential under radiation results in the change of the kinetic inductance, which can be measured by a sensitive SQUID readout. We modeled the kinetic inductance response of detectors made from disordered superconducting Nb, NbC, and MoRe films. Low phonon transparency of the interface between the superconductor and the substrate causes substantial re-trapping of phonons providing high quantum efficiency and the operating time of approximately 1 ms at 1 K. Due to the small number of quasiparticles, the noise equivalent power of the detector determined by the quasiparticle generation-recombination noise can be as small as approximately 10(exp -19) W/Hz(exp 1/2) at He4 temperatures.

NASA Near Earth Network (NEN), Deep Space Network (DSN) and Space Network (SN) Support of CubeSat Communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schaire, Scott H.; Altunc, Serhat; Bussey, George; Shaw, Harry; Horne, Bill; Schier, Jim

2015-01-01

There has been a historical trend to increase capability and drive down the Size, Weight and Power (SWAP) of satellites and that trend continues today. Small satellites, including systems conforming to the CubeSat specification, because of their low launch and development costs, are enabling new concepts and capabilities for science investigations across multiple fields of interest to NASA. NASA scientists and engineers across many of NASAs Mission Directorates and Centers are developing exciting CubeSat concepts and welcome potential partnerships for CubeSat endeavors. From a communications and tracking point of view, small satellites including CubeSats are a challenge to coordinate because of existing small spacecraft constraints, such as limited SWAP and attitude control, low power, and the potential for high numbers of operational spacecraft. The NASA Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Programs Near Earth Network (NEN), Deep Space Network (DSN) and the Space Network (SN) are customer driven organizations that provide comprehensive communications services for space assets including data transport between a missions orbiting satellite and its Mission Operations Center (MOC). The NASA NEN consists of multiple ground antennas. The SN consists of a constellation of geosynchronous (Earth orbiting) relay satellites, named the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). The DSN currently makes available 13 antennas at its three tracking stations located around the world for interplanetary communication. The presentation will analyze how well these space communication networks are positioned to support the emerging small satellite and CubeSat market. Recognizing the potential support, the presentation will review the basic capabilities of the NEN, DSN and SN in the context of small satellites and will present information about NEN, DSN and SN-compatible flight radios and antenna development activities at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and across industry. The presentation will review concepts on how the SN multiple access capability could help locate CubeSats and provide a low-latency early warning system. The presentation will also present how the DSN is evolving to maximize use of its assets for interplanetary CubeSats. The critical spectrum-related topics of available and appropriate frequency bands, licensing, and coordination will be reviewed. Other key considerations, such as standardization of radio frequency interfaces and flight and ground communications hardware systems, will be addressed as such standardization may reduce the amount of time and cost required to obtain frequency authorization and perform compatibility and end-to-end testing. Examples of standardization that exist today are the NASA NEN, DSN and SN systems which have published users guides and defined frequency bands for high data rate communication, as well as conformance to CCSDS standards. The workshop session will also seek input from the workshop participants to better understand the needs of small satellite systems and to identify key development activities and operational approaches necessary to enhance communication and navigation support using NASA's NEN, DSN and SN.

[Current overview of cartilage regeneration procedures].

PubMed

Schenker, H; Wild, M; Rath, B; Tingart, M; Driessen, A; Quack, V; Betsch, M

2017-11-01

Cartilage is an avascular, alymphatic and non-innervated tissue with limited intrinsic repair potential. The high prevalence of cartilage defects and their tremendous clinical importance are a challenge for all treating physicians. This article provides the reader with an overview about current cartilage treatment options and their clinical outcome. Microfracture is still considered the gold standard in the treatment of small cartilage lesions. Small osteochondral defects can be effectively treated with the autologous osteochondral transplantation system. Larger cartilage defects are successfully treated by autologous membrane-induced chondrogenesis (AMIC) or by membrane-assisted autologous chondrocyte implantation (MACI). Despite limitations of current cartilage repair strategies, such procedures can result in short- and mid-term clinical improvement of the patients. Further developments and clinical studies are necessary to improve the long-term outcome following cartilage repair.

Rocket University at KSC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sullivan, Steven J.

2014-01-01

"Rocket University" is an exciting new initiative at Kennedy Space Center led by NASA's Engineering and Technology Directorate. This hands-on experience has been established to develop, refine & maintain targeted flight engineering skills to enable the Agency and KSC strategic goals. Through "RocketU", KSC is developing a nimble, rapid flight engineering life cycle systems knowledge base. Ongoing activities in RocketU develop and test new technologies and potential customer systems through small scale vehicles, build and maintain flight experience through balloon and small-scale rocket missions, and enable a revolving fresh perspective of engineers with hands on expertise back into the large scale NASA programs, providing a more experienced multi-disciplined set of systems engineers. This overview will define the Program, highlight aspects of the training curriculum, and identify recent accomplishments and activities.

Advancements of the Lightweight Integrated Solar Array and Transceiver (LISA-T) Small Spacecraft System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lockett, Tiffany Russell; Martinez, Armando; Boyd, Darren; SanSouice, Michael; Farmer, Brandon; Schneider, Todd; Laue, Greg; Fabisinski, Leo; Johnson, Les; Carr, John A.

2015-01-01

This paper describes recent advancements of the Lightweight Integrated Solar Array and Transceiver (LISA-T) currently being developed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. The LISA-T array comprises a launch stowed, orbit deployed structure on which thin-film photovoltaic (PV) and antenna devices are embedded. The system provides significant electrical power generation at low weights, high stowage efficiency, and without the need for solar tracking. Leveraging high-volume terrestrial-market PVs also gives the potential for lower array costs. LISA-T is addressing the power starvation epidemic currently seen by many small-scale satellites while also enabling the application of deployable antenna arrays. Herein, an overview of the system and its applications are presented alongside sub-system development progress and environmental testing plans.

Advancements of the Lightweight Integrated Solar Array and Transceiver (LISA-T) Small Spacecraft System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, Tiffany; Martinez, Armando; Boyd, Darren; SanSoucie, Michael; Farmer, Brandon; Schneider, Todd; Fabisinski, Leo; Johnson, Les; Carr, John A.

2015-01-01

This paper describes recent advancements of the Lightweight Integrated Solar Array and Transceiver (LISA-T) currently being developed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. The LISA-T array comprises a launch stowed, orbit deployed structure on which thin-film photovoltaic (PV) and antenna devices are embedded. The system provides significant electrical power generation at low weights, high stowage efficiency, and without the need for solar tracking. Leveraging high-volume terrestrial-market PVs also gives the potential for lower array costs. LISA-T is addressing the power starvation epidemic currently seen by many small-scale satellites while also enabling the application of deployable antenna arrays. Herein, an overview of the system and its applications are presented alongside sub-system development progress and environmental testing plans/initial results.

Bidirectional negative differential thermal resistance in three-segment Frenkel-Kontorova lattices.

PubMed

Ou, Ya-Li; Lu, Shi-Cai; Hu, Cai-Tian; Ai, Bao-Quan

2016-12-14

By coupling three nonlinear 1D lattice segments, we demonstrate a thermal insulator model, where the system acts like an insulator for large temperature bias and a conductor for very small temperature bias. We numerically investigate the parameter range of the thermal insulator and find that the nonlinear response (the role of on-site potential), the weakly coupling interaction between each segment, and the small system size collectively contribute to the appearance of bidirectional negative differential thermal resistance (BNDTR). The corresponding exhibition of BNDTR can be explained in terms of effective phonon-band shifts. Our results can provide a new perspective for understanding the microscopic mechanism of negative differential thermal resistance and also would be conducive to further developments in designing and fabricating thermal devices and functional materials.

Importance of target-mediated drug disposition for small molecules.

PubMed

Smith, Dennis A; van Waterschoot, Robert A B; Parrott, Neil J; Olivares-Morales, Andrés; Lavé, Thierry; Rowland, Malcolm

2018-06-18

Target concentration is typically not considered in drug discovery. However, if targets are expressed at relatively high concentrations and compounds have high affinity, such that most of the drug is bound to its target, in vitro screens can give unreliable information on compound affinity. In vivo, a similar situation will generate pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles that deviate greatly from those normally expected, owing to target binding affecting drug distribution and clearance. Such target-mediated drug disposition (TMDD) effects on small molecules have received little attention and might only become apparent during clinical trials, with the potential for data misinterpretation. TMDD also confounds human microdosing approaches by providing therapeutically unrepresentative PK profiles. Being aware of these phenomena will improve the likelihood of successful drug discovery and development. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Sensing with Superconducting Point Contacts

PubMed Central

Nurbawono, Argo; Zhang, Chun

2012-01-01

Superconducting point contacts have been used for measuring magnetic polarizations, identifying magnetic impurities, electronic structures, and even the vibrational modes of small molecules. Due to intrinsically small energy scale in the subgap structures of the supercurrent determined by the size of the superconducting energy gap, superconductors provide ultrahigh sensitivities for high resolution spectroscopies. The so-called Andreev reflection process between normal metal and superconductor carries complex and rich information which can be utilized as powerful sensor when fully exploited. In this review, we would discuss recent experimental and theoretical developments in the supercurrent transport through superconducting point contacts and their relevance to sensing applications, and we would highlight their current issues and potentials. A true utilization of the method based on Andreev reflection analysis opens up possibilities for a new class of ultrasensitive sensors. PMID:22778630

Performance of a CW double electric discharge for supersonic CO lasers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stanton, A. C.; Hanson, R. K.; Mitchner, M.

1980-01-01

The results of an experimental investigation of a CW double discharge in supersonic CO mixtures are reported. Stable discharges in CO/N2 and CO/Ar mixtures, with a maximum energy loading of 0.5 eV/CO molecule, were achieved in a small-scale continuous-flow supersonic channel. Detailed measurements of the discharge characteristics were performed, including electrostatic probe measurements of floating potential and electron number density and spectroscopic measurements of the CO vibrational population distributions. The results of these measurements indicate that the vibrational excitation efficiency of the discharge is approximately 60%, for moderate levels of main discharge current. These experiments, on a small scale, demonstrate that the double-discharge scheme provides adequate vibrational energy loading for efficient CO laser operation under CW supersonic flow conditions.

Anaerobic digestion of spring and winter wheat: Comparison of net energy yields.

PubMed

Rincón, Bárbara; Heaven, Sonia; Salter, Andrew M; Banks, Charles J

2016-10-14

Anaerobic digestion of wheat was investigated under batch conditions. The article compares the potential net energy yield between a winter wheat (sown in the autumn) and a spring wheat (sown in the spring) grown in the same year and harvested at the same growth stage in the same farm. The spring wheat had a slightly higher biochemical methane potential and required lower energy inputs in cultivation, but produced a lower dry biomass yield per hectare, which resulted in winter wheat providing the best overall net energy yield. The difference was small; both varieties gave a good net energy yield. Spring sowing may also offer the opportunity for growing an additional over-winter catch crop for spring harvest, thus increasing the overall biomass yield per hectare, with both crops being potential digester feedstocks.

Integrated optical dipole trap for cold neutral atoms with an optical waveguide coupler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J.; Park, D. H.; Mittal, S.; Dagenais, M.; Rolston, S. L.

2013-04-01

An integrated optical dipole trap uses two-color (red and blue-detuned) traveling evanescent wave fields for trapping cold neutral atoms. To achieve longitudinal confinement, we propose using an integrated optical waveguide coupler, which provides a potential gradient along the beam propagation direction sufficient to confine atoms. This integrated optical dipole trap can support an atomic ensemble with a large optical depth due to its small mode area. Its quasi-TE0 waveguide mode has an advantage over the HE11 mode of a nanofiber, with little inhomogeneous Zeeman broadening at the trapping region. The longitudinal confinement eliminates the need for a one dimensional optical lattice, reducing collisional blockaded atomic loading, potentially producing larger ensembles. The waveguide trap allows for scalability and integrability with nano-fabrication technology. We analyze the potential performance of such integrated atom traps.

Estimating pesticide runoff in small streams.

PubMed

Schriever, Carola A; von der Ohe, Peter C; Liess, Matthias

2007-08-01

Surface runoff is one of the most important pathways for pesticides to enter surface waters. Mathematical models are employed to characterize its spatio-temporal variability within landscapes, but they must be simple owing to the limited availability and low resolution of data at this scale. This study aimed to validate a simplified spatially-explicit model that is developed for the regional scale to calculate the runoff potential (RP). The RP is a generic indicator of the magnitude of pesticide inputs into streams via runoff. The underlying runoff model considers key environmental factors affecting runoff (precipitation, topography, land use, and soil characteristics), but predicts losses of a generic substance instead of any one pesticide. We predicted and evaluated RP for 20 small streams. RP input data were extracted from governmental databases. Pesticide measurements from a triennial study were used for validation. Measured pesticide concentrations were standardized by the applied mass per catchment and the water solubility of the relevant compounds. The maximum standardized concentration per site and year (runoff loss, R(Loss)) provided a generalized measure of observed pesticide inputs into the streams. Average RP explained 75% (p<0.001) of the variance in R(Loss). Our results imply that the generic indicator can give an adequate estimate of runoff inputs into small streams, wherever data of similar resolution are available. Therefore, we suggest RP for a first quick and cost-effective location of potential runoff hot spots at the landscape level.

Orbits in elementary, power-law galaxy bars - 1. Occurrence and role of single loops

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Struck, Curtis

2018-05-01

Orbits in galaxy bars are generally complex, but simple closed loop orbits play an important role in our conceptual understanding of bars. Such orbits are found in some well-studied potentials, provide a simple model of the bar in themselves, and may generate complex orbit families. The precessing, power ellipse (p-ellipse) orbit approximation provides accurate analytic orbit fits in symmetric galaxy potentials. It remains useful for finding and fitting simple loop orbits in the frame of a rotating bar with bar-like and symmetric power-law potentials. Second-order perturbation theory yields two or fewer simple loop solutions in these potentials. Numerical integrations in the parameter space neighbourhood of perturbation solutions reveal zero or one actual loops in a range of such potentials with rising rotation curves. These loops are embedded in a small parameter region of similar, but librating orbits, which have a subharmonic frequency superimposed on the basic loop. These loops and their librating companions support annular bars. Solid bars can be produced in more complex potentials, as shown by an example with power-law indices varying with radius. The power-law potentials can be viewed as the elementary constituents of more complex potentials. Numerical integrations also reveal interesting classes of orbits with multiple loops. In two-dimensional, self-gravitating bars, with power-law potentials, single-loop orbits are very rare. This result suggests that gas bars or oval distortions are unlikely to be long-lived, and that complex orbits or three-dimensional structure must support self-gravitating stellar bars.

Robust small area estimation of poverty indicators using M-quantile approach (Case study: Sub-district level in Bogor district)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Girinoto, Sadik, Kusman; Indahwati

2017-03-01

The National Socio-Economic Survey samples are designed to produce estimates of parameters of planned domains (provinces and districts). The estimation of unplanned domains (sub-districts and villages) has its limitation to obtain reliable direct estimates. One of the possible solutions to overcome this problem is employing small area estimation techniques. The popular choice of small area estimation is based on linear mixed models. However, such models need strong distributional assumptions and do not easy allow for outlier-robust estimation. As an alternative approach for this purpose, M-quantile regression approach to small area estimation based on modeling specific M-quantile coefficients of conditional distribution of study variable given auxiliary covariates. It obtained outlier-robust estimation from influence function of M-estimator type and also no need strong distributional assumptions. In this paper, the aim of study is to estimate the poverty indicator at sub-district level in Bogor District-West Java using M-quantile models for small area estimation. Using data taken from National Socioeconomic Survey and Villages Potential Statistics, the results provide a detailed description of pattern of incidence and intensity of poverty within Bogor district. We also compare the results with direct estimates. The results showed the framework may be preferable when direct estimate having no incidence of poverty at all in the small area.

The role of small missions in planetary and lunar exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

The Space Studies Board of the National Research Council charged its Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX) to (1) examine the degree to which small missions, such as those fitting within the constraints of the Discovery program, can achieve priority objectives in the lunar and planetary sciences; (2) determine those characteristics, such as level of risk, flight rate, target mix, university involvement, technology development, management structure and procedures, and so on, that could allow a successful program; (3) assess issues, such as instrument selection, mission operations, data analysis, and data archiving, to ensure the greatest scientific return from a particular mission, given a rapid deployment schedule and a tightly constrained budget; and (4) review past programmatic attempts to establish small planetary science mission lines, including the Planetary Observers and Planetary Explorers, and consider the impact management practices have had on such programs. A series of small missions presents the planetary science community with the opportunity to expand the scope of its activities and to develop the potential and inventiveness of its members in ways not possible within the confines of large, traditional programs. COMPLEX also realized that a program of small planetary missions was, in and of itself, incapable of meeting all of the prime objectives contained in its report 'An Integrated Strategy for the Planetary Sciences: 1995-2010.' Recommendations are provided for the small planetary missions to fulfill their promise.

Identification of a Novel Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 5 Inhibitor in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer by Structure-Based Virtual Screening

PubMed Central

Wang, Qianqian; Xu, Jiahui; Li, Ying; Huang, Jumin; Jiang, Zebo; Wang, Yuwei; Liu, Liang; Leung, Elaine Lai Han; Yao, Xiaojun

2018-01-01

Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) is able to regulate gene transcription by catalyzing the symmetrical dimethylation of arginine residue of histone, which plays a key role in tumorigenesis. Many efforts have been taken in discovering small-molecular inhibitors against PRMT5, but very few were reported and most of them were SAM-competitive. EPZ015666 is a recently reported PRMT5 inhibitor with a new binding site, which is different from S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-binding pocket. This new binding site provides a new clue for the design and discovery of potent and specific PRMT5 inhibitors. In this study, the structure-based virtual screening targeting this site was firstly performed to identify potential PRMT5 inhibitors. Then, the bioactivity of the candidate compound was studied. MTT results showed that compound T1551 decreased cell viability of A549 and H460 non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. By inhibiting the methyltransferase activity of PRMT5, T1551 reduced the global level of H4R3 symmetric dimethylation (H4R3me2s). T1551 also downregulated the expression of oncogene FGFR3 and eIF4E, and disturbed the activation of related PI3K/AKT/mTOR and ERK signaling in A549 cell. Finally, we investigated the conformational spaces and identified collective motions important for description of T1551/PRMT5 complex by using molecular dynamics simulation and normal mode analysis methods. This study provides a novel non-SAM-competitive hit compound for developing small molecules targeting PRMT5 in non-small cell lung cancer. PMID:29545752

Identification of a Novel Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 5 Inhibitor in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer by Structure-Based Virtual Screening.

PubMed

Wang, Qianqian; Xu, Jiahui; Li, Ying; Huang, Jumin; Jiang, Zebo; Wang, Yuwei; Liu, Liang; Leung, Elaine Lai Han; Yao, Xiaojun

2018-01-01

Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) is able to regulate gene transcription by catalyzing the symmetrical dimethylation of arginine residue of histone, which plays a key role in tumorigenesis. Many efforts have been taken in discovering small-molecular inhibitors against PRMT5, but very few were reported and most of them were SAM-competitive. EPZ015666 is a recently reported PRMT5 inhibitor with a new binding site, which is different from S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-binding pocket. This new binding site provides a new clue for the design and discovery of potent and specific PRMT5 inhibitors. In this study, the structure-based virtual screening targeting this site was firstly performed to identify potential PRMT5 inhibitors. Then, the bioactivity of the candidate compound was studied. MTT results showed that compound T1551 decreased cell viability of A549 and H460 non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. By inhibiting the methyltransferase activity of PRMT5, T1551 reduced the global level of H4R3 symmetric dimethylation (H4R3me2s). T1551 also downregulated the expression of oncogene FGFR3 and eIF4E, and disturbed the activation of related PI3K/AKT/mTOR and ERK signaling in A549 cell. Finally, we investigated the conformational spaces and identified collective motions important for description of T1551/PRMT5 complex by using molecular dynamics simulation and normal mode analysis methods. This study provides a novel non-SAM-competitive hit compound for developing small molecules targeting PRMT5 in non-small cell lung cancer.

Temperate marine protected area provides recruitment subsidies to local fisheries.

PubMed

Le Port, A; Montgomery, J C; Smith, A N H; Croucher, A E; McLeod, I M; Lavery, S D

2017-10-25

The utility of marine protected areas (MPAs) as a means of protecting exploited species and conserving biodiversity within MPA boundaries is supported by strong empirical evidence. However, the potential contribution of MPAs to fished populations beyond their boundaries is still highly controversial; empirical measures are scarce and modelling studies have produced a range of predictions, including both positive and negative effects. Using a combination of genetic parentage and relatedness analysis, we measured larval subsidies to local fisheries replenishment for Australasian snapper ( Chrysophrys auratus : Sparidae) from a small (5.2 km 2 ), well-established, temperate, coastal MPA in northern New Zealand. Adult snapper within the MPA contributed an estimated 10.6% (95% CI: 5.5-18.1%) of newly settled juveniles to surrounding areas (approx. 400 km 2 ), with no decreasing trend in contributions up to 40 km away. Biophysical modelling of larval dispersal matched experimental data, showing larvae produced inside the MPA dispersed over a comparable distance. These results demonstrate that temperate MPAs have the potential to provide recruitment subsidies at magnitudes and spatial scales relevant to fisheries management. The validated biophysical model provides a cost-efficient opportunity to generalize these findings to other locations and climate conditions, and potentially informs the design of MPA networks for enhancing fisheries management. © 2017 The Author(s).

Preliminary Evidence on the Diagnostic and Molecular Role of Circulating Soluble EGFR in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

PubMed Central

Lococo, Filippo; Paci, Massimiliano; Rapicetta, Cristian; Rossi, Teresa; Sancisi, Valentina; Braglia, Luca; Cavuto, Silvio; Bisagni, Alessandra; Bongarzone, Italia; Noonan, Douglas M.; Albini, Adriana; Maramotti, Sally

2015-01-01

Assessment of biological diagnostic factors providing clinically-relevant information to guide physician decision-making are still needed for diseases with poor outcomes, such as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a promising molecule in the clinical management of NSCLC. While the EGFR transmembrane form has been extensively investigated in large clinical trials, the soluble, circulating EGFR isoform (sEGFR), which may have a potential clinical use, has rarely been considered. This study investigates the use of sEGFR as a potential diagnostic biomarker for NSCLC and also characterizes the biological function of sEGFR to clarify the molecular mechanisms involved in the course of action of this protein. Plasma sEGFR levels from a heterogeneous cohort of 37 non-advanced NSCLC patients and 54 healthy subjects were analyzed by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The biological function of sEGFR was analyzed in vitro using NSCLC cell lines, investigating effects on cell proliferation and migration. We found that plasma sEGFR was significantly decreased in the NSCLC patient group as compared to the control group (median value: 48.6 vs. 55.6 ng/mL respectively; p = 0.0002). Moreover, we demonstrated that sEGFR inhibits growth and migration of NSCLC cells in vitro through molecular mechanisms that included perturbation of EGF/EGFR cell signaling and holoreceptor internalization. These data show that sEGFR is a potential circulating biomarker with a physiological protective role, providing a first approach to the functional role of the soluble isoform of EGFR. However, the impact of these data on daily clinical practice needs to be further investigated in larger prospective studies. PMID:26295387

Dark Fiber and Distributed Acoustic Sensing: Applications to Monitoring Seismicity and Near-Surface Properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ajo Franklin, J. B.; Lindsey, N.; Dou, S.; Freifeld, B. M.; Daley, T. M.; Tracy, C.; Monga, I.

2017-12-01

"Dark Fiber" refers to the large number of fiber-optic lines installed for telecommunication purposes but not currently utilized. With the advent of distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), these unused fibers have the potential to become a seismic sensing network with unparalleled spatial extent and density with applications to monitoring both natural seismicity as well as near-surface soil properties. While the utility of DAS for seismic monitoring has now been conclusively shown on built-for-purpose networks, dark fiber deployments have been challenged by the heterogeneity of fiber installation procedures in telecommunication as well as access limitations. However, the potential of telecom networks to augment existing broadband monitoring stations provides a strong incentive to explore their utilization. We present preliminary results demonstrating the application of DAS to seismic monitoring on a 20 km run of "dark" telecommunications fiber between West Sacramento, CA and Woodland CA, part of the Dark Fiber Testbed maintained by the DOE's ESnet user facility. We show a small catalog of local and regional earthquakes detected by the array and evaluate fiber coupling by using variations in recorded frequency content. Considering the low density of broadband stations across much of the Sacramento Basin, such DAS recordings could provide a crucial data source to constrain small-magnitude local events. We also demonstrate the application of ambient noise interferometry using DAS-recorded waveforms to estimate soil properties under selected sections of the dark fiber transect; the success of this test suggests that the network could be utilized for environmental monitoring at the basin scale. The combination of these two examples demonstrates the exciting potential for combining DAS with ubiquitous dark fiber to greatly extend the reach of existing seismic monitoring networks.

TerraSAR-X interferometry reveals small-scale deformation associated with the summit eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai`i

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richter, Nicole; Poland, Michael P.; Lundgren, Paul R.

2013-04-01

On 19 March 2008, a small explosive eruption at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai`i, heralded the formation of a new vent along the east wall of Halema`uma`u Crater. In the ensuing years, the vent widened due to collapses of the unstable rim and conduit wall; some collapses impacted an actively circulating lava pond and resulted in small explosive events. We used synthetic aperture radar data collected by the TerraSAR-X satellite, a joint venture between the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and EADS Astrium, to identify and analyze small-scale surface deformation around the new vent during 2008-2012. Lidar data were used to construct a digital elevation model to correct for topographic phase, allowing us to generate differential interferograms with a spatial resolution of about 3 m in Kīlauea's summit area. These interferograms reveal subsidence within about 100 m of the rim of the vent. Small baseline subset time series analysis suggests that the subsidence rate is not constant and, over time, may provide an indication of vent stability and potential for rim and wall collapse—information with obvious hazard implications. The deformation is not currently detectable by other space- or ground-based techniques.

The dead do not lie: using skeletal remains for rapid assessment of historical small-mammal community baselines

PubMed Central

Terry, Rebecca C.

2010-01-01

Conservation and restoration efforts are often hindered by a lack of historical baselines that pre-date intense anthropogenic environmental change. In this paper I document that natural accumulations of skeletal remains represent a potential source of high-quality data on the historical composition and structure of small-mammal communities. I do so by assessing the fidelity of modern, decadal and centennial-scale time-averaged samples of skeletal remains (concentrated by raptor predation) to the living small-mammal communities from which they are derived. To test the power of skeletal remains to reveal baseline shifts, I employ the design of a natural experiment, comparing two taphonomically similar Great Basin cave localities in areas where anthropogenic land-use practices have diverged within the last century. I find relative stasis at the undisturbed site, but document rapid restructuring of the small-mammal community at the site subjected to recent disturbance. I independently validate this result using historical trapping records to show that dead remains accurately capture both the magnitude and direction of this baseline shift. Surveys of skeletal remains therefore provide a simple, powerful and rapid alternative approach for gaining insight into the historical structure and dynamics of modern small-mammal communities. PMID:20031992

Photobleaching dynamics in small molecule vs.  polymer organic photovoltaic blends with 1,7-bis-trifluoromethylfullerene

DOE PAGES

Garner, Logan E.; Nellissery Viswanathan, Vinila; Arias, Dylan H.; ...

2018-02-27

Two organic photovoltaic (OPV) donor materials (one polymer and one small molecule) are synthesized from the same constituent building blocks, namely thiophene units, cyclopentathiophene dione (CTD), and cyclopentadithiophene (CPDT). Photobleaching dynamics of these donor materials are then studied under white light illumination in air with blends of PC 70BM and the bistrifluoromethylfullerene 1,7-C 60(CF 3) 2. For both the polymer and small molecule blends, C 60(CF 3) 2 stabilizes the initial rate of photobleaching by a factor of 15 relative to PC70BM. However, once the small molecule:C 60(CF 3) 2 blend bleaches to ~80% of its initial optical density, themore » rate of photobleaching dramatically accelerates, which is not observed in the analagous polymer blend. We probe that phenomenon using time-resovled photoluminescence (TRPL) to measure PL quenching efficiencies at defined intervals during the photobleaching experiments. The data indicates the small molecule donor and C 60(CF 3) 2 acceptor significantly de-mix with time, after which the blend begins to bleach at approximately the same rate as the neat donor sample. The work suggests that perfluoroalkylfullerenes have great potential to stabilize certain OPV active layers toward photodegradation, provided their morphology is stable.« less

TerraSAR-X interferometry reveals small-scale deformation associated with the summit eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawai‘i

USGS Publications Warehouse

Richter, Nichole; Poland, Michael P.; Lundgren, Paul R.

2013-01-01

On 19 March 2008, a small explosive eruption at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i, heralded the formation of a new vent along the east wall of Halema‘uma‘u Crater. In the ensuing years, the vent widened due to collapses of the unstable rim and conduit wall; some collapses impacted an actively circulating lava pond and resulted in small explosive events. We used synthetic aperture radar data collected by the TerraSAR-X satellite, a joint venture between the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and EADS Astrium, to identify and analyze small-scale surface deformation around the new vent during 2008-2012. Lidar data were used to construct a digital elevation model to correct for topographic phase, allowing us to generate differential interferograms with a spatial resolution of about 3 m in Kīlauea's summit area. These interferograms reveal subsidence within about 100 m of the rim of the vent. Small baseline subset time series analysis suggests that the subsidence rate is not constant and, over time, may provide an indication of vent stability and potential for rim and wall collapse -- information with obvious hazard implications. The deformation is not currently detectable by other space- or ground-based techniques.

Photobleaching dynamics in small molecule vs.  polymer organic photovoltaic blends with 1,7-bis-trifluoromethylfullerene

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garner, Logan E.; Nellissery Viswanathan, Vinila; Arias, Dylan H.

Two organic photovoltaic (OPV) donor materials (one polymer and one small molecule) are synthesized from the same constituent building blocks, namely thiophene units, cyclopentathiophene dione (CTD), and cyclopentadithiophene (CPDT). Photobleaching dynamics of these donor materials are then studied under white light illumination in air with blends of PC 70BM and the bistrifluoromethylfullerene 1,7-C 60(CF 3) 2. For both the polymer and small molecule blends, C 60(CF 3) 2 stabilizes the initial rate of photobleaching by a factor of 15 relative to PC70BM. However, once the small molecule:C 60(CF 3) 2 blend bleaches to ~80% of its initial optical density, themore » rate of photobleaching dramatically accelerates, which is not observed in the analagous polymer blend. We probe that phenomenon using time-resovled photoluminescence (TRPL) to measure PL quenching efficiencies at defined intervals during the photobleaching experiments. The data indicates the small molecule donor and C 60(CF 3) 2 acceptor significantly de-mix with time, after which the blend begins to bleach at approximately the same rate as the neat donor sample. The work suggests that perfluoroalkylfullerenes have great potential to stabilize certain OPV active layers toward photodegradation, provided their morphology is stable.« less

Single-chain antibody-delivered Livin siRNA inhibits human malignant melanoma growth in vitro and in vivo.

PubMed

Wang, Hao; Yang, Yifei; Wang, Wei; Guan, Bing; Xun, Meng; Zhang, Hai; Wang, Ziling; Zhao, Yong

2017-05-01

Although gene therapy has brought new insights into the treatment of malignant melanoma, targeting delivery of nucleic acid which targets critical oncogene/anti-oncogene in vivo is still a bottleneck in the therapeutic application. Our previous in vitro studies have found that the oncogene Livin could serve as a potential molecular target by small interfering RNA for gene therapy of malignant melanoma. However, how to transport Livin small interfering RNA into malignant melanoma cells specifically and efficiently in vivo needs further investigation. Cumulative evidence has suggested that single-chain antibody-mediated small interfering RNA targeted delivery is an effective way to silence specific genes in human cancer cells. Indeed, this study designed a protamine-single-chain antibody fusion protein, anti-MM scFv-tP, to deliver Livin small interfering RNA into LiBr cells. Further experiments confirmed the induction of cell apoptosis and suppression of cell proliferation by anti-MM scFv-tP in LiBr cells, along with efficient silence of Livin gene both in vitro and in vivo. Altogether, our findings provide a feasible approach to transport Livin small interfering RNA to malignant melanoma cells which would be a new therapeutic strategy for combating malignant melanoma.

Small unmanned aerial vehicles (micro-UAVs, drones) in plant ecology1

PubMed Central

Cruzan, Mitchell B.; Weinstein, Ben G.; Grasty, Monica R.; Kohrn, Brendan F.; Hendrickson, Elizabeth C.; Arredondo, Tina M.; Thompson, Pamela G.

2016-01-01

Premise of the study: Low-elevation surveys with small aerial drones (micro–unmanned aerial vehicles [UAVs]) may be used for a wide variety of applications in plant ecology, including mapping vegetation over small- to medium-sized regions. We provide an overview of methods and procedures for conducting surveys and illustrate some of these applications. Methods: Aerial images were obtained by flying a small drone along transects over the area of interest. Images were used to create a composite image (orthomosaic) and a digital surface model (DSM). Vegetation classification was conducted manually and using an automated routine. Coverage of an individual species was estimated from aerial images. Results: We created a vegetation map for the entire region from the orthomosaic and DSM, and mapped the density of one species. Comparison of our manual and automated habitat classification confirmed that our mapping methods were accurate. A species with high contrast to the background matrix allowed adequate estimate of its coverage. Discussion: The example surveys demonstrate that small aerial drones are capable of gathering large amounts of information on the distribution of vegetation and individual species with minimal impact to sensitive habitats. Low-elevation aerial surveys have potential for a wide range of applications in plant ecology. PMID:27672518

A Radial Axial-symmetric Intermediary Model for the Roto-orbital Motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crespo, F.; Molero, F. J.; Ferrer, S.; Scheeres, D. J.

2018-03-01

We study the roto-orbital dynamics of a uniform sphere and a body with axial symmetry by means of a radial intermediary, which defines an integrable system. Numerical comparisons of the MacCullagh's truncation of the gravity gradient potential and intermediary models are performed, concluding that the intermediary provides a valuable approximation with small differences when compared with the MacCullagh's one. Our analysis includes the analytical integration and a study of the special solutions and relative equilibria.

Passive Reactive Berm (PRBerm) to Provide Low Maintenance Lead Containment at Active Small Arms Firing Ranges

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-01

CO3 )2, hydrocerrusite]. Overall lead solubility in a natural system is fundamentally determined by the concentrations of the anions in solution (e.g...with a potential seed crystal for heterogeneous nucleation of lead-pyromorphites (Wright et al. 2004). Depending on the presence of certain metals in...comparison will be $ per running foot of PRBerm as compared to $ per running foot of earthen berm and purchase and installation of a single steel bullet trap

Fuzzy Behavior Modulation with Threshold Activation for Autonomous Vehicle Navigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tunstel, Edward

2000-01-01

This paper describes fuzzy logic techniques used in a hierarchical behavior-based architecture for robot navigation. An architectural feature for threshold activation of fuzzy-behaviors is emphasized, which is potentially useful for tuning navigation performance in real world applications. The target application is autonomous local navigation of a small planetary rover. Threshold activation of low-level navigation behaviors is the primary focus. A preliminary assessment of its impact on local navigation performance is provided based on computer simulations.

Vibrational multiconfiguration self-consistent field theory: implementation and test calculations.

PubMed

Heislbetz, Sandra; Rauhut, Guntram

2010-03-28

A state-specific vibrational multiconfiguration self-consistent field (VMCSCF) approach based on a multimode expansion of the potential energy surface is presented for the accurate calculation of anharmonic vibrational spectra. As a special case of this general approach vibrational complete active space self-consistent field calculations will be discussed. The latter method shows better convergence than the general VMCSCF approach and must be considered the preferred choice within the multiconfigurational framework. Benchmark calculations are provided for a small set of test molecules.

Photoacoustic Doppler effect from flowing small light-absorbing particles.

PubMed

Fang, Hui; Maslov, Konstantin; Wang, Lihong V

2007-11-02

From the flow of a suspension of micrometer-scale carbon particles, the photoacoustic Doppler shift is observed. As predicted theoretically, the observed Doppler shift equals half of that in Doppler ultrasound and does not depend on the direction of laser illumination. This new physical phenomenon provides a basis for developing photoacoustic Doppler flowmetry, which can potentially be used for detecting fluid flow in optically scattering media and especially low-speed blood flow of relatively deep microcirculation in biological tissue.

Microgravity and Macromolecular Crystallography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kundrot, Craig E.; Judge, Russell A.; Pusey, Marc L.; Snell, Edward H.; Rose, M. Franklin (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Macromolecular crystal growth has been seen as an ideal experiment to make use of the reduced acceleration environment provided by an orbiting spacecraft. The experiments are small, simply operated and have a high potential scientific and economic impact. In this review we examine the theoretical reasons why microgravity should be a beneficial environment for crystal growth and survey the history of experiments on the Space Shuttle Orbiter, on unmanned spacecraft, and on the Mir space station. Finally we outline the direction for optimizing the future use of orbiting platforms.

Characterization of spacecraft and environmental disturbances on a SmallSat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Thomas A.; Nguyen, Dung Phu Chi; Cuda, Vince; Freesland, Doug

1994-01-01

The objective of this study is to model the on-orbit vibration environment encountered by a SmallSat. Vibration control issues are common to the Earth observing, imaging, and microgravity communities. A spacecraft may contain dozens of support systems and instruments each a potential source of vibration. The quality of payload data depends on constraining vibration so that parasitic disturbances do not affect the payload's pointing or microgravity requirement. In practice, payloads are designed incorporating existing flight hardware in many cases with nonspecific vibration performance. Thus, for the development of a payload, designers require a thorough knowledge of existing mechanical devices and their associated disturbance levels. This study evaluates a SmallSat mission and seeks to answer basic questions concerning on-orbit vibration. Payloads were considered from the Earth observing, microgravity, and imaging communities. Candidate payload requirements were matched to spacecraft bus resources of present day SmallSats. From the set of candidate payloads, the representative payload GLAS (Geoscience Laser Altimeter System) was selected. The requirements of GLAS were considered very stringent for the 150 - 500 kg class of payloads. Once the payload was selected, a generic SmallSat was designed in order to accommodate the payload requirements (weight, size, power, etc.). This study seeks to characterize the on-orbit vibration environment of a SmallSat designed for this type of mission and to determine whether a SmallSat can provide the precision pointing and jitter control required for earth observing payloads.

Tuning the bridging attraction between large hard particles by the softness of small microgels.

PubMed

Luo, Junhua; Yuan, Guangcui; Han, Charles C

2016-09-20

In this study, the attraction between large hard polystyrene (PS) spheres is studied by using three types of small microgels as bridging agents. One is a purely soft poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) microgel, the other two have a non-deformable PS hard core surrounded by a soft PNIPAM shell but are different in the core-shell ratio. The affinity for bridging the large PS spheres is provided and thus affected by the PNIPAM constituent in the microgels. The bridging effects caused by the microgels can be indirectly incorporated into their influence on the effective attraction interaction between the large hard spheres, since the size of the microgels is very small in comparison to the size of the PS hard spheres. At a given volume fraction of large PS spheres, they behave essentially as hard spheres in the absence of small microgels. By gradually adding the microgels, the large spheres are connected to each other through the bridging of small particles until the attraction strength reaches a maximum value, after which adding more small particles slowly decreases the effective attraction strength and eventually the large particles disperse individually when saturated adsorption is achieved. The aggregation and gelation behaviors triggered by these three types of small microgels are compared and discussed. A way to tune the strength and range of the short-range attractive potential via changing the softness of bridging microgels (which can be achieved either by using core-shell microgels or by changing the temperature) is proposed.

75 FR 81467 - Safety Zone; Potential Unexploded Ordnance, Pier 91, Seattle, WA

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-28

... evaluate its effects on them and participate in the rulemaking process. Small businesses may send comments... entities. The term ``small entities'' comprises small businesses, not-for-profit organizations that are... Small Entities Under section 213(a) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996...

A Bayesian Approach Based Outage Prediction in Electric Utility Systems Using Radar Measurement Data

DOE PAGES

Yue, Meng; Toto, Tami; Jensen, Michael P.; ...

2017-05-18

Severe weather events such as strong thunderstorms are some of the most significant and frequent threats to the electrical grid infrastructure. Outages resulting from storms can be very costly. While some tools are available to utilities to predict storm occurrences and damage, they are typically very crude and provide little means of facilitating restoration efforts. This study developed a methodology to use historical high-resolution (both temporal and spatial) radar observations of storm characteristics and outage information to develop weather condition dependent failure rate models (FRMs) for different grid components. Such models can provide an estimation or prediction of the outagemore » numbers in small areas of a utility’s service territory once the real-time measurement or forecasted data of weather conditions become available as the input to the models. Considering the potential value provided by real-time outages reported, a Bayesian outage prediction (BOP) algorithm is proposed to account for both strength and uncertainties of the reported outages and failure rate models. The potential benefit of this outage prediction scheme is illustrated in this study.« less

A Bayesian Approach Based Outage Prediction in Electric Utility Systems Using Radar Measurement Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yue, Meng; Toto, Tami; Jensen, Michael P.

Severe weather events such as strong thunderstorms are some of the most significant and frequent threats to the electrical grid infrastructure. Outages resulting from storms can be very costly. While some tools are available to utilities to predict storm occurrences and damage, they are typically very crude and provide little means of facilitating restoration efforts. This study developed a methodology to use historical high-resolution (both temporal and spatial) radar observations of storm characteristics and outage information to develop weather condition dependent failure rate models (FRMs) for different grid components. Such models can provide an estimation or prediction of the outagemore » numbers in small areas of a utility’s service territory once the real-time measurement or forecasted data of weather conditions become available as the input to the models. Considering the potential value provided by real-time outages reported, a Bayesian outage prediction (BOP) algorithm is proposed to account for both strength and uncertainties of the reported outages and failure rate models. The potential benefit of this outage prediction scheme is illustrated in this study.« less

Pressure potential and stability analysis in an acoustical noncontact transportation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, J.; Liu, C. J.; Zhang, W. J.

2017-01-01

Near field acoustic traveling wave is one of the most popular principles in noncontact manipulations and transportations. The stability behavior is a key factor in the industrial applications of acoustical noncontact transportation. We present here an in-depth analysis of the transportation stability of a planar object levitated in near field acoustic traveling waves. To more accurately describe the pressure distributions on the radiation surface, a 3D nonlinear traveling wave model is presented. A closed form solution is derived based on the pressure potential to quantitatively calculate the restoring forces and moments under small disturbances. The physical explanations of the effects of fluid inertia and the effects of non-uniform pressure distributions are provided in detail. It is found that a vibration rail with tapered cross section provides more stable transportation than a rail with rectangular cross section. The present study sheds light on the issue of quantitative evaluation of stability in acoustic traveling waves and proposes three main factors that influence the stability: (a) vibration shape, (b) pressure distribution and (c) restoring force/moment. It helps to provide a better understanding of the physics behind the near field acoustic transportation and provide useful design and optimization tools for industrial applications.

Attitudes of Austrian veterinarians towards euthanasia in small animal practice: impacts of age and gender on views on euthanasia.

PubMed

Hartnack, Sonja; Springer, Svenja; Pittavino, Marta; Grimm, Herwig

2016-02-04

Euthanasia of pets has been described by veterinarians as "the best and the worst" of the profession. The most commonly mentioned ethical dilemmas veterinarians face in small animal practice are: limited treatment options due to financial constraints, euthanizing of healthy animals and owners wishing to continue treatment of terminally ill animals. The aim of the study was to gain insight into the attitudes of Austrian veterinarians towards euthanasia of small animals. This included assessing their agreement with euthanasia in exemplified case scenarios, potentially predicted by demographic variables (e.g. gender, age, working in small animal practice, employment, working in a team, numbers of performed euthanasia). Further describing the veterinarians' agreement with a number of different normative and descriptive statements, including coping strategies. A questionnaire with nine euthanasia scenarios, 26 normative and descriptive statements, and demographic data were sent to all members of the Austrian Chamber of Veterinary Surgeons (n = 2478). In total, 486 veterinarians answered sufficiently completely to enable analyses. Responses were first explored descriptively before being formally analysed using linear regression and additive Bayesian networks - a multivariate regression methodology - in order to identify joint relationships between the demographic variables, the statements and each of the nine euthanasia scenarios. Mutual dependencies between the demographic variables were found, i.e. female compared to male veterinarians worked mostly in small animal practice, and working mostly in small animal practice was linked to performing more euthanasia per month. Gender and age were found to be associated with views on euthanasia: female veterinarians and veterinarians having worked for less years were more likely to disagree with euthanasia in at least some of the convenience euthanasia scenarios. The number of veterinarians working together was found to be the variable with the highest number of links to other variables, demographic as well as ethical statements. This highlights the role of a team potentially providing support in stressful situations. The results are useful for a better understanding of coping strategies for veterinarians with moral stress due to euthanasia of small animals.

Identifying Capabilities Gaps in Shipboard Visit, Board, Search, Seizure (VBSS) Teams

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

always remains some risk, however small, of a data breach . Anticipated Benefits. Anticipated benefits from this study are potentially increasing the...there always remains some risk, however small, of a data breach . Anticipated Benefits. Anticipated benefits from this study are potentially

Small cationic antimicrobial peptidomimetics: emerging candidate for the development of potential anti-infective agents.

PubMed

Lohan, Sandeep; Bisht, Gopal Singh

2013-01-01

Rapid increase in the emergence and spread of microbes resistant to conventionally used antibiotics has become a major threat to global health care. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered as a potential source of novel antibiotics because of their numerous advantages such as broad-spectrum activity, lower tendency to induce resistance, immunomodulatory response and unique mode of action. However, AMPs have several drawbacks such as; susceptibility to protease degradation, toxicity and high costs of manufacturing. Therefore, extensive research efforts are underway to explore the therapeutic potential of these fascinating natural compounds. This review highlights the potential of small cationic antimicrobial peptidomimetics (SCAMPs; M.W. ≅ 700 Da) as new generation antibiotics. In particular, we focused on recently identified small active pharmacophore from bulky templates of native AMPs, β-peptides, and lipopeptides. In addition, various design strategies recently undertaken to improve the physicochemical properties (proteolytic stability & plasma protein binding) of small cationic peptides have also been discussed.

Going wild: what a global small-animal tracking system could do for experimental biologists.

PubMed

Wikelski, Martin; Kays, Roland W; Kasdin, N Jeremy; Thorup, Kasper; Smith, James A; Swenson, George W

2007-01-01

Tracking animals over large temporal and spatial scales has revealed invaluable and spectacular biological information, particularly when the paths and fates of individuals can be monitored on a global scale. However, only large animals (greater than approximately 300 g) currently can be followed globally because of power and size constraints on the tracking devices. And yet the vast majority of animals is small. Tracking small animals is important because they are often part of evolutionary and ecological experiments, they provide important ecosystem services and they are of conservation concern or pose harm to human health. Here, we propose a small-animal satellite tracking system that would enable the global monitoring of animals down to the size of the smallest birds, mammals (bats), marine life and eventually large insects. To create the scientific framework necessary for such a global project, we formed the ICARUS initiative (www.IcarusInitiative.org), the International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space. ICARUS also highlights how small-animal tracking could address some of the ;Grand Challenges in Environmental Sciences' identified by the US National Academy of Sciences, such as the spread of infectious diseases or the relationship between biological diversity and ecosystem functioning. Small-animal tracking would allow the quantitative assessment of dispersal and migration in natural populations and thus help solve enigmas regarding population dynamics, extinctions and invasions. Experimental biologists may find a global small-animal tracking system helpful in testing, validating and expanding laboratory-derived discoveries in wild, natural populations. We suggest that the relatively modest investment into a global small-animal tracking system will pay off by providing unprecedented insights into both basic and applied nature. Tracking small animals over large spatial and temporal scales could prove to be one of the most powerful techniques of the early 21st century, offering potential solutions to a wide range of biological and societal questions that date back two millennia to the Greek philosopher Aristotle's enigma about songbird migration. Several of the more recent Grand Challenges in Environmental Sciences, such as the regulation and functional consequences of biological diversity or the surveillance of the population ecology of zoonotic hosts, pathogens or vectors, could also be addressed by a global small-animal tracking system. Our discussion is intended to contribute to an emerging groundswell of scientific support to make such a new technological system happen.

Perceptions of the mental health impact of intimate partner violence and health service responses in Malawi.

PubMed

Chepuka, Lignet; Taegtmeyer, Miriam; Chorwe-Sungani, Genesis; Mambulasa, Janet; Chirwa, Ellen; Tolhurst, Rachel

2014-01-01

This study explores the perceptions of a wide range of stakeholders in Malawi towards the mental health impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) and the capacity of health services for addressing these. In-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted in three areas of Blantyre district, and in two additional districts. A total of 10 FGDs, 1 small group, and 14 IDIs with health care providers; 18 FGDs and 1 small group with male and female, urban and rural community members; 7 IDIs with female survivors; and 26 key informant interviews and 1 small group with government ministry staff, donors, gender-based violence service providers, religious institutions, and police were conducted. A thematic framework analysis method was applied to emerging themes. The significant mental health impact of IPV was mentioned by all participants and formal care seeking was thought to be impeded by social pressures to resolve conflict, and fear of judgemental attitudes. Providers felt inadequately prepared to handle the psychosocial and mental health consequences of IPV; this was complicated by staff shortages, a lack of clarity on the mandate of the health sector, as well as confusion over the definition and need for 'counselling'. Referral options to other sectors for mental health support were perceived as limited but the restructuring of the Ministry of Health to cover violence prevention, mental health, and alcohol and drug misuse under a single unit provides an opportunity. Despite widespread recognition of the burden of IPV-associated mental health problems in Malawi, there is limited capacity to support affected individuals at community or health sector level. Participants highlighted potential entry points to health services as well as local and national opportunities for interventions that are culturally appropriate and are built on local structures and resilience.