Development of a novel drug delivery system, time-controlled explosion system (TES). IV. In vivo drug release behavior.

PubMed

Ueda, S; Ibuki, R; Kawamura, A; Murata, S; Takahashi, T; Kimura, S; Hata, T

1994-01-01

Time-Controlled Explosion System (TES) has the time-controlled drug release property with a pre-designed lag time. The drug release from the system is initiated by destruction of the membrane. In this study, metoprolol tartrate was used as a model drug. After five types of TES with different in vitro lag times were orally administrated to dogs, plasma metoprolol concentration was monitored. There existed a good correlation between in vitro and in vivo lag time, while the extent of absorbed metoprolol decreased with prolongation of lag time. Next, the in vivo drug release behavior was directly investigated using five different colored TES with a lag time of two hours. Each TES was consecutively administrated to the fasted dogs at predetermined intervals. The amount of metoprolol released was monitored by recovering the administered TES from the gastrointestinal trace. The in vivo release profile corresponded with the in vitro one. It is demonstrated that TES can release the drug in in vivo conditions similarly to in vitro. Based on these results, the decrease of the absorption is suggested to be caused by increased hepatic first-pass metabolism of the drug due to the retarded release rate with longer lag time.

Integrated heat pipe-thermal storage system performance evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keddy, E.; Sena, J. T.; Merrigan, M.; Heidenreich, Gary

1987-01-01

An integrated thermal energy storage (TES) system, developed as a part of an organic Rankine cycle solar dynamic power system is described, and the results of the performance verification tests of this TES system are presented. The integrated system consists of potassium heat-pipe elements that incorporate TES canisters within the vapor space, along with an organic fluid heater tube used as the condenser region of the heat pipe. The heat pipe assembly was operated through the range of design conditions from the nominal design input of 4.8 kW to a maximum of 5.7 kW. The performance verification tests show that the system meets the functional requirements of absorbing the solar energy reflected by the concentrator, transporting the energy to the organic Rankine heater, providing thermal storage for the eclipse phase, and allowing uniform discharge from the thermal storage to the heater.

Mars Aerocapture and Validation of Mars-GRAM with TES Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Justus, C. G.; Duvall, Aleta; Keller, Vernon W.

2005-01-01

Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars-GRAM) is a widely-used engineering- level Mars atmospheric model. Applications include systems design, performance analysis, and operations planning for aerobraking, entry descent and landing, and aerocapture. Typical Mars aerocapture periapsis altitudes (for systems with rigid-aeroshell heat shields) are about 50 km. This altitude is above the 0-40 km height range covered by Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) nadir observations. Recently, TES limb sounding data have been made available, spanning more than two Mars years (more than 200,000 data profiles) with altitude coverage up to about 60 km, well within the height range of interest for aerocapture. Results are presented comparing Mars-GRAM atmospheric density with densities from TES nadir and limb sounding observations. A new Mars-GRAM feature is described which allows individual TES nadir or limb profiles to be extracted from the large TES databases, and to be used as an optional replacement for standard Mars-GRAM background (climatology) conditions. For Monte-Carlo applications such as aerocapture guidance and control studies, Mars-GRAM perturbations are available using these TES profile background conditions.

SeTES, a Self-Teaching Expert System for the analysis, design and prediction of gas production from shales and a prototype for a new generation of Expert Systems in the Earth Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuzma, H. A.; Boyle, K.; Pullman, S.; Reagan, M. T.; Moridis, G. J.; Blasingame, T. A.; Rector, J. W.; Nikolaou, M.

2010-12-01

A Self Teaching Expert System (SeTES) is being developed for the analysis, design and prediction of gas production from shales. An Expert System is a computer program designed to answer questions or clarify uncertainties that its designers did not necessarily envision which would otherwise have to be addressed by consultation with one or more human experts. Modern developments in computer learning, data mining, database management, web integration and cheap computing power are bringing the promise of expert systems to fruition. SeTES is a partial successor to Prospector, a system to aid in the identification and evaluation of mineral deposits developed by Stanford University and the USGS in the late 1970s, and one of the most famous early expert systems. Instead of the text dialogue used in early systems, the web user interface of SeTES helps a non-expert user to articulate, clarify and reason about a problem by navigating through a series of interactive wizards. The wizards identify potential solutions to queries by retrieving and combining together relevant records from a database. Inferences, decisions and predictions are made from incomplete and noisy inputs using a series of probabilistic models (Bayesian Networks) which incorporate records from the database, physical laws and empirical knowledge in the form of prior probability distributions. The database is mainly populated with empirical measurements, however an automatic algorithm supplements sparse data with synthetic data obtained through physical modeling. This constitutes the mechanism for how SeTES self-teaches. SeTES’ predictive power is expected to grow as users contribute more data into the system. Samples are appropriately weighted to favor high quality empirical data over low quality or synthetic data. Finally, a set of data visualization tools digests the output measurements into graphical outputs.

Characteristics of large thermal energy storage systems in Poland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zwierzchowski, Ryszard

2017-11-01

In District Heating Systems (DHS) there are significant fluctuations in demand for heat by consumers during both the heating and the summer seasons. These variations are considered primarily in the 24-hour time horizon. These problems are aggravated further if the DHS is supplied by a CHP plant, because fluctuations in heat demand adversely affect to a significant degree the stable production of electricity at high overall efficiency. Therefore, introducing Thermal Energy Storage (TES) would be highly recommended on these grounds alone. The characteristics of Large (i.e. over 10 000 m3) TES in operation in Poland are presented. Information is given regarding new projects (currently in design or construction) that apply TES technology in DHS in Poland. The paper looks at the methodology used in Poland to select the TES system for a particular DHS, i.e., procedure for calculating capacity of the TES tank and the system to prevent water stored in the tank from absorbing oxygen from atmospheric air. Implementation of TES in DHS is treated as a recommended technology in the Polish District Heating sector. This technology offers great opportunities to improve the operating conditions of DHS, cutting energy production costs and emissions of pollutants to the atmosphere.

A coupled nuclear reactor thermal energy storage system for enhanced load following operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alameri, Saeed A.

Nuclear power plants usually provide base-load electric power and operate most economically at a constant power level. In an energy grid with a high fraction of renewable energy sources, future nuclear reactors may be subject to significantly variable power demands. These variable power demands can negatively impact the effective capacity factor of the reactor and result in severe economic penalties. Coupling the reactor to a large Thermal Energy Storage (TES) block will allow the reactor to better respond to variable power demands. In the system described in this thesis, a Prismatic-core Advanced High Temperature Reactor (PAHTR) operates at constant power with heat provided to a TES block that supplies power as needed to a secondary energy conversion system. The PAHTR is designed to have a power rating of 300 MW th, with 19.75 wt% enriched Tri-Structural-Isotropic UO 2 fuel and a five year operating cycle. The passive molten salt TES system will operate in the latent heat region with an energy storage capacity of 150 MWd. Multiple smaller TES blocks are used instead of one large block to enhance the efficiency and maintenance complexity of the system. A transient model of the coupled reactor/TES system is developed to study the behavior of the system in response to varying load demands. The model uses six-delayed group point kinetics and decay heat models coupled to thermal-hydraulic and heat transfer models of the reactor and TES system. Based on the transient results, the preferred TES design consists of 1000 blocks, each containing 11000 LiCl phase change material tubes. A safety assessment of major reactor events demonstrates the inherent safety of the coupled system. The loss of forced circulation study determined the minimum required air convection heat removal rate from the reactor core and the lowest possible reduced primary flow rate that can maintain the reactor in a safe condition. The loss of ultimate heat sink study demonstrated the ability of the TES to absorb the decay heat of the reactor fuel while cooling the PAHTR after an emergency shutdown. The simulated reactivity insertion accident assessment determined the maximum allowable reactivity insertion to the PAHTR as a function of shutdown response times.

Molten salt thermal energy storage for utility peaking loads

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferrara, A.; Haslett, R.; Joyce, J.

1977-01-01

This paper considers the use of thermal energy storage (TES) in molten salts to increase the capacity of power plants. Five existing fossil and nuclear electric utility plants were selected as representative of current technology. A review of system load diagrams indicated that TES to meet loads over 95% of peak was a reasonable goal. Alternate TES heat exchanger locations were evaluated, showing that the stored energy should be used either for feedwater heating or to generate steam for an auxiliary power cycle. Specific salts for each concept are recommended. Design layouts were prepared for one plant, and it was shown that a TES tube/shell heat exchanger system could provide about 7% peaking capability at lower cost than adding steam generation capacity. Promising alternate heat exchanger concepts were also identified.

DynaMiTES - A dynamic cell culture platform for in vitro drug testing PART 2 - Ocular DynaMiTES for drug absorption studies of the anterior eye.

PubMed

Beiβner, Nicole; Mattern, Kai; Dietzel, Andreas; Reichl, Stephan

2018-05-01

In the present study, a formerly designed Dynamic Micro Tissue Engineering System (DynaMiTES) was applied with our prevalidated human hemicornea (HC) construct to obtain a test platform for improved absorption studies of the anterior eye (Ocular DynaMiTES). First, the cultivation procedure of the classic HC was slightly adapted to the novel DynaMiTES design. The obtained inverted HC was then compared to classic HC regarding cell morphology using light and scanning electron microscopy, cell viability using MTT dye reaction and epithelial barrier properties observing transepithelial electrical resistance and apparent permeation coefficient of sodium fluorescein. These tested cell criteria were similar. In addition, the effects of four different flow rates on the same cell characteristics were investigated using the DynaMiTES. Because no harmful potential of flow was found, dynamic absorption studies of sodium fluorescein with and without 0.005%, 0.01% and 0.02% benzalkonium chloride were performed compared to the common static test procedure. In this proof-of-concept study, the dynamic test conditions showed different results than the static test conditions with a better prediction of in vivo data. Thus, we propose that our DynaMiTES platform provides great opportunities for the improvement of common in vitro drug testing procedures. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental Results From the Thermal Energy Storage-1 (TES-1) Flight Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jacqmin, David

1995-01-01

The Thermal Energy Storage (TES) experiments are designed to provide data to help researchers understand the long-duration microgravity behavior of thermal energy storage fluoride salts that undergo repeated melting and freezing. Such data, which have never been obtained before, have direct application to space-based solar dynamic power systems. These power systems will store solar energy in a thermal energy salt, such as lithium fluoride (LiF) or a eutectic of lithium fluoride/calcium difluoride (LiF-CaF2) (which melts at a lower temperature). The energy will be stored as the latent heat of fusion when the salt is melted by absorbing solar thermal energy. The stored energy will then be extracted during the shade portion of the orbit, enabling the solar dynamic power system to provide constant electrical power over the entire orbit. Analytical computer codes have been developed to predict the performance of a spacebased solar dynamic power system. However, the analytical predictions must be verified experimentally before the analytical results can be used for future space power design applications. Four TES flight experiments will be used to obtain the needed experimental data. This article focuses on the flight results from the first experiment, TES-1, in comparison to the predicted results from the Thermal Energy Storage Simulation (TESSIM) analytical computer code.

A technical guide to tDCS, and related non-invasive brain stimulation tools

PubMed Central

Woods, AJ; Antal, A; Bikson, M; Boggio, PS; Brunoni, AR; Celnik, P; Cohen, LG; Fregni, F; Herrmann, CS; Kappenman, ES; Knotkova, H; Liebetanz, D; Miniussi, C; Miranda, PC; Paulus, W; Priori, A; Reato, D; Stagg, C; Wenderoth, N; Nitsche, MA

2015-01-01

Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES), including transcranial direct and alternating current stimulation (tDCS, tACS) are non-invasive brain stimulation techniques increasingly used for modulation of central nervous system excitability in humans. Here we address methodological issues required for tES application. This review covers technical aspects of tES, as well as applications like exploration of brain physiology, modelling approaches, tES in cognitive neurosciences, and interventional approaches. It aims to help the reader to appropriately design and conduct studies involving these brain stimulation techniques, understand limitations and avoid shortcomings, which might hamper the scientific rigor and potential applications in the clinical domain. PMID:26652115

TES: A modular systems approach to expert system development for real-time space applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cacace, Ralph; England, Brenda

1988-01-01

A major goal of the Space Station era is to reduce reliance on support from ground based experts. The development of software programs using expert systems technology is one means of reaching this goal without requiring crew members to become intimately familiar with the many complex spacecraft subsystems. Development of an expert systems program requires a validation of the software with actual flight hardware. By combining accurate hardware and software modelling techniques with a modular systems approach to expert systems development, the validation of these software programs can be successfully completed with minimum risk and effort. The TIMES Expert System (TES) is an application that monitors and evaluates real time data to perform fault detection and fault isolation tasks as they would otherwise be carried out by a knowledgeable designer. The development process and primary features of TES, a modular systems approach, and the lessons learned are discussed.

A prospective cohort study determining the prevalence of thrombotic events in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and a central venous line who are treated with L-asparaginase: results of the Prophylactic Antithrombin Replacement in Kids with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treated with Asparaginase (PARKAA) Study.

PubMed

Mitchell, Lesley G; Andrew, Maureen; Hanna, Kim; Abshire, Thomas; Halton, Jacqueline; Anderson, Ron; Cherrick, Irene; Desai, Sunil; Mahoney, Donald; McCuster, Patricia; Wu, John; Dahl, Gary; Chait, Peter; de Veber, Gabrielle; Lee, Kyong-Jin; Mikulis, David; Ginsberg, Jeffrey; Way, Cliford

2003-01-15

Thrombotic events (TEs) are serious secondary complications in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who receive L-asparaginase (ASP) therapy; however, the prevalence of TEs has not been established. The primary objective of the Prophylactic Antithrombin Replacement in Kids with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treated with Asparaginase (PARKAA) Study was to determine the prevalence of TEs. The secondary objective was to detect any association of TEs with the presence of congenital or acquired prothrombotic disorders. Children with ALL were screened for TEs at the end of ASP treatment using bilateral venograms, ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, and echocardiography. Symptomatic TEs were confirmed by appropriate radiographic tests. All tests were read by a blinded central adjudication committee. Twenty-two of 60 children had TEs, a prevalence of 36.7% (95% confidence interval, 24.4-48.8%). TEs were located in the sinovenous system of the brain in 1 patient, the right atrium in 3 patients, and the upper central venous system in 19 patients. TEs detected by venography resulted in 1) 25-100% occlusion, with 1 in 3 patients showing occlusion of > 75% of the greatest vessel dimension, and 2) the presence of collaterals in 60% of patients, with 40% categorized as major. No children with TEs were positive for factor V Leiden or prothrombin gene 20201A, and four of eight children with antiphospholipid antibodies had a TE. The prevalence of TEs is exceedingly high in this population, and it is likely that the extent of occlusion is likely clinically significant. No trend was seen toward an association between TEs and the presence of congenital prothrombotic disorders. A trend was seen toward an association between TEs and antiphospholipid antibodies. Carefully designed clinical trials of primary prophylaxis for the prevention of TEs are required in this patient population. Copyright 2003 American Cancer Society

CCAM: A novel millimeter-wave instrument using a close-packed TES bolometer array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lau, Judy M.

This thesis describes CCAM, an instrument designed to map the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), and also presents some of the initial measurements made with CCAM on the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). CCAM uses a CCD-like camera of millimeter-wave TES bolometers. It employs new detector technology, read-out electronics, cold re-imaging optics, and cryogenics to obtain high sensitivity CMB anisotropy measurements. The free-standing 8×32 close-packed array of pop- up TES detectors is the first of its kind to observe the sky at 145 GHz. We present the design of the receiver including the antireflection coated silicon lens re-imaging system, construction and optimization of the pulse tube/ sorption refrigerator cryogenic system, as well as the technology developed to integrate eight 1×32 TES columns and accompanying read-out electronics in to an array of 256 millimeter-wave detectors into a focal plane area of 3.5 cm 2. The performance of the detectors and optics prior to deployment at the ACT site in Chile are reported as well as preliminary performance results of the instrument when optically paired with the ACT telescope in the summer of 2007. Here, we also report on the feasibility of the TES detector array to measure polarization when coupled to a rotating birefringent sapphire half wave plate and wire-grid polarizer.

A technical guide to tDCS, and related non-invasive brain stimulation tools.

PubMed

Woods, A J; Antal, A; Bikson, M; Boggio, P S; Brunoni, A R; Celnik, P; Cohen, L G; Fregni, F; Herrmann, C S; Kappenman, E S; Knotkova, H; Liebetanz, D; Miniussi, C; Miranda, P C; Paulus, W; Priori, A; Reato, D; Stagg, C; Wenderoth, N; Nitsche, M A

2016-02-01

Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES), including transcranial direct and alternating current stimulation (tDCS, tACS) are non-invasive brain stimulation techniques increasingly used for modulation of central nervous system excitability in humans. Here we address methodological issues required for tES application. This review covers technical aspects of tES, as well as applications like exploration of brain physiology, modelling approaches, tES in cognitive neurosciences, and interventional approaches. It aims to help the reader to appropriately design and conduct studies involving these brain stimulation techniques, understand limitations and avoid shortcomings, which might hamper the scientific rigor and potential applications in the clinical domain. Copyright © 2015 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. All rights reserved.

DynaMiTES - A dynamic cell culture platform for in vitro drug testing PART 1 - Engineering of microfluidic system and technical simulations.

PubMed

Mattern, Kai; Beißner, Nicole; Reichl, Stephan; Dietzel, Andreas

2018-05-01

Conventional safety and efficacy test models, such as animal experiments or static in vitro cell culture models, can often not reliably predict the most promising drug candidates. Therefore, a novel microfluidic cell culture platform, called Dynamic Micro Tissue Engineering System (DynaMiTES), was designed to allow online analysis of drugs permeating through barrier forming tissues under dynamic conditions combined with monitoring of the transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) by electrodes optimized for homogeneous current distribution. A variety of pre-cultivated cell culture inserts can be integrated and exposed to well controlled dynamic micro flow conditions, resulting in a tightly regulated exposure of the cells to tested drugs, drug formulations and shear forces. With these qualities, the new system can provide more relevant information compared to static measurements. As a first in vitro model, a three-dimensional hemicornea construct consisting of human keratocytes (HCK-Ca) and epithelial cells (HCE-T) was successfully tested in the DynaMiTES. Thereby, we were able to demonstrate the functionality and cell compatibility of this new organ on chip test platform. The modular design of the DynaMiTES allows fast adaptation suitable for the investigation of drug permeation through other important cellular barriers. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

NASA Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer TES Instrument Onboard Aura

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-04-01

Technicians install NASA's Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) instrument on NASA's Aura spacecraft prior to launch. Launched in July 2004 and designed to fly for two years, the TES mission is currently in an extended operations phase. Mission managers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, are evaluating an alternate way to collect and process science data from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) instrument on NASA's Aura spacecraft following the age-related failure of a critical instrument component. TES is an infrared sensor designed to study Earth's troposphere, the lowermost layer of Earth's atmosphere, which is where we live. The remainder of the TES instrument, and the Aura spacecraft itself, are operating as expected, and TES continues to collect science data. TES is one of four instruments on Aura, three of which are still operating. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA15608

The Hyperspectral Thermal Emission Spectrometer (HyTES): Preliminary Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hook, Simon; Johnson, William R.; Eng, Bjorn T.; Gunapala, Sarah D.; Lamborn, Andrew U.; Mouroulis, Pantazis, Z.; Mouroulis, Pantazis, Z.; Paine, Christopher G.; Soibel, Alexander; Wilson, Daniel W.

2011-01-01

The Hyperspectral Thermal Emission Spectrometer (HyTES) is being developed as part of the risk reduction activities associated with the Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI). HyspIRI is one of the Tier 2 Decadal Survey Missions. HyTES will provide information on how to place the filters on the HyspIRI Thermal Infrared Instrument (TIR) as well as provide antecedent science data. The pushbroom design has 512 spatial pixels over a 50-degree field of view and 256 spectral channels between 7.5 micrometers to 12 micrometers. HyTES includes many key enabling state-of-the-art technologies including a high performance convex diffraction grating, a quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) focal plane array, and a compact Dyson-inspired optical design. The Dyson optical design allows for a very compact and optically fast system (F/1.6). It also minimizes cooling requirements due to the fact it has a single monolithic prism-like grating design which allows baffling for stray light suppression. The monolithic configuration eases mechanical tolerancing requirements which are a concern since the complete optical assembly is operated at cryogenic temperatures ((is) approximately 100K). The QWIP allows for optimum spatial and spectral uniformity and provides adequate responsivity or D-star to allow 200mK noise equivalent temperature difference (NEDT) operation across the LWIR passband. Assembly of the system is nearly complete. After completion, alignment results will be presented which show low keystone and smile distortion. This is required to minimize spatial-spectral mixing between adjacent spectral channels and spatial positions. Predictions show the system will have adequate signal to noise for laboratory calibration targets.

The Role of Proximity Effects in Transition-Edge Sensor Design and Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Stephen J.

2012-01-01

Transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeters and bolometers are under development by numerous groups worldwide for a variety of applications involving the measurement of particle and photon radiation. Recent experimental and theoretical progress has led to the realization that the fundamental physics of some TES systems involves the longitudinal proximity effect between the electrical bias contacts and the TES. As such, these devices are described as SS'S (or SN'S) weak-links exhibiting Fraunhofer-like magnetic field dependence, and exponential temperature dependence, of the critical current. These discoveries, for the first time, provide a realistic theoretical framework for predicting the resistive transition as a function of temperature, current and magnetic field. In this contribution, we review the latest theoretical and experimental results and investigate how proximity effects play an important role in determining the resistive transition characteristics, which ultimately determines the dynamic range and energy resolution of TES detectors. We investigate how these effects could be utilized in device design to engineer desired transition characteristics for a given application.

Thermal energy storage for smart grid applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Hallaj, Said; Khateeb, Siddique; Aljehani, Ahmed; Pintar, Mike

2018-01-01

Energy consumption for commercial building cooling accounts for 15% of all commercial building's electricity usage [1]. Electric utility companies charge their customers time of use consumption charges (/kWh) and additionally demand usage charges (/kW) to limit peak energy consumption and offset their high operating costs. Thus, there is an economic incentive to reduce both the electricity consumption charges and demand charges by developing new energy efficient technologies. Thermal energy storage (TES) systems using a phase change material (PCM) is one such technology that can reduce demand charges and shift the demand from on-peak to off-peak rates. Ice and chilled water have been used in thermal storage systems for many decades, but they have certain limitations, which include a phase change temperature of 0 degrees Celsius and relatively low thermal conductivity in comparison to other materials, which limit their applications as a storage medium. To overcome these limitations, a novel phase change composite (PCC) TES material was developed that has much higher thermal conductivity that significantly improves the charge / discharge rate and a customizable phase change temperature to allow for better integration with HVAC systems. Compared to ice storage, the PCC TES system is capable of very high heat transfer rate and has lower system and operational costs. Economic analysis was performed to compare the PCC TES system with ice system and favorable economics was proven. A 4.5 kWh PCC TES prototype system was also designed for testing and validation purpose.

A Study of Al-Mn Transition Edge Sensor Engineering for Stability

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

George, E. M.; et al.

2013-11-10

The stability of Al-Mn transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers is studied as we vary the engineered TES transition, heat capacity, and/or coupling between the heat capacity and TES. We present thermal structure measurements of each of the 39 designs tested. The data is accurately fit by a two-body bolometer model, which allows us to extract the basic TES parameters that affect device stability. We conclude that parameters affecting device stability can be engineered for optimal device operation, and present the model parameters extracted for the different TES designs.

TES buffer-induced phase separation of aqueous solutions of several water-miscible organic solvents at 298.15 K: phase diagrams and molecular dynamic simulations.

PubMed

Taha, Mohamed; Lee, Ming-Jer

2013-06-28

Water and the organic solvents tetrahydrofuran, 1,3-dioxolane, 1,4-dioxane, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, tert-butanol, acetonitrile, or acetone are completely miscible in all proportions at room temperature. Here, we present new buffering-out phase separation systems that the above mentioned organic aqueous solutions can be induced to form two liquid phases in the presence of a biological buffer 2-[[1,3-dihydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)propan-2-yl]amino]ethanesulfonic acid (TES). The lower liquid phase is rich in water and buffer, and the upper phase is organic rich. This observation has both practical and mechanistic interests. The phase diagrams of these systems were constructed by experimental measurements at ambient conditions. Molecular dynamic (MD) simulations were performed for TES + water + THF system to understand the interactions between TES, water, and organic solvent at molecular level. Several composition-sets for this system, beyond and inside the liquid-liquid phase-splitting region, have been simulated. Interestingly, the MD simulation for compositions inside the phase separation region showed that THF molecules are forced out from the water network to start forming a new liquid phase. The hydrogen-bonds, hydrogen-bonds lifetimes, hydrogen-bond energies, radial distribution functions, coordination numbers, the electrostatic interactions, and the van der Waals interactions between the different pairs have been calculated. Additionally, MD simulations for TES + water + tert-butanol∕acetonitrile∕acetone phase separation systems were simulated. The results from MD simulations provide an explanation for the buffering-out phenomena observed in [TES + water + organic solvent] systems by a mechanism controlled by the competitive interactions of the buffer and the organic solvent with water. The molecular mechanism reported here is helpful for designing new benign separation materials.

Development of an integrated heat pipe-thermal storage system for a solar receiver

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keddy, E.; Sena, J. Tom; Merrigan, M.; Heidenreich, Gary; Johnson, Steve

1988-01-01

An integrated heat pipe-thermal storage system was developed as part of the Organic Rankine Cycle Solar Dynamic Power System solar receiver for space station application. The solar receiver incorporates potassium heat pipe elements to absorb and transfer the solar energy within the receiver cavity. The heat pipes contain thermal energy storage (TES) canisters within the vapor space with a toluene heater tube used as the condenser region of the heat pipe. During the insolation period of the earth orbit, solar energy is delivered to the heat pipe. Part of this thermal energy is delivered to the heater tube and the balance is stored in the TES units. During the eclipse period of earth orbit, the stored energy in the TES units is transferred by the potassium vapor to the toluene heater tube. A developmental heat pipe element was constructed that contains axial arteries and a distribution wick connecting the toluene heater and the TES units to the solar insolation surface of the heat pipe. Tests were conducted to demonstrate the heat pipe, TES units, and the heater tube operation. The heat pipe element was operated at design input power of 4.8 kW. Thermal cycle tests were conducted to demonstrate the successful charge and discharge of the TES units. Axial power flux levels up to 15 watts/sq cm were demonstrated and transient tests were conducted on the heat pipe element. Details of the heat pipe development and test procedures are presented.

Demonstrating Enabling Technologies for the High-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer of the Next NASA X-ray Astronomy Mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kilbourne, Caroline; Adams, J. S.; Bandler, S.; Chervenak, J.; Chiao, M.; Doriese, R.; Eckart, M.; Finkbeiner, F.; Fowler, J. W.; Hilton, G.; Irwin, K.; Kelley, R. L.; Moseley, S. J.; Porter, F. S.; Reintsema, C.; Sadleir, J.; Smith, S. J.; Swetz, D.; Ullom, J.

2014-01-01

NASA/GSFC and NIST-Boulder are collaborating on a program to advance superconducting transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeter technology toward Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6. The technology development for a TES imaging X-ray microcalorimeter spectrometer (TES microcalorimeter arrays and time-division multiplexed SQUID readout) is now at TRL 4, as evaluated by both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) during mission formulation for the International X-ray Observatory (IXO). We will present the status of the development program. The primary goal of the current project is to advance the core X-ray Microcalorimeter Spectrometer (XMS) detector-system technologies to a demonstration of TRL 5 in 2014. Additional objectives are to develop and demonstrate two important related technologies to at least TRL 4: position-sensitive TES devices and code-division multiplexing (CDM). These technologies have the potential to expand significantly the range of possible instrument optimizations; together they allow an expanded focal plane and higher per-pixel count rates without greatly increasing mission resources. The project also includes development of a design concept and critical technologies needed for the thermal, electrical, and mechanical integration of the detector and readout components into the focal-plane assembly. A verified design concept for the packaging of the focal-plane components will be needed for the detector system eventually to advance to TRL 6. Thus, the current project is a targeted development and demonstration program designed to make significant progress in advancing the XMS detector system toward TRL 6, establishing its readiness for a range of possible mission implementations.

ARC Collaborative Research Seminar Series

Science.gov Websites

been used to formulate design rules for hydration-based TES systems. Don Siegel is an Associate structural-acoustics, design of complex systems, and blast event simulations. Technology that he developed interests includes advanced fatigue and fracture assessment methodologies, computational methods for

Thermal Design and Characterization of Transition-Edge Sensor (TES) Bolometers for Frequency-Domain Multiplexing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lueker, Martin; Benson, Bradford A.; Chang, Clarence L.; Cho, Hsiao-Mei; Dobbs, Matt; Holzapfel, William L.; Lanting, Trevor; Lee, Adrian T.; Mehl, Jared; Plagge, Thomas; Shirokoff, Erik; Spieler, Helmuth G.; Vieira, Joaquin D.

2009-06-01

In contemporary cosmic microwave background experiments, bolometric detectors are often background limited, and in this case the sensitivity of instruments can only be improved by increasing the number of background-limited detectors, and so contemporary TES receivers contain as many pixels as possible. Frequency-domain multiplexing (fMUX) is one strategy for reading out many detectors with one SQUID. For any readout system, it is important to carefully evaluate the thermal design of detector, in conjunction with the readout bandwidth, in order to ensure stable electro-thermal feedback (ETF). We demonstrate a novel technique for characterizing the thermal circuit of our detectors, using am AC-bias and the fMUX electronics. This technique is used to study the internal thermal coupling of a TES bolometer. We illustrate how the insights gathered by this technique have been instrumental in improving the stability of our multiplexed detectors for the south pole telescope (SPT).

Remote sensing of the troposphere by infrared emission spectroscopy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beer, Reinhard; Glavich, Thomas A.

1989-01-01

This paper describes the concept of a cryogenic IR imaging Fourier transform spectrometer, called the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES), designed for observations of the troposphere and lower stratosphere from a near-earth orbit, using natural thermal emission and reflected sunlight. The principal molecular species to be measured by TES are O3, CO, CO2, N2O, H2O, H2O2, NO, NO2, HNO3, NH3, CH4, C2H6, C2H2, SO2, COS, CFCl3, and CF2Cl2. The TES is scheduled for a launch on the second polar platform of the Earth Observing System in 1998.

Transcranial electrical stimulation over visual cortex evokes phosphenes with a retinal origin.

PubMed

Kar, Kohitij; Krekelberg, Bart

2012-10-01

Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) is a promising therapeutic tool for a range of neurological diseases. Understanding how the small currents used in tES spread across the scalp and penetrate the brain will be important for the rational design of tES therapies. Alternating currents applied transcranially above visual cortex induce the perception of flashes of light (phosphenes). This makes the visual system a useful model to study tES. One hypothesis is that tES generates phosphenes by direct stimulation of the cortex underneath the transcranial electrode. Here, we provide evidence for the alternative hypothesis that phosphenes are generated in the retina by current spread from the occipital electrode. Building on the existing literature, we first confirm that phosphenes are induced at lower currents when electrodes are placed farther away from visual cortex and closer to the eye. Second, we explain the temporal frequency tuning of phosphenes based on the well-known response properties of primate retinal ganglion cells. Third, we show that there is no difference in the time it takes to evoke phosphenes in the retina or by stimulation above visual cortex. Together, these findings suggest that phosphenes induced by tES over visual cortex originate in the retina. From this, we infer that tES currents spread well beyond the area of stimulation and are unlikely to lead to focal neural activation. Novel stimulation protocols that optimize current distributions are needed to overcome these limitations of tES.

Experimental evaluation of thermal energy storage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Asbury, J. G.; Hersh, H. N.

1980-01-01

The technical performance of commercially available thermal energy storage (TES) residential heating units under severe weather conditions is discussed. The benefits and costs of TES to the user and utility companies were assessed. The TES issues, research and development needs, and barriers to commercialization were identified. The field tests which determined the performance characteristics for the TES are described and the TES systems, which included both ceramic and hydronic systems, are compared.

New design for CSP plant with direct-steam solar receiver and molten-salt storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ganany, Alon; Hadad, Itay

2016-05-01

This paper presents the evolution of BrightSource's Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology - from a solar steam generator (SRSG) with no Thermal Energy Storage (TES) to SRSG with TES to Extended-cycle TES. The paper discusses SRSG with TES technology, and the capabilities of this solution are compared with those of an MSR plant.

Optimized design of total energy systems: The RETE project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alia, P.; Dallavalle, F.; Denard, C.; Sanson, F.; Veneziani, S.; Spagni, G.

1980-05-01

The RETE (Reggio Emilia Total Energy) project is discussed. The total energy system (TES) was developed to achieve the maximum quality matching on the thermal energy side between plant and user and perform an open scheme on the electrical energy side by connection with the Italian electrical network. The most significant qualitative considerations at the basis of the plant economic energy optimization and the selection of the operating criterion most fitting the user consumption characteristics and the external system constraints are reported. The design methodology described results in a TES that: in energy terms achieves a total efficiency evaluated on a yearly basis to be equal to about 78 percent and a fuel saving of about 28 percent and in economic terms allows a recovery of the investment required as to conventional solutions, in about seven years.

Thermal energy storage heat exchanger: Molten salt heat exchanger design for utility power plants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferarra, A.; Yenetchi, G.; Haslett, R.; Kosson, R.

1977-01-01

The use of thermal energy storage (TES) in the latent heat of molten salts as a means of conserving fossil fuels and lowering the cost of electric power was evaluated. Public utility systems provided electric power on demand. This demand is generally maximum during late weekday afternoons, with considerably lower overnight and weekend loads. Typically, the average demand is only 60% to 80% of peak load. As peak load increases, the present practice is to purchase power from other grid facilities or to bring older less efficient fossil-fuel plants on line which increase the cost of electric power. The widespread use of oil-fired boilers, gas turbine and diesel equipment to meet peaking loads depletes our oil-based energy resources. Heat exchangers utilizing molten salts can be used to level the energy consumption curve. The study begins with a demand analysis and the consideration of several existing modern fossil-fuel and nuclear power plants for use as models. Salts are evaluated for thermodynamic, economic, corrosive, and safety characteristics. Heat exchanger concepts are explored and heat exchanger designs are conceived. Finally, the economics of TES conversions in existing plants and new construction is analyzed. The study concluded that TES is feasible in electric power generation. Substantial data are presented for TES design, and reference material for further investigation of techniques is included.

Developing a cost effective rock bed thermal energy storage system: Design and modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laubscher, Hendrik Frederik; von Backström, Theodor Willem; Dinter, Frank

2017-06-01

Thermal energy storage is an integral part of the drive for low cost of concentrated solar power (CSP). Storage of thermal energy enables CSP plants to provide base load power. Alternative, cheaper concepts for storing thermal energy have been conceptually proposed in previous studies. Using rocks as a storage medium and air as a heat transfer fluid, the proposed concept offers the potential of lower cost storage because of the abundance and affordability of rocks. A packed rock bed thermal energy storage (TES) concept is investigated and a design for an experimental rig is done. This paper describes the design and modelling of an experimental test facility for a cost effective packed rock bed thermal energy storage system. Cost effective, simplified designs for the different subsystems of an experimental setup are developed based on the availability of materials and equipment. Modelling of this design to predict the thermal performance of the TES system is covered in this study. If the concept under consideration proves to be successful, a design that is scalable and commercially viable can be proposed for further development of an industrial thermal energy storage system.

TES: A Text Extraction System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goh, A.; Hui, S. C.

1996-01-01

Describes how TES, a text extraction system, is able to electronically retrieve a set of sentences from a document to form an indicative abstract. Discusses various text abstraction techniques and related work in the area, provides an overview of the TES system, and compares system results against manually produced abstracts. (LAM)

Novel metallic alloys as phase change materials for heat storage in direct steam generation applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nieto-Maestre, J.; Iparraguirre-Torres, I.; Velasco, Z. Amondarain; Kaltzakorta, I.; Zubieta, M. Merchan

2016-05-01

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) is one of the key electricity production renewable energy technologies with a clear distinguishing advantage: the possibility to store the heat generated during the sunny periods, turning it into a dispatchable technology. Current CSP Plants use an intermediate Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF), thermal oil or inorganic salt, to transfer heat from the Solar Field (SF) either to the heat exchanger (HX) unit to produce high pressure steam that can be leaded to a turbine for electricity production, or to the Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system. In recent years, a novel CSP technology is attracting great interest: Direct Steam Generation (DSG). The direct use of water/steam as HTF would lead to lower investment costs for CSP Plants by the suppression of the HX unit. Moreover, water is more environmentally friendly than thermal oils or salts, not flammable and compatible with container materials (pipes, tanks). However, this technology also has some important challenges, being one of the major the need for optimized TES systems. In DSG, from the exergy point of view, optimized TES systems based on two sensible heat TES systems (for preheating of water and superheating vapour) and a latent heat TES system for the evaporation of water (around the 70% of energy) is the preferred solution. This concept has been extensively tested [1, 2, 3] using mainly NaNO3 as latent heat storage medium. Its interesting melting temperature (Tm) of 306°C, considering a driving temperature difference of 10°C, means TES charging steam conditions of 107 bar at 316°C and discharging conditions of 81bar at 296°C. The average value for the heat of fusion (ΔHf) of NaNO3 from literature data is 178 J/g [4]. The main disadvantage of inorganic salts is their very low thermal conductivity (0.5 W/m.K) requiring sophisticated heat exchanging designs. The use of high thermal conductivity eutectic metal alloys has been recently proposed [5, 6, 7] as a feasible alternative. Tms of these proposed eutectic alloys are too high for currently available DSG solar fields, for instance the Mg49-Zn51 alloy melts at 342°C requiring saturated steam pressures above 160 bar to charge the TES unit. Being aware of this, novel eutectic metallic alloys have been designed reducing the Tms to the range between 285°C and 330°C (79bar and 145bar of charging steam pressure respectively) with ΔHfs between 150 and 170 J/g, and thus achieving metallic Phase Change Materials (PCM) suitable for the available DSG technologies.

The effects of bilingual growth on toddlers’ executive function

PubMed Central

Crivello, Cristina; Kuzyk, Olivia; Rodrigues, Monyka; Friend, Margaret; Zesiger, Pascal; Poulin-Dubois, Diane

2015-01-01

The mastery of two languages provides bilingual speakers with cognitive benefits over monolinguals, particularly on cognitive flexibility and selective attention. However, extant research is limited to comparisons between monolinguals and bilinguals at a single point in time. This study investigated whether growth in bilingual proficiency, as shown by an increased number of translation equivalents (TEs) over a 7-month period, improves executive function. We hypothesized that bilingual toddlers with a larger increase of TEs would have more practice in switching across lexical systems, boosting executive function abilities. Expressive vocabulary and TEs were assessed at 24 and 31 months of age. A battery of tasks, including conflict, delay, and working memory tasks, was administered at 31 months. As expected, we observed a task-specific advantage in inhibitory control in bilinguals. More important, within the bilingual group, larger increases in the number of TEs predicted better performance on conflict tasks but not on delay tasks. This unique longitudinal design confirms the relation between executive function and early bilingualism. PMID:26402219

MSFC (TES) Thermal Enclosure System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

The Thermal Enclosure System (TES) provides thermal control for protein crystal growth experiments. The TES, housed in two middeck lockers on board the Space Shuttle, contains four Vapor Diffusion Apparatus (VDA) trays. Each can act as either a refrigerator or an incubator and its temperature can be controlled to within one-tenth degree C. The first flight of the TES was during USMP-2 (STS-62).

Conceptual design of a 500 watt solar AMTEC space power system

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

Ivanenok, J.F. III; Sievers, R.K.; Harty, R.B.

1995-12-31

Numerous design studies have been completed on Radioisotope powered Alkali Metal Thermal to Electric Converter (RAMTEC) power systems demonstrating their substantial increase in performance. Prior to recent advances in AMTEC technology and Thermal Energy Storage (TES), coupling AMTEC converters with a solar concentrator did not increase the performance of solar powered space power systems. This paper describes a conceptual design of an innovative, low cost, reliable, low mass, long life 500 watt Solar AMTEC (SAMTEC) power system, and the predicted system performance. The concept uses innovative, high voltage AMTEC cells, each containing 7 to 9 small electrolyte tubes, integrated withmore » an individual TES unit. These multi-tube AMTEC cells are identical to the AMTEC cells designed for radioisotope powered systems. The TES used in this conceptual design is the LiF-22%CaF{sub 2} unit currently being developed at NASA Lewis Research Center (LeRC) for the Solar Dynamic Ground Test Demonstration (SDGTD) Program. The system was designed to provide 500 watts of electrical power at 28 volts to a payload in Low Earth Orbit (LEO, 800 km, 28.5{degree} inclination) for a minimum lifetime of 5 years. The SAMTEC power system is predicted to have a specific power k of 5.3 to 8.9 W(e)/kg (including the concentrator, receiver, AMTEC cells, gimbals and drives, structure, power processing and control, and a 30% mass contingency) at the 500 watt power level, and 12 to 17 W(e)/kg at the 5,000 watt power level. The SAMTEC system, including all of the components listed above, is anticipated to cost $1,000/W(e) once development is complete and production begins. The SAMTEC system provides 92% of its Beginning of Life (BOL) power after a 5 year period in LEO, and SAMTEC systems should provide 10 to 15 years of life in LEO. Current AMTEC cells have demonstrated 18% efficiency in the laboratory and have been heated radiatively, with propane flames and electrical resistance heaters.« less

A practical superconducting-microcalorimeter X-ray spectrometer for beamline and laboratory science

DOE PAGES

Doriese, W. B.; Abbamonte, P.; Alpert, B. K.; ...

2017-05-01

We describe a series of microcalorimeter X-ray spectrometers designed for a broad suite of measurement applications. The chief advantage of this type of spectrometer is that it can be orders of magnitude more efficient at collecting X-rays than more traditional high-resolution spectrometers that rely on wavelength-dispersive techniques. This advantage is most useful in applications that are traditionally photon-starved and/or involve radiation-sensitive samples. Each energy-dispersive spectrometer is built around an array of several hundred transition-edge sensors (TESs). TESs are superconducting thin films that are biased into their superconducting-to-normal-metal transitions. The spectrometers share a common readout architecture and many design elements, suchmore » as a compact, 65 mK detector package, 8-column time-division-multiplexed superconducting quantum-interference device readout, and a liquid-cryogen-free cryogenic system that is a two-stage adiabatic-demagnetization refrigerator backed by a pulse-tube cryocooler. We have adapted this flexible architecture to mate to a variety of sample chambers and measurement systems that encompass a range of observing geometries. There are two different types of TES pixels employed. The first, designed for X-ray energies below 10 keV, has a best demonstrated energy resolution of 2.1 eV (full-width-at-half-maximum or FWHM) at 5.9 keV. The second, designed for X-ray energies below 2 keV, has a best demonstrated resolution of 1.0 eV (FWHM) at 500 eV. Our team has now deployed seven of these X-ray spectrometers to a variety of light sources, accelerator facilities, and laboratory-scale experiments; these seven spectrometers have already performed measurements related to their applications. Another five of these spectrometers will come online in the near future. We have applied our TES spectrometers to the following measurement applications: synchrotron-based absorption and emission spectroscopy and energy-resolved scattering; accelerator-based spectroscopy of hadronic atoms and particle-induced-emission spectroscopy; laboratory-based time-resolved absorption and emission spectroscopy with a tabletop, broadband source; and laboratory-based metrology of X-ray-emission lines. Here, we discuss the design, construction, and operation of our TES spectrometers and show first-light measurements from the various systems. Finally, because X-ray-TES technology continues to mature, we discuss improvements to array size, energy resolution, and counting speed that we anticipate in our next generation of TES-X-ray spectrometers and beyond.« less

A practical superconducting-microcalorimeter X-ray spectrometer for beamline and laboratory science

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

Doriese, W. B.; Abbamonte, P.; Alpert, B. K.

We describe a series of microcalorimeter X-ray spectrometers designed for a broad suite of measurement applications. The chief advantage of this type of spectrometer is that it can be orders of magnitude more efficient at collecting X-rays than more traditional high-resolution spectrometers that rely on wavelength-dispersive techniques. This advantage is most useful in applications that are traditionally photon-starved and/or involve radiation-sensitive samples. Each energy-dispersive spectrometer is built around an array of several hundred transition-edge sensors (TESs). TESs are superconducting thin films that are biased into their superconducting-to-normal-metal transitions. The spectrometers share a common readout architecture and many design elements, suchmore » as a compact, 65 mK detector package, 8-column time-division-multiplexed superconducting quantum-interference device readout, and a liquid-cryogen-free cryogenic system that is a two-stage adiabatic-demagnetization refrigerator backed by a pulse-tube cryocooler. We have adapted this flexible architecture to mate to a variety of sample chambers and measurement systems that encompass a range of observing geometries. There are two different types of TES pixels employed. The first, designed for X-ray energies below 10 keV, has a best demonstrated energy resolution of 2.1 eV (full-width-at-half-maximum or FWHM) at 5.9 keV. The second, designed for X-ray energies below 2 keV, has a best demonstrated resolution of 1.0 eV (FWHM) at 500 eV. Our team has now deployed seven of these X-ray spectrometers to a variety of light sources, accelerator facilities, and laboratory-scale experiments; these seven spectrometers have already performed measurements related to their applications. Another five of these spectrometers will come online in the near future. We have applied our TES spectrometers to the following measurement applications: synchrotron-based absorption and emission spectroscopy and energy-resolved scattering; accelerator-based spectroscopy of hadronic atoms and particle-induced-emission spectroscopy; laboratory-based time-resolved absorption and emission spectroscopy with a tabletop, broadband source; and laboratory-based metrology of X-ray-emission lines. Here, we discuss the design, construction, and operation of our TES spectrometers and show first-light measurements from the various systems. Finally, because X-ray-TES technology continues to mature, we discuss improvements to array size, energy resolution, and counting speed that we anticipate in our next generation of TES-X-ray spectrometers and beyond.« less

A practical superconducting-microcalorimeter X-ray spectrometer for beamline and laboratory science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doriese, W. B.; Abbamonte, P.; Alpert, B. K.; Bennett, D. A.; Denison, E. V.; Fang, Y.; Fischer, D. A.; Fitzgerald, C. P.; Fowler, J. W.; Gard, J. D.; Hays-Wehle, J. P.; Hilton, G. C.; Jaye, C.; McChesney, J. L.; Miaja-Avila, L.; Morgan, K. M.; Joe, Y. I.; O'Neil, G. C.; Reintsema, C. D.; Rodolakis, F.; Schmidt, D. R.; Tatsuno, H.; Uhlig, J.; Vale, L. R.; Ullom, J. N.; Swetz, D. S.

2017-05-01

We describe a series of microcalorimeter X-ray spectrometers designed for a broad suite of measurement applications. The chief advantage of this type of spectrometer is that it can be orders of magnitude more efficient at collecting X-rays than more traditional high-resolution spectrometers that rely on wavelength-dispersive techniques. This advantage is most useful in applications that are traditionally photon-starved and/or involve radiation-sensitive samples. Each energy-dispersive spectrometer is built around an array of several hundred transition-edge sensors (TESs). TESs are superconducting thin films that are biased into their superconducting-to-normal-metal transitions. The spectrometers share a common readout architecture and many design elements, such as a compact, 65 mK detector package, 8-column time-division-multiplexed superconducting quantum-interference device readout, and a liquid-cryogen-free cryogenic system that is a two-stage adiabatic-demagnetization refrigerator backed by a pulse-tube cryocooler. We have adapted this flexible architecture to mate to a variety of sample chambers and measurement systems that encompass a range of observing geometries. There are two different types of TES pixels employed. The first, designed for X-ray energies below 10 keV, has a best demonstrated energy resolution of 2.1 eV (full-width-at-half-maximum or FWHM) at 5.9 keV. The second, designed for X-ray energies below 2 keV, has a best demonstrated resolution of 1.0 eV (FWHM) at 500 eV. Our team has now deployed seven of these X-ray spectrometers to a variety of light sources, accelerator facilities, and laboratory-scale experiments; these seven spectrometers have already performed measurements related to their applications. Another five of these spectrometers will come online in the near future. We have applied our TES spectrometers to the following measurement applications: synchrotron-based absorption and emission spectroscopy and energy-resolved scattering; accelerator-based spectroscopy of hadronic atoms and particle-induced-emission spectroscopy; laboratory-based time-resolved absorption and emission spectroscopy with a tabletop, broadband source; and laboratory-based metrology of X-ray-emission lines. Here, we discuss the design, construction, and operation of our TES spectrometers and show first-light measurements from the various systems. Finally, because X-ray-TES technology continues to mature, we discuss improvements to array size, energy resolution, and counting speed that we anticipate in our next generation of TES-X-ray spectrometers and beyond.

A practical superconducting-microcalorimeter X-ray spectrometer for beamline and laboratory science.

PubMed

Doriese, W B; Abbamonte, P; Alpert, B K; Bennett, D A; Denison, E V; Fang, Y; Fischer, D A; Fitzgerald, C P; Fowler, J W; Gard, J D; Hays-Wehle, J P; Hilton, G C; Jaye, C; McChesney, J L; Miaja-Avila, L; Morgan, K M; Joe, Y I; O'Neil, G C; Reintsema, C D; Rodolakis, F; Schmidt, D R; Tatsuno, H; Uhlig, J; Vale, L R; Ullom, J N; Swetz, D S

2017-05-01

We describe a series of microcalorimeter X-ray spectrometers designed for a broad suite of measurement applications. The chief advantage of this type of spectrometer is that it can be orders of magnitude more efficient at collecting X-rays than more traditional high-resolution spectrometers that rely on wavelength-dispersive techniques. This advantage is most useful in applications that are traditionally photon-starved and/or involve radiation-sensitive samples. Each energy-dispersive spectrometer is built around an array of several hundred transition-edge sensors (TESs). TESs are superconducting thin films that are biased into their superconducting-to-normal-metal transitions. The spectrometers share a common readout architecture and many design elements, such as a compact, 65 mK detector package, 8-column time-division-multiplexed superconducting quantum-interference device readout, and a liquid-cryogen-free cryogenic system that is a two-stage adiabatic-demagnetization refrigerator backed by a pulse-tube cryocooler. We have adapted this flexible architecture to mate to a variety of sample chambers and measurement systems that encompass a range of observing geometries. There are two different types of TES pixels employed. The first, designed for X-ray energies below 10 keV, has a best demonstrated energy resolution of 2.1 eV (full-width-at-half-maximum or FWHM) at 5.9 keV. The second, designed for X-ray energies below 2 keV, has a best demonstrated resolution of 1.0 eV (FWHM) at 500 eV. Our team has now deployed seven of these X-ray spectrometers to a variety of light sources, accelerator facilities, and laboratory-scale experiments; these seven spectrometers have already performed measurements related to their applications. Another five of these spectrometers will come online in the near future. We have applied our TES spectrometers to the following measurement applications: synchrotron-based absorption and emission spectroscopy and energy-resolved scattering; accelerator-based spectroscopy of hadronic atoms and particle-induced-emission spectroscopy; laboratory-based time-resolved absorption and emission spectroscopy with a tabletop, broadband source; and laboratory-based metrology of X-ray-emission lines. Here, we discuss the design, construction, and operation of our TES spectrometers and show first-light measurements from the various systems. Finally, because X-ray-TES technology continues to mature, we discuss improvements to array size, energy resolution, and counting speed that we anticipate in our next generation of TES-X-ray spectrometers and beyond.

Metal Hydrides for High-Temperature Power Generation

DOE PAGES

Ronnebro, Ewa; Whyatt, Greg A.; Powell, Michael R.; ...

2015-08-10

Metal hydrides can be utilized for hydrogen storage and for thermal energy storage (TES) applications. By using TES with solar technologies, heat can be stored from sun energy to be used later which enables continuous power generation. We are developing a TES technology based on a dual-bed metal hydride system, which has a high-temperature (HT) metal hydride operating reversibly at 600-800°C to generate heat as well as a low-temperature (LT) hydride near room temperature that is used for hydrogen storage during sun hours until there is a need to produce electricity, such as during night time, a cloudy day, ormore » during peak hours. We proceeded from selecting a high-energy density, low-cost HT-hydride based on performance characterization on gram size samples, to scale-up to kilogram quantities and design, fabrication and testing of a 1.5kWh, 200kWh/m 3 bench-scale TES prototype based on a HT-bed of titanium hydride and a hydrogen gas storage instead of a LT-hydride. COMSOL Multiphysics was used to make performance predictions for cylindrical hydride beds with varying diameters and thermal conductivities. Based on experimental and modeling results, a bench-scale prototype was designed and fabricated and we successfully showed feasibility to meet or exceed all performance targets.« less

A 90GHz Bolometer Camera Detector System for the Green

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benford, Dominic J.; Allen, Christine A.; Buchanan, Ernest; Chen, Tina C.; Chervenak, James A.; Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon R.; Forgione, Joshua B.

2004-01-01

We describe a close-packed, two-dimensional imaging detector system for operation at 90GHz (3.3 mm) for the 100m Green Bank Telescope (GBT). This system will provide high sensitivity (less than 1mJy in 1s) rapid imaging (15'x15' to 150 micron Jy in 1 hr) at the world's largest steerable aperture. The heart of this camera is an 8x8 close-packed, Nyquist-sampled array of superconducting transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers. We have designed and are producing a functional superconducting bolometer array system using a monolithic planar architecture and high-speed multiplexed readout electronics. With an NEP of approximately 2 x 10(exp -17) W/square root of Hz, the TES bolometers will provide fast, linear, sensitive response for high performance imaging. The detectors are read out by an 8x8 time domain SQUID multiplexer. A digital/analog electronics system has been designed to enable read out by SQUID multiplexers. First light for this instrument on the GBT is expected within a year.

Comparison of Different Mo/Au TES Designs for Radiation Detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pobes, Carlos; Fàbrega, Lourdes; Camón, Agustín; Strichovanec, Pavel; Moral-Vico, Javier; Casañ-Pastor, Nieves; Jáudenes, Rosa M.; Sesé, Javier

2018-05-01

We report on the fabrication and characterization of Mo/Au-based transition-edge sensors (TES), intended to be used in X-ray detectors. We have performed complete dark characterization using I-V curves, complex impedance and noise measurements at different bath temperatures and biases. Devices with two designs, different sizes and different membranes have been characterized, some of them with a central bismuth absorber. This has allowed extraction of the relevant parameters of the TES, analyses of their standard behavior and evaluation of their prospects.

High Efficiency and Low Cost Thermal Energy Storage System

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

Sienicki, James J.; Lv, Qiuping; Moisseytsev, Anton

BgtL, LLC (BgtL) is focused on developing and commercializing its proprietary compact technology for processes in the energy sector. One such application is a compact high efficiency Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system that utilizes the heat of fusion through phase change between solid and liquid to store and release energy at high temperatures and incorporate state-of-the-art insulation to minimize heat dissipation. BgtL’s TES system would greatly improve the economics of existing nuclear and coal-fired power plants by allowing the power plant to store energy when power prices are low and sell power into the grid when prices are high. Comparedmore » to existing battery storage technology, BgtL’s novel thermal energy storage solution can be significantly less costly to acquire and maintain, does not have any waste or environmental emissions, and does not deteriorate over time; it can keep constant efficiency and operates cleanly and safely. BgtL’s engineers are experienced in this field and are able to design and engineer such a system to a specific power plant’s requirements. BgtL also has a strong manufacturing partner to fabricate the system such that it qualifies for an ASME code stamp. BgtL’s vision is to be the leading provider of compact systems for various applications including energy storage. BgtL requests that all technical information about the TES designs be protected as proprietary information. To honor that request, only non-proprietay summaries are included in this report.« less

Development of absorber coupled TES polarimeter at millimeter wavelengths.

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

Wang, G.; Yefremenko, V.; Novosad, V.

2009-06-01

We report an absorber coupled TES bolometric polarimeter, consisting of an absorptive metal grid and a Mo/Au bi-layer TES on a suspended silicon nitride membrane disk. The electromagnetic design of the polarization sensitive absorbers, the heat transport modeling of the detector, the thermal response of the TES, and the micro-fabrication processes are presented. We also report the results of laboratory tests of a single pixel prototype detector, and compare with theoretical expectations.

Demonstration of EnergyNest thermal energy storage (TES) technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoivik, Nils; Greiner, Christopher; Tirado, Eva Bellido; Barragan, Juan; Bergan, Pâl; Skeie, Geir; Blanco, Pablo; Calvet, Nicolas

2017-06-01

This paper presents the experimental results from the EnergyNest 2 × 500 kWhth thermal energy storage (TES) pilot system installed at Masdar Institute of Science & Technology Solar Platform. Measured data are shown and compared to simulations using a specially developed computer program to verify the stability and performance of the TES. The TES is based on a solid-state concrete storage medium (HEATCRETE®) with integrated steel tube heat exchangers cast into the concrete. The unique concrete recipe used in the TES has been developed in collaboration with Heidelberg Cement; this material has significantly higher thermal conductivity compared to regular concrete implying very effective heat transfer, at the same time being chemically stable up to 450 °C. The demonstrated and measured performance of the TES matches the predictions based on simulations, and proves the operational feasibility of the EnergyNest concrete-based TES. A further case study is analyzed where a large-scale TES system presented in this article is compared to two-tank indirect molten salt technology.

In-Flight Performance of the TES Loop Heat Pipe Rejection System: Seven Years in Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rodriquez, Jose I.; Na-Nakornpanom, Arthur

2012-01-01

The Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) is an infrared, high spectral resolution Fourier transform spectrometer with a 3.3 to 15.4 micron wavelength coverage. TES is a scanning instrument intended for determining the chemical state of the Earth's lower atmosphere (troposphere) from the surface to 30+ km. TES produces vertical profiles of important pollutant and greenhouse gases such as carbon monoxide, ozone, methane, and water vapor on a global scale every other day. TES was launched into orbit onboard NASA's earth Observing System Aura spacecraft on July 15, 2004 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

TES Instrument Decommissioning

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-03-20

TES Instrument Decommissioning Tuesday, March 20, 2018 ... PST during a scheduled real time satellite contact the TES IOT along with the Aura FOT commanded the TES instrument to its ... generated from an algorithm update to the base Ground Data System software and will be made available to the scientific community in the ...

Superconducting transition edge sensors and methods for design and manufacture thereof

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sadleir, John E. (Inventor)

2013-01-01

Methods for forming sensors using transition edge sensors (TES) and sensors therefrom are described. The method includes forming a plurality of sensor arrays includes at least one TES device. The TES device includes a TES device body, a first superconducting lead contacting a first portion of the TES device body, and a second superconducting lead contacting of a second portion of the TES device body, where the first and second superconducting leads separated on the TES device body by a lead spacing. The lead spacing can be selected to be different for at least two of the plurality of sensor arrays. The method also includes determining a transition temperature for each of the plurality of sensor arrays and generating a signal responsive to detecting a change in the electrical characteristics of one of the plurality of sensor arrays meeting a transition temperature criterion.

Application of computational fluid dynamics for the simulation of cryogenic molecular sieve bed absorber of hydrogen isotopes recovery system for Indian LLCB-TBM

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

Gayathri Devi, V.; Sircar, A.; Sarkar, B.

One of the most challenging tasks in the design of the fuel cycle system lies in the effective design of Tritium Extraction System (TES) which involves proper extraction and purification of tritium in the fuel cycle of the fusion reactor. Indian Lead Lithium cooled Ceramic Breeder Test Blanket Module (LLCB-TBM) would extract hydrogen isotopes through Cryogenic Molecular Sieve Bed (CMSB) adsorber system. A prototype Hydrogen Isotopes Recovery System (HIRS) is being developed to validate the concepts for tritium extraction by adsorption mass transfer mechanism. In this study, a design model has been developed and analyzed to simulate the adsorption massmore » transfer kinetics in a fixed bed adsorption column. The simulation leads primarily to effective design of HIRS, which is a state-of-the-art technology. The paper describes the process simulation approach and the results of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis. The effects of different operating conditions are studied to investigate their influence on the hydrogen isotopes adsorption capacity. The results of the present simulation study would be used to understand the best optimized transport phenomenon before realizing the TES as a system for LLCB-TBM. (authors)« less

Analysis of the Effect of Construction and Operation of Thermal Expansion System Compounds on Steam Turbines Reliability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murmansky, B. E.; Sosnovsky, A. Yu.; Brodov, Yu. M.

2017-11-01

The inspection results are presented of turbines of different types and capacity, showing the influence of various factors (such as increased frictional forces on the mating surfaces, clearance changes in the joints elements, TES elements design, state of the thermal expansions compensation system of pipelines) on the operation both of thermal expansion system and of the turbine as a whole. The data are presented on the effectiveness of various measures aimed to eliminate the causes of the turbine thermal expansion system deviations from its normal operation. The results are shown of the influence simulation of various factors (such as flanges and piping warming, ratio of clearance changes in the elements) on the probability of turbine TES hindrance. It is shown that clearance ratios employed in most turbines do not provide the stability of turbine TES against the external action of connected pipes. The simulation results permit to explain the bearing housings turns observed during inspections, resulting in a jam on the longitudinal keys, in temperature distribution changes on the thrust bearing pads, and in some cases in false readings of instruments rotor axial displacement.

The EBIT Calorimeter Spectrometer: a new, permanent user facility at the LLNL EBIT

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

Porter, F S; Beiersdorfer, P; Brown, G V

The EBIT Calorimeter Spectrometer (ECS) is currently being completed and will be installed at the EBIT facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in October 2007. The ECS will replace the smaller XRS/EBIT microcalorimeter spectrometer that has been in almost continuous operation since 2000. The XRS/EBIT was based on a spare laboratory cryostat and an engineering model detector system from the Suzaku/XRS observatory program. The new ECS spectrometer was built to be a low maintenance, high performance implanted silicon microcalorimeter spectrometer with 4 eV resolution at 6 keV, 32 detector channels, 10 {micro}s event timing, and capable of uninterrupted acquisitionmore » sessions of over 60 hours at 50 mK. The XRS/EBIT program has been very successful, producing many results on topics such as laboratory astrophysics, atomic physics, nuclear physics, and calibration of the spectrometers for the National Ignition Facility. The ECS spectrometer will continue this work into the future with improved spectral resolution, integration times, and ease-of-use. We designed the ECS instrument with TES detectors in mind by using the same highly successful magnetic shielding as our laboratory TES cryostats. This design will lead to a future TES instrument at the LLNL EBIT. Here we discuss the legacy of the XRS/EBIT program, the performance of the new ECS spectrometer, and plans for a future TES instrument.« less

Spatial and temporal modeling of sub- and supercritical thermal energy storage

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

Tse, LA; Ganapathi, GB; Wirz, RE

2014-05-01

This paper describes a thermodynamic model that simulates the discharge cycle of a single-tank thermal energy storage (TES) system that can operate from the two-phase (liquid-vapor) to supercritical regimes for storage fluid temperatures typical of concentrating solar power plants. State-of-the-art TES design utilizes a two-tank system with molten nitrate salts; one major problem is the high capital cost of the salts (International Renewable Energy Agency, 2012). The alternate approach explored here opens up the use of low-cost fluids by considering operation at higher pressures associated with the two-phase and supercritical regimes. The main challenge to such a system is itsmore » high pressures and temperatures which necessitate a relatively high-cost containment vessel that represents a large fraction of the system capital cost. To mitigate this cost, the proposed design utilizes a single-tank TES system, effectively halving the required wall material. A single-tank approach also significantly reduces the complexity of the system in comparison to the two-tank systems, which require expensive pumps and external heat exchangers. A thermodynamic model is used to evaluate system performance; in particular it predicts the volume of tank wall material needed to encapsulate the storage fluid. The transient temperature of the tank is observed to remain hottest at the storage tank exit, which is beneficial to system operation. It is also shown that there is an optimum storage fluid loading that generates a given turbine energy output while minimizing the required tank wall material. Overall, this study explores opportunities to further improve current solar thermal technologies. The proposed single-tank system shows promise for decreasing the cost of thermal energy storage. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.« less

Novel bifunctional cap for simultaneous electroencephalography and transcranial electrical stimulation.

PubMed

Wunder, Sophia; Hunold, Alexander; Fiedler, Patrique; Schlegelmilch, Falk; Schellhorn, Klaus; Haueisen, Jens

2018-05-08

Neuromodulation induced by transcranial electric stimulation (TES) exhibited promising potential for clinical practice. However, the underlying mechanisms remain subject of research. The combination of TES and electroencephalography (EEG) offers great potential for investigating these mechanisms and brain function in general, especially when performed simultaneously. In conventional applications, the combination of EEG and TES suffers from limitations on the electrode level (gel for electrode-skin interface) and the usability level (preparation time, reproducibility of positioning). To overcome these limitations, we designed a bifunctional cap for simultaneous TES-EEG applications. We used novel electrode materials, namely textile stimulation electrodes and dry EEG electrodes integrated in a flexible textile cap. We verified the functionality of this cap by analysing the effect of TES on visual evoked potentials (VEPs). In accordance with previous reports using standard TES, the amplitude of the N75 component was significantly decreased post-stimulation, indicating the feasibility of using this novel flexible cap for simultaneous TES and EEG. Further, we found a significant reduction of the P100 component only during TES, indicating a different brain modulation effect during and after TES. In conclusion, the novel bifunctional cap offers a novel tool for simultaneous TES-EEG applications in clinical research, therapy monitoring and closed-loop stimulation.

Predictive value of persistent versus transient antiphospholipid antibody subtypes for the risk of thrombotic events in pediatric patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

PubMed

Male, Christoph; Foulon, Denise; Hoogendoorn, Hugh; Vegh, Patricia; Silverman, Earl; David, Michèle; Mitchell, Lesley

2005-12-15

Study objectives were to determine, in children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), (1) the association of antiphosholipid antibody (APLA) subtypes with thrombotic events (TEs) and (2) the predictive value of persistent versus transient antibodies for TEs. This is a cohort study of 58 SLE children in whom lupus anticoagulants (LAs), anticardiolipin antibodies (ACLAs), anti-beta2-glycoprotein-I (anti-beta2-GPI), and antiprothrombin (anti-PT) were assessed on at least 2 occasions (more than 3 months apart). Antibodies were classified as persistent (positive on at least 2 occasions) or transient (positive once). Outcomes were symptomatic TEs confirmed by objective radiographic tests identified retrospectively and prospectively. Seven of the 58 patients (12%) had 10 TEs; 5 patients had TEs during prospective follow-up. Persistent LAs showed the strongest association with TEs (P < .001). Persistent ACLAs (P = .003) and anti-beta2-GPI (P = .002) were significantly associated with TEs; anti-PT (P = .063) showed a trend. Persistent or transient LAs and anti-beta2-GPI showed similar strength of association, while ACLAs and anti-PT were no longer associated with TEs. Positivity for multiple APLA subtypes showed stronger associations with TEs than for individual APLA subtypes because of improved specificity. Lupus anticoagulant is the strongest predictor of the risk of TEs; other APLA subtypes provide no additional diagnostic value. Anticardiolipin antibodies and anti-PT require serial testing because only persistent antibodies are associated with TEs.

Text Exchange System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Snyder, W. V.; Hanson, R. J.

1986-01-01

Text Exchange System (TES) exchanges and maintains organized textual information including source code, documentation, data, and listings. System consists of two computer programs and definition of format for information storage. Comprehensive program used to create, read, and maintain TES files. TES developed to meet three goals: First, easy and efficient exchange of programs and other textual data between similar and dissimilar computer systems via magnetic tape. Second, provide transportable management system for textual information. Third, provide common user interface, over wide variety of computing systems, for all activities associated with text exchange.

Computational Analysis on Performance of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) Diffuser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adib, M. A. H. M.; Adnan, F.; Ismail, A. R.; Kardigama, K.; Salaam, H. A.; Ahmad, Z.; Johari, N. H.; Anuar, Z.; Azmi, N. S. N.

2012-09-01

Application of thermal energy storage (TES) system reduces cost and energy consumption. The performance of the overall operation is affected by diffuser design. In this study, computational analysis is used to determine the thermocline thickness. Three dimensional simulations with different tank height-to-diameter ratio (HD), diffuser opening and the effect of difference number of diffuser holes are investigated. Medium HD tanks simulations with double ring octagonal diffuser show good thermocline behavior and clear distinction between warm and cold water. The result show, the best performance of thermocline thickness during 50% time charging occur in medium tank with height-to-diameter ratio of 4.0 and double ring octagonal diffuser with 48 holes (9mm opening ~ 60%) acceptable compared to diffuser with 6mm ~ 40% and 12mm ~ 80% opening. The conclusion is computational analysis method are very useful in the study on performance of thermal energy storage (TES).

Preflight and Inflight Calibration of TES and AES

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rider, David M.

1997-01-01

The Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES), an EOS CHEM platform instrument, and its companion instrument, the Airborne Emission Spectrometer (AES), are both Fourier transform spectrometers designed for remote sensing of the troposphere.

Assessing District Energy Systems Performance Integrated with Multiple Thermal Energy Storages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rezaie, Behnaz

The goal of this study is to examine various energy resources in district energy (DE) systems and then DE system performance development by means of multiple thermal energy storages (TES) application. This study sheds light on areas not yet investigated precisely in detail. Throughout the research, major components of the heat plant, energy suppliers of the DE systems, and TES characteristics are separately examined; integration of various configurations of the multiple TESs in the DE system is then analysed. In the first part of the study, various sources of energy are compared, in a consistent manner, financially and environmentally. The TES performance is then assessed from various aspects. Then, TES(s) and DE systems with several sources of energy are integrated, and are investigated as a heat process centre. The most efficient configurations of the multiple TESs integrated with the DE system are investigated. Some of the findings of this study are applied on an actual DE system. The outcomes of this study provide insight for researchers and engineers who work in this field, as well as policy makers and project managers who are decision-makers. The accomplishments of the study are original developments TESs and DE systems. As an original development the Enviro-Economic Function, to balance the economic and environmental aspects of energy resources technologies in DE systems, is developed; various configurations of multiple TESs, including series, parallel, and general grid, are developed. The developed related functions are discharge temperature and energy of the TES, and energy and exergy efficiencies of the TES. The TES charging and discharging behavior of TES instantaneously is also investigated to obtain the charging temperature, the maximum charging temperature, the charging energy flow, maximum heat flow capacity, the discharging temperature, the minimum charging temperature, the discharging energy flow, the maximum heat flow capacity, and performance cycle time functions of the TES. Expanding to analysis of one TES integrated with the DE system, characteristics of various configurations of TES integrated with DE systems are obtained as functions of known properties, energy and exergy balances of the DE system including the TES(s); and energy and exergy efficiencies of the DE system. The energy, exergy, economic, and CO2 emissions of various energy options for the DE system are investigated in a consistent manner. Different sources of energy considered include natural gas, solar energy, ground source heat pump (GSHP), and municipal solid waste. The economic and environmental aspects and prioritization, and the advantages of each technology are reported. A community-based DE system is considered as a case study. For the considered case study, various existing sizing methods are applied, and then compared. The energy sources are natural gas, solar thermal, geothermal, and solid waste. The technologies are sized for each energy option, then the CO2 emissions and economic characteristics of each technology are analysed. The parallel configuration of the TESs delivers more energy to the DE system compared with other configurations, when the stored energy is the same. With increasing the number of parallel TESs results in a higher energy supply to the DE system. The efficiency of the set of the TESs is also improved by increasing the number of parallel TESs. The tax policy, including the tax benefits and carbon tax, is a strong tool which will influence the overall cost of the energy supplier's technology for the DE systems. The Enviro-Economic Function for the TESs is proposed and is integrated with the DE system, which suggests that the number of TESs required. The energy and exergy analyses are applied to the charging and discharging stages of an actual TES in the Friedrichshafen DE system. For the Friedrichshafen DE system, the performance is analysed based on energy and exergy analyses approach. Furthermore, by using the developed functions in the present study some modifications are suggested for the Friedrichshafen DE system for better performance.

The EBIT Calorimeter Spectrometer: A New, Permanent User Facility at the LLNL EBIT

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Porter, S.

2007-01-01

The EBIT Calorimeter Spectrometer (ECS) has recently been completed and is currently being installed at the EBIT facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The ECS will replace the smaller XRS/EBIT spectrometer that has been in almost continuous operation since 2000. The XRS/EBIT was based on a spare laboratory cryostat and an engineering model detector system from the Suzaku/XRS observatory. The new ECS spectrometer was built from the ground up to be a low maintenance, high performance microcalorimeter spectrometer with 4 eV resolution at 6 keV, 32 detector channels, 10 us event timing, and capable of uninterrupted acquisition sessions of over 70 hours at 50 mK. The XRSIEBIT program has been extremely successful, producing over two-dozen refereed publications on topics such as laboratory astrophysics, atomic physics, nuclear physics, and calibration of the spectrometers for the National Ignition Facility, with many more publications in preparation. The ECS spectrometer will continue this work into the future with improved spectral resolution, integration times, and ease-of-use. We designed the ECS instrument with TES detectors in mind by using the same highly successful magnetic shielding as our laboratory TES cryostats. This design will lead to a future TES instrument at the LLNL EBIT. This proposed future instrument would include a hybrid detector system with 0.8 eV resolution in the band from 0.1-1.0 keV, 2 eV from 0.1-10 keV, and 30 eV from 0.5-100 keV, with high quantum efficiency in each band. Here we discuss the legacy of the XRS/EBIT program, the performance of the new ECS spectrometer, and plans for a future TES spectrometer.

Analysis of a Concentrated Solar Thermophotovoltaic System with Thermal Energy Storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seyf, Hamid Reza; Henry, Asegun

2017-01-01

We analyzed a high temperature concentrated solar thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system with thermal energy storage (TES), which is enabled by the potential usage of liquid metal as a high temperature heat transfer fluid. The system concept combines the great advantages of TES with the potential for low cost and high performance derived from photovoltaic cells fabricated on reusable substrates, with a high reflectivity back reflector for photon recycling. The TES makes the electricity produced dispatchable, and thus the system studied should be compared to technologies such as concentrated solar power (CSP) with TES (e.g., using a turbine) or PV with electrochemical batteries, instead of direct and intermittent electricity generation from flat plate PV alone. Thus, the addition of TES places the system in a different class than has previously been considered and based on the model results, appears worthy of increased attention. The system level analysis presented identifies important cell level parameters that have the greatest impact on the overall system performance, and as a result can help to set the priorities for future TPV cell development.

Analysis of a Concentrated Solar Thermophotovoltaic System with Thermal Energy Storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seyf, Hamid Reza; Henry, Asegun

We analyzed a high temperature concentrated solar thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system with thermal energy storage (TES), which is enabled by the potential usage of liquid metal as a high temperature heat transfer fluid. The system concept combines the great advantages of TES with the potential for low cost and high performance derived from photovoltaic cells fabricated on reusable substrates, with a high reflectivity back reflector for photon recycling. The TES makes the electricity produced dispatchable, and thus the system studied should be compared to technologies such as concentrated solar power (CSP) with TES (e.g., using a turbine) or PV with electrochemical batteries, instead of direct and intermittent electricity generation from flat plate PV alone. Thus, the addition of TES places the system in a different class than has previously been considered and based on the model results, appears worthy of increased attention. The system level analysis presented identifies important cell level parameters that have the greatest impact on the overall system performance, and as a result can help to set the priorities for future TPV cell development.

Evaluation Framework and Analyses for Thermal Energy Storage Integrated with Packaged Air Conditioning

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

Kung, F.; Deru, M.; Bonnema, E.

2013-10-01

Few third-party guidance documents or tools are available for evaluating thermal energy storage (TES) integrated with packaged air conditioning (AC), as this type of TES is relatively new compared to TES integrated with chillers or hot water systems. To address this gap, researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory conducted a project to improve the ability of potential technology adopters to evaluate TES technologies. Major project outcomes included: development of an evaluation framework to describe key metrics, methodologies, and issues to consider when assessing the performance of TES systems integrated with packaged AC; application of multiple concepts from the evaluationmore » framework to analyze performance data from four demonstration sites; and production of a new simulation capability that enables modeling of TES integrated with packaged AC in EnergyPlus. This report includes the evaluation framework and analysis results from the project.« less

THERMOCHEMICAL HEAT STORAGE FOR CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER

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

PROJECT STAFF

2011-10-31

Thermal energy storage (TES) is an integral part of a concentrated solar power (CSP) system. It enables plant operators to generate electricity beyond on sun hours and supply power to the grid to meet peak demand. Current CSP sensible heat storage systems employ molten salts as both the heat transfer fluid and the heat storage media. These systems have an upper operating temperature limit of around 400 C. Future TES systems are expected to operate at temperatures between 600 C to 1000 C for higher thermal efficiencies which should result in lower electricity cost. To meet future operating temperature andmore » electricity cost requirements, a TES concept utilizing thermochemical cycles (TCs) based on multivalent solid oxides was proposed. The system employs a pair of reduction and oxidation (REDOX) reactions to store and release heat. In the storage step, hot air from the solar receiver is used to reduce the oxidation state of an oxide cation, e.g. Fe3+ to Fe2+. Heat energy is thus stored as chemical bonds and the oxide is charged. To discharge the stored energy, the reduced oxide is re-oxidized in air and heat is released. Air is used as both the heat transfer fluid and reactant and no storage of fluid is needed. This project investigated the engineering and economic feasibility of this proposed TES concept. The DOE storage cost and LCOE targets are $15/kWh and $0.09/kWh respectively. Sixteen pure oxide cycles were identified through thermodynamic calculations and literature information. Data showed the kinetics of re-oxidation of the various oxides to be a key barrier to implementing the proposed concept. A down selection was carried out based on operating temperature, materials costs and preliminary laboratory measurements. Cobalt oxide, manganese oxide and barium oxide were selected for developmental studies to improve their REDOX reaction kinetics. A novel approach utilizing mixed oxides to improve the REDOX kinetics of the selected oxides was proposed. It partially replaces some of the primary oxide cations with selected secondary cations. This causes a lattice charge imbalance and increases the anion vacancy density. Such vacancies enhance the ionic mass transport and lead to faster re-oxidation. Reoxidation fractions of Mn3O4 to Mn2O3 and CoO to Co3O4 were improved by up to 16 fold through the addition of a secondary oxide. However, no improvement was obtained in barium based mixed oxides. In addition to enhancing the short term re-oxidation kinetics, it was found that the use of mixed oxides also help to stabilize or even improve the TES properties after long term thermal cycling. Part of this improvement could be attributed to a reduced grain size in the mixed oxides. Based on the measurement results, manganese-iron, cobalt-aluminum and cobalt iron mixed oxides have been proposed for future engineering scale demonstration. Using the cobalt and manganese mixed oxides, we were able to demonstrate charge and discharge of the TES media in both a bench top fixed bed and a rotary kiln-moving bed reactor. Operations of the fixed bed configuration are straight forward but require a large mass flow rate and higher fluid temperature for charging. The rotary kiln makes direct solar irradiation possible and provides significantly better heat transfer, but designs to transport the TES oxide in and out of the reactor will need to be defined. The final reactor and system design will have to be based on the economics of the CSP plant. A materials compatibility study was also conducted and it identified Inconel 625 as a suitable high temperature engineering material to construct a reactor holding either cobalt or manganese mixed oxides. To assess the economics of such a CSP plant, a packed bed reactor model was established as a baseline. Measured cobalt-aluminum oxide reaction kinetics were applied to the model and the influences of bed properties and process parameters on the overall system design were investigated. The optimal TES system design was found to be a network of eight fixed bed reactors at 18.75 MWth each with charge and discharge temperatures between 1200 C and 600 C, which provides a constant output temperature of 900 C. The charge and discharge time are 8 hours each respectively. This design was integrated into a process flowsheet of a CSP plant and the system's economics were determined using AspenPlus and NREL's Solar Advisory Model. Storage cost is very sensitive to materials cost and was calculated to be based around $40/kWh for cobalt based mixed oxide. It can potentially decrease to $10/kWh based on reduced materials cost on a bulk scale. The corresponding calculated LCOE was between $0.22 and 0.30/kW-h. The high LCOE is a result of the high charging temperature required in this first design and the cost of cobalt oxide. It is expected that a moving bed reactor using manganese oxide will significantly improve the economics of the proposed concept.« less

(TES) Thermal Enclosure System with (COS) Crystal Observation System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

The COS consists of a specially designed (VDA) Vapor Diffusion Apparatus tray with 6 chambers, a video camera for each chamber, a lighting system, and associated hardware. By observing the crystal growth in each chamber, researchers can identify which conditions and concentrations of proteins and precipitants are best for promoting the crystal growth to a particular protein.

A review of the distribution coefficients of trace elements in soils: influence of sorption system, element characteristics, and soil colloidal properties.

PubMed

Shaheen, Sabry M; Tsadilas, Christos D; Rinklebe, Jörg

2013-12-01

Knowledge about the behavior and reactions of separate soil components with trace elements (TEs) and their distribution coefficients (Kds) in soils is a key issue in assessing the mobility and retention of TEs. Thus, the fate of TEs and the toxic risk they pose depend crucially on their Kd in soil. This article reviews the Kd of TEs in soils as affected by the sorption system, element characteristics, and soil colloidal properties. The sorption mechanism, determining factors, favorable conditions, and competitive ions on the sorption and Kd of TEs are also discussed here. This review demonstrates that the Kd value of TEs does not only depend on inorganic and organic soil constituents, but also on the nature and characteristics of the elements involved as well as on their competition for sorption sites. The Kd value of TEs is mainly affected by individual or competitive sorption systems. Generally, the sorption in competitive systems is lower than in mono-metal sorption systems. More strongly sorbed elements, such as Pb and Cu, are less affected by competition than mobile elements, such as Cd, Ni, and Zn. The sorption preference exhibited by soils for elements over others may be due to: (i) the hydrolysis constant, (ii) the atomic weight, (iii) the ionic radius, and subsequently the hydrated radius, and (iv) its Misono softness value. Moreover, element concentrations in the test solution mainly affect the Kd values. Mostly, values of Kd decrease as the concentration of the included cation increases in the test solution. Additionally, the Kd of TEs is controlled by the sorption characteristics of soils, such as pH, clay minerals, soil organic matter, Fe and Mn oxides, and calcium carbonate. However, more research is required to verify the practical utilization of studying Kd of TEs in soils as a reliable indicator for assessing the remediation process of toxic metals in soils and waters. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Submillimeter video imaging with a superconducting bolometer array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becker, Daniel Thomas

Millimeter wavelength radiation holds promise for detection of security threats at a distance, including suicide bombers and maritime threats in poor weather. The high sensitivity of superconducting Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers makes them ideal for passive imaging of thermal signals at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. I have built a 350 GHz video-rate imaging system using an array of feedhorn-coupled TES bolometers. The system operates at standoff distances of 16 m to 28 m with a measured spatial resolution of 1.4 cm (at 17 m). It currently contains one 251-detector sub-array, and can be expanded to contain four sub-arrays for a total of 1004 detectors. The system has been used to take video images that reveal the presence of weapons concealed beneath a shirt in an indoor setting. This dissertation describes the design, implementation and characterization of this system. It presents an overview of the challenges associated with standoff passive imaging and how these problems can be overcome through the use of large-format TES bolometer arrays. I describe the design of the system and cover the results of detector and optical characterization. I explain the procedure used to generate video images using the system, and present a noise analysis of those images. This analysis indicates that the Noise Equivalent Temperature Difference (NETD) of the video images is currently limited by artifacts of the scanning process. More sophisticated image processing algorithms can eliminate these artifacts and reduce the NETD to 100 mK, which is the target value for the most demanding passive imaging scenarios. I finish with an overview of future directions for this system.

Using RNA interference to knock down the adhesion protein TES.

PubMed

Griffith, Elen

2007-01-01

RNA interference (RNAi) is a specific and efficient method to knock down protein levels using small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which target mRNA degradation. RNAi can be used in mammalian cell culture systems to target any protein of interest, and several studies have used this method to knock down adhesion proteins. We used siRNAs to knock down the levels of TES, a focal adhesion protein, in HeLa cells. We demonstrated knockdown of both TES mRNA and TES protein. Although total knockdown of TES was not achieved, the observed reduction in TES protein was sufficient to result in a cellular phenotype of reduced actin stress fibers.

Optimal deployment of thermal energy storage under diverse economic and climate conditions

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

DeForest, Nicholas; Mendes, Gonçalo; Stadler, Michael

2014-04-01

This paper presents an investigation of the economic benefit of thermal energy storage (TES) for cooling, across a range of economic and climate conditions. Chilled water TES systems are simulated for a large office building in four distinct locations, Miami in the U.S.; Lisbon, Portugal; Shanghai, China; and Mumbai, India. Optimal system size and operating schedules are determined using the optimization model DER-CAM, such that total cost, including electricity and amortized capital costs are minimized. The economic impacts of each optimized TES system is then compared to systems sized using a simple heuristic method, which bases system size as fractionmore » (50percent and 100percent) of total on-peak summer cooling loads. Results indicate that TES systems of all sizes can be effective in reducing annual electricity costs (5percent-15percent) and peak electricity consumption (13percent-33percent). The investigation also indentifies a number of criteria which drive TES investment, including low capital costs, electricity tariffs with high power demand charges and prolonged cooling seasons. In locations where these drivers clearly exist, the heuristically sized systems capture much of the value of optimally sized systems; between 60percent and 100percent in terms of net present value. However, in instances where these drivers are less pronounced, the heuristic tends to oversize systems, and optimization becomes crucial to ensure economically beneficial deployment of TES, increasing the net present value of heuristically sized systems by as much as 10 times in some instances.« less

TES development for a frequency selective bolometer camera.

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

Datesman, A. M.; Downes, T. P.; Perera, T. A.

2009-06-01

We discuss the development, at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), of a four-pixel camera with four spectral channels centered at 150, 220, 270, and 360 GHz. The scientific motivation involves photometry of distant dusty galaxies located by Spitzer and SCUBA, as well as the study of other millimeter-wave sources such as ultra-luminous infrared galaxies, the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect in clusters, and galactic dust. The camera incorporates Frequency Selective Bolometer (FSB) and superconducting Transition-Edge Sensor (TES) technology. The current generation of TES devices we examine utilizes proximity effect superconducting bilayers of Mo/Au, Ti, or Ti/Au as TESs, located along with frequency selective absorbingmore » structures on silicon nitride membranes. The detector incorporates lithographically patterned structures designed to address both TES device stability and detector thermal transport concerns. The membrane is not perforated, resulting in a detector which is comparatively robust mechanically. In this paper, we report on the development of the superconducting bilayer TES technology, the design and testing of the detector thermal transport and device stability control structures, optical and thermal test results, and the use of new materials.« less

Thermal storage for electric utilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swet, C. J.; Masica, W. J.

1977-01-01

Applications of the thermal energy storage (TES) principle (storage of sensible heat or latent heat, or heat storage in reversible chemical reactions) in power systems are evaluated. Load leveling behind the meter, load following at conventional thermal power plants, solar thermal power generation, and waste heat utilization are the principal TES applications considered. Specific TES examples discussed include: storage heaters for electric-resistance space heating, air conditioning TES in the form of chilled water or eutectic salt baths, hot water TES, and trans-seasonal storage in heated water in confined aquifers.

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

Qui, Songgang; Galbraith, Ross

This final report summarizes the final results of the Phase II Innovative Application of Maintenance-Free Phase-Change Thermal Energy Storage for Dish-Engine Solar Power Generation project being performed by Infinia Corporation for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-FC36-08GO18157 during the project period of September 1, 2009 - August 30, 2012. The primary objective of this project is to demonstrate the practicality of integrating thermal energy storage (TES) modules, using a suitable thermal salt phase-change material (PCM) as its medium, with a dish/Stirling engine; enabling the system to operate during cloud transients and to provide dispatchable power for 4 tomore » 6 hours after sunset. A laboratory prototype designed to provide 3 kW-h of net electrical output was constructed and tested at Infinia's Ogden Headquarters. In the course of the testing, it was determined that the system's heat pipe network - used to transfer incoming heat from the solar receiver to both the Stirling generator heater head and to the phase change salt - did not perform to expectations. The heat pipes had limited capacity to deliver sufficient heat energy to the generator and salt mass while in a charging mode, which was highly dependent on the orientation of the device (vertical versus horizontal). In addition, the TES system was only able to extract about 30 to 40% of the expected amount of energy from the phase change salt once it was fully molten. However, the use of heat pipes to transfer heat energy to and from a thermal energy storage medium is a key technical innovation, and the project team feels that the limitations of the current device could be greatly improved with further development. A detailed study of manufacturing costs using the prototype TES module as a basis indicates that meeting DOE LCOE goals with this hardware requires significant efforts. Improvement can be made by implementing aggressive cost-down initiatives in design and materials, improving system performance by boosting efficiencies, and by refining cost estimates with vendor quotes in lieu of mass-based approaches. Although the prototype did not fully demonstrate performance and realize projected cost targets, the project team believes that these challenges can be overcome. The test data showed that the performance can be significantly improved by refining the heat pipe designs. However, the project objective for phase 3 is to design and test on sun the field ready systems, the project team feels that is necessary to further refine the prototype heat pipe design in the current prototype TES system before move on to field test units, Phase 3 continuation will not be pursued.« less

Applications of thermal energy storage to waste heat recovery in the food processing industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trebilcox, G. J.; Lundberg, W. L.

1981-03-01

The canning segment of the food processing industry is a major energy user within that industry. Most of its energy demand is met by hot water and steam and those fluids, in addition to product cooling water, eventually flow from the processes as warm waste water. To minimize the possibility of product contamination, a large percentage of that waste water is sent directly to factory drains and sewer systems without being recycled and in many cases the thermal energy contained by the waste streams also goes unreclaimed and is lost from further use. Waste heat recovery in canning facilities can be performed economically using systems that employ thermal energy storage (TES). A project was proposed in which a demonstration waste heat recovery system, including a TES feature, would be designed, installed and operated.

Acquired activated protein C resistance is associated with lupus anticoagulants and thrombotic events in pediatric patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

PubMed

Male, C; Mitchell, L; Julian, J; Vegh, P; Joshua, P; Adams, M; David, M; Andrew, M E

2001-02-15

Acquired activated protein C resistance (APCR) has been hypothesized as a possible mechanism by which antiphospholipid antibodies (APLAs) cause thrombotic events (TEs). However, available evidence for an association of acquired APCR with APLAs is limited. More importantly, an association of acquired APCR with TEs has not been demonstrated. The objective of the study was to determine, in pediatric patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), whether (1) acquired APCR is associated with the presence of APLAs, (2) APCR is associated with TEs, and (3) there is an interaction between APCR and APLAs in association with TEs. A cross-sectional cohort study of 59 consecutive, nonselected children with SLE was conducted. Primary clinical outcomes were symptomatic TEs, confirmed by objective radiographic tests. Laboratory testing included lupus anticoagulants (LAs), anticardiolipin antibodies (ACLAs), APC ratio, protein S, protein C, and factor V Leiden. The results revealed that TEs occurred in 10 (17%) of 59 patients. Acquired APCR was present in 18 (31%) of 58 patients. Acquired APCR was significantly associated with the presence of LAs but not ACLAs. Acquired APCR was also significantly associated with TEs. There was significant interaction between APCR and LAs in the association with TEs. Presence of both APCR and LAs was associated with the highest risk of a TE. Protein S and protein C concentrations were not associated with the presence of APLAs, APCR, or TEs. Presence of acquired APCR is a marker identifying LA-positive patients at high risk of TEs. Acquired APCR may reflect interference of LAs with the protein C pathway that may represent a mechanism of LA-associated TEs. (Blood. 2001;97:844-849)

Design and fabrication of absorber coupled TES microbolometers on continuous silicon-nitride windows.

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

Chang, C. L.; Carlstrom, J. E.; Datesman, A.

2008-04-01

The implementation of TES based microbolometer arrays will achieve unprecedented sensitivities for mm and sub-mm astronomy through fabrication of large format arrays and improved linearity and stability arising from strong electro-thermal feedback. We report on progress in developing TES microbolometers using Mo/Au thin films and Au absorbing structures. We present measurements of suppressing the thermal conductance through the etching of features on a continuous Silicon-Nitride window.

Functional Test on (TES) Thermal Enclosure System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

MSFC Test Engineer performing a functional test on the TES. The TES can be operated as a refrigerator, with a minimum set point temperature of 4.0 degrees C, or as an incubator, with a maximum set point temperature 40.0 degrees C of the set point. The TES can be set to maintain a constant temperature or programmed to change temperature settings over time, internal temperature recorded by a date logger.

Antihypertensive effects of androgens in conscious, spontaneously hypertensive rats.

PubMed

Perusquía, Mercedes; Herrera, Nieves; Ferrer, Mercedes; Stallone, John N

2017-03-01

Androgens are vasoactive steroids that induce acute vasodilation in a number of isolated vascular beds from different species, but the effects of these hormones on systemic blood pressure (BP) have been studied little. Although it has been reported that androgens exert systemic hypotensive effects through peripheral vasodilation in normotensive rats, there have not been any reports of systemic hypotensive effects of androgens in animals with hypertension. This study was designed to evaluate the acute effects of testosterone (TES) and its 5-reduced metabolites on systemic BP in hypertensive rats and to test the hypothesis that hypotestosteronemia may be involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension. Chronic, indwelling catheters were implanted in carotid artery and jugular vein of 18-21-week-old male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive-control Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, for BP recording and drug administration, respectively. Bolus injections of TES, 5α- or 5β-dihydrotestosterone (5α- and 5β-DHT), were administrated cumulatively to conscious rats at doses of 0.1-100μmolkg -1 min -1 . 5β-DHT was also administrated during the pressor effect of Bay K 8644, an L-type voltage-operated Ca 2+ channel (L-VOCC) agonist. In separate experiments, BP of orchidectomized normotensive male WKY and Wistar rats, with or without androgen-replacement therapy, was evaluated weekly for 10 weeks by tail-cuff plethysmography. TES and its metabolites reduced BP in a dose-dependent manner, while heart rate was reduced with some androgens at the highest doses. The hypotensive effects of androgens were markedly greater in SHR, with a rank order potency of: 5β-DHT>TES>5α-DHT. 5β-DHT, the most potent antihypertensive androgen, abolished the pressor response to Bay K 8644 in SHR. TES deprivation by orchidectomy increased BP in normotensive WKY and Wistar rats, but this hypertension was prevented by TES replacement therapy. BP responses to androgens are androgen structure-dependent. These data indicate that: 1) androgens play a significant role in the control of BP and may contribute to the pathogenesis of hypertension; 2) blockade of L-VOCC is involved in the antihypertensive effects of androgens, which are non-genomically mediated; and 3) hypotestosteronemia may be a risk factor for hypertension. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

AlMn Transition Edge Sensors for Advanced ACTPol

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, Dale; Austermann, Jason E.; Beall, James A.; Tucker, Daniel T.; Duff, Shannon M.; Gallardo, Patricio A.; Henderson, Shawn W.; Hilton, Gene C.; Ho, Shuay-Pwu; Hubmayr, Johannes;

AlMn Transition Edge Sensors for Advanced ACTPol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Dale; Austermann, Jason E.; Beall, James A.; Becker, Daniel T.; Duff, Shannon M.; Gallardo, Patricio A.; Henderson, Shawn W.; Hilton, Gene C.; Ho, Shuay-Pwu; Hubmayr, Johannes; Koopman, Brian J.; McMahon, Jeffrey J.; Nati, Federico; Niemack, Michael D.; Pappas, Christine G.; Salatino, Maria; Schmitt, Benjamin L.; Simon, Sara M.; Staggs, Suzanne T.; Van Lanen, Jeff; Ward, Jonathan T.; Wollack, Edward J.

2016-07-01

Advanced ACTPol (AdvACT) will use an array of multichroic polarization-sensitive AlMn transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers read out through time-division multiplexing. Aluminum doped with a low concentration of manganese can be deposited to a bulk film thickness for a more reliable superconducting critical temperature uniformity compared to thin bilayers. To build the TES, the AlMn alloy is deposited, over Nb wiring, to a specific thickness to set the TES normal resistance. The doping concentration of manganese coarsely defines the TES critical temperature, while a fine tuning is achieved by heating the deposited film to a specific temperature. The TES island is connected to the thermal bath via four silicon-nitride membranes, where their geometry defines the thermal conductance to the temperature of the bath. Lastly, the TES heat capacity is increased by addition of PdAu electrically connected to the AlMn film. Designs and performance characteristics of these AlMn TESs are presented for use in AdvACT.

(abstract) Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beer, Reinhard

1994-01-01

A descope of the EOS program now requires that all EOS platforms after AM1 be launched on DELTA-class vehicles, which results in much smaller platforms (and payloads) than previously envisaged. A major part of the TES hardware design effort has therefore been redirected towards meeting this challenge. The development of the TES concept continues on a schedule to permit flight on the EOS CHEM platform in 2002, where it is planned to be accompanied by HIRDLS and MLS.

What makes up plant genomes: The vanishing line between transposable elements and genes.

PubMed

Zhao, Dongyan; Ferguson, Ann A; Jiang, Ning

2016-02-01

The ultimate source of evolution is mutation. As the largest component in plant genomes, transposable elements (TEs) create numerous types of mutations that cannot be mimicked by other genetic mechanisms. When TEs insert into genomic sequences, they influence the expression of nearby genes as well as genes unlinked to the insertion. TEs can duplicate, mobilize, and recombine normal genes or gene fragments, with the potential to generate new genes or modify the structure of existing genes. TEs also donate their transposase coding regions for cellular functions in a process called TE domestication. Despite the host defense against TE activity, a subset of TEs survived and thrived through discreet selection of transposition activity, target site, element size, and the internal sequence. Finally, TEs have established strategies to reduce the efficacy of host defense system by increasing the cost of silencing TEs. This review discusses the recent progress in the area of plant TEs with a focus on the interaction between TEs and genes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tiered Evaluation in Large Ensemble Settings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, David

1998-01-01

Discusses the use of a tiered evaluation system (TES) that allows students to work at different levels, enables teachers to assess progress objectively, and presents students with appropriate challenges in the music ensembles. Focuses on how TES works and its advantages, considers the challenges and flexibility of TES, and provides samples. (CMK)

Thermal energy storage for the Stirling engine powered automobile

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morgan, D. T. (Editor)

1979-01-01

A thermal energy storage (TES) system developed for use with the Stirling engine as an automotive power system has gravimetric and volumetric storage densities which are competitive with electric battery storage systems, meets all operational requirements for a practical vehicle, and can be packaged in compact sized automobiles with minimum impact on passenger and freight volume. The TES/Stirling system is the only storage approach for direct use of combustion heat from fuel sources not suitable for direct transport and use on the vehicle. The particular concept described is also useful for a dual mode TES/liquid fuel system in which the TES (recharged from an external energy source) is used for short duration trips (approximately 10 miles or less) and liquid fuel carried on board the vehicle used for long duration trips. The dual mode approach offers the potential of 50 percent savings in the consumption of premium liquid fuels for automotive propulsion in the United States.

A novel, highly efficient cavity backshort design for far-infrared TES detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bracken, C.; de Lange, G.; Audley, M. D.; Trappe, N.; Murphy, J. A.; Gradziel, M.; Vreeling, W.-J.; Watson, D.

2018-03-01

In this paper we present a new cavity backshort design for TES (transition edge sensor) detectors which will provide increased coupling of the incoming astronomical signal to the detectors. The increased coupling results from the improved geometry of the cavities, where the geometry is a consequence of the proposed chemical etching manufacturing technique. Using a number of modelling techniques, predicted results of the performance of the cavities for frequencies of 4.3-10 THz are presented and compared to more standard cavity designs. Excellent optical efficiency is demonstrated, with improved response flatness across the band. In order to verify the simulated results, a scaled model cavity was built for testing at the lower W-band frequencies (75-100 GHz) with a VNA system. Further testing of the scale model at THz frequencies was carried out using a globar and bolometer via an FTS measurement set-up. The experimental results are presented, and compared to the simulations. Although there is relatively poor comparison between simulation and measurement at some frequencies, the discrepancies are explained by means of higher-mode excitation in the measured cavity which are not accounted for in the single-mode simulations. To verify this assumption, a better behaved cylindrical cavity is simulated and measured, where excellent agreement is demonstrated in those results. It can be concluded that both the simulations and the supporting measurements give confidence that this novel cavity design will indeed provide much-improved optical coupling for TES detectors in the far-infrared/THz band.

High-temperature molten salt thermal energy storage systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petri, R. J.; Claar, T. D.; Tison, R. R.; Marianowski, L. G.

1980-01-01

The results of comparative screening studies of candidate molten carbonate salts as phase change materials (PCM) for advanced solar thermal energy storage applications at 540 to 870 C (1004 to 1600 F) and steam Rankine electric generation at 400 to 540 C (752 to 1004 F) are presented. Alkali carbonates are attractive as latent heat storage materials because of their relatively high storage capacity and thermal conductivity, low corrosivity, moderate cost, and safe and simple handling requirements. Salts were tested in 0.1 kWhr lab scale modules and evaluated on the basis of discharge heat flux, solidification temperature range, thermal cycling stability, and compatibility with containment materials. The feasibility of using a distributed network of high conductivity material to increase the heat flux through the layer of solidified salt was evaluated. The thermal performance of an 8 kWhr thermal energy storage (TES) module containing LiKCO3 remained very stable throughout 5650 hours and 130 charge/discharge cycles at 480 to 535 C (896 to 995 F). A TES utilization concept of an electrical generation peaking subsystem composed of a multistage condensing steam turbine and a TES subsystem with a separate power conversion loop was defined. Conceptual designs for a 100 MW sub e TES peaking system providing steam at 316 C, 427 C, and 454 C (600 F, 800 F, and 850 F) at 3.79 million Pa (550 psia) were developed and evaluated. Areas requiring further investigation have also been identified.

Life cycle assessment of a parabolic trough concentrating solar power plant and the impacts of key design alternatives.

PubMed

Burkhardt, John J; Heath, Garvin A; Turchi, Craig S

2011-03-15

Climate change and water scarcity are important issues for today's power sector. To inform capacity expansion decisions, hybrid life cycle assessment is used to evaluate a reference design of a parabolic trough concentrating solar power (CSP) facility located in Daggett, CA, along four sustainability metrics: life cycle (LC) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water consumption, cumulative energy demand (CED), and energy payback time (EPBT). This wet-cooled, 103 MW plant utilizes mined nitrates salts in its two-tank, thermal energy storage (TES) system. Design alternatives of dry-cooling, a thermocline TES, and synthetically derived nitrate salt are evaluated. During its LC, the reference CSP plant is estimated to emit 26 g of CO(2eq) per kWh, consume 4.7 L/kWh of water, and demand 0.40 MJ(eq)/kWh of energy, resulting in an EPBT of approximately 1 year. The dry-cooled alternative is estimated to reduce LC water consumption by 77% but increase LC GHG emissions and CED by 8%. Synthetic nitrate salts may increase LC GHG emissions by 52% compared to mined. Switching from two-tank to thermocline TES configuration reduces LC GHG emissions, most significantly for plants using synthetically derived nitrate salts. CSP can significantly reduce GHG emissions compared to fossil-fueled generation; however, dry-cooling may be required in many locations to minimize water consumption.

CMedTEX: A Rule-based Temporal Expression Extraction and Normalization System for Chinese Clinical Notes.

PubMed

Liu, Zengjian; Tang, Buzhou; Wang, Xiaolong; Chen, Qingcai; Li, Haodi; Bu, Junzhao; Jiang, Jingzhi; Deng, Qiwen; Zhu, Suisong

2016-01-01

Time is an important aspect of information and is very useful for information utilization. The goal of this study was to analyze the challenges of temporal expression (TE) extraction and normalization in Chinese clinical notes by assessing the performance of a rule-based system developed by us on a manually annotated corpus (including 1,778 clinical notes of 281 hospitalized patients). In order to develop system conveniently, we divided TEs into three categories: direct, indirect and uncertain TEs, and designed different rules for each category of them. Evaluation on the independent test set shows that our system achieves an F-score of93.40% on TE extraction, and an accuracy of 92.58% on TE normalization under "exact-match" criterion. Compared with HeidelTime for Chinese newswire text, our system is much better, indicating that it is necessary to develop a specific TE extraction and normalization system for Chinese clinical notes because of domain difference.

Investigation of potential waste material insulating properties at different temperature for thermal storage application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, T. Z. S.; Rosli, A. B.; Gan, L. M.; Billy, A. S.; Farid, Z.

2013-12-01

Thermal energy storage system (TES) is developed to extend the operation of power generation. TES system is a key component in a solar energy power generation plant, but the main issue in designing the TES system is its thermal capacity of storage materials, e.g. insulator. This study is focusing on the potential waste material acts as an insulator for thermal energy storage applications. As the insulator is used to absorb heat, it is needed to find suitable material for energy conversion and at the same time reduce the waste generation. Thus, a small-scale experimental testing of natural cooling process of an insulated tank within a confined room is conducted. The experiment is repeated by changing the insulator from the potential waste material and also by changing the heat transfer fluid (HTF). The analysis presented the relationship between heat loss and the reserved period by the insulator. The results show the percentage of period of the insulated tank withstands compared to tank insulated by foam, e.g. newspaper reserved the period of 84.6% as much as foam insulated tank to withstand the heat transfer of cooking oil to the surrounding. The paper finally justifies the most potential waste material as an insulator for different temperature range of heat transfer fluid.

Modulating signaling networks by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated transposable element insertion.

PubMed

Vaschetto, Luis María

2018-04-01

In a recent past, transposable elements (TEs) were referred to as selfish genetic components only capable of copying themselves with the aim of increasing the odds of being inherited. Nonetheless, TEs have been initially proposed as positive control elements acting in synergy with the host. Nowadays, it is well known that TE movement into host genome comprises an important evolutionary mechanism capable of increasing the adaptive fitness. As insights into TE functioning are increasing day to day, the manipulation of transposition has raised an interesting possibility of setting the host functions, although the lack of appropriate genome engineering tools has unpaved it. Fortunately, the emergence of genome editing technologies based on programmable nucleases, and especially the arrival of a multipurpose RNA-guided Cas9 endonuclease system, has made it possible to reconsider this challenge. For such purpose, a particular type of transposons referred to as miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements (MITEs) has shown a series of interesting characteristics for designing functional drivers. Here, recent insights into MITE elements and versatile RNA-guided CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering system are given to understand how to deploy the potential of TEs for control of the host transcriptional activity.

Fabrication of a Kilopixel Array of Superconducting Microcalorimeters with Microstripline Wiring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chervenak, James

2012-01-01

A document describes the fabrication of a two-dimensional microcalorimeter array that uses microstrip wiring and integrated heat sinking to enable use of high-performance pixel designs at kilopixel scales (32 X 32). Each pixel is the high-resolution design employed in small-array test devices, which consist of a Mo/Au TES (transition edge sensor) on a silicon nitride membrane and an electroplated Bi/Au absorber. The pixel pitch within the array is 300 microns, where absorbers 290 microns on a side are cantilevered over a silicon support grid with 100-micron-wide beams. The high-density wiring and heat sinking are both carried by the silicon beams to the edge of the array. All pixels are wired out to the array edge. ECR (electron cyclotron resonance) oxide underlayer is deposited underneath the sensor layer. The sensor (TES) layer consists of a superconducting underlayer and a normal metal top layer. If the sensor is deposited at high temperature, the ECR oxide can be vacuum annealed to improve film smoothness and etch characteristics. This process is designed to recover high-resolution, single-pixel x-ray microcalorimeter performance within arrays of arbitrarily large format. The critical current limiting parts of the circuit are designed to have simple interfaces that can be independently verified. The lead-to-TES interface is entirely determined in a single layer that has multiple points of interface to maximize critical current. The lead rails that overlap the TES sensor element contact both the superconducting underlayer and the TES normal metal

Microgravity fluid management requirements of advanced solar dynamic power systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Migra, Robert P.

1987-01-01

The advanced solar dynamic system (ASDS) program is aimed at developing the technology for highly efficient, lightweight space power systems. The approach is to evaluate Stirling, Brayton and liquid metal Rankine power conversion systems (PCS) over the temperature range of 1025 to 1400K, identify the critical technologies and develop these technologies. Microgravity fluid management technology is required in several areas of this program, namely, thermal energy storage (TES), heat pipe applications and liquid metal, two phase flow Rankine systems. Utilization of the heat of fusion of phase change materials offers potential for smaller, lighter TES systems. The candidate TES materials exhibit large volume change with the phase change. The heat pipe is an energy dense heat transfer device. A high temperature application may transfer heat from the solar receiver to the PCS working fluid and/or TES. A low temperature application may transfer waste heat from the PCS to the radiator. The liquid metal Rankine PCS requires management of the boiling/condensing process typical of two phase flow systems.

Data analytics and optimization of an ice-based energy storage system for commercial buildings

DOE PAGES

Luo, Na; Hong, Tianzhen; Li, Hui; ...

2017-07-25

Ice-based thermal energy storage (TES) systems can shift peak cooling demand and reduce operational energy costs (with time-of-use rates) in commercial buildings. The accurate prediction of the cooling load, and the optimal control strategy for managing the charging and discharging of a TES system, are two critical elements to improving system performance and achieving energy cost savings. This study utilizes data-driven analytics and modeling to holistically understand the operation of an ice–based TES system in a shopping mall, calculating the system’s performance using actual measured data from installed meters and sensors. Results show that there is significant savings potential whenmore » the current operating strategy is improved by appropriately scheduling the operation of each piece of equipment of the TES system, as well as by determining the amount of charging and discharging for each day. A novel optimal control strategy, determined by an optimization algorithm of Sequential Quadratic Programming, was developed to minimize the TES system’s operating costs. Three heuristic strategies were also investigated for comparison with our proposed strategy, and the results demonstrate the superiority of our method to the heuristic strategies in terms of total energy cost savings. Specifically, the optimal strategy yields energy costs of up to 11.3% per day and 9.3% per month compared with current operational strategies. A one-day-ahead hourly load prediction was also developed using machine learning algorithms, which facilitates the adoption of the developed data analytics and optimization of the control strategy in a real TES system operation.« less

Data analytics and optimization of an ice-based energy storage system for commercial buildings

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

Luo, Na; Hong, Tianzhen; Li, Hui

Ice-based thermal energy storage (TES) systems can shift peak cooling demand and reduce operational energy costs (with time-of-use rates) in commercial buildings. The accurate prediction of the cooling load, and the optimal control strategy for managing the charging and discharging of a TES system, are two critical elements to improving system performance and achieving energy cost savings. This study utilizes data-driven analytics and modeling to holistically understand the operation of an ice–based TES system in a shopping mall, calculating the system’s performance using actual measured data from installed meters and sensors. Results show that there is significant savings potential whenmore » the current operating strategy is improved by appropriately scheduling the operation of each piece of equipment of the TES system, as well as by determining the amount of charging and discharging for each day. A novel optimal control strategy, determined by an optimization algorithm of Sequential Quadratic Programming, was developed to minimize the TES system’s operating costs. Three heuristic strategies were also investigated for comparison with our proposed strategy, and the results demonstrate the superiority of our method to the heuristic strategies in terms of total energy cost savings. Specifically, the optimal strategy yields energy costs of up to 11.3% per day and 9.3% per month compared with current operational strategies. A one-day-ahead hourly load prediction was also developed using machine learning algorithms, which facilitates the adoption of the developed data analytics and optimization of the control strategy in a real TES system operation.« less

Characterization of Polycapillary Optics in a TES Microcalorimeter EDS System Installed on an SEM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takano, A.; Maehata, K.; Iyomoto, N.; Yasuda, K.; Maeno, H.; Shiiyama, K.; Tanaka, K.

2016-08-01

Energy-dispersive spectroscopic measurements are performed using a superconducting transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeter mounted on a scanning electron microscope (SEM) for advanced research at Kyushu University. Because the sensitive area of the TES microcalorimeter is about 0.02~mm2, polycapillary optics is used to collect the X-rays emitted by the SEM specimen on the TES microcalorimeter. The X-ray transmission efficiency of the polycapillary optics is obtained by analyzing the X-ray energy spectra measured by the TES microcalorimeter. The obtained transmission efficiency of the polycapillary optics is reproduced by the calculated results of the simulation.

Simulation model of stratified thermal energy storage tank using finite difference method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waluyo, Joko

2016-06-01

Stratified TES tank is normally used in the cogeneration plant. The stratified TES tanks are simple, low cost, and equal or superior in thermal performance. The advantage of TES tank is that it enables shifting of energy usage from off-peak demand for on-peak demand requirement. To increase energy utilization in a stratified TES tank, it is required to build a simulation model which capable to simulate the charging phenomenon in the stratified TES tank precisely. This paper is aimed to develop a novel model in addressing the aforementioned problem. The model incorporated chiller into the charging of stratified TES tank system in a closed system. The model was developed in one-dimensional type involve with heat transfer aspect. The model covers the main factors affect to degradation of temperature distribution namely conduction through the tank wall, conduction between cool and warm water, mixing effect on the initial flow of the charging as well as heat loss to surrounding. The simulation model is developed based on finite difference method utilizing buffer concept theory and solved in explicit method. Validation of the simulation model is carried out using observed data obtained from operating stratified TES tank in cogeneration plant. The temperature distribution of the model capable of representing S-curve pattern as well as simulating decreased charging temperature after reaching full condition. The coefficient of determination values between the observed data and model obtained higher than 0.88. Meaning that the model has capability in simulating the charging phenomenon in the stratified TES tank. The model is not only capable of generating temperature distribution but also can be enhanced for representing transient condition during the charging of stratified TES tank. This successful model can be addressed for solving the limitation temperature occurs in charging of the stratified TES tank with the absorption chiller. Further, the stratified TES tank can be charged with the cooling energy of absorption chiller that utilizes from waste heat from gas turbine of the cogeneration plant.

Transposable elements at the center of the crossroads between embryogenesis, embryonic stem cells, reprogramming, and long non-coding RNAs.

PubMed

Hutchins, Andrew Paul; Pei, Duanqing

Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile genomic sequences of DNA capable of autonomous and non-autonomous duplication. TEs have been highly successful, and nearly half of the human genome now consists of various families of TEs. Originally thought to be non-functional, these elements have been co-opted by animal genomes to perform a variety of physiological functions ranging from TE-derived proteins acting directly in normal biological functions, to innovations in transcription factor logic and influence on epigenetic control of gene expression. During embryonic development, when the genome is epigenetically reprogrammed and DNA-demethylated, TEs are released from repression and show embryonic stage-specific expression, and in human and mouse embryos, intact TE-derived endogenous viral particles can even be detected. A similar process occurs during the reprogramming of somatic cells to pluripotent cells: When the somatic DNA is demethylated, TEs are released from repression. In embryonic stem cells (ESCs), where DNA is hypomethylated, an elaborate system of epigenetic control is employed to suppress TEs, a system that often overlaps with normal epigenetic control of ESC gene expression. Finally, many long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) involved in normal ESC function and those assisting or impairing reprogramming contain multiple TEs in their RNA. These TEs may act as regulatory units to recruit RNA-binding proteins and epigenetic modifiers. This review covers how TEs are interlinked with the epigenetic machinery and lncRNAs, and how these links influence each other to modulate aspects of ESCs, embryogenesis, and somatic cell reprogramming.

Altruistic functions for selfish DNA.

PubMed

Faulkner, Geoffrey J; Carninci, Piero

2009-09-15

Mammalian genomes are comprised of 30-50% transposed elements (TEs). The vast majority of these TEs are truncated and mutated fragments of retrotransposons that are no longer capable of transposition. Although initially regarded as important factors in the evolution of gene regulatory networks, TEs are now commonly perceived as neutrally evolving and non-functional genomic elements. In a major development, recent works have strongly contradicted this "selfish DNA" or "junk DNA" dogma by demonstrating that TEs use a host of novel promoters to generate RNA on a massive scale across most eukaryotic cells. This transcription frequently functions to control the expression of protein-coding genes via alternative promoters, cis regulatory non protein-coding RNAs and the formation of double stranded short RNAs. If considered in sum, these findings challenge the designation of TEs as selfish and neutrally evolving genomic elements. Here, we will expand upon these themes and discuss challenges in establishing novel TE functions in vivo.

Simulation of Transient Response of Ir-TES for Position-Sensitive TES with Waveform Domain Multiplexing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minamikawa, Y.; Sato, H.; Mori, F.; Damayanthi, R. M. T.; Takahashi, H.; Ohno, M.

2008-04-01

We are developing a new x-ray microcalorimeter based on a superconducting transition edge sensor (TES) as an imaging sensor. Our measurement shows unique waveforms which we consider as an expression of thermal nonuniformity of TES films. This arises from the different thermal responses, so that response signal shapes would vary according to the position of the incident x-ray. This position dependency deteriorate the measured energy resolution, but with appropriate waveform analysis, this would be useful for imaging device. For more inspection, we have developed a simulation code which enables a dynamic simulation to obtain a transient response of the TES by finite differential method. Temperature and electric current distributions are calculated. As a result, we successfully obtained waveform signals. The calculated signal waveforms have similar characteristics to the measured signals. This simulation visualized the transition state of the device and will help to design better detector.

Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer for the Earth Observing System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glavich, Thomas A.; Beer, Reinhard

1991-01-01

A Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) for the Earth Observing System (EOS) series of polar-orbiting platforms is described. TES is aimed at studying tropospheric chemistry, in particular, the exchange of gases between the surface and the atmosphere, urban and regional pollution, acid rain precursors, sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, and the interchange of gases between the troposphere and the stratosphere. TES is a high-resolution (0.025/cm) infrared Fourier transform spectrometer operating in the passive thermal-emission mode in a very wide spectral range (600 to 4350/cm; 2.3 to 16.7 microns). TES has 32 spatial pixels in each of four optically conjugated linear detector arrays, each optimized for a different spectral region.

Silencing of Transposable Elements by piRNAs in Drosophila: An Evolutionary Perspective.

PubMed

Luo, Shiqi; Lu, Jian

2017-06-01

Transposable elements (TEs) are DNA sequences that can move within the genome. TEs have greatly shaped the genomes, transcriptomes, and proteomes of the host organisms through a variety of mechanisms. However, TEs generally disrupt genes and destabilize the host genomes, which substantially reduce fitness of the host organisms. Understanding the genomic distribution and evolutionary dynamics of TEs will greatly deepen our understanding of the TE-mediated biological processes. Most TE insertions are highly polymorphic in Drosophila melanogaster, providing us a good system to investigate the evolution of TEs at the population level. Decades of theoretical and experimental studies have well established "transposition-selection" population genetics model, which assumes that the equilibrium between TE replication and purifying selection determines the copy number of TEs in the genome. In the last decade, P-element-induced wimpy testis (PIWI)-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) were demonstrated to be master repressors of TE activities in Drosophila. The discovery of piRNAs revolutionized our understanding of TE repression, because it reveals that the host organisms have evolved an adaptive mechanism to defend against TE invasion. Tremendous progress has been made to understand the molecular mechanisms by which piRNAs repress active TEs, although many details in this process remain to be further explored. The interaction between piRNAs and TEs well explains the molecular mechanisms underlying hybrid dysgenesis for the I-R and P-M systems in Drosophila, which have puzzled evolutionary biologists for decades. The piRNA repression pathway provides us an unparalleled system to study the co-evolutionary process between parasites and host organisms. Copyright © 2017 Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Genetics Society of China. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Thermal energy storage systems using fluidized bed heat exchangers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramanathan, V.; Weast, T. E.; Ananth, K. P.

1980-01-01

The viability of using fluidized bed heat exchangers (FBHX) for thermal energy storage (TES) in applications with potential for waste heat recovery was investigated. Of the candidate applications screened, cement plant rotary kilns and steel plant electric arc furnaces were identified, via the chosen selection criteria, as having the best potential for successful use of FBHX/TES system. A computer model of the FBHX/TES systems was developed and the technical feasibility of the two selected applications was verified. Economic and tradeoff evaluations in progress for final optimization of the systems and selection of the most promising system for further concept validation are described.

Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) for the Earth Observing System (EOS) CHEM Satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beer, R.; Glavich, T.; Rider, D.

2000-01-01

The Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) is an imaging infrared Fourier transform spectrometer scheduled to be launched into polar sun-synchronous orbit on the Earth Observing System (EOS) CHEM satellite in December 2002.

A comparative study on the modeling of a latent heat energy storage system and evaluating its thermal performance in a greenhouse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mirahmad, A.; Sadrameli, S. M.

2018-03-01

Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems can be compared with batteries. As batteries can be charged when electricity is available for using during the power failure, TES systems can do the same for the thermal energy, i.e., they can absorb the available heat in one cycle, called charge cycle, and release it in a consecutive cycle, called discharge cycle. Among different kinds of TES systems, Phase Change Materials (PCM) have drawn considerable attention, since by changing from one phase to another, they can exchange a significant amount of energy in a small temperature difference. In this quest, a one dimensional mathematical model is solved using two different techniques and the results are compared together; one method is based on the enthalpy and the other is based on the effective heat capacity as well. Secondly, through eight experiments designed by using factorial approach, effects of inlet air velocity and temperature on the outlet stream has been investigated. The results proved that having a determined temperature difference between the inlet air and the PCM in both hot and cold cycles can enhance the efficiency. Finally, the feasible applications of a LHTES system for reducing the temperature swing in a greenhouse is studied numerically and the results are compared with experimental values. As a result, by using this passive coolant system diurnal internal temperature can be reduced for 10 °C.

Putative Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetase and Cytochrome P450 Genes Responsible for Tentoxin Biosynthesis in Alternaria alternata ZJ33.

PubMed

Li, You-Hai; Han, Wen-Jin; Gui, Xi-Wu; Wei, Tao; Tang, Shuang-Yan; Jin, Jian-Ming

2016-08-02

Tentoxin, a cyclic tetrapeptide produced by several Alternaria species, inhibits the F₁-ATPase activity of chloroplasts, resulting in chlorosis in sensitive plants. In this study, we report two clustered genes, encoding a putative non-ribosome peptide synthetase (NRPS) TES and a cytochrome P450 protein TES1, that are required for tentoxin biosynthesis in Alternaria alternata strain ZJ33, which was isolated from blighted leaves of Eupatorium adenophorum. Using a pair of primers designed according to the consensus sequences of the adenylation domain of NRPSs, two fragments containing putative adenylation domains were amplified from A. alternata ZJ33, and subsequent PCR analyses demonstrated that these fragments belonged to the same NRPS coding sequence. With no introns, TES consists of a single 15,486 base pair open reading frame encoding a predicted 5161 amino acid protein. Meanwhile, the TES1 gene is predicted to contain five introns and encode a 506 amino acid protein. The TES protein is predicted to be comprised of four peptide synthase modules with two additional N-methylation domains, and the number and arrangement of the modules in TES were consistent with the number and arrangement of the amino acid residues of tentoxin, respectively. Notably, both TES and TES1 null mutants generated via homologous recombination failed to produce tentoxin. This study provides the first evidence concerning the biosynthesis of tentoxin in A. alternata.

HyTES: Thermal Imaging Spectrometer Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, William R.; Hook, Simon J.; Mouroulis, Pantazis; Wilson, Daniel W.; Gunapala, Sarath D.; Realmuto, Vincent; Lamborn, Andy; Paine, Chris; Mumolo, Jason M.; Eng, Bjorn T.

2011-01-01

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed the Hyperspectral Thermal Emission Spectrometer (HyTES). It is an airborne pushbroom imaging spectrometer based on the Dyson optical configuration. First low altitude test flights are scheduled for later this year. HyTES uses a compact 7.5-12 micrometer m hyperspectral grating spectrometer in combination with a Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector (QWIP) and grating based spectrometer. The Dyson design allows for a very compact and optically fast system (F/1.6). Cooling requirements are minimized due to the single monolithic prism-like grating design. The configuration has the potential to be the optimal science-grade imaging spectroscopy solution for high altitude, lighter-than-air (HAA, LTA) vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) due to its small form factor and relatively low power requirements. The QWIP sensor allows for optimum spatial and spectral uniformity and provides adequate responsivity which allows for near 100mK noise equivalent temperature difference (NEDT) operation across the LWIR passband. The QWIP's repeatability and uniformity will be helpful for data integrity since currently an onboard calibrator is not planned. A calibration will be done before and after eight hour flights to gage any inconsistencies. This has been demonstrated with lab testing. Further test results show adequate NEDT, linearity as well as applicable earth science emissivity target results (Silicates, water) measured in direct sunlight.

Collection and dissemination of TES system information for the paper and pulp industry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dietrich, M. W.; Edde, H.

1980-01-01

A survey of U.S. and international paper and pulp mills using thermal energy storage (TES) systems as a part of their production processes was conducted to obtain sufficient operating data to conduct a benefits analysis encompassing: (1) an energy conservation assessment, (2) an economic benefits analysis, and (3) an environmental impact assessment. An information dissemination plan was then proposed to effectively present the benefits of TES to the U.S. paper and pulp industry.

Collection and dissemination of thermal energy storage system information for the pulp and paper industry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edde, H.

1981-01-01

The collection and dissemination of thermal energy storage (TES) system technology for the pulp and paper industry with the intent of reducing fossil fuel usage is discussed. The study plan is described and a description presented of example TES systems.

Microgravity

NASA Image and Video Library

1993-04-06

The Thermal Enclosure System (TES) provides thermal control for protein crystal growth experiments. The TES, housed in two middeck lockers on board the Space Shuttle, contains four Vapor Diffusion Apparatus (VDA) trays. Each can act as either a refrigerator or an incubator and its temperature can be controlled to within one-tenth degree C. The first flight of the TES was during USMP-2 (STS-62).

Trace element biogeochemistry in the soil-water-plant system of a temperate agricultural soil amended with different biochars.

PubMed

Kloss, Stefanie; Zehetner, Franz; Buecker, Jannis; Oburger, Eva; Wenzel, Walter W; Enders, Akio; Lehmann, Johannes; Soja, Gerhard

2015-03-01

Various biochar (BC) types have been investigated as soil amendment; however, information on their effects on trace element (TE) biogeochemistry in the soil-water-plant system is still scarce. In the present study, we determined aqua-regia (AR) and water-extractable TEs of four BC types (woodchips (WC), wheat straw (WS), vineyard pruning (VP), pyrolyzed at 525 °C, of which VP was also pyrolyzed at 400 °C) and studied their effects on TE concentrations in leachates and mustard (Sinapis alba L.) tissue in a greenhouse pot experiment. We used an acidic, sandy agricultural soil and a BC application rate of 3% (w/w). Our results show that contents and extractability of TEs in the BCs and effectuated changes of TE biogeochemistry in the soil-water-plant system strongly varied among the different BC types. High AR-digestable Cu was found in VP and high B contents in WC. WS had the highest impact on TEs in leachates showing increased concentrations of As, Cd, Mo, and Se, whereas WC application resulted in enhanced leaching of B. All BC types increased Mo and decreased Cu concentrations in the plant tissue; however, they showed diverging effects on Cu in the leachates with decreased concentrations for WC and WS, but increased concentrations for both VPs. Our results demonstrate that BCs may release TEs into the soil-water-plant system. A BC-induced liming effect in acidic soils may lead to decreased plant uptake of cationic TEs, including Pb and Cd, but may enhance the mobility of anionic TEs like Mo and As. We also found that BCs with high salt contents (e.g., straw-based BCs) may lead to increased mobility of both anionic and cationic TEs in the short term.

CK2(beta)tes gene encodes a testis-specific isoform of the regulatory subunit of casein kinase 2 in Drosophila melanogaster.

PubMed

Kalmykova, Alla I; Shevelyov, Yuri Y; Polesskaya, Oksana O; Dobritsa, Anna A; Evstafieva, Alexandra G; Boldyreff, Brigitte; Issinger, Olaf-Georg; Gvozdev, Vladimir A

2002-03-01

An earlier described CK2(beta)tes gene of Drosophila melanogaster is shown to encode a male germline specific isoform of regulatory beta subunit of casein kinase 2. Western-analysis using anti-CK2(beta)tes Ig revealed CK2(beta)tes protein in Drosophila testes extract. Expression of a CK2(beta)tes-beta-galactosidase fusion protein driven by the CK2(beta)tes promoter was found in transgenic flies at postmitotic stages of spermatogenesis. Examination of biochemical characteristics of a recombinant CK2(beta)tes protein expressed in Escherichia coli revealed properties similar to those of CK2beta: (a) CK2(beta)tes protein stimulates CK2alpha catalytic activity toward synthetic peptide; (b) it inhibits phosphorylation of calmodulin and mediates stimulation of CK2alpha by polylysine; (c) it is able to form (CK2(beta)tes)2 dimers, as well as (CK2alpha)2(CK2(beta)tes)2 tetramers. Using the yeast two-hybrid system and coimmunoprecipitation analysis of protein extract from Drosophila testes, we demonstrated an association between CK2(beta)tes and CK2alpha. Northern-analysis has shown that another regulatory (beta') subunit found recently in D. melanogaster genome is also testis-specific. Thus, we describe the first example of two tissue-specific regulatory subunits of CK2 which might serve to provide CK2 substrate recognition during spermatogenesis.

TES Level 1 Algorithms: Interferogram Processing, Geolocation, Radiometric, and Spectral Calibration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Worden, Helen; Beer, Reinhard; Bowman, Kevin W.; Fisher, Brendan; Luo, Mingzhao; Rider, David; Sarkissian, Edwin; Tremblay, Denis; Zong, Jia

2006-01-01

The Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) on the Earth Observing System (EOS) Aura satellite measures the infrared radiance emitted by the Earth's surface and atmosphere using Fourier transform spectrometry. The measured interferograms are converted into geolocated, calibrated radiance spectra by the L1 (Level 1) processing, and are the inputs to L2 (Level 2) retrievals of atmospheric parameters, such as vertical profiles of trace gas abundance. We describe the algorithmic components of TES Level 1 processing, giving examples of the intermediate results and diagnostics that are necessary for creating TES L1 products. An assessment of noise-equivalent spectral radiance levels and current systematic errors is provided. As an initial validation of our spectral radiances, TES data are compared to the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) (on EOS Aqua), after accounting for spectral resolution differences by applying the AIRS spectral response function to the TES spectra. For the TES L1 nadir data products currently available, the agreement with AIRS is 1 K or better.

Optical properties of Argonne/KICP TES bolometers for CMB polarimetry.

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

Crites, A. T.; Bleem, L. E.; Carlstrom, J. E.

2009-01-01

We present optical data on prototype polarization sensitive Argonne/KICP detectors fabricated at Argonne National Labs which are designed to be installed on the South Pole Telescope and used to measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. The detectors are Mo/Au transition edge sensors (TES) suspended on silicon nitride, with radiation coupled to the TES using a gold bar absorber. Two stacked detectors with bars in orthogonal directions will be used to measure both polarizations. We discuss measurements of the optical bandpass, time constants and cross-polarization of the detectors.

Fabrication of Microstripline Wiring for Large Format Transition Edge Sensor Arrays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chervenak, James A.; Adams, J. M.; Bailey, C. N.; Bandler, S.; Brekosky, R. P.; Eckart, M. E.; Erwin, A. E.; Finkbeiner, F. M.; Kelley, R. L.; Kilbourne, C. A.;

Simulation and evaluation of latent heat thermal energy storage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sigmon, T. W.

1980-01-01

The relative value of thermal energy storage (TES) for heat pump storage (heating and cooling) as a function of storage temperature, mode of storage (hotside or coldside), geographic locations, and utility time of use rate structures were derived. Computer models used to simulate the performance of a number of TES/heat pump configurations are described. The models are based on existing performance data of heat pump components, available building thermal load computational procedures, and generalized TES subsystem design. Life cycle costs computed for each site, configuration, and rate structure are discussed.

Optical Properties of Argonne/KICP TES Bolometers for CMB Polarimetry

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

Crites, A. T.; Bleem, L. E.; Carlstrom, J. E.

2009-12-16

We present optical data on prototype polarization sensitive Argonne/KICP detectors fabricated at Argonne National Labs which are designed to be installed on the South Pole Telescope and used to measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. The detectors are Mo/Au transition edge sensors (TES) suspended on silicon nitride, with radiation coupled to the TES using a gold bar absorber. Two stacked detectors with bars in orthogonal directions will be used to measure both polarizations. We discuss measurements of the optical bandpass, time constants and cross-polarization of the detectors.

Recent Patents on Nano-Enhanced Materials for Use in Thermal Energy Storage (TES).

PubMed

Ferrer, Gerard; Barreneche, Camila; Solé, Aran; Juliá, José Enrique; Cabeza, Luisa F

2017-07-10

Thermal energy storage (TES) systems using phase change materials (PCM) have been lately studied and are presented as one of the key solutions for the implementation of renewable energies. These systems take advantage of the latent heat of phase change of PCM during their melting/ solidification processes to store or release heat depending on the needs and availability. Low thermal conductivity and latent heat are the main disadvantages of organic PCM, while corrosion, subcooling and thermal stability are the prime problems that inorganic PCM present. Nanotechnology can be used to overcome these drawbacks. Nano-enhanced PCM are obtained by the dispersion of nanoparticles in the base material and thermal properties such as thermal conductivity, viscosity and specific heat capacity, within others, can be enhanced. This paper presents a review of the patents regarding the obtaining of nano-enhanced materials for thermal energy storage (TES) in order to realize the development nanotechnologies have gained in the TES field. Patents regarding the synthesis methods to obtain nano-enhanced phase materials (NEPCM) and TES systems using NEPCM have been found and are presented in the paper. The few existing number of patents found is a clear indicator of the recent and thus low development nanotechnology has in the TES field so far. Nevertheless, the results obtained with the reviewed inventions already show the big potential that nanotechnology has in TES and denote a more than probable expansion of its use in the next years. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Integrated tools and techniques applied to the TES ground data system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morrison, B. A.

2000-01-01

The author of this paper will dicuss the selection of CASE tools, a decision making process, requirements tracking and a review mechanism that leads to a highly integrated approach to software development that must deal with the constant pressure to change software requirements and design that is associated with research and development.

Comparative gene expression analysis between coronary arteries and internal mammary arteries identifies a role for the TES gene in endothelial cell functions relevant to coronary artery disease.

PubMed

Archacki, Stephen R; Angheloiu, George; Moravec, Christine S; Liu, Hui; Topol, Eric J; Wang, Qing Kenneth

2012-03-15

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. It has been established that internal mammary arteries (IMA) are resistant to the development of atherosclerosis, whereas left anterior descending (LAD) coronary arteries are athero-prone. The contrasting properties of these two arteries provide an innovative strategy to identify the genes that play important roles in the development of atherosclerosis. We carried out microarray analysis to identify genes differentially expressed between IMA and LAD. Twenty-nine genes showed significant differences in their expression levels between IMA and LAD, which included the TES gene encoding Testin. The role of TES in the cardiovascular system is unknown. Here we show that TES is involved in endothelial cell (EC) functions relevant to atherosclerosis. Western blot analysis showed higher TES expression in IMA than in LAD. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot analyses showed that TES was consistently and markedly down-regulated by more than 6-fold at both mRNA and protein levels in patients with CAD compared with controls without CAD (P= 0.000049). The data suggest that reduced TES expression is associated with the development of CAD. Knockdown of TES expression by small-interfering RNA promoted oxidized-LDL-mediated monocyte adhesion to ECs, EC migration and the transendothelial migration of monocytes, while the over-expression of TES in ECs blunted these processes. These results demonstrate association between reduced TES expression and CAD, establish a novel role for TES in EC functions and raise the possibility that reduced TES expression increases susceptibility to the development of CAD.

Putative Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetase and Cytochrome P450 Genes Responsible for Tentoxin Biosynthesis in Alternaria alternata ZJ33

PubMed Central

Li, You-Hai; Han, Wen-Jin; Gui, Xi-Wu; Wei, Tao; Tang, Shuang-Yan; Jin, Jian-Ming

2016-01-01

Tentoxin, a cyclic tetrapeptide produced by several Alternaria species, inhibits the F1-ATPase activity of chloroplasts, resulting in chlorosis in sensitive plants. In this study, we report two clustered genes, encoding a putative non-ribosome peptide synthetase (NRPS) TES and a cytochrome P450 protein TES1, that are required for tentoxin biosynthesis in Alternaria alternata strain ZJ33, which was isolated from blighted leaves of Eupatorium adenophorum. Using a pair of primers designed according to the consensus sequences of the adenylation domain of NRPSs, two fragments containing putative adenylation domains were amplified from A. alternata ZJ33, and subsequent PCR analyses demonstrated that these fragments belonged to the same NRPS coding sequence. With no introns, TES consists of a single 15,486 base pair open reading frame encoding a predicted 5161 amino acid protein. Meanwhile, the TES1 gene is predicted to contain five introns and encode a 506 amino acid protein. The TES protein is predicted to be comprised of four peptide synthase modules with two additional N-methylation domains, and the number and arrangement of the modules in TES were consistent with the number and arrangement of the amino acid residues of tentoxin, respectively. Notably, both TES and TES1 null mutants generated via homologous recombination failed to produce tentoxin. This study provides the first evidence concerning the biosynthesis of tentoxin in A. alternata. PMID:27490569

Comparative Extension: The CES, TES, T&V AND FSR/D. Occasional Paper #1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rivera, William M.

Four extension systems are compared in this paper: the U.S. Cooperative Extension Service (CES), the "typical system" (TES) in developing countries, the Training and Visit System (T&V), and the Farming Systems Research and Extension (FSR/D) approach. While distinct in various ways from one another, interesting and useful insights can…

A Wearable EEG-HEG-HRV Multimodal System With Simultaneous Monitoring of tES for Mental Health Management.

PubMed

Ha, Unsoo; Lee, Yongsu; Kim, Hyunki; Roh, Taehwan; Bae, Joonsung; Kim, Changhyeon; Yoo, Hoi-Jun

2015-12-01

A multimodal mental management system in the shape of the wearable headband and earplugs is proposed to monitor electroencephalography (EEG), hemoencephalography (HEG) and heart rate variability (HRV) for accurate mental health monitoring. It enables simultaneous transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) together with real-time monitoring. The total weight of the proposed system is less than 200 g. The multi-loop low-noise amplifier (MLLNA) achieves over 130 dB CMRR for EEG sensing and the capacitive correlated-double sampling transimpedance amplifier (CCTIA) has low-noise characteristics for HEG and HRV sensing. Measured three-physiology domains such as neural, vascular and autonomic domain signals are combined with canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and temporal kernel canonical correlation analysis (tkCCA) algorithm to find the neural-vascular-autonomic coupling. It supports highly accurate classification with the 19% maximum improvement with multimodal monitoring. For the multi-channel stimulation functionality, after-effects maximization monitoring and sympathetic nerve disorder monitoring, the stimulator is designed as reconfigurable. The 3.37 × 2.25 mm(2) chip has 2-channel EEG sensor front-end, 2-channel NIRS sensor front-end, NIRS current driver to drive dual-wavelength VCSEL and 6-b DAC current source for tES mode. It dissipates 24 mW with 2 mA stimulation current and 5 mA NIRS driver current.

Development and evaluation of a prototype concentrating solar collector with thermocline based thermal energy storage for residential thermal usage

DOE PAGES

Kumar, Vinod; Afrin, Samia; Ortega, Jesus; ...

2013-09-01

A prototype of a concentrating solar collector (CSC) receiver was designed, built, and evaluated on-sun at the University of Texas at El Paso in El Paso, TX. This prototype receiver consists of two parabolic trough-reflectors but, in principle, the design can be efficiently extended to multiple units for achieving a higher temperature throughput. Each reflector has a vacuum tube collector at the focal point of the trough. The solar collector system was combined with a single-tank thermocline thermal energy storage (TES) for off-solar thermal usage. The main goal of this study is to develop an advanced solar hot water systemmore » for most residential applications. The focus of this study is to investigate the feasibility and performance of the solar thermal system by employing the recent advancement in the TES—a thermocline based TES—system for the concentrating solar power technologies developed by the Sandia National Laboratories and National Renewable Energy Laboratories for electricity production. A CSC when combined with TES has potential to provide uninterrupted thermal energy for most residential usages. This paper presents a detailed description of prototype design and materials required. The thermal energy storage tank utilizes an insulated 170 l (45 gal) galvanized steel tank. In order to maintain thermocline in the TES tank, with hot water on top and cold water at the bottom, two plate distributors are installed in the tank. The data showed a significant enhancement in thermal energy generation. This thermocline based single tank presented a thermal energy storage potential for at least three days (with diminishing storage capacity) that test were performed. The whole prototype was made for approximately USD 355 (excludes any labor costs) and hence also has strong potential for supplying clean thermal energy in most developing countries. As a result, tests of the prototype were conducted in November 2011.« less

Economic assessment and optimal operation of CSP systems with TES in California electricity markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dowling, Alexander W.; Dyreson, Ana; Miller, Franklin; Zavala, Victor M.

2017-06-01

The economics and performance of concentrated power (CSP) systems with thermal energy storage (TES) inherently depend on operating policies and the surrounding weather conditions and electricity markets. We present an integrated economic assessment framework to quantify the maximum possible revenues from simultaneous energy and ancillary services sales by CSP systems. The framework includes both discrete start-up/shutdown restrictions and detailed physical models. Analysis of coinci-dental historical market and meteorological data reveals provision of ancillary services increases market revenue 18% to 37% relative to energy-only participation. Surprisingly, only 53% to 62% of these revenues are available through sole participation in the day-ahead market, indicating significant opportunities at faster timescales. Motivated by water-usage concerns and permitting requirements, we also describe a new nighttime radiative-enhanced dry-cooling system with cold-side storage that consumes no water and offers higher effciencies than traditional air-cooled designs. Operation of this new system is complicated by the cold-side storage and inherent coupling between the cooling system and power plant, further motivating integrated economic analysis.

High-density arrays of x-ray microcalorimeters for Constellation-X

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kilbourne, Caroline A.; Bandler, Simon R.; Brown, Ari D.; Chervenak, James A.; Figueroa-Feliciano, Enectali; Finkbeiner, Fred M.; Iyomoto, Naoko; Kelley, Richard L.; Porter, F. Scott; Saab, Tarek; Sadleir, John; White, Jennifer

2006-06-01

We have been developing x-ray microcalorimeters for the Constellation-X mission. Devices based on superconducting transition-edge sensors (TES) have demonstrated the potential to meet the Constellation-X requirements for spectral resolution, speed, and array scale (> 1000 pixels) in a close-packed geometry. In our part of the GSFC/NIST collaboration on this technology development, we have been concentrating on the fabrication of arrays of pixels suitable for the Constellation-X reference configuration. We have fabricated 8x8 arrays with 0.25-mm pixels arranged with 92% fill factor. The pixels are based on Mo/Au TES and Bi/Cu or Au/Bi absorbers. We have achieved a resolution of 4.0 eV FWHM at 6 keV in such devices, which meets the Constellation-X resolution requirement at 6 keV. Studies of the thermal transport in our Bi/Cu absorbers have shown that, while there is room for improvement, for 0.25-mm pixels the standard absorber design is adequate to avoid unacceptable line-broadening from position dependence caused by thermal diffusion. In order to improve reproducibility and to push closer to the 2-eV goal at 6 keV, however, we are refining the design of the TES and the interface to the absorber. Recent efforts to introduce a barrier layer between the Bi and the Mo/Au to avoid variable interface chemistry and thus improve the reproducibility of device characteristics have thus far yielded unsatisfactory results. However, we have developed a new set of absorber designs with contacts to the TES engineered to allow contact only in regions that do not serve as the active thermometer. We have further constrained the design so that a low-resistance absorber will not electrically short the TES. It is with such a design that we have achieved 4.0 eV resolution at 6 keV.

Comparison of Esophageal, Rectal, and Gastrointestinal Temperatures During Passive Rest After Exercise in The Heat: The Influence of Hydration.

PubMed

Hosokawa, Yuri; Adams, William; Casa, Douglas

2017-03-01

Context: It is unknown how valid esophageal, rectal, and gastrointestinal temperatures (TES, TRE, and TGI) compare after exercise-induced hyperthermia under different hydration states. Objective: To examine the differences between TES, TRE, and TGI during passive rest following exercise-induced hyperthermia under 2 different hydration states: euhydrated (EU) and hypohydrated (HY). Design: Randomized crossover design. Setting: Controlled laboratory setting. Participants: 9 recreationally active male participants (mean ± SD age 24 ± 4 y, height 177.3 ± 9.9 cm, body mass 76.7 ± 11.6 kg, body fat 14.7% ± 5.8%). Intervention: Participants completed 2 trials (EU and HY) consisting of a bout of treadmill exercise (a 10-min walk at 4.8-7.2 km/h at a 5% grade followed by a 20-min jog at 8.0-12.1 km/h at a 1% grade) in a hot environment (ambient temperature 39.3 ± 1.0°C, relative humidity 37.6% ± 6.0%, wet bulb globe temperature 31.3 ± 1.5°C) followed by passive rest. Main Outcome Measures: Root-mean-squared difference (RMSD) was used to compare the variance of temperature readings at corresponding time points for TRE vs TGI, TRE vs TES, and TGI vs TES in EU and HY. RMSD values were compared using 3-way repeated-measures ANOVA. Post hoc analysis of significant main effects was done using Tukey honestly significant difference with significance set at P < .05. Results: RMSD values (°C) for all device comparisons were significantly different in EU (TRE-TGI, 0.11 ± 0.12; TRE-TES, 1.58 ± 1.01; TGI-TES, 2.04 ± 1.19) than HY (TRE-TGI, 0.22 ± 0.28; TRE-TES, 1.27 ± 0.61; TGI-TES, 1.16 ± 0.76) (P < .01). Across the 45-min bout of passive rest, there were no differences in TRE, TGI, and TES between EU and HY trials (P = .468). Conclusions: During passive rest after exercise in the heat, TRE and TGI were in good agreement when tracking body temperature, with a better agreement appearing in those maintaining a state of euhydration versus those who became hypohydrated during exercise; however, this small difference does not appear to be of clinical significance. The large differences were observed when comparing TGI and TRE with TES. 2017 Human Kinetics, Inc.

Racial/ethnic subgroup differences in outcomes and acceptability of an Internet-delivered intervention for substance use disorders.

PubMed

Campbell, Aimee N C; Montgomery, L; Sanchez, Katherine; Pavlicova, M; Hu, M; Newville, H; Weaver, L; Nunes, E V

2017-01-01

The Therapeutic Education System (TES), an Internet version of the Community Reinforcement Approach plus prize-based motivational incentives, is one of few empirically supported technology-based interventions. To date, however, there has not been a study exploring differences in substance use outcomes or acceptability of TES among racial/ethnic subgroups. This study uses data from a multisite (N = 10) effectiveness study of TES to explore whether race/ethnicity subgroups (White [n = 267], Black/African American [n = 112], and Hispanic/Latino [n = 55])moderate the effect of TES. Generalized linear mixed models were used to test whether abstinence, retention, social functioning, coping, craving, or acceptability differed by racial/ethnic subgroup. Findings demonstrated that race/ethnicity did not moderate the effect of TES versus TAU on abstinence, retention, social functioning, or craving. A three-way interaction (treatment, race/ethnicity, and abstinence status at study entry) showed that TES was associated with greater coping scores among nonabstinent White participants (p = .008) and among abstinent Black participants (p < .001). Acceptability of the TES intervention, although high overall, was significantly different by race/ethnicity subgroup with White participants reporting lower acceptability of TES compared to Black (p = .006) and Hispanic/Latino (p = .008) participants. TES appears to be a good candidate treatment among a diverse population of treatment-seeking individuals with substance use disorders.

An End-to-End simulator for the development of atmospheric corrections and temperature - emissivity separation algorithms in the TIR spectral domain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rock, Gilles; Fischer, Kim; Schlerf, Martin; Gerhards, Max; Udelhoven, Thomas

2017-04-01

The development and optimization of image processing algorithms requires the availability of datasets depicting every step from earth surface to the sensor's detector. The lack of ground truth data obliges to develop algorithms on simulated data. The simulation of hyperspectral remote sensing data is a useful tool for a variety of tasks such as the design of systems, the understanding of the image formation process, and the development and validation of data processing algorithms. An end-to-end simulator has been set up consisting of a forward simulator, a backward simulator and a validation module. The forward simulator derives radiance datasets based on laboratory sample spectra, applies atmospheric contributions using radiative transfer equations, and simulates the instrument response using configurable sensor models. This is followed by the backward simulation branch, consisting of an atmospheric correction (AC), a temperature and emissivity separation (TES) or a hybrid AC and TES algorithm. An independent validation module allows the comparison between input and output dataset and the benchmarking of different processing algorithms. In this study, hyperspectral thermal infrared scenes of a variety of surfaces have been simulated to analyze existing AC and TES algorithms. The ARTEMISS algorithm was optimized and benchmarked against the original implementations. The errors in TES were found to be related to incorrect water vapor retrieval. The atmospheric characterization could be optimized resulting in increasing accuracies in temperature and emissivity retrieval. Airborne datasets of different spectral resolutions were simulated from terrestrial HyperCam-LW measurements. The simulated airborne radiance spectra were subjected to atmospheric correction and TES and further used for a plant species classification study analyzing effects related to noise and mixed pixels.

The 160 TES bolometer read-out using FDM for SAFARI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hijmering, R. A.; den Hartog, R. H.; van der Linden, A. J.; Ridder, M.; Bruijn, M. P.; van der Kuur, J.; van Leeuwen, B. J.; van Winden, P.; Jackson, B.

2014-07-01

For the read out of the Transition Edge Sensors (TES) bolometer arrays of the SAFARI instrument on the Japanese background-limited far-IR SPICA mission SRON is developing a Frequency Domain Multiplexing (FDM) read-out system. The next step after the successful demonstration of the read out of 38 TES bolometers using FDM was to demonstrate the FDM readout of the required 160 TES bolometers. Of the 160 LC filter and TES bolometer chains 151 have been connected and after cooldown 148 of the resonances could be identified. Although initial operation and locking of the pixels went smoothly the experiment revealed several complications. In this paper we describe the 160 pixel FDM set-up, show the results and discuss the issues faced during operation of the 160 pixel FDM experiment.

Effect of transcutaneous electrical stimulation amplitude on timing of swallow pressure peaks between healthy young and older adults.

PubMed

Barikroo, Ali; Berretin-Felix, Giedré; Carnaby, Giselle; Crary, Michael

2017-03-01

This study compared the effect of transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TES) amplitude on timing of lingual-palatal and pharyngeal peak pressures during swallowing in healthy younger and older adults. Transcutaneous electrical stimulation amplitude is one parameter that may have different impacts on the neuromotor system and swallowing physiology. One aspect of swallowing physiology influenced by age is the timing of swallowing events. However, the effect of varying TES amplitudes on timing of swallowing physiology is poorly understood, especially in older adults. Thirty-four adults (20 younger and 14 older) swallowed 10 ml of nectar-thick liquid under three TES conditions: no stimulation, low-amplitude stimulation and high-amplitude stimulation. TES was delivered by surface electrodes on the anterior neck. Timing of pressure peaks for lingual-palatal contacts and pharyngeal pressures were measured under each condition. A significant age × stimulation amplitude interaction was identified for the base of tongue (BOT) [F(2,62) = 5.087, p < 0.009] and the hypopharynx (HYPO) [F(2,62) = 3.277, p < 0.044]. At the BOT, low-amplitude TES resulted in slower swallows in the younger adults compared with no TES. In older adults, low-amplitude TES resulted in faster swallows compared with high-amplitude TES. At the HYPO, no significant differences were identified in pressure timing across the three TES amplitudes in both age groups. In each case, low-amplitude TES resulted in faster swallows in older adults compared with younger adults. Transcutaneous electrical stimulation influences pharyngeal pressure timing differently in young and old people, which questions the appropriateness of using a 'one-size-fits-all' TES amplitude for rehabilitating people with dysphagia. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S and The Gerodontology Association. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

[Relationship between phenomenon of acquired activated protein C resistance and antiphospholipid antibodies in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus].

PubMed

Hu, Y Q; Chen, F P; Xie, Q Z

2001-10-28

To determine the occurrence of activated protein C resistance (APCR), to identify APCR is associated with thrombotic events (TEs), and acquired APCR is associated with the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (APLAs) in 30 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Laboratory tests included dilute Russell's viper venom time assay for LA (dRVVT-LA), ELISA assay for ACL, APC sensitivity ratio, and factor V Leiden were detected by PCR-Mnl/I digestion. Acquired APCR was presented in 14(46.67%) of 30 patients. Factor V Leiden was not found in any patients. The incidence of TEs in the APCR-positive patients was significantly higher than that in the APCR-negative patients (42.85% vs 6.25%, P < 0.05). The incidence of TEs in the LA-positive patients was also significantly higher than that in the LA-negative patients (50% vs 11.1%, P < 0.05). The presence of either APCR or LAs is associated with one of the risk factors of TEs (P < 0.05). There is not a significant interaction between APCR and LAs in the association with TEs. Acquired APCR may not reflect the interference of LAs with the protein C pathway which may represent a mechanism of LA-associated TEs.

The cosmology large angular scale surveyor (CLASS): 40 GHz optical design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eimer, Joseph R.; Bennett, Charles L.; Chuss, David T.; Marriage, Tobias; Wollack, Edward J.; Zeng, Lingzhen

2012-09-01

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) instrument will measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background at 40, 90, and 150 GHz from Cerro Toco in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. In this paper, we describe the optical design of the 40 GHz telescope system. The telescope is a diffraction limited catadioptric design consisting of a front-end Variable-delay Polarization Modulator (VPM), two ambient temperature mirrors, two cryogenic dielectric lenses, thermal blocking filters, and an array of 36 smooth-wall scalar feedhorn antennas. The feed horns guide the signal to antenna-coupled transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers. Polarization diplexing and bandpass definition are handled on the same microchip as the TES. The feed horn beams are truncated with 10 dB edge taper by a 4 K Lyot-stop to limit detector loading from stray light and control the edge illumination of the front-end VPM. The field-of-view is 19° x 14° with a resolution for each beam on the sky of 1.5° FWHM.

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS): 40 GHz Optical Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eimer, Joseph R.; Bennett, Charles L.; Chuss, David T.; Marriage, Tobias; Wollack, Edward J.; Zeng, Lingzhen

2012-01-01

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) instrument will measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background at 40, 90, and 150 GHz from Cerro Toco in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. In this paper, we describe the optical design of the 40 GHz telescope system. The telescope is a diffraction limited catadioptric design consisting of a front-end Variable-delay Polarization Modulator (VPM), two ambient temperature mirrors, two cryogenic dielectric lenses, thermal blocking filters, and an array of 36 smooth-wall scalar feedhorn antennas. The feed horns guide the signal to antenna-coupled transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers. Polarization diplexing and bandpass definition are handled on the same microchip as the TES. The feed horn beams are truncated with 10 dB edge taper by a 4 K Lyot-stop to limit detector loading from stray light and control the edge illumination of the front-end VPM. The field-of-view is 19 deg x 14 deg with a resolution for each beam on the sky of 1.5 deg. FWHM.

Heat transfer and flow in solar energy and bioenergy systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Ben

The demand for clean and environmentally benign energy resources has been a great concern in the last two decades. To alleviate the associated environmental problems, reduction of the use of fossil fuels by developing more cost-effective renewable energy technologies becomes more and more significant. Among various types of renewable energy sources, solar energy and bioenergy take a great proportion. This dissertation focuses on the heat transfer and flow in solar energy and bioenergy systems, specifically for Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems in Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants and open-channel algal culture raceways for biofuel production. The first part of this dissertation is the discussion about mathematical modeling, numerical simulation and experimental investigation of solar TES system. First of all, in order to accurately and efficiently simulate the conjugate heat transfer between Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) and filler material in four different solid-fluid TES configurations, formulas of an e?ective heat transfer coe?cient were theoretically developed and presented by extending the validity of Lumped Capacitance Method (LCM) to large Biot number, as well as verifications/validations to this simplified model. Secondly, to provide design guidelines for TES system in CSP plant using Phase Change Materials (PCM), a general storage tank volume sizing strategy and an energy storage startup strategy were proposed using the enthalpy-based 1D transient model. Then experimental investigations were conducted to explore a novel thermal storage material. The thermal storage performances were also compared between this novel storage material and concrete at a temperature range from 400 °C to 500 °C. It is recommended to apply this novel thermal storage material to replace concrete at high operating temperatures in sensible heat TES systems. The second part of this dissertation mainly focuses on the numerical and experimental study of an open-channel algae culture raceway for biofuel production. According to the proposed flow field design of ARID-HV algal raceway, experiments and numerical simulation have been conducted to understand the enhancement of flow mixing in the flow field of ARID-HV raceway by cutting slots on top of the dam near the dead zones. A new method was proposed to quantitatively evaluate the flow mixing by using the statistics of temporal and spatial distribution of the massless fluid particles (centered in each cell at the inlet surface) in the raceway collecting the data of path-lines of fluid particles from CFD results. It is hoped that this method can be applied to assist the algal raceway flow field design as well as other engineering applications. The third part introduces the details about the construction work of a high temperature molten salt test loop. Because of the limited operating temperature of conventional synthetic oils, in order to obtain higher energy conversion efficiency, higher operating temperature is always desirable in a CSP plant which leads to the requirement of new generation of HTF. Currently, a halide salt eutectic mixture (NaCl-KCl-ZnCl2) as a potential HTF for future CSP applications has been proposed by a multi-institute research team, led by University of Arizona. The thermophysical properties of the halide eutectic salt have been measured. However, this new developed halide eutectic salt has not been tested in a circulating loop at a high operating temperature for the measurement of heat transfer coefficient. It is a significant effort to build such a test system due to extremely high operating temperature. As a consequence, in the third part of this dissertation, details about the design of the lab-scale test system and all the equipment items will be introduced. The investigations included in this dissertation for the heat transfer and flow in solar energy and bioenergy systems are of particular interest to the renewable energy engineering community. It is expected that the proposed methods can provide useful information for engineers and researchers.

Transcorneal electrical stimulation rescues axotomized retinal ganglion cells by activating endogenous retinal IGF-1 system.

PubMed

Morimoto, Takeshi; Miyoshi, Tomomitsu; Matsuda, Satoshi; Tano, Yasuo; Fujikado, Takashi; Fukuda, Yutaka

2005-06-01

To investigate the effect of transcorneal electrical stimulation (TES) on the survival of axotomized RGCs and the mechanism underlying the TES-induced neuroprotection in vivo. Adult male Wistar rats received TES after optic nerve (ON) transection. Seven days after the ON transection, the density of the surviving RGCs was determined, to evaluate the neuroprotective effect of TES. The levels of the mRNA and protein of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 in the retina after TES were determined by RT-PCR and Northern and Western blot analyses. The localization of IGF-1 protein in the retina was examined by immunohistochemistry. TES after ON transection increased the survival of axotomized RGCs in vivo, and the degree of rescue depended on the strength of the electric charge. RT-PCR and Northern and Western blot analyses revealed a gradual upregulation of intrinsic IGF-1 in the retina after TES. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that IGF-1 immunoreactivity was localized initially in the endfeet of Muller cells and then diffused into the inner retina. TES can rescue the axotomized RGCs by increasing the level of IGF-1 production by Muller cells. These findings provide a new therapeutic approach to prevent or delay the degeneration of retinal neurons without the administration of exogenous neurotrophic factors.

Peroxynitrite mediates testosterone-induced vasodilation of microvascular resistance vessels.

PubMed

Puttabyatappa, Yashoda; Stallone, John N; Ergul, Adviye; El-Remessy, Azza B; Kumar, Sanjiv; Black, Stephen; Johnson, Maribeth; Owen, Mary P; White, Richard E

2013-04-01

Our knowledge of how androgens influence the cardiovascular system is far from complete, and this lack of understanding is especially true of how androgens affect resistance vessels. Our aim was to identify the signaling mechanisms stimulated by testosterone (TES) in microvascular arteries and to understand how these mechanisms mediate TES-induced vasodilation. Mesenteric microvessels were isolated from male Sprague-Dawley rats. Tension studies demonstrated a rapid, concentration-dependent, vasodilatory response to TES that did not involve protein synthesis or aromatization to 17β-estradiol. Dichlorofluorescein fluorescence and nitrotyrosine immunoblot experiments indicated that TES stimulated peroxynitrite formation in microvessels, and functional studies demonstrated that TES-induced vasodilation was inhibited by scavenging peroxynitrite. As predicted, TES enhanced the production of both peroxynitrite precursors (i.e., superoxide and nitic oxide), and xanthine oxidase was identified as the likely source of TES-stimulated superoxide production. Functional and biochemical studies indicated that TES signaling involved activity of the phosphoinositide 3 (PI3) kinase-protein kinase B (Akt) cascade initiated by activation of the androgen receptor and culminated in enhanced production of cGMP and microvascular vasodilation. These findings, derived from a variety of analytical and functional approaches, provide evidence for a novel nongenomic signaling mechanism for androgen action in the microvasculature: TES-stimulated vasodilation mediated primarily by peroxynitrite formed from xanthine oxidase-generated superoxide and NO. This response was associated with activation of the PI3 kinase-Akt signaling cascade initiated by activation of the androgen receptor. We propose this mechanism could account for TES-stimulated cGMP production in microvessels and, ultimately, vasodilation.

Peroxynitrite Mediates Testosterone-Induced Vasodilation of Microvascular Resistance Vessels

PubMed Central

Puttabyatappa, Yashoda; Stallone, John N.; Ergul, Adviye; El-Remessy, Azza B.; Kumar, Sanjiv; Black, Stephen; Johnson, Maribeth; Owen, Mary P.

2013-01-01

Our knowledge of how androgens influence the cardiovascular system is far from complete, and this lack of understanding is especially true of how androgens affect resistance vessels. Our aim was to identify the signaling mechanisms stimulated by testosterone (TES) in microvascular arteries and to understand how these mechanisms mediate TES-induced vasodilation. Mesenteric microvessels were isolated from male Sprague-Dawley rats. Tension studies demonstrated a rapid, concentration-dependent, vasodilatory response to TES that did not involve protein synthesis or aromatization to 17β-estradiol. Dichlorofluorescein fluorescence and nitrotyrosine immunoblot experiments indicated that TES stimulated peroxynitrite formation in microvessels, and functional studies demonstrated that TES-induced vasodilation was inhibited by scavenging peroxynitrite. As predicted, TES enhanced the production of both peroxynitrite precursors (i.e., superoxide and nitic oxide), and xanthine oxidase was identified as the likely source of TES-stimulated superoxide production. Functional and biochemical studies indicated that TES signaling involved activity of the phosphoinositide 3 (PI3) kinase-protein kinase B (Akt) cascade initiated by activation of the androgen receptor and culminated in enhanced production of cGMP and microvascular vasodilation. These findings, derived from a variety of analytical and functional approaches, provide evidence for a novel nongenomic signaling mechanism for androgen action in the microvasculature: TES-stimulated vasodilation mediated primarily by peroxynitrite formed from xanthine oxidase-generated superoxide and NO. This response was associated with activation of the PI3 kinase-Akt signaling cascade initiated by activation of the androgen receptor. We propose this mechanism could account for TES-stimulated cGMP production in microvessels and, ultimately, vasodilation. PMID:23318471

In-Flight Performance of the TES Loop Heat Pipe Rejection System: Seven Years in Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rodriguez, Jose I.; Na-Nakornpanom, Arthur

2012-01-01

The Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) instrument heat rejection system has been operating in space for nearly 8 years since launched on NASA's EOS Aura Spacecraft. The instrument is an infrared imaging fourier transform spectrometer with spectral coverage of 3.2 to 15.4 microns. The loop heat pipe (LHP) based heat rejection system manages all of the instrument components waste heat including the two mechanical cryocoolers and their drive electronics. Five propylene LHPs collect and transport the instrument waste heat to the near room temperature nadir viewing radiators. During the early months of the mission, ice contamination of the cryogenic surfaces including the focal planes led to increased cryocooler loads and the need for periodic decontamination cycles. Focal plane decontamination cycles require power cycling both cryocoolers which also requires the two cryocooler LHPs to turn off and on during each cycle. To date, the cryocooler LHPs have undergone 24 start-ups in orbit successfully. This paper reports on the TES cryocooler loop heat pipe based heat rejection system performance. After a brief overview of the instrument thermal design, the paper presents detailed data on the highly successful space operation of the loop heat pipes since instrument turn-on in 2004. The data shows that the steady-state and transient operation of the LHPs has not changed since 2004 and shows consistent and predictable performance. The LHP based heat rejection system has provided a nearly constant heat rejection heat sink for all of its equipment which has led to exceptional overall instrument performance with world class science.

Dios: The Dark Baryon Exploring Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

T.Ohashi; Ishisaki, Y.; Yamada, S.; Kuromaru, G.; Suzuki, S.; Tawara, Y.; Mitsuishi, I.; Babazaki, Y.; Mitsuda, K.; Yamasaki, N. Y.;

Estimating the Performance and Economic Value of Multiple Concentrating Solar Power Technologies in a Production Cost Model

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

Jorgenson, Jennie; Denholm, Paul; Mehos, Mark

2013-12-01

Concentrating solar power with thermal energy storage (CSP-TES) is a unique source of renewable energy in that the solar thermal energy can be dispatched similarly to conventional thermal generation. However, CSP-TES plants are energy-limited, meaning that their response might be restricted by solar availability. Therefore, the use of this limited solar energy must be optimally scheduled toprovide the greatest value to the system. The timing of CSP-TES dispatch depends on a variety of factors, including electricity demand patterns, the penetration of variable generation sources, and the configuration of the CSP-TES plant itself. We use an established CSP-TES modeling framework inmore » a commercially available production cost model to compare the dispatch and value of two CSP-TEStechnologies (molten salt towers and parabolic troughs) in a Colorado test system. In addition, we consider a range of configuration parameters, such as the solar multiple and thermal energy storage limit, to evaluate how the operational and capacity value varies with plant configuration.« less

Thermal energy storage for a space solar dynamic power system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Faget, N. M.; Fraser, W. M., Jr.; Simon, W. E.

1985-01-01

In the past, NASA has employed solar photovoltaic devices for long-duration missions. Thus, the Skylab system has operated with a silicon photovoltaic array and a nickel-cadmium electrochemical system energy storage system. Difficulties regarding the employment of such a system for the larger power requirements of the Space Station are related to a low orbit system efficiency and the large weight of the battery. For this reason the employment of a solar dynamic power system (SDPS) has been considered. The primary components of an SDPS include a concentrating mirror, a heat receiver, a thermal energy storage (TES) system, a thermodynamic heat engine, an alternator, and a heat rejection system. The heat-engine types under consideration are a Brayton cycle engine, an organic Rankine cycle engine, and a free-piston/linear-alternator Stirling cycle engine. Attention is given to a system description, TES integration concepts, and a TES technology assessment.

Alternative Optimizations of X-ray TES Arrays: Soft X-rays, High Count Rates, and Mixed-Pixel Arrays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kilbourne, C. A.; Bandler, S. R.; Brown, A.-D.; Chervenak, J. A.; Figueroa-Feliciano, E.; Finkbeiner, F. M.; Iyomoto, N.; Kelley, R. L.; Porter, F. S.; Smith, S. J.

2007-01-01

We are developing arrays of superconducting transition-edge sensors (TES) for imaging spectroscopy telescopes such as the XMS on Constellation-X. While our primary focus has been on arrays that meet the XMS requirements (of which, foremost, is an energy resolution of 2.5 eV at 6 keV and a bandpass from approx. 0.3 keV to 12 keV), we have also investigated other optimizations that might be used to extend the XMS capabilities. In one of these optimizations, improved resolution below 1 keV is achieved by reducing the heat capacity. Such pixels can be based on our XMS-style TES's with the separate absorbers omitted. These pixels can added to an array with broadband response either as a separate array or interspersed, depending on other factors that include telescope design and science requirements. In one version of this approach, we have designed and fabricated a composite array of low-energy and broad-band pixels to provide high spectral resolving power over a broader energy bandpass than could be obtained with a single TES design. The array consists of alternating pixels with and without overhanging absorbers. To explore optimizations for higher count rates, we are also optimizing the design and operating temperature of pixels that are coupled to a solid substrate. We will present the performance of these variations and discuss other optimizations that could be used to enhance the XMS or enable other astrophysics experiments.

Questioning the Scholarly Discussion around Decentralization in Turkish Education System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yildiz, Soner Onder

2016-01-01

From the beginning of Turkish Republic till date, Turkish Education System (TES) has been steered by a handful of politicians and civil servants, who enjoy maximum centralized authority. Over the years, therefore, centralized management has repeatedly been blamed for the deadlocks hampering progress in the TES. Turkish scholars often seem to find…

Modeling Interactions between Transposable Elements and the Plant Epigenetic Response: A Surprising Reliance on Element Retention.

PubMed

Roessler, Kyria; Bousios, Alexandros; Meca, Esteban; Gaut, Brandon S

2018-03-01

Transposable elements (TEs) compose the majority of angiosperm DNA. Plants counteract TE activity by silencing them epigenetically. One form of epigenetic silencing requires 21-22 nt small interfering RNAs that act to degrade TE mRNA and may also trigger DNA methylation. DNA methylation is reinforced by a second mechanism, the RNA-dependent DNA methylation (RdDM) pathway. RdDM relies on 24 nt small interfering RNAs and ultimately establishes TEs in a quiescent state. These host factors interact at a systems level, but there have been no system level analyses of their interactions. Here, we define a deterministic model that represents the propagation of active TEs, aspects of the host response and the accumulation of silenced TEs. We describe general properties of the model and also fit it to biological data in order to explore two questions. The first is why two overlapping pathways are maintained, given that both are likely energetically expensive. Under our model, RdDM silenced TEs effectively even when the initiation of silencing was weak. This relationship implies that only a small amount of RNAi is needed to initiate TE silencing, but reinforcement by RdDM is necessary to efficiently counter TE propagation. Second, we investigated the reliance of the host response on rates of TE deletion. The model predicted that low levels of deletion lead to few active TEs, suggesting that silencing is most efficient when methylated TEs are retained in the genome, thereby providing one explanation for the large size of plant genomes.

[Tuebingen Education System (TES)--An interactive case demonstration software].

PubMed

Schiefer, Ulrich; Schiller, Jan; Burth, Roland; Schnerring, Wolfgang

2002-08-01

Presentations based on slides, videos and/or computer presentations are usually sequentially structured, resulting in an inflexible order of the demonstrated information and examination results. However, in (medical) education such a system only inadequately reflects the real physician-patient situation. The software solution presented here is based on the widespread computer programme Microsoft PowerPoint(R) (PPT) which offers an opportunity to present information via text boxes, figures, illustrations, video sequences and/or audio files in an user-friendly way. However, PPT's capabilities of simulating realistic decision processes (e. g. by "interactive keys" and "hyperlinks") are still restricted as far as adapting the order of the information/slides to the individual demand is concerned. The Tuebingen Education System (TES) uses an additional user interface based on Visual Basic. By means of this, every examination result or information can be chosen via five additional pull-up menus in an arbitrary order. Furthermore, the pathway - i. e. the examinations used to arrive at a diagnosis - as well as the costs incurred are documented in parallel and are finally compared to the costs incurred using an optimum pathway. TES has been used routinely in the education of the students and residents of the University Eye Hospital Tuebingen for three (half-)terms. Meanwhile, an adapted version of TES is used to educate students in the department of paediatric surgery. TES was judged in extensive evaluations of both subjects very positively. TES is an easy to use tool suitable for lecturers and students, a further step towards realistic, practice-oriented and interactive education.

The dynamic genome: transposons and environmental adaptation in the nervous system.

PubMed

Lapp, Hannah E; Hunter, Richard G

2016-02-01

Classically thought as genomic clutter, the functional significance of transposable elements (TEs) has only recently become a focus of attention in neuroscience. Increasingly, studies have demonstrated that the brain seems to have more retrotransposition and TE transcription relative to other somatic tissues, suggesting a unique role for TEs in the central nervous system. TE expression and transposition also appear to vary by brain region and change in response to environmental stimuli such as stress. TEs appear to serve a number of adaptive roles in the nervous system. The regulation of TE expression by steroid, epigenetic and other mechanisms in interplay with the environment represents a significant and novel avenue to understanding both normal brain function and disease.

The Use of Thought Experiments in Teaching Physics to Upper Secondary-Level Students: Two Examples from the Theory of Relativity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Velentzas, Athanasios; Halkia, Krystallia

2013-01-01

The present study focuses on the way thought experiments (TEs) can be used as didactical tools in teaching physics to upper secondary-level students. A qualitative study was designed to investigate to what extent the TEs called "Einstein's elevator" and "Einstein's train" can function as tools in teaching basic concepts of the…

National Manpower Inventory. Volume 3. Technical Documentation for Software for the Model

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-09-01

Technician APS-96 Search Radar IMA Technician USM-449 (V) & AAI 5500 Series ATE Int Maintenance Level Tech. CO CP-413/ASA-27A SACE TesI Bench IMA...MATE) Test Console IMA Technician ALQ-91/108 DECM IMA Technician ALQ-99 ECM Jammer/Tmilter & ALM-107 TesI Console IMA Technician ALQ-99 ECM Track...Receivers & ALM-109 TesI Console IMA Technician ECM Systems Intermediate Maintenance Technician ASM-347 (GT-1) SACE Programmer/Mainlenanca IMA

RNase H As Gene Modifier, Driver of Evolution and Antiviral Defense.

PubMed

Moelling, Karin; Broecker, Felix; Russo, Giancarlo; Sunagawa, Shinichi

2017-01-01

Retroviral infections are 'mini-symbiotic' events supplying recipient cells with sequences for viral replication, including the reverse transcriptase (RT) and ribonuclease H (RNase H). These proteins and other viral or cellular sequences can provide novel cellular functions including immune defense mechanisms. Their high error rate renders RT-RNases H drivers of evolutionary innovation. Integrated retroviruses and the related transposable elements (TEs) have existed for at least 150 million years, constitute up to 80% of eukaryotic genomes and are also present in prokaryotes. Endogenous retroviruses regulate host genes, have provided novel genes including the syncytins that mediate maternal-fetal immune tolerance and can be experimentally rendered infectious again. The RT and the RNase H are among the most ancient and abundant protein folds. RNases H may have evolved from ribozymes, related to viroids, early in the RNA world, forming ribosomes, RNA replicases and polymerases. Basic RNA-binding peptides enhance ribozyme catalysis. RT and ribozymes or RNases H are present today in bacterial group II introns, the precedents of TEs. Thousands of unique RTs and RNases H are present in eukaryotes, bacteria, and viruses. These enzymes mediate viral and cellular replication and antiviral defense in eukaryotes and prokaryotes, splicing, R-loop resolvation, DNA repair. RNase H-like activities are also required for the activity of small regulatory RNAs. The retroviral replication components share striking similarities with the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), the prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas machinery, eukaryotic V(D)J recombination and interferon systems. Viruses supply antiviral defense tools to cellular organisms. TEs are the evolutionary origin of siRNA and miRNA genes that, through RISC, counteract detrimental activities of TEs and chromosomal instability. Moreover, piRNAs, implicated in transgenerational inheritance, suppress TEs in germ cells. Thus, virtually all known immune defense mechanisms against viruses, phages, TEs, and extracellular pathogens require RNase H-like enzymes. Analogous to the prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas anti-phage defense possibly originating from TEs termed casposons, endogenized retroviruses ERVs and amplified TEs can be regarded as related forms of inheritable immunity in eukaryotes. This survey suggests that RNase H-like activities of retroviruses, TEs, and phages, have built up innate and adaptive immune systems throughout all domains of life.

STS-57 Commander Grabe adjusts Thermal Enclosure System (TES) aboard OV-105

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

STS-57 Commander Ronald J. Grabe adjusts a bolt on the Thermal Enclosure System (TES) with Crystal Observation System (COS) experiment installation located in an aft locker (MA16J) on the middeck of Endeavour, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 105. Holding a camcorder in his right hand, Grabe prepares to monitor and record the crystal growth. The open airlock hatch is partially visible in the background.

Comparing the net cost of CSP-TES to PV deployed with battery storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jorgenson, Jennie; Mehos, Mark; Denholm, Paul

2016-05-01

Concentrated solar power with thermal energy storage (CSP-TES) is a unique source of renewable energy in that its energy can be shifted over time and it can provide the electricity system with dependable generation capacity. In this study, we provide a framework to determine if the benefits of CSP-TES (shiftable energy and the ability to provide firm capacity) exceed the benefits of PV and firm capacity sources such as long-duration battery storage or conventional natural gas combustion turbines (CTs). The results of this study using current capital cost estimates indicate that a combination of PV and conventional gas CTs provides a lower net cost compared to CSP-TES and PV with batteries. Some configurations of CSP-TES have a lower net cost than PV with batteries for even the lowest battery cost estimate. Using projected capital cost targets, however, some configurations of CSP-TES have a lower net cost than PV with either option for even the lowest battery cost estimate. The net cost of CSP-TES varies with configuration, and lower solar multiples coupled with less storage are more attractive at current cost levels, due to high component costs. However, higher solar multiples show a lower net cost using projected future costs for heliostats and thermal storage materials.

Successful Mars remote sensors, MO THEMIS and MER Mini-TES

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silverman, Steven; Christensen, Phil

2006-10-01

This paper describes results of the calibration of the miniature thermal emission spectrometer (Mini-TES) and the thermal emission imaging system (THEMIS) built by Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing (SBRS) under contract to Arizona State University (ASU). This paper also serves as an update to an earlier paper (Silverman et al., 2003) for mission description and instrument designs (Schueler et al., 2003). A major goal of the Mars exploration program is to help determine whether life ever existed on Mars via detailed in situ studies and surface sample return. It is essential to identify landing sites with the highest probability of containing samples indicative of early pre-biotic or biotic environments. Of particular interest are aqueous and/or hydrothermal environments in which life could have existed, or regions of current near-surface water or heat sources [Exobiology_Working_Group, 1995, An Exobiological Strategy for Mars Exploration, NASA Headquarters]. The search requires detailed geologic mapping and accurate interpretations of site composition and history in a global context. THEMIS and Mini-TES were designed to do this and builds upon a wealth of data from previous experiments. Previous experiments include the Mariner 6/7 Mars infrared radiometer (MIR) and infrared spectrometer [G.C. Pimentel, P.B. Forney, K.C. Herr, Evidence about hydrate and solid water in the martian surface from the 1969 Mariner infrared spectrometer, Journal of Geophysical Research 79(11) (1974) 1623 1634], the Mariner 9 infrared interferometer spectrometer (IRIS) [B. Conrath, R. Curran, R. Hanel, V. Kunde, W. Maguire, J. Pearl, J. Pirraglia, J. Walker, Atmospheric and surface properties of Mars obtained by infrared spectroscopy on Mariner 9, Journal of Geophysical Research 78 (1973) 4267 4278], the Viking infrared thermal mapper (IRTM) [H.H. Kieffer, T.Z. Martin, A.R. Peterfreund, B.M. Jakosky, E.D. Miner, F.D. Palluconi, Thermal and albedo mapping of Mars during the Viking primary mission, Journal of Geophysical Research 82 (1977) 4249 4292], the Phobos Termoscan [A.S. Selivanov, M.K. Naraeva, A.S. Panfilov, Y.M. Gektin, V.D. Kharlamov, A.V. Romanov, D.A. Fomin, Y.Y. Miroshnichenko, Thermal imaging of the surface of Mars, Nature, 341 (1989) 593 595], and the continuing Mars global surveyor (MGS) mission using the Mars orbiter camera (MOC) [M.C. Malin, K.S. Edgett, Mars global surveyor Mars orbiter camera: interplanetary cruise through primary mission, Journal of Geophysical Research 106 (2001) 23, 429 23, 570] and MGS thermal emission spectrometer (TES) [P.R. Christensen, J.L. Bandfield, V.E. Hamilton, S.W. Ruff, H.H. Kieffer, T. Titus, M.C. Malin, R.V. Morris, M.D. Lane, R.N. Clark, B.M. Jakosky, M.T. Mellon, J.C. Pearl, B.J. Conrath, M.D. Smith, R.T. Clancy, R.O. Kuzmin, T. Roush, G.L. Mehall, N. Gorelick, K. Bender, K. Murray, S. Dason, E. Greene, S.H. Silverman, M. Greenfield, The Mars global surveyor thermal emission spectrometer experiment: investigation description and surface science results, Journal of Geophysical Research 106 (2001a) 23, 823 23, 871]. TES has collected hyperspectral images (up to 286 spectral bands from 6 50μm) of the entire martian surface, providing an initial global reconnaissance of mineralogy and thermophysical properties [J.L. Bandfield, Global mineral distributions on Mars, Journal of Geophysical Research 107 (2002) 10.1029/2001JE001510; S.W. Ruff, P.R. Christensen, Bright and dark regions on Mars: particle size and mineralogical characteristics based on thermal emission spectrometer data, Journal of Geophysical Research, 2002, in press]. By covering the key 6.3 15.0μm region in both TES and THEMIS, it is possible to combine TES fine spectral resolution with THEMIS fine spatial resolution to achieve a global mineralogic inventory at the spatial scales necessary for detailed geologic studies within the Odyssey data resources. Mini-TES is a single detector Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS), covering the spectral range 5 29μm at 10cm spectral resolution. Launched in June 2003, one Mini-TES instrument will fly to Mars aboard each of the two missions of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project (MER), named Spirit and Opportunity. The first Mini-TES unit was required to meet a two-year development schedule with proven, flight-tested instrumentation. Therefore, SBRS designed Mini-TES based on proven heritage from the successful MGS TES. THEMIS is based on “bolt-together” pushbroom optics and uncooled silicon microbolometer focal plane array (FPA) technology. Sometimes dubbed “Mars Landsat,” THEMIS was launched in 2001 on Mars Odyssey, and provides guidance for future lander missions now in preparation for launch. Advanced materials and optical machining allow THEMIS low-scatter, reflective, wide field-of-view (WFOV) pushbroom optics for relatively long dwell-time compared to narrow FOV optics requiring cross-track scanning for equivalent spatial resolution. This allows uncooled silicon microbolometer FPAs, with less signal sensitivity than cryogenically cooled photo-diode FPAs, to meet the THEMIS sensitivity requirements. Instrument design, performance, integration, as well as details of the calibration are discussed. Full instrument and calibration details are available in the Journal of Geophysical Research Mini-TES and THEMIS papers by Christensen et al.

Design and performance of a rugged standard operative temperature thermometer for avian studies

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bakken, G.S.; Boysen, A.F.; Korschgen, C.E.; Kenow, K.P.; Lima, S.L.

2001-01-01

The lack of a truly satisfactory sensor which can characterize the thermal environment at the spatial scale experienced by small endotherms has hindered study of their thermoregulatory behavior. We describe a general design for a rugged, easily constructed sensor to measure standard operative temperature, Tes. We present specific designs for adult dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) and hatchling mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). Sensor response was stable and repeatable (??1.4%) over the course of several months. Over the range of conditions for which validation data were available (variable air temperature and wind with negligible net radiation), sensors predicted the mean net heat production of live animals to within ??0.023W (equivalent to ??1??C at Tes= 15??C). The main limit on accuracy was scatter in the data on metabolism and evaporative water loss in live animals. These sensors are far more rugged and easily constructed than the heated taxidermic mounts previously used to measure Tes. These characteristics facilitate the use of significant numbers of sensors in thermal mapping studies of endotherms. ?? 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Predicting intraoperative feasibility of combined TES-mMEP and cSSEP monitoring during scoliosis surgery based on preoperative neurophysiological assessment.

PubMed

Azabou, Eric; Manel, Véronique; Abelin-Genevois, Kariman; Andre-Obadia, Nathalie; Cunin, Vincent; Garin, Christophe; Kohler, Remi; Berard, Jérôme; Ulkatan, Sedat

2014-07-01

Combined monitoring of muscle motor evoked potentials elicited by transcranial electric stimulation (TES-mMEP) and cortical somatosensory evoked potentials (cSSEPs) is safe and effective for spinal cord monitoring during scoliosis surgery. However, TES-mMEP/cSSEP is not always feasible. Predictors of feasibility would help to plan the monitoring strategy. To identify predictors of the feasibility of TES-mMEP/cSSEP during scoliosis surgery. Prospective cohort study in a clinical neurophysiology unit and pediatric orthopedic department of a French university hospital. A total of 103 children aged 2 to 19 years scheduled for scoliosis surgery. Feasibility rate of intraoperative TES-mMEP/cSSEP monitoring. All patients underwent a preoperative neurological evaluation and preoperative mMEP and cSSEP recordings at both legs. For each factor associated with feasibility, we computed sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value. A decision tree was designed. Presence of any of the following factors was associated with 100% feasibility, 100% specificity, and 100% PPV: idiopathic scoliosis, normal preoperative neurological findings, and normal preoperative mMEP and cSSEP recordings. Feasibility was 0% in the eight patients with no recordable mMEPs or cSSEPs during preoperative testing. A decision tree involving three screening steps can be used to identify patients in whom intraoperative TES-mMEP/cSSEP is feasible. Preoperative neurological and neurophysiological assessments are helpful for identifying patients who can be successfully monitored by TES-mMEP/cSSEP during scoliosis surgery. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Trace elements and nutrients adsorption onto nano-maghemite in a contaminated-soil solution: A geochemical/statistical approach.

PubMed

Martínez-Fernández, Domingo; Bingöl, Deniz; Komárek, Michael

2014-07-15

Two experiments were carried out to study the competition for adsorption between trace elements (TEs) and nutrients following the application of nano-maghemite (NM) (iron nano-oxide; Fe2O3) to a soil solution (the 0.01molL(-1) CaCl2 extract of a TEs-contaminated soil). In the first, the nutrients K, N, and P were added to create a set of combinations: potential availability of TEs during their interaction with NM and nutrients were studied. In the second, response surface methodology was used to develop predictive models by central composite design (CCD) for competition between TEs and the nutrients K and N for adsorption onto NM. The addition of NM to the soil solution reduced specifically the concentrations of available As and Cd, but the TE-adsorption capacity of NM decreased as the P concentration increased. The CCD provided more concise and valuable information, appropriate to estimate the behavior of NM sequestering TEs: according to the suggested models, K(+) and NH4(+) were important factors for Ca, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na, and Zn adsorption (Radj(2)=95%, except for Zn with Radj(2)=87%). The obtained information and models can be used to predict the effectiveness of NM for the stabilization of TEs, crucial during the phytoremediation of contaminated soils. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mapping TES Aerobreaking Data of The Martian Polar Caps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altunaiji, E. S.; Edwards, C. S.; Smith, M. D.; AlShamsi, M. R.; AlJanaahi, A. A.

2016-12-01

The purpose of this paper is to create maps of the north and south Mars polar caps using Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) aerobreaking surface temperature data in south and north as well as Lambert albedo data in the south. TES is an instrument on board the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft. It has six detectors arranged in a 2x3 array with a nominal spot size of 3 × 6 km; however, given the elliptical nature of the orbit during aerobreaking the footprint can be significantly larger (10s of km), especially over the southern hemisphere. TES is a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer designed to study the Martian surface and atmosphere using thermal infrared emission spectroscopy. It is composed of 2 separate channels, a broadband visible/near-infrared bolometer and hyperspectral thermal infrared spectrometer with a broadband thermal infrared bolometer. TES aerobraking spectra were taken between Mars Year 23, Ls=180° and Mars Year 24, Ls=30°. To determine the footprint location on the surface, geometry is calculated using the Spacecraft Planet Instrument Camera Matrix and Event (SPICE) Toolkit. These data were then binned and mapped to surface in polar stereographic projection. While some early studies focused on these data, we have expanded upon the ranges, generated time-/seasonally-binned data, and re-examined this largely underutilized set of data from TES ultimately extending the record of polar science on Mars.

Directly transforming PCR-amplified DNA fragments into plant cells is a versatile system that facilitates the transient expression assay.

PubMed

Lu, Yuming; Chen, Xi; Wu, Yuxuan; Wang, Yanping; He, Yuqing; Wu, Yan

2013-01-01

A circular plasmid containing a gene coding sequence has been broadly used for studying gene regulation in cells. However, to accommodate a quick screen plasmid construction and preparation can be time consuming. Here we report a PCR amplified dsDNA fragments (PCR-fragments) based transient expression system (PCR-TES) for suiting in the study of gene regulation in plant cells. Instead of transforming plasmids into plant cells, transient expression of PCR-fragments can be applicable. The transformation efficiency and expression property of PCR-fragments are comparable to transformation using plasmids. We analyzed the transformation efficiency in PCR-TES at transcription and protein levels. Our results indicate that the PCR-TES is as versatile as the conventional transformation system using plasmid DNA. Through reconstituting PYR1-mediated ABA signaling pathway in Arabidopsis mesophyll protoplasts, we were not only validating the practicality of PCR-TES but also screening potential candidates of CDPK family members which might be involved in the ABA signaling. Moreover, we determined that phosphorylation of ABF2 by CPK4 could be mediated by ABA-induced PYR1 and ABI1, demonstrating a crucial role of CDPKs in the ABA signaling. In summary, PCR-TES can be applicable to facilitate analyzing gene regulation and for the screen of putative regulatory molecules at the high throughput level in plant cells.

Directly Transforming PCR-Amplified DNA Fragments into Plant Cells Is a Versatile System That Facilitates the Transient Expression Assay

PubMed Central

Lu, Yuming; Chen, Xi; Wu, Yuxuan; Wang, Yanping; He, Yuqing; Wu, Yan

2013-01-01

A circular plasmid containing a gene coding sequence has been broadly used for studying gene regulation in cells. However, to accommodate a quick screen plasmid construction and preparation can be time consuming. Here we report a PCR amplified dsDNA fragments (PCR-fragments) based transient expression system (PCR-TES) for suiting in the study of gene regulation in plant cells. Instead of transforming plasmids into plant cells, transient expression of PCR-fragments can be applicable. The transformation efficiency and expression property of PCR-fragments are comparable to transformation using plasmids. We analyzed the transformation efficiency in PCR-TES at transcription and protein levels. Our results indicate that the PCR-TES is as versatile as the conventional transformation system using plasmid DNA. Through reconstituting PYR1-mediated ABA signaling pathway in Arabidopsis mesophyll protoplasts, we were not only validating the practicality of PCR-TES but also screening potential candidates of CDPK family members which might be involved in the ABA signaling. Moreover, we determined that phosphorylation of ABF2 by CPK4 could be mediated by ABA-induced PYR1 and ABI1, demonstrating a crucial role of CDPKs in the ABA signaling. In summary, PCR-TES can be applicable to facilitate analyzing gene regulation and for the screen of putative regulatory molecules at the high throughput level in plant cells. PMID:23468926

Design and modelling of an innovative three-stage thermal storage system for direct steam generation CSP plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, Pierre; Vuillerme, Valéry; Olcese, Marco; El Mourchid, Nadim

2016-05-01

Thermal Energy Storage systems (TES) for a Direct Steam Generation (DSG) solar plant feature preferably three stages in series including a latent heat storage module so that steam can be recovered with a limited temperature loss. The storage system designed within the Alsolen Sup project is characterized by an innovative combination of sensible and latent modules. A dynamic model of this three-stage storage has been developed and applied to size the storage system of the Alsolen Sup® plant demonstrator at CEA Cadarache. Results of this simulation show that this promising concept is an efficient way to store heat in DSG solar plants.

Assembly, characterization, and operation of large-scale TES detector arrays for ACTPol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pappas, Christine Goodwin

2016-01-01

The Polarization-sensitive Receiver for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACTPol) is designed to measure the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature and polarization anisotropies on small angular scales. Measurements of the CMB temperature and polarization anisotropies have produced arguably the most important cosmological data to date, establishing the LambdaCDM model and providing the best constraints on most of its parameters. To detect the very small fluctuations in the CMB signal across the sky, ACTPol uses feedhorn-coupled Transition-Edge Sensor (TES) detectors. A TES is a superconducting thin film operated in the transition region between the superconducting and normal states, where it functions as a highly sensitive resistive thermometer. In this thesis, aspects of the assembly, characterization, and in-field operation of the ACTPol TES detector arrays are discussed. First, a novel microfabrication process for producing high-density superconducting aluminum/polyimide flexible circuitry (flex) designed to connect large-scale detector arrays to the first stage of readout is presented. The flex is used in parts of the third ACTPol array and is currently being produced for use in the AdvACT detector arrays, which will begin to replace the ACTPol arrays in 2016. Next, we describe methods and results for the in-lab and on-telescope characterization of the detectors in the third ACTPol array. Finally, we describe the ACTPol TES R(T,I) transition shapes and how they affect the detector calibration and operation. Methods for measuring the exact detector calibration and re-biasing functions, taking into account the R(T,I) transition shape, are presented.

Thermal elastic shock and its effect on TOPEX spacecraft attitude control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zimbelman, Darrell F.

1991-01-01

Thermal elastic shock (TES) is a twice per orbit impulsive disturbance torque experienced by low-Earth orbiting spacecraft. The fundamental equations used to model the TES disturbance torque for typical spacecraft appendages (e.g., solar arrays and antenna booms) are derived in detail. In particular, the attitude-pointing performance of the TOPEX spacecraft, when subjected to the TES disturbance, is analyzed using a three-axis nonlinear time-domain simulation. Results indicate that the TOPEX spacecraft could exceed its roll-axis attitude-control requirement during penumbral transitions, and remain in violation for approximately 150 sec each orbit until the umbra collapses. A localized active-control system is proposed as a solution to minimize and/or eliminate the degrading effects of the TES disturbance.

Study of thermal energy storage using fluidized bed heat exchangers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weast, T. E.; Shannon, L. J.; Ananth, K. P.

1980-01-01

The technical and economic feasibility of fluid bed heat exchangers (FBHX) for thermal energy storage (TES) in waste heat recovery applications is assessed by analysis of two selected conceptual systems, the rotary cement kiln and the electric arc furnace. It is shown that the inclusion of TES in the energy recovery system requires that the difference in off-peak and on-peak energy rates be large enough so that the value of the recovered energy exceeds the value of the stored energy by a wide enough margin to offset parasitic power and thermal losses. Escalation of on-peak energy rates due to fuel shortages could make the FBHX/TES applications economically attractive in the future.

Empirical equations for viscosity and specific heat capacity determination of paraffin PCM and fatty acid PCM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barreneche, C.; Ferrer, G.; Palacios, A.; Solé, A.; Inés Fernández, A.; Cabeza, L. F.

2017-10-01

Phase change materials (PCM) used in thermal energy storage (TES) systems have been presented, over recent years, as one of the most effective options in energy storage. Paraffin and fatty acids are some of the most used PCM in TES systems, as they have high phase change enthalpy and in addition they do not present subcooling nor hysteresis and have proper cycling stability. The simulations and design of TES systems require the knowledge of the thermophysical properties of PCM. Thermal conductivity, viscosity, specific heat capacity (Cp) can be experimentally determined, but these are material and time consuming tasks. To avoid or to reduce them, and to have reliable data without the need of experimentation, thermal properties can be calculated by empirical equations. In this study, five different equations are given to calculate the viscosity and specific heat capacity of fatty acid PCM and paraffin PCM. Two of these equations concern, respectively, the empirical calculation of the viscosity and liquid Cp of the whole paraffin PCM family, while the other three equations presented are for the corresponding calculation of viscosity, solid Cp, liquid Cp of the whole fatty acid family of PCM. Therefore, this study summarize the work performed to obtain the main empirical equations to measure the above mentioned properties for whole fatty acid PCM family and whole paraffin PCM family. Moreover, empirical equations have been obtained to calculate these properties for other materials of these PCM groups and these empirical equations can be extrapolated for PCM with higher or lower phase change temperatures within a lower relative error 4%.

High-temperature thermal storage systems for advanced solar receivers materials selections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, D. F.; Devan, J. H.; Howell, M.

1990-09-01

Advanced space power systems that use solar energy and Brayton or Stirling heat engines require thermal energy storage (TES) systems to operate continuously through periods of shade. The receiver storage units, key elements in both Brayton and Stirling systems, are designed to use the latent heat of fusion of phase-change materials (PCMs). The power systems under current consideration for near-future National Aeronautics and Space Administration space missions require working fluid temperatures in the 1100 to 1400 K range. The PCMs under current investigation that gave liquid temperatures within this range are the fluoride family of salts. However, these salts have low thermal conductivity, which causes large temperature gradients in the storage systems. Improvements can be obtained, however, with the use of thermal conductivity enhancements or metallic PCMs. In fact, if suitable containment materials can be found, the use of metallic PCMs would virtually eliminate the orbit associated temperature variations in TES systems. The high thermal conductivity and generally low volume change on melting of germanium and alloys based on silicon make them attractive for storage of thermal energy in space power systems. An approach to solving the containment problem, involving both chemical and physical compatibility, preparation of NiSi/NiSi2, and initial results for containment of germanium and NiSi/NiSi2, are presented.

High-temperature thermal storage systems for advanced solar receivers materials selections

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, D. F.; Devan, J. H.; Howell, M.

1990-01-01

Advanced space power systems that use solar energy and Brayton or Stirling heat engines require thermal energy storage (TES) systems to operate continuously through periods of shade. The receiver storage units, key elements in both Brayton and Stirling systems, are designed to use the latent heat of fusion of phase-change materials (PCMs). The power systems under current consideration for near-future National Aeronautics and Space Administration space missions require working fluid temperatures in the 1100 to 1400 K range. The PCMs under current investigation that gave liquid temperatures within this range are the fluoride family of salts. However, these salts have low thermal conductivity, which causes large temperature gradients in the storage systems. Improvements can be obtained, however, with the use of thermal conductivity enhancements or metallic PCMs. In fact, if suitable containment materials can be found, the use of metallic PCMs would virtually eliminate the orbit associated temperature variations in TES systems. The high thermal conductivity and generally low volume change on melting of germanium and alloys based on silicon make them attractive for storage of thermal energy in space power systems. An approach to solving the containment problem, involving both chemical and physical compatibility, preparation of NiSi/NiSi2, and initial results for containment of germanium and NiSi/NiSi2, are presented.

Industrial waste materials and by-products as thermal energy storage (TES) materials: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gutierrez, Andrea; Miró, Laia; Gil, Antoni; Rodríguez-Aseguinolaza, Javier; Barreneche, Camila; Calvet, Nicolas; Py, Xavier; Fernández, A. Inés; Grágeda, Mario; Ushak, Svetlana; Cabeza, Luisa F.

2016-05-01

A wide variety of potential materials for thermal energy storage (TES) have been identify depending on the implemented TES method, Sensible, latent or thermochemical. In order to improve the efficiency of TES systems more alternatives are continuously being sought. In this regard, this paper presents the review of low cost heat storage materials focused mainly in two objectives: on the one hand, the implementation of improved heat storage devices based on new appropriate materials and, on the other hand, the valorisation of waste industrial materials will have strong environmental, economic and societal benefits such as reducing the landfilled waste amounts, reducing the greenhouse emissions and others. Different industrial and municipal waste materials and by products have been considered as potential TES materials and have been characterized as such. Asbestos containing wastes, fly ashes, by-products from the salt industry and from the metal industry, wastes from recycling steel process and from copper refining process and dross from the aluminium industry, and municipal wastes (glass and nylon) have been considered. This work shows a great revalorization of wastes and by-product opportunity as TES materials, although more studies are needed to achieve industrial deployment of the idea.

The genomic proliferation of transposable elements in colonizing populations: Schistosoma mansoni in the new world.

PubMed

Wijayawardena, Bhagya K; DeWoody, J Andrew; Minchella, Dennis J

2015-06-01

Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile genes with an inherent ability to move within and among genomes. Theory predicts that TEs proliferate extensively during physiological stress due to the breakdown of TE repression systems. We tested this hypothesis in Schistosoma mansoni, a widespread trematode parasite that causes the human disease schistosomiasis. According to phylogenetic analysis, S. mansoni invaded the new world during the last 500 years. We hypothesized that new world strains of S. mansoni would have more copies of TEs than old world strains due to the physiological stress associated with invasion of the new world. We quantified the copy number of six TEs (Saci-1, Saci-2 and Saci-3, Perere-1, Merlin-sm1, and SmTRC1) in the genome and the transcriptome of old world and new world strains of S. mansoni, using qPCR relative quantification. As predicted, the genomes of new world parasites contain significantly more copies of class I and class II TEs in both laboratory and field strains. However, such differences are not observed in the transcriptome suggesting that either TE silencing mechanisms have reactivated to control the expression of these elements or the presence of inactive truncated copies of TEs.

Design of a Protection Thermal Energy Storage Using Phase Change Material Coupled to a Solar Receiver

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verdier, D.; Falcoz, Q.; Ferrière, A.

2014-12-01

Thermal Energy Storage (TES) is the key for a stable electricity production in future Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants. This work presents a study on the thermal protection of the central receiver of CSP plant using a tower which is subject to considerable thermal stresses in case of cloudy events. The very high temperatures, 800 °C at design point, impose the use of special materials which are able to resist at high temperature and high mechanical constraints and high level of concentrated solar flux. In this paper we investigate a TES coupling a metallic matrix drilled with tubes of Phase Change Material (PCM) in order to store a large amount of thermal energy and release it in a short time. A numerical model is developed to optimize the arrangement of tubes into the TES. Then a methodology is given, based from the need in terms of thermal capacity, in order to help the choice of the geometry.

Bursts of transposable elements as an evolutionary driving force.

PubMed

Belyayev, A

2014-12-01

A burst of transposable elements (TEs) is a massive outbreak that may cause radical genomic rebuilding. This phenomenon has been reported in connection with the formation of taxonomic groups and species and has therefore been associated with major evolutionary events in the past. Over the past few years, several research groups have discovered recent stress-induced bursts of different TEs. The events for which bursts of TEs have been recorded include domestication, polyploidy, changes in mating systems, interspecific and intergeneric hybridization and abiotic stress. Cases involving abiotic stress, particularly bursts of TEs in natural populations driven by environmental change, are of special interest because this phenomenon may underlie micro- and macro-evolutionary events and ultimately support the maintenance and generation of biological diversity. This study reviews the known cases of bursts of TEs and their possible consequences, with particular emphasis on the speciation process. © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

High-temperature thermocline TES combining sensible and latent heat - CFD modeling and experimental validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zavattoni, Simone A.; Geissbühler, Lukas; Barbato, Maurizio C.; Zanganeh, Giw; Haselbacher, Andreas; Steinfeld, Aldo

2017-06-01

The concept of combined sensible/latent heat thermal energy storage (TES) has been exploited to mitigate an intrinsic thermocline TES systems drawback of heat transfer fluid outflow temperature reduction during discharging. In this study, the combined sensible/latent TES prototype under investigation is constituted by a packed bed of rocks and a small amount of encapsulated phase change material (AlSi12) as sensible heat and latent heat sections respectively. The thermo-fluid dynamics behavior of the combined TES prototype was analyzed by means of a computational fluid dynamics approach. Due to the small value of the characteristic vessel-to-particles diameter ratio, the effect of radial void-fraction variation, also known as channeling, was accounted for. Both the sensible and the latent heat sections of the storage were modeled as porous media under the assumption of local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE). The commercial code ANSYS Fluent 15.0 was used to solve the model's constitutive conservation and transport equations obtaining a fairly good agreement with reference experimental measurements.

Thermal storage for industrial process and reject heat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duscha, R. A.; Masica, W. J.

1978-01-01

Industrial production uses about 40 percent of the total energy consumed in the United States. The major share of this is derived from fossil fuel. Potential savings of scarce fuel is possible through the use of thermal energy storage (TES) of reject or process heat for subsequent use. Three especially significant industries where high temperature TES appears attractive - paper and pulp, iron and steel, and cement are discussed. Potential annual fuel savings, with large scale implementation of near-term TES systems for these three industries, is nearly 9,000,000 bbl of oil.

Feasibility and effectiveness of computer-based therapy in community treatment.

PubMed

Brooks, Adam C; Ryder, Deanna; Carise, Deni; Kirby, Kimberly C

2010-10-01

Computerized therapy approaches may expand the reach of evidence-based treatment; however, it is unclear how to integrate these therapies into community-based treatment. We conducted a two-phase pilot study to explore (a) whether clients' use of the Therapeutic Education System (TES), a Web-based community reinforcement approach (CRA) learning program, would benefit them in the absence of counselor support and (b) whether counselors and clients would use the TES in the absence of tangible research-based reinforcement. In Phase 1, clients in the TES condition (n = 14) demonstrated large improvements in knowledge, F(1, 20) = 8.90, p = .007, d = 1.05, and were significantly more likely to select CRA style coping responses, F (1, 20) = 11.95, p = .002, d = 1.16, relative to the treatment-as-usual group (n = 14). We also detected small, nonsignificant, between-group effects indicating TES decreased cocaine use during treatment. In Phase 2, counselors referred only around 10% of their caseload to the TES, and the modal number of completed modules in the absence of tangible reinforcement was three. Computer-based therapy approaches are viable in community-based treatment but must be integrated with incentive systems to ensure engagement. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Acute testosterone and cortisol responses to high power resistance exercise.

PubMed

Fry, A C; Lohnes, C A

2010-01-01

This study examined the acute hormonal responses to a single high power resistance exercise training session. Four weight trained men (X +/- SD; age [yrs] = 24.5 +/- 2.9; hgt [m] = 1.82 + 0.05; BM [kg] = 96.9 +/- 10.6; I RM barbell squat [kg] = 129.3 +/- 17.4) participated as subjects in two randomly ordered sessions. During the lifting session, serum samples were collected pre- and 5 min post-exercise, and later analyzed for testosterone (Tes), cortisol (Cort), their ratio (Tes/Cort), and lactate (HLa). The lifting protocol was 10 x 5 speed squats at 70% of system mass (1 RM +/- BW) with 2 min inter-set rest intervals. Mean power and velocity were determined for each repetition using an external dynamometer. On the control day, the procedures and times (1600-1900 hrs) were identical except the subjects did not lift. Tes and Cort were analyzed via EIA. Mean +/- SD power and velocity was 1377.1 +/- 9.6 W and 0.79 +/- 0.01 m .s-1 respectively for all repetitions, and did not decrease over the 10 sets (p < 0.05). Although not significant, post-exercise Tes exhibited a very large effect size (nmol x L-1 pre = 12.5 +/- 2.9, post = 20.0 +/- 3.9; Cohen's D = 1.27). No changes were observed for either Cort or the Tes/Cort ratio. HLa significantly increased post-exercise (mmol x L-1 ; pre = 1.00 +/- 0.09, post = 4.85 +/- 1.10). The exercise protocol resulted in no significant changes in Tes, Cort or the Tes/Cort ratio, although the Cohen's D value indicates a very large effect size for the Tes response. The acute increase for Tes is in agreement with previous reports that high power activities can elicit a Tes response. High power resistance exercise protocols such as the one used in the present study produce acute increases of Tes. These results indicate that high power resistance exercise can contribute to an anabolic hormonal response with this type of training, and may partially explain the muscle hypertrophy observed in athletes who routinely employ high power resistance exercise.

Transition-Edge Sensor Pixel Parameter Design of the Microcalorimeter Array for the X-Ray Integral Field Unit on Athena

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, S. J.; Adams, J. S.; Bandler, S. R.; Betancourt-Martinez, G. L.; Chervenak, J. A.; Chiao, M. P.; Eckart, M. E.; Finkbeiner, F. M.; Kelley, R. L.; Kilbourne, C. A.;

Transition-edge sensor pixel parameter design of the microcalorimeter array for the x-ray integral field unit on Athena

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, S. J.; Adams, J. S.; Bandler, S. R.; Betancourt-Martinez, G. L.; Chervenak, J. A.; Chiao, M. P.; Eckart, M. E.; Finkbeiner, F. M.; Kelley, R. L.; Kilbourne, C. A.; Miniussi, A. R.; Porter, F. S.; Sadleir, J. E.; Sakai, K.; Wakeham, N. A.; Wassell, E. J.; Yoon, W.; Bennett, D. A.; Doriese, W. B.; Fowler, J. W.; Hilton, G. C.; Morgan, K. M.; Pappas, C. G.; Reintsema, C. N.; Swetz, D. S.; Ullom, J. N.; Irwin, K. D.; Akamatsu, H.; Gottardi, L.; den Hartog, R.; Jackson, B. D.; van der Kuur, J.; Barret, D.; Peille, P.

2016-07-01

The focal plane of the X-ray integral field unit (X-IFU) for ESA's Athena X-ray observatory will consist of 4000 transition edge sensor (TES) x-ray microcalorimeters optimized for the energy range of 0.2 to 12 keV. The instrument will provide unprecedented spectral resolution of 2.5 eV at energies of up to 7 keV and will accommodate photon fluxes of 1 mCrab (90 cps) for point source observations. The baseline configuration is a uniform large pixel array (LPA) of 4.28" pixels that is read out using frequency domain multiplexing (FDM). However, an alternative configuration under study incorporates an 18 × 18 small pixel array (SPA) of 2" pixels in the central 36" region. This hybrid array configuration could be designed to accommodate higher fluxes of up to 10 mCrab (900 cps) or alternately for improved spectral performance (< 1.5 eV) at low count-rates. In this paper we report on the TES pixel designs that are being optimized to meet these proposed LPA and SPA configurations. In particular we describe details of how important TES parameters are chosen to meet the specific mission criteria such as energy resolution, count-rate and quantum efficiency, and highlight performance trade-offs between designs. The basis of the pixel parameter selection is discussed in the context of existing TES arrays that are being developed for solar and x-ray astronomy applications. We describe the latest results on DC biased diagnostic arrays as well as large format kilo-pixel arrays and discuss the technical challenges associated with integrating different array types on to a single detector die.

An Optical System for Body Imaging from a Distance Using Near-TeraHertz Frequencies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duncan, W. D.; Schwall, R. E.; Irwin, K. D.; Beall, J. A.; Reintsema, C. D.; Doriese, William; Cho, Hsiao-Mei; Estey, Brian; Chattopadhyay, Goutam; Ade, Peter; Tucker, Carole

2008-05-01

We present the outline of the optical design of a TeraHertz (THz) imager for the detection of shrapnel-loaded improvised explosive devices (IED) devices at “stand-off” distances of 14 26 meters. The system will use 4 antenna-coupled TES detector arrays of 16 by 16 pixels cooled in a cryogen-free system with microwave readout to see beneath clothing at non-lethal detonation distances. A spatial resolution of ˜10 mm and close to video frame rates is anticipated.

Transcranial Electric Stimulation for Precision Medicine: A Spatiomechanistic Framework

PubMed Central

Yavari, Fatemeh; Nitsche, Michael A.; Ekhtiari, Hamed

2017-01-01

During recent years, non-invasive brain stimulation, including transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) in general, and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in particular, have created new hopes for treatment of neurological and psychiatric diseases. Despite promising primary results in some brain disorders, a more widespread application of tES is hindered by the unsolved question of determining optimum stimulation protocols to receive meaningful therapeutic effects. tES has a large parameter space including various montages and stimulation parameters. Moreover, inter- and intra-individual differences in responding to stimulation protocols have to be taken into account. These factors contribute to the complexity of selecting potentially effective protocols for each disorder, different clusters of each disorder, and even each single patient. Expanding knowledge in different dimensions of basic and clinical neuroscience could help researchers and clinicians to select potentially effective protocols based on tES modulatory mechanisms for future clinical studies. In this article, we propose a heuristic spatiomechanistic framework which contains nine levels to address tES effects on brain functions. Three levels refer to the spatial resolution (local, small-scale networks and large-scale networks) and three levels of tES modulatory effects based on its mechanisms of action (neurochemical, neuroelectrical and oscillatory modulations). At the group level, this framework could be helpful to enable an informed and systematic exploration of various possible protocols for targeting a brain disorder or its neuroscience-based clusters. Considering recent advances in exploration of neurodiversity at the individual level with different brain mapping technologies, the proposed framework might also be used in combination with personal data to design individualized protocols for tES in the context of precision medicine in the future. PMID:28450832

TES X-ray microcalorimeters for X-ray astronomy and material analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitsuda, Kazuhisa

2016-11-01

TES X-ray microcalorimeter arrays provide not only high-energy resolution (FWHM < 10eV) in X-ray spectroscopy but also imaging and high-counting-rate capabilities. They are very promising spectrometer for X-ray astronomy and material analysis. In this paper, we report our recent progress. For material analysis, we have fabricated 8 × 8 format array with a fast signal response ( 40 μs) and proved the energy resolution of 5.8 eV FWHM at 5.9 keV. We developed common biasing scheme to reduce number of wirings from room temperature to the cryogenic stage. From measurements using the newly-designed common-bias SQUID array amplifier chips, and from numerical simulations, we demonstrated that signal cross talks due to the common bias is enough small. For space applications, we are developing frequency-division signal multiplexing system. We have fabricated a baseband feedback system and demonstrated that the noise added by the feedback system is about 4 eV FWHM equivalent for 16 ch multiplexing system. The digital to analog converter (DAC) dominates the noise, and needs be reduced by a factor of four for future astronomy missions.

Using TES retrievals to investigate PAN in North American biomass burning plumes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, Emily V.; Zhu, Liye; Payne, Vivienne H.; Worden, John R.; Jiang, Zhe; Kulawik, Susan S.; Brey, Steven; Hecobian, Arsineh; Gombos, Daniel; Cady-Pereira, Karen; Flocke, Frank

2018-04-01

Peroxyacyl nitrate (PAN) is a critical atmospheric reservoir for nitrogen oxide radicals, and plays a lead role in their redistribution in the troposphere. We analyze new Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) PAN observations over North America from July 2006 to July 2009. Using aircraft observations from the Colorado Front Range, we demonstrate that TES can be sensitive to elevated PAN in the boundary layer (˜ 750 hPa) even in the presence of clouds. In situ observations have shown that wildfire emissions can rapidly produce PAN, and PAN decomposition is an important component of ozone production in smoke plumes. We identify smoke-impacted TES PAN retrievals by co-location with NOAA Hazard Mapping System (HMS) smoke plumes. Depending on the year, 15-32 % of cases where elevated PAN is identified in TES observations (retrievals with degrees of freedom (DOF) > 0.6) overlap smoke plumes during July. Of all the retrievals attempted in the July 2006 to July 2009 study period, 18 % is associated with smoke . A case study of smoke transport in July 2007 illustrates that PAN enhancements associated with HMS smoke plumes can be connected to fire complexes, providing evidence that TES is sufficiently sensitive to measure elevated PAN several days downwind of major fires. Using a subset of retrievals with TES 510 hPa carbon monoxide (CO) > 150 ppbv, and multiple estimates of background PAN, we calculate enhancement ratios for tropospheric average PAN relative to CO in smoke-impacted retrievals. Most of the TES-based enhancement ratios fall within the range calculated from in situ measurements.

Seasonal and spatial changes in trace gases over megacities from Aura TES observations: two case studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cady-Pereira, Karen E.; Payne, Vivienne H.; Neu, Jessica L.; Bowman, Kevin W.; Miyazaki, Kazuyuki; Marais, Eloise A.; Kulawik, Susan; Tzompa-Sosa, Zitely A.; Hegarty, Jennifer D.

2017-08-01

The Aura Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) is collecting closely spaced observations over 19 megacities. The objective is to obtain measurements that will lead to better understanding of the processes affecting air quality in and around these cities, and to better estimates of the seasonal and interannual variability. We explore the TES measurements of ozone, ammonia, methanol and formic acid collected around the Mexico City metropolitan area (MCMA) and in the vicinity of Lagos (Nigeria). The TES data exhibit seasonal signals that are correlated with Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) CO and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol optical depth (AOD), with in situ measurements in the MCMA and with Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS)-Chem model output in the Lagos area. TES was able to detect an extreme pollution event in the MCMA on 9 April 2013, which is also evident in the in situ data. TES data also show that biomass burning has a greater impact south of the city than in the caldera where Mexico City is located. TES measured enhanced values of the four species over the Gulf of Guinea south of Lagos. Since it observes many cities from the same platform with the same instrument and applies the same retrieval algorithms, TES data provide a very useful tool for easily comparing air quality measures of two or more cities. We compare the data from the MCMA and Lagos, and show that, while the MCMA has occasional extreme pollution events, Lagos consistently has higher levels of these trace gases.

Devices for noninvasive transcranial electrostimulation of the brain endorphinergic system: application for improvement of human psycho-physiological status.

PubMed

Lebedev, Valery P; Malygin, A V; Kovalevski, A V; Rychkova, S V; Sisoev, V N; Kropotov, S P; Krupitski, E M; Gerasimova, L I; Glukhov, D V; Kozlowski, G P

2002-03-01

It is well known that deficit of endorphins plays an important role in disturbances of human psycho-physiological status. Previously, we revealed that brain endorphinergic structures have quasiresonance characteristics. On the basis of these data, a method of activation of the brain endorphinergic structures by means of noninvasive and rather selective transcranial electrostimulation (TES) as a kind of functional electrical stimulation (FES) was elaborated. New models of TES devices (TRANSAIR) were developed for indoor and outdoor usage. To increase the efficacy of TES, the frequency modulation according to normal distribution in the limits of the quasiresonance characteristics was put into operation. The blind and placebo-controlled (passive and active placebo) study was produced to estimate the TES effects on stress events and accompanied psycho-physiological and autonomic disturbances of different intensities on volunteers and patients in the following groups: everyday stress and fatigue; stress in regular military service and in field conditions; stress in the relatives of those lost in mass disaster; posttraumatic stress (thermal burns); and affective disorders in a postabstinence period. Some subjective verbal and nonverbal tests and objective tests (including heart rate variability) were used for estimation of the initial level of psycho-physiological status, which changes after TES sessions. It was demonstrated that fatigue, stress, and other accompanied psycho-physiological disturbances were significantly improved or abolished after 2-5 TES sessions. The TES effects were more pronounced in cases of heavier disturbances. In conclusion, activation of the brain endorphinergic structures by TES is an effective homeostatic method of FES that sufficiently improves quality of life.

Viscous Flow Structures Downstream of a Model Tracheoesophageal Prosthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hemsing, Frank; Erath, Byron

2013-11-01

In tracheoesophageal speech (TES), the glottis is replaced by the tissue of the pharyngeoesophageal segment (PES) as the vibrating element of speech production. During TES air is forced from the lungs into the esophagus via a prosthetic tube that connects the trachea with the esophagus. Air moving up the esophagus incites self-sustained oscillations of the surgically created PES, generating sound analogous to voiced speech. Despite the ubiquity with which TES is employed as a method for restoring speech to laryngectomees, the effect of viscous flow structures on voice production in TES is not well understood. Of particular interest is the flow exiting the prosthetic connection between the trachea and esophagus, because of its influence on the total pressure loss (i.e. effort required to produce speech), and the fluid-structure energy exchange that drives the PES. Understanding this flow behavior can inform prosthesis design to enhance beneficial flow structures and mitigate the need for adjustment of prosthesis placement. This study employs a physical model of the tracheoesophageal geometry to investigate the flow structures that arise in TES. The geometry of this region is modeled at three times physiological scale using water as the working fluid to obtain nondimensional numbers matching flow in TES. Modulation of the flow is achieved with a computer controlled gate valve at a scaled frequency of 0.22 Hz to mimic the oscillations of the PES. Particle image velocimetry is used to resolve flow characteristics at the tracheoesophageal prosthesis. Data are acquired for three cases of prosthesis insertion angle.

Design and Optimization of Multi-Pixel Transition-Edge Sensors for X-Ray Astronomy Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Stephen J.; Adams, Joseph S.; Bandler, Simon R.; Chervenak, James A.; Datesman, Aaron Michael; Eckart, Megan E.; Ewin, Audrey J.; Finkbeiner, Fred M.; Kelley, Richard L.; Kilbourne, Caroline A.;

RNase H As Gene Modifier, Driver of Evolution and Antiviral Defense

PubMed Central

Moelling, Karin; Broecker, Felix; Russo, Giancarlo; Sunagawa, Shinichi

2017-01-01

Retroviral infections are ‘mini-symbiotic’ events supplying recipient cells with sequences for viral replication, including the reverse transcriptase (RT) and ribonuclease H (RNase H). These proteins and other viral or cellular sequences can provide novel cellular functions including immune defense mechanisms. Their high error rate renders RT-RNases H drivers of evolutionary innovation. Integrated retroviruses and the related transposable elements (TEs) have existed for at least 150 million years, constitute up to 80% of eukaryotic genomes and are also present in prokaryotes. Endogenous retroviruses regulate host genes, have provided novel genes including the syncytins that mediate maternal-fetal immune tolerance and can be experimentally rendered infectious again. The RT and the RNase H are among the most ancient and abundant protein folds. RNases H may have evolved from ribozymes, related to viroids, early in the RNA world, forming ribosomes, RNA replicases and polymerases. Basic RNA-binding peptides enhance ribozyme catalysis. RT and ribozymes or RNases H are present today in bacterial group II introns, the precedents of TEs. Thousands of unique RTs and RNases H are present in eukaryotes, bacteria, and viruses. These enzymes mediate viral and cellular replication and antiviral defense in eukaryotes and prokaryotes, splicing, R-loop resolvation, DNA repair. RNase H-like activities are also required for the activity of small regulatory RNAs. The retroviral replication components share striking similarities with the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), the prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas machinery, eukaryotic V(D)J recombination and interferon systems. Viruses supply antiviral defense tools to cellular organisms. TEs are the evolutionary origin of siRNA and miRNA genes that, through RISC, counteract detrimental activities of TEs and chromosomal instability. Moreover, piRNAs, implicated in transgenerational inheritance, suppress TEs in germ cells. Thus, virtually all known immune defense mechanisms against viruses, phages, TEs, and extracellular pathogens require RNase H-like enzymes. Analogous to the prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas anti-phage defense possibly originating from TEs termed casposons, endogenized retroviruses ERVs and amplified TEs can be regarded as related forms of inheritable immunity in eukaryotes. This survey suggests that RNase H-like activities of retroviruses, TEs, and phages, have built up innate and adaptive immune systems throughout all domains of life. PMID:28959243

Computer-automated tinnitus assessment: noise-band matching, maskability, and residual inhibition.

PubMed

Henry, James A; Roberts, Larry E; Ellingson, Roger M; Thielman, Emily J

2013-06-01

Psychoacoustic measures of tinnitus typically include loudness and pitch match, minimum masking level (MML), and residual inhibition (RI). We previously developed and documented a computer-automated tinnitus evaluation system (TES) capable of subject-guided loudness and pitch matching. The TES was further developed to conduct computer-aided, subject-guided testing for noise-band matching (NBM), MML, and RI. The purpose of the present study was to document the capability of the upgraded TES to obtain measures of NBM, MML, and RI, and to determine the test-retest reliability of the responses obtained. Three subject-guided, computer-automated testing protocols were developed to conduct NBM. For MML and RI testing, a 2-12 kHz band of noise was used. All testing was repeated during a second session. Subjects meeting study criteria were selected from those who had previously been tested for loudness and pitch matching in our laboratory. A total of 21 subjects completed testing, including seven females and 14 males. The upgraded TES was found to be fairly time efficient. Subjects were generally reliable, both within and between sessions, with respect to the type of stimulus they chose as the best match to their tinnitus. Matching to bandwidth was more variable between measurements, with greater consistency seen for subjects reporting tonal tinnitus or wide-band noisy tinnitus than intermediate types. Between-session repeated MMLs were within 10 dB of each other for all but three of the subjects. Subjects who experienced RI during Session 1 tended to be those who experienced it during Session 2. This study may represent the first time that NBM, MML, and RI audiometric testing results have been obtained entirely through a self-contained, computer-automated system designed specifically for use in the clinic. Future plans include refinements to achieve greater testing efficiency. American Academy of Audiology.

Superconducting Detector Arrays for Astrophysics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chervenak, James

2008-01-01

The next generation of astrophysics instruments will feature an order of magnitude more photon sensors or sensors that have an order of magnitude greater sensitivity. Since detector noise scales with temperature, a number of candidate technologies have been developed that use the intrinsic advantages of detector systems that operate below 1 Kelvin. Many of these systems employ of the superconducting phenomena that occur in metals at these temperatures to build ultrasensitive detectors and low-noise, low-power readout architectures. I will present one such system in use today to meet the needs of the astrophysics community at millimeter and x-ray wavelengths. Our group at NASA in collaboration with Princeton, NIST, Boulder and a number of other groups is building large format arrays of superconducting transition edge sensors (TES) read out with multiplexed superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUID). I will present the high sensitivity we have achieved in multiplexed x-ray sensors with the TES technology and describe the construction of a 1000-sensor TES/SQUID array for microwave measurements. With our collaboration's deployment of a kilopixel TES array for 2 mm radiation at the Atacarna Cosmology Telescope in November 2007, we have first images of the lensed Cosmic Microwave Background at fine angular scales.

The tropospheric emission spectrometer (TES) for the Earth Observing System (EOS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beer, R.

1992-01-01

In recent years, increasing concern has been expressed about Global Change - the natural and anthropogenic alteration of the Earth's environment involving global greenhouse warming and the associated climate change, urban and regional atmospheric pollution, acid deposition, regional increases in tropospheric zone, and the decrease in stratospheric ozone. A common theme among these problems is that they all involve those tropospheric trace gases which are fundamental to the biosphere-troposphere interaction, the chemistry of the free troposphere itself, and troposphere-stratosphere exchange. The chemical species involved all have spectral signatures within the near and mid infrared that can now be measured by advanced techniques of remote-sensing infrared spectroradiometry. Such a system is the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES), now in Phase B definition for the Earth Observing System (EOS) polar platforms. TES addresses these objectives by obtaining radiometrically calibrated, linewidth-limited spectral resolution, infrared spectra of the lower atmosphere using both natural thermal emission and reflected sunlight (where appropriate) in three different, but fully programmable, modes: a gobal mode, a pointed mode, and a limb-viewing mode. The goals of TES, its instrumentation, operational modes, sensitivity and data handling are discussed.

Agile Thermal Management STT-RX. Towards High Energy Density, High Conductivity Thermal Energy Storage Composites (PREPRINT)

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

management system. This paper describes recent development of salt hydrate-based TES composites at the Air Force Research Laboratory. Salt hydrates are...composites. 15. SUBJECT TERMS thermal energy storage, composite, salt hydrate, graphic foam 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF...part of a thermal management system. This paper describes recent development of salt hydrate-based TES composites at the Air Force Research

Confocal Microscopy Imaging with an Optical Transition Edge Sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukuda, D.; Niwa, K.; Hattori, K.; Inoue, S.; Kobayashi, R.; Numata, T.

2018-05-01

Fluorescence color imaging at an extremely low excitation intensity was performed using an optical transition edge sensor (TES) embedded in a confocal microscope for the first time. Optical TES has the ability to resolve incident single photon energy; therefore, the wavelength of each photon can be measured without spectroscopic elements such as diffraction gratings. As target objects, animal cells labeled with two fluorescent dyes were irradiated with an excitation laser at an intensity below 1 μW. In our confocal system, an optical fiber-coupled TES device is used to detect photons instead of the pinhole and photomultiplier tube used in typical confocal microscopes. Photons emitted from the dyes were collected by the objective lens, and sent to the optical TES via the fiber. The TES measures the wavelength of each photon arriving in an exposure time of 70 ms, and a fluorescent photon spectrum is constructed. This measurement is repeated by scanning the target sample, and finally a two-dimensional RGB-color image is obtained. The obtained image showed that the photons emitted from the dyes of mitochondria and cytoskeletons were clearly resolved at a detection intensity level of tens of photons. TES exhibits ideal performance as a photon detector with a low dark count rate (< 1 Hz) and wavelength resolving power. In the single-mode fiber-coupled system, the confocal microscope can be operated in the super-resolution mode. These features are very promising to realize high-sensitivity and high-resolution photon spectral imaging, and would help avoid cell damage and photobleaching of fluorescence dyes.

Evaluating a Novel 3D Stereoscopic Visual Display for Transanal Endoscopic Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Study.

PubMed

Di Marco, Aimee N; Jeyakumar, Jenifa; Pratt, Philip J; Yang, Guang-Zhong; Darzi, Ara W

2016-01-01

To compare surgical performance with transanal endoscopic surgery (TES) using a novel 3-dimensional (3D) stereoscopic viewer against the current modalities of a 3D stereoendoscope, 3D, and 2-dimensional (2D) high-definition monitors. TES is accepted as the primary treatment for selected rectal tumors. Current TES systems offer a 2D monitor, or 3D image, viewed directly via a stereoendoscope, necessitating an uncomfortable operating position. To address this and provide a platform for future image augmentation, a 3D stereoscopic display was created. Forty participants, of mixed experience level, completed a simulated TES task using 4 visual displays (novel stereoscopic viewer and currently utilized stereoendoscope, 3D, and 2D high-definition monitors) in a randomly allocated order. Primary outcome measures were: time taken, path length, and accuracy. Secondary outcomes were: task workload and participant questionnaire results. Median time taken and path length were significantly shorter for the novel viewer versus 2D and 3D, and not significantly different to the traditional stereoendoscope. Significant differences were found in accuracy, task workload, and questionnaire assessment in favor of the novel viewer, as compared to all 3 modalities. This novel 3D stereoscopic viewer allows surgical performance in TES equivalent to that achieved using the current stereoendoscope and superior to standard 2D and 3D displays, but with lower physical and mental demands for the surgeon. Participants expressed a preference for this system, ranking it more highly on a questionnaire. Clinical translation of this work has begun with the novel viewer being used in 5 TES patients.

MARSTHERM: A Web-based System Providing Thermophysical Analysis Tools for Mars Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Putzig, N. E.; Barratt, E. M.; Mellon, M. T.; Michaels, T. I.

2013-12-01

We introduce MARSTHERM, a web-based system that will allow researchers access to a standard numerical thermal model of the Martian near-surface and atmosphere. In addition, the system will provide tools for the derivation, mapping, and analysis of apparent thermal inertia from temperature observations by the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) and the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS). Adjustable parameters for the thermal model include thermal inertia, albedo, surface pressure, surface emissivity, atmospheric dust opacity, latitude, surface slope angle and azimuth, season (solar longitude), and time steps for calculations and output. The model computes diurnal surface and brightness temperatures for either a single day or a full Mars year. Output options include text files and plots of seasonal and diurnal surface, brightness, and atmospheric temperatures. The tools for the derivation and mapping of apparent thermal inertia from spacecraft data are project-based, wherein the user provides an area of interest (AOI) by specifying latitude and longitude ranges. The system will then extract results within the AOI from prior global mapping of elevation (from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, for calculating surface pressure), TES annual albedo, and TES seasonal and annual-mean 2AM and 2PM apparent thermal inertia (Putzig and Mellon, 2007, Icarus 191, 68-94). In addition, a history of TES dust opacity within the AOI is computed. For each project, users may then provide a list of THEMIS images to process for apparent thermal inertia, optionally overriding the TES-derived dust opacity with a fixed value. Output from the THEMIS derivation process includes thumbnail and context images, GeoTIFF raster data, and HDF5 files containing arrays of input and output data (radiance, brightness temperature, apparent thermal inertia, elevation, quality flag, latitude, and longitude) and ancillary information. As a demonstration of capabilities, we will present results from a thermophysical study of Gale Crater (Barratt and Putzig, 2013, EPSC abstract 613), for which TES and THEMIS mapping has been carried out during system development. Public access to the MARSTHERM system will be provided in conjunction with the 2013 AGU Fall Meeting and will feature the numerical thermal model and thermal-inertia derivation algorithm developed by Mellon et al. (2000, Icarus 148, 437-455) as modified by Putzig and Mellon (2007, Icarus 191, 68-94). Updates to the thermal model and derivation algorithm that include a more sophisticated representation of the atmosphere and a layered subsurface are presently in development, and these will be incorporated into the system when they are available. Other planned enhancements include tools for modeling temperatures from horizontal mixtures of materials and slope facets, for comparing heterogeneity modeling results to TES and THEMIS results, and for mosaicking THEMIS images.

Lithographed spectrometers for tomographic line mapping of the Epoch of Reionization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Brient, R.; Bock, J. J.; Bradford, C. M.; Crites, A.; Duan, R.; Hailey-Dunsheath, S.; Hunacek, J.; LeDuc, R.; Shirokoff, E.; Staniszewski, Z.; Turner, A.; Zemcov, M.

2014-08-01

The Tomographic Ionized carbon Mapping Experiment (TIME) is a multi-phased experiment that will topographically map [CII] emission from the Epoch of Reionization. We are developing lithographed spectrometers that couple to TES bolometers in anticipation of the second generation instrument. Our design intentionally mirrors many features of the parallel SuperSpec project, inductively coupling power from a trunk-line microstrip onto half-wave resonators. The resonators couple to a rat-race hybrids that feeds TES bolometers. Our 25 channel prototype shows spectrally positioned lines roughly matching design with a receiver optical efficiency of 15-20%, a level that is dominated by loss in components outside the spectrometer.

Development and Operation of Arrays of TES x-ray Microcalorimeters Suitable for Constellation-X

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kilbourne, C. A.; Bandler, S. R.; Brown, A. D.; Chervenak, J. A.; Eckart, M. E.; Finkbeiner, F. M.; Iyomoto, N.; Kelley, R. L.; Porter, F. S.; Smith, S. J.;

Progress in the Development of Mo-Au Transition-Edge Sensors for X-Ray Spectroscopy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stahle, Caroline K.; Brekosky, Regis P.; Figueroa-Feliciano, Enectali; Finkbeiner, Fred M.; Gygax, John D.; Li, Mary J.; Lindeman, Mark A..; Porter, F. Scott; Tralshawalaa, Nilesh

2000-01-01

X-ray microcalorimeters using transition-edge sensors (TES) show great promise for use in astronomical x-ray spectroscopy. We have obtained very high energy resolution (2.8 electronvolts at 1.5 kiloelectronvolts and 3.7 electronvolts at 3.3 kiloelectronvolts) in a large, isolated TES pixel using a Mo/Au proximity-effect bilayer on a silicon nitride membrane. We will discuss the performance and our characterization of that device. In order to be truly suitable for use behind an x-ray telescope, however, such devices need to be arrayed with a pixel size and focal-plane coverage commensurate with the telescope focal length and spatial resolution. Since this requires fitting the TES and its thermal link, a critical component of each calorimeter pixel, into a far more compact geometry than has previously been investigated, we must study the fundamental scaling laws in pixel optimization. We have designed a photolithography mask that will allow us to probe the range in thermal conductance that can be obtained by perforating the nitride membrane in a narrow perimeter around the sensor. This mask will also show the effects of reducing the TES area. Though we have not yet tested devices of the compact designs, we will present our progress in several of the key processing steps and discuss the parameter space of our intended investigations.

Mobility and generation of mosaic non-autonomous transposons by Tn3-derived inverted-repeat miniature elements (TIMEs).

PubMed

Szuplewska, Magdalena; Ludwiczak, Marta; Lyzwa, Katarzyna; Czarnecki, Jakub; Bartosik, Dariusz

2014-01-01

Functional transposable elements (TEs) of several Pseudomonas spp. strains isolated from black shale ore of Lubin mine and from post-flotation tailings of Zelazny Most in Poland, were identified using a positive selection trap plasmid strategy. This approach led to the capture and characterization of (i) 13 insertion sequences from 5 IS families (IS3, IS5, ISL3, IS30 and IS1380), (ii) isoforms of two Tn3-family transposons--Tn5563a and Tn4662a (the latter contains a toxin-antitoxin system), as well as (iii) non-autonomous TEs of diverse structure, ranging in size from 262 to 3892 bp. The non-autonomous elements transposed into AT-rich DNA regions and generated 5- or 6-bp sequence duplications at the target site of transposition. Although these TEs lack a transposase gene, they contain homologous 38-bp-long terminal inverted repeat sequences (IRs), highly conserved in Tn5563a and many other Tn3-family transposons. The simplest elements of this type, designated TIMEs (Tn3 family-derived Inverted-repeat Miniature Elements) (262 bp), were identified within two natural plasmids (pZM1P1 and pLM8P2) of Pseudomonas spp. It was demonstrated that TIMEs are able to mobilize segments of plasmid DNA for transposition, which results in the generation of more complex non-autonomous elements, resembling IS-driven composite transposons in structure. Such transposon-like elements may contain different functional genetic modules in their core regions, including plasmid replication systems. Another non-autonomous element "captured" with a trap plasmid was a TIME derivative containing a predicted resolvase gene and a res site typical for many Tn3-family transposons. The identification of a portable site-specific recombination system is another intriguing example confirming the important role of non-autonomous TEs of the TIME family in shuffling genetic information in bacterial genomes. Transposition of such mosaic elements may have a significant impact on diversity and evolution, not only of transposons and plasmids, but also of other types of mobile genetic elements.

40 CFR 63.420 - Applicability.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

...-CE)+0.17 (TE)+0.08(TES)+0.038(TI)+8.5×10-6(C)+KQ]+0.04(OE) where: ET = emissions screening factor for... efficiency limitation on potential to emit for the vapor processing system used to control emissions from... of external floating roof gasoline storage vessels with only primary seals; TES = total number of...

40 CFR 63.420 - Applicability.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

...-CE)+0.17 (TE)+0.08(TES)+0.038(TI)+8.5×10-6(C)+KQ]+0.04(OE) where: ET = emissions screening factor for... efficiency limitation on potential to emit for the vapor processing system used to control emissions from... of external floating roof gasoline storage vessels with only primary seals; TES = total number of...

40 CFR 63.420 - Applicability.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

...-CE)+0.17 (TE)+0.08(TES)+0.038(TI)+8.5×10-6(C)+KQ]+0.04(OE) where: ET = emissions screening factor for... efficiency limitation on potential to emit for the vapor processing system used to control emissions from... of external floating roof gasoline storage vessels with only primary seals; TES = total number of...

40 CFR 63.420 - Applicability.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

...-CE)+0.17 (TE)+0.08(TES)+0.038(TI)+8.5×10-6(C)+KQ]+0.04(OE) where: ET = emissions screening factor for... efficiency limitation on potential to emit for the vapor processing system used to control emissions from... of external floating roof gasoline storage vessels with only primary seals; TES = total number of...

40 CFR 63.420 - Applicability.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

...)(1-CE)+0.17 (TE)+0.08(TES)+0.038(TI)+8.5×10-6(C)+KQ]+0.04(OE) where: ET = emissions screening factor... efficiency limitation on potential to emit for the vapor processing system used to control emissions from... of external floating roof gasoline storage vessels with only primary seals; TES = total number of...

Transposable elements contribute to activation of maize genes in response to abiotic stress.

PubMed

Makarevitch, Irina; Waters, Amanda J; West, Patrick T; Stitzer, Michelle; Hirsch, Candice N; Ross-Ibarra, Jeffrey; Springer, Nathan M

2015-01-01

Transposable elements (TEs) account for a large portion of the genome in many eukaryotic species. Despite their reputation as "junk" DNA or genomic parasites deleterious for the host, TEs have complex interactions with host genes and the potential to contribute to regulatory variation in gene expression. It has been hypothesized that TEs and genes they insert near may be transcriptionally activated in response to stress conditions. The maize genome, with many different types of TEs interspersed with genes, provides an ideal system to study the genome-wide influence of TEs on gene regulation. To analyze the magnitude of the TE effect on gene expression response to environmental changes, we profiled gene and TE transcript levels in maize seedlings exposed to a number of abiotic stresses. Many genes exhibit up- or down-regulation in response to these stress conditions. The analysis of TE families inserted within upstream regions of up-regulated genes revealed that between four and nine different TE families are associated with up-regulated gene expression in each of these stress conditions, affecting up to 20% of the genes up-regulated in response to abiotic stress, and as many as 33% of genes that are only expressed in response to stress. Expression of many of these same TE families also responds to the same stress conditions. The analysis of the stress-induced transcripts and proximity of the transposon to the gene suggests that these TEs may provide local enhancer activities that stimulate stress-responsive gene expression. Our data on allelic variation for insertions of several of these TEs show strong correlation between the presence of TE insertions and stress-responsive up-regulation of gene expression. Our findings suggest that TEs provide an important source of allelic regulatory variation in gene response to abiotic stress in maize.

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

Jorgenson, Jennie; Mehos, Mark; Denholm, Paul

Concentrated solar power with thermal energy storage (CSP-TES) is a unique source of renewable energy in that its energy can be shifted over time and it can provide the electricity system with dependable generation capacity. In this study, we provide a framework to determine if the benefits of CSP-TES (shiftable energy and the ability to provide firm capacity) exceed the benefits of PV and firm capacity sources such as long-duration battery storage or conventional natural gas combustion turbines (CTs). The results of this study using current capital cost estimates indicate that a combination of PV and conventional gas CTs providesmore » a lower net cost compared to CSP-TES and PV with batteries. Some configurations of CSP-TES have a lower net cost than PV with batteries for even the lowest battery cost estimate. Using projected capital cost targets, however, some configurations of CSP-TES have a lower net cost than PV with either option for even the lowest battery cost estimate. The net cost of CSP-TES varies with configuration, and lower solar multiples coupled with less storage are more attractive at current cost levels, due to high component costs. However, higher solar multiples show a lower net cost using projected future costs for heliostats and thermal storage materials.« less

Microgravity

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-11-03

On the Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis' middeck, Astronaut Joseph R. Tarner, mission specialist, works at an area amidst several lockers which support the Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) experiment during the STS-66 mission. This particular section is called the Crystal Observation System, housed in the Thermal Enclosure System (COS/TES). Together with the Vapor Diffusion Apparatus (VDA), housed in Single Locker Thermal Enclosure (SLTES), the COS/TES represents the continuing research into the structure of proteins and other macromolecules such as viruses.

The role of thermal energy storage in industrial energy conservation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duscha, R. A.; Masica, W. J.

1979-01-01

Thermal Energy Storage for Industrial Applications is a major thrust of the Department of Energy's Thermal Energy Storage Program. Utilizing Thermal Energy Storage (TES) with process or reject heat recovery systems is shown to be extremely beneficial for several applications. Recent system studies resulting from contracts awarded by the Department of Energy (DOE) identified four especially significant industries where TES appears attractive - food processing, paper and pulp, iron and steel, and cement. Potential annual fuel savings with large scale implementation of near term TES systems for these industries is over 9,000,000 bbl of oil. This savings is due to recuperation and storage in the food processing industry, direct fuel substitution in the paper and pulp industry and reduction in electric utility peak fuel use through inplant production of electricity from utilization of reject heat in the steel and cement industries.

Flight experiment of thermal energy storage. [for spacecraft power systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Namkoong, David

1989-01-01

Thermal energy storage (TES) enables a solar dynamic system to deliver constant electric power through periods of sun and shade. Brayton and Stirling power systems under current considerations for missions in the near future require working fluid temperatures in the 1100 to 1300+ K range. TES materials that meet these requirements fall into the fluoride family of salts. Salts shrink as they solidify, a change reaching 30 percent for some salts. Hot spots can develop in the TES container or the container can become distorted if the melting salt cannot expand elsewhere. Analysis of the transient, two-phase phenomenon is being incorporated into a three-dimensional computer code. The objective of the flight program is to verify the predictions of the code, particularly of the void location and its effect on containment temperature. The four experimental packages comprising the program will be the first tests of melting and freezing conducted under microgravity.

Role of transposon-derived small RNAs in the interplay between genomes and parasitic DNA in rice.

PubMed

Nosaka, Misuzu; Itoh, Jun-Ichi; Nagato, Yasuo; Ono, Akemi; Ishiwata, Aiko; Sato, Yutaka

2012-09-01

RNA silencing is a defense system against "genomic parasites" such as transposable elements (TE), which are potentially harmful to host genomes. In plants, transcripts from TEs induce production of double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) and are processed into small RNAs (small interfering RNAs, siRNAs) that suppress TEs by RNA-directed DNA methylation. Thus, the majority of TEs are epigenetically silenced. On the other hand, most of the eukaryotic genome is composed of TEs and their remnants, suggesting that TEs have evolved countermeasures against host-mediated silencing. Under some circumstances, TEs can become active and increase in copy number. Knowledge is accumulating on the mechanisms of TE silencing by the host; however, the mechanisms by which TEs counteract silencing are poorly understood. Here, we show that a class of TEs in rice produces a microRNA (miRNA) to suppress host silencing. Members of the microRNA820 (miR820) gene family are located within CACTA DNA transposons in rice and target a de novo DNA methyltransferase gene, OsDRM2, one of the components of epigenetic silencing. We confirmed that miR820 negatively regulates the expression of OsDRM2. In addition, we found that expression levels of various TEs are increased quite sensitively in response to decreased OsDRM2 expression and DNA methylation at TE loci. Furthermore, we found that the nucleotide sequence of miR820 and its recognition site within the target gene in some Oryza species have co-evolved to maintain their base-pairing ability. The co-evolution of these sequences provides evidence for the functionality of this regulation. Our results demonstrate how parasitic elements in the genome escape the host's defense machinery. Furthermore, our analysis of the regulation of OsDRM2 by miR820 sheds light on the action of transposon-derived small RNAs, not only as a defense mechanism for host genomes but also as a regulator of interactions between hosts and their parasitic elements.

Individual retrotransposon integrants are differentially controlled by KZFP/KAP1-dependent histone methylation, DNA methylation and TET-mediated hydroxymethylation in naïve embryonic stem cells.

PubMed

Coluccio, Andrea; Ecco, Gabriela; Duc, Julien; Offner, Sandra; Turelli, Priscilla; Trono, Didier

2018-02-26

The KZFP/KAP1 (KRAB zinc finger proteins/KRAB-associated protein 1) system plays a central role in repressing transposable elements (TEs) and maintaining parent-of-origin DNA methylation at imprinting control regions (ICRs) during the wave of genome-wide reprogramming that precedes implantation. In naïve murine embryonic stem cells (mESCs), the genome is maintained highly hypomethylated by a combination of TET-mediated active demethylation and lack of de novo methylation, yet KAP1 is tethered by sequence-specific KZFPs to ICRs and TEs where it recruits histone and DNA methyltransferases to impose heterochromatin formation and DNA methylation. Here, upon removing either KAP1 or the cognate KZFP, we observed rapid TET2-dependent accumulation of 5hmC at both ICRs and TEs. In the absence of the KZFP/KAP1 complex, ICRs lost heterochromatic histone marks and underwent both active and passive DNA demethylation. For KAP1-bound TEs, 5mC hydroxylation correlated with transcriptional reactivation. Using RNA-seq, we further compared the expression profiles of TEs upon Kap1 removal in wild-type, Dnmt and Tet triple knockout mESCs. While we found that KAP1 represents the main effector of TEs repression in all three settings, we could additionally identify specific groups of TEs further controlled by DNA methylation. Furthermore, we observed that in the absence of TET proteins, activation upon Kap1 depletion was blunted for some TE integrants and increased for others. Our results indicate that the KZFP/KAP1 complex maintains heterochromatin and DNA methylation at ICRs and TEs in naïve embryonic stem cells partly by protecting these loci from TET-mediated demethylation. Our study further unveils an unsuspected level of complexity in the transcriptional control of the endovirome by demonstrating often integrant-specific differential influences of histone-based heterochromatin modifications, DNA methylation and 5mC oxidation in regulating TEs expression.

Characterisation of chicken TES and its role in cell spreading and motility.

PubMed

Griffith, Elen; Coutts, Amanda S; Black, Donald M

2004-03-01

Previously we identified TES as a candidate tumour suppressor gene that is located at human chromosome 7q31.1. More recently, we and others have shown TES to encode a novel LIM domain protein that localises to focal adhesions. Here, we present the cloning and functional analysis of the chicken orthologue of TES, cTES. The TES proteins are highly conserved between chicken and human, showing 89% identity at the amino acid level. We show that the cTES protein localised at focal adhesions, actin stress fibres, and sites of cell-cell contact, and GST-cTES can pull-down zyxin and actin. To investigate a functional role for cTES, we looked at the effect of its overexpression on cell spreading and cell motility. Cells overexpressing cTES showed increased cell spreading on fibronectin, and decreased cell motility, compared to RCAS vector transfected control cells. The data from our studies with cTES support our previous findings with human TES and further implicate TES as a member of a complex of proteins that function together to regulate cell adhesion and additionally demonstrate a role for TES in cell motility. Copyright 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Excitability of Spinal Motor Neuron Function after the Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation (TES) in Healthy Subjects -F-wave Study.

PubMed

Hirose, Hiroaki; Suzuki, Toshiaki; Shimada, Tomoaki

2006-01-01

To clarify the excitability of spinal motor neuron function after transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TES), we investigated the F-wave before and after TES. Fourteen healthy volunteers with a mean age of 23.4 years were studied. TES was applied to the flexor hallucis brevis (FHB) for 15 minutes. F-wave and M-wave were recorded from the FHB after tibial nerve stimulation at the ankle before TES, just after TES, 10, 20 and 30 minutes after TES. TES evoked full flexion of the great toe. F-wave was analyzed for the amplitude ratio of F/M, latency and duration. The amplitude ratio of F/ M was 3.1% before TES, 1.4% just after TES, 1.6% 10 minutes after, 1.9% 20 minutes after and 1.7% 30 minutes after TES. Each amplitude ratio of F/M after TES was significantly lower than that before TES (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the latency and the duration. These results suggest that the excitability of spinal motor neuron function after TES to muscles under this condition was reduced in healthy subjects.

Optimal Energy Measurement in Nonlinear Systems: An Application of Differential Geometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fixsen, Dale J.; Moseley, S. H.; Gerrits, T.; Lita, A.; Nam, S. W.

2014-01-01

Design of TES microcalorimeters requires a tradeoff between resolution and dynamic range. Often, experimenters will require linearity for the highest energy signals, which requires additional heat capacity be added to the detector. This results in a reduction of low energy resolution in the detector. We derive and demonstrate an algorithm that allows operation far into the nonlinear regime with little loss in spectral resolution. We use a least squares optimal filter that varies with photon energy to accommodate the nonlinearity of the detector and the non-stationarity of the noise. The fitting process we use can be seen as an application of differential geometry. This recognition provides a set of well-developed tools to extend our work to more complex situations. The proper calibration of a nonlinear microcalorimeter requires a source with densely spaced narrow lines. A pulsed laser multi-photon source is used here, and is seen to be a powerful tool for allowing us to develop practical systems with significant detector nonlinearity. The combination of our analysis techniques and the multi-photon laser source create a powerful tool for increasing the performance of future TES microcalorimeters.

Low-Cost Metal Hydride Thermal Energy Storage System for Concentrating Solar Power Systems

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

Zidan, Ragaiy; Hardy, B. J.; Corgnale, C.

2016-01-31

The objective of this research was to evaluate and demonstrate a metal hydride-based TES system for use with a CSP system. A unique approach has been applied to this project that combines our modeling experience with the extensive material knowledge and expertise at both SRNL and Curtin University (CU). Because of their high energy capacity and reasonable kinetics many metal hydride systems can be charged rapidly. Metal hydrides for vehicle applications have demonstrated charging rates in minutes and tens of minutes as opposed to hours. This coupled with high heat of reaction allows metal hydride TES systems to produce verymore » high thermal power rates (approx. 1kW per 6-8 kg of material). A major objective of this work is to evaluate some of the new metal hydride materials that have recently become available. A problem with metal hydride TES systems in the past has been selecting a suitable high capacity low temperature metal hydride material to pair with the high temperature material. A unique aspect of metal hydride TES systems is that many of these systems can be located on or near dish/engine collectors due to their high thermal capacity and small size. The primary objective of this work is to develop a high enthalpy metal hydride that is capable of reversibly storing hydrogen at high temperatures (> 650 °C) and that can be paired with a suitable low enthalpy metal hydride with low cost materials. Furthermore, a demonstration of hydrogen cycling between the two hydride beds is desired.« less

Advanced Boundary Electrode Modeling for tES and Parallel tES/EEG.

PubMed

Pursiainen, Sampsa; Agsten, Britte; Wagner, Sven; Wolters, Carsten H

2018-01-01

This paper explores advanced electrode modeling in the context of separate and parallel transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) and electroencephalography (EEG) measurements. We focus on boundary condition-based approaches that do not necessitate adding auxiliary elements, e.g., sponges, to the computational domain. In particular, we investigate the complete electrode model (CEM) which incorporates a detailed description of the skin-electrode interface including its contact surface, impedance, and normal current distribution. The CEM can be applied for both tES and EEG electrodes which are advantageous when a parallel system is used. In comparison to the CEM, we test two important reduced approaches: the gap model (GAP) and the point electrode model (PEM). We aim to find out the differences of these approaches for a realistic numerical setting based on the stimulation of the auditory cortex. The results obtained suggest, among other things, that GAP and GAP/PEM are sufficiently accurate for the practical application of tES and parallel tES/EEG, respectively. Differences between CEM and GAP were observed mainly in the skin compartment, where only CEM explains the heating effects characteristic to tES.

Transposon-mediated epigenetic regulation contributes to phenotypic diversity and environmental adaptation in rice.

PubMed

Song, Xianwei; Cao, Xiaofeng

2017-04-01

Transposable elements (TEs) have long been regarded as 'selfish DNA', and are generally silenced by epigenetic mechanisms. However, work in the past decade has identified positive roles for TEs in generating genomic novelty and diversity in plants. In particular, recent studies suggested that TE-induced epigenetic alterations and modification of gene expression contribute to phenotypic variation and adaptation to geography or stress. These findings have led many to regard TEs, not as junk DNA, but as sources of control elements and genomic diversity. As a staple food crop and model system for genomic research on monocot plants, rice (Oryza sativa) has a modest-sized genome that harbors massive numbers of DNA transposons (class II transposable elements) scattered across the genome, which may make TE regulation of genes more prevalent. In this review, we summarize recent progress in research on the functions of rice TEs in modulating gene expression and creating new genes. We also examine the contributions of TEs to phenotypic diversity and adaptation to environmental conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dynamic modelling and simulation of linear Fresnel solar field model based on molten salt heat transfer fluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hakkarainen, Elina; Tähtinen, Matti

2016-05-01

Demonstrations of direct steam generation (DSG) in linear Fresnel collectors (LFC) have given promising results related to higher steam parameters compared to the current state-of-the-art parabolic trough collector (PTC) technology using oil as heat transfer fluid (HTF). However, DSG technology lacks feasible solution for long-term thermal energy storage (TES) system. This option is important for CSP technology in order to offer dispatchable power. Recently, molten salts have been proposed to be used as HTF and directly as storage medium in both line-focusing solar fields, offering storage capacity of several hours. This direct molten salt (DMS) storage concept has already gained operational experience in solar tower power plant, and it is under demonstration phase both in the case of LFC and PTC systems. Dynamic simulation programs offer a valuable effort for design and optimization of solar power plants. In this work, APROS dynamic simulation program is used to model a DMS linear Fresnel solar field with two-tank TES system, and example simulation results are presented in order to verify the functionality of the model and capability of APROS for CSP modelling and simulation.

Measuring and Analyzing Cognitive Skills at the Platoon Level

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-03-01

s~jt tnheted ofe cursJsfe n h ai fcma fiinv 1fie trea’,; .)f ult\\ u01 this rsearch r t detrmed whics ariismot inunTes de cisoe makie abilites...admiinister the test to a group of Non -Comnmissioned Officers from Fort Ord. California. The test is 2iven once at the beginning of the Basic Non ...C. MTHOPOLEM............................................3 11. TEST DESIGN AND SCORING SYSTEM...........................5 A. TEST SCENARIO

Phylogenetic and Genomic Analyses Resolve the Origin of Important Plant Genes Derived from Transposable Elements.

PubMed

Joly-Lopez, Zoé; Hoen, Douglas R; Blanchette, Mathieu; Bureau, Thomas E

2016-08-01

Once perceived as merely selfish, transposable elements (TEs) are now recognized as potent agents of adaptation. One way TEs contribute to evolution is through TE exaptation, a process whereby TEs, which persist by replicating in the genome, transform into novel host genes, which persist by conferring phenotypic benefits. Known exapted TEs (ETEs) contribute diverse and vital functions, and may facilitate punctuated equilibrium, yet little is known about this process. To better understand TE exaptation, we designed an approach to resolve the phylogenetic context and timing of exaptation events and subsequent patterns of ETE diversification. Starting with known ETEs, we search in diverse genomes for basal ETEs and closely related TEs, carefully curate the numerous candidate sequences, and infer detailed phylogenies. To distinguish TEs from ETEs, we also weigh several key genomic characteristics including repetitiveness, terminal repeats, pseudogenic features, and conserved domains. Applying this approach to the well-characterized plant ETEs MUG and FHY3, we show that each group is paraphyletic and we argue that this pattern demonstrates that each originated in not one but multiple exaptation events. These exaptations and subsequent ETE diversification occurred throughout angiosperm evolution including the crown group expansion, the angiosperm radiation, and the primitive evolution of angiosperms. In addition, we detect evidence of several putative novel ETE families. Our findings support the hypothesis that TE exaptation generates novel genes more frequently than is currently thought, often coinciding with key periods of evolution. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

An exploratory study of voice change associated with healthy speakers after transcutaneous electrical stimulation to laryngeal muscles.

PubMed

Fowler, Linda P; Gorham-Rowan, Mary; Hapner, Edie R

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if measurable changes in fundamental frequency (F(0)) and relative sound level (RSL) occurred in healthy speakers after transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TES) as applied via VitalStim (Chattanooga Group, Chattanooga, TN). A prospective, repeated-measures design. Ten healthy female and 10 healthy male speakers, 20-53 years of age, participated in the study. All participants were nonsmokers and reported negative history for voice disorders. Participants received 1 hour of TES while engaged in eating, drinking, and conversation to simulate a typical dysphagia therapy protocol. Voice recordings were obtained before and immediately after TES. The voice samples consisted of a sustained vowel task and reading of the Rainbow Passage. Measurements of F(0) and RSL were obtained using TF32 (Milenkovic, 2005, University of Wisconsin). The participants also reported any sensations 5 minutes and 24 hours after TES. Measurable changes in F(0) and RSL were found for both tasks but were variable in direction and magnitude. These changes were not statistically significant. Subjective comments ranged from reports of a vocal warm-up feeling to delayed onset muscle soreness. These findings demonstrate that application of TES produces measurable changes in F(0) and RSL. However, the direction and magnitude of these changes are highly variable. Further research is needed to determine factors that may affect the extent to which TES contributes to significant changes in voice. Copyright © 2011 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

An improved medium for the anaerobic growth of Paracoccus denitrificans Pd1222

PubMed Central

Hahnke, Stefanie M.; Moosmann, Philipp; Erb, Tobias J.; Strous, Marc

2014-01-01

Paracoccus denitrificans is a well studied model organism with respect to its aerobic and anaerobic respiratory enzymes. However, until now, the growth medium for this organism has not been optimized for anaerobic growth. In particular, the requirements of P. denitrificans for trace elements (TEs) are not well known. In the present study we aimed to improve growth rates of P. denitrificans Pd1222 on a defined medium under anoxic conditions. We designed media containing different combinations of TEs at various concentrations, and tested their performance against previously reported media. Our results suggest that growth rate and yield depend on the availability and concentration of TEs in the medium. A chelated TE solution was more suitable than an acidified TE solution. Highest growth rates were achieved with medium comprising the TEs iron, manganese, molybdenum, copper and zinc ranging from 0.1 to 9 μM. On this medium, P. denitrificans Pd1222 grew with a generation time of 4.4 h under anoxic conditions and 2.8 h under oxic conditions. Diauxic growth was clearly shown with respect to nitrate and nitrite reduction under anoxic conditions. PMID:24550891

An improved medium for the anaerobic growth of Paracoccus denitrificans Pd1222.

PubMed

Hahnke, Stefanie M; Moosmann, Philipp; Erb, Tobias J; Strous, Marc

2014-01-01

Paracoccus denitrificans is a well studied model organism with respect to its aerobic and anaerobic respiratory enzymes. However, until now, the growth medium for this organism has not been optimized for anaerobic growth. In particular, the requirements of P. denitrificans for trace elements (TEs) are not well known. In the present study we aimed to improve growth rates of P. denitrificans Pd1222 on a defined medium under anoxic conditions. We designed media containing different combinations of TEs at various concentrations, and tested their performance against previously reported media. Our results suggest that growth rate and yield depend on the availability and concentration of TEs in the medium. A chelated TE solution was more suitable than an acidified TE solution. Highest growth rates were achieved with medium comprising the TEs iron, manganese, molybdenum, copper and zinc ranging from 0.1 to 9 μM. On this medium, P. denitrificans Pd1222 grew with a generation time of 4.4 h under anoxic conditions and 2.8 h under oxic conditions. Diauxic growth was clearly shown with respect to nitrate and nitrite reduction under anoxic conditions.

Advanced latent heat of fusion thermal energy storage for solar power systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Phillips, W. M.; Stearns, J. W.

1985-01-01

The use of solar thermal power systems coupled with thermal energy storage (TES) is being studied for both terrestrial and space applications. In the case of terrestrial applications, it was found that one or two hours of TES could shift the insolation peak (solar noon) to coincide with user peak loads. The use of a phase change material (PCM) is attractive because of the higher energy storage density which can be achieved. However, the use of PCM has also certain disadvantages which must be addressed. Proof of concept testing was undertaken to evaluate corrosive effects and thermal ratcheting effects in a slurry system. It is concluded that the considered alkali metal/alkali salt slurry approach to TES appears to be very viable, taking into account an elimination of thermal ratcheting in storage systems and the reduction of corrosive effects. The approach appears to be useful for an employment involving temperatures applicable to Brayton or Stirling cycles.

TES/MLS Aura L2 Carbon Monoxide (CO) Nadir (TML2CO)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-05-06

TES/MLS Aura L2 Carbon Monoxide (CO) Nadir (TML2CO) Atmospheric ... profile estimates and associated errors derived using TES & MLS spectral radiance measurements taken at nearest time and locations. ... a priori constraint vectors. News:  TES News Join TES News List Project Title:  TES ...

TES/MLS Aura L2 Carbon Monoxide (CO) Nadir (TML2CO)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-05-07

TES/MLS Aura L2 Carbon Monoxide (CO) Nadir (TML2CO) ... profile estimates and associated errors derived using TES & MLS spectral radiance measurements taken at nearest time and locations. ... a priori constraint vectors. News:  TES News Join TES News List Project Title:  TES ...

Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars-GRAM) and Database for Mission Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Justus, C. G.; Duvall, Aleta; Johnson, D. L.

2003-01-01

Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars-GRAM 2001) is an engineering-level Mars atmosphere model widely used for many Mars mission applications. From 0-80 km, it is based on NASA Ames Mars General Circulation Model, while above 80 km it is based on Mars Thermospheric General Circulation Model. Mars-GRAM 2001 and MGCM use surface topography from Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiting Laser Altimeter. Validation studies are described comparing Mars-GRAM with Mars Global Surveyor Radio Science and Thermal Emission Spectrometer data. RS data from 2480 profiles were used, covering latitudes 75 deg S to 72 deg N, surface to approximately 40 km, for seasons ranging from areocentric longitude of Sun (Ls) = 70-160 deg and 265-310 deg. RS data spanned a range of local times, mostly 0-9 hours and 18-24 hours. For interests in aerocapture and precision landing, comparisons concentrated on atmospheric density. At a fixed height of 20 km, RS density varied by about a factor of 2.5 over ranges of latitudes and Ls values observed. Evaluated at matching positions and times, these figures show average RSMars-GRAM density ratios were generally 1+/-)0.05, except at heights above approximately 25 km and latitudes above approximately 50 deg N. Average standard deviation of RSMars-GRAM density ratio was 6%. TES data were used covering surface to approximately 40 km, over more than a full Mars year (February, 1999 - June, 2001, just before start of a Mars global dust storm). Depending on season, TES data covered latitudes 85 deg S to 85 deg N. Most TES data were concentrated near local times 2 hours and 14 hours. Observed average TES/Mars-GRAM density ratios were generally 1+/-0.05, except at high altitudes (15-30 km, depending on season) and high latitudes (greater than 45 deg N), or at most altitudes in the southern hemisphere at Ls approximately 90 and 180 deg. Compared to TES averages for a given latitude and season, TES data had average density standard deviation about the mean of approximately 2.5% for all data, or approximately 1-4%, depending on time of day and dust optical depth. Average standard deviation of TES/Mars-GRAM density ratio was 8.9% for local time 2 hours and 7.1% for local time 14 hours. Thus standard deviation of observed TES/Mars-GRAM density ratio, evaluated at matching positions and times, is about three times the standard deviation of TES data about the TES mean value at a given position and season.

Processing TES Level-2 Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Poosti, Sassaneh; Akopyan, Sirvard; Sakurai, Regina; Yun, Hyejung; Saha, Pranjit; Strickland, Irina; Croft, Kevin; Smith, Weldon; Hoffman, Rodney; Koffend, John;

Acceptability of a Web-based Community Reinforcement Approach for Substance Use Disorders with Treatment-seeking American Indians/Alaska Natives

PubMed Central

Campbell, Aimee N. C.; Turrigiano, Eva; Moore, Michelle; Miele, Gloria M.; Rieckmann, Traci; Hu, Mei-Chen; Kropp, Frankie; Ringor-Carty, Roz; Nunes, Edward V.

2014-01-01

Longstanding disparities in substance use disorders and treatment access exist among American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/AN). Computerized, web-delivered interventions have potential to increase access to quality treatment and improve patient outcomes. Prior research supports the efficacy of a web-based version (Therapeutic Education System [TES]) of the Community Reinforcement Approach to improve outcomes among outpatients in substance abuse treatment; however, TES has not been tested among AI/AN. The results from this mixed method acceptability study among a diverse sample of urban AI/AN (N=40) show that TES was acceptable across seven indices (range=7.8 to 9.4 on 0 to 10 scales with 10 indicating highest acceptability). Qualitative interviews suggest adaptation specific to AI/AN culture could improve adoption. Additional efforts to adapt TES and conduct a larger effectiveness study are warranted. PMID:25022913

Transposable elements and G-quadruplexes.

PubMed

Kejnovsky, Eduard; Tokan, Viktor; Lexa, Matej

2015-09-01

A significant part of eukaryotic genomes is formed by transposable elements (TEs) containing not only genes but also regulatory sequences. Some of the regulatory sequences located within TEs can form secondary structures like hairpins or three-stranded (triplex DNA) and four-stranded (quadruplex DNA) conformations. This review focuses on recent evidence showing that G-quadruplex-forming sequences in particular are often present in specific parts of TEs in plants and humans. We discuss the potential role of these structures in the TE life cycle as well as the impact of G-quadruplexes on replication, transcription, translation, chromatin status, and recombination. The aim of this review is to emphasize that TEs may serve as vehicles for the genomic spread of G-quadruplexes. These non-canonical DNA structures and their conformational switches may constitute another regulatory system that, together with small and long non-coding RNA molecules and proteins, contribute to the complex cellular network resulting in the large diversity of eukaryotes.

Acceptability of a web-based community reinforcement approach for substance use disorders with treatment-seeking American Indians/Alaska Natives.

PubMed

Campbell, Aimee N C; Turrigiano, Eva; Moore, Michelle; Miele, Gloria M; Rieckmann, Traci; Hu, Mei-Chen; Kropp, Frankie; Ringor-Carty, Roz; Nunes, Edward V

2015-05-01

Longstanding disparities in substance use disorders and treatment access exist among American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN). Computerized, web-delivered interventions have potential to increase access to quality treatment and improve patient outcomes. Prior research supports the efficacy of a web-based version [therapeutic education system (TES)] of the community reinforcement approach to improve outcomes among outpatients in substance abuse treatment; however, TES has not been tested among AI/AN. The results from this mixed method acceptability study among a diverse sample of urban AI/AN (N = 40) show that TES was acceptable across seven indices (range 7.8-9.4 on 0-10 scales with 10 indicating highest acceptability). Qualitative interviews suggest adaptation specific to AI/AN culture could improve adoption. Additional efforts to adapt TES and conduct a larger effectiveness study are warranted.

Single-stage multi-level construct design incorporating ribs and chest wall reconstruction after en bloc resection of spinal tumour.

PubMed

Xiao, Jianru; He, Shaohui; Jiao, Jian; Wan, Wei; Xu, Wei; Zhang, Dan; Liu, Weibo; Zhong, Nanzhe; Liu, Tielong; Wei, Haifeng; Yang, Xinghai

2018-03-01

Multi-level reconstruction incorporating the chest wall and ribs is technically demanding after multi-segmental total en bloc spondylectomy (TES) of thoracic spinal tumours. Few surgical techniques are reported for effective reconstruction. A novel and straightforward technical reconstruction through posterior-lateral approach was presented to solve the extensive chest wall defect and prevent occurrences of severe respiratory dysfunctions after performing TES. The preliminary outcomes of surgery were reviewed. Multi-level TES was performed for five patients with primary or recurrent thoracic spinal malignancies through posterior-lateral approach. The involved ribs and chest wall were removed to achieve tumour-free margin. Then titanium mesh with allograft bone and pedicle screw-rod system were adopted for the circumferential spinal reconstruction routinely. Titanium rods were modified accordingly to attach to the screw-rod system proximally, and the distal end of rods was dynamically inserted into the ribs. The mean surgery time was 6.7 hours (range 5-8), with the average blood loss of 3260 ml (range 2300-4500). No severe neurological complications were reported while three patients had complaints of slight numbness of chest skin (no. 1, 3, and 5). No severe respiratory complications occurred during peri-operative period. No implant failure and no local recurrence or distant metastases were observed with an average follow-up of 12.5 months. The single-stage reconstructions incorporating spine and chest wall are straightforward and easy to perform. The preliminary outcomes of co-reconstructions are promising and favourable. More studies and longer follow-up are required to validate this technique.

Development of arrays of position-sensitive microcalorimeters for Constellation-X

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, S. J.; Bandler, S. R.; Brekosky, R. P.; Brown, A.-D.; Chervenak, J. A.; Eckart, M. E.; Finkbeiner, F. M.; Iyomoto, N.; Kelley, R. L.; Kolbourne, C. A.;

Thermal energy storage evaluation and life testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richter, R.

1983-01-01

Two thermal energy storage (TES) units which were built under a previous contract were tested with a Hi-Cap Vuilleumier cryogenic cooler in the facility of the Hughes Aircraft Corporation. The objective of the program was the evaluation of the behavior of the TES units as well as the determination of the temperature history of the three cold stages of the Vuilleumier cryogenic cooler during cyclic charging and discharging of the TES units. The test results have confirmed that thermal energy storage can provide the necessary thermal power to the hot cylinders of the Vuilleumier cryogenic cooler at the required operating temperatures. Thereby the continuous cooling capability of the cooler during an eclipse when no electrical power is available is being assured. The cold stage temperature amplitudes during a complete charge discharge cycle of the TES units were only about 10% of the amplitudes which were observed when the Hi-Cap Vuilleumier cryogenic cooler was operating without thermal energy storage backup in a simulated orbit of 54 minutes sun exposure and 18 minutes eclipse time. The themal conductivity of the molten thermal energy storage salt was apparently only a fraction of the thermal conductivity which had been assumed for the prediction of the upper heater temperatures. A redesign of the heater temperatures below 1480 degrees F which is now required for full charging of the TES units within 54 minutes with the present heater design.

Development of an integrated heat pipe-thermal storage system for a solar receiver

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keddy, E. S.; Sena, J. T.; Merrigan, M. A.; Heidenreich, G.; Johnson, S.

1987-01-01

The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) Solar Dynamic Power System (SDPS) is one of the candidates for Space Station prime power application. In the low Earth orbit of the Space Station approximately 34 minutes of the 94-minute orbital period is spent in eclipse with no solar energy input to the power system. For this period the SDPS will use thermal energy storage (TES) material to provide a constant power output. An integrated heat-pipe thermal storage receiver system is being developed as part of the ORC-SDPS solar receiver. This system incorporates potassium heat pipe elements to absorb and transfer the solar energy within the receiver cavity. The heat pipes contain the TES canisters within the potassium vapor space with the toluene heater tube used as the condenser region of the heat pipe. During the insolation period of the Earth orbit, solar energy is delivered to the heat pipe in the ORC-SDPS receiver cavity. The heat pipe transforms the non-uniform solar flux incident in the heat pipe surface within the receiver cavity to an essentially uniform flux at the potassium vapor condensation interface in the heat pipe. During solar insolation, part of the thermal energy is delivered to the heater tube and the balance is stored in the TES units. During the eclipse period of the orbit, the balance stored in the TES units is transferred by the potassium vapor to the toluene heater tube.

RNAi knockdown of the focal adhesion protein TES reveals its role in actin stress fibre organisation.

PubMed

Griffith, Elen; Coutts, Amanda S; Black, Donald M

2005-03-01

TES was originally identified as a candidate tumour suppressor gene and has subsequently been found to encode a novel focal adhesion protein. As well as localising to cell-matrix adhesions, TES localises to cell-cell contacts and to actin stress fibres. TES interacts with a variety of cytoskeletal proteins including zyxin, mena, VASP, talin and actin. There is evidence that TES may function in actin-dependent processes as overexpression of TES results in increased cell spreading and decreased cell motility. Together with TES's interacting partners, these data suggest that TES might be involved in regulation of the actin cytoskeleton. Here, for the first time, we have used RNAi to successfully knockdown TES in HeLa cells and we demonstrate that loss of TES from focal adhesions results in loss of actin stress fibres. Similarly, and as previously reported, RNAi-mediated knockdown of zyxin results in loss of actin stress fibres. TES siRNA treated cells show reduced RhoA activity, suggesting that the Rho GTPase pathway may be involved in the TES RNAi-induced loss of stress fibres. We have also used RNAi to examine the requirement of TES and zyxin for each other's localisation at focal adhesions, and we propose a hierarchy of recruitment, with zyxin being first, followed by VASP and then TES. Cell Motil. Copyright 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

TES FAQ

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-03-14

... General Information When did TES begin taking measurements? TES began making measurements on August 22, ... contains data from a single TES orbit for one focal plane. Note that a TES orbit starts at the South Pole Apex. A Level 1B ...

TES/Aura L2 Ozone (O3) Limb V6 (TL2O3L)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-03-01

TES/Aura L2 Ozone (O3) Limb (TL2O3L) News:  TES News Join TES ... Project Title:  TES Discipline:  Tropospheric Composition Version:  V6 Level:  L2 Platform:  TES/Aura L2 Ozone Spatial Coverage:  27 x 23 km Limb Spatial ...

Toward Large FOV High-Resolution X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer: Microwave Multiplexed Readout of 32 TES Microcalorimeters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yoon, Wonsik; Adams, Joseph S.; Bandler, Simon R.; Chervenak, James A.; Datesman, Aaron M.; Eckart, Megan E.; Finkbeiner, Fred M.; Kelley, Richard L.; Kilbourne, Caroline A.; Miniussi, Antoine R.;

TES was epigenetically silenced and suppressed the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer.

PubMed

Yongbin, Yang; Jinghua, Li; Zhanxue, Zhao; Aimin, Zang; Youchao, Jia; Yanhong, Shang; Manjing, Jiao

2014-11-01

The TES gene was frequently lost in breast cancer, which could inhibit tumor invasion and the formation of distant metastasis. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown yet. In the present study, we aimed to investigate how TES was silenced and its roles in EMT--the key step for tumor metastasis. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blot were used to detect the mRNA and protein expression of target genes; the status of TES promoter was determined by methylation-specific PCR and subsequently, DNA sequencing. Overexpression or downregulation of TES was achieved by pcDNA3.1-TES or shRNA-TES transfection. Cellular adhesion and migration were investigated by the adhesion and Transwell assays. Morphological changes of breast cancer cells were observed under the optical microscope. The Rho A activity was measured using a commercial kit, and its roles in TES-manipulated EMT were determined by real-time PCR and Western blot. The 42.3% (33/78) breast cancer tissues presented hypermethylation of the TES gene, whereas only 2 (2.6%) non-malignant cases were hypermethylated (P<0.001). Moreover, TES hypermethylation was significantly correlated with larger tumor diameter (P=0.03) and lympho node metastasis (P=0.024). In primary cultured breast cancer cells, the demethylation treatment using 5-aza-dC notably restored the expression of TES. In vitro, overexpression of TES enhanced cellular adhesion inhibited migration and suppressed EMT, while downregulation of TES impaired cellular adhesion, promoted migration, and enhanced EMT. TES overexpression also activated the Rho A signal, which is a critical factor for the effects of TES on the EMT procedure. We firstly proved that frequent loss of TES in breast cancer was caused by promoter hypermethylation, which was correlated with poor prognosis. In vitro, TES enhanced cellular adhesion, suppressed tumor migration, and inhibited EMT. Moreover, the Rho A pathway was critical for the effects of TES on EMT, which can be blocked by the Rho A inhibitor. Therefore, we propose restoration of TES as a potent strategy for breast cancer therapy.

Relationships between competitive wrestling success and neuroendocrine responses.

PubMed

Fry, Andrew C; Schilling, Brian K; Fleck, Steven J; Kraemer, William J

2011-01-01

Previous research on wrestling suggests winning wrestlers will have a greater increase in testosterone (Tes) than losing wrestlers, although the physiological mechanism is unknown. To determine the role of the sympathetic nervous system in this phenomenon, 12 male wrestlers from an National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I program wrestled 5 matches over a 2-day period. Serum samples were collected pre (Pre) and immediately postmatch (Post) for the determination of Tes, cortisol (Cort), Tes/Cort, and epinephrine (Epi). The subjects had a combined record of 34 wins, 31 losses, and 4 ties. Testosterone increased (p < 0.05) for both winners and losers, but the increase was greater for winners (X ± SE; nmol · L(-1); winners, pre = 16.4 ± 1.2, post = 23.2 ± 1.5; losers, pre = 14.8 ± 1.0, post = 19.4 ± 1.2). Cortisol and Epi increased similarly for both winners and losers, whereas the Tes/Cort ratio was unaltered at any time. Relative changes in the Epi response (%Δ) for losers were correlated to %ΔTes (r = 0.91), whereas winners did not exhibit similar relationships (r = 0.09). These data suggest that winning wrestlers may use a different regulatory mechanism for their acute Tes responses than losers who appear to depend on sympathetic regulation. Additionally, these data from humans support the biosocial theory of status and the challenge hypothesis developed for competing males in other species.

Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) experiment aboard mission STS-66

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

On the Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis' middeck, Astronaut Joseph R. Tarner, mission specialist, works at an area amidst several lockers which support the Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) experiment during the STS-66 mission. This particular section is called the Crystal Observation System, housed in the Thermal Enclosure System (COS/TES). Together with the Vapor Diffusion Apparatus (VDA), housed in Single Locker Thermal Enclosure (SLTES), the COS/TES represents the continuing research into the structure of proteins and other macromolecules such as viruses.

Astronaut Joseph R. Tanner works with PCG experiment on middeck

NASA Image and Video Library

1994-11-14

On the Space Shuttle Atlantis' mid-deck, astronaut Joseph R. Tanner, mission specialist, works at area amidst several lockers onboard the Shuttle which support the Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) experiment. This particular section is called the Crystal Observation System, housed in the Thermal Enclosure System (COS/TES). Together with the Vapor Diffusion Apparatus (VDA), housed in a Single Locker Thermal Enclosure (SLTES) which is out of frame, the Cos/TES represents the continuing research into the structures of proteins and other macromolecules such as viruses.

Estimating the Value of Utility-Scale Solar Technologies in California Under a 40% Renewable Portfolio Standard (Report Summary) (Presentation)

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

Jorgenson, J.; Denholm, P.; Mehos, M.

2014-06-01

Concentrating solar power with thermal energy storage (CSP-TES) is a unique source of solar energy in that its output can be shifted over time. The ability of CSP-TES to be a flexible source of generation may be particularly valuable in regions with high overall penetration of solar energy, such as the state of California. California's Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requires the state to increase generation from eligible renewable energy resources to reach 33% of retail electricity sales by 2020. Beyond 2020, California targets a further reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. To help reach this goal, current California governor Jerry Brownmore » has stated that a higher 40% RPS might be reachable in the near term. The levelized cost of energy is generally emphasized when assessing the economic viability of renewable energy systems implemented to achieve the RPS. However, the operational and capacity benefits of such systems are often ignored, which can lead to incorrect economic comparisons between CSP-TES and variable renewable generation technologies such as solar photovoltaics (PV). Here we evaluate a 40% RPS scenario in a California grid model with PV or CSP-TES providing the last 1% of RPS energy. We compare the technical and economic implications of integrating either solar technology under several sensitivities, finding that the ability to displace new conventional thermal generation capacity may be the largest source of value of CSP-TES compared to PV at high solar penetrations.« less

Estimating the Value of Utility-Scale Solar Technologies in California Under a 40% Renewable Portfolio Standard

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

Jorgenson, J.; Denholm, P.; Mehos, M.

2014-05-01

Concentrating solar power with thermal energy storage (CSP-TES) is a unique source of solar energy in that its output can be shifted over time. The ability of CSP-TES to be a flexible source of generation may be particularly valuable in regions with high overall penetration of solar energy, such as the state of California. California's Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requires the state to increase generation from eligible renewable energy resources to reach 33% of retail electricity sales by 2020. Beyond 2020, California targets a further reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. To help reach this goal, current California governor Jerry Brownmore » has stated that a higher 40% RPS might be reachable in the near term. The levelized cost of energy is generally emphasized when assessing the economic viability of renewable energy systems implemented to achieve the RPS. However, the operational and capacity benefits of such systems are often ignored, which can lead to incorrect economic comparisons between CSP-TES and variable renewable generation technologies such as solar photovoltaics (PV). Here we evaluate a 40% RPS scenario in a California grid model with PV or CSP-TES providing the last 1% of RPS energy. We compare the technical and economic implications of integrating either solar technology under several sensitivities, finding that the ability to displace new conventional thermal generation capacity may be the largest source of value of CSP-TES compared to PV at high solar penetrations.« less

Qwest and HyTES: Two New Hyperspectral Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometers for Earth Science

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-01

and QWIP focal plane arrays. The long wave infrared ( LWIR ) is typically expressed as the wavelength range between 7 and 14 µm. Our current...recently recommended by the National Research Council in their Decadal Survey. The LWIR component of the HyspIRI mission will address science...but extends the Dyson design to work optimally with the LWIR . The savings in physical size for similar F/# systems is dramatic as shown in Figure

Technology-enhanced simulation and pediatric education: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Cheng, Adam; Lang, Tara R; Starr, Stephanie R; Pusic, Martin; Cook, David A

2014-05-01

Pediatrics has embraced technology-enhanced simulation (TES) as an educational modality, but its effectiveness for pediatric education remains unclear. The objective of this study was to describe the characteristics and evaluate the effectiveness of TES for pediatric education. This review adhered to PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) standards. A systematic search of Medline, Embase, CINAHL, ERIC, Web of Science, Scopus, key journals, and previous review bibliographies through May 2011 and an updated Medline search through October 2013 were conducted. Original research articles in any language evaluating the use of TES for educating health care providers at any stage, where the content solely focuses on patients 18 years or younger, were selected. Reviewers working in duplicate abstracted information on learners, clinical topic, instructional design, study quality, and outcomes. We coded skills (simulated setting) separately for time and nontime measures and similarly classified patient care behaviors and patient effects. We identified 57 studies (3666 learners) using TES to teach pediatrics. Effect sizes (ESs) were pooled by using a random-effects model. Among studies comparing TES with no intervention, pooled ESs were large for outcomes of knowledge, nontime skills (eg, performance in simulated setting), behaviors with patients, and time to task completion (ES = 0.80-1.91). Studies comparing the use of high versus low physical realism simulators showed small to moderate effects favoring high physical realism (ES = 0.31-0.70). TES for pediatric education is associated with large ESs in comparison with no intervention. Future research should include comparative studies that identify optimal instructional methods and incorporate pediatric-specific issues into educational interventions. Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The role of transposable elements in health and diseases of the central nervous system.

PubMed

Reilly, Matthew T; Faulkner, Geoffrey J; Dubnau, Joshua; Ponomarev, Igor; Gage, Fred H

2013-11-06

First discovered in maize by Barbara McClintock in the 1940s, transposable elements (TEs) are DNA sequences that in some cases have the ability to move along chromosomes or "transpose" in the genome. This revolutionary finding was initially met with resistance by the scientific community and viewed by some as heretical. A large body of knowledge has accumulated over the last 60 years on the biology of TEs. Indeed, it is now known that TEs can generate genomic instability and reconfigure gene expression networks both in the germline and somatic cells. This review highlights recent findings on the role of TEs in health and diseases of the CNS, which were presented at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience meeting. The work of the speakers in this symposium shows that TEs are expressed and active in the brain, challenging the dogma that neuronal genomes are static and revealing that they are susceptible to somatic genomic alterations. These new findings on TE expression and function in the CNS have major implications for understanding the neuroplasticity of the brain, which could hypothetically have a role in shaping individual behavior and contribute to vulnerability to disease.

The Mapping of Temporary Evacuation Site (TES) and Tsunami Evacuation Route in North Pagai Island, Mentawai Islands Regency - Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Putra, Aprizon; Mutmainah, Herdiana

2016-11-01

Mentawai Islands Regency, especially north Pagai island, suffered two earthquakes on April 15 2016. The local government in cooperation with the relevant parties had tried to minimize casualties before the disaster or during the disaster by making an evacuation route to the TES. The purpose of this study was to the mapping of TES and tsunami evacuation route using the approach of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for disaster mitigation of tsunami-potential earthquake in north Pagai island.The research was conducted at 3 locations in the coast of Sikakap village, 4 locations in the coast of Taikako village, 3 locations in the coast of Silabu village, 7 locations in the coast of Saumanganya village, and 3 locations in the coast of Matobe village. The effort taken was to evacuate people to the TES with an average distance of 372.62 m from the beach. The results showed that the feasibility of TES that could accommodate residents, among others, were in the hills behind Sikakap Port, Taikako Silaoinan hills, the hills near the Mapinang Silabu village chief's office and Mapinang hills, Gulukguluk Saumanganya and Panatarat Matobe hills.

Analysis of a combined heating and cooling system model under different operating strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dzierzgowski, Mieczysław; Zwierzchowski, Ryszard

2017-11-01

The paper presents an analysis of a combined heating and cooling system model under different operating strategies. Cooling demand for air conditioning purposes has grown steadily in Poland since the early 1990s. The main clients are large office buildings and shopping malls in downtown locations. Increased demand for heat in the summer would mitigate a number of problems regarding District Heating System (DHS) operation at minimum power, affecting the average annual price of heat (in summertime the share of costs related to transport losses is a strong cost factor). In the paper, computer simulations were performed for different supply network water temperature, assuming as input, real changes in the parameters of the DHS (heat demand, flow rates, etc.). On the basis of calculations and taking into account investment costs of the Absorption Refrigeration System (ARS) and the Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system, an optimal capacity of the TES system was proposed to ensure smooth and efficient operation of the District Heating Plant (DHP). Application of ARS with the TES system in the DHS in question increases net profit by 19.4%, reducing the cooling price for consumers by 40%.

The effects of dune slopes and material heterogeneity on the thermal behavior of dune fields in Mars' Southern Hemisphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Shea, P. M.; Putzig, N. E.; Van Kooten, S.; Fenton, L. K.

2015-12-01

We analyzed the effects of slopes on the thermal properties of three dune fields in Mars' southern hemisphere. Although slope has important thermal effects, it is not the main driver of observed apparent thermal inertia (ATI) for these dunes. Comparing the ATI seasonal behavior as derived from Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) data with that modeled for compositional heterogeneities, we found that TES results correlate best with models of duricrust overlying and/or horizontally mixing with fines. We measured slopes and aspects in digital terrain models created from High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) images of dunes within Proctor, Kaiser, and Wirtz craters. Using the MARSTHERM web toolset, we incorporated the slopes and aspects together with TES albedo, TES thermal inertia, surface pressure, and TES dust opacity, into models of seasonal ATI. Models that incorporate sub-pixel slopes show seasonal day and night ATI values that differ from the TES results by 0-300 J m-2 K-1 s-½. In addition, the models' day-night differences are opposite in sign from those of the TES results, indicating that factors other than slope are involved. We therefore compared the TES data to model results for a broad range of horizontally mixed and two-layered surfaces to seek other possible controls on the observed data, finding that a surface layer of higher thermal inertia is a likely contributor. However, it is clear from this study that the overall composition and morphology of the dune fields are more complex than currently available models allow. Future work will combine slopes with other model parameters such as multi-layered surfaces and lateral changes in layer thickness. Coupling these improvements with broader seasonal coverage from the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) at more thermally favorable times of day would allow more accurate characterization of dune thermal behavior.

Concentrated solar power on demand demonstration: Construction and operation of a 25 kW prototype

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gil, Antoni; Codd, Daniel S.; Zhou, Lei; Trumper, David; Calvet, Nicolas; Slocum, Alexander H.

2016-05-01

Currently, the majority of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants built worldwide integrate thermal energy storage (TES) systems which enable dispatchable output and higher global plant efficiencies. TES systems are typically based on two tank molten salt technology which involves inherent drawbacks such as parasitic pumping losses and electric tracing of pipes, risk of solidification and high capital costs. The concept presented in this paper is based on a single tank where the concentrated sunlight is directly focused on the molten salt. Hot and cold volumes of salt (at 565 °C and 280 °C, respectively) are axially separated by an insulated divider plate which helps maintain the thermal gradient. The concept, based on existing technologies, seeks to avoid the listed drawbacks as well as reducing the final cost of the TES system. In order to demonstrate its feasibility, Masdar Institute (MI) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing a 25 kW prototype to be tested in the Masdar Solar Platform beam down facility.

Characterization System of Multi-pixel Array TES Microcalorimeter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshimoto, Shota; Maehata, Keisuke; Mitsuda, Kazuhisa; Yamanaka, Yoshihiro; Sakai, Kazuhiro; Nagayoshi, Kenichiro; Yamamoto, Ryo; Hayashi, Tasuku; Muramatsu, Haruka

We have constructed characterization system for 64-pixel array transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeter using a 3He-4He dilution refrigerator (DR) with the cooling power of 60 µW at a temperature of 100 mK. A stick equipped with 384 of Manganin wires was inserted into the refrigerator to perform characteristic measurements of 64-pixel array TES microcalorimeter and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) array amplifiers. The stick and Manganin wires were thermally anchored at temperatures of 4 and 1 K with sufficient thermal contact. The cold end of the Manganin wires were thermally anchored and connected to CuNi clad NbTi wires at 0.7 K anchor. Then CuNi clad NbTi wires were wired to connectors placed on the holder mounted on the cold stage attached to the base plate of the mixing chamber. The heat flow to the cold stage through the installed wires was estimated to be 0.15 µW. In the operation test the characterization system maintained temperature below 100 mK.

TES/Aura L2 Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Nadir V7 (TL2CO2N)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-01-18

... TES/Aura L2 Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Nadir (TL2CO2N) News:  TES News Join TES News List Project ... TES Order Tool Parameters:  Earth Science Atmosphere Atmospheric Chemistry/Carbon and Hydrocarbon Compounds ...

Serum immunoreactivity of cancer/testis antigen OY-TES-1 and its tissues expression in glioma.

PubMed

Li, Xisheng; Yan, Jun; Fan, Rong; Luo, Bin; Zhang, Qingmei; Lin, Yongda; Zhou, Sufang; Luo, Guorong; Xie, Xiaoxun; Xiao, Shaowen

2017-05-01

OY-TES-1 is a member of the cancer/testis antigen family that is expressed in healthy testis tissue and certain types of cancerous tissue. The present study aimed to analyze the expression pattern of OY-TES-1 and serum anti-OY-TES-1 antibody concentration in patients with glioma. OY-TES-1 mRNA was detected in 28/36 (78%) of glioma cases using conventional reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. RT-quantitative-PCR revealed that OY-TES-1 was expressed at a higher level in glioma tissues compared with normal adult tissues (with the exception of testis tissue). Anti-OY-TES-1 antibodies were present in the serum of 5/36 (14%) of patients with glioma, but absent in all the serum samples from 107 healthy donors. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that OY-TES-1 protein was expressed in all glioma tissues from patients with anti-OY-TES-1 antibody seropositivity. These results suggest that OY-TES-1 is a novel candidate for glioma immunotherapy.

LIM domain protein TES changes its conformational states in different cellular compartments.

PubMed

Zhong, Yingli; Zhu, Jiaolian; Wang, Yan; Zhou, Jianlin; Ren, Kaiqun; Ding, Xiaofeng; Zhang, Jian

2009-01-01

The human TESTIN (TES) is a putative tumor suppressor and localizes to the cytoplasm as a component of focal adhesions and cell contacts. TES contains a PET domain in the NH(2)-terminus and three tandem LIM domains in the COOH-terminus. It has been hypothesized that interactions between two termini of TES might lead to a "closed" conformational state of the protein. Here, we provide evidence for different conformational states of TES. We confirmed that the NH(2)-terminus of TES can interact with its third LIM domain in the COOH-terminus by GST pull-down assays. In addition, antisera against the full-length or two truncations of TES were prepared to examine the relationship between the conformation and cellular distribution of the protein. We found that these antisera recognize different regions of TES and showed that TES is co-localised with the marker protein B23 in nucleolus, in addition to its localization in endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Furthermore, our co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) analysis of TES and B23 demonstrated their co-existence in the same complex. Taken together, our results suggest that TES has different conformational states in different cellular compartments, and a "closed" conformational state of TES may be involved in nucleolar localization.

Therapy of rat tracheal carcinoma IC-12 in SCID mice: vascular targeting with [213Bi]-MAb TES-23.

PubMed

Kennel, S J; Lankford, T; Davern, S; Foote, L; Taniguchi, K; Ohizumi, I; Tsutsumi, Y; Nakagawa, S; Mayumi, T; Mirzadeh, S

2002-06-01

In previous work, we have demonstrated that vascular targeting of [213Bi], an alpha-emitter, to lung blood vessels could efficiently destroy tumour colonies growing in the lung. In order to expand this approach to treatment of tumours growing in other sites, we employed the monoclonal antibody (MAb) TES-23, which reacts with CD44H, preferentially expressed on new blood vessels in tumours. Biodistribution studies of N-succinimidyl [125I] 3-iodobenzoate (SIB)-radiolabelled MAb TES-23 in ICR-severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice bearing subcutaneous (s.c.) and intramuscular (i.m.) IC-12 tumours, demonstrated efficient tumour uptake. At 24 h, accumulation in small tumours was 45%ID/g for s.c. tumours, and 58%ID/g for i.m. tumours and in large tumours it was 25%ID/g for s.c. tumours and 17%ID/g for i.m. tumours. Micro-autoradiography data confirmed that radiolabel accumulated in or near tumour blood vessels. Normal tissues had very low levels of radioactivity. Treatment of mice bearing small IC-12 tumours with [213Bi] MAb TES-23 retarded tumour growth relative to animals treated with cold MAb TES-23. Biodistribution and therapy experiments were also performed in BALB/c mice bearing both s.c. and i.m. syngeneic, lung carcinoma (line 498) tumours. [I(125)] SIB MAb TES-23 accumulated efficiently in both s.c. and i.m. tumours (14%ID/g and 15%ID/g, respectively, at 4 h); however, no therapeutic effect of [213Bi] MAb TES-23 treatment could be demonstrated in this model system. The data demonstrate that the timing of vascularisation of the tumours and the delivery kinetics of MAb relative to the half-life of the therapeutic radionuclide are critical for effective therapy.

The Use of Thought Experiments in Teaching Physics to Upper Secondary-Level Students: Two examples from the theory of relativity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Velentzas, Athanasios; Halkia, Krystallia

2013-12-01

The present study focuses on the way thought experiments (TEs) can be used as didactical tools in teaching physics to upper secondary-level students. A qualitative study was designed to investigate to what extent the TEs called 'Einstein's elevator' and 'Einstein's train' can function as tools in teaching basic concepts of the theory of relativity to upper secondary-level students. The above TEs were used in the form they are presented by Einstein himself and by Landau and Rumer in books that popularize theories of physics. The research sample consisted of 40 Greek students, divided into 11 groups of three to four students each. The findings of this study reveal that the use of TEs in teaching the theory of relativity can help students realize situations which refer to a world beyond their everyday experience and develop syllogisms according to the theory. In this way, students can grasp physics laws and principles which demand a high degree of abstract thinking, such as the principle of equivalence and the consequences of the constancy of the speed of light to concepts of time and space.

Transposable elements in Drosophila.

PubMed

McCullers, Tabitha J; Steiniger, Mindy

2017-01-01

Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile genetic elements that can mobilize within host genomes. As TEs comprise more than 40% of the human genome and are linked to numerous diseases, understanding their mechanisms of mobilization and regulation is important. Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal model organism for the study of eukaryotic TEs as its genome contains a diverse array of active TEs. TEs universally impact host genome size via transposition and deletion events, but may also adopt unique functional roles in host organisms. There are 2 main classes of TEs: DNA transposons and retrotransposons. These classes are further divided into subgroups of TEs with unique structural and functional characteristics, demonstrating the significant variability among these elements. Despite this variability, D. melanogaster and other eukaryotic organisms utilize conserved mechanisms to regulate TEs. This review focuses on the transposition mechanisms and regulatory pathways of TEs, and their functional roles in D. melanogaster .

Transposable elements in Drosophila

PubMed Central

McCullers, Tabitha J.; Steiniger, Mindy

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile genetic elements that can mobilize within host genomes. As TEs comprise more than 40% of the human genome and are linked to numerous diseases, understanding their mechanisms of mobilization and regulation is important. Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal model organism for the study of eukaryotic TEs as its genome contains a diverse array of active TEs. TEs universally impact host genome size via transposition and deletion events, but may also adopt unique functional roles in host organisms. There are 2 main classes of TEs: DNA transposons and retrotransposons. These classes are further divided into subgroups of TEs with unique structural and functional characteristics, demonstrating the significant variability among these elements. Despite this variability, D. melanogaster and other eukaryotic organisms utilize conserved mechanisms to regulate TEs. This review focuses on the transposition mechanisms and regulatory pathways of TEs, and their functional roles in D. melanogaster. PMID:28580197

Optimal parameters of transcorneal electrical stimulation (TES) to be neuroprotective of axotomized RGCs in adult rats.

PubMed

Morimoto, Takeshi; Miyoshi, Tomomitsu; Sawai, Hajime; Fujikado, Takashi

2010-02-01

We previously showed that transcorneal electrical stimulation (TES) promoted the survival of axotomized retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) of rats. However the relationship between the parameters of TES and the neuroprotective effect of TES on axotomized RGCs was unclear. In the present study, we determined whether the neuroprotective effect of TES is affected by the parameters of TES. Adult male Wistar rats received TES just after transection of the left optic nerve (ON). The pulse duration, current intensity, frequency, waveform, and numbers of sessions of the TES were changed systematically. The alterations of the retina were examined histologically seven days or fourteen days after the ON transection. The optimal neuroprotective parameters were pulse duration of 1 and 2 ms/phase (P < 0.001, each), current intensity of 100 and 200 muA (P < 0.05, each), and stimulation frequency of 1, 5, and 20 Hz (P < 0.001, respectively). More than 30 min of TES was necessary to have a neuroprotective effect (P < 0.001). Symmetric pulses without an inter-pulse interval were most effective (P < 0.001). Repeated TES was more neuroprotective than a single TES at 14 days after ON transection (P < 0.001). Our results indicate that there is a range of optimal neuroprotective parameters of TES for axotomized RGCs of rats. These values will provide a guideline for the use of TES in patients with different retinal and optic nerve diseases. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Precision Strike Technology Symposium (PSTS 09)

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-29

Control System) AUR (All-Up-Round) UHF SATCOM GPS JIC Threat and Target Data NGA Mapping, Charting & Geodesy 5 0 IRAQ SAU DI AR ABIA OM AN EM IRA TES JO...d M il it ary Ci ty Abu Dhabi qom Ahraz Shiraz Esfahan Yaz d Kerman Rafha 5 0 IRAQ SAU DI AR ABIA OM AN EM IRA TES JO RDAN SYRIA PAKI ST AN

Advanced high-temperature thermal energy storage media for industrial applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clear, T. D.; Weibel, R. T.

An advanced thermal energy storage (TES) media concept based on use of carbonate salt/ceramic composite materials is being developed for industrial process and reject heat applications. This paper describes the composite latent/sensible media concept and its potential advantages over state-of-the-art latent heat systems. Media stability requirements, on-going materials development efforts and planned TES performance evaluation tests are discussed.

T-lex2: genotyping, frequency estimation and re-annotation of transposable elements using single or pooled next-generation sequencing data.

PubMed

Fiston-Lavier, Anna-Sophie; Barrón, Maite G; Petrov, Dmitri A; González, Josefa

2015-02-27

Transposable elements (TEs) constitute the most active, diverse and ancient component in a broad range of genomes. Complete understanding of genome function and evolution cannot be achieved without a thorough understanding of TE impact and biology. However, in-depth analysis of TEs still represents a challenge due to the repetitive nature of these genomic entities. In this work, we present a broadly applicable and flexible tool: T-lex2. T-lex2 is the only available software that allows routine, automatic and accurate genotyping of individual TE insertions and estimation of their population frequencies both using individual strain and pooled next-generation sequencing data. Furthermore, T-lex2 also assesses the quality of the calls allowing the identification of miss-annotated TEs and providing the necessary information to re-annotate them. The flexible and customizable design of T-lex2 allows running it in any genome and for any type of TE insertion. Here, we tested the fidelity of T-lex2 using the fly and human genomes. Overall, T-lex2 represents a significant improvement in our ability to analyze the contribution of TEs to genome function and evolution as well as learning about the biology of TEs. T-lex2 is freely available online at http://sourceforge.net/projects/tlex. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Clinical subtypes of chronic traumatic encephalopathy: literature review and proposed research diagnostic criteria for traumatic encephalopathy syndrome.

PubMed

Montenigro, Philip H; Baugh, Christine M; Daneshvar, Daniel H; Mez, Jesse; Budson, Andrew E; Au, Rhoda; Katz, Douglas I; Cantu, Robert C; Stern, Robert A

2014-01-01

The long-term consequences of repetitive head impacts have been described since the early 20th century. Terms such as punch drunk and dementia pugilistica were first used to describe the clinical syndromes experienced by boxers. A more generic designation, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), has been employed since the mid-1900s and has been used in recent years to describe a neurodegenerative disease found not just in boxers but in American football players, other contact sport athletes, military veterans, and others with histories of repetitive brain trauma, including concussions and subconcussive trauma. This article reviews the literature of the clinical manifestations of CTE from 202 published cases. The clinical features include impairments in mood (for example, depression and hopelessness), behavior (for example, explosivity and violence), cognition (for example, impaired memory, executive functioning, attention, and dementia), and, less commonly, motor functioning (for example, parkinsonism, ataxia, and dysarthria). We present proposed research criteria for traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES) which consist of four variants or subtypes (TES behavioral/mood variant, TES cognitive variant, TES mixed variant, and TES dementia) as well as classifications of 'probable CTE' and 'possible CTE'. These proposed criteria are expected to be modified and updated as new research findings become available. They are not meant to be used for a clinical diagnosis. Rather, they should be viewed as research criteria that can be employed in studies of the underlying causes, risk factors, differential diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of CTE and related disorders.

Modeling of thermal storage systems in MILP distributed energy resource models

DOE PAGES

Steen, David; Stadler, Michael; Cardoso, Gonçalo; ...

2014-08-04

Thermal energy storage (TES) and distributed generation technologies, such as combined heat and power (CHP) or photovoltaics (PV), can be used to reduce energy costs and decrease CO 2 emissions from buildings by shifting energy consumption to times with less emissions and/or lower energy prices. To determine the feasibility of investing in TES in combination with other distributed energy resources (DER), mixed integer linear programming (MILP) can be used. Such a MILP model is the well-established Distributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model (DER-CAM); however, it currently uses only a simplified TES model to guarantee linearity and short run-times. Loss calculationsmore » are based only on the energy contained in the storage. This paper presents a new DER-CAM TES model that allows improved tracking of losses based on ambient and storage temperatures, and compares results with the previous version. A multi-layer TES model is introduced that retains linearity and avoids creating an endogenous optimization problem. The improved model increases the accuracy of the estimated storage losses and enables use of heat pumps for low temperature storage charging. Ultimately,results indicate that the previous model overestimates the attractiveness of TES investments for cases without possibility to invest in heat pumps and underestimates it for some locations when heat pumps are allowed. Despite a variation in optimal technology selection between the two models, the objective function value stays quite stable, illustrating the complexity of optimal DER sizing problems in buildings and microgrids.« less

Recombination rate and the distribution of transposable elements in the Drosophila melanogaster genome.

PubMed

Rizzon, Carène; Marais, Gabriel; Gouy, Manolo; Biémont, Christian

2002-03-01

We analyzed the distribution of 54 families of transposable elements (TEs; transposons, LTR retrotransposons, and non-LTR retrotransposons) in the chromosomes of Drosophila melanogaster, using data from the sequenced genome. The density of LTR and non-LTR retrotransposons (RNA-based elements) was high in regions with low recombination rates, but there was no clear tendency to parallel the recombination rate. However, the density of transposons (DNA-based elements) was significantly negatively correlated with recombination rate. The accumulation of TEs in regions of reduced recombination rate is compatible with selection acting against TEs, as selection is expected to be weaker in regions with lower recombination. The differences in the relationship between recombination rate and TE density that exist between chromosome arms suggest that TE distribution depends on specific characteristics of the chromosomes (chromatin structure, distribution of other sequences), the TEs themselves (transposition mechanism), and the species (reproductive system, effective population size, etc.), that have differing influences on the effect of natural selection acting against the TE insertions.

Serum immunoreactivity of cancer/testis antigen OY-TES-1 and its tissues expression in glioma

PubMed Central

Li, Xisheng; Yan, Jun; Fan, Rong; Luo, Bin; Zhang, Qingmei; Lin, Yongda; Zhou, Sufang; Luo, Guorong; Xie, Xiaoxun; Xiao, Shaowen

2017-01-01

OY-TES-1 is a member of the cancer/testis antigen family that is expressed in healthy testis tissue and certain types of cancerous tissue. The present study aimed to analyze the expression pattern of OY-TES-1 and serum anti-OY-TES-1 antibody concentration in patients with glioma. OY-TES-1 mRNA was detected in 28/36 (78%) of glioma cases using conventional reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. RT-quantitative-PCR revealed that OY-TES-1 was expressed at a higher level in glioma tissues compared with normal adult tissues (with the exception of testis tissue). Anti-OY-TES-1 antibodies were present in the serum of 5/36 (14%) of patients with glioma, but absent in all the serum samples from 107 healthy donors. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that OY-TES-1 protein was expressed in all glioma tissues from patients with anti-OY-TES-1 antibody seropositivity. These results suggest that OY-TES-1 is a novel candidate for glioma immunotherapy. PMID:28529561

The Focal Plane Assembly for the Athena X-Ray Integral Field Unit Instrument

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jackson, B. D.; Van Weers, H.; van der Kuur, J.; den Hartog, R.; Akamatsu, H.; Argan, A.; Bandler, S. R.; Barbera, M.; Barret, D.; Bruijn, M. P.;

Comparative Effectiveness of Web-Based vs. Educator-Delivered HIV Prevention for Adolescent Substance Users: A Randomized, Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Marsch, Lisa A; Guarino, Honoria; Grabinski, Michael J; Syckes, Cassandra; Dillingham, Elaine T; Xie, Haiyi; Crosier, Benjamin S

2015-12-01

Young people who engage in substance use are at risk for becoming infected with HIV and diseases with similar transmission dynamics. Effective disease prevention programs delivered by prevention specialists exist but are rarely provided in systems of care due to staffing/resource constraints and operational barriers-and are thus of limited reach. Web-based prevention interventions could possibly offer an effective alternative to prevention specialist-delivered interventions and may enable widespread, cost-effective access to evidence-based prevention programming. Previous research has shown the HIV/disease prevention program within the Web-based therapeutic education system (TES) to be an effective adjunct to a prevention specialist-delivered intervention. The present study was the first randomized, clinical trial to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of this Web-based intervention as a standalone intervention relative to a traditional, prevention specialist-delivered intervention. Adolescents entering outpatient treatment for substance use participated in this multi-site trial. Participants were randomly assigned to either a traditional intervention delivered by a prevention specialist (n=72) or the Web-delivered TES intervention (n=69). Intervention effectiveness was assessed by evaluating changes in participants' knowledge about HIV, hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections, intentions to engage in safer sex, sex-related risk behavior, self-efficacy to use condoms, and condom use skills. Participants in the TES intervention achieved significant and comparable increases in HIV/disease-related knowledge, condom use self-efficacy, and condom use skills and comparable decreases in HIV risk behavior relative to participants who received the intervention delivered by a prevention specialist. Participants rated TES as easier to understand. This study indicates that TES is as effective as HIV/disease prevention delivered by a prevention specialist. Because technology-based interventions such as TES have high fidelity, are inexpensive and scalable, and can be implemented in a wide variety of settings, they have the potential to greatly increase access to effective prevention programming. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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

Mathur, Anoop

A key technological issue facing the success of future Concentrating Solar Thermal Power (CSP) plants is creating an economical Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system. Current TES systems use either sensible heat in fluids such as oil, or molten salts, or use thermal stratification in a dual-media consisting of a solid and a heat-transfer fluid. However, utilizing the heat of fusion in inorganic molten salt mixtures in addition to sensible heat , as in a Phase change material (PCM)-based TES, can significantly increase the energy density of storage requiring less salt and smaller containers. A major issue that is preventing themore » commercial use of PCM-based TES is that it is difficult to discharge the latent heat stored in the PCM melt. This is because when heat is extracted, the melt solidifies onto the heat exchanger surface decreasing the heat transfer. Even a few millimeters of thickness of solid material on heat transfer surface results in a large drop in heat transfer due to the low thermal conductivity of solid PCM. Thus, to maintain the desired heat rate, the heat exchange area must be large which increases cost. This project demonstrated that the heat transfer coefficient can be increase ten-fold by using forced convection by pumping a hyper-eutectic salt mixture over specially coated heat exchanger tubes. However,only 15% of the latent heat is used against a goal of 40% resulting in a projected cost savings of only 17% against a goal of 30%. Based on the failure mode effect analysis and experience with pumping salt at near freezing point significant care must be used during operation which can increase the operating costs. Therefore, we conclude the savings are marginal to justify using this concept for PCM-TES over a two-tank TES. The report documents the specialty coatings, the composition and morphology of hypereutectic salt mixtures and the results from the experiment conducted with the active heat exchanger along with the lessons learnt during experimentation.« less

Development and Evaluation of a Sensitive and Specific Assay for Diagnosis of Human Toxocariasis by Use of Three Recombinant Antigens (TES-26, TES-30USM, and TES-120)▿

PubMed Central

Mohamad, Suharni; Azmi, Norhaida Che; Noordin, Rahmah

2009-01-01

Diagnosis of human toxocariasis currently relies on serologic tests that use Toxocara excretory-secretory (TES) antigen to detect immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to the larvae. In general, however, these assays do not have adequate specificity for use in countries in which other soil-transmitted helminths are endemic. The use of recombinant antigens in these assays, however, is promising for improving the specificity of the diagnosis of toxocariasis. Toward this goal, we developed an IgG4 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) involving three recombinant antigens: rTES-30USM (previously produced), rTES-26, and rTES-120. The latter two antigens were produced by reverse transcription-PCR cloning; subcloned into glutathione S-transferase (GST)-tagged and His-tagged prokaryotic expression vectors, respectively; and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant proteins were subsequently purified by affinity chromatography using GST and His-Trap resins. The diagnostic potential of each purified recombinant antigen was tested with various immunoglobulin classes (IgG, IgM, and IgE) and IgG subclasses. The IgG4 ELISA was determined to have the highest specificity and was further evaluated using a panel of serum samples. The rTES-26 IgG4 ELISA showed 80.0% (24/30 samples positive) sensitivity, and both the rTES-30USM IgG4 ELISA and rTES-120 IgG4 ELISA had 93.0% (28/30) sensitivity. Combined use of rTES-120 and rTES-30 IgG4 ELISA for the diagnosis of toxocariasis provided 100% sensitivity. The specificities of rTES-26, rTES-30USM, and rTES-120 antigens were 96.2%, 93.9%, and 92.0%, respectively. These results indicate that the development of a diagnostic test using the three recombinant antigens will allow for more-accurate detection of toxocariasis. PMID:19369434

Development and evaluation of a sensitive and specific assay for diagnosis of human toxocariasis by use of three recombinant antigens (TES-26, TES-30USM, and TES-120).

PubMed

Mohamad, Suharni; Azmi, Norhaida Che; Noordin, Rahmah

2009-06-01

Diagnosis of human toxocariasis currently relies on serologic tests that use Toxocara excretory-secretory (TES) antigen to detect immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to the larvae. In general, however, these assays do not have adequate specificity for use in countries in which other soil-transmitted helminths are endemic. The use of recombinant antigens in these assays, however, is promising for improving the specificity of the diagnosis of toxocariasis. Toward this goal, we developed an IgG4 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) involving three recombinant antigens: rTES-30USM (previously produced), rTES-26, and rTES-120. The latter two antigens were produced by reverse transcription-PCR cloning; subcloned into glutathione S-transferase (GST)-tagged and His-tagged prokaryotic expression vectors, respectively; and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant proteins were subsequently purified by affinity chromatography using GST and His-Trap resins. The diagnostic potential of each purified recombinant antigen was tested with various immunoglobulin classes (IgG, IgM, and IgE) and IgG subclasses. The IgG4 ELISA was determined to have the highest specificity and was further evaluated using a panel of serum samples. The rTES-26 IgG4 ELISA showed 80.0% (24/30 samples positive) sensitivity, and both the rTES-30USM IgG4 ELISA and rTES-120 IgG4 ELISA had 93.0% (28/30) sensitivity. Combined use of rTES-120 and rTES-30 IgG4 ELISA for the diagnosis of toxocariasis provided 100% sensitivity. The specificities of rTES-26, rTES-30USM, and rTES-120 antigens were 96.2%, 93.9%, and 92.0%, respectively. These results indicate that the development of a diagnostic test using the three recombinant antigens will allow for more-accurate detection of toxocariasis.

The Role of piRNA-Mediated Epigenetic Silencing in the Population Dynamics of Transposable Elements in Drosophila melanogaster

PubMed Central

Lee, Yuh Chwen G.

2015-01-01

The piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNA) are small RNAs that target selfish transposable elements (TEs) in many animal genomes. Until now, piRNAs’ role in TE population dynamics has only been discussed in the context of their suppression of TE transposition, which alone is not sufficient to account for the skewed frequency spectrum and stable containment of TEs. On the other hand, euchromatic TEs can be epigenetically silenced via piRNA-dependent heterochromatin formation and, similar to the widely known “Position-effect variegation”, heterochromatin induced by TEs can “spread” into nearby genes. We hypothesized that the piRNA-mediated spread of heterochromatin from TEs into adjacent genes has deleterious functional effects and leads to selection against individual TEs. Unlike previously identified deleterious effects of TEs due to the physical disruption of DNA, the functional effect we investigated here is mediated through the epigenetic influences of TEs. We found that the repressive chromatin mark, H3K9me, is elevated in sequences adjacent to euchromatic TEs at multiple developmental stages in Drosophila melanogaster. Furthermore, the heterochromatic states of genes depend not only on the number of and distance from adjacent TEs, but also on the likelihood that their nearest TEs are targeted by piRNAs. These variations in chromatin status probably have functional consequences, causing genes near TEs to have lower expression. Importantly, we found stronger selection against TEs that lead to higher H3K9me enrichment of adjacent genes, demonstrating the pervasive evolutionary consequences of TE-induced epigenetic silencing. Because of the intrinsic biological mechanism of piRNA amplification, spread of TE heterochromatin could result in the theoretically required synergistic deleterious effects of TE insertions for stable containment of TE copy number. The indirect deleterious impact of piRNA-mediated epigenetic silencing of TEs is a previously unexplored, yet important, element for the evolutionary dynamics of TEs. PMID:26042931

Evaluating Mars Science Laboratory Landing Sites with the Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars-GRAM 2005)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Justh, H. L.; Justus, C. G.

2008-01-01

The Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars-GRAM) is an engineering-level atmospheric model widely used for diverse mission applications. Mars-GRAM s perturbation modeling capability is commonly used, in a Monte-Carlo mode, to perform high fidelity engineering end-to-end simulations for entry, descent, and landing (EDL) [1]. From the surface to 80 km altitude, Mars-GRAM is based on the NASA Ames Mars General Circulation Model (MGCM). Mars-GRAM and MGCM use surface topography from Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), with altitudes referenced to the MOLA areoid, or constant potential surface. Traditional Mars-GRAM options for representing the mean atmosphere along entry corridors include: (1) Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) mapping years 1 and 2, with Mars-GRAM data coming from NASA Ames Mars General Circulation Model (MGCM) results driven by observed TES dust optical depth or (2) TES mapping year 0, with user-controlled dust optical depth and Mars-GRAM data interpolated from MGCM model results driven by selected values of globally-uniform dust optical depth. Mars-GRAM 2005 has been validated [2] against Radio Science data, and both nadir and limb data from TES [3]. There are several new features included in Mars-GRAM 2005. The first is the option to use input data sets from MGCM model runs that were designed to closely simulate conditions observed during the first two years of TES observations at Mars. The TES Year 1 option includes values from April 1999 through January 2001. The TES Year 2 option includes values from February 2001 through December 2002. The second new feature is the option to read and use any auxiliary profile of temperature and density versus altitude. In exercising the auxiliary profile Mars-GRAM option, values from the auxiliary profile replace data from the original MGCM databases. Some examples of auxiliary profiles include data from TES nadir or limb observations and Mars mesoscale model output at a particular location and time. The final new feature is the addition of two Mars-GRAM parameters that allow standard deviations of Mars-GRAM perturbations to be adjusted. The parameter rpscale can be used to scale density perturbations up or down while rwscale can be used to scale wind perturbations.

EARLY ENTRANCE COPRODUCTION PLANT

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

David Storm; Govanon Nongbri; Steve Decanio

2004-01-12

The overall objective of this project is the three phase development of an Early Entrance Coproduction Plant (EECP) which uses petroleum coke to produce at least one product from at least two of the following three categories: (1) electric power (or heat), (2) fuels, and (3) chemicals using ChevronTexaco's proprietary gasification technology. The objective of Phase I is to determine the feasibility and define the concept for the EECP located at a specific site; develop a Research, Development, and Testing (RD&T) Plan to mitigate technical risks and barriers; and prepare a Preliminary Project Financing Plan. The objective of Phase IImore » is to implement the work as outlined in the Phase I RD&T Plan to enhance the development and commercial acceptance of coproduction technology. The objective of Phase III is to develop an engineering design package and a financing and testing plan for an EECP located at a specific site. The project's intended result is to provide the necessary technical, economic, and environmental information needed by industry to move the EECP forward to detailed design, construction, and operation. The partners in this project are Texaco Energy Systems LLC or TES (a subsidiary of ChevronTexaco), General Electric (GE), Praxair, and Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) in addition to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). TES is providing gasification technology and Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) technology developed by Rentech, Inc., GE is providing combustion turbine technology, Praxair is providing air separation technology, and KBR is providing engineering. During Phase I, a design basis for the Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis section was developed based on limited experience with the specified feed gas and operating conditions. The objective of this Task in Phase II RD&T work was to confirm the performance of the F-T reactor at the set design conditions. Although much of the research, development, and testing work were done by TES outside of this project, several important issues were addressed in this phase of the project. They included Rejuvenation/Regeneration of the Fischer-Tropsch Catalyst, online Catalyst Withdrawal and Addition from the synthesis reactor, and the Fischer-Tropsch Design Basis Confirmation. In Phase III the results from these RD&T work will be incorporated in developing the engineering design package. This Topical Report documents the Phase II RD&T work that was completed for this task.« less

Transcranial magnetic and electrical stimulation compared: does TES activate intracortical neuronal circuits?

PubMed

Brocke, J; Irlbacher, K; Hauptmann, B; Voss, M; Brandt, S A

2005-12-01

To determine whether, and under which conditions, transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can activate similar neuronal structures of the human motor cortex, as indicated by electromyographic recordings. Focal TMS was performed on three subjects inducing a postero-anterior directed current (p-a), TES with postero-anteriorly (p-a) and latero-medially (l-m) oriented electrodes. We analyzed the onset latencies and amplitudes (single-pulse) and intracortical inhibition and excitation (paired-pulse). TMS p-a and TES p-a produced muscle responses with the same onset latency, while TES l-m led to 1.4-1.9 ms shorter latencies. Paired-pulse TMS p-a and TES p-a induced inhibition at short inter-stimulus intervals (ISI) (maximum: 2-3 ms) and facilitation at longer ISIs (maximum: 10 ms). No inhibition but a strong facilitation was obtained from paired-pulse TES l-m (ISIs 1-5 ms). Our findings support the hypothesis, that current direction is the most relevant factor in determining the mode of activation for both TMS and TES: TMS p-a and TES p-a are likely to activate the corticospinal neurons indirectly. In contrast, TES l-m may preferentially activate the corticospinal fibres directly, distant of the neuronal body. TES is a suitable tool to induce intracortical inhibition and excitation.

An Investigation of the Longitudinal Proximity Effect in Superconducting and Normal Metal TES

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Ari-David; Chervenak, James A.; Jethava, Nikhil S.; Kletetschka, Gunther; Mikula, Vilem

2010-01-01

As the TES volume and (effective) Tc become very small - for volume < 10 micrometers x 10 micrometers x 0.5 micrometers and Tc < 90 mK - we approach a regime in which the noise equivalent power is dominated by fluctuations in power dissipating from the TES electrons to its phonons. Our ultimate goal is to build a TES bolometer that operates in this regime to be used for far-infrared and sub-mm astronomy. In this study, we characterize the R vs T behavior of small TES in order to engineer a TES bolometer that has a very low Tc. Sadleir et al found that as the distance L between two superconducting leads, with the lead Tc >> the TES Tc, connected at opposite ends of TES approaches zero, superconductivity is induced parallel to the current flow, or longitudinally, and results in a much higher effective TES Te. Here we present effective Te measurements of Mo/Au TES bounded by Nb leads as a function of L which ranges between 4 and 36 micrometer. We observe that the effective Te is suppressed for current density of order 10(exp -6) A/sq micrometers. We also explore the possibility of using a normal metal TES.

49 CFR 520.29 - Internal review of final environmental impact statements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... FEIS to TES for concurrence. Unless other notification is provided within 2 weeks after receipt in TES, the statement will be considered concurred in by TES. (b) After concurrence by TES, the FEIS will be... approval of the Secretary or Deputy Secretary pursuant to a request by them or by TES, TGC, or the NHTSA...

49 CFR 520.29 - Internal review of final environmental impact statements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... FEIS to TES for concurrence. Unless other notification is provided within 2 weeks after receipt in TES, the statement will be considered concurred in by TES. (b) After concurrence by TES, the FEIS will be... approval of the Secretary or Deputy Secretary pursuant to a request by them or by TES, TGC, or the NHTSA...

49 CFR 520.29 - Internal review of final environmental impact statements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... FEIS to TES for concurrence. Unless other notification is provided within 2 weeks after receipt in TES, the statement will be considered concurred in by TES. (b) After concurrence by TES, the FEIS will be... approval of the Secretary or Deputy Secretary pursuant to a request by them or by TES, TGC, or the NHTSA...

49 CFR 520.29 - Internal review of final environmental impact statements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... FEIS to TES for concurrence. Unless other notification is provided within 2 weeks after receipt in TES, the statement will be considered concurred in by TES. (b) After concurrence by TES, the FEIS will be... approval of the Secretary or Deputy Secretary pursuant to a request by them or by TES, TGC, or the NHTSA...

TES/Aura L2 Ozone (O3) Limb V6 (TL2O3LS)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-03-01

TES/Aura L2 Ozone (O3) Limb (TL2O3LS) News:  TES News Join ... Project Title:  TES Discipline:  Tropospheric Composition Version:  V6 Level:  L2 Platform:  TES/Aura L2 Ozone Spatial Coverage:  27 x 23 km Limb Spatial ...

TES/Aura L2 Ozone (O3) Nadir V6 (TL2O3NS)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-01-22

TES/Aura L2 Ozone (O3) Nadir (TL2O3NS) News:  TES News Join ... Project Title:  TES Discipline:  Tropospheric Composition Version:  V6 Level:  L2 Platform:  TES/Aura L2 Ozone Spatial Coverage:  5.3 x 8.5 km nadir ...

TES/Aura L2 Ozone (O3) Nadir V6 (TL2O3N)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-01-18

TES/Aura L2 Ozone (O3) Nadir (TL2O3N) News:  TES News Join ... Project Title:  TES Discipline:  Tropospheric Composition Version:  V6 Level:  L2 Platform:  TES/Aura L2 Ozone Spatial Coverage:  5.3 x 8.5 km nadir ...

TES inhibits colorectal cancer progression through activation of p38.

PubMed

Li, Huili; Huang, Kun; Gao, Lu; Wang, Lixia; Niu, Yanfeng; Liu, Hongli; Wang, Zheng; Wang, Lin; Wang, Guobin; Wang, Jiliang

2016-07-19

The human TESTIN (TES) gene has been identified as a candidate tumor suppressor based on its location at a common fragile site - a region where loss of heterozygosity has been detected in numerous types of tumors. To investigate its role in colorectal cancer (CRC), we examined TES protein levels in CRC tissue samples and cell lines. We observed that TES was markedly reduced in both CRC tissue and cell lines. Additionally, overexpression of TES significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, while increasing cell apoptosis in colon cancer cells. By contrast, shRNA-mediated TES knockdown elicited the opposite effects. TES inhibited the progression of CRC by up-regulating pro-apoptotic proteins, down-regulating anti-apoptotic proteins, and simultaneously activating p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. Collectively, these data indicate that TES functions as a necessary suppressor of CRC progression by activating p38-MAPK signaling pathways. This suggests that TES may have a potential application in CRC diagnosis and targeted gene therapy.

TES inhibits colorectal cancer progression through activation of p38

PubMed Central

Gao, Lu; Wang, Lixia; Niu, Yanfeng; Liu, Hongli; Wang, Zheng; Wang, Lin; Wang, Guobin; Wang, Jiliang

2016-01-01

The human TESTIN (TES) gene has been identified as a candidate tumor suppressor based on its location at a common fragile site – a region where loss of heterozygosity has been detected in numerous types of tumors. To investigate its role in colorectal cancer (CRC), we examined TES protein levels in CRC tissue samples and cell lines. We observed that TES was markedly reduced in both CRC tissue and cell lines. Additionally, overexpression of TES significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, while increasing cell apoptosis in colon cancer cells. By contrast, shRNA-mediated TES knockdown elicited the opposite effects. TES inhibited the progression of CRC by up-regulating pro-apoptotic proteins, down-regulating anti-apoptotic proteins, and simultaneously activating p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. Collectively, these data indicate that TES functions as a necessary suppressor of CRC progression by activating p38-MAPK signaling pathways. This suggests that TES may have a potential application in CRC diagnosis and targeted gene therapy. PMID:27323777

Solving for the Surface: An Automated Approach to THEMIS Atmospheric Correction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryan, A. J.; Salvatore, M. R.; Smith, R.; Edwards, C. S.; Christensen, P. R.

2013-12-01

Here we present the initial results of an automated atmospheric correction algorithm for the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) instrument, whereby high spectral resolution Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) data are queried to generate numerous atmospheric opacity values for each THEMIS infrared image. While the pioneering methods of Bandfield et al. [2004] also used TES spectra to atmospherically correct THEMIS data, the algorithm presented here is a significant improvement because of the reduced dependency on user-defined inputs for individual images. Additionally, this technique is particularly useful for correcting THEMIS images that have captured a range of atmospheric conditions and/or surface elevations, issues that have been difficult to correct for using previous techniques. Thermal infrared observations of the Martian surface can be used to determine the spatial distribution and relative abundance of many common rock-forming minerals. This information is essential to understanding the planet's geologic and climatic history. However, the Martian atmosphere also has absorptions in the thermal infrared which complicate the interpretation of infrared measurements obtained from orbit. TES has sufficient spectral resolution (143 bands at 10 cm-1 sampling) to linearly unmix and remove atmospheric spectral end-members from the acquired spectra. THEMIS has the benefit of higher spatial resolution (~100 m/pixel vs. 3x5 km/TES-pixel) but has lower spectral resolution (8 surface sensitive spectral bands). As such, it is not possible to isolate the surface component by unmixing the atmospheric contribution from the THEMIS spectra, as is done with TES. Bandfield et al. [2004] developed a technique using atmospherically corrected TES spectra as tie-points for constant radiance offset correction and surface emissivity retrieval. This technique is the primary method used to correct THEMIS but is highly susceptible to inconsistent results if great care in the selection of TES spectra is not exercised. Our algorithm implements a newly populated TES database that was created using PostgreSQL/PostGIS geospatial database. TES pixels that meet user-defined quality criteria and that intersect a THEMIS observation of interest may be quickly retrieved using this new database. The THEMIS correction process [Bandfield et al. 2004] is then run using all TES pixels that pass an additional set of TES-THEMIS relational quality checks. The result is a spatially correlated set of atmospheric opacity values, determined from the difference between each atmospherically corrected TES pixel and the overlapping portion of the THEMIS image. The dust and ice contributions to the atmospheric opacity are estimated using known dust and ice spectral dependencies [Smith et al. 2003]. These opacity values may be used to determine atmospheric variation across the scene, from which topography- and temperature-scaled atmospheric contribution may be calculated and removed. References: Bandfield, JL et al. [2004], JGR 109, E10008. Smith, MD et al. [2003], JGR 108, E11, 5115.

Development of graphite foam infiltrated with MgCl 2 for a latent heat based thermal energy storage (LHTES) system

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

Singh, Dileep; Kim, Taeil; Zhao, Weihuan

Thermal energy storage (TES) systems that are compatible with high temperature power cycles for concentrating solar power (CSP) require high temperature media for transporting and storing thermal energy. To that end, TES systems have been proposed based on the latent heat of fusion of the phase change materials (PCMs). However, PCMs have relatively low thermal conductivities. In this paper, use of high-thermal-conductivity graphite foam infiltrated with a PCM (MgCl2) has been investigated as a potential TES system. Graphite foams with two porosities were infiltrated with MgCl2. The infiltrated composites were evaluated for density, heat of fusion, melting/freezing temperatures, and thermalmore » diffusivities. Estimated thermal conductivities of MgCl2/graphite foam composites were significantly higher than those of MgCl2 alone over the measured temperature range. Furthermore, heat of fusion, melting/freezing temperatures, and densities showed comparable values to those of pure MgCl2. Results of this study indicate that MgCl2/graphite foam composites show promise as storage media for a latent heat thermal energy storage system for CSP applications.« less

TES Validation Reports

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2014-06-30

... Reports: TES Data Versions: TES Validation Report Version 6.0 (PDF) R13 processing version; F07_10 file versions TES Validation Report Version 5.0 (PDF) R12 processing version; F06_08, F06_09 file ...

The risk of thromboembolic events in kidney transplant patients.

PubMed

Verhave, Jacobien C; Tagalakis, Vicky; Suissa, Samy; Madore, François; Hébert, Marie-Josée; Cardinal, Héloïse

2014-06-01

Little is known about the risk of venous thrombosis following kidney transplant. To determine this we estimated the risk of thromboembolic events (TEs) in a cohort of consecutive patients who underwent kidney transplantation at a single tertiary care center over an 11-year period and calculated standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) for a first TE in kidney transplant recipients compared with the general population. We then performed a nested case-control study and compared patients with and without TEs to identify risk factors for thrombosis. Among 913 kidney transplant recipients (KTRs), 68 patients developed these events. The SIR for TEs in KTRs compared with the general population was 7.9 over the duration of follow-up. The risk was particularly higher in the first post-transplant year (SIR 26.1) but remained elevated afterward (SIR 5.2). Hospitalization, use of sirolimus, low hemoglobin level, and use of renin-angiotensin system inhibitors were independently associated with these events. When cases of TEs that occurred during hospitalization were excluded, the risk of these events remained elevated. The risk of TEs in KTRs was eightfold higher than in the general population but not fully explained by the increased risk associated with hospitalization. Our results underscore the important risk of thrombosis in patients who received a kidney transplant, making vigilance mandatory especially during hospitalization.

Expanding the Interactome of TES by Exploiting TES Modules with Different Subcellular Localizations.

PubMed

Sala, Stefano; Van Troys, Marleen; Medves, Sandrine; Catillon, Marie; Timmerman, Evy; Staes, An; Schaffner-Reckinger, Elisabeth; Gevaert, Kris; Ampe, Christophe

2017-05-05

The multimodular nature of many eukaryotic proteins underlies their temporal or spatial engagement in a range of protein cocomplexes. Using the multimodule protein testin (TES), we here report a proteomics approach to increase insight in cocomplex diversity. The LIM-domain containing and tumor suppressor protein TES is present at different actin cytoskeleton adhesion structures in cells and influences cell migration, adhesion and spreading. TES module accessibility has been proposed to vary due to conformational switching and variants of TES lacking specific domains target to different subcellular locations. By applying iMixPro AP-MS ("intelligent Mixing of Proteomes"-affinity purification-mass spectrometry) to a set of tagged-TES modular variants, we identified proteins residing in module-specific cocomplexes. The obtained distinct module-specific interactomes combine to a global TES interactome that becomes more extensive and richer in information. Applying pathway analysis to the module interactomes revealed expected actin-related canonical pathways and also less expected pathways. We validated two new TES cocomplex partners: TGFB1I1 and a short form of the glucocorticoid receptor. TES and TGFB1I1 are shown to oppositely affect cell spreading providing biological validity for their copresence in complexes since they act in similar processes.

Cancer testis antigen OY-TES-1 expression and serum immunogenicity in colorectal cancer: its relationship to clinicopathological parameters.

PubMed

Luo, Bin; Yun, Xiang; Fan, Rong; Lin, Yong-Da; He, Shu-Jia; Zhang, Qing-Mei; Mo, Fa-Rong; Chen, Fang; Xiao, Shao-Wen; Xie, Xiao-Xun

2013-01-01

Cancer testis (CT) antigens are attractive targets for cancer immunotherapy because their expression is restricted in normal germ line tissues but frequently detected in variety of tumors. OY-TES-1 is identified as a member of CT antigens. Current knowledge about OY-TES-1 expression in colorectal cancer (CRC) is solely based on mRNA analysis. None of previous researches has studied OY-TES-1 at protein level. In this study, OY-TES-1 polyclonal antibody was generated. The expression of OY-TES-1 mRNA and protein was detected by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry in 60 CRC and paired adjacent non-tumor tissues, 24 colorectal adenoma and 3 normal colon tissues, respectively. Sera from 73 CRC patients were also tested for OY-TES-1 antibody by ELISA. Our results showed that the frequency of OY-TES-1 mRNA expression was statistically higher in CRC (73.3%, 44/60) than that in adjacent non-tumor tissue (55.0%, 33/60) and colorectal adenoma (45.8%, 11/24). For the first time, OY-TES-1 protein expression was found in (43.3%, 26/60) of CRC tissues, but absent in any of adjacent non-tumor and colorectal adenoma tissues. No OY-TES-1 expression was found in normal colon by either RT-PCR or immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, OY-TES-1 protein expression was correlated with tumor invasion stage (P=0.004) and histological grade (P=0.040). Anti-OY-TES-1 antibody was detected in (9.6%, 7/73) of CRC patients' sera but not in 76 healthy donors. This finding demonstrates that OY-TES-1 is frequently expressed in CRC and is able to induce humoral immune response spontaneously in CRC patients, suggesting that it might be a promising immunotherapy target for CRC.

Fabrication of Feedhorn-Coupled Transition Edge Sensor Arrays for Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Denis, K. L.; Ali, A.; Appel, J.; Bennett, C. L.; Chang, M. P.; Chuss, D. T.; Colazo, F. A.; Costen, N.; Essinger-Hileman, T.; Hu, R.;

Fabrication of Feedhorn-Coupled Transition Edge Sensor Arrays for Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Denis, Kevin L.; Aamir, A.; Bennett, C. L.; Chang, M. P.; Chuss, D. T.; Colazo, F. A.; Costen, N.; Essinger-Hileman, T.; Hu, R.; Marriage, T.;

Utilizing Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) Special Observations to Study Air Quality Over Megacities: A Case Study of Mexico City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osterman, G. B.; Neu, J. L.; Cady-Pereira, K.; Fu, D.; Payne, V.; Pfister, G.

2016-12-01

Since the beginning of 2013, the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) on the NASA Aura spacecraft has been making special "transect" observations over 19 large cities across the globe. In all there are over 50 transect observations of each city, allowing for studying the chemistry of the troposphere during different seasons and differing atmospheric conditions. The cities that have been observed include, Beijing, Delhi and Mexico City. In addition, the TES group at JPL has been developing new data products using combined radiances from other satellite instruments. They have produced an ozone data product using a combination of TES and Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) radiances. There has also been progress in creating an ozone product from combining OMI and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) radiances using the TES retrieval framework. This product offers the possibility of better spatial coverage than the TES or TES/OMI products. We have selected an observation from October 13, 2013 over Mexico City for doing a case study where high values of ozone were seen in the lower troposphere in retrievals from TES and TES/OMI. Other trace gases measured by TES, carbon monoxide, methanol, and formic acid were also enhanced over the city. TES was also able to capture downwind conditions where the trace gases were no longer enhanced except for formic acid and peroxyacetyl nitrate which showed elevated values. We will utilize trajectory analysis, the TES data as well as combined TES-OMI retrievals, the new combined AIRS-OMI retrievals of ozone to examine this case in more detail to understand possible broader scale effects of Mexico City pollution. Model results will be utilized to provide further context in understanding the atmospheric conditions being studied. We feel the TES special observations of megacities will provide an opportunity to study the effects of local sources versus broader regional sources on pollutions of these large cities.

The Atacama B-mode Search: Status and Prospect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kusaka, Akito

2013-04-01

The Atacama B-mode Search (ABS) experiment is a 145 GHz polarimeter designed to measure the B-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at degre angular scales. In January 2012, ABS has deployed 240 polarimeters employing transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers. ABS has unique advantages for the measurement of B modes. This includes a continuously rotating half-wave plate that provides fast and clean modulation, as well as systematically clean optics that consist of a cryogenic side-fed Dragone telescope and feedhorn coupled TES polarimeters. In this talk, we will present the status and prospect of ABS.

Design of Magnetic Shielding and Field Coils for a TES X-Ray Microcalorimeter Test Platform

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miniussi, Antoine R.; Adams, Joseph S.; Bandler, Simon R.; Chervenak, James A.; Datesman, Aaron M.; Doriese, William B.; Eckart, Megan E.; Finkbeiner, Fred M.; Kelley, Richard L.; Kilbourne, Caroline A.;

[Effects of TES program on exercise capacity, self-efficacy and patient compliance in patients with myocardial infarction].

PubMed

Choo, Jina; Kim, Ja-Mae; Hong, Kyung-Pyo

2003-12-01

This study aimed to develop a TES program to improve exercise capacity to promote patient compliance to the prescribed exercise, and to test the feasibility of the program. The 8-week TES program consisted of three components : exercise training, self-efficacy enhancement and social support. Using the matching of gender, age, and the left ventricular ejection fraction, thirty one subjects were consecutively assigned to either TES group (n=15, 52+7 years) or Control group (n=16, 58+11 years) 3 weeks after MI. With the exception of exercise compliance (only after the TES program), the exercise capacity and exercise self-efficacy were both measured both before and after the 8-week TES program. The VO2peak (p=.043), anaerobic threshold (p=.023) and exercise duration (p=.015) improved in TES group compared to Control group after 8 weeks. The cardiac exercise self-efficacy (p=.036) was significantly higher in TES group than Control group. There was a significant increase of exercise compliance(p=.005) in TES group compared to Control group. The 8-week TES program improved the exercise capacity, exercise self-efficacy and exercise compliance. A appropriately implemented TES program in cardiovascular nursing practice may promote healthy behavioral modification and, therefore, contributing to reduce the risk of mortality and morbidity in MI patients.

Knockdown of OY-TES-1 by RNAi causes cell cycle arrest and migration decrease in bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

PubMed

Cen, Yan-Hui; Guo, Wen-Wen; Luo, Bin; Lin, Yong-Da; Zhang, Qing-Mei; Zhou, Su-Fang; Luo, Guo-Rong; Xiao, Shao-Wen; Xie, Xiao-Xun

2012-10-01

OY-TES-1 is a member of the CTA (cancer-testis antigen) group expressed in a variety of cancer and restrictedly expressed in adult normal tissues, except for testis. To determine whether MSCs (mesenchymal stem cells) express OY-TES-1 and its possible roles on MSCs, OY-TES-1 expression in MSCs isolated from human bone marrow was tested with RT (reverse transcription)-PCR, immunocytochemistry and Western blot. Using RNAi (RNA interference) technology, OY-TES-1 expression was knocked down followed by analysing cell viability, cell cycle, apoptosis and migration ability. MSCs expressed OY-TES-1 at both mRNA and protein levels. The down-regulation of OY-TES-1 expression in these MSCs caused cell growth inhibition, cell cycle arrest, apoptosis induction and migration ability attenuation. Through these primary results it was suggested that OY-TES-1 may influence the biological behaviour of MSCs.

The Atacama B-Mode Search: CMB Polarimetry with Transition-Edge-Sensor Bolometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Essinger-Hileman, T.; Appel, J. W.; Beal, J. A.; Cho, H. M.; Fowler, J.; Halpern, M.; Hasselfield, M.; Irwin, K. D.; Marriage, T. A.; Niemack, M. D.; Page, L.; Parker, L. P.; Pufu, S.; Staggs, S. T.; Stryzak, O.; Visnjic, C.; Yoon, K. W.; Zhao, Y.

2009-12-01

The Atacama B-mode Search (ABS) experiment is a 145 GHz polarimeter designed to measure the B-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at large angular scales. The ABS instrument will ship to the Atacama Desert of Chile fully tested and ready to observe in 2010. ABS will image large-angular-scale CMB polarization anisotropies onto a focal plane of 240 feedhorn-coupled, transition-edge sensor (TES) polarimeters, using a cryogenic crossed-Dragone design. The ABS detectors, which are fabricated at NIST, use orthomode transducers to couple orthogonal polarizations of incoming radiation onto separate TES bolometers. The incoming radiation is modulated by an ambient-temperature half-wave plate in front of the vacuum window at an aperture stop. Preliminary detector characterization indicates that the ABS detectors can achieve a sensitivity of 300 μK√s in the field. This paper describes the ABS optical design and detector readout scheme, including feedhorn design and performance, magnetic shielding, focal plane architecture, and cryogenic electronics.

Modification of cutaneous vasodilator response to heat stress by daytime exogenous melatonin administration.

PubMed

Aoki, Ken; Stephens, Dan P; Zhao, Kun; Kosiba, Wojciech A; Johnson, John M

2006-09-01

In humans, the nocturnal fall in internal temperature is associated with increased endogenous melatonin and with a shift in the thermoregulatory control of skin blood flow (SkBF), suggesting a role for melatonin in the control of SkBF. The purpose of this study was to test whether daytime exogenous melatonin would shift control of SkBF to lower internal temperatures during heat stress, as is seen at night. Healthy male subjects (n = 8) underwent body heating with melatonin administration (Mel) or without (control), in random order at least 1 wk apart. SkBF was monitored at sites pretreated with bretylium to block vasoconstrictor nerve function and at untreated sites. Cutaneous vascular conductance, calculated from SkBF and arterial pressure, sweating rate (SR), and heart rate (HR) were monitored. Skin temperature was elevated to 38 degrees C for 35-50 min. Baseline esophageal temperature (Tes) was lower in Mel than in control (P < 0.01). The Tes threshold for cutaneous vasodilation and the slope of cutaneous vascular conductance with respect to Tes were also lower in Mel at both untreated and bretylium-treated sites (P < 0.05). The Tes threshold for the onset of sweating and the Tes for a standard HR were reduced in Mel. The slope of the relationship of HR, but not SR, to Tes was lower in Mel (P < 0.05). These findings suggest that melatonin affects the thermoregulatory control of SkBF during hyperthermia via the cutaneous active vasodilator system. Because control of SR and HR are also modified, a central action of melatonin is suggested.

Combined heat and power systems for commercial buildings: investigating cost, emissions, and primary energy reduction based on system components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Amanda D.

Combined heat and power (CHP) systems produce electricity and useful heat from fuel. When power is produced near a building which consumes power, transmission losses are averted, and heat which is a byproduct of power production may be useful to the building. That thermal energy can be used for hot water or space heating, among other applications. This dissertation focuses on CHP systems using natural gas, a common fuel, and systems serving commercial buildings in the United States. First, the necessary price difference between purchased electricity and purchased fuel is analyzed in terms of the efficiencies of system components by comparing CHP with a conventional separate heat and power (SHP) configuration, where power is purchased from the electrical grid and heat is provided by a gas boiler. Similarly, the relationship between CDE due to electricity purchases and due to fuel purchases is analyzed as well as the relationship between primary energy conversion factors for electricity and fuel. The primary energy conversion factor indicates the quantity of source energy necessary to produce the energy purchased at the site. Next, greenhouse gas emissions are investigated for a variety of commercial buildings using CHP or SHP. The relationship between the magnitude of the reduction in emissions and the parameters of the CHP system is explored. The cost savings and reduction in primary energy consumption are evaluated for the same buildings. Finally, a CHP system is analyzed with the addition of a thermal energy storage (TES) component, which can store excess thermal energy and deliver it later if necessary. The potential for CHP with TES to reduce cost, emissions, and primary energy consumption is investigated for a variety of buildings. A case study is developed for one building for which TES does provide additional benefits over a CHP system alone, and the requirements for a water tank TES device are examined.

Epigenetic regulation of intragenic transposable elements impacts gene transcription in Arabidopsis thaliana

PubMed Central

Le, Tu N.; Miyazaki, Yuji; Takuno, Shohei; Saze, Hidetoshi

2015-01-01

Genomes of higher eukaryotes, including plants, contain numerous transposable elements (TEs), that are often silenced by epigenetic mechanisms, such as histone modifications and DNA methylation. Although TE silencing adversely affects expression of nearby genes, recent studies reveal the presence of intragenic TEs marked by repressive heterochromatic epigenetic marks within transcribed genes. However, even for the well-studied plant model Arabidopsis thaliana, the abundance of intragenic TEs, how they are epigenetically regulated, and their potential impacts on host gene expression, remain unexplored. In this study, we comprehensively analyzed genome-wide distribution and epigenetic regulation of intragenic TEs in A. thaliana. Our analysis revealed that about 3% of TEs are located within gene bodies, dominantly at intronic regions. Most of them are shorter and less methylated than intergenic TEs, but they are still targeted by RNA-directed DNA methylation-dependent and independent pathways. Surprisingly, the heterochromatic epigenetic marks at TEs are maintained within actively transcribed genes. Moreover, the heterochromatic state of intronic TEs is critical for proper transcription of associated genes. Our study provides the first insight into how intragenic TEs affect the transcriptional landscape of the A. thaliana genome, and suggests the importance of epigenetic mechanisms for regulation of TEs within transcriptional gene units. PMID:25813042

TEcandidates: Prediction of genomic origin of expressed Transposable Elements using RNA-seq data.

PubMed

Valdebenito-Maturana, Braulio; Riadi, Gonzalo

2018-06-01

In recent years, Transposable Elements (TEs) have been related to gene regulation. However, estimating the origin of expression of TEs through RNA-seq is complicated by multimapping reads coming from their repetitive sequences. Current approaches that address multimapping reads are focused in expression quantification and not in finding the origin of expression. Addressing the genomic origin of expressed TEs could further aid in understanding the role that TEs might have in the cell. We have developed a new pipeline called TEcandidates, based on de novo transcriptome assembly to assess the instances of TEs being expressed, along with their location, to include in downstream DE analysis. TEcandidates takes as input the RNA-seq data, the genome sequence and the TE annotation file, and returns a list of coordinates of candidate TEs being expressed, the TEs that have been removed, and the genome sequence with removed TEs as masked. This masked genome is suited to include TEs in downstream expression analysis, as the ambiguity of reads coming from TEs is significantly reduced in the mapping step of the analysis. The script which runs the pipeline can be downloaded at http://www.mobilomics.org/tecandidates/downloads or http://github.com/TEcandidates/TEcandidates. griadi@utalca.cl. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Caspase inhibitors affect the kinetics and dimensions of tracheary elements in xylogenic Zinnia (Zinnia elegans) cell cultures.

PubMed

Twumasi, Peter; Iakimova, Elena T; Qian, Tian; van Ieperen, Wim; Schel, Jan H N; Emons, Anne Mie C; van Kooten, Olaf; Woltering, Ernst J

2010-08-06

The xylem vascular system is composed of fused dead, hollow cells called tracheary elements (TEs) that originate through trans-differentiation of root and shoot cambium cells. TEs undergo autolysis as they differentiate and mature. The final stage of the formation of TEs in plants is the death of the involved cells, a process showing some similarities to programmed cell death (PCD) in animal systems. Plant proteases with functional similarity to proteases involved in mammalian apoptotic cell death (caspases) are suggested as an integral part of the core mechanism of most PCD responses in plants, but participation of plant caspase-like proteases in TE PCD has not yet been documented. Confocal microscopic images revealed the consecutive stages of TE formation in Zinnia cells during trans-differentiation. Application of the caspase inhibitors Z-Asp-CH2-DCB, Ac-YVAD-CMK and Ac-DEVD-CHO affected the kinetics of formation and the dimensions of the TEs resulting in a significant delay of TE formation, production of larger TEs and in elimination of the 'two-wave' pattern of TE production. DNA breakdown and appearance of TUNEL-positive nuclei was observed in xylogenic cultures and this was suppressed in the presence of caspase inhibitors. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report showing that caspase inhibitors can modulate the process of trans-differentiation in Zinnia xylogenic cell cultures. As caspase inhibitors are closely associated with cell death inhibition in a variety of plant systems, this suggests that the altered TE formation results from suppression of PCD. The findings presented here are a first step towards the use of appropriate PCD signalling modulators or related molecular genetic strategies to improve the hydraulic properties of xylem vessels in favour of the quality and shelf life of plants or plant parts.

Impact of thermal energy storage properties on solar dynamic space power conversion system mass

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Juhasz, Albert J.; Coles-Hamilton, Carolyn E.; Lacy, Dovie E.

1987-01-01

A 16 parameter solar concentrator/heat receiver mass model is used in conjunction with Stirling and Brayton Power Conversion System (PCS) performance and mass computer codes to determine the effect of thermal energy storage (TES) material property changes on overall PCS mass as a function of steady state electrical power output. Included in the PCS mass model are component masses as a function of thermal power for: concentrator, heat receiver, heat exchangers (source unless integral with heat receiver, heat sink, regenerator), heat engine units with optional parallel redundancy, power conditioning and control (PC and C), PC and C radiator, main radiator, and structure. Critical TES properties are: melting temperature, heat of fusion, density of the liquid phase, and the ratio of solid-to-liquid density. Preliminary results indicate that even though overalll system efficiency increases with TES melting temperature up to 1400 K for concentrator surface accuracies of 1 mrad or better, reductions in the overall system mass beyond that achievable with lithium fluoride (LiF) can be accomplished only if the heat of fusion is at least 800 kJ/kg and the liquid density is comparable to that of LiF (1880 kg/cu m.

Impact of thermal energy storage properties on solar dynamic space power conversion system mass

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Juhasz, Albert J.; Coles-Hamilton, Carolyn E.; Lacy, Dovie E.

1987-01-01

A 16 parameter solar concentrator/heat receiver mass model is used in conjunction with Stirling and Brayton Power Conversion System (PCS) performance and mass computer codes to determine the effect of thermal energy storage (TES) material property changes on overall PCS mass as a function of steady state electrical power output. Included in the PCS mass model are component masses as a function of thermal power for: concentrator, heat receiver, heat exchangers (source unless integral with heat receiver, heat sink, regenerator), heat engine units with optional parallel redundancy, power conditioning and control (PC and C), PC and C radiator, main radiator, and structure. Critical TES properties are: melting temperature, heat of fusion, density of the liquid phase, and the ratio of solid-to-liquid density. Preliminary results indicate that even though overall system efficiency increases with TES melting temperature up to 1400 K for concentrator surface accuracies of 1 mrad or better, reductions in the overall system mass beyond that achievable with lithium fluoride (LiF) can be accomplished only if the heat of fusion is at least 800 kJ/kg and the liquid density is comparable to that of LiF (1800 kg/cu m).

Technology-enabled examinations of cardiac rhythm, optic nerve, oral health, tympanic membrane, gait and coordination evaluated jointly with routine health screenings: an observational study at the 2015 Kumbh Mela in India

PubMed Central

Gupta, Otkrist; Patalano II, Vincent; Mohit, Mrinal; Merchant, Rikin; Subramanian, S V

2018-01-01

Objectives Technology-enabled non-invasive diagnostic screening (TES) using smartphones and other point-of-care medical devices was evaluated in conjunction with conventional routine health screenings for the primary care screening of patients. Design Dental conditions, cardiac ECG arrhythmias, tympanic membrane disorders, blood oxygenation levels, optic nerve disorders and neurological fitness were evaluated using FDA-approved advanced smartphone powered technologies. Routine health screenings were also conducted. A novel remote web platform was developed to allow expert physicians to examine TES data and compare efficacy with routine health screenings. Setting The study was conducted at a primary care centre during the 2015 Kumbh Mela in Maharashtra, India. Participants 494 consenting 18–90 years old adults attending the 2015 Kumbh Mela were tested. Results TES and routine health screenings identified unique clinical conditions in distinct patients. Intraoral fluorescent imaging classified 63.3% of the population with dental caries and periodontal diseases. An association between poor oral health and cardiovascular illnesses was also identified. Tympanic membrane imaging detected eardrum abnormalities in 13.0% of the population, several with a medical history of hearing difficulties. Gait and coordination issues were discovered in eight subjects and one subject had arrhythmia. Cross-correlations were observed between low oxygen saturation and low body mass index (BMI) with smokers (p=0.0087 and p=0.0122, respectively), and high BMI was associated with elevated blood pressure in middle-aged subjects. Conclusions TES synergistically identified clinically significant abnormalities in several subjects who otherwise presented as normal in routine health screenings. Physicians validated TES findings and used routine health screening data and medical history responses for comprehensive diagnoses for at-risk patients. TES identified high prevalence of oral diseases, hypertension, obesity and ophthalmic conditions among the middle-aged and elderly Indian population, calling for public health interventions. PMID:29678964

Specific binding of TES-23 antibody to tumour vascular endothelium in mice, rats and human cancer tissue: a novel drug carrier for cancer targeting therapy

PubMed Central

Tsunoda, S; Ohizumi, I; Matsui, J; Koizumi, K; Wakai, Y; Makimoto, H; Tsutsumi, Y; Utoguchi, N; Taniguchi, K; Saito, H; Harada, N; Ohsugi, Y; Mayumi, T

1999-01-01

The tissue distribution of anti-tumour vascular endothelium monoclonal antibody (TES-23) produced by immunizing with plasma membrane vesicles from isolated rat tumour-derived endothelial cells (TECs) was assessed in various tumour-bearing animals. Radiolabelled TES-23 dramatically accumulated in KMT-17 fibrosarcoma, the source of isolated TECs after intravenous injection. In Meth-A fibrosarcoma, Colon-26 adenocarcinoma in BALB/c mice and HT-1080 human tumour tissue in nude mice, radioactivities of 125I-labelled TES-23 were also up to 50 times higher than those of control antibody with little distribution to normal tissues. The selective recognition of TES-23 to TECs was competitively blocked by preadministration of unlabelled TES-23 in vivo. Furthermore, immunostaining of human tissue sections showed specific binding of TES-23 on endothelium in oesophagus cancers. These results indicate that tumour vascular endothelial cells express common antigen in different tumour types of various animal species. In order to clarify the efficacy of TES-23 as a drug carrier, an immunoconjugate, composed of TES-23 and neocarzinostatin, was tested for its anti-tumour effect in rats bearing KMT-17 fibrosarcomas. The immunoconjugate (TES-23-NCS) caused marked regression of the tumour, accompanied by haemorrhagic necrosis. Thus, from a clinical view, TES-23 would be a novel drug carrier because of its high specificity to tumour vascular endothelium and its application to many types of cancer. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaign PMID:10584876

Melt-Vapor Phase Diagram of the Te-S System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volodin, V. N.; Trebukhov, S. A.; Kenzhaliyev, B. K.; Nitsenko, A. V.; Burabaeva, N. M.

2018-03-01

The values of partial pressure of saturated vapor of the constituents of the Te-S system are determined from boiling points. The boundaries of the melt-vapor phase transition at atmospheric pressure and in vacuum of 2000 and 100 Pa are calculated on the basis of partial pressures. A phase diagram that includes vapor-liquid equilibrium fields whose boundaries allow us to assess the behavior of elements upon distillation fractioning is plotted. It is established that the separation of elements is possible at the first evaporation-condensation cycle. Complications can be caused by crystallization of a sulfur solid solution in tellurium.

Hypermethylation of testis derived transcript gene promoter significantly correlates with worse outcomes in glioblastoma patients.

PubMed

Wang, Li-jia; Bai, Yu; Bao, Zhao-shi; Chen, Yan; Yan, Zhuo-hong; Zhang, Wei; Zhang, Quan-geng

2013-01-01

Glioblastoma is the most common and lethal cancer of the central nervous system. Global genomic hypomethylation and some CpG island hypermethylation are common hallmarks of these malignancies, but the effects of these methylation abnormalities on glioblastomas are still largely unclear. Methylation of the O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase promoter is currently an only confirmed molecular predictor of better outcome in temozolomide treatment. To better understand the relationship between CpG island methylation status and patient outcome, this study launched DNA methylation profiles for thirty-three primary glioblastomas (pGBMs) and nine secondary glioblastomas (sGBMs) with the expectation to identify valuable prognostic and therapeutic targets. We evaluated the methylation status of testis derived transcript (TES) gene promoter by microarray analysis of glioblastomas and the prognostic value for TES methylation in the clinical outcome of pGBM patients. Significance analysis of microarrays was used for genes significantly differently methylated between 33 pGBM and nine sGBM. Survival curves were calculated according to the Kaplan-Meier method, and differences between curves were assessed using the log-rank test. Then, we treated glioblastoma cell lines (U87 and U251) with 5-aza-2-deoxycytidines (5-aza-dC) and detected cell biological behaviors. Microarray data analysis identified TES promoter was hypermethylated in pGBMs compared with sGBMs (P < 0.05). Survival curves from the Kaplan-Meier method analysis revealed that the patients with TES hypermethylation had a short overall survival (P < 0.05). This abnormality is also confirmed in glioblastoma cell lines (U87 and U251). Treating these cells with 5-aza-dC released TES protein expression resulted in significant inhibition of cell growth (P = 0.013). Hypermethylation of TES gene promoter highly correlated with worse outcome in pGBM patients. TES might represent a valuable prognostic marker for glioblastoma.

Delineating the Tes Interaction Site in Zyxin and Studying Cellular Effects of Its Disruption.

PubMed

Hadzic, Ermin; Catillon, Marie; Halavatyi, Aliaksandr; Medves, Sandrine; Van Troys, Marleen; Moes, Michèle; Baird, Michelle A; Davidson, Michael W; Schaffner-Reckinger, Elisabeth; Ampe, Christophe; Friederich, Evelyne

2015-01-01

Focal adhesions are integrin-based structures that link the actin cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix. They play an important role in various cellular functions such as cell signaling, cell motility and cell shape. To ensure and fine tune these different cellular functions, adhesions are regulated by a large number of proteins. The LIM domain protein zyxin localizes to focal adhesions where it participates in the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton. Because of its interactions with a variety of binding partners, zyxin has been proposed to act as a molecular scaffold. Here, we studied the interaction of zyxin with such a partner: Tes. Similar to zyxin, Tes harbors three highly conserved LIM domains of which the LIM1 domain directly interacts with zyxin. Using different zyxin variants in pull-down assays and ectopic recruitment experiments, we identified the Tes binding site in zyxin and showed that four highly conserved amino acids are crucial for its interaction with Tes. Based upon these findings, we used a zyxin mutant defective in Tes-binding to assess the functional consequences of abrogating the zyxin-Tes interaction in focal adhesions. Performing fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, we showed that zyxin recruits Tes to focal adhesions and modulates its turnover in these structures. However, we also provide evidence for zyxin-independent localization of Tes to focal adhesions. Zyxin increases focal adhesion numbers and reduces focal adhesion lifetimes, but does so independent of Tes. Quantitative analysis showed that the loss of interaction between zyxin and Tes affects the process of cell spreading. We conclude that zyxin influences focal adhesion dynamics, that it recruits Tes and that this interaction is functional in regulating cell spreading.

Contribution of transposable elements in the plant's genome.

PubMed

Sahebi, Mahbod; Hanafi, Mohamed M; van Wijnen, Andre J; Rice, David; Rafii, M Y; Azizi, Parisa; Osman, Mohamad; Taheri, Sima; Bakar, Mohd Faizal Abu; Isa, Mohd Noor Mat; Noor, Yusuf Muhammad

2018-07-30

Plants maintain extensive growth flexibility under different environmental conditions, allowing them to continuously and rapidly adapt to alterations in their environment. A large portion of many plant genomes consists of transposable elements (TEs) that create new genetic variations within plant species. Different types of mutations may be created by TEs in plants. Many TEs can avoid the host's defense mechanisms and survive alterations in transposition activity, internal sequence and target site. Thus, plant genomes are expected to utilize a variety of mechanisms to tolerate TEs that are near or within genes. TEs affect the expression of not only nearby genes but also unlinked inserted genes. TEs can create new promoters, leading to novel expression patterns or alternative coding regions to generate alternate transcripts in plant species. TEs can also provide novel cis-acting regulatory elements that act as enhancers or inserts within original enhancers that are required for transcription. Thus, the regulation of plant gene expression is strongly managed by the insertion of TEs into nearby genes. TEs can also lead to chromatin modifications and thereby affect gene expression in plants. TEs are able to generate new genes and modify existing gene structures by duplicating, mobilizing and recombining gene fragments. They can also facilitate cellular functions by sharing their transposase-coding regions. Hence, TE insertions can not only act as simple mutagens but can also alter the elementary functions of the plant genome. Here, we review recent discoveries concerning the contribution of TEs to gene expression in plant genomes and discuss the different mechanisms by which TEs can affect plant gene expression and reduce host defense mechanisms. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Phylogenetic and experimental characterization of an acyl-ACP thioesterase family reveals significant diversity in enzymatic specificity and activity.

PubMed

Jing, Fuyuan; Cantu, David C; Tvaruzkova, Jarmila; Chipman, Jay P; Nikolau, Basil J; Yandeau-Nelson, Marna D; Reilly, Peter J

2011-08-10

Acyl-acyl carrier protein thioesterases (acyl-ACP TEs) catalyze the hydrolysis of the thioester bond that links the acyl chain to the sulfhydryl group of the phosphopantetheine prosthetic group of ACP. This reaction terminates acyl chain elongation of fatty acid biosynthesis, and in plant seeds it is the biochemical determinant of the fatty acid compositions of storage lipids. To explore acyl-ACP TE diversity and to identify novel acyl ACP-TEs, 31 acyl-ACP TEs from wide-ranging phylogenetic sources were characterized to ascertain their in vivo activities and substrate specificities. These acyl-ACP TEs were chosen by two different approaches: 1) 24 TEs were selected from public databases on the basis of phylogenetic analysis and fatty acid profile knowledge of their source organisms; and 2) seven TEs were molecularly cloned from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), coconut (Cocos nucifera) and Cuphea viscosissima, organisms that produce medium-chain and short-chain fatty acids in their seeds. The in vivo substrate specificities of the acyl-ACP TEs were determined in E. coli. Based on their specificities, these enzymes were clustered into three classes: 1) Class I acyl-ACP TEs act primarily on 14- and 16-carbon acyl-ACP substrates; 2) Class II acyl-ACP TEs have broad substrate specificities, with major activities toward 8- and 14-carbon acyl-ACP substrates; and 3) Class III acyl-ACP TEs act predominantly on 8-carbon acyl-ACPs. Several novel acyl-ACP TEs act on short-chain and unsaturated acyl-ACP or 3-ketoacyl-ACP substrates, indicating the diversity of enzymatic specificity in this enzyme family. These acyl-ACP TEs can potentially be used to diversify the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway to produce novel fatty acids.

Phylogenetic and experimental characterization of an acyl-ACP thioesterase family reveals significant diversity in enzymatic specificity and activity

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Acyl-acyl carrier protein thioesterases (acyl-ACP TEs) catalyze the hydrolysis of the thioester bond that links the acyl chain to the sulfhydryl group of the phosphopantetheine prosthetic group of ACP. This reaction terminates acyl chain elongation of fatty acid biosynthesis, and in plant seeds it is the biochemical determinant of the fatty acid compositions of storage lipids. Results To explore acyl-ACP TE diversity and to identify novel acyl ACP-TEs, 31 acyl-ACP TEs from wide-ranging phylogenetic sources were characterized to ascertain their in vivo activities and substrate specificities. These acyl-ACP TEs were chosen by two different approaches: 1) 24 TEs were selected from public databases on the basis of phylogenetic analysis and fatty acid profile knowledge of their source organisms; and 2) seven TEs were molecularly cloned from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), coconut (Cocos nucifera) and Cuphea viscosissima, organisms that produce medium-chain and short-chain fatty acids in their seeds. The in vivo substrate specificities of the acyl-ACP TEs were determined in E. coli. Based on their specificities, these enzymes were clustered into three classes: 1) Class I acyl-ACP TEs act primarily on 14- and 16-carbon acyl-ACP substrates; 2) Class II acyl-ACP TEs have broad substrate specificities, with major activities toward 8- and 14-carbon acyl-ACP substrates; and 3) Class III acyl-ACP TEs act predominantly on 8-carbon acyl-ACPs. Several novel acyl-ACP TEs act on short-chain and unsaturated acyl-ACP or 3-ketoacyl-ACP substrates, indicating the diversity of enzymatic specificity in this enzyme family. Conclusion These acyl-ACP TEs can potentially be used to diversify the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway to produce novel fatty acids. PMID:21831316

Delineating the Tes Interaction Site in Zyxin and Studying Cellular Effects of Its Disruption

PubMed Central

Hadzic, Ermin; Catillon, Marie; Halavatyi, Aliaksandr; Medves, Sandrine; Van Troys, Marleen; Moes, Michèle; Baird, Michelle A.; Davidson, Michael W.; Schaffner-Reckinger, Elisabeth; Ampe, Christophe; Friederich, Evelyne

2015-01-01

Focal adhesions are integrin-based structures that link the actin cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix. They play an important role in various cellular functions such as cell signaling, cell motility and cell shape. To ensure and fine tune these different cellular functions, adhesions are regulated by a large number of proteins. The LIM domain protein zyxin localizes to focal adhesions where it participates in the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton. Because of its interactions with a variety of binding partners, zyxin has been proposed to act as a molecular scaffold. Here, we studied the interaction of zyxin with such a partner: Tes. Similar to zyxin, Tes harbors three highly conserved LIM domains of which the LIM1 domain directly interacts with zyxin. Using different zyxin variants in pull-down assays and ectopic recruitment experiments, we identified the Tes binding site in zyxin and showed that four highly conserved amino acids are crucial for its interaction with Tes. Based upon these findings, we used a zyxin mutant defective in Tes-binding to assess the functional consequences of abrogating the zyxin-Tes interaction in focal adhesions. Performing fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, we showed that zyxin recruits Tes to focal adhesions and modulates its turnover in these structures. However, we also provide evidence for zyxin-independent localization of Tes to focal adhesions. Zyxin increases focal adhesion numbers and reduces focal adhesion lifetimes, but does so independent of Tes. Quantitative analysis showed that the loss of interaction between zyxin and Tes affects the process of cell spreading. We conclude that zyxin influences focal adhesion dynamics, that it recruits Tes and that this interaction is functional in regulating cell spreading. PMID:26509500

High-density arrays of x-ray microcalorimeters for Constellation-X

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kilbourne, C. A.; Bandler, S. R.; Chervenak, J. A.; Figueroa-Feliciano, E.; Finkbeiner, F. M.; Iyomoto, N.; Kelley, R. L.; Porter, F. S.; Saab, T.; Sadleir, J.

2005-12-01

We have been developing x-ray microcalorimeters for the Constellation-X mission. Devices based on superconducting transition edge sensors (TES) have demonstrated the potential to meet the Constellation-X requirements for spectral resolution, speed, and array scale (> 1000 pixels) in a close-packed geometry. In our part of the GSFC/NIST collaboration on this technology development, we have been concentrating on the fabrication of arrays of pixels suitable for the Constellation-X reference configuration. We have fabricated 8x8 arrays with 0.25-mm pixels arranged with 92% fill factor. The pixels are based on Mo/Au TES and Bi/Cu absorbers. We have achieved a resolution of 4.9 eV FWHM at 6 keV in such devices. Studies of the thermal transport in our Bi/Cu absorbers have shown that, while there is room for improvement, for 0.25 mm pixels our existing absorber design is adequate to avoid line-broadening from position dependence caused by thermal diffusion. In order to push closer to the 4-eV requirement and 2-eV goal at 6 keV, we are refining the design of the TES and the interface to the absorber. For the 32x32 arrays ultimately needed for Constellation-X, signal lead routing and heatsinking will drive the design. We have had early successes with experiments in electroplating electrical vias and thermal busses into micro-machined features in silicon substrates. The next steps will be fabricating arrays that have all of the essential features of the required flight design, testing, and then engineering a prototype array for optimum performance.

New Optimizations of Microcalorimeter Arrays for High-Resolution Imaging X-ray Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kilbourne, Caroline

We propose to continue our successful research program in developing arrays of superconducting transition-edge sensors (TES) for x-ray astrophysics. Our standard 0.3 mm TES pixel achieves better than 2.5-eV resolution, and we now make 32x32 arrays of such pixels. We have also achieved better than 1-eV resolution in smaller pixels, and promising performance in a range of position-sensitive designs. We propose to continue to advance the designs of both the single-pixel and position-sensitive microcalorimeters so that we can produce arrays suitable for several x-ray spectroscopy observatories presently in formulation. We will also investigate various array and pixel optimizations such as would be needed for large arrays for surveys, large- pixel arrays for diffuse soft x-ray measurements, or sub-arrays of fast pixels optimized for neutron-star burst spectroscopy. In addition, we will develop fabrication processes for integrating sub-arrays with very different pixel designs into a monolithic focal-plane array to simplify the design of the focal-plane assembly and make feasible new detector configurations such as the one currently baselined for AXSIO. Through a series of measurements on test devices, we have improved our understanding of the weak-link physics governing the observed resistive transitions in TES detectors. We propose to build on that work and ultimately use the results to improve the immunity of the detector to environmental magnetic fields, as well as its fundamental performance, in each of the targeted optimizations we are developing.

Magnetic Shielding of an Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator for TES Microcalorimeter Operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hishi, U.; Fujimoto, R.; Kunihisa, T.; Takakura, S.; Mitsude, T.; Kamiya, K.; Kotake, M.; Hoshino, A.; Shinozaki, K.

2014-09-01

We are developing a compact adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) dedicated for TES X-ray microcalorimeter operation. Ferric ammonium alum (FAA) was grown in a stainless-steel container in our laboratory. This salt pill was mounted together with a superconducting magnet and a conventional mechanical heat-switch in a dedicated helium cryostat. Using this system, we achieved mK and a hold time of h below 100 mK. Initially, we used a 3 mm thick silicon steel shield around the ADR magnet and a Nb/Cryoperm double shield around the detector. However, this silicon steel shield allowed a mT field at the detector position when a full field (3 T) was applied, and caused the Nb shield around the detector to trap a magnetic field. The observed transition curve of a TES was broad ( mK) compared to mK obtained in a dilution refrigerator. By increasing the shield thickness to 12 mm, transition width was improved to mK, which suggests that the shields work as expected. When we operated a TES microcalorimeter, energy resolution was eV (FWHM) at 5.9 keV.

Few-photon color imaging using energy-dispersive superconducting transition-edge sensor spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niwa, Kazuki; Numata, Takayuki; Hattori, Kaori; Fukuda, Daiji

2017-04-01

Highly sensitive spectral imaging is increasingly being demanded in bioanalysis research and industry to obtain the maximum information possible from molecules of different colors. We introduce an application of the superconducting transition-edge sensor (TES) technique to highly sensitive spectral imaging. A TES is an energy-dispersive photodetector that can distinguish the wavelength of each incident photon. Its effective spectral range is from the visible to the infrared (IR), up to 2800 nm, which is beyond the capabilities of other photodetectors. TES was employed in this study in a fiber-coupled optical scanning microscopy system, and a test sample of a three-color ink pattern was observed. A red-green-blue (RGB) image and a near-IR image were successfully obtained in the few-incident-photon regime, whereas only a black and white image could be obtained using a photomultiplier tube. Spectral data were also obtained from a selected focal area out of the entire image. The results of this study show that TES is feasible for use as an energy-dispersive photon-counting detector in spectral imaging applications.

Few-photon color imaging using energy-dispersive superconducting transition-edge sensor spectrometry.

PubMed

Niwa, Kazuki; Numata, Takayuki; Hattori, Kaori; Fukuda, Daiji

2017-04-04

Highly sensitive spectral imaging is increasingly being demanded in bioanalysis research and industry to obtain the maximum information possible from molecules of different colors. We introduce an application of the superconducting transition-edge sensor (TES) technique to highly sensitive spectral imaging. A TES is an energy-dispersive photodetector that can distinguish the wavelength of each incident photon. Its effective spectral range is from the visible to the infrared (IR), up to 2800 nm, which is beyond the capabilities of other photodetectors. TES was employed in this study in a fiber-coupled optical scanning microscopy system, and a test sample of a three-color ink pattern was observed. A red-green-blue (RGB) image and a near-IR image were successfully obtained in the few-incident-photon regime, whereas only a black and white image could be obtained using a photomultiplier tube. Spectral data were also obtained from a selected focal area out of the entire image. The results of this study show that TES is feasible for use as an energy-dispersive photon-counting detector in spectral imaging applications.

Cancer testis antigen OY-TES-1 expression and serum immunogenicity in colorectal cancer: its relationship to clinicopathological parameters

PubMed Central

Luo, Bin; Yun, Xiang; Fan, Rong; Lin, Yong-Da; He, Shu-Jia; Zhang, Qing-Mei; Mo, Fa-Rong; Chen, Fang; Xiao, Shao-Wen; Xie, Xiao-Xun

2013-01-01

Cancer testis (CT) antigens are attractive targets for cancer immunotherapy because their expression is restricted in normal germ line tissues but frequently detected in variety of tumors. OY-TES-1 is identified as a member of CT antigens. Current knowledge about OY-TES-1 expression in colorectal cancer (CRC) is solely based on mRNA analysis. None of previous researches has studied OY-TES-1 at protein level. In this study, OY-TES-1 polyclonal antibody was generated. The expression of OY-TES-1 mRNA and protein was detected by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry in 60 CRC and paired adjacent non-tumor tissues, 24 colorectal adenoma and 3 normal colon tissues, respectively. Sera from 73 CRC patients were also tested for OY-TES-1 antibody by ELISA. Our results showed that the frequency of OY-TES-1 mRNA expression was statistically higher in CRC (73.3%, 44/60) than that in adjacent non-tumor tissue (55.0%, 33/60) and colorectal adenoma (45.8%, 11/24). For the first time, OY-TES-1 protein expression was found in (43.3%, 26/60) of CRC tissues, but absent in any of adjacent non-tumor and colorectal adenoma tissues. No OY-TES-1 expression was found in normal colon by either RT-PCR or immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, OY-TES-1 protein expression was correlated with tumor invasion stage (P=0.004) and histological grade (P=0.040). Anti-OY-TES-1 antibody was detected in (9.6%, 7/73) of CRC patients’ sera but not in 76 healthy donors. This finding demonstrates that OY-TES-1 is frequently expressed in CRC and is able to induce humoral immune response spontaneously in CRC patients, suggesting that it might be a promising immunotherapy target for CRC. PMID:24294369

L-edge spectroscopy of dilute, radiation-sensitive systems using a transition-edge-sensor array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Titus, Charles J.; Baker, Michael L.; Lee, Sang Jun; Cho, Hsiao-Mei; Doriese, William B.; Fowler, Joseph W.; Gaffney, Kelly; Gard, Johnathon D.; Hilton, Gene C.; Kenney, Chris; Knight, Jason; Li, Dale; Marks, Ronald; Minitti, Michael P.; Morgan, Kelsey M.; O'Neil, Galen C.; Reintsema, Carl D.; Schmidt, Daniel R.; Sokaras, Dimosthenis; Swetz, Daniel S.; Ullom, Joel N.; Weng, Tsu-Chien; Williams, Christopher; Young, Betty A.; Irwin, Kent D.; Solomon, Edward I.; Nordlund, Dennis

2017-12-01

We present X-ray absorption spectroscopy and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements on the iron L-edge of 0.5 mM aqueous ferricyanide. These measurements demonstrate the ability of high-throughput transition-edge-sensor (TES) spectrometers to access the rich soft X-ray (100-2000 eV) spectroscopy regime for dilute and radiation-sensitive samples. Our low-concentration data are in agreement with high-concentration measurements recorded by grating spectrometers. These results show that soft-X-ray RIXS spectroscopy acquired by high-throughput TES spectrometers can be used to study the local electronic structure of dilute metal-centered complexes relevant to biology, chemistry, and catalysis. In particular, TES spectrometers have a unique ability to characterize frozen solutions of radiation- and temperature-sensitive samples.

Distributed Antenna-Coupled TES for FIR Detectors Arrays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Day, Peter K.; Leduc, Henry G.; Dowell, C. Darren; Lee, Richard A.; Zmuidzinas, Jonas

2007-01-01

We describe a new architecture for a superconducting detector for the submillimeter and far-infrared. This detector uses a distributed hot-electron transition edge sensor (TES) to collect the power from a focal-plane-filling slot antenna array. The sensors lay directly across the slots of the antenna and match the antenna impedance of about 30 ohms. Each pixel contains many sensors that are wired in parallel as a single distributed TES, which results in a low impedance that readily matches to a multiplexed SQUID readout These detectors are inherently polarization sensitive, with very low cross-polarization response, but can also be configured to sum both polarizations. The dual-polarization design can have a bandwidth of 50The use of electron-phonon decoupling eliminates the need for micro-machining, making the focal plane much easier to fabricate than with absorber-coupled, mechanically isolated pixels. We discuss applications of these detectors and a hybridization scheme compatible with arrays of tens of thousands of pixels.

Testin (TES) as a candidate tumour suppressor and prognostic marker in human astrocytoma.

PubMed

Steponaitis, Giedrius; Kazlauskas, Arunas; Skiriute, Daina; Valiulyte, Indre; Skauminas, Kestutis; Tamasauskas, Arimantas; Vaitkiene, Paulina

2016-11-01

Astrocytomas are one of the most common brain tumours; however, the current methods used to characterize these tumours are inadequate. The establishment of molecular markers may identify variables required to improve tumour characterization and subtyping, and may aid to specify targets for improved treatment with essential prognostic value for patient survival. One such candidate is testin (TES), which was reported to have prognostic value for glioblastoma patients. However, the role of TES protein in gliomagenesis is currently unknown. In the present study, the methylation status of the TES promoter was investigated in post-operative astrocytoma tumours of different malignancy grade, and its association with the survival of astrocytoma patients was evaluated. In addition, the expression of TES protein was investigated in the same set of astrocytoma tumours tissue, and the association of protein expression with glioma patients survival was evaluated. The methylation status of TES was assessed by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction in 138 different grade astrocytoma samples. Western blot analysis was used to characterize the expression pattern of TES in 86 different grade astrocytoma specimens: 13 of pathological grade I, 31 of pathological grade II, 17 of pathological grade III and 25 of pathological grade IV (glioblastoma). Statistical analyses were conducted to investigate the association between tumour molecular pattern, patient clinical variables and overall survival. The methylation analysis of the TES promoter exhibited a distinct profile between astrocytomas of different malignancy grade (P<0.001). Furthermore, gene promoter methylation was significantly associated with patients' age, survival and pathological grade (P<0.001). The protein expression level of TES was significantly lower in glioblastoma (grade IV astrocytoma) than in lower grade (II-III) astrocytoma tissue (P=0.028 and P=0.04, respectively). Additionally, short overall survival of patients was markedly associated with low TES protein expression (P=0.007). However, no association between TES methylation and TES protein expression was noticed. The present study demonstrated that decreased expression of TES may be important in tumour progression and prognosis in human astrocytomas. TES may be a useful marker for predicting the clinical outcome of astrocytoma patients.

Testin (TES) as a candidate tumour suppressor and prognostic marker in human astrocytoma

PubMed Central

Steponaitis, Giedrius; Kazlauskas, Arunas; Skiriute, Daina; Valiulyte, Indre; Skauminas, Kestutis; Tamasauskas, Arimantas; Vaitkiene, Paulina

2016-01-01

Astrocytomas are one of the most common brain tumours; however, the current methods used to characterize these tumours are inadequate. The establishment of molecular markers may identify variables required to improve tumour characterization and subtyping, and may aid to specify targets for improved treatment with essential prognostic value for patient survival. One such candidate is testin (TES), which was reported to have prognostic value for glioblastoma patients. However, the role of TES protein in gliomagenesis is currently unknown. In the present study, the methylation status of the TES promoter was investigated in post-operative astrocytoma tumours of different malignancy grade, and its association with the survival of astrocytoma patients was evaluated. In addition, the expression of TES protein was investigated in the same set of astrocytoma tumours tissue, and the association of protein expression with glioma patients survival was evaluated. The methylation status of TES was assessed by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction in 138 different grade astrocytoma samples. Western blot analysis was used to characterize the expression pattern of TES in 86 different grade astrocytoma specimens: 13 of pathological grade I, 31 of pathological grade II, 17 of pathological grade III and 25 of pathological grade IV (glioblastoma). Statistical analyses were conducted to investigate the association between tumour molecular pattern, patient clinical variables and overall survival. The methylation analysis of the TES promoter exhibited a distinct profile between astrocytomas of different malignancy grade (P<0.001). Furthermore, gene promoter methylation was significantly associated with patients' age, survival and pathological grade (P<0.001). The protein expression level of TES was significantly lower in glioblastoma (grade IV astrocytoma) than in lower grade (II–III) astrocytoma tissue (P=0.028 and P=0.04, respectively). Additionally, short overall survival of patients was markedly associated with low TES protein expression (P=0.007). However, no association between TES methylation and TES protein expression was noticed. The present study demonstrated that decreased expression of TES may be important in tumour progression and prognosis in human astrocytomas. TES may be a useful marker for predicting the clinical outcome of astrocytoma patients. PMID:27899997

Commercialization of Micro-fabrication of Antenna-Coupled Transition Edge Sensor Bolometer Detectors for Studies of the Cosmic Microwave Background

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suzuki, Aritoki; Bebek, Chris; Garcia-Sciveres, Maurice; Holland, Stephen; Kusaka, Akito; Lee, Adrian T.; Palaio, Nicholas; Roe, Natalie; Steinmetz, Leo

2018-04-01

We report on the development of commercially fabricated multichroic antenna-coupled transition edge sensor (TES) bolometer arrays for cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarimetry experiments. CMB polarimetry experiments have deployed instruments in stages. Stage II experiments deployed with O(1000) detectors and reported successful detection of B-mode (divergence-free) polarization pattern in the CMB. Stage III experiments have recently started observing with O(10,000) detectors with wider frequency coverage. A concept for a stage IV experiment, CMB-S4, is emerging to make a definitive measurement of CMB polarization from the ground with O(400,000) detectors. The orders of magnitude increase in detector count for CMB-S4 require a new approach in detector fabrication to increase fabrication throughput and reduce the cost. We report on collaborative efforts with two commercial micro-fabrication foundries to fabricate antenna-coupled TES bolometer detectors. The detector design is based on the sinuous antenna-coupled dichroic detector from the POLARBEAR-2 experiment. The TES bolometers showed the expected I-V response, and the RF performance agrees with the simulation. We will discuss the motivation, design consideration, fabrication processes, test results, and how industrial detector fabrication could be a path to fabricate hundreds of detector wafers for future CMB polarimetry experiments.

Analyzing EEG and MEG signals recorded during tES, a reply.

PubMed

Noury, Nima; Siegel, Markus

2018-02-15

Transcranial Electric Stimulation (tES) is a widely used non-invasive brain stimulation technique. However, strong stimulation artifacts complicate the investigation of neural activity with EEG or MEG during tES. Thus, studying brain signals during tES requires detailed knowledge about the properties of these artifacts. Recently, we characterized the phase- and amplitude-relationship between tES stimulation currents and tES artifacts in EEG and MEG and provided a mathematical model of these artifacts (Noury and Siegel, 2017, and Noury et al., 2016, respectively). Among several other features, we showed that, independent of the stimulation current, the amplitude of tES artifacts is modulated time locked to heartbeat and respiration. In response to our work, a recent paper (Neuling et al., 2017) raised several points concerning the employed stimulation device and methodology. Here, we discuss these points, explain potential misunderstandings, and show that none of the raised concerns are applicable to our results. Furthermore, we explain in detail the physics underlying tES artifacts, and discuss several approaches how to study brain function during tES in the presence of residual artifacts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The conformational state of Tes regulates its zyxin-dependent recruitment to focal adhesions.

PubMed

Garvalov, Boyan K; Higgins, Theresa E; Sutherland, James D; Zettl, Markus; Scaplehorn, Niki; Köcher, Thomas; Piddini, Eugenia; Griffiths, Gareth; Way, Michael

2003-04-14

The function of the human Tes protein, which has extensive similarity to zyxin in both sequence and domain organization, is currently unknown. We now show that Tes is a component of focal adhesions that, when expressed, negatively regulates proliferation of T47D breast carcinoma cells. Coimmunoprecipitations demonstrate that in vivo Tes is complexed with actin, Mena, and vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP). Interestingly, the isolated NH2-terminal half of Tes pulls out alpha-actinin and paxillin from cell extracts in addition to actin. The COOH-terminal half recruits zyxin as well as Mena and VASP from cell extracts. These differences suggest that the ability of Tes to associate with alpha-actinin, paxillin, and zyxin is dependent on the conformational state of the molecule. Consistent with this hypothesis, we demonstrate that the two halves of Tes interact with each other in vitro and in vivo. Using fibroblasts lacking Mena and VASP, we show that these proteins are not required to recruit Tes to focal adhesions. However, using RNAi ablation, we demonstrate that zyxin is required to recruit Tes, as well as Mena and VASP, but not vinculin or paxillin, to focal adhesions.

OY-TES-1 expression and serum immunoreactivity in epithelial ovarian cancer.

PubMed

Tammela, Jonathan; Uenaka, Akiko; Ono, Toshiro; Noguchi, Yuji; Jungbluth, Achim A; Mhawech-Fauceglia, Paulette; Qian, Feng; Schneider, Sally; Sharma, Sameer; Driscoll, Deborah; Lele, Shashikant; Old, Lloyd J; Nakayama, Eiichi; Odunsi, Kunle

2006-10-01

OY-TES-1 is a novel target that belongs to the family of 'cancer/testis' (CT) antigens. Our goal was to examine the expression and immunogenicity of OY-TES-1 in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) to determine its potential as a target for vaccine therapy. OY-TES-1 expression was determined by one-step reverse transcriptase PCR on 100 EOC samples, 5 EOC cell lines, and a panel of normal tissues. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on the same panel of EOC tissues. Sera from a sub-group of patients were tested for OY-TES-1 antibody by ELISA. Thymus and leukocytes were weakly positive for OY-TES-1 while the remaining 5 normal tissues were negative. Expression of OY-TES-1 by either RT-PCR and/or IHC was demonstrable in 69/100 (69%) tumors. Humoral immunity to OY-TES-1 was demonstrated in 1/10 (10%) serum samples from patients whose tumors expressed the antigen. The median follow-up of the patient population was 34 months. There was no correlation between antigen expression and stage, grade, histology and survival. OY-TES-1 is expressed in 69% of patients with EOC, is absent from normal ovarian tissue, and a proportion of patients show evidence of a specific humoral immune response. These findings make OY-TES-1 an attractive target for antigen-specific immunotherapy in EOC.

Cancer testis antigen OY-TES-1: analysis of protein expression in ovarian cancer with tissue microarrays.

PubMed

Fan, R; Huang, W; Luo, B; Zhang, Q M; Xiao, S W; Xie, X X

2015-01-01

Revised manuscript accepted for publication March 5, Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the potential of cancer testis antigen OY-TES-1 as a vaccine for ovarian cancer (OC). A tissue microarray (TMA) containing 107 samples from OC tissues and 48 samples from OC adjacent tissues was analyzed by immunohistochemistry with the OY-TES-1 polyclonal antibody. The correlation between OY-TES-1 and clinic pathological traits of OC was statistically analyzed. The expression of OY-TES-1 protein was found in 81% (87/107) of OC tissues and 56% (27/48) of OC adjacent tissues. The immunostaining intensity of OY-TES-1 in OC tissues was significantly higher than that in OC adjacent tissues tested (p = 0.040). OC adjacent tissues only demonstrated lower immunostaining intensity, whereas some of OC tissues presented higher immunostaining intensity and majority showed the heterogeneity of protein distribution. There was no statistically significant correlation found between OY-TES-1 expression and any other clinicopathological traits such as age, FIGO stage, pathological grade, and histological type. OY-TES-1 was expressed in OC tissues with a high proportion, and some of OC tissues presented OY-TES-1 expression in high level vs OC adjacent tissues. OY-TES-1 could be an attractive target for immunotherapy for OC in the future.

Thermal Energy Storage for Electricity Peak-demand Mitigation: A Solution in Developing and Developed World Alike

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

DeForest, Nicholas; Mendes, Goncalo; Stadler, Michael

2013-06-02

In much of the developed world, air-conditioning in buildings is the dominant driver of summer peak electricity demand. In the developing world a steadily increasing utilization of air-conditioning places additional strain on already-congested grids. This common thread represents a large and growing threat to the reliable delivery of electricity around the world, requiring capital-intensive expansion of capacity and draining available investment resources. Thermal energy storage (TES), in the form of ice or chilled water, may be one of the few technologies currently capable of mitigating this problem cost effectively and at scale. The installation of TES capacity allows a buildingmore » to meet its on-peak air conditioning load without interruption using electricity purchased off-peak and operating with improved thermodynamic efficiency. In this way, TES has the potential to fundamentally alter consumption dynamics and reduce impacts of air conditioning. This investigation presents a simulation study of a large office building in four distinct geographical contexts: Miami, Lisbon, Shanghai, and Mumbai. The optimization tool DER-CAM (Distributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model) is applied to optimally size TES systems for each location. Summer load profiles are investigated to assess the effectiveness and consistency in reducing peak electricity demand. Additionally, annual energy requirements are used to determine system cost feasibility, payback periods and customer savings under local utility tariffs.« less

Delivering enhanced testosterone replacement therapy through nanochannels.

PubMed

Ferrati, Silvia; Nicolov, Eugenia; Bansal, Shyam; Zabre, Erika; Geninatti, Thomas; Ziemys, Arturas; Hudson, Lee; Ferrari, Mauro; Goodall, Randal; Khera, Mohit; Palapattu, Ganesh; Grattoni, Alessandro

2015-02-18

Primary or secondary hypogonadism results in a range of signs and symptoms that compromise quality of life and requires life-long testosterone replacement therapy. In this study, an implantable nanochannel system is investigated as an alternative delivery strategy for the long-term sustained and constant release of testosterone. In vitro release tests are performed using a dissolution set up, with testosterone and testosterone:2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (TES:HPCD) 1:1 and 1:2 molar ratio complexes release from the implantable nanochannel system and quantify by HPLC. 1:2 TES:HPCD complex stably achieve 10-15 times higher testosterone solubility with 25-30 times higher in vitro release. Bioactivity of delivered testosterone is verified by LNCaP/LUC cell luminescence. In vivo evaluation of testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC/MS) and multiplex assay is performed in castrated Sprague-Dawley rats over 30 d. Animals are treated with the nanochannel implants or degradable testosterone pellets. The 1:2 TES:HPCD nanochannel implant exhibits sustained and clinically relevant in vivo release kinetics and attains physiologically stable plasma levels of testosterone, LH, and FSH. In conclusion, it is demonstrated that by providing long-term steady release 1:2 TES:HPCD nanochannel implants may represent a major breakthrough for the treatment of male hypogonadism. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

TES is a novel focal adhesion protein with a role in cell spreading.

PubMed

Coutts, Amanda S; MacKenzie, Elaine; Griffith, Elen; Black, Donald M

2003-03-01

Previously, we identified TES as a novel candidate tumour suppressor gene that mapped to human chromosome 7q31.1. In this report we demonstrate that the TES protein is localised at focal adhesions, actin stress fibres and areas of cell-cell contact. TES has three C-terminal LIM domains that appear to be important for focal adhesion targeting. Additionally, the N-terminal region is important for targeting TES to actin stress fibres. Yeast two-hybrid and biochemical analyses yielded interactions with several focal adhesion and/or cytoskeletal proteins including mena, zyxin and talin. The fact that TES localises to regions of cell adhesion suggests that it functions in events related to cell motility and adhesion. In support of this, we demonstrate that fibroblasts stably overexpressing TES have an increased ability to spread on fibronectin.

Thermal performance analysis of a thermocline thermal energy storage system with FLiNaK molten salt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, C.; Cheng, M. S.; Zhao, B. C.; Dai, Z. M.

2017-01-01

A thermocline thermal storage unit with a heat transfer fluid (HTF) of high-temperature molten salt is considered as one of the most promising methods of thermal storage due to its lower cost and smaller size. The main objective of this work is to analyze the transient behavior of the available molten salt FLiNaK used as the HTF in heat transfer and heat storage in a thermocline thermal energy storage (TES) system. Thermal characteristics including temperature profiles influenced by different inlet velocities of HTF and different void fractions of porous heat storage medium are analyzed. The numerical investigation on the heat storage and heat transfer characteristics of FLiINaK has been carried out. A comparison between two different molten salts, FLiNaK and Hitec, has been explored in this paper with regards to their charging and discharging operations. The results indicate the system with FLiNaK has a greater energy storage capability, a shorter charging time and a higher output power. The numerical investigation reveals heat storage and heat transfer characteristics of the thermocline TES system with FLiNaK, and provide important references for molten salt selection of the TES system in the future.

Exploring the Potential Competitiveness of Utility-Scale Photovoltaics plus Batteries with Concentrating Solar Power, 2015–2030

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

Feldman, David; Margolis, Robert; Denholm, Paul

Declining costs of both solar photovoltaics (PV) and battery storage have raised interest in the creation of “solar-plus-storage” systems to provide dispatchable energy and reliable capacity. There has been limited deployment of PV-plus-energy storage systems (PV+ESS), and the actual configuration and performance of these systems for dispatchable energy are in the early stages of being defined. In contrast, concentrating solar power with thermal energy storage (CSP+TES) has been deployed at scale with the proven capability of providing a dispatchable, reliable source of renewable generation. A key question moving forward is how to compare the relative costs and benefits of PV+ESSmore » and CSP+TES. While both technologies collect solar radiation and produce electricity, they do so through very different mechanisms, which creates challenges for direct comparison. Nonetheless, it is important to establish a framework for comparison and to identify cost and performance targets to aid meeting the nation’s goals for clean energy deployment. In this paper, we provide a preliminary assessment comparing the cost of energy from CSP+TES and PV+ESS that focuses on a single metric: levelized cost of energy (LCOE). We begin by defining the configuration of each system, which is particularly important for PV+ESS systems. We then examine a range of projected cost declines for PV, batteries, and CSP. Finally, we summarize the estimated LCOE over a range of configuration and cost estimates. We conclude by acknowledging that differences in these technologies present challenges for comparison using a single performance metric. We define systems with similar configurations in some respects. In reality, because of inherent differences in CSP+TES and PV+ESS systems, they will provide different grid services and different value. For example, depending on its configuration, a PV+ESS system may provide additional value over CSP+TES by providing more flexible operation, including certain ancillary services and the ability to store off-peak grid energy. Alternatively, direct thermal energy storage allows a greater capture of solar energy, reducing the potential for curtailments in very high solar scenarios. So while this analysis evaluates a key performance metric (cost per unit of generation) under a range of cost projections, additional analysis of the value per unit of generation will be needed to comprehensively assess the relative competitiveness of solar energy systems deployed with energy storage.« less

Cocrystal structures of NC6.8 Fab identify key interactions for high potency sweetener recognition: implications for the design of synthetic sweeteners.

PubMed

Gokulan, Kuppan; Khare, Sangeeta; Ronning, Donald R; Linthicum, Scott D; Sacchettini, James C; Rupp, Bernhard

2005-07-26

The crystal structures of the murine monoclonal IgG2b(kappa) antibody NC6.8 Fab fragment complexed with high-potency sweetener compound SC45647 and nontasting high-affinity antagonist TES have been determined. The crystal structures show how sweetener potency is fine-tuned by multiple interactions between specific receptor residues and the functionally different groups of the sweeteners. Comparative analysis with the structure of NC6.8 complexed with the super-potency sweetener NC174 reveals that although the same residues in the antigen binding pocket of NC6.8 interact with the zwitterionic, trisubstituted guanidinium sweeteners as well as TES, specific differences exist and provide guidance for the design of new artificial sweeteners. In case of the nonsweetener TES, the interactions with the receptor are indirectly mediated through a hydrogen bonded water network, while the sweeteners bind with high affinity directly to the receptor. The presence of a hydrophobic group interacting with multiple receptor residues as a major determinant for sweet taste has been confirmed. The nature of the hydrophobic group is likely a discriminator for super- versus high-potency sweeteners, which can be exploited in the design of new, highly potent sweetener compounds. Overall similarities and partial conservation of interactions indicate that the NC6.8 Fab surrogate is representing crucial features of the T1R2 taste receptor VFTM binding site.

TES/Aura L2 Atmospheric Temperatures Nadir V6 (TL2ATMTN)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-01-18

TES/Aura L2 Atmospheric Temperatures Nadir (TL2ATMTN) News:  TES News ... Level:  L2 Platform:  TES/Aura L2 Atmospheric Temperatures Spatial Coverage:  5.3 x 8.5 km nadir ... Contact User Services Parameters:  Atmospheric Temperature Temperature Precision Vertical Resolution ...

TES/Aura L2 Atmospheric Temperatures Limb V6 (TL2TLS)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-03-01

TES/Aura L2 Atmospheric Temperatures Limb (TL2TLS) News:  TES News ... Level:  L2 Platform:  TES/Aura L2 Atmospheric Temperatures Spatial Coverage:  27 x 23 km Limb ... OPeNDAP Access: OPeNDAP Parameters:  Atmospheric Temperature Temperature Precision Vertical Resolution ...

TES/Aura L2 Atmospheric Temperatures Limb V6 (TL2ATMTL)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-03-01

TES/Aura L2 Atmospheric Temperatures Limb (TL2ATMTL) News:  TES News ... Level:  L2 Platform:  TES/Aura L2 Atmospheric Temperatures Spatial Coverage:  27 x 23 km Limb ... OPeNDAP Access: OPeNDAP Parameters:  Atmospheric Temperature Temperature Precision Vertical Resolution ...

Cost-Effectiveness of an Internet-Delivered Treatment for Substance Abuse: Data from a Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Murphy, Sean M.; Campbell, Aimee N. C.; Ghitza, Udi E.; Kyle, Tiffany L.; Bailey, Genie L.; Nunes, Edward V.; Polsky, Daniel

2016-01-01

Background Substance misuse and excessive alcohol consumption are major public health issues. Internet-based interventions for substance use disorders (SUDs) are a relatively new method for addressing barriers to access and supplementing existing care. This study examines cost-effectiveness in a multisite, randomized trial of an internet-based version of the community reinforcement approach (CRA) with contingency management (CM) known as the Therapeutic Education System (TES). Methods Economic evaluation of the 12-week trial with follow-up at 24 and 36 weeks. 507 individuals who were seeking therapy for alcohol or other substance use disorders at 10 outpatient community-based treatment programs were recruited and randomized to either treatment as usual (TAU) or TES+TAU. Sub-analyses were completed on participants with a poorer prognosis (i.e., those not abstinent at study entry). Results From the provider’s perspective, TES+TAU as it was implemented in this study costs $278 (SE=87) more than TAU alone after 12 weeks. The quality-adjusted life years gained by TES+TAU and TAU were similar; however, TES+TAU has at least a 95% chance of being considered cost-effective for providers and payers with willingness-to-pay thresholds as low as $20,000 per abstinent year. Findings for the subgroup not abstinent at study entry are slightly more favorable. Conclusions With regard to the clinical outcome of abstinence, our cost-effectiveness findings of TES+TAU compare favorably to those found elsewhere in the CM literature. The analyses performed here serve as an initial economic framework for future studies integrating technology into SUD therapy. Clinical trial registration NCT01104805. PMID:26880594

Comparative Analysis of the Methane Data Products from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pagano, T. J.; Worden, J. R.

2016-12-01

Methane is the second most powerful greenhouse gas with a highly positive radiative forcing of 0.48 W/m2 (IPCC 2013). Global concentrations of methane have been steadily increasing since 2007 (Bruhwiler 2014), raising concerns about methane's impact on the future global climate. For about the last decade, the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) on the Earth Observing System (EOS) Aura spacecraft has been detecting several trace gas species in the troposphere including methane. The goal of this study is to compare TES methane products to that of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on the EOS Aqua spacecraft so that scientific investigations may be transferred from TES to AIRS. The two instruments fly in the afternoon constellations (A-Train), providing numerous coincident measurements for comparison. In addition, they also have a similar spectral range, (3.3 to 15.4 µm) for TES (Beer, 2006) and (3.7 to 15.4 µm) for AIRS (Chahine, 2006), making both satellites sensitive to the mid and upper troposphere. This makes them ideal candidates to compare methane data products. In a previous study, total column methane was mapped and global zonal averages were compared. It was found that bias of the total column measurements between the two sounders was about constant over tropical and subtropical regions. However, because AIRS spectral resolution is lower than that of the TES, it is important to analyze the difference in vertical sensitivity. In this study, we will construct vertical profiles of methane concentration and compare them statistically through RMS difference and bias to better understand these differences. In addition, we will compare the error profile and total column errors of the TES and AIRS methane from the data to better understand error characteristics of the products.

Cost-effectiveness of an internet-delivered treatment for substance abuse: Data from a multisite randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Murphy, Sean M; Campbell, Aimee N C; Ghitza, Udi E; Kyle, Tiffany L; Bailey, Genie L; Nunes, Edward V; Polsky, Daniel

2016-04-01

Substance misuse and excessive alcohol consumption are major public health issues. Internet-based interventions for substance use disorders (SUDs) are a relatively new method for addressing barriers to access and supplementing existing care. This study examines cost-effectiveness in a multisite, randomized trial of an internet-based version of the community reinforcement approach (CRA) with contingency management (CM) known as the Therapeutic Education System (TES). Economic evaluation of the 12-week trial with follow-up at 24 and 36 weeks. 507 individuals who were seeking therapy for alcohol or other substance use disorders at 10 outpatient community-based treatment programs were recruited and randomized to either treatment as usual (TAU) or TES+TAU. Sub-analyses were completed on participants with a poorer prognosis (i.e., those not abstinent at study entry). From the provider's perspective, TES+TAU as it was implemented in this study costs $278 (SE=87) more than TAU alone after 12 weeks. The quality-adjusted life years gained by TES+TAU and TAU were similar; however, TES+TAU has at least a 95% chance of being considered cost-effective for providers and payers with willingness-to-pay thresholds as low as $20,000 per abstinent year. Findings for the subgroup not abstinent at study entry are slightly more favorable. With regard to the clinical outcome of abstinence, our cost-effectiveness findings of TES+TAU compare favorably to those found elsewhere in the CM literature. The analyses performed here serve as an initial economic framework for future studies integrating technology into SUD therapy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Internet-delivered treatment for substance abuse: a multisite randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Campbell, Aimee N C; Nunes, Edward V; Matthews, Abigail G; Stitzer, Maxine; Miele, Gloria M; Polsky, Daniel; Turrigiano, Eva; Walters, Scott; McClure, Erin A; Kyle, Tiffany L; Wahle, Aimee; Van Veldhuisen, Paul; Goldman, Bruce; Babcock, Dean; Stabile, Patricia Quinn; Winhusen, Theresa; Ghitza, Udi E

2014-06-01

Computer-delivered interventions have the potential to improve access to quality addiction treatment care. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Therapeutic Education System (TES), an Internet-delivered behavioral intervention that includes motivational incentives, as a clinician-extender in the treatment of substance use disorders. Adult men and women (N=507) entering 10 outpatient addiction treatment programs were randomly assigned to receive 12 weeks of either treatment as usual (N=252) or treatment as usual plus TES, with the intervention substituting for about 2 hours of standard care per week (N=255). TES consists of 62 computerized interactive modules covering skills for achieving and maintaining abstinence, plus prize-based motivational incentives contingent on abstinence and treatment adherence. Treatment as usual consisted of individual and group counseling at the participating programs. The primary outcome measures were abstinence from drugs and heavy drinking (measured by twice-weekly urine drug screens and self-report) and time to dropout from treatment. Compared with patients in the treatment-as-usual group, those in the TES group had a lower dropout rate (hazard ratio=0.72, 95% CI=0.57, 0.92) and a greater abstinence rate (odds ratio=1.62, 95% CI=1.12, 2.35). This effect was more pronounced among patients who had a positive urine drug or breath alcohol screen at study entry (N=228) (odds ratio=2.18, 95% CI=1.30, 3.68). Internet-delivered interventions such as TES have the potential to expand access and improve addiction treatment outcomes. Additional research is needed to assess effectiveness in non-specialty clinical settings and to differentiate the effects of the community reinforcement approach and contingency management components of TES.

Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator Field Mapping and Shielding Models for a 70 mK Superconducting Transition Edge Sensor Array and Associated Electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ladner, D. R.; Martinez-Galarce, D. S.; McCammon, D.

2006-04-01

An X-ray detection instrument to be flown on a sounding rocket experiment (the Advanced Technology Solar Spectroscopic Imager - ATSSI) for solar physics observations is being developed by the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL). The detector is a novel class of microcalorimeter, a superconducting Transition-Edge Sensor (TES), that coupled with associated SQUID and feedback electronics requires high temperature stability at ~70 mK to resolve the energy of absorbed X-ray photons emitted from the solar corona. The cooling system incorporates an existing Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator (ADR) developed at the University of Wisconsin (UW), which was previously flown to study the diffuse cosmic X-ray background. The Si thermistor detectors for that project required 130 K shielded JFET electronic components that are much less sensitive to the external field of the ADR solenoid than are the 1st (~70 mK) and 2nd (~2 K) SQUID stages used with TESs for solar observations. Modification of the Wisconsin ADR design, including TES focal plane and electronics re-positioning, therefore requires a tradeoff between the existing ADR solenoid nulling coil geometry and a low mass passive solenoid shield, while preserving the vibration isolation features of the existing design. We have developed models to accurately compute the magnetic field with and without shielding or nulling coils at critical locations to guide the re-design of the detector subsystem. The models and their application are described.

Mating system shifts and transposable element evolution in the plant genus Capsella.

PubMed

Agren, J Ågren; Wang, Wei; Koenig, Daniel; Neuffer, Barbara; Weigel, Detlef; Wright, Stephen I

2014-07-16

Despite having predominately deleterious fitness effects, transposable elements (TEs) are major constituents of eukaryote genomes in general and of plant genomes in particular. Although the proportion of the genome made up of TEs varies at least four-fold across plants, the relative importance of the evolutionary forces shaping variation in TE abundance and distributions across taxa remains unclear. Under several theoretical models, mating system plays an important role in governing the evolutionary dynamics of TEs. Here, we use the recently sequenced Capsella rubella reference genome and short-read whole genome sequencing of multiple individuals to quantify abundance, genome distributions, and population frequencies of TEs in three recently diverged species of differing mating system, two self-compatible species (C. rubella and C. orientalis) and their self-incompatible outcrossing relative, C. grandiflora. We detect different dynamics of TE evolution in our two self-compatible species; C. rubella shows a small increase in transposon copy number, while C. orientalis shows a substantial decrease relative to C. grandiflora. The direction of this change in copy number is genome wide and consistent across transposon classes. For insertions near genes, however, we detect the highest abundances in C. grandiflora. Finally, we also find differences in the population frequency distributions across the three species. Overall, our results suggest that the evolution of selfing may have different effects on TE evolution on a short and on a long timescale. Moreover, cross-species comparisons of transposon abundance are sensitive to reference genome bias, and efforts to control for this bias are key when making comparisons across species.

Processing TES Level-1B Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DeBaca, Richard C.; Sarkissian, Edwin; Madatyan, Mariyetta; Shepard, Douglas; Gluck, Scott; Apolinski, Mark; McDuffie, James; Tremblay, Dennis

2006-01-01

TES L1B Subsystem is a computer program that performs several functions for the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES). The term "L1B" (an abbreviation of "level 1B"), refers to data, specific to the TES, on radiometric calibrated spectral radiances and their corresponding noise equivalent spectral radiances (NESRs), plus ancillary geolocation, quality, and engineering data. The functions performed by TES L1B Subsystem include shear analysis, monitoring of signal levels, detection of ice build-up, and phase correction and radiometric and spectral calibration of TES target data. Also, the program computes NESRs for target spectra, writes scientific TES level-1B data to hierarchical- data-format (HDF) files for public distribution, computes brightness temperatures, and quantifies interpixel signal variability for the purpose of first-order cloud and heterogeneous land screening by the level-2 software summarized in the immediately following article. This program uses an in-house-developed algorithm, called "NUSRT," to correct instrument line-shape factors.

TES L2 Lite Standard Products

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2015-07-21

L2 Lite Standard Products The TES Lite products are intended to simplify TES data usage including data /model and data/data comparisons. This product can be used for science analysis ... PGE corrected a date range issue in the originally delivered standard output.  An updated set of  TES L2 Lite standard products was ...

TES/Aura L2 Atmospheric Temperatures Nadir V6 (TL2TNS)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-01-22

TES/Aura L2 Atmospheric Temperatures Nadir (TL2TNS) News:  TES News ... Level:  L2 Platform:  TES/Aura L2 Atmospheric Temperatures Spatial Coverage:  5.3 x 8.5 km nadir ... Contact ASDC User Services Parameters:  Atmospheric Temperature Temperature Precision Vertical Resolution ...

Inferring transposons activity chronology by TRANScendence - TEs database and de-novo mining tool.

PubMed

Startek, Michał Piotr; Nogły, Jakub; Gromadka, Agnieszka; Grzebelus, Dariusz; Gambin, Anna

2017-10-16

The constant progress in sequencing technology leads to ever increasing amounts of genomic data. In the light of current evidence transposable elements (TEs for short) are becoming useful tools for learning about the evolution of host genome. Therefore the software for genome-wide detection and analysis of TEs is of great interest. Here we describe the computational tool for mining, classifying and storing TEs from newly sequenced genomes. This is an online, web-based, user-friendly service, enabling users to upload their own genomic data, and perform de-novo searches for TEs. The detected TEs are automatically analyzed, compared to reference databases, annotated, clustered into families, and stored in TEs repository. Also, the genome-wide nesting structure of found elements are detected and analyzed by new method for inferring evolutionary history of TEs. We illustrate the functionality of our tool by performing a full-scale analyses of TE landscape in Medicago truncatula genome. TRANScendence is an effective tool for the de-novo annotation and classification of transposable elements in newly-acquired genomes. Its streamlined interface makes it well-suited for evolutionary studies.

A novel approach for the cryodesiccated preservation of tissue-engineered skin substitutes with trehalose.

PubMed

Sun, Mei; Jiang, Man; Cui, Jihong; Liu, Wei; Yin, Lu; Xu, Chunli; Wei, Qi; Yan, Xingrong; Chen, Fulin

2016-03-01

Tissue-engineered skin (TES) holds great promise for wound healing in the clinic. However, optimized preservation methods remain an obstacle for its wide application. In this experimental work, we developed a novel approach to preserve TES in the desiccated state with trehalose. The uptake of trehalose by fibroblasts under various conditions, including the trehalose concentration, incubation temperature and time, was studied. The cell viability was investigated by the MTT assay and CFSE/PI staining after cryodesiccation and rehydration. TES was then prepared and incubated with trehalose, and the wound healing effect was investigated after desiccated preservation. The results showed that the optimized conditions for trehalose uptake by fibroblasts were incubation in 200 mM trehalose at 37 °C for 8 h. Cryodesiccated cells and TES maintained 37.55% and 28.31% viabilities of controls, respectively. Furthermore, cryodesiccated TES exhibited a similar wound healing effect to normal TES. This novel approach enabled the preservation and transportation of TES at ambient temperature with a prolonged shelf time, which provides great advantages for the application of TES. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fabrication of close-packed TES microcalorimeter arrays using superconducting molybdenum/gold transition-edge sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finkbeiner, F. M.; Brekosky, R. P.; Chervenak, J. A.; Figueroa-Feliciano, E.; Li, M. J.; Lindeman, M. A.; Stahle, C. K.; Stahle, C. M.; Tralshawala, N.

2002-02-01

We present an overview of our efforts in fabricating Transition-Edge Sensor (TES) microcalorimeter arrays for use in astronomical x-ray spectroscopy. Two distinct types of array schemes are currently pursued: 5×5 single pixel TES array where each pixel is a TES microcalorimeter, and Position-Sensing TES (PoST) array. In the latter, a row of 7 or 15 thermally-linked absorber pixels is read out by two TES at its ends. Both schemes employ superconducting Mo/Au bilayers as the TES. The TES are placed on silicon nitride membranes for thermal isolation from the structural frame. The silicon nitride membranes are prepared by a Deep Reactive Ion Etch (DRIE) process into a silicon wafer. In order to achieve the concept of closely packed arrays without decreasing its structural and functional integrity, we have already developed the technology to fabricate arrays of cantilevered pixel-sized absorbers and slit membranes in silicon nitride films. Furthermore, we have started to investigate ultra-low resistance through-wafer micro-vias to bring the electrical contact out to the back of a wafer. .

METACASPASE9 modulates autophagy to confine cell death to the target cells during Arabidopsis vascular xylem differentiation

PubMed Central

Escamez, Sacha; André, Domenique; Zhang, Bo; Bollhöner, Benjamin; Pesquet, Edouard; Tuominen, Hannele

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT We uncovered that the level of autophagy in plant cells undergoing programmed cell death determines the fate of the surrounding cells. Our approach consisted of using Arabidopsis thaliana cell cultures capable of differentiating into two different cell types: vascular tracheary elements (TEs) that undergo programmed cell death (PCD) and protoplast autolysis, and parenchymatic non-TEs that remain alive. The TE cell type displayed higher levels of autophagy when expression of the TE-specific METACASPASE9 (MC9) was reduced using RNAi (MC9-RNAi). Misregulation of autophagy in the MC9-RNAi TEs coincided with ectopic death of the non-TEs, implying the existence of an autophagy-dependent intercellular signalling from within the TEs towards the non-TEs. Viability of the non-TEs was restored when AUTOPHAGY2 (ATG2) was downregulated specifically in MC9-RNAi TEs, demonstrating the importance of autophagy in the spatial confinement of cell death. Our results suggest that other eukaryotic cells undergoing PCD might also need to tightly regulate their level of autophagy to avoid detrimental consequences for the surrounding cells. PMID:26740571

Identification of an HLA-A24-restricted OY-TES-1 epitope recognized by cytotoxic T-cells.

PubMed

Okumura, Hideo; Noguchi, Yuji; Uenaka, Akiko; Aji, Toshiki; Ono, Toshiro; Nakagawa, Kazuhiko; Aoe, Motoi; Shimizu, Nobuyoshi; Nakayama, Eiichi

2005-01-01

OY-TES-1 was identified as a human homologue of the mouse, guinea pig, and pig proacrosin binding protein sp32 precursor. Differential expression levels of OY-TES-1 mRNA between testis and other normal tissues, and its expression in cancers indicated that OY-TES-1 would be classified as a cancer/testis antigen and considered to be a candidate of target antigen for cancer immunotherapy. In this study, we showed identification of HLA-A24-binding OY-TES-1 peptide, TES(401-409) (KTPFVSPLL) recognized by CD8 T-cells. Purified CD8 T-cells from healthy donors stimulated in vitro with the peptide-pulsed autologous DC and PBMC produced IFNgamma in response to the peptide-pulsed PBMC and showed cytotoxicity against the peptide-pulsed autologous EBV-B specifically. Furthermore, cytotoxicity was also observed against an OY-TES-1 mRNA-expressing tumor line, LK79. The retention time of the fraction in HPLC of the acid eluate from LK79 cells that showed positive sensitization against autologous EBV-B cells in recognition by CD8 CTL was the same as that of the fraction of the TES(401-409) peptide itself, suggesting that the TES(401-409) was a naturally processed peptide on LK79.

Transposon Variants and Their Effects on Gene Expression in Arabidopsis

PubMed Central

Wang, Xi; Weigel, Detlef; Smith, Lisa M.

2013-01-01

Transposable elements (TEs) make up the majority of many plant genomes. Their transcription and transposition is controlled through siRNAs and epigenetic marks including DNA methylation. To dissect the interplay of siRNA–mediated regulation and TE evolution, and to examine how TE differences affect nearby gene expression, we investigated genome-wide differences in TEs, siRNAs, and gene expression among three Arabidopsis thaliana accessions. Both TE sequence polymorphisms and presence of linked TEs are positively correlated with intraspecific variation in gene expression. The expression of genes within 2 kb of conserved TEs is more stable than that of genes next to variant TEs harboring sequence polymorphisms. Polymorphism levels of TEs and closely linked adjacent genes are positively correlated as well. We also investigated the distribution of 24-nt-long siRNAs, which mediate TE repression. TEs targeted by uniquely mapping siRNAs are on average farther from coding genes, apparently because they more strongly suppress expression of adjacent genes. Furthermore, siRNAs, and especially uniquely mapping siRNAs, are enriched in TE regions missing in other accessions. Thus, targeting by uniquely mapping siRNAs appears to promote sequence deletions in TEs. Overall, our work indicates that siRNA–targeting of TEs may influence removal of sequences from the genome and hence evolution of gene expression in plants. PMID:23408902

The role of imagistic simulation in scientific thought experiments.

PubMed

Clement, John J

2009-10-01

Interest in thought experiments (TEs) derives from the paradox: "How can findings that carry conviction result from a new experiment conducted entirely within the head?" Historical studies have established the importance of TEs in science but have proposed disparate hypotheses concerning the source of knowledge in TEs, ranging from empiricist to rationalist accounts. This article analyzes TEs in think-aloud protocols of scientifically trained experts to examine more fine-grained information about their use. Some TEs appear powerful enough to discredit an existing theory-a disconfirmatory purpose. In addition, confirmatory and generative purposes were identified for other TEs. One can also use details in transcript data, including imagery reports and gestures, to provide evidence for a central role played by imagistic simulations in many TEs, and to suggest that these simulations can generate new knowledge using several sources, including the "extended application" of perceptual motor schemas, implicit prior knowledge, and spatial reasoning operations, in contrast to formal arguments. These sources suggest what it means for TEs to be grounded in embodied processes that can begin to explain the paradox above. This leads to a rationalistic view of TEs as using productive internal reasoning, but the view also acknowledges the historical role that experience with the world can play in forming certain schemas used in TEs. Understanding such processes could help provide a foundation for developing a larger model of scientific investigation processes grounded on imagistic simulation (Clement, 2008). Copyright © 2009 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Validation of TES ammonia observations at the single pixel scale in the San Joaquin Valley during DISCOVER-AQ

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Kang; Cady-Pereira, Karen; Miller, David J.; Tao, Lei; Zondlo, Mark A.; Nowak, John B.; Neuman, J. A.; Mikoviny, Tomas; Müller, Markus; Wisthaler, Armin; Scarino, Amy J.; Hostetler, Chris A.

2015-05-01

Ammonia measurements from a vehicle-based, mobile open-path sensor and those from aircraft were compared with Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) NH3 columns at the pixel scale during the NASA Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality field experiment. Spatial and temporal mismatches were reduced by having the mobile laboratory sample in the same areas as the TES footprints. To examine how large heterogeneities in the NH3 surface mixing ratios may affect validation, a detailed spatial survey was performed within a single TES footprint around the overpass time. The TES total NH3 column above a single footprint showed excellent agreement with the in situ total column constructed from surface measurements with a difference of 2% (within the combined measurement uncertainties). The comparison was then extended to a TES transect of nine footprints where aircraft data (5-80 ppbv) were available in a narrow spatiotemporal window (<10 km, <1 h). The TES total NH3 columns above the nine footprints agreed to within 6% of the in situ total columns derived from the aircraft-based measurements. Finally, to examine how TES captures surface spatial gradients at the interpixel scale, ground-based, mobile measurements were performed directly underneath a TES transect, covering nine footprints within ±1.5 h of the overpass. The TES total columns were strongly correlated (R2 = 0.82) with the median NH3 mixing ratios measured at the surface. These results provide the first in situ validation of the TES total NH3 column product, and the methodology is applicable to other satellite observations of short-lived species at the pixel scale.

Topographic Quantification of the Transcorneal Electrical Stimulation (TES)-Induced Protective Effects on N-Methyl-N-Nitrosourea-Treated Retinas.

PubMed

Tao, Ye; Chen, Tao; Liu, Zhong-Yu; Wang, Li-Qiang; Xu, Wei-Wei; Qin, Li-Min; Peng, Guang-Hua; Yi-Fei, Huang

2016-09-01

To quantify the transcorneal electrical stimulation (TES)-induced effects on regional photoreceptors and visual signal pathway of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU)-treated retinas via topographic measurements. N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-administered mice received TES or sham stimulations and were subsequently subjected to electroretinography (ERG), multielectrode array (MEA), and histologic and immunohistochemistry examinations. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analyses were also performed to determine the mRNA levels of Bax, Bcl-2, Calpain-2, Caspase-3, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF). Amplitudes of ERG b-wave in the TES-treated mice were significantly larger than those in the sham controls (P < 0.01). Microelectrode array examination revealed that the photoreceptors in TES-treated retina were efficiently preserved (P < 0.01). Morphologic measurements showed that the central retina region was more consolidated than the other areas in the TES-treated mice. Together with the disproportionate distribution of immunostaining in retinal flat mounts, these findings indicated that different rescuing kinetics existed among regional photoreceptors. Compared with the sham controls, a significantly increased signal-to-noise ratio was also found in the TES-treated mice (TES100: 2.02 ± 1.12; TES200: 4.42 ± 1.51; sham: 0.25 ± 0.13; P < 0.01). Moreover, qRT-PCR measurements suggested that the altered expression of several apoptotic factors and neurotrophic cytokines was correlated with TES-induced protection. Regional photoreceptors in the MNU-administered retinas exhibit different sensitivities to TES. Transcorneal electrical stimulation is capable of ameliorating MNU-induced photoreceptor degeneration and rectifying abnormalities in the inner visual signal pathways.

Gene Encoding the Hydrolase for the Product of the meta-Cleavage Reaction in Testosterone Degradation by Comamonas testosteroni

PubMed Central

Horinouchi, Masae; Hayashi, Toshiaki; Koshino, Hiroyuki; Yamamoto, Takako; Kudo, Toshiaki

2003-01-01

In a previous study we isolated the meta-cleavage enzyme gene, tesB, that encodes an enzyme that carries out a meta-cleavage reaction in the breakdown of testosterone by Comamonas testeroni TA441 (M. Horinouchi et al., Microbiology 147:3367-3375, 2001). Here we report the isolation of a gene, tesD, that encodes a hydrolase which acts on the product of the meta-cleavage reaction. We isolated tesD by using a Tn5 mutant of TA441 that showed limited growth on testosterone. TesD exhibited ca. 40% identity in amino acid sequence with BphDs, known hydrolases of biphenyl degradation in Pseudomonas spp. The TesD-disrupted mutant showed limited growth on testosterone, and the culture shows an intense yellow color. High-pressure liquid chromatography analysis of the culture of TesD-disrupted mutant incubated with testosterone detected five major intermediate compounds, one of which, showing yellow color under neutral conditions, was considered to be the product of the meta-cleavage reaction. The methylation product was analyzed and identified as methyl-4,5-9,10-diseco-3-methoxy-5,9,17-trioxoandrosta-1(10),2-dien-4-oate, indicating that the substrate of TesD in testosterone degradation is 4,5-9,10-diseco-3-hydroxy-5,9,17-trioxoandrosta-1(10),2-dien-4-oic acid. 4,5-9,10-Diseco-3-hydroxy-5,9,17-trioxoandrosta-1(10),2-dien-4-oic acid was transformed by Escherichia coli-expressed TesD. Downstream of tesD, we identified tesE, F, and G, which encode for enzymes that degrade one of the products of 4,5-9,10-diseco-3-hydroxy-5,9,17-trioxoandrosta-1(10),2-dien-4-oic acid converted by TesD. PMID:12676694

The Trypanosoma cruzi Satellite DNA OligoC-TesT and Trypanosoma cruzi Kinetoplast DNA OligoC-TesT for Diagnosis of Chagas Disease: A Multi-cohort Comparative Evaluation Study

PubMed Central

De Winne, Koen; Büscher, Philippe; Luquetti, Alejandro O.; Tavares, Suelene B. N.; Oliveira, Rodrigo A.; Solari, Aldo; Zulantay, Ines; Apt, Werner; Diosque, Patricio; Monje Rumi, Mercedes; Gironès, Nuria; Fresno, Manuel; Lopez-Velez, Rogelio; Perez-Molina, José A.; Monge-Maillo, Begoña; Garcia, Lineth; Deborggraeve, Stijn

2014-01-01

Background The Trypanosoma cruzi satellite DNA (satDNA) OligoC-TesT is a standardised PCR format for diagnosis of Chagas disease. The sensitivity of the test is lower for discrete typing unit (DTU) TcI than for TcII-VI and the test has not been evaluated in chronic Chagas disease patients. Methodology/Principal Findings We developed a new prototype of the OligoC-TesT based on kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) detection. We evaluated the satDNA and kDNA OligoC-TesTs in a multi-cohort study with 187 chronic Chagas patients and 88 healthy endemic controls recruited in Argentina, Chile and Spain and 26 diseased non-endemic controls from D.R. Congo and Sudan. All specimens were tested in duplicate. The overall specificity in the controls was 99.1% (95% CI 95.2%–99.8%) for the satDNA OligoC-TesT and 97.4% (95% CI 92.6%–99.1%) for the kDNA OligoC-TesT. The overall sensitivity in the patients was 67.9% (95% CI 60.9%–74.2%) for the satDNA OligoC-TesT and 79.1% (95% CI 72.8%–84.4%) for the kDNA OligoC-Test. Conclusions/Significance Specificities of the two T. cruzi OligoC-TesT prototypes are high on non-endemic and endemic controls. Sensitivities are moderate but significantly (p = 0.0004) higher for the kDNA OligoC-TesT compared to the satDNA OligoC-TesT. PMID:24392177

TESTIN Induces Rapid Death and Suppresses Proliferation in Childhood B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia Cells

PubMed Central

Weeks, Robert J.; Ludgate, Jackie L.; LeMée, Gwenn; Morison, Ian M.

2016-01-01

Background Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is the most common malignancy in children. Despite high cure rates, side effects and late consequences of the intensive treatments are common. Unquestionably, the identification of new therapeutic targets will lead to safer, more effective treatments. We identified TES promoter methylation and transcriptional silencing as a very common molecular abnormality in childhood ALL, irrespective of molecular subtype. The aims of the present study were to demonstrate that TES promoter methylation is aberrant, to determine the effects of TES re-expression in ALL, and to determine if those effects are mediated via TP53 activity. Methods Normal fetal and adult tissue DNA was isolated and TES promoter methylation determined by Sequenom MassARRAY. Quantitative RT-PCR and immunoblot were used to confirm re-expression of TES in ALL cell lines after 5’-aza-2’-deoxycytidine (decitabine) exposure or transfection with TES expression plasmids. The effects of TES re-expression on ALL cells were investigated using standard cell proliferation, cell death and cell cycle assays. Results In this study, we confirm that the TES promoter is unmethylated in normal adult and fetal tissues. We report that decitabine treatment of ALL cell lines results in demethylation of the TES promoter and attendant expression of TES mRNA. Re-expression of TESTIN protein in ALL cells using expression plasmid transfection results in rapid cell death or cell cycle arrest independent of TP53 activity. Conclusions These results suggest that TES is aberrantly methylated in ALL and that re-expression of TESTIN has anti-leukaemia effects which point to novel therapeutic opportunities for childhood ALL. PMID:26985820

Scanning of Transposable Elements and Analyzing Expression of Transposase Genes of Sweet Potato [Ipomoea batatas

PubMed Central

Tao, Xiang; Lai, Xian-Jun; Zhang, Yi-Zheng; Tan, Xue-Mei; Wang, Haiyan

2014-01-01

Background Transposable elements (TEs) are the most abundant genomic components in eukaryotes and affect the genome by their replications and movements to generate genetic plasticity. Sweet potato performs asexual reproduction generally and the TEs may be an important genetic factor for genome reorganization. Complete identification of TEs is essential for the study of genome evolution. However, the TEs of sweet potato are still poorly understood because of its complex hexaploid genome and difficulty in genome sequencing. The recent availability of the sweet potato transcriptome databases provides an opportunity for discovering and characterizing the expressed TEs. Methodology/Principal Findings We first established the integrated-transcriptome database by de novo assembling four published sweet potato transcriptome databases from three cultivars in China. Using sequence-similarity search and analysis, a total of 1,405 TEs including 883 retrotransposons and 522 DNA transposons were predicted and categorized. Depending on mapping sets of RNA-Seq raw short reads to the predicted TEs, we compared the quantities, classifications and expression activities of TEs inter- and intra-cultivars. Moreover, the differential expressions of TEs in seven tissues of Xushu 18 cultivar were analyzed by using Illumina digital gene expression (DGE) tag profiling. It was found that 417 TEs were expressed in one or more tissues and 107 in all seven tissues. Furthermore, the copy number of 11 transposase genes was determined to be 1–3 copies in the genome of sweet potato by Real-time PCR-based absolute quantification. Conclusions/Significance Our result provides a new method for TE searching on species with transcriptome sequences while lacking genome information. The searching, identification and expression analysis of TEs will provide useful TE information in sweet potato, which are valuable for the further studies of TE-mediated gene mutation and optimization in asexual reproduction. It contributes to elucidating the roles of TEs in genome evolution. PMID:24608103

Design and Performance of the Multiplexed SQUID/TES Array at Ninety Gigahertz

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stanchfield, Sara; Ade, Peter; Aguirre, James; Brevik, Justus A.; Cho, Hsiao-Mei; Datta, Rahul; Devlin, Mark; Dicker, Simon R.; Dober, Bradley; Duff, Shannon M.; Egan, Dennis; Ford, Pam; Hilton, Gene; Hubmayr, Johannes; Irwin, Kent; Knowles, Kenda; Marganian, Paul; Mason, Brian Scott; Mates, John A. B.; McMahon, Jeff; Mello, Melinda; Mroczkowski, Tony; Romero, Charles; Sievers, Jonathon; Tucker, Carole; Vale, Leila R.; Vissers, Michael; White, Steven; Whitehead, Mark; Ullom, Joel; Young, Alexander

2018-01-01

We present the array performance and astronomical images from early science results from MUSTANG-2, a 90 GHz feedhorn-coupled, microwave SQUID-multiplexed TES bolometer array operating on the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT). MUSTANG-2 was installed on the GBT on December 2, 2016 and immediately began commissioning efforts, followed by science observations, which are expected to conclude June 2017. The feedhorn and waveguide-probe-coupled detector technology is a mature technology, which has been used on instrument including the South Pole Telescope, the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, and the Atacama B-mode Search telescope. The microwave SQUID readout system developed for MUSTANG-2 currently reads out 66 detectors with a single coaxial cable and will eventually allow thousands of detectors to be multiplexed. This microwave SQUID multiplexer combines the proven abilities of millimeterwave TES detectors with the multiplexing capabilities of KIDs with no degradation in noise performance of the detectors. Each multiplexing device is read out using warm electronics consisting of a commercially available ROACH board, a DAC/ADC card, and an Intermediate Frequency mixer circuit. The hardware was originally developed by the UC Berkeley Collaboration for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronic Research (CASPER) group, whose primary goal is to develop scalable FPGA-based hardware with the flexibility to be used in a wide range of radio signal processing applications. MUSTANG-2 is the first on-sky instrument to use microwave SQUID multiplexing and is available as a shared-risk/PI instrument on the GBT. In MUSTANG-2's first season 7 separate proposals were awarded a total of 230 hours of telescope time.

Experimental progress of a 4K VM/PT hybrid cryocooler for pre-cooling 1K sorption cooler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Changzhao; Zhang, Tong; Wang, Jue; Chen, Liubiao; Guo, Jia; Zhou, Yuan; Wang, Junjie

2017-12-01

Sub-kelvin refrigerator has many applications in space detector and manned space station, such as for the transition-edge superconducting (TES) bolometers operated in the 50 mK range. In order to meet the requirement of space applications, the high efficient, vibration free and high stability refrigerator need to be designed. VM/PT hybrid cryocooler is a new type cryocooler capable of attaining temperature below 4K. As a low frequency Stirling type cryocooler, it has the advantages of high stability and high efficiency. Combined with the vibration free sorption cooler and ADR refrigerator, a novel sub-kelvin cooling chain can be designed for the TES bolometer. This paper presents the recent experimental progress of the 4K VM/PT hybrid cryocooler in our laboratory. By optimizing of regenerators, phase shifters and heat exchangers, a lowest temperature of 2.6K was attained. Based on this cryocooler, a preliminary sorption cooler could be designed.

Advanced heat receiver conceptual design study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kesseli, James; Saunders, Roger; Batchelder, Gary

1988-01-01

Solar Dynamic space power systems are candidate electrical power generating systems for future NASA missions. One of the key components of the solar dynamic power system is the solar receiver/thermal energy storage (TES) subsystem. Receiver development was conducted by NASA in the late 1960's and since then a very limited amount of work has been done in this area. Consequently the state of the art (SOA) receivers designed for the IOC space station are large and massive. The objective of the Advanced Heat Receiver Conceptual Design Study is to conceive and analyze advanced high temperature solar dynamic Brayton and Stirling receivers. The goal is to generate innovative receiver concepts that are half of the mass, smaller, and more efficient than the SOA. It is also necessary that these innovative receivers offer ease of manufacturing, less structural complexity and fewer thermal stress problems. Advanced Brayton and Stirling receiver storage units are proposed and analyzed in this study which can potentially meet these goals.

Applications of thermal energy storage to process heat storage and recovery in the paper and pulp industry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carr, J. H.; Hurley, P. J.; Martin, P. J.

1978-01-01

Applications of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) in a paper and pulp mill power house were studied as one approach to the transfer of steam production from fossil fuel boilers to waste fuel of (hog fuel) boilers. Data from specific mills were analyzed, and various TES concepts evaluated for application in the process steam supply system. Constant pressure and variable pressure steam accumulators were found to be the most attractive storage concepts for this application.

Optimal Operation of a Thermal Energy Storage Tank Using Linear Optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Civit Sabate, Carles

In this thesis, an optimization procedure for minimizing the operating costs of a Thermal Energy Storage (TES) tank is presented. The facility in which the optimization is based is the combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) plant at the University of California, Irvine. TES tanks provide the ability of decoupling the demand of chilled water from its generation, over the course of a day, from the refrigeration and air-conditioning plants. They can be used to perform demand-side management, and optimization techniques can help to approach their optimal use. The proposed optimization approach provides a fast and reliable methodology of finding the optimal use of the TES tank to reduce energy costs and provides a tool for future implementation of optimal control laws on the system. Advantages of the proposed methodology are studied using simulation with historical data.

L-edge spectroscopy of dilute, radiation-sensitive systems using a transition-edge-sensor array

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

Titus, Charles J.; Baker, Michael L.; Lee, Sang Jun

Here, we present X-ray absorption spectroscopy and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements on the iron L-edge of 0.5 mM aqueous ferricyanide. These measurements then demonstrate the ability of high-throughput transition-edge-sensor (TES) spectrometers to access the rich soft X-ray (100–2000 eV) spectroscopy regime for dilute and radiation-sensitive samples. Our low-concentration data are in agreement with high-concentration measurements recorded by grating spectrometers. These results show that soft-X-ray RIXS spectroscopy acquired by high-throughput TES spectrometers can be used to study the local electronic structure of dilute metal-centered complexes relevant to biology, chemistry, and catalysis. In particular, TES spectrometers have a unique abilitymore » to characterize frozen solutions of radiation- and temperature-sensitive samples.« less

L-edge spectroscopy of dilute, radiation-sensitive systems using a transition-edge-sensor array

DOE PAGES

Titus, Charles J.; Baker, Michael L.; Lee, Sang Jun; ...

2017-12-07

Here, we present X-ray absorption spectroscopy and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements on the iron L-edge of 0.5 mM aqueous ferricyanide. These measurements then demonstrate the ability of high-throughput transition-edge-sensor (TES) spectrometers to access the rich soft X-ray (100–2000 eV) spectroscopy regime for dilute and radiation-sensitive samples. Our low-concentration data are in agreement with high-concentration measurements recorded by grating spectrometers. These results show that soft-X-ray RIXS spectroscopy acquired by high-throughput TES spectrometers can be used to study the local electronic structure of dilute metal-centered complexes relevant to biology, chemistry, and catalysis. In particular, TES spectrometers have a unique abilitymore » to characterize frozen solutions of radiation- and temperature-sensitive samples.« less

Minimizing temperature instability of heat recovery hot water system utilizing optimized thermal energy storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suamir, I. N.; Sukadana, I. B. P.; Arsana, M. E.

2018-01-01

One energy-saving technology that starts gaining attractive for hotel industry application in Indonesia is the utilization of waste heat of a central air conditioning system to heat water for domestic hot water supply system. Implementing the technology for such application at a hotel was found that hot water capacity generated from the heat recovery system could satisfy domestic hot water demand of the hotel. The gas boilers installed in order to back up the system have never been used. The hot water supply, however, was found to be instable with hot water supply temperature fluctuated ranging from 45 °C to 62 °C. The temperature fluctuations reaches 17 °C, which is considered instable and can reduce hot water usage comfort level. This research is aimed to optimize the thermal energy storage in order to minimize the temperature instability of heat recovery hot water supply system. The research is a case study approach based on cooling and hot water demands of a hotel in Jakarta-Indonesia that has applied water cooled chillers with heat recovery systems. The hotel operation with 329 guest rooms and 8 function rooms showed that hot water production in the heat recovery system completed with 5 m3 thermal energy storage (TES) could not hold the hot water supply temperature constantly. The variations of the cooling demand and hot water demands day by day were identified. It was found that there was significant mismatched of available time (hours) between cooling demand which is directly correlated to the hot water production from the heat recovery system and hot water usage. The available TES system could not store heat rejected from the condenser of the chiller during cooling demand peak time between 14.00 and 18.00 hours. The extra heat from the heat recovery system consequently increases the temperature of hot water up to 62 °C. It is about 12 K above 50 °C the requirement hot water temperature of the hotel. In contrast, the TES could not deliver proper temperature of hot water during peak hot water demand and on that time between 06.00 and 10.00 hours, the hotel also experiences a low cooling demand. Subsequently, the temperature of hot water supplied drops down as low as 45 °C. The study was found that optimization on the TES can significantly minimize temperature variation of the hot water supplied to the hotel appliances. A TES of 30 m3 storage capacity is considered the optimum capacity which can reduce the temperature fluctuation from 17 K down to 3 K. The study also found that maintaining the storage temperature relatively lower than the condenser temperature could increase hot water production of the heat recovery system.

Frequency division multiplexed readout of TES detectors with baseband feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

den Hartog, R.; Audley, M. D.; Beyer, J.; Bruijn, M. P.; de Korte, P.; Gottardi, L.; Hijmering, R.; Jackson, B.; Nieuwenhuizen, A.; van der Kuur, J.; van Leeuwen, B.-J.; Van Loon, D.

2012-09-01

SRON is developing an electronic system for the multiplexed read-out of an array of transition edge sensors (TES) by combining the techniques of frequency domain multiplexing (FDM) with base-band feedback (BBFB). The astronomical applications are the read-out of soft X-ray microcalorimeters and the far-infrared bolometers for the SAFARI instrument on the Japanese mission SPICA. In this paper we derive the requirements for the read-out system regarding noise and dynamic range in the context of the SAFARI instrument, and demonstrate that the current experimental prototype is capable of simultaneously locking 57 channels and complies with these requirements.

Optimising the multiplex factor of the frequency domain multiplexed readout of the TES-based microcalorimeter imaging array for the X-IFU instrument on the Athena x-ray observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Kuur, J.; Gottardi, L. G.; Akamatsu, H.; van Leeuwen, B. J.; den Hartog, R.; Haas, D.; Kiviranta, M.; Jackson, B. J.

2016-07-01

Athena is a space-based X-ray observatory intended for exploration of the hot and energetic universe. One of the science instruments on Athena will be the X-ray Integrated Field Unit (X-IFU), which is a cryogenic X-ray spectrometer, based on a large cryogenic imaging array of Transition Edge Sensors (TES) based microcalorimeters operating at a temperature of 100mK. The imaging array consists of 3800 pixels providing 2.5 eV spectral resolution, and covers a field of view with a diameter of of 5 arc minutes. Multiplexed readout of the cryogenic microcalorimeter array is essential to comply with the cooling power and complexity constraints on a space craft. Frequency domain multiplexing has been under development for the readout of TES-based detectors for this purpose, not only for the X-IFU detector arrays but also for TES-based bolometer arrays for the Safari instrument of the Japanese SPICA observatory. This paper discusses the design considerations which are applicable to optimise the multiplex factor within the boundary conditions as set by the space craft. More specifically, the interplay between the science requirements such as pixel dynamic range, pixel speed, and cross talk, and the space craft requirements such as the power dissipation budget, available bandwidth, and electromagnetic compatibility will be discussed.

Comparing Transition-Edge Sensor Response Times in a Modified Contact Scheme with Different Support Beams

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beyer, A. D.; Kenyon, M. E.; Bumble, B.; Runyan, M. C.; Echternach, P. E.; Holmes, W. A.; Bock, J. J.; Bradford, C. M.

2013-01-01

We present measurements of the thermal conductance, G, and effective time constants, tau, of three transition-edge sensors (TESs) populated in arrays operated from 80-87mK with T(sub C) approximately 120mK. Our TES arrays include several variations of thermal architecture enabling determination of the architecture that demonstrates the minimum noise equivalent power (NEP), the lowest tau and the trade-offs among designs. The three TESs we report here have identical Mo/Cu bilayer thermistors and wiring structures, while the thermal architectures are: 1) a TES with straight support beams of 1mm length, 2) a TES with meander support beams of total length 2mm and with 2 phononfilter blocks per beam, and 3) a TES with meander support beams of total length 2mm and with 6 phonon-filter blocks per beam. Our wiring scheme aims to lower the thermistor normal state resistance R(sub N) and increase the sharpness of the transition alpha=dlogR/dlogT at the transition temperature T(sub C). We find an upper limit of given by (25+/-10), and G values of 200fW/K for 1), 15fW/K for 2), and 10fW/K for 3). The value of alpha can be improved by slightly increasing the length of our thermistors.

TES/Aura L2 Ammonia (NH3) Nadir V6 (TL2NH3N)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-01-18

TES/Aura L2 Ammonia (NH3) Nadir (TL2NH3N) News:  TES News ... Level:  L2 Instrument:  TES/Aura L2 Ammonia Spatial Coverage:  5.3 x 8.5 km nadir ... Contact User Services Parameters:  Ammonia Legacy:  Retired data product , click here for ...

Hierarchical sinuous-antenna phased array for millimeter wavelengths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cukierman, Ari; Lee, Adrian T.; Raum, Christopher; Suzuki, Aritoki; Westbrook, Benjamin

2018-03-01

We present the design, fabrication, and measured performance of a hierarchical sinuous-antenna phased array coupled to superconducting transition-edge-sensor (TES) bolometers for millimeter wavelengths. The architecture allows for dual-polarization wideband sensitivity with a beam width that is approximately frequency-independent. We report on measurements of a prototype device, which uses three levels of triangular phased arrays to synthesize beams that are approximately constant in width across three frequency bands covering a 3:1 bandwidth. The array element is a lens-coupled sinuous antenna. The device consists of an array of hemispherical lenses coupled to a lithographed wafer, which integrates TESs, planar sinuous antennas, and microwave circuitry including band-defining filters. The approximately frequency-independent beam widths improve coupling to telescope optics and keep the sensitivity of an experiment close to optimal across a broad frequency range. The design can be straightforwardly modified for use with non-TES lithographed cryogenic detectors such as kinetic inductance detectors. Additionally, we report on the design and measurements of a broadband 180° hybrid that can simplify the design of future multichroic focal planes including but not limited to hierarchical phased arrays.

Protective effects of TES trioleate, an inhibitor of phospholipase A2, on reactive oxygen species and UVA-induced cell damage.

PubMed

Park, Soo Nam; Kim, Moon Jin; Ha, Ji Hoon; Lee, Nan Hee; Park, Jino; Lee, Jiwon; Kim, Dukha; Yoon, Chulsoo

2016-11-01

2-[Tris(oleoyloxymethyl)methylamino]-1-ethane sulfonic acid (TES trioleate) is an inhibitor of phospholipase A 2 (PLA2), which hydrolyzes cell membrane phospholipids to produce arachidonic acid (AA) and lysophospholipids (LysoPLs). Here, we investigated the protective effects of TES trioleate on cell damage caused by ultraviolet A (UVA) light and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Pre-incubation with 250-1000μM TES trioleate resulted in concentration-dependent protection from UVA-induced damage in HaCaT cells. Additionally, 25-1000μM TES trioleate provided protection against H 2 O 2 in a concentration-dependent manner. In human erythrocytes treated with 1 O 2 , 10-100μM TES trioleate showed concentration-dependent protective effects, similar to but stronger than the controls, 4-BPB and lipophilic antioxidant (+)-α-tocopherol at 100μM. TES trioleate did not have detectable radical scavenging activity. Moreover, compared with (+)-α-tocopherol and rutin, TES trioleate showed low ROS scavenging activity. Thus, although TES trioleate showed cell protective effects against UVA, H 2 O 2 , and 1 O 2 -induced damages, these effects were not caused by the scavenging ability of the radical or ROS. Finally, pretreatment of HaCaT cells and human erythrocytes with l-α-lysophosphatidylcholine produced by PLA2 promoted increased cell damage at low concentrations. Thus, the protective effects of TES trioleate on cellular damage by UVA and ROS may be associated with inhibition of PLA2-dependent cell damage rather than ROS scavenging. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Bioinformatics and genomic analysis of transposable elements in eukaryotic genomes.

PubMed

Janicki, Mateusz; Rooke, Rebecca; Yang, Guojun

2011-08-01

A major portion of most eukaryotic genomes are transposable elements (TEs). During evolution, TEs have introduced profound changes to genome size, structure, and function. As integral parts of genomes, the dynamic presence of TEs will continue to be a major force in reshaping genomes. Early computational analyses of TEs in genome sequences focused on filtering out "junk" sequences to facilitate gene annotation. When the high abundance and diversity of TEs in eukaryotic genomes were recognized, these early efforts transformed into the systematic genome-wide categorization and classification of TEs. The availability of genomic sequence data reversed the classical genetic approaches to discovering new TE families and superfamilies. Curated TE databases and their accurate annotation of genome sequences in turn facilitated the studies on TEs in a number of frontiers including: (1) TE-mediated changes of genome size and structure, (2) the influence of TEs on genome and gene functions, (3) TE regulation by host, (4) the evolution of TEs and their population dynamics, and (5) genomic scale studies of TE activity. Bioinformatics and genomic approaches have become an integral part of large-scale studies on TEs to extract information with pure in silico analyses or to assist wet lab experimental studies. The current revolution in genome sequencing technology facilitates further progress in the existing frontiers of research and emergence of new initiatives. The rapid generation of large-sequence datasets at record low costs on a routine basis is challenging the computing industry on storage capacity and manipulation speed and the bioinformatics community for improvement in algorithms and their implementations.

Physical performance and peak aerobic power at different body temperatures.

PubMed

Bergh, U; Ekblom, B

1979-05-01

In eight male subjects we studied the effect of different core (esophageal, (Tes 34.9--38.4 degrees C) and muscle (Tm 35.1--39.3 degrees C) temperature on 1) physical performance (time to exhaustion at a standard maximal rate of work, WT), 2) aerobic power (VO2), 3) heart rate (HR), and 4) blood lactate (LA) concentration during exhaustive combined arm and leg exercise. In three subjects the effects at different mean skin temperatures (Tsk 27 and 31 degrees C, respectively) were also studied. Peak VO2 was positively correlated to both Tes (r = 0.88) and Tm (r = 0.91). None of the subjects attained control VO2max at Tes and Tm lower than 37.5 and 38.0 degrees C, respectively. HR was correlated to both Tes (r = 0.97) and Tm (r = 0.95). Different Tsk did not affect peak VO2 and HR at subnormal body temperatures. Pulmonary ventilation was independent of Tes and Tm in all experimental situations. LA was significantly higher at Tes 37.5 degrees C compared to both Tes 34.9 and 38.5 degrees C, respectively. At Tes less than 37.5 degrees C and Tm less than 38.0 degrees C, there was a linear reduction in WT (20%.degrees C-1), peak VO2 (5--6%.degrees C-1), and HR (8 beats.min-1.degrees C-1) with lowered Tes and Tm.

TES/Aura L2 Ammonia (NH3) Lite Nadir V6 (TL2NH3LN)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2017-07-20

TES/Aura L2 Ammonia (NH3) Lite Nadir (TL2NH3LN) News:  TES News ... Level:  L2 Instrument:  TES/Aura L2 Ammonia Spatial Coverage:  5.3 km nadir Spatial ... OPeNDAP Access:  OPeNDAP Parameters:  Ammonia Order Data:  Earthdata Search:   Order Data ...

TES/Aura L2 Ammonia (NH3) Nadir V6 (TL2NH3NS)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-01-22

TES/Aura L2 Ammonia (NH3) Nadir (TL2NH3NS) News:  TES News ... Level:  L2 Platform:  TES/Aura L2 Ammonia Spatial Coverage:  5.3 x 8.5 km nadir ... Contact ASDC User Services Parameters:  Ammonia Legacy:  Retired data product , click here for ...

TES/Aura L2 Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Nadir V6 (TL2CO2N)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-01-18

TES/Aura L2 Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Nadir (TL2CO2N) News:  TES News ... Level:  L2 Platform:  TES/Aura L2 Carbon Dioxide Spatial Coverage:  5.2 x 8.5 km nadir ... Contact User Services Parameters:  Carbon Dioxide Legacy:  Retired data product , click here ...

TES/Aura L2 Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Nadir V6 (TL2CO2NS)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-01-22

TES/Aura L2 Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Nadir (TL2CO2NS) News:  TES News ... Level:  L2 Platform:  TES/Aura L2 Carbon Dioxide Spatial Coverage:  5.3 x 8.5 km nadir ... Contact ASDC User Services Parameters:  Carbon Dioxide Legacy:  Retired data product , click here ...

Electrical brain stimulation (tES) improves learning more than performance: A meta-analysis.

PubMed

Simonsmeier, Bianca A; Grabner, Roland H; Hein, Julia; Krenz, Ugne; Schneider, Michael

2018-01-01

Researchers have recently started evaluating whether stimulating the brain noninvasively with a weak and painless electrical current (transcranial Electrical Stimulation, tES) enhances physiological and cognitive processes. Some studies found that tES has weak but positive effects on brain physiology, cognition, or assessment performance, which has attracted massive public interest. We present the first meta-analytic test of the hypothesis that tES in a learning phase is more effective than tES in an assessment phase. The meta-analysis included 246 effect sizes from studies on language or mathematical competence. The effect of tES was stronger when stimulation was administered during a learning phase (d=0.712) as compared to stimulation administered during test performance (d=0.207). The overall effect was stimulation-dosage specific and, as found in a previous meta-analysis, significant only for anodal stimulation and not for cathodal. The results provide evidence for the modulation of long-term synaptic plasticity by tES in the context of practically relevant learning tasks and highlight the need for more systematic evaluations of tES in educational settings. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thermal stability and structural characterization of organic/inorganic hybrid nonlinear optical material containing a two-dimensional chromophore.

PubMed

Chang, Po-Hsun; Tsai, Hsieh-Chih; Chen, Yu-Ren; Chen, Jian-Yu; Hsiue, Ging-Ho

2008-10-21

In this study, two nonlinear optic hybrid materials with different dimensional alkoxysilane dyes were prepared and characterized. One NLO silane (Cz2PhSO 2OH- TES), a two-dimensional structure based on carbazole, had a larger rotational volume than the other (DR19-TES). Second harmonic ( d 33) analysis verified there is an optimum heating process for the best poling efficiency. The maximum d 33 value of NLO hybrid film containing Cz2PhSO 2OH was obtained for 10.7 pm/V after precuring at 150 degrees C for 3 h and poling at 210 degrees C for 60 min. The solid-state (29)Si NMR spectrum shows that the main factor influencing poling efficiency and thermal stability was cross-linking degree of NLO silane, but not that of TMOS. In particular, the two-dimensional sol-gel system has a greater dynamic and temporary stability than the one-dimensional system due to Cz2PhSO 2OH-TES requiring a larger volume to rotate in the hybrid matrix after cross-linking.

Effect of amino groups of mesoporous silica nanoparticles on CpG oligodexynucleotide delivery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Yi; Claiden, Peter; Zhu, Yufang; Morita, Hiromi; Hanagata, Nobutaka

2015-08-01

In this study, we proposed to modify mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (NH2-TES), aminoethylaminopropyltriethoxysilane (2NH2-TES) and 3-[2-(2-aminoethylamino)ethylamino] propyl-trimethoxysilane (3NH2-TES) for binding of cytosine-phosphate-guanosine oligodexynucleotides (CpG ODN), and investigated the effect of different amino groups of MSNs on the CpG ODN delivery. Serum stability, in vitro cytotoxicity, and cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) induction by MSN-NH2/CpG, MSN-2NH2/CpG and MSN-3NH2/CpG complexes were investigated in detail. The results showed that three kinds of aminated-MSN-based CpG ODN delivery systems had no cytotoxicity to RAW264.7 cells, and binding of CpG ODN to MSN-NH2, MSN-2NH2 and MSN-3NH2 nanoparticles enhanced the serum stability of CpG ODN due to protection by the nanoparticles. However, three aminated MSN-based CpG ODN delivery systems exhibited different CpG ODN delivery efficiency, and MSN-NH2/CpG complexes had the highest ability to induce IL-6 secretion.

Pervasive epigenetic effects of Drosophila euchromatic transposable elements impact their evolution

PubMed Central

Lee, Yuh Chwen G; Karpen, Gary H

2017-01-01

Transposable elements (TEs) are widespread genomic parasites, and their evolution has remained a critical question in evolutionary genomics. Here, we study the relatively unexplored epigenetic impacts of TEs and provide the first genome-wide quantification of such effects in D. melanogaster and D. simulans. Surprisingly, the spread of repressive epigenetic marks (histone H3K9me2) to nearby DNA occurs at >50% of euchromatic TEs, and can extend up to 20 kb. This results in differential epigenetic states of genic alleles and, in turn, selection against TEs. Interestingly, the lower TE content in D. simulans compared to D. melanogaster correlates with stronger epigenetic effects of TEs and higher levels of host genetic factors known to promote epigenetic silencing. Our study demonstrates that the epigenetic effects of euchromatic TEs, and host genetic factors modulating such effects, play a critical role in the evolution of TEs both within and between species. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.25762.001 PMID:28695823

A 90GHz Bolometer Camera Detector System for the Green Bank Telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benford, Dominic J.; Allen, Christine A.; Buchanan, Ernest D.; Chen, Tina C.; Chervenak, James A.; Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon R.; Forgione, Joshua B.

2004-01-01

We describe a close-packed, two-dimensional imaging detector system for operation at 90GHz (3.3mm) for the 100 m Green Bank Telescope (GBT) This system will provide high sensitivity (<1mjy in 1s rapid imaging (15'x15' to 250 microJy in 1 hr) at the world's largest steerable aperture. The heart of this camera is an 8x8 close packed, Nyquist-sampled array of superconducting transition edge sensor bolometers. We have designed and are producing a functional superconducting bolometer array system using a monolithic planar architecture and high-speed multiplexed readout electronics. With an NEP of approx. 2.10(exp 17) W/square root Hz, the TES bolometers will provide fast linear sensitive response for high performance imaging. The detectors are read out by and 8x8 time domain SQUID multiplexer. A digital/analog electronics system has been designed to enable read out by SQUID multiplexers. First light for this instrument on the GBT is expected within a year.

Mars Global Surveyor TES Results: Observations of Water Ice Clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pearl, John C.; Smith, M. D.; Conrath, B. J.; Bandfield, J. L.; Christensen, P. R.

1999-01-01

On July 31, 1999, Mars Global Surveyor completed its first martian year in orbit. During this time, the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) experiment gathered extensive data on water ice clouds. We report here on three types of martian clouds. 1) Martian southern summer has long been characterized as the season when the most severe dust storms occur. It is now apparent that northern spring/summer is characterized as a time of substantial low latitude ice clouds [1]. TES observations beginning in the northern summer (Lsubs=107) show a well developed cloud belt between 10S and 30N latitude; 12 micron opacities were typically 0.15. This system decreased dramatically after Lsubs= 130. Thereafter, remnants were most persistent over the Tharsis ridge. 2) Clouds associated with major orographic features follow a different pattern [2]. Clouds of this type were present prior to the regional Noachis dust storm of 1997. They disappeared with the onset of the storm, but reappeared rather quickly following its decay. Typical infrared opacities were near 0.5. 3) Extensive, very thin clouds are also widespread [3]. Found at high altitudes (above 35 km), their opacities are typically a few hundredths. At times, such as in northern spring, these clouds are limited in their northern extent only by the southern edge of the polar vortex. We describe the distribution, infrared optical properties, and seasonal trends of these systems during the first martian year of TES operations.

In vitro production of Toxocara canis excretory-secretory (TES) antigen.

PubMed

Thomas, Divyamol; Jeyathilakan, N; Abdul Basith, S; Senthilkumar, T M A

2016-09-01

Toxocara canis is a widespread gastrointestinal nematode parasite of dogs and cause Toxocara larva migrans, an important zoonotic disease in humans on ingestion of infective eggs. Toxocarosis is one of the few human parasitic diseases whose serodiagnosis uses a standardized antigen, T. canis excretory secretory antigen (TES). The present study describes collection of T. canis adult worm, collection and embryonation of T. canis eggs, hatching and separation of T. canis larvae, in vitro maintenance of T. canis second stage larvae for production of TES, concentration of culture fluid TES and yield of TES in correlation with various methods cited in literature.

Global Summary MGS TES Data and Mars-Gram Validation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Justus, C.; Johnson, D.; Parker, Nelson C. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars-GRAM 2001) is an engineering-level Mars atmosphere model widely used for many Mars mission applications. From 0-80 km, it is based on NASA Ames Mars General Circulation Model (MGCM), while above 80 km it is based on University of Arizona Mars Thermospheric General Circulation Model. Mars-GRAM 2001 and MGCM use surface topograph$ from Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiting Laser Altimeter (MOLA). Validation studies are described comparing Mars-GRAM with a global summary data set of Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) data. TES averages and standard deviations were assembled from binned TES data which covered surface to approx. 40 km, over more than a full Mars year (February, 1999 - June, 2001, just before start of a Mars global dust storm). TES data were binned in 10-by-10 degree latitude-longitude bins (i.e. 36 longitude bins by 19 latitude bins), 12 seasonal bins (based on 30 degree increments of Ls angle). Bin averages and standard deviations were assembled at 23 data levels (temperature at 21 pressure levels, plus surface temperature and surface pressure). Two time-of day bins were used: local time near 2 or 14 hours local time). Two dust optical depth bins wereused: infrared optical depth either less than or greater than 0.25 (which corresponds to visible optical depth either less than or greater than about 0.5). For interests in aerocapture and precision entry and landing, comparisons focused on atmospheric density. TES densities versus height were computed from TES temperature versus pressure, using assumptions of perfect gas law and hydrostatics. Mars-GRAM validation studies used density ratio (TES/Mars-GRAM) evaluated at data bin center points in space and time. Observed average TES/Mars-GRAM density ratios were generally 1+/-0.05, except at high altitudes (15-30 km, depending on season) and high latitudes (> 45 deg N), or at most altitudes in the southern hemisphere at Ls approx. 90 and 180deg). Compared to TES averages for a given latitude and season, TES data had average density standard deviation about the mean of approx. 65-10.5% (varying with height) for all data, or approx. 5-12%, depending on time of day and dust optical depth. Average standard deviation of TES/Mars-GRAM density ratio was 8.9% for local time 2 hours and 7.1% for local time 14 hours. Thus standard deviation of observed TES/Mars-GRAM density ratio, evaluated at matching positions and times, is about the same as the standard deviation of TES data about the TES mean value at a given position and season.

Design of 280 GHz feedhorn-coupled TES arrays for the balloon-borne polarimeter SPIDER

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hubmayr, Johannes; Austermann, Jason E.; Beall, James A.; Becker, Daniel T.; Benton, Steven J.; Bergman, A. Stevie; Bond, J. Richard; Bryan, Sean; Duff, Shannon M.; Duivenvoorden, Adri J.; Eriksen, H. K.; Filippini, Jeffrey P.; Fraisse, A.; Galloway, Mathew; Gambrel, Anne E.; Ganga, K.; Grigorian, Arpi L.; Gualtieri, Riccardo; Gudmundsson, Jon E.; Hartley, John W.; Halpern, M.; Hilton, Gene C.; Jones, William C.; McMahon, Jeffrey J.; Moncelsi, Lorenzo; Nagy, Johanna M.; Netterfield, C. B.; Osherson, Benjamin; Padilla, Ivan; Rahlin, Alexandra S.; Racine, B.; Ruhl, John; Rudd, T. M.; Shariff, J. A.; Soler, J. D.; Song, Xue; Ullom, Joel N.; Van Lanen, Jeff; Vissers, Michael R.; Wehus, I. K.; Wen, Shyang; Wiebe, D. V.; Young, Edward

2016-07-01

We describe 280 GHz bolometric detector arrays that instrument the balloon-borne polarimeter spider. A primary science goal of spider is to measure the large-scale B-mode polarization of the cosmic microwave background (cmb) in search of the cosmic-inflation, gravitational-wave signature. 280 GHz channels aid this science goal by constraining the level of B-mode contamination from galactic dust emission. We present the focal plane unit design, which consists of a 16x16 array of conical, corrugated feedhorns coupled to a monolithic detector array fabricated on a 150 mm diameter silicon wafer. Detector arrays are capable of polarimetric sensing via waveguide probe-coupling to a multiplexed array of transition-edge-sensor (TES) bolometers. The spider receiver has three focal plane units at 280 GHz, which in total contains 765 spatial pixels and 1,530 polarization sensitive bolometers. By fabrication and measurement of single feedhorns, we demonstrate 14.7° FHWM Gaussian-shaped beams with <1% ellipticity in a 30% fractional bandwidth centered at 280 GHz. We present electromagnetic simulations of the detection circuit, which show 94% band-averaged, single-polarization coupling efficiency, 3% reflection and 3% radiative loss. Lastly, we demonstrate a low thermal conductance bolometer, which is well-described by a simple TES model and exhibits an electrical noise equivalent power (NEP) = 2.6 x 10-17 W/√Hz, consistent with the phonon noise prediction.

Downregulation of TES by hypermethylation in glioblastoma reduces cell apoptosis and predicts poor clinical outcome.

PubMed

Bai, Yu; Zhang, Quan-Geng; Wang, Xin-Hua

2014-12-11

Gliomas are the most common human brain tumors. Glioblastoma, also known as glioblastoma multiform (GBM), is the most aggressive, malignant, and lethal glioma. The investigation of prognostic and diagnostic molecular biomarkers in glioma patients to provide direction on clinical practice is urgent. Recent studies demonstrated that abnormal DNA methylation states play a key role in the pathogenesis of this kind of tumor. In this study, we want to identify a novel biomarker related to glioma initiation and find the role of the glioma-related gene. We performed a methylation-specific microarray on the promoter region to identify methylation gene(s) that may affect outcome of GBM patients. Normal and GBM tissues were collected from Tiantan Hospital. Genomic DNA was extracted from these tissues and analyzed with a DNA promoter methylation microarray. Testis derived transcript (TES) protein expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry in paraffin-embedded patient tissues. Western blotting was used to detect TES protein expression in the GBM cell line U251 with or without 5-aza-dC treatment. Cell apoptosis was evaluated by flow cytometry analysis using Annexin V/PI staining. We found that the TES promoter was hypermethylated in GBM compared to normal brain tissues under DNA promoter methylation microarray analysis. The GBM patients with TES hypermethylation had a short overall survival (P <0.05, log-rank test). Among GBM samples, reduced TES protein level was detected in 33 (89.2%) of 37 tumor tissues by immunohistochemical staining. Down regulation of TES was also correlated with worse patient outcome (P <0.05, log-rank test). Treatment on the GBM cell line U251 with 5-aza-dC can greatly increase TES expression, confirming the hypermethylation of TES promoter in GBM. Up-regulation of TES prompts U251 apoptosis significantly. This study demonstrated that both TES promoter hypermethylation and down-regulated protein expression significantly correlated with worse patient outcome. Treatment on the GBM cell line (U251) with 5-aza-dC can highly release TES expression resulting in significant apoptosis in these cells. Our findings suggest that the TES gene is a novel tumor suppressor gene and might represent a valuable prognostic marker for glioblastoma, indicating a potential target for future GBM therapy.

Synaptic Effects of Electric Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahman, Asif

Learning and sensory processing in the brain relies on the effective transmission of information across synapses. The strength and efficacy of synaptic transmission is modifiable through training and can be modulated with noninvasive electrical brain stimulation. Transcranial electrical stimulation (TES), specifically, induces weak intensity and spatially diffuse electric fields in the brain. Despite being weak, electric fields modulate spiking probability and the efficacy of synaptic transmission. These effects critically depend on the direction of the electric field relative to the orientation of the neuron and on the level of endogenous synaptic activity. TES has been used to modulate a wide range of neuropsychiatric indications, for various rehabilitation applications, and cognitive performance in diverse tasks. How can a weak and diffuse electric field, which simultaneously polarizes neurons across the brain, have precise changes in brain function? Designing therapies to maximize desired outcomes and minimize undesired effects presents a challenging problem. A series of experiments and computational models are used to define the anatomical and functional factors leading to specificity of TES. Anatomical specificity derives from guiding current to targeted brain structures and taking advantage of the direction-sensitivity of neurons with respect to the electric field. Functional specificity originates from preferential modulation of neuronal networks that are already active. Diffuse electric fields may recruit connected brain networks involved in a training task and promote plasticity along active synaptic pathways. In vitro, electric fields boost endogenous synaptic plasticity and raise the ceiling for synaptic learning with repeated stimulation sessions. Synapses undergoing strong plasticity are preferentially modulated over weak synapses. Therefore, active circuits that are involved in a task could be more susceptible to stimulation than inactive circuits. Moreover, stimulation polarity has asymmetric effects on synaptic strength making it easier to enhance ongoing plasticity. These results suggest that the susceptibility of brain networks to an electric field depends on the state of synaptic activity. Combining a training task, which activates specific circuits, with TES may lead to functionally-specific effects. Given the simplicity of TES and the complexity of brain function, understanding the mechanisms leading to specificity is fundamental to the rational advancement of TES.

Advanced ACTPol Low-Frequency Array: Readout and Characterization of Prototype 27 and 39 GHz Transition Edge Sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koopman, B. J.; Cothard, N. F.; Choi, S. K.; Crowley, K. T.; Duff, S. M.; Henderson, S. W.; Ho, S. P.; Hubmayr, J.; Gallardo, P. A.; Nati, F.; Niemack, M. D.; Simon, S. M.; Staggs, S. T.; Stevens, J. R.; Vavagiakis, E. M.; Wollack, E. J.

2018-05-01

Advanced ACTPol (AdvACT) is a third-generation polarization upgrade to the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, designed to observe the cosmic microwave background (CMB). AdvACT expands on the 90 and 150 GHz transition edge sensor (TES) bolometer arrays of the ACT Polarimeter (ACTPol), adding both high-frequency (HF, 150/230 GHz) and low-frequency (LF, 27/39 GHz) multichroic arrays. The addition of the high- and low-frequency detectors allows for the characterization of synchrotron and spinning dust emission at the low frequencies and foreground emission from galactic dust and dusty star-forming galaxies at the high frequencies. The increased spectral coverage of AdvACT will enable a wide range of CMB science, such as improving constraints on dark energy, the sum of the neutrino masses, and the existence of primordial gravitational waves. The LF array will be the final AdvACT array, replacing one of the MF arrays for a single season. Prior to the fabrication of the final LF detector array, we designed and characterized prototype TES bolometers. Detector geometries in these prototypes are varied in order to inform and optimize the bolometer designs for the LF array, which requires significantly lower noise levels and saturation powers (as low as {˜ } 1 pW) than the higher-frequency detectors. Here we present results from tests of the first LF prototype TES detectors for AdvACT, including measurements of the saturation power, critical temperature, thermal conductance, and time constants. We also describe the modifications to the time-division SQUID readout architecture compared to the MF and HF arrays.

Accelerating Digital Mental Health Research From Early Design and Creation to Successful Implementation and Sustainment.

PubMed

Mohr, David C; Lyon, Aaron R; Lattie, Emily G; Reddy, Madhu; Schueller, Stephen M

2017-05-10

Mental health problems are common and pose a tremendous societal burden in terms of cost, morbidity, quality of life, and mortality. The great majority of people experience barriers that prevent access to treatment, aggravated by a lack of mental health specialists. Digital mental health is potentially useful in meeting the treatment needs of large numbers of people. A growing number of efficacy trials have shown strong outcomes for digital mental health treatments. Yet despite their positive findings, there are very few examples of successful implementations and many failures. Although the research-to-practice gap is not unique to digital mental health, the inclusion of technology poses unique challenges. We outline some of the reasons for this gap and propose a collection of methods that can result in sustainable digital mental health interventions. These methods draw from human-computer interaction and implementation science and are integrated into an Accelerated Creation-to-Sustainment (ACTS) model. The ACTS model uses an iterative process that includes 2 basic functions (design and evaluate) across 3 general phases (Create, Trial, and Sustain). The ultimate goal in using the ACTS model is to produce a functioning technology-enabled service (TES) that is sustainable in a real-world treatment setting. We emphasize the importance of the service component because evidence from both research and practice has suggested that human touch is a critical ingredient in the most efficacious and used digital mental health treatments. The Create phase results in at least a minimally viable TES and an implementation blueprint. The Trial phase requires evaluation of both effectiveness and implementation while allowing optimization and continuous quality improvement of the TES and implementation plan. Finally, the Sustainment phase involves the withdrawal of research or donor support, while leaving a functioning, continuously improving TES in place. The ACTS model is a step toward bringing implementation and sustainment into the design and evaluation of TESs, public health into clinical research, research into clinics, and treatment into the lives of our patients. ©David C. Mohr, Aaron R Lyon, Emily G Lattie, Madhu Reddy, Stephen M Schueller. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 10.05.2017.

Accelerating Digital Mental Health Research From Early Design and Creation to Successful Implementation and Sustainment

PubMed Central

Lyon, Aaron R; Lattie, Emily G; Reddy, Madhu; Schueller, Stephen M

2017-01-01

Mental health problems are common and pose a tremendous societal burden in terms of cost, morbidity, quality of life, and mortality. The great majority of people experience barriers that prevent access to treatment, aggravated by a lack of mental health specialists. Digital mental health is potentially useful in meeting the treatment needs of large numbers of people. A growing number of efficacy trials have shown strong outcomes for digital mental health treatments. Yet despite their positive findings, there are very few examples of successful implementations and many failures. Although the research-to-practice gap is not unique to digital mental health, the inclusion of technology poses unique challenges. We outline some of the reasons for this gap and propose a collection of methods that can result in sustainable digital mental health interventions. These methods draw from human-computer interaction and implementation science and are integrated into an Accelerated Creation-to-Sustainment (ACTS) model. The ACTS model uses an iterative process that includes 2 basic functions (design and evaluate) across 3 general phases (Create, Trial, and Sustain). The ultimate goal in using the ACTS model is to produce a functioning technology-enabled service (TES) that is sustainable in a real-world treatment setting. We emphasize the importance of the service component because evidence from both research and practice has suggested that human touch is a critical ingredient in the most efficacious and used digital mental health treatments. The Create phase results in at least a minimally viable TES and an implementation blueprint. The Trial phase requires evaluation of both effectiveness and implementation while allowing optimization and continuous quality improvement of the TES and implementation plan. Finally, the Sustainment phase involves the withdrawal of research or donor support, while leaving a functioning, continuously improving TES in place. The ACTS model is a step toward bringing implementation and sustainment into the design and evaluation of TESs, public health into clinical research, research into clinics, and treatment into the lives of our patients. PMID:28490417

TES/Aura L2 Water Vapor (H2O) Limb V6 (TL2H2OLS)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-03-01

TES/Aura L2 Water Vapor (H2O) Limb (TL2H2OLS) News:  TES News ... Level:  L2 Platform:  TES/Aura L2 Water Vapor Spatial Coverage:  27 x 23 km Limb ... Access:  OPeNDAP Parameters:  H2O Water Volume Mixing Radio Precision Vertical Resolution Order ...

TES/Aura L2 Water Vapor (H2O) Limb V6 (TL2H2OL)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-03-01

TES/Aura L2 Water Vapor (H2O) Limb (TL2H2OL) News:  TES News ... Level:  L2 Platform:  TES/Aura L2 Water Vapor Spatial Coverage:  27 x 23 km Limb ... Access: OPeNDAP Parameters:  H2O Water Volume Mixing Radio Precision Vertical Resolution Order ...

Comparison of improved Aura Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) CO 2 with HIPPO and SGP aircraft profile measurements

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

Kulawik, S. S.; Worden, J. R.; Wofsy, S. C.

2012-01-01

Comparisons are made between mid-tropospheric Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) satellite measurements and ocean profiles from three Hiaper Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO) campaigns and land aircraft profiles from the United States Southern Great Plains (SGP) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) site over a 4-yr period. These comparisons are used to characterize the bias in the TES CO{sub 2} estimates and to assess whether calculated and actual uncertainties and sensitivities are consistent. The HIPPO dataset is one of the few datasets spanning the altitude range where TES CO{sub 2} estimates are sensitive, which is especially important for characterization of biases.more » We find that TES CO{sub 2} estimates capture the seasonal and latitudinal gradients observed by HIPPO CO{sub 2} measurements; actual errors range from 0.8–1.2 ppm, depending on the campaign, and are approximately 1.4 times larger than the predicted errors. The bias of TES versus HIPPO is within 0.85 ppm for each of the 3 campaigns; however several of the sub-tropical TES CO{sub 2} estimates are lower than expected based on the calculated errors. Comparisons of aircraft flask profiles, which are measured from the surface to 5 km, to TES CO{sub 2} at the SGP ARM site show good agreement with an overall bias of 0.1 ppm and rms of 1.0 ppm. We also find that the predicted sensitivity of the TES CO{sub 2} estimates is too high, which results from using a multi-step retrieval for CO{sub 2} and temperature. We find that the averaging kernel in the TES product corrected by a pressure-dependent factor accurately reflects the sensitivity of the TES CO{sub 2} product.« less

TES-Based X-Ray Microcalorimeter Performances Under AC Bias and FDM for Athena

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Akamatsu, H.; Gottardi, L.; de Vries, C. P.; Adams, J. S.; Bandler, S. R.; Bruijn, M. P.; Chervenak, J. A.; Eckart, M. E.; Finkbeiner, F. M.; Gao, J. R.;

Resistivity of the insulating phase approaching the 2D metal-insulator transition: the effect of spin polarization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Shiqi; Sarachik, Myriam

We compare the resistivity of the dilute, strongly-interacting 2D electron system in the insulating phase of a silicon MOSFET for unpolarized electrons in the absence of magnetic field and in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field sufficient to fully polarize the electrons. In both cases the resistivity obeys Efros-Shklovskii variable range hopping ρ (T) =ρ0exp [(TES / T) 1 / 2 ] , with TES and 1 /ρ0 mapping onto each other provided one applies a shift reported earlier of the critical density nc with magnetic field: the transport properties of the insulator are the same for unpolarized and fully polarized electron spins. Interestingly, the parameters TES and 1 /ρ0 =σ0 are consistent with critical behavior approaching a metal-insulator transition. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Grant DMR-1309008 and the Binational Science Foundation Grant 2012210.

Core Temperature Measurement During Submaximal Exercise: Esophageal, Rectal, and Intestinal Temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Stuart M. C.; Williams, W. Jon; Schneider, Suzanne M.

2000-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if intestinal temperature (Tin) might be in acceptable alternative to esophageal (Tes) and rectal temperature (Trec) to assess thermoregulation during supine exercise. We hypothesized that Tin would have values similar to Tes and a response time similar to Trec, but the rate of temperature change across time would not be different between measurement sites. Seven subjects completed a continuous supine protocol of 20 min of rest, 20 min of cycle exercise at 40% peak oxygen consumption (VO2pk), 20 min of cycle exercise at 65% V02pk, and 20 min of recovery. Tes, Trec, and Tin were recorded each min throughout the test. Temperatures were not different after 20 min of rest, but Trec was less than the Tes and Tin at the end of the 40% and 65% VO2pk stages. After 20 min of recovery, Tes was less than either Trec or Tin, which were not different from each other. Time to threshold for increased temperature from rest was greater for Trec than Tes but not different from Tin. Time to reach peak temperature was greater for Tin and Trec than Tes. Similarly, time to a decrease in temperature after exercise was greater for Trec than Tes, but not different from Tin. The rate of temperature change from threshold to the end of the 40% VO2pk stage was not different between measurement sites. However, the rate of change during recovery was more negative for Tes than Tin and Trec, which were different from each other. Measurement of Tin may he an acceptable alternative to Tes and Trec with an understanding of its limitations.

Co-generation and innovative heat storage systems in small-medium CSP plants for distributed energy production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giaconia, Alberto; Montagnino, Fabio; Paredes, Filippo; Donato, Filippo; Caputo, Giampaolo; Mazzei, Domenico

2017-06-01

CSP technologies can be applied for distributed energy production, on small-medium plants (on the 1 MW scale), to satisfy the needs of local communities, buildings and districts. In this perspective, reliable, low-cost, and flexible small/medium multi-generative CSP plants should be developed. Four pilot plants have been built in four Mediterranean countries (Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, and Italy) to demonstrate the approach. In this paper, the plant built in Italy is presented, with specific innovations applied in the linear Fresnel collector design and the Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system, based on a single the use of molten salts but specifically tailored for small scale plants.

The impact of transposable elements on mammalian development

PubMed Central

Garcia-Perez, Jose L.; Widmann, Thomas J.; Adams, Ian R.

2018-01-01

Summary Despite often being classified as selfish or junk DNA, transposable elements (TEs) are a group of abundant genetic sequences that significantly impact on mammalian development and genome regulation. In recent years, our understanding of how pre-existing TEs affect genome architecture, gene regulatory networks and protein function during mammalian embryogenesis has dramatically expanded. In addition, the mobilization of active TEs in selected cell types has been shown to generate genetic variation during development and in fully differentiated tissues. Importantly, the ongoing domestication and evolution of TEs appears to provide a rich source of regulatory elements, functional modules and genetic variation that fuels the evolution of mammalian developmental processes. Here, we review the functional impact that TEs exert on mammalian developmental processes and how the somatic activity of TEs can influence gene regulatory networks. PMID:27875251

Deglycosylation of Toxocara excretory-secretory antigens improves the specificity of the serodiagnosis for human toxocariasis.

PubMed

Roldán, W H; Elefant, G R; Ferreira, A W

2015-11-01

Serodiagnosis of human toxocariasis is difficult in tropical areas where other helminthiasis are endemic. Many studies have shown that glycans from helminths may be the responsible for cross-reactions in the immunoassays. In this study, we have evaluated the deglycosylation of the Toxocara canis excretory-secretory (TES) antigens for the detection of IgG antibodies using a panel of 228 serum samples (58 patients with toxocariasis, 75 patients with other helminth infections and 95 healthy individuals) by ELISA and Western blot assays. Our results showed that the deglycosylation of TES antigens resulted in a single fraction of 26 kDa (dTES) and was able to detect IgG antibodies with a sensitivity and specificity of 100% in both above-mentioned assays. The rate of cross-reactions, observed in ELISA with TES (13·3%), was significantly reduced (5·3%) when the dTES antigens were used. Likewise, the cross-reactivity observed with the fractions of 32, 55 and 70 kDa of the TES antigens was totally eliminated when the dTES were used in the Western blot. All these results showed that the deglycosylation of the TES antigens really improves the specificity of the serodiagnosis of human toxocariasis in endemic areas for helminth infections. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

First Atmospheric Science Results from the Mars Exploration Rovers Mini-TES

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Michael D.; Wolff, Michael J.; Lemmon, Mark T.; Spanovich, Nicole; Banfield, Don; Budney, Charles J.; Clancy, R. Todd; Ghosh, Amitabha; Landis, Geoffrey A.; Smith, Peter;

Revisiting the Relationship between Transposable Elements and the Eukaryotic Stress Response.

PubMed

Horváth, Vivien; Merenciano, Miriam; González, Josefa

2017-11-01

A relationship between transposable elements (TEs) and the eukaryotic stress response was suggested in the first publications describing TEs. Since then, it has often been assumed that TEs are activated by stress, and that this activation is often beneficial for the organism. In recent years, the availability of new high-throughput experimental techniques has allowed further interrogation of the relationship between TEs and stress. By reviewing the recent literature, we conclude that although there is evidence for a beneficial effect of TE activation under stress conditions, the relationship between TEs and the eukaryotic stress response is quite complex. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

First Atmospheric Science Results from the Mars Exploration Rovers Mini-TES.

PubMed

Smith, Michael D; Wolff, Michael J; Lemmon, Mark T; Spanovich, Nicole; Banfield, Don; Budney, Charles J; Clancy, R Todd; Ghosh, Amitabha; Landis, Geoffrey A; Smith, Peter; Whitney, Barbara; Christensen, Philip R; Squyres, Steven W

2004-12-03

Thermal infrared spectra of the martian atmosphere taken by the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) were used to determine the atmospheric temperatures in the planetary boundary layer and the column-integrated optical depth of aerosols. Mini-TES observations show the diurnal variation of the martian boundary layer thermal structure, including a near-surface superadiabatic layer during the afternoon and an inversion layer at night. Upward-looking Mini-TES observations show warm and cool parcels of air moving through the Mini-TES field of view on a time scale of 30 seconds. The retrieved dust optical depth shows a downward trend at both sites.

Characterizing and Modeling the Noise and Complex Impedance of Feedhorn-Coupled TES Polarimeters

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

Appel, J. W.; Beall, J. A.; Essinger-Hileman, T.

2009-12-16

We present results from modeling the electrothermal performance of feedhorn-coupled transition edge sensor (TES) polarimeters under development for use in cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiments. Each polarimeter couples radiation from a corrugated feedhorn through a planar orthomode transducer, which transmits power from orthogonal polarization modes to two TES bolometers. We model our TES with two- and three-block thermal architectures. We fit the complex impedance data at multiple points in the TES transition. From the fits, we predict the noise spectra. We present comparisons of these predictions to the data for two TESes on a prototype polarimeter.

Production of Toxocara cati TES-120 Recombinant Antigen and Comparison with its T. canis Homolog for Serodiagnosis of Toxocariasis

PubMed Central

Zahabiun, Farzaneh; Sadjjadi, Seyed Mahmoud; Yunus, Muhammad Hafiznur; Rahumatullah, Anizah; Moghaddam, Mohammad Hosein Falaki; Saidin, Syazwan; Noordin, Rahmah

2015-01-01

Toxocariasis is a cosmopolitan zoonotic disease caused by the infective larvae of Toxocara canis and T. cati. Diagnosis in humans is usually based on clinical symptoms and serology. Immunoglobulin G (IgG)-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits using T. canis excretory–secretory (TES) larval antigens are commonly used for serodiagnosis. Differences in the antigens of the two Toxocara species may influence the diagnostic sensitivity of the test. In this study, T. cati recombinant TES-120 (rTES-120) was cloned, expressed, and compared with its T. canis homolog in an IgG4-western blot. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of T. cati rTES-120 were 70% (33/47) and 100% (39/39), respectively. T. canis rTES-120 showed 57.4% sensitivity and 94.4% specificity. When the results of assays using rTES-120 of both species were considered, the diagnostic sensitivity was 76%. This study shows that using antigens from both Toxocara species may improve the serodiagnosis of toxocariasis. PMID:26033026

Down-regulation of cancer/testis antigen OY-TES-1 attenuates malignant behaviors of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro.

PubMed

Fu, Jun; Luo, Bin; Guo, Wen-Wen; Zhang, Qing-Mei; Shi, Lei; Hu, Qi-Ping; Chen, Fang; Xiao, Shao-Wen; Xie, Xiao-Xun

2015-01-01

Cancer/testis (CT) antigens are normally expressed in testis and overexpressed in various tumor types. However, their biological function is largely unknown. OY-TES-1, one of cancer/testis (CT) antigens, is reported overexpression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). And we assumed that OY-TES-1 contribute to oncogenesis and progression of HCC. In this study, we knocked down OY-TES-1 by small interference RNA (siRNA) in HCC cell lines (HepG2 and BEL-7404) to verify this assumption and evaluate its potential as therapeutic targets for HCC. We showed that down regulation of OY-TES-1 decreased cell growth, induced the G0/G1 arrest and apoptosis, and prevented migration and invasion in the two HCC cell lines. Further analysis revealed that down regulation of OY-TES-1 increased expression of apoptosis-regulated protein caspase-3, and decreased expression of cell cycle-regulated protein cyclin E, migration/invasion-regulated proteins MMP2 and MMP9. These findings may shed light on the gene therapy about the OY-TES-1 expression in HCC cells.

Down-regulation of cancer/testis antigen OY-TES-1 attenuates malignant behaviors of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro

PubMed Central

Fu, Jun; Luo, Bin; Guo, Wen-Wen; Zhang, Qing-Mei; Shi, Lei; Hu, Qi-Ping; Chen, Fang; Xiao, Shao-Wen; Xie, Xiao-Xun

2015-01-01

Cancer/testis (CT) antigens are normally expressed in testis and overexpressed in various tumor types. However, their biological function is largely unknown. OY-TES-1, one of cancer/testis (CT) antigens, is reported overexpression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). And we assumed that OY-TES-1 contribute to oncogenesis and progression of HCC. In this study, we knocked down OY-TES-1 by small interference RNA (siRNA) in HCC cell lines (HepG2 and BEL-7404) to verify this assumption and evaluate its potential as therapeutic targets for HCC. We showed that down regulation of OY-TES-1 decreased cell growth, induced the G0/G1 arrest and apoptosis, and prevented migration and invasion in the two HCC cell lines. Further analysis revealed that down regulation of OY-TES-1 increased expression of apoptosis-regulated protein caspase-3, and decreased expression of cell cycle-regulated protein cyclin E, migration/invasion-regulated proteins MMP2 and MMP9. These findings may shed light on the gene therapy about the OY-TES-1 expression in HCC cells. PMID:26339343

Production of Toxocara cati TES-120 Recombinant Antigen and Comparison with its T. canis Homolog for Serodiagnosis of Toxocariasis.

PubMed

Zahabiun, Farzaneh; Sadjjadi, Seyed Mahmoud; Yunus, Muhammad Hafiznur; Rahumatullah, Anizah; Moghaddam, Mohammad Hosein Falaki; Saidin, Syazwan; Noordin, Rahmah

2015-08-01

Toxocariasis is a cosmopolitan zoonotic disease caused by the infective larvae of Toxocara canis and T. cati. Diagnosis in humans is usually based on clinical symptoms and serology. Immunoglobulin G (IgG)-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits using T. canis excretory-secretory (TES) larval antigens are commonly used for serodiagnosis. Differences in the antigens of the two Toxocara species may influence the diagnostic sensitivity of the test. In this study, T. cati recombinant TES-120 (rTES-120) was cloned, expressed, and compared with its T. canis homolog in an IgG4-western blot. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of T. cati rTES-120 were 70% (33/47) and 100% (39/39), respectively. T. canis rTES-120 showed 57.4% sensitivity and 94.4% specificity. When the results of assays using rTES-120 of both species were considered, the diagnostic sensitivity was 76%. This study shows that using antigens from both Toxocara species may improve the serodiagnosis of toxocariasis. © The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

The Role of Transposable Elements in Speciation

PubMed Central

Serrato-Capuchina, Antonio; Matute, Daniel R.

2018-01-01

Understanding the phenotypic and molecular mechanisms that contribute to genetic diversity between and within species is fundamental in studying the evolution of species. In particular, identifying the interspecific differences that lead to the reduction or even cessation of gene flow between nascent species is one of the main goals of speciation genetic research. Transposable elements (TEs) are DNA sequences with the ability to move within genomes. TEs are ubiquitous throughout eukaryotic genomes and have been shown to alter regulatory networks, gene expression, and to rearrange genomes as a result of their transposition. However, no systematic effort has evaluated the role of TEs in speciation. We compiled the evidence for TEs as potential causes of reproductive isolation across a diversity of taxa. We find that TEs are often associated with hybrid defects that might preclude the fusion between species, but that the involvement of TEs in other barriers to gene flow different from postzygotic isolation is still relatively unknown. Finally, we list a series of guides and research avenues to disentangle the effects of TEs on the origin of new species. PMID:29762547

Systemic hypotensive effects of testosterone are androgen structure-specific and neuronal nitric oxide synthase-dependent

PubMed Central

Perusquía, Mercedes; Greenway, Clayton D.; Perkins, Lisa M.

2015-01-01

Testosterone (TES) and other androgens exert a direct vasorelaxing action on the vasculature in vitro that is structurally specific and independent of cytosolic androgen receptor (AR). The effects of intravenous androgen infusions on mean arterial blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were determined in conscious, unrestrained, chronically catheterized, ganglionically blocked (hexamethonium, HEX; 30 mg/kg ip) male Sprague-Dawley (SD) and testicular-feminized male (Tfm; AR-deficient) rats, 16–20 wk of age. BP and HR were recorded at baseline and with increasing doses of androgens (0.375–6.00 μmol·kg−1·min−1 iv; 10 min/dose). Data are expressed as means ± SE (n = 5–8 rats/group). In SD rats, baseline BP and HR averaged 103 ± 4 mmHg and 353 ± 12 beats/min (bpm). TES produced a dose-dependent reduction in BP to a low of 87 ± 4 mmHg (Δ16%), while HR was unchanged (354 ± 14 bpm). Neither BP (109 ± 3 mmHg) nor HR (395 ± 13 bpm) were altered by vehicle (10% EtOH in 0.9% saline; 0.15 ml·kg−1·min−1, iv). In Tfm, TES produced a similar reduction in BP (99 ± 3 to 86 ± 3 mmHg, Δ13%); HR was unchanged (369 ± 18 bpm). In SD, 5β-dihydrotestosterone (genomically inactive metabolite) produced a greater reduction in BP than TES (102 ± 2 to 79 ± 2 mmHg, Δ23%); HR was unchanged (361 ± 9). A 20-μg iv bolus of sodium nitroprusside in both SD and Tfm rats reduced BP 30–40 mmHg, while HR was unchanged, confirming blockade by HEX. Pretreatment of SD rats with neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) inhibitor (S-methyl-thiocitrulline, SMTC; 20 μg·kg−1·min−1 × 30 min) abolished the hypotensive effects of TES infusion on BP (104 ± 2 vs. 101 ± 2 mmHg) and HR (326 ± 11 vs. 324 ± 8 bpm). These data suggest the systemic hypotensive effect of TES and other androgens involves a direct vasodilatory action on the peripheral vasculature which, like the effect observed in isolated arteries, is structurally specific and AR-independent, and involves activation of nNOS. PMID:25947172

Development of arrays of position-sensitive microcalorimeters for Constellation-X

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Stephen J.; Bandler, Simon R.; Brekosky, Regis P.; Brown, Ari-D.; Chervenak, James A.; Eckart, Megan E.; Figueroa-Feliciano, Enectali; Finkbeiner, Fred M.; Kelley, Richard L.; Kilbourne, Caroline A.; Porter, F. Scott; Sadleir, John E.

2008-07-01

We are developing arrays of position-sensitive transition-edge sensor (PoST) X-ray detectors for future astronomy missions such as NASA's Constellation-X. The PoST consists of multiple absorbers thermally coupled to one or more transition-edge sensor (TES). Each absorber element has a different thermal coupling to the TES. This results in a distribution of different pulse shapes and enables position discrimination between the absorber elements. PoST's are motivated by the desire to achieve the largest possible focal plane area with the fewest number of readout channels and are ideally suited to increasing the Constellation-X focal plane area, without comprising on spatial sampling. Optimizing the performance of PoST's requires careful design of key parameters such as the thermal conductances between the absorbers, TES and the heat sink, as well as the absorber heat capacities. Our new generation of PoST's utilizes technology successfully developed on high resolution (~ 2.5 eV) single pixels arrays of Mo/Au TESs, also under development for Constellation-X. This includes noise mitigation features on the TES and low resistivity electroplated absorbers. We report on the first experimental results from new one-channel, four-pixel, PoST's or 'Hydras', consisting of composite Au/Bi absorbers. We have achieved full-width-at-half-maximum energy resolution of between 5-6 eV on all four Hydra pixels with an exponential decay time constant of 620 μs. Straightforward position discrimination by means of rise time is also demonstrated.

Higher success rate with transcranial electrical stimulation of motor-evoked potentials using constant-voltage stimulation compared with constant-current stimulation in patients undergoing spinal surgery.

PubMed

Shigematsu, Hideki; Kawaguchi, Masahiko; Hayashi, Hironobu; Takatani, Tsunenori; Iwata, Eiichiro; Tanaka, Masato; Okuda, Akinori; Morimoto, Yasuhiko; Masuda, Keisuke; Tanaka, Yuu; Tanaka, Yasuhito

2017-10-01

During spine surgery, the spinal cord is electrophysiologically monitored via transcranial electrical stimulation of motor-evoked potentials (TES-MEPs) to prevent injury. Transcranial electrical stimulation of motor-evoked potential involves the use of either constant-current or constant-voltage stimulation; however, there are few comparative data available regarding their ability to adequately elicit compound motor action potentials. We hypothesized that the success rates of TES-MEP recordings would be similar between constant-current and constant-voltage stimulations in patients undergoing spine surgery. The objective of this study was to compare the success rates of TES-MEP recordings between constant-current and constant-voltage stimulation. This is a prospective, within-subject study. Data from 100 patients undergoing spinal surgery at the cervical, thoracic, or lumbar level were analyzed. The success rates of the TES-MEP recordings from each muscle were examined. Transcranial electrical stimulation with constant-current and constant-voltage stimulations at the C3 and C4 electrode positions (international "10-20" system) was applied to each patient. Compound muscle action potentials were bilaterally recorded from the abductor pollicis brevis (APB), deltoid (Del), abductor hallucis (AH), tibialis anterior (TA), gastrocnemius (GC), and quadriceps (Quad) muscles. The success rates of the TES-MEP recordings from the right Del, right APB, bilateral Quad, right TA, right GC, and bilateral AH muscles were significantly higher using constant-voltage stimulation than those using constant-current stimulation. The overall success rates with constant-voltage and constant-current stimulations were 86.3% and 68.8%, respectively (risk ratio 1.25 [95% confidence interval: 1.20-1.31]). The success rates of TES-MEP recordings were higher using constant-voltage stimulation compared with constant-current stimulation in patients undergoing spinal surgery. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neurological function after total en bloc spondylectomy for thoracic spinal tumors.

PubMed

Murakami, Hideki; Kawahara, Norio; Demura, Satoru; Kato, Satoshi; Yoshioka, Katsuhito; Tomita, Katsuro

2010-03-01

Total en bloc spondylectomy (TES) for thoracic spinal tumors may in theory produce neurological dysfunction as a result of ischemic or mechanical damage to the spinal cord. Potential insults include preoperative embolization at 3 levels, intraoperative ligation of segmental arteries, nerve root ligation, and circumferential dural dissection. The purpose of this study was to assess neurological function after thoracic TES. The authors performed a retrospective review of 79 patients with thoracic-level spinal tumors that had been treated with TES between 1989 and 2006. Neurological function was retrospectively analyzed according to the Frankel grading system. Of the 79 cases, 26 involved primary tumors and 53 involved metastatic tumors. The number of excised vertebrae was 1 in 60 cases, 2 in 13, and >or= 3 in 6. The Frankel grade before surgery was B in 1 case, C in 16, D in 29, and E in 33. At the follow-up, the Frankel grade was C in 2 cases, D in 24, and E in 53. Of 46 cases with neurological deficits before surgery, neurological improvement of at least 1 Frankel grade was achieved in 25 cases (54.3%). Although the Frankel grade did not change in 21 patients, improvement in neurological symptoms within the same Frankel grade did occur in these patients. There were no cases of neurological deterioration. There was no neurological deterioration due to preoperative embolization, ligation of segmental arteries, or ligation of thoracic nerve roots. Each of the cases with preoperative neurological deficits showed improvement in neurological symptoms. Data in the current study clinically proved that TES is a safe operation with respect to spinal cord blood flow. In TES, the spinal cord is circumferentially decompressed and the spinal column is shortened. An increase in spinal cord blood flow due to spinal shortening in addition to decompression was considered to have brought about a resolution of neurological symptoms with TES.

Successful Total En Bloc Spondylectomy of T7 Vertebra for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Metastasis After Living Donor Liver Transplantation.

PubMed

Kimura, Hiroaki; Fujibayashi, Shunsuke; Shimizu, Takayoshi; Otsuki, Bungo; Murakami, Hideki; Kaido, Toshimi; Uemoto, Shinji; Matsuda, Shuichi

2015-08-15

Case report. We report a patient who was successfully treated with total en bloc spondylectomy (TES) for T7 metastasis after living donor liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Spinal metastasis from HCC has a poor prognosis. There are only a few studies on surgical outcomes of spinal metastasis from HCC. Because of the high surgical morbidity and short life expectancy in patients with HCC with spinal metastasis, TES is not considered in these patients, although several studies have reported satisfactory results for TES for some types of metastatic spinal tumors. Liver transplantation (LT) is the curative treatment option for early HCC. However, the recurrence of HCC is a possible problem after LT, although no reports on surgery for spinal metastasis following LT for HCC have been published. We report on the first case of a patient who was successfully treated with TES for T7 metastasis after living donor LT for HCC. The patient was a 65-year-old man, who had undergone living donor LT for HCC 2 years before. His main symptom was progressive gait disturbance because of the spinal cord compression by the tumor at T7. Radiology and pathology examinations revealed a solitary metastasis at T7 with neither recurrence in the liver nor metastasis in the other organs. We performed TES using a pedicle screw system and a mesh cage filled with frozen autografts. After surgery, the patient showed clear improvement in neurological symptoms. At 3 months after surgery, a T4 metastasis was detected with magnetic resonance imaging, and the patient was treated with heavy ion radiotherapy. He could walk without a cane and there was no evidence of recurrence at 1.5 years after surgery. Solitary spinal metastasis of HCC may become an indication for TES if liver function improves after LT. 5.

TES Data and Information

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-03-20

... operates in both nadir and limb-sounding modes. TES global survey standard products include profile measurements of ozone, water vapor, ... for 16 orbits every other day. TES Special Observations are research measurements of targeted locations or regional transects which are ...

The impact of transposable elements on mammalian development.

PubMed

Garcia-Perez, Jose L; Widmann, Thomas J; Adams, Ian R

2016-11-15

Despite often being classified as selfish or junk DNA, transposable elements (TEs) are a group of abundant genetic sequences that have a significant impact on mammalian development and genome regulation. In recent years, our understanding of how pre-existing TEs affect genome architecture, gene regulatory networks and protein function during mammalian embryogenesis has dramatically expanded. In addition, the mobilization of active TEs in selected cell types has been shown to generate genetic variation during development and in fully differentiated tissues. Importantly, the ongoing domestication and evolution of TEs appears to provide a rich source of regulatory elements, functional modules and genetic variation that fuels the evolution of mammalian developmental processes. Here, we review the functional impact that TEs exert on mammalian developmental processes and discuss how the somatic activity of TEs can influence gene regulatory networks. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

What triggers differential DNA methylation of genes and TEs: contribution of body methylation?

PubMed

Inagaki, S; Kakutani, T

2012-01-01

Transposable elements (TEs) are epigenetically silenced with extensive DNA methylation. The silent epigenetic marks should, however, be excluded from active genes. By genetic approaches, we study mechanisms to remove the heterochromatin marks from transcribed genes. Based on our observations on control of TE transcription, we propose a possible trigger for the TE-specific accumulation of DNA methylation. A critical difference between TEs and genes could be their responses to the DNA methylation in the internal part of transcribed regions. When their internal region is methylated, genes are still transcribed, but TEs could be silenced, which may reflect the obligatory position of every critical cis-acting element within the TE itself. This initial difference of TEs and genes will be amplified by positive feedback loops to stabilize active or silent states. Thus, the mechanisms to accumulate heterochromatin marks within transcribed regions could provide a trigger to induce differential DNA methylation between genes and TEs.

Temperature - Emissivity Separation Assessment in a Sub-Urban Scenario

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moscadelli, M.; Diani, M.; Corsini, G.

2017-10-01

In this paper, a methodology that aims at evaluating the effectiveness of different TES strategies is presented. The methodology takes into account the specific material of interest in the monitored scenario, sensor characteristics, and errors in the atmospheric compensation step. The methodology is proposed in order to predict and analyse algorithms performances during the planning of a remote sensing mission, aimed to discover specific materials of interest in the monitored scenario. As case study, the proposed methodology is applied to a real airborne data set of a suburban scenario. In order to perform the TES problem, three state-of-the-art algorithms, and a recently proposed one, are investigated: Temperature-Emissivity Separation '98 (TES-98) algorithm, Stepwise Refining TES (SRTES) algorithm, Linear piecewise TES (LTES) algorithm, and Optimized Smoothing TES (OSTES) algorithm. At the end, the accuracy obtained with real data, and the ones predicted by means of the proposed methodology are compared and discussed.

Improvements to an earth observing statistical performance model with applications to LWIR spectral variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Runchen; Ientilucci, Emmett J.

2017-05-01

Hyperspectral remote sensing systems provide spectral data composed of hundreds of narrow spectral bands. Spectral remote sensing systems can be used to identify targets, for example, without physical interaction. Often it is of interested to characterize the spectral variability of targets or objects. The purpose of this paper is to identify and characterize the LWIR spectral variability of targets based on an improved earth observing statistical performance model, known as the Forecasting and Analysis of Spectroradiometric System Performance (FASSP) model. FASSP contains three basic modules including a scene model, sensor model and a processing model. Instead of using mean surface reflectance only as input to the model, FASSP transfers user defined statistical characteristics of a scene through the image chain (i.e., from source to sensor). The radiative transfer model, MODTRAN, is used to simulate the radiative transfer based on user defined atmospheric parameters. To retrieve class emissivity and temperature statistics, or temperature / emissivity separation (TES), a LWIR atmospheric compensation method is necessary. The FASSP model has a method to transform statistics in the visible (ie., ELM) but currently does not have LWIR TES algorithm in place. This paper addresses the implementation of such a TES algorithm and its associated transformation of statistics.

The Next Generation of Mars-GRAM and Its Role in the Autonomous Aerobraking Development Plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Justh, Hilary L.; Justus, Carl G.; Ramey, Holly S.

2011-01-01

The Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars-GRAM) is an engineering-level atmospheric model widely used for diverse mission applications. Mars-GRAM 2010 is currently being used to develop the onboard atmospheric density estimator that is part of the Autonomous Aerobraking Development Plan. In previous versions, Mars-GRAM was less than realistic when used for sensitivity studies for Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) MapYear=0 and large optical depth values, such as tau=3. A comparison analysis has been completed between Mars-GRAM, TES and data from the Planetary Data System (PDS) resulting in updated coefficients for the functions relating density, latitude, and longitude of the sun. The adjustment factors are expressed as a function of height (z), Latitude (Lat) and areocentric solar longitude (Ls). The latest release of Mars-GRAM 2010 includes these adjustment factors that alter the in-put data from MGCM and MTGCM for the Mapping Year 0 (user-controlled dust) case. The greatest adjustment occurs at large optical depths such as tau greater than 1. The addition of the adjustment factors has led to better correspondence to TES Limb data from 0-60 km as well as better agreement with MGS, ODY and MRO data at approximately 90-135 km. Improved simulations utilizing Mars-GRAM 2010 are vital to developing the onboard atmospheric density estimator for the Autonomous Aerobraking Development Plan. Mars-GRAM 2010 was not the only planetary GRAM utilized during phase 1 of this plan; Titan-GRAM and Venus-GRAM were used to generate density data sets for Aerobraking Design Reference Missions. These data sets included altitude profiles (both vertical and along a trajectory), GRAM perturbations (tides, gravity waves, etc.) and provided density and scale height values for analysis by other Autonomous Aero-braking team members.

Field evaluation and assessment of thermal energy storage for residential space heating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hersh, H. N.

1982-02-01

A data base was developed based on two heating seasons and 45 test and 30 control homes in Maine and Vermont. Based on first analysis of monitored temperatures and electrical energy used for space heating, fuel bills and reports of users and utilities, the technical performance of TES ceramic and hydronic systems is deemed to be technically satisfactory and there is a high degree of customer acceptance and positive attitudes towards TES. Analysis of house data shows a high degree of variability in electric heat energy demand for a given degree-day. An analysis is underway to investigate relative differences in the efficiency of electricity utilization of storage and direct heating devices. The much higher price of storge systems relative to direct systems is an impediment to market penetration. A changing picture of rate structures may encourage direct systems at the expense of storage systems.

Technical challenges and future direction for high-efficiency metal hydride thermal energy storage systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, Patrick A.; Corgnale, Claudio; Teprovich, Joseph A.; Motyka, Theodore; Hardy, Bruce; Sheppard, Drew; Buckley, Craig; Zidan, Ragaiy

2016-04-01

Recently, there has been increasing interest in thermal energy storage (TES) systems for concentrated solar power (CSP) plants, which allow for continuous operation when sunlight is unavailable. Thermochemical energy storage materials have the advantage of much higher energy densities than latent or sensible heat materials. Furthermore, thermochemical energy storage systems based on metal hydrides have been gaining great interest for having the advantage of higher energy densities, better reversibility, and high enthalpies. However, in order to achieve higher efficiencies desired of a thermal storage system by the US Department of Energy, the system is required to operate at temperatures >600 °C. Operation at temperatures >600 °C presents challenges including material selection, hydrogen embrittlement and permeation of containment vessels, appropriate selection of heat transfer fluids, and cost. Herein, the technical difficulties and proposed solutions associated with the use of metal hydrides as TES materials in CSP applications are discussed and evaluated.

Low-molecular-weight heparin in pediatric patients.

PubMed

Sutor, Anton Heinz; Chan, Anthony K C; Massicotte, Patricia

2004-02-01

The incidence of thromboembolic events (TEs) in childhood is greatly underestimated. Two age groups account for approximately 70% of TEs in childhood: infants and teenagers. There are several predisposing risk factors for newborns such as small vessels, high hematocrit, and a unique neonatal hemostatic system. Central venous lines contribute to 80% of deep vein thrombosis in newborns. Other risk factors for all children are shock syndromes, trauma, surgery, heart and kidney disease, and acquired or hereditary thrombophilias. The best prophylaxis is to recognize, avoid, and remove risk factors if possible. This is particularly relevant in childhood, where risk factors can be found in the majority of TEs. The serious sequelae of TEs (mortality, and short- and long-term morbidity) require therapeutic intervention. Unfractionated heparin (UFH) has the following disadvantages: age-dependent unpredictable pharmacokinetics, the need for intravenous access for therapy and monitoring, delays in achieving therapeutic ranges, bleeding risk, the risk of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, and osteoporosis with long-term use. Oral anticoagulants, in addition to some of these disadvantages, show considerable variation by diet (especially if there is a change from breast to bottle feeding), medication, and intercurrent illness. Review of case reports and cohort studies on 728 children treated with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) indicate the following advantages over UFH: minimal monitoring, ease of administration (subcutaneous), and possibly equivalent efficacy and safety. Dose recommendations for pediatric patients cannot be directly extrapolated from those for adult patients. If dosages are calculated according to body weight, infants < 3 months (or < 5 kg) need approximately 50% more LMWH than older children or adults to reach prophylactic or therapeutic anti-factor Xa levels. Further studies are necessary to address the following: the importance of risk factors, the necessity of screening for hereditary thrombophilia, the efficacy and safety of treatment, and side effects and duration of treatment. Thromboembolic events (TEs) are considered to be rare in children. However, recent surveys reveal that TEs in children occur more often than suspected. The incidence is greatly underestimated because TEs are usually overlooked. Retrospective surveys in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia with corticosteroids and asparaginase revealed clinically symptomatic TE in only 2 to 12% of patients. However, in prospective studies with routine imaging, the incidence was more than 20%. The objectives of this article are to update the present knowledge on TEs in children, including incidence, predominant age groups, risk factors, diagnosis, and indications for prophylaxis and therapy; and to discuss the use of low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) in children.

New TES Search and Subset Application

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2017-08-23

... Wednesday, September 19, 2012 The Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA Langley Research Center in collaboration ... pleased to announce the release of the TES Search and Subset Web Application for select TES Level 2 products. Features of the Search and ...

Design and Fabrication of TES Detector Modules for the TIME-Pilot [CII] Intensity Mapping Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hunacek, J.; Bock, J.; Bradford, C. M.; Bumble, B.; Chang, T.-C.; Cheng, Y.-T.; Cooray, A.; Crites, A.; Hailey-Dunsheath, S.; Gong, Y.; Kenyon, M.; Koch, P.; Li, C.-T.; O'Brient, R.; Shirokoff, E.; Shiu, C.; Staniszewski, Z.; Uzgil, B.; Zemcov, M.

2016-08-01

We are developing a series of close-packed modular detector arrays for TIME-Pilot, a new mm-wavelength grating spectrometer array that will map the intensity fluctuations of the redshifted 157.7 \\upmu m emission line of singly ionized carbon ([CII]) from redshift z ˜ 5 to 9. TIME-Pilot's two banks of 16 parallel-plate waveguide spectrometers (one bank per polarization) will have a spectral range of 183-326 GHz and a resolving power of R ˜ 100. The spectrometers use a curved diffraction grating to disperse and focus the light on a series of output arcs, each sampled by 60 transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers with gold micro-mesh absorbers. These low-noise detectors will be operated from a 250 mK base temperature and are designed to have a background-limited NEP of {˜ }10^{-17} mathrm {W}/mathrm {Hz}^{1/2}. This proceeding presents an overview of the detector design in the context of the TIME-Pilot instrument. Additionally, a prototype detector module produced at the Microdevices Laboratory at JPL is shown.

Characterization of Transposable Elements in Laccaria bicolor

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

Labbe, Jessy L; Murat, Claude; Morin, Emmanuelle

2012-01-01

Background: The publicly available Laccaria bicolor genome sequence has provided a considerable genomic resource allowing systematic identification of transposable elements (TEs) in this symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungus. Using a TE-specific annotation pipeline we have characterized and analyzed TEs in the L. bicolor S238N-H82 genome. Methodology/Principal Findings: TEs occupy 24% of the 60 Mb L. bicolor genome and represent 25,787 full-length and partial copies elements distributed within 172 families. The most abundant elements were the Copia-like. TEs are not randomly distributed across the genome, but are tightly nested or clustered. The majority of TEs are ancient except some terminal inverted repeats (TIRS),more » long terminal repeats (LTRs) and a large retrotransposon derivative (LARD) element. There were three main periods of TEs expansion in L. bicolor; the first from 57 to 10 Mya, the second from 5 to 1 Mya and the most recent from 500,000 years ago until now. LTR retrotransposons are closely related to retrotransposons found in another basidiomycete, Coprinopsis cinerea. Conclusions: This analysis represents an initial characterization of TEs in the L. bicolor genome, contributes to genome assembly and to a greater understanding of the role TEs played in genome organization and evolution, and provides a valuable resource for the ongoing Laccaria Pan-Genome project supported by the U.S.-DOE Joint Genome Institute.« less

Implementation of Cloud Retrievals for Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) Atmospheric Retrievals: Part 1. Description and Characterization of Errors on Trace Gas Retrievals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kulawik, Susan S.; Worden, John; Eldering, Annmarie; Bowman, Kevin; Gunson, Michael; Osterman, Gregory B.; Zhang, Lin; Clough, Shepard A.; Shephard, Mark W.; Beer, Reinhard

2006-01-01

We develop an approach to estimate and characterize trace gas retrievals in the presence of clouds in high spectral measurements of upwelling radiance in the infrared spectral region (650-2260/cm). The radiance contribution of clouds is parameterized in terms of a set of frequency-dependent nonscattering optical depths and a cloud height. These cloud parameters are retrieved jointly with surface temperature, emissivity, atmospheric temperature, and trace gases such as ozone from spectral data. We demonstrate the application of this approach using data from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) and test data simulated with a scattering radiative transfer model. We show the value of this approach in that it results in accurate estimates of errors for trace gas retrievals, and the retrieved values improve over the initial guess for a wide range of cloud conditions. Comparisons are made between TES retrievals of ozone, temperature, and water to model fields from the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO), temperature retrievals from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), tropospheric ozone columns from the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) GEOS-Chem, and ozone retrievals from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS). In each of these cases, this cloud retrieval approach does not introduce observable biases into TES retrievals.

Turning gold into ‘junk’: transposable elements utilize central proteins of cellular networks

PubMed Central

Abrusán, György; Szilágyi, András; Zhang, Yang; Papp, Balázs

2013-01-01

The numerous discovered cases of domesticated transposable element (TE) proteins led to the recognition that TEs are a significant source of evolutionary innovation. However, much less is known about the reverse process, whether and to what degree the evolution of TEs is influenced by the genome of their hosts. We addressed this issue by searching for cases of incorporation of host genes into the sequence of TEs and examined the systems-level properties of these genes using the Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Drosophila melanogaster genomes. We identified 51 cases where the evolutionary scenario was the incorporation of a host gene fragment into a TE consensus sequence, and we show that both the yeast and fly homologues of the incorporated protein sequences have central positions in the cellular networks. An analysis of selective pressure (Ka/Ks ratio) detected significant selection in 37% of the cases. Recent research on retrovirus-host interactions shows that virus proteins preferentially target hubs of the host interaction networks enabling them to take over the host cell using only a few proteins. We propose that TEs face a similar evolutionary pressure to evolve proteins with high interacting capacities and take some of the necessary protein domains directly from their hosts. PMID:23341038

High-Temperature Phase Change Materials (PCM) Candidates for Thermal Energy Storage (TES) Applications

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

Gomez, J. C.

2011-09-01

It is clearly understood that lower overall costs are a key factor to make renewable energy technologies competitive with traditional energy sources. Energy storage technology is one path to increase the value and reduce the cost of all renewable energy supplies. Concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies have the ability to dispatch electrical output to match peak demand periods by employing thermal energy storage (TES). Energy storage technologies require efficient materials with high energy density. Latent heat TES systems using phase change material (PCM) are useful because of their ability to charge and discharge a large amount of heat from amore » small mass at constant temperature during a phase transformation like melting-solidification. PCM technology relies on the energy absorption/liberation of the latent heat during a physical transformation. The main objective of this report is to provide an assessment of molten salts and metallic alloys proposed as candidate PCMs for TES applications, particularly in solar parabolic trough electrical power plants at a temperature range from 300..deg..C to 500..deg.. C. The physical properties most relevant for PCMs service were reviewed from the candidate selection list. Some of the PCM candidates were characterized for: chemical stability with some container materials; phase change transformation temperatures; and latent heats.« less

Conditioning stimulation techniques for enhancement of transcranially elicited evoked motor responses.

PubMed

Journée, H-L; Polak, H E; De Kleuver, M

2007-12-01

In spite of the use of multipulse, transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) is still insufficient in a subgroup of patients to elicit motor-evoked potentials during intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM). Classic facilitation methods used in awake patients are precluded under general anaesthesia. Conditioning techniques can be used in this situation. To present clinical experimental data and models of motor-neuron (MN) excitability for homonymous and heteronymous conditioning and discuss their applications in IONM. Data were obtained in a prospective study on multipulse TES-conditioning of the monosynaptic H-reflex and double multipulse TES. The principle of facilitation by conditioning stimulation is to apply a test stimulus when motor neurons (MNs) have been made maximally excitable by a conditioning stimulus. Both conditioning and test stimuli recruit separate populations of MNs. The overlapping fraction of MNs controls the efficacy of facilitation. Heteronymous conditioning stimulation, which is performed at a different site from the test stimulus, is illustrated by the TES-conditioned H-reflex (HR). Autonomous conditioning stimulation, which is performed at the same stimulation site, is illustrated by double-train TES (dt-TES). The facilitating curves obtained by conditioning stimulation are often 3-modal and show peaks of facilitation at short intertrain intervals (S-ITIs) of 10ms and between 15 and 20ms and at longer intertrain intervals (L-ITI) of over 100ms. The facilitation curves from HR and dt-TES are not always identical since different alphaMN pools are involved. Dt-TES is often successful in neurologically impaired patients whereas facilitation of the HR can be used when conditioned by TES at subthreshold levels allowing continuous IONM without movement in the surgical field. Alternatively, facilitation by conditioning from peripheral-nerve stimulation can be used for selective transmission of subthreshold TES motor responses to peripheral muscles, permitting motor-monitoring by a so-called selective motor-gating technique. Facilitation techniques offer many possibilities in IONM by enhancing low-amplitude TES-MEP responses. They can also selectively enhance responses in a few muscle groups for the reduction of movement.

Evaluation of camera-based systems to reduce transit bus side collisions : phase II.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-12-01

The sideview camera system has been shown to eliminate blind zones by providing a view to the driver in real time. In : order to provide the best integration of these systems, an integrated camera-mirror system (hybrid system) was : developed and tes...

Development of a TES based Cryo-Anticoincidence for a large array of microcalorimeters

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

Colasanti, L.; Macculi, C.; Piro, L.

2009-12-16

The employment of large arrays of microcalorimeters in space missions (IXO, EDGE/XENIA), requires the presence of an anticoincidence detector to remove the background due to the particles, with a rejection efficiency at least equal to Suzaku (98%). A new concept of anticoincidence is under development to match the very tight thermal requirements and to simplify the design of the electronic chain. The idea is to produce a Cryo-AntiCoincidence (Cryo-AC) based on a silicon absorber and read by a TES (Transition-Edge Sensor). This configuration would ensure very good performances in terms of efficiency, time response and signal to noise ratio. Wemore » present the results of estimations, simulations and preliminary measurement.« less

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Instrument

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thornton, Robert J.; Atacama Cosmology Telescope Team

2010-01-01

The 6-meter Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) is making detailed maps of the Cosmic Microwave Background at Cerro Toco in northern Chile. In this talk, I focus on the design and operation of the telescope and its commissioning instrument, the Millimeter Bolometer Array Camera. The camera contains three independent sets of optics that operate at 148 GHz, 217 GHz, and 277 GHz with arcminute resolution, each of which couples to a 1024-element array of Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers. I will report on the camera performance, including the beam patterns, optical efficiencies, and detector sensitivities. Under development for ACT is a new polarimeter based on feedhorn-coupled TES devices that have improved sensitivity and are planned to operate at 0.1 K.

Semen coagulum liquefaction, sperm activation and cryopreservation of capuchin monkey (Cebus apella) semen in coconut water solution (CWS) and TES-TRIS.

PubMed

Oliveira, Karol G; Miranda, Stefania A; Leão, Danuza L; Brito, Adriel B; Santos, Regiane R; Domingues, Sheyla F S

2011-01-01

The objectives of the present study were to test the effect of coconut water solution and TES-TRIS on the seminal coagulum liquefaction, sperm activation in fresh diluted semen, and on the cryopreservation of semen from capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Semen was collected from six males by electro-ejaculation, diluted in TES-TRIS or coconut water solution (CWS), and incubated at 35°C until the coagulated fraction of the semen was completely liquefied. In the experiment I, after liquefaction, samples were diluted in TES-TRIS or CWS, plus 6 and 10mM/mL of caffeine. Sperm motility and vigor were evaluated during 5h. For experiment II, after liquefaction, semen samples were extended in TES-TRIS (3.5% glycerol in the final solution) or CWS (2.5% glycerol in the final solution), cryopreserved and stored in liquid nitrogen for 1 week. The seminal coagulum was liquefied in (mean±SDM) 4.5±1.7 and 2.8±1.1h in TES-TRIS and CWS, respectively. Sperm were motile in TES-TRIS and CWS for 5.0±1.4 and 1.0±0.5h, respectively. The mean motility in this period was 38±22% (TES-TRIS) and 22.0±16.0 (CWS). Motility increased after caffeine addition only in samples diluted in CWS containing 6mM (22.5±16.0) or 10mM (28.0±19.0) caffeine. Post-thaw live sperm percentage was 26.2% in TES-TRIS and 13.2% in CWS. For cryopreservation of semen from C. apella TES-TRIS (3.5% glycerol) was more appropriate than CWS (2.5% glycerol). CWS+caffeine potentially increase sperm motility and may be useful in artificial insemination of fresh diluted semen. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Transposable Elements Are Major Contributors to the Origin, Diversification, and Regulation of Vertebrate Long Noncoding RNAs

PubMed Central

Kapusta, Aurélie; Zhuo, Xiaoyu; Ramsay, LeeAnn; Bourque, Guillaume; Yandell, Mark; Feschotte, Cédric

2013-01-01

Advances in vertebrate genomics have uncovered thousands of loci encoding long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). While progress has been made in elucidating the regulatory functions of lncRNAs, little is known about their origins and evolution. Here we explore the contribution of transposable elements (TEs) to the makeup and regulation of lncRNAs in human, mouse, and zebrafish. Surprisingly, TEs occur in more than two thirds of mature lncRNA transcripts and account for a substantial portion of total lncRNA sequence (∼30% in human), whereas they seldom occur in protein-coding transcripts. While TEs contribute less to lncRNA exons than expected, several TE families are strongly enriched in lncRNAs. There is also substantial interspecific variation in the coverage and types of TEs embedded in lncRNAs, partially reflecting differences in the TE landscapes of the genomes surveyed. In human, TE sequences in lncRNAs evolve under greater evolutionary constraint than their non–TE sequences, than their intronic TEs, or than random DNA. Consistent with functional constraint, we found that TEs contribute signals essential for the biogenesis of many lncRNAs, including ∼30,000 unique sites for transcription initiation, splicing, or polyadenylation in human. In addition, we identified ∼35,000 TEs marked as open chromatin located within 10 kb upstream of lncRNA genes. The density of these marks in one cell type correlate with elevated expression of the downstream lncRNA in the same cell type, suggesting that these TEs contribute to cis-regulation. These global trends are recapitulated in several lncRNAs with established functions. Finally a subset of TEs embedded in lncRNAs are subject to RNA editing and predicted to form secondary structures likely important for function. In conclusion, TEs are nearly ubiquitous in lncRNAs and have played an important role in the lineage-specific diversification of vertebrate lncRNA repertoires. PMID:23637635

OY-TES-1 may regulate the malignant behavior of liver cancer via NANOG, CD9, CCND2 and CDCA3: a bioinformatic analysis combine with RNAi and oligonucleotide microarray.

PubMed

Hu, Qiping; Fu, Jun; Luo, Bin; Huang, Miao; Guo, Wenwen; Lin, Yongda; Xie, Xiaoxun; Xiao, Shaowen

2015-04-01

Given its tumor-specific expression, including liver cancer, OY-TES-1 is a potential molecular marker for the diagnosis and immunotherapy of liver cancers. However, investigations of the mechanisms and the role of OY-TES-1 in liver cancer are rare. In the present study, based on a comprehensive bioinformatic analysis combined with RNA interference (RNAi) and oligonucleotide microarray, we report for the first time that downregulation of OY-TES-1 resulted in significant changes in expression of NANOG, CD9, CCND2 and CDCA3 in the liver cancer cell line BEL-7404. NANOG, CD9, CCND2 and CDCA3 may be involved in cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis, yet also may be functionally related to each other and OY-TES-1. Among these molecules, we identified that NANOG, containing a Kazal-2 binding motif and homeobox, may be the most likely candidate protein interacting with OY-TES-1 in liver cancer. Thus, the present study may provide important information for further investigation of the roles of OY-TES-1 in liver cancer.

Using quantitative PCR with retrotransposon-based insertion polymorphisms as markers in sugarcane

PubMed Central

Metcalfe, Cushla J.; Oliveira, Sarah G.; Gaiarsa, Jonas W.; Aitken, Karen S.; Carneiro, Monalisa S.; Zatti, Fernanda; Van Sluys, Marie-Anne

2015-01-01

Sugarcane is the main source of the world’s sugar and is becoming increasingly important as a source of biofuel. The highly polyploid and heterozygous nature of the sugarcane genome has meant that characterization of the genome has lagged behind that of other important crops. Here we developed a method using a combination of quantitative PCR with a transposable marker system to score the relative number of alleles with a transposable element (TE) present at a particular locus. We screened two genera closely related to Saccharum (Miscanthus and Erianthus), wild Saccharum, traditional cultivars, and 127 modern cultivars from Brazilian and Australian breeding programmes. We showed how this method could be used in various ways. First, we showed that the method could be extended to be used as part of a genotyping system. Secondly, the history of insertion and timing of the three TEs examined supports our current understanding of the evolution of the Saccharum complex. Thirdly, all three TEs were found in only one of the two main lineages leading to the modern sugarcane cultivars and are therefore the first TEs identified that could potentially be used as markers for Saccharum spontaneum. PMID:26093024

A Dry-Etch Process for Low Temperature Superconducting Transition Edge Sensors for Far Infrared Bolometer Arrays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allen, Christine A.; Chervenak, James A.; Hsieh, Wen-Ting; McClanahan, Richard A.; Miller, Timothy M.; Mitchell, Robert; Moseley, S. Harvey; Staguhn, Johannes; Stevenson, Thomas R.

2003-01-01

The next generation of ultra-low power bolometer arrays, with applications in far infrared imaging, spectroscopy and polarimetry, utilizes a superconducting bilayer as the sensing element to enable SQUID multiplexed readout. Superconducting transition edge sensors (TES s) are being produced with dual metal systems of superconductinghormal bilayers. The transition temperature (Tc) is tuned by altering the relative thickness of the superconductor with respect to the normal layer. We are currently investigating MoAu and MoCu bilayers. We have developed a dry-etching process for MoAu TES s with integrated molybdenum leads, and are working on adapting the process to MoCu. Dry etching has the advantage over wet etching in the MoAu system in that one can achieve a high degree of selectivity, greater than 10, using argon ME, or argon ion milling, for patterning gold on molybdenum. Molybdenum leads are subsequently patterned using fluorine plasma.. The dry-etch technique results in a smooth, featureless TES with sharp sidewalls, no undercutting of the Mo beneath the normal metal, and Mo leads with high critical current. The effects of individual processing parameters on the characteristics of the transition will be reported.

Early Results from the Odyssey THEMIS Investigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Christensen, Philip R.; Bandfield, Joshua L.; Bell, James F., III; Hamilton, Victoria E.; Ivanov, Anton; Jakosky, Bruce M.; Kieffer, Hugh H.; Lane, Melissa D.; Malin, Michael C.; McConnochie, Timothy

2003-01-01

The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) began studying the surface and atmosphere of Mars in February, 2002 using thermal infrared (IR) multi-spectral imaging between 6.5 and 15 m, and visible/near-IR images from 450 to 850 nm. The infrared observations continue a long series of spacecraft observations of Mars, including the Mariner 6/7 Infrared Spectrometer, the Mariner 9 Infrared Interferometer Spectrometer (IRIS), the Viking Infrared Thermal Mapper (IRTM) investigations, the Phobos Termoscan, and the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (MGS TES). The THEMIS investigation's specific objectives are to: (1) determine the mineralogy of localized deposits associated with hydrothermal or sub-aqueous environments, and to identify future landing sites likely to represent these environments; (2) search for thermal anomalies associated with active sub-surface hydrothermal systems; (3) study small-scale geologic processes and landing site characteristics using morphologic and thermophysical properties; (4) investigate polar cap processes at all seasons; and (5) provide a high spatial resolution link to the global hyperspectral mineral mapping from the TES investigation. THEMIS provides substantially higher spatial resolution IR multi-spectral images to complement TES hyperspectral (143-band) global mapping, and regional visible imaging at scales intermediate between the Viking and MGS cameras.

The emergence of a temporally extended self and factors that contribute to its development: from theoretical and empirical perspectives.

PubMed

2013-04-01

The main aims of the current research were to determine when children develop a temporally extended self (TES) and what factors contribute to its development. However, in order to address these aims it was important to, first, assess whether the test of delayed self-recognition (DSR) is a valid measure for the development of the TES, and, second, to propose and evaluate a theoretical model that describes what factors influence the development of the TES. The validity of the DSR test was verified by comparing the performance of 57 children on the DSR test to their performance on a meta-representational task (modified false belief task) and to a task that was essentially the same as the DSR test but was specifically designed to rely on the capacity to entertain secondary representations (i.e., surprise body task). Longitudinal testing of the children showed that at the mental age (MA) of 2.5 years they failed the DSR test, despite training them to understand the intended functions of the medium used in the DSR test; whereas, with training, children at the MA of 3.0 and 3.5 years exhibited DSR. Children at the MA of 4 years exhibited DSR without any training. Finally, results suggest that children's meta-representational ability was the only factor that contributed to the prediction of successful performance on the DSR test, and thus to the emergence of the TES. Furthermore, prospective longitudinal data revealed that caregiver conversational style was the only factor that contributed to the prediction of level of training required to pass the DSR test. That is, children of low-elaborative caregivers required significantly more training to pass the DSR test than children of high-elaborative caregivers, indicating that children who received more elaborative conversational input from their caregivers had a more advanced understanding of their TES. © 2013 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Bacillus onubensis sp. nov., isolated from the air of two Andalusian caves.

PubMed

Dominguez-Moñino, Irene; Jurado, Valme; Gonzalez-Pimentel, Jose L; Miller, Ana Zelia; Hermosin, Bernardo; Saiz-Jimenez, Cesareo

2018-05-01

Two Gram-positive, catalase-positive, oxidase-negative, motile, endospore-forming, rod-shaped bacteria, designated as 0911MAR22V3T and 0911TES10J4, were isolated from air samples collected in two show caves, located in Andalusia, Southern Spain. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that both strains were indistinguishable and they were most closely related to Bacillus humi DSM 16318T (98%). DNA-DNA hybridization values of the strain 0911MAR22V3T with respect to strain 0911TES10J4 and B. humi DSM 16318T were 76.8% (73.9%, reciprocal) and 56.9% (63.3%, reciprocal analysis), respectively. Whole genome average nucleotide identity (ANI) values of both strains were in the threshold value for species delineation and less than 85% with B. humi. Strains 0911MAR22V3T and 0911TES10J4 grew at 10-47°C (optimum 37°C), at pH 6-9.5 and with 0-8% (w/v) NaCl (optimum 1%). In both strains the dominant isoprenoid quinone was MK-7, the major cellular polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, and two more phospholipids, the predominant fatty acids were iso-C15:0 and anteiso-C15:0 and the DNA G+C content was 38mol%. On the basis of their phylogenetic relatedness and their phenotypic and genotypic features, the strains 0911MAR22V3T and 0911TES10J4 should be attributed to a novel species within the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus onubensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 0911MAR22V3T (=LMG 27963T=CECT 8479T); and strain 0911TES10J4 (CECT 8478) is a reference strain. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

A feasibility study on solar utility total energy system /SUTES/

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bilgen, E.

1980-11-01

A fully dedicated central receiver solar utility (CRSU) designed to meet domestic energy requirements for space heating and hot water has been synthesized and assessed at the conceptual level. The solar utility total energy system (SUTES) integrates (1) a central receiver solar utility (CRSU), (2) an electrical power generating system (EPGS), (3) a hydrogen production plant (HPP), (4) a water chilling system for cooling, heat pump system (HPS), (5) necessary thermal energy storage systems (TES), (6) a district heating and cooling system (DH&CS). All subsystems are close-coupled. Using consistent costing bases, it has been found that the SUTES concept provides energy costs which are lower than those provided by a CRSU. Representative costs are $3.14/GJ versus $8.56/GJ for 10 percent recovery factor and $12.55/GJ versus $13.47/GJ for 17.5 percent recovery factor.

Thermal energy storage flight experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Namkoong, D.

1989-01-01

Consideration is given to the development of an experimental program to study heat transfer, energy storage, fluid movement, and void location under microgravity. Plans for experimental flight packages containing Thermal Energy Storage (TES) material applicable for advanced solar heat receivers are discussed. Candidate materials for TES include fluoride salts, salt eutectics, silicides, and metals. The development of a three-dimensional computer program to describe TES material behavior undergoing melting and freezing under microgravity is also discussed. The TES experiment concept and plans for ground and flight tests are outlined.

The EOS AURA Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES): Status of the Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beer, Reinhard

2005-01-01

This slide presentation is a programmatic overview covering some of the highlights of the mission and serve as an introduction to the accompanying presentations at the workshop. It reviews the goals and the products of the TES experiment, a simplified chemistry of ozone in both the stratosphere and troposphere, a description of the instrument, and the TES operational modes. Included are graphs showing some of the results of TES analysis of the key constituents of the tropospheric chemistry and the inter-regional transport.

[Evaluation of the role of combined TES-MEP and CSEP monitoring during the spinal surgery].

PubMed

Chen, Yu-guang; Peng, Xin-sheng; Wan, Yong; Yang, Jun-lin; Zheng, Zhao-min; Zou, Xue-nong; Li, Fo-bao; Shu, Hai-hua; Xia, Jie-hua; Dou, Yun-ling

2010-02-01

To evaluate of the role of transcranial electrical stimulation motor evoked potential (TES-MEP) in combination with cortical somatosensory evoked potential (CSEP) monitoring during the spinal surgery. TES-MEP on bilateral anterior tibial muscle and flexor hallucal brevis and CSEP on bilateral posterior tibial nerve were observed simultaneously on 293 patients during spinal surgery from July 2006 to April 2009. Intravenous anesthesia was employed in all the patients, a part of which were added low dose of sevoflurane or muscle relaxant. The results of TES-MEP, CSEP and combined monitoring were analyzed statistically. Pre-operative and post-operative motor and sensory functions of spinal cord were compared. Success rate of TES-MEP, CSEP and combined monitoring was 90.8%, 96.9% and 100% respectively. For the judgment of motor function of spinal cord, the sensitivity of TES-MEP and CSEP was 100% and 89.3% respectively and the specificity of 98.4% and 96.9%. The Youden index of the two methods was 0.984 and 0.862. For sensory function, the sensitivity of them was 76.7% and 93.3% respectively and the specificity of 98.7% and 98.0%. The Youden index was 0.754 and 0.913. The sensitivity of combined monitoring was 100%, with the specificity of 96.9%. The Youden index was 0.969. The precision of monitoring motor function of spinal cord with TES-MEP is higher than that with CSEP, however, for sensory function, CSEP is more precise. The sensitivity and precision of combined monitoring for spinal cord function were apparently better than that of unitary TES-MEP or CSEP. The combined TES-MEP and CSEP monitoring is a relatively ideal method.

Enhanced transdermal delivery of sex hormones in swine with a novel topical aerosol.

PubMed

Morgan, T M; Parr, R A; Reed, B L; Finnin, B C

1998-10-01

This study investigated the enhanced transdermal delivery of testosterone (Tes) and estradiol (E2) in swine in vivo with novel metered-dose topical aerosols containing the penetration enhancer padimate O (PadO) and predicted the dose deliverable in humans from the calculated drug flux across the skin. Weanling swine were catheterized and castrated under general anaesthesia and used as a conscious hypogonadal model. Tes and E2 (with and without PadO) were applied once, and venous blood samples were taken over 24 h. Tes and E2 plasma levels were determined by radioimmunoassay. After daily topical dosing of Tes for 6 days, the plasma Tes levels were determined and the transdermal flux was calculated by correcting the pseudo steady-state plasma concentration versus time profile with the clearance of an iv dose within the same swine. After a single application of the E2 aerosol over 30 cm2, or the Tes aerosol over 180 cm2, the mean AUC0-24 h when PadO was included in the spray was 14.1- and 2.0-fold greater than control, respectively (p < 0.03). After the sixth application of the Tes spray with PadO, the mean flux (+/-SE, n = 4) across swine skin in vivo was 2.12 +/- 0.35 microg/cm2.h, which gave a predicted flux in humans of 0.95 microg/cm2.h. From these data the expected plasma levels of Tes in hypogonadal men would compare well with the normal diurnal Tes profile in healthy men. These novel topical aerosols are capable of enhanced transdermal delivery of sex hormones in vivo, and they have the potential to deliver clinically relevant doses to humans.

Testosterone-induced relaxation of coronary arteries: activation of BKCa channels via the cGMP-dependent protein kinase

PubMed Central

Deenadayalu, Viju; Puttabyatappa, Yashoda; Liu, Alexander T.; Stallone, John N.

2012-01-01

Androgens are reported to have both beneficial and detrimental effects on human cardiovascular health. The aim of this study was to characterize nongenomic signaling mechanisms in coronary artery smooth muscle (CASM) and define the ionic basis of testosterone (TES) action. TES-induced relaxation of endothelium-denuded porcine coronary arteries was nearly abolished by 20 nM iberiotoxin, a highly specific inhibitor of large-conductance, calcium-activated potassium (BKCa) channels. Molecular patch-clamp studies confirmed that nanomolar concentrations of TES stimulated BKCa channel activity by ∼100-fold and that inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity by NG-monomethyl-l-arginine nearly abolished this effect. Inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis or guanylyl cyclase activity also attenuated TES-induced coronary artery relaxation but did not alter relaxation due to 8-bromo-cGMP. Furthermore, we detected TES-stimulated NO production in porcine coronary arteries and in human CASM cells via stimulation of the type 1 neuronal NOS isoform. Inhibition of the cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) attenuated TES-stimulated BKCa channel activity, and direct assay determined that TES increased activity of PKG in a concentration-dependent fashion. Last, the stimulatory effect of TES on BKCa channel activity was mimicked by addition of purified PKG to the cytoplasmic surface of a cell-free membrane patch from CASM myocytes (∼100-fold increase). These findings indicate that TES-induced relaxation of endothelium-denuded coronary arteries is mediated, at least in part, by enhanced NO production, leading to cGMP synthesis and PKG activation, which, in turn, opens BKCa channels. These findings provide a molecular mechanism that could help explain why androgens have been reported to relax coronary arteries and relieve angina pectoris. PMID:22081702

A wearable neuro-feedback system with EEG-based mental status monitoring and transcranial electrical stimulation.

PubMed

Roh, Taehwan; Song, Kiseok; Cho, Hyunwoo; Shin, Dongjoo; Yoo, Hoi-Jun

2014-12-01

A wearable neuro-feedback system is proposed with a low-power neuro-feedback SoC (NFS), which supports mental status monitoring with encephalography (EEG) and transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) for neuro-modulation. Self-configured independent component analysis (ICA) is implemented to accelerate source separation at low power. Moreover, an embedded support vector machine (SVM) enables online source classification, configuring the ICA accelerator adaptively depending on the types of the decomposed components. Owing to the hardwired accelerating functions, the NFS dissipates only 4.45 mW to yield 16 independent components. For non-invasive neuro-modulation, tES stimulation up to 2 mA is implemented on the SoC. The NFS is fabricated in 130-nm CMOS technology.

Temperatures and aerosol opacities of the Mars atmosphere at aphelion: Validation and inter-comparison of limb sounding profiles from MRO/MCS and MGS/TES

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shirley, James H.; McConnochie, Timothy H.; Kass, David M.; Kleinböhl, Armin; Schofield, John T.; Heavens, Nicholas G.; McCleese, Daniel J.; Benson, Jennifer; Hinson, David P.; Bandfield, Joshua L.

2015-05-01

We exploit the relative stability and repeatability of the Mars atmosphere at aphelion for an inter-comparison of Mars Global Surveyor/Thermal Emission Spectrometer (MGS/TES) and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter/Mars Climate Sounder (MRO/MCS) nighttime temperature profiles and aerosol opacity profiles in Mars years 25, 26, 29, 30, and 31. Cross-calibration of these datasets is important, as they together provide an extended climatology for this planetary atmosphere. As a standard of comparison we employ temperature profiles obtained by radio occultation methods during the MGS mission in Mars years 24, 25, and 26. We first compare both zonal mean TES limb sounding profiles and zonal mean MCS limb sounding profiles with zonal means of radio occultation temperature profiles for the same season (Ls = 70-80°) and latitudes (55-70°N). We employ a statistical z test for quantifying the degree of agreement of temperature profiles by pressure level. For pressures less than 610 Pa (altitudes > 3 km), the ensemble mean temperature difference between the radio occultation and TES limb sounding profiles found in these comparisons was 1.7 ± 0.7 K. The ensemble mean temperature difference between radio occultation and MCS profiles was 1.4 ± 1.0 K. These differences fall within the formal error estimates for both TES and MCS, validating the accuracy of the instruments and their respective retrieval algorithms. In the second phase of our investigation, we compare aphelion season zonal mean TES limb sounding temperature, water ice opacity, and dust opacity profiles with those obtained at the same latitudes in different years by MCS. The ensemble mean temperature difference found for three comparisons between TES and MCS zonal mean temperature profiles was 2.8 ± 2.1 K. MCS and TES temperatures between 610 Pa and 5 Pa from 55 to 70°N are largely in agreement (with differences < 2 K) when water ice aerosol opacities are comparable. Temperature differences increase when the opacities are dissimilar; TES profiles exhibit colder temperatures when TES water ice opacities are greater than those observed by MCS. Our comparisons reveal a possible systematic offset of TES and MCS temperatures at the highest altitudes resolved in the TES retrievals; TES temperatures are consistently colder than the corresponding MCS temperatures at pressures ⩽ 1 Pa (altitudes ⩾ 58 km). We otherwise find no evidence of systematic bias between TES limb sounding and MCS retrieved atmospheric quantities between 610 Pa and 1 Pa. Inter-annual variability is noted in comparisons of latitudinal temperature gradients from 55 to 70°N, in the amplitude of inversions linked with thermal tides in the middle atmosphere, and in the abundance and vertical distribution of water ice aerosols from 55 to 70°N during the aphelion season.

The impact of transposable elements in environmental adaptation.

PubMed

Casacuberta, Elena; González, Josefa

2013-03-01

Transposable elements (TEs) play an important role in the responsive capacity of their hosts in the face of environmental challenges. The variety of mechanisms by which TEs influence the capacity of adaptation of the host is as large as the variety of TEs and host genomes. For example, TEs might directly affect the function of individual genes, provide a mechanism for rapidly acquiring new genetic material and disseminate regulatory elements that can lead to the creation of stress-inducible regulatory networks. In this review, we summarize recent examples that are part of an increasing body of evidence suggesting a significant role of TEs in the host response to an ever-changing environment, both in prokaryote and in eukaryote organisms. We argue that in the near future, the increasing availability of genome sequences and the development of new tools to discover and analyse TE insertions will further show the relevant role of TEs in environmental adaptation. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Comparison of the Effects of Magnetic Field on Low Noise MoAu and TiAu TES Bolometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hijmering, R. A.; Khosropanah, P.; Ridder, M.; Gao, J. R.; Hoevers, H.; Jackson, B.; Goldie, D.; Withington, S.; Kozorezov, A. G.

2014-08-01

Recently we have reported on the effects of magnetic field on our low noise (NEP = 4 W/Hz) [1] TiAu TES bolometers that are being developed at SRON for the SAFARI FIR Imaging Spectrometer on SPICA telescope that will be operated in three different wavelength bands: S-band for 30-60 , M-band for 60-110 and L-band for 110-210 . The arrays for the S- and M- band will be based on TiAu TES bolometer arrays, developed by SRON. The L-band array will be based on a MoAu TES bolometer developed by University of Cambridge. We have investigated the effect of the magnetic field on the current, responsivity, speed and critical current for both the TiAu and MoAu TES bolometers in our high accuracy magnetic field set-up. A clear difference in weak link behavior is observed between the two types of TES bolometers in both strength of the effect and period of the oscillations.

Transcranial electric stimulation (tES) and NeuroImaging: the state-of-the-art, new insights and prospects in basic and clinical neuroscience.

PubMed

Soekadar, Surjo R; Herring, Jim Don; McGonigle, David

2016-10-15

Transcranial electric stimulation (tES) of the brain has attracted an increased interest in recent years. Yet, despite remarkable research efforts to date, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of tES' effects are still incompletely understood. This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the state-of-the-art in studies combining tES and neuroimaging, while introducing most recent insights and outlining future prospects related to this new and rapidly growing field. The findings reported here combine methodological advancements with insights into the underlying mechanisms of tES itself. At the same time, they also point to the many caveats and specific challenges associated with such studies, which can arise from both technical and biological sources. Besides promising to advance basic neuroscience, combined tES and neuroimaging studies may also substantially change previous conceptions about the methods of action of electric or magnetic stimulation on the brain. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Evaluate the Motor Pathways After an Intraoperative Spinal Cord Injury and to Predict the Recovery of Intraoperative Transcranial Electrical Motor Evoked Potentials: A Case Report.

PubMed

Grover, Helen J; Thornton, Rachel; Lutchman, Lennel N; Blake, Julian C

2016-06-01

The authors report a case of unilateral loss of intraoperative transcranial electrical motor evoked potentials (TES MEP) associated with a spinal cord injury during scoliosis correction and the subsequent use of extraoperative transcranial magnetic stimulation to monitor the recovery of spinal cord function. The authors demonstrate the absence of TES MEPs and absent transcranial magnetic stimulation responses in the immediate postoperative period, and document the partial recovery of transcranial magnetic stimulation responses, which corresponded to partial recovery of TES MEPs. Intraoperative TES MEPs were enhanced using spatial facilitation technique, which enabled the patient to undergo further surgery to stabilize the spine and correct her scoliosis. This case report supports evidence of the use of extraoperative transcranial magnetic stimulation to predict the presence of intraoperative TES responses and demonstrates the usefulness of spatial facilitation to monitor TES MEPs in a patient with a preexisting spinal cord injury.

The role of protein plasticity in computational rationalization studies on regioselectivity in testosterone hydroxylation by cytochrome P450 BM3 mutants.

PubMed

de Beer, Stephanie B A; van Bergen, Laura A H; Keijzer, Karlijn; Rea, Vanina; Venkataraman, Harini; Guerra, Celia Fonseca; Bickelhaupt, F Matthias; Vermeulen, Nico P E; Commandeur, Jan N M; Geerke, Daan P

2012-02-01

Recently, it was found that mutations in the binding cavity of drug-metabolizing Cytochrome P450 BM3 mutants can result in major changes in regioselectivity in testosterone (TES) hydroxylation. In the current work, we report the intrinsic reactivity of TES' C-H bonds and our attempts to rationalize experimentally observed changes in TES hydroxylation using a protein structure-based in silico approach, by setting up and employing a combined Molecular Dynamics (MD) and ligand docking approach to account for the flexibility and plasticity of BM3 mutants. Using this approach, about 100,000 TES binding poses were obtained per mutant. The predicted regioselectivity in TES hydroxylation by the mutants was found to be in disagreement with experiment. As revealed in a detailed structural analysis of the obtained docking poses, this disagreement is due to limitations in correctly scoring hydrogen-bonding and steric interactions with specific active-site residues, which could explain the experimentally observed trends in regioselectivity in TES hydroxylation.

Selection of high temperature thermal energy storage materials for advanced solar dynamic space power systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lacy, Dovie E.; Coles-Hamilton, Carolyn; Juhasz, Albert

1987-01-01

Under the direction of NASA's Office of Aeronautics and Technology (OAST), the NASA Lewis Research Center has initiated an in-house thermal energy storage program to identify combinations of phase change thermal energy storage media for use with a Brayton and Stirling Advanced Solar Dynamic (ASD) space power system operating between 1070 and 1400 K. A study has been initiated to determine suitable combinations of thermal energy storage (TES) phase change materials (PCM) that result in the smallest and lightest weight ASD power system possible. To date the heats of fusion of several fluoride salt mixtures with melting points greater than 1025 K have been verified experimentally. The study has indicated that these salt systems produce large ASD systems because of their inherent low thermal conductivity and low density. It is desirable to have PCMs with high densities and high thermal conductivities. Therefore, alternate phase change materials based on metallic alloy systems are also being considered as possible TES candidates for future ASD space power systems.

Hematite-Rich Deposits in Capri Chasma

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-12-14

Capri Chasma is located in the eastern portion of the Valles Marineris canyon system, the largest known canyon system in the Solar System. Deeply incised canyons such as this are excellent targets for studying the Martian crust, as the walls may reveal many distinct types of bedrock. This section of the canyon was targeted by HiRISE based on a previous spectral detection of hematite-rich deposits in the area. Hematite, a common iron-oxide mineral, was first identified here by the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES). In this TES image, red pixels indicate higher abundances of hematite, while the blue and green pixels represent different types of volcanic rocks (e.g., basalt). Hematite in the Meridiani Planum region was also detected with the TES instrument (which we can see with the bright red spot on the Global TES mineral map). As a consequence, Meridiani Planum was the first landing site selected on Mars due to the spectral detection of a mineral that may have formed in the presence of liquid water. Shortly after landing, the Opportunity rover detected the presence of hematite in the form of concretions called "blueberries." The blueberries are found in association with layers of sulfate salt-rich rocks. The salts are hypothesized to have formed through the raising and lowering of the groundwater table. During one such an event, the rock altered to form the hematite-rich blueberries. As the rock was eroded away, the more resistant hematite-rich blueberries were plucked out and concentrated on the plains as a "lag" deposit. Martian blueberries are observed to be scattered across the plains of Meridiani along Opportunity's traverse from Eagle Crater to Endeavor Crater, where Opportunity continues to explore after its mission began over 10 years ago. This infrared-color image close-up highlights what is possibly the hematite-rich deposits nestled between different types of bedrock terraces in Capri Chasma. The bluish terrace is likely volcanic in origin, possibly basaltic, whereas the greenish rocks remain unidentified. The central reddish terrace is possibly where some of the hematite may be concentrated. The higher elevation terrace with the lighter-colored materials is likely a sulfate-rich rock (based on CRISM data in the area). Given the presence of both sulfate salts and hematite in this area, akin to the deposits and associations explored by the Opportunity rover in Meridiani Planum, it might be that these materials in Capri Chasma may share a similar origin. The yellow rectangular box shown on the TES spectral map outlines the corresponding location of the HiRISE image. Although the outline does not appear to contain a high hematite abundance, we note that the lower resolution of TES (about 3 to 6 kilometers per pixel) may exclude smaller exposures and finer sub-pixel details not-yet captured, but could be with HiRISE. A follow-up observation by the CRISM spectrometer may reveal additional details and a spectral signature for hematite in the vicinity at a finer resolution than TES. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21274

Optical performance of prototype horn-coupled TES bolometer arrays for SAFARI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Audley, Michael D.; de Lange, Gert; Gao, Jian-Rong; Khosropanah, Pourya; Hijmering, Richard; Ridder, Marcel L.

2016-07-01

The SAFARI Detector Test Facility is an ultra-low background optical testbed for characterizing ultra-sensitive prototype horn-coupled TES bolmeters for SAFARI, the grating spectrometer on board the proposed SPICA satellite. The testbed contains internal cold and hot black-body illuminators and a light-pipe for illumination with an external source. We have added reimaging optics to facilitate array optical measurements. The system is now being used for optical testing of prototype detector arrays read out with frequency-domain multiplexing. We present our latest optical measurements of prototype arrays and discuss these in terms of the instrument performance.

Standoff passive video imaging at 350 GHz with 251 superconducting detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becker, Daniel; Gentry, Cale; Smirnov, Ilya; Ade, Peter; Beall, James; Cho, Hsiao-Mei; Dicker, Simon; Duncan, William; Halpern, Mark; Hilton, Gene; Irwin, Kent; Li, Dale; Paulter, Nicholas; Reintsema, Carl; Schwall, Robert; Tucker, Carole

2014-06-01

Millimeter wavelength radiation holds promise for detection of security threats at a distance, including suicide bomb belts and maritime threats in poor weather. The high sensitivity of superconducting Transition Edge Sensor (TES) detectors makes them ideal for passive imaging of thermal signals at these wavelengths. We have built a 350 GHz video-rate imaging system using a large-format array of feedhorn-coupled TES bolometers. The system operates at a standoff distance of 16m to 28m with a spatial resolution of 1:4 cm (at 17m). It currently contains one 251-detector subarray, and will be expanded to contain four subarrays for a total of 1004 detectors. The system has been used to take video images which reveal the presence of weapons concealed beneath a shirt in an indoor setting. We present a summary of this work.

Silencing of TESTIN by dense biallelic promoter methylation is the most common molecular event in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Aberrant promoter DNA methylation has been reported in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and has the potential to contribute to its onset and outcome. However, few reports demonstrate consistent, prevalent and dense promoter methylation, associated with tumour-specific gene silencing. By screening candidate genes, we have detected frequent and dense methylation of the TESTIN (TES) promoter. Results Bisulfite sequencing showed that 100% of the ALL samples (n = 20) were methylated at the TES promoter, whereas the matched remission (n = 5), normal bone marrow (n = 6) and normal PBL (n = 5) samples were unmethylated. Expression of TES in hyperdiploid, TEL-AML+, BCR-ABL+, and E2A-PBX+ subtypes of B lineage ALL was markedly reduced compared to that in normal bone marrow progenitor cells and in B cells. In addition TES methylation and silencing was demonstrated in nine out of ten independent B ALL propagated as xenografts in NOD/SCID mice. Conclusion In total, 93% of B ALL samples (93 of 100) demonstrated methylation with silencing or reduced expression of the TES gene. Thus, TES is the most frequently methylated and silenced gene yet reported in ALL. TES, a LIM domain-containing tumour suppressor gene and component of the focal adhesion complex, is involved in adhesion, motility, cell-to-cell interactions and cell signalling. Our data implicate TES methylation in ALL and provide additional evidence for the involvement of LIM domain proteins in leukaemogenesis. PMID:20573277

The role of transposable elements in the evolution of non-mammalian vertebrates and invertebrates

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Transposable elements (TEs) have played an important role in the diversification and enrichment of mammalian transcriptomes through various mechanisms such as exonization and intronization (the birth of new exons/introns from previously intronic/exonic sequences, respectively), and insertion into first and last exons. However, no extensive analysis has compared the effects of TEs on the transcriptomes of mammals, non-mammalian vertebrates and invertebrates. Results We analyzed the influence of TEs on the transcriptomes of five species, three invertebrates and two non-mammalian vertebrates. Compared to previously analyzed mammals, there were lower levels of TE introduction into introns, significantly lower numbers of exonizations originating from TEs and a lower percentage of TE insertion within the first and last exons. Although the transcriptomes of vertebrates exhibit significant levels of exonization of TEs, only anecdotal cases were found in invertebrates. In vertebrates, as in mammals, the exonized TEs are mostly alternatively spliced, indicating that selective pressure maintains the original mRNA product generated from such genes. Conclusions Exonization of TEs is widespread in mammals, less so in non-mammalian vertebrates, and very low in invertebrates. We assume that the exonization process depends on the length of introns. Vertebrates, unlike invertebrates, are characterized by long introns and short internal exons. Our results suggest that there is a direct link between the length of introns and exonization of TEs and that this process became more prevalent following the appearance of mammals. PMID:20525173

Performance test of Ti/Au bilayer TES microcalorimeter in combination with continuous ADR

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

Ishisaki, Y.; Akamatsu, H.; Hoshino, A.

2009-12-16

Performance test of a Ti/Au bilayer TES microcalorimeter has been made in combination with a continuous adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (CADR). The CADR has four stages of ADR to produce continuous cooling by recycling them in dedicated order, and is cryogen-free utilizing a 4K-GM refrigerator. We installed a Ti/Au bilayer TES microcalorimeter and 420-series SQUID array to readout the X-ray signal on the 1st (coldest) stage of the CADR. We successfully operated the CADR at temperature of 120 mK in continuous mode more than 27 hr, however, FWHM energy resolution of the TES microcalorimeter was degraded to 45 eV at 6more » keV, as compared to 10 eV when measured in a dilution refrigerator. This is mainly because the temperature stability was not good enough (about 0.6 mK) and the operation temperature was not sufficiently lower than the transition temperature T{sub c} = 135mK of the TES. We operated the TES microcalorimeter at the operation temperature of 105 mK in one-shot mode and the resolution was improved to 30 eV. We also found that the operating point of the TES was affected by the magnetic field of the 3rd and 4th ADR recycle. More complete shielding of the magnetic field is essential for further improvement of the performance of the TES microcalorimeter.« less

The Role of Small RNA-Based Epigenetic Silencing for Purifying Selection on Transposable Elements in Capsella grandiflora

PubMed Central

Horvath, Robert

2017-01-01

Abstract To avoid negative effects of transposable element (TE) proliferation, plants epigenetically silence TEs using a number of mechanisms, including RNA-directed DNA methylation. These epigenetic modifications can extend outside the boundaries of TE insertions and lead to silencing of nearby genes, resulting in a trade-off between TE silencing and interference with nearby gene regulation. Therefore, purifying selection is expected to remove silenced TE insertions near genes more efficiently and prevent their accumulation within a population. To explore how effects of TE silencing on gene regulation shapes purifying selection on TEs, we analyzed whole genome sequencing data from 166 individuals of a large population of the outcrossing species Capsella grandiflora. We found that most TEs are rare, and in chromosome arms, silenced TEs are exposed to stronger purifying selection than those that are not silenced by 24-nucleotide small RNAs, especially with increasing proximity to genes. An age-of-allele test of neutrality on a subset of TEs supports our inference of purifying selection on silenced TEs, suggesting that our results are robust to varying transposition rates. Our results provide new insights into the processes affecting the accumulation of TEs in an outcrossing species and support the view that epigenetic silencing of TEs results in a trade-off between preventing TE proliferation and interference with nearby gene regulation. We also suggest that in the centromeric and pericentromeric regions, the negative aspects of epigenetic TE silencing are missing. PMID:29036316

Clinician accessible tools for GUI computational models of transcranial electrical stimulation: BONSAI and SPHERES.

PubMed

Truong, Dennis Q; Hüber, Mathias; Xie, Xihe; Datta, Abhishek; Rahman, Asif; Parra, Lucas C; Dmochowski, Jacek P; Bikson, Marom

2014-01-01

Computational models of brain current flow during transcranial electrical stimulation (tES), including transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), are increasingly used to understand and optimize clinical trials. We propose that broad dissemination requires a simple graphical user interface (GUI) software that allows users to explore and design montages in real-time, based on their own clinical/experimental experience and objectives. We introduce two complimentary open-source platforms for this purpose: BONSAI and SPHERES. BONSAI is a web (cloud) based application (available at neuralengr.com/bonsai) that can be accessed through any flash-supported browser interface. SPHERES (available at neuralengr.com/spheres) is a stand-alone GUI application that allow consideration of arbitrary montages on a concentric sphere model by leveraging an analytical solution. These open-source tES modeling platforms are designed go be upgraded and enhanced. Trade-offs between open-access approaches that balance ease of access, speed, and flexibility are discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Corrosion of Highly Specular Vapor Deposited Aluminum (VDA) on Earthshade Door Sandwich Structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Plaskon, Daniel; Hsieh, Cheng

2003-01-01

High-resolution infrared (IR) imaging requires spacecraft instrument design that is tightly coupled with overall thermal control design. The JPL Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) instrument measures the 3-dimensional distribution of ozone and its precursors in the lower atmosphere on a global scale. The TES earthshade must protect the 180-K radiator and the 230-K radiator from the Earth IR and albedo. Requirements for specularity, emissivity, and solar absorptance of inner surfaces could only be met with vapor deposited aluminum (VDA). Circumstances leading to corrosion of the VDA are described. Innovative materials and processing to meet the optical and thermal cycle requirements were developed. Examples of scanning electronmicroscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), and other surface analysis techniques used in failure analysis, problem solving, and process development are given. Materials and process selection criteria and development test results are presented in a decision matrix. Examples of conditions promoting and preventing galvanic corrosion between VDA and graphite fiber-reinforced laminates are provided.

Development and implementation of a dynamic TES dispatch control component in a PV-CSP techno-economic performance modelling tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hansson, Linus; Guédez, Rafael; Larchet, Kevin; Laumert, Bjorn

2017-06-01

The dispatchability offered by thermal energy storage (TES) in concentrated solar power (CSP) and solar hybrid plants based on such technology presents the most important difference compared to power generation based only on photovoltaics (PV). This has also been one reason for recent hybridization efforts of the two technologies and the creation of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) payment schemes based on offering higher payment multiples during daily hours of higher (peak or priority) demand. Recent studies involving plant-level thermal energy storage control strategies are however to a large extent based on pre-determined approaches, thereby not taking into account the actual dynamics of thermal energy storage system operation. In this study, the implementation of a dynamic dispatch strategy in the form of a TRNSYS controller for hybrid PV-CSP plants in the power-plant modelling tool DYESOPT is presented. In doing this it was attempted to gauge the benefits of incorporating a day-ahead approach to dispatch control compared to a fully pre-determined approach determining hourly dispatch only once prior to annual simulation. By implementing a dynamic strategy, it was found possible to enhance technical and economic performance for CSP-only plants designed for peaking operation and featuring low values of the solar multiple. This was achieved by enhancing dispatch control, primarily by taking storage levels at the beginning of every simulation day into account. The sequential prediction of the TES level could therefore be improved, notably for evaluated plants without integrated PV, for which the predicted storage levels deviated less than when PV was present in the design. While also featuring dispatch performance gains, optimal plant configurations for hybrid PV-CSP was found to present a trade-off in economic performance in the form of an increase in break-even electricity price when using the dynamic strategy which was offset to some extent by a reduction in upfront investment cost. An increase in turbine starts for the implemented strategy however highlights that this is where further improvements can be made.

Real-Time Observation of Human LINE-1 Retrotransposon Activity in Bacteria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaur, Davneet; Kuhlman, Thomas; Kuhlman Team; Nigel Goldenfeld Collaboration

Transposable elements (TEs) are fundamental building blocks of all genomes. Retrotransposable elements (RTEs) are one of the two primary classes of TEs that are ubiquitous in eukaryotes. They propagate through a copy-and-paste mechanism utilizing reverse-transcribed mRNA intermediates. This leads to disruption and dispersal of coding and control elements throughout the genome, and consequently TEs are thought to be a major driving force behind diversification. However, RTEs are absent in most prokaryotes including E. coli. and the reason for this remains an open question. Despite their prevalence, there still remain many unanswered questions about how `hot' or active L1 RTEs (L1Hs) function. In particular, their rates of activity and their effects upon their host are currently poorly understood and only roughly estimated within the limitations of available technology. To address these unanswered questions, we have constructed and released an L1H element in E. coli to quantify its rates of activity and physiological effects on its host. To overcome the technical limitations, we've designed fluorescent visualization and quantification techniques that make real time high resolution observations of retrotransposition events as they occur in living cells.

Array-scale performance of TES X-ray Calorimeters Suitable for Constellation-X

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kilbourne, C. A.; Bandler, S. R.; Brown, A. D.; Chervenak, J. A.; Eckart, M. E.; Finkbeiner, F. M.; Iyomoto, N.; Kelley, R. L.; Porter, F. S.; Smith, S. J.;

A survey of transposable element classification systems--a call for a fundamental update to meet the challenge of their diversity and complexity.

PubMed

Piégu, Benoît; Bire, Solenne; Arensburger, Peter; Bigot, Yves

2015-05-01

The increase of publicly available sequencing data has allowed for rapid progress in our understanding of genome composition. As new information becomes available we should constantly be updating and reanalyzing existing and newly acquired data. In this report we focus on transposable elements (TEs) which make up a significant portion of nearly all sequenced genomes. Our ability to accurately identify and classify these sequences is critical to understanding their impact on host genomes. At the same time, as we demonstrate in this report, problems with existing classification schemes have led to significant misunderstandings of the evolution of both TE sequences and their host genomes. In a pioneering publication Finnegan (1989) proposed classifying all TE sequences into two classes based on transposition mechanisms and structural features: the retrotransposons (class I) and the DNA transposons (class II). We have retraced how ideas regarding TE classification and annotation in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic scientific communities have changed over time. This has led us to observe that: (1) a number of TEs have convergent structural features and/or transposition mechanisms that have led to misleading conclusions regarding their classification, (2) the evolution of TEs is similar to that of viruses by having several unrelated origins, (3) there might be at least 8 classes and 12 orders of TEs including 10 novel orders. In an effort to address these classification issues we propose: (1) the outline of a universal TE classification, (2) a set of methods and classification rules that could be used by all scientific communities involved in the study of TEs, and (3) a 5-year schedule for the establishment of an International Committee for Taxonomy of Transposable Elements (ICTTE). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Adjusted indirect comparison of new oral anticoagulants for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation.

PubMed

Testa, L; Agnifili, M; Latini, R A; Mattioli, R; Lanotte, S; De Marco, F; Oreglia, J; Latib, A; Pizzocri, S; Laudisa, M L; Brambilla, N; Bedogni, F

2012-10-01

Vit-K antagonists are the therapy of choice to prevent thromboembolic events due to atrial fibrillation since many years. New oral anticoagulants (NOA) showed encouraging results vs. warfarin but there are no data directly comparing different NOA. We performed an adjusted indirect meta-analysis. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were searched. Efficacy end points were the cumulative rate of thomboembolic stroke (TES) and systemic embolism (SE). Main safety end point was the rate of hemorrhagic stroke (HS). Three RCTs (50578 patients) were included. Overall, NOA were comparable to warfarin according to the cumulative risk of TES and SE, as well as for TES alone. NOA were associated with a reduced rate of SE [OR 0.64 (0.44, 0.94], P=0.02]. Compared to warfarin, NOA were associated with a significantly reduced risk of HS [OR 0.43 (0.34, 0.55), P<0.001, NNT to avoid a HS 153] and all cause death [OR 0.90 [0.84, 0.96], P=0.03, NNT to save one fatality 43]. Head to head comparison showed that in terms of cumulative rate of TES/SE, as well as of TES, none of the NOA was significantly superior to the others (all Ps>0.05). Rivaroxaban showed superiority in the prevention of SE. Dabigatran 150 mg/twice daily was associated with the largest reduction in the risk of HS vs. warfarin and vs. other NOA. Overall mortality was quite comparable across NOA. Overall superiority of NOA over warfarin is largely influenced by the reduction of HS. Dabigatran 150 mg/twice daily seems to have the best risk/benefit profile.

Potential of Eucalyptus camaldulensis for phytostabilization and biomonitoring of trace-element contaminated soils

PubMed Central

Marañón, Teodoro; Navarro-Fernández, Carmen M.; Domínguez, María T.; Alegre, José M.; Robinson, Brett; Murillo, José M.

2017-01-01

Soil pollution by trace elements (TEs) from mining and industrial activity is widespread and presents a risk to humans and ecosystems. The use of trees to immobilize TEs (phytostabilization) is a low-cost and effective method of soil remediation. We aimed to determine the chemical composition of leaves and flower buds of Eucalyptus camaldulensis in seven sites along the Guadiamar River valley (SW Spain), an area contaminated by a mine-spill in 1998. E. camaldulensis trees in the spill-affected area and adjacent non affected areas were growing on a variety of soils with pH from 5.6 to 8.1 with low concentration of plant nutrients. The spill affected soils contained up to 1069 mg kg-1 of As and 4086 mg kg-1 of Pb. E. camaldulensis tolerated elevated TE concentrations in soil and, compared to other species growing in the same environment, had low TE concentrations in the aerial portions. Besides tolerance to soil contamination, E. camaldulensis had low bioaccumulation coefficients for soil contaminants. TE concentrations in the aboveground portions were below levels reported to be toxic to plants or ecosystems. Flower buds had even lower TE concentrations than leaves. Despite the relatively low concentration of TEs in leaves they were significantly correlated with the soil extractable (0.01 M CaCl2) Cd, Mn and Zn (but not Cu and Pb). The general features of this tree species: tolerance to impoverished and contaminated soils, fast growth and deep root system, and low transfer of TEs from soil to aboveground organs makes it suitable for phytostabilization of soils contaminated by TEs. In addition, eucalyptus leaves could be used for biomonitoring the soil extractability of Cd, Mn and Zn but not Cu or Pb. PMID:28666017

Physical properties of the Mars Exploration Rover landing sites as inferred from Mini-TES-derived thermal inertia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fergason, R.L.; Christensen, P.R.; Bell, J.F.; Golombek, M.P.; Herkenhoff, K. E.; Kieffer, H.H.

2006-01-01

The Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) on board the two Mars Exploration Rovers provides the first opportunity to observe thermal properties from the Martian surface, relate these properties to orbital data, and perform soil conductivity experiments under Martian conditions. The thermal inertias of soils, bedforms, and rock at each landing site were derived to quantify the physical properties of these features and understand geologic processes occurring at these localities. The thermal inertia for the. Gusev plains rock target Bonneville Beacon (???1200 J m-2 K-1 s-1/2) is consistent with a dense, basaltic rock, but the rocks at the Columbia Hills have a lower thermal inertia (???620 J m-2 K-1 s-1/2), suggesting that they have a volcaniclasic origin. Bedforms on the floors of craters at both landing sites have thermal inertias of 200 J m-2 K-1 s-1/2, consistent with a particle diameter of ???160 ??m. This diameter is comparable to the most easily moved grain size in the current atmosphere on Mars, suggesting that these bedforms may have formed under current atmospheric conditions. Along the Meridiani plains, the thermal inertia is lower than that derived from TES and Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) orbital data. This discrepancy is not well understood. Mini-TES-derived thermal inertias at Gusev along a ???2.5 km traverse follow trends in thermal inertia measured from orbit with TES and THEMIS. However, along the traverse, there are variability and mixing of particle sizes that are not resolved in the orbital thermal inertia data due to meter-scale processes that are not identifiable at larger scales. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.

Web-based treatment for substance use disorders: differential effects by primary substance.

PubMed

Cochran, Gerald; Stitzer, Maxine; Campbell, Aimee N C; Hu, Mei-Chen; Vandrey, Ryan; Nunes, Edward V

2015-06-01

This secondary analysis of data from a large, multi-site effectiveness trial (NCT01104805) sought to determine whether effects of a web-based behavioral treatment (Therapeutic Education System [TES]) differed by participants' self-identified primary drug of abuse. The all-comers sample of individuals entering outpatient psychosocial counseling treatment for substance abuse (N=497) cited cannabis (22.9%; n=114), stimulants (34.4%, n=171), opioids (21.7%, n=108), or alcohol (20.9%, n=104) as their primary substance of abuse. Participants were randomly assigned to receive treatment-as-usual (TAU) with or without TES substituted for approximately 2h of usual counseling. Multivariate analyses of abstinence outcomes examined interactions of treatment effects with primary substance. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) demonstrated that primary stimulant users receiving TES were more likely to be abstinent in the final four weeks of treatment compared to stimulant users receiving TAU (AOR=3.59, 95% CI=1.25-10.27). Adjusted odds ratios for alcohol (AOR=3.15, 95% CI=0.85-11.65) and cannabis (AOR=2.64, 95% CI=0.73-9.52) also were of similar magnitude to stimulants but did not reach significance. Abstinence among primary opioid users was not improved by the TES intervention (AOR=0.35, 95% CI=0.09-1.47). This study supports the TES web-delivered treatment as a viable intervention for the majority of substance users entering outpatient counseling treatment, with demonstrated effectiveness among stimulant users and promising effects in alcohol and cannabis users but little or no effect in primary opioid users. Web-delivered treatments hold promise for expanding the availability of effective behavioral interventions for the majority of substance use disorders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Coping strategies as a mediator of internet-delivered psychosocial treatment: Secondary analysis from a NIDA CTN multisite effectiveness trial.

PubMed

Lévesque, Annie; Campbell, Aimee N C; Pavlicova, Martina; Hu, Mei-Chen; Walker, Robrina; McClure, Erin A; Ghitza, Udi E; Bailey, Genie; Stitzer, Maxine; Nunes, Edward V

2017-02-01

Coping strategies are a predictor of abstinence among patients with substance use disorders. However, little is known regarding the role of coping strategies in the effectiveness of the Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA). Using data from a 12week randomized control trial assessing the effectiveness of the Therapeutic Education System (TES), an internet-delivered version of the CRA combined with contingency management, we tested the role of coping strategies as a mediator of treatment effectiveness. 507 participants entering 10 outpatient addiction treatment programs received either treatment-as-usual (TAU), a counselor-delivered treatment (Arm 1), or reduced TAU plus TES wherein 2h of TAU per week were replaced by TES (Arm 2). Abstinence from drugs and alcohol was evaluated using urine toxicology and self-report. Coping strategies were measured using the Coping Strategies Scale-Brief Version. Mediation analyses were done following Baron and Kenny's and path analysis approaches. The average baseline coping strategies scores were not significantly different between the two treatment arms. Overall, TES intervention was significantly associated with higher coping strategies scores when accounting for baseline scores (F 1,1342 =8.3, p=0.004). Additionally, higher coping strategies scores at week 12 were associated with an increased likelihood of abstinence during the last 4weeks of the treatment, while accounting for treatment assignment and baseline abstinence. The effect of TES intervention on abstinence was no longer significant after controlling for coping strategies scores at week 12. Our results support the importance of coping skills as a partial mediator of the effectiveness of an internet-version of the CRA combined with contingency management. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Potential of Eucalyptus camaldulensis for phytostabilization and biomonitoring of trace-element contaminated soils.

PubMed

Madejón, Paula; Marañón, Teodoro; Navarro-Fernández, Carmen M; Domínguez, María T; Alegre, José M; Robinson, Brett; Murillo, José M

2017-01-01

Soil pollution by trace elements (TEs) from mining and industrial activity is widespread and presents a risk to humans and ecosystems. The use of trees to immobilize TEs (phytostabilization) is a low-cost and effective method of soil remediation. We aimed to determine the chemical composition of leaves and flower buds of Eucalyptus camaldulensis in seven sites along the Guadiamar River valley (SW Spain), an area contaminated by a mine-spill in 1998. E. camaldulensis trees in the spill-affected area and adjacent non affected areas were growing on a variety of soils with pH from 5.6 to 8.1 with low concentration of plant nutrients. The spill affected soils contained up to 1069 mg kg-1 of As and 4086 mg kg-1 of Pb. E. camaldulensis tolerated elevated TE concentrations in soil and, compared to other species growing in the same environment, had low TE concentrations in the aerial portions. Besides tolerance to soil contamination, E. camaldulensis had low bioaccumulation coefficients for soil contaminants. TE concentrations in the aboveground portions were below levels reported to be toxic to plants or ecosystems. Flower buds had even lower TE concentrations than leaves. Despite the relatively low concentration of TEs in leaves they were significantly correlated with the soil extractable (0.01 M CaCl2) Cd, Mn and Zn (but not Cu and Pb). The general features of this tree species: tolerance to impoverished and contaminated soils, fast growth and deep root system, and low transfer of TEs from soil to aboveground organs makes it suitable for phytostabilization of soils contaminated by TEs. In addition, eucalyptus leaves could be used for biomonitoring the soil extractability of Cd, Mn and Zn but not Cu or Pb.

Recent Internet Use and Associations with Clinical Outcomes among Patients Entering Addiction Treatment Involved in a Web-Delivered Psychosocial Intervention Study.

PubMed

Tofighi, B; Campbell, A N C; Pavlicova, M; Hu, M C; Lee, J D; Nunes, E V

2016-10-01

The acceptability and clinical impact of a web-based intervention among patients entering addiction treatment who lack recent internet access are unclear. This secondary analysis of a national multisite treatment study (NIDA Clinical Trials Network-0044) assessed for acceptability and clinical impact of a web-based psychosocial intervention among participants enrolling in community-based, outpatient addiction treatment programs. Participants were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of a web-based therapeutic education system (TES) based on the community reinforcement approach plus contingency management versus treatment as usual (TAU). Demographic and clinical characteristics, and treatment outcomes were compared among participants with recent internet access in the 90 days preceding enrollment (N = 374) and without internet access (N = 133). Primary outcome variables included (1) acceptability of TES (i.e., module completion; acceptability of web-based intervention) and (2) clinical impact (i.e., self-reported abstinence confirmed by urine drug/breath alcohol tests; retention measured as time to dropout). Internet use was common (74 %) and was more likely among younger (18-49 years old) participants and those who completed high school (p < .001). Participants randomized to TES (n = 255) without baseline internet access rated the acceptability of TES modules significantly higher than those with internet access (t = 2.49, df = 218, p = .01). There was a near significant interaction between treatment, baseline abstinence, and internet access on time to dropout (χ 2 (1) = 3.8089, p = .051). TES was associated with better retention among participants not abstinent at baseline who had internet access (X 2 (1) = 6.69, p = .01). These findings demonstrate high acceptability of this web-based intervention among participants that lacked recent internet access.

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

Hattori, K.; Akiba, Y.; Arnold, K.

The readout of transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers with a large multiplexing factor is key for the next generation cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment, Polarbear-2, having 7588 TES bolometers. To enable the large arrays, we have been developing a readout system with a multiplexing factor of 40 in the frequency domain. Extending that architecture to 40 bolometers requires an increase in the bandwidth of the SQUID electronics, above 4 MHz. This paper focuses on cryogenic readout and shows how it affects cross talk and the responsivity of the TES bolometers. A series resistance, such as equivalent series resistance of capacitors formore » LC filters, leads to non-linear response of the bolometers. A wiring inductance modulates a voltage across the bolometers and causes cross talk. They should be controlled well to reduce systematic errors in CMB observations. As a result, we have been developing a cryogenic readout with a low series impedance and have tuned bolometers in the middle of their transition at a high frequency (>3 MHz).« less

SAFARI optical system architecture and design concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pastor, Carmen; Jellema, Willem; Zuluaga-Ramírez, Pablo; Arrazola, David; Fernández-Rodriguez, M.; Belenguer, Tomás.; González Fernández, Luis M.; Audley, Michael D.; Evers, Jaap; Eggens, Martin; Torres Redondo, Josefina; Najarro, Francisco; Roelfsema, Peter

2016-07-01

SpicA FAR infrared Instrument, SAFARI, is one of the instruments planned for the SPICA mission. The SPICA mission is the next great leap forward in space-based far-infrared astronomy and will study the evolution of galaxies, stars and planetary systems. SPICA will utilize a deeply cooled 2.5m-class telescope, provided by European industry, to realize zodiacal background limited performance, and high spatial resolution. The instrument SAFARI is a cryogenic grating-based point source spectrometer working in the wavelength domain 34 to 230 μm, providing spectral resolving power from 300 to at least 2000. The instrument shall provide low and high resolution spectroscopy in four spectral bands. Low Resolution mode is the native instrument mode, while the high Resolution mode is achieved by means of a Martin-Pupplet interferometer. The optical system is all-reflective and consists of three main modules; an input optics module, followed by the Band and Mode Distributing Optics and the grating Modules. The instrument utilizes Nyquist sampled filled linear arrays of very sensitive TES detectors. The work presented in this paper describes the optical design architecture and design concept compatible with the current instrument performance and volume design drivers.

Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS) impact assessment.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-01-01

This report is an independent assessment of three prototype Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS) tests at Los Angeles, Dallas/Fort Worth, and South Florida. The FRATIS technologies deployed at one or two drayage companies in each tes...