Variability of Optical Counterparts in the Chandra Galactic Bulge Survey

We present optical lightcurves of variable stars consistent with the positions of X-ray sources identified with the Chandra X-ray Observatory for the Chandra Galactic Bulge Survey. Using data from the Mosaic-II instrument on the Blanco 4m Telescope at CTIO, we gathered time-resolved photometric data on timescales from $\sim2$ hr to 8 days over the $\frac{3}{4}$ of the X-ray survey containing sources from the initial GBS catalog. Among the lightcurve morphologies we identify are flickering in interacting binaries, eclipsing sources, dwarf nova outbursts, ellipsoidal variations, long period variables, spotted stars, and flare stars. $87\%$ of X-ray sources have at least one potential optical counterpart. $24\%$ of these candidate counterparts are detectably variable; a much greater fraction than expected for randomly selected field stars, which suggests that most of these variables are real counterparts. We discuss individual sources of interest, provide variability information on candidate counterparts, and discuss the characteristics of the variable population.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement

Index to the Albany Times Union, January through June 1987

The Index to the Albany Times Union is an index to the final edition of the Times Union of Albany, New York. The Index provides access to news and editorial opinion about Albany, the Capital District, and the State of New York. Items of national and international focus are indexed only when there is local, regional, or state impact. Only major crime and traffic accidents are indexed. Daily sports events are not included. Births, engagements, divorces, anniversaries, and announcement of events or attractions are not indexed. There is a separate section for obituaries

Index to the Albany Times Union, July through December 1987

The Index to the Albany Times Union is an index to the final edition of the Times Union of Albany, New York. The Index provides access to news and editorial opinion about Albany, the Capital District, and the State of New York. Items of national and international focus are indexed only when there is local, regional, or state impact. Only major crime and traffic accidents are indexed. Daily sports events are not included. Births, engagements, divorces, anniversaries, and announcement of events or attractions are not indexed. There is a separate section for obituaries

Index to the Albany Times Union, July through December 1986

The Index to the Albany Times Union is an index to the final edition of the Times Union of Albany, New York. The Index provides access to news and editorial opinion about Albany, the Capital District, and the State of New York. Items of national and international focus are indexed only when there is local, regional, or state impact. Only major crime and traffic accidents are indexed. Daily sports events are not included. Births, engagements, divorces, anniversaries, and announcement of events or attractions are not indexed. There is a separate section for obituaries

A novel piggybac transposon inducible expression system identifies a role for akt signalling in primordial germ cell migration

In this work, we describe a single piggyBac transposon system containing both a tet-activator and a doxycycline-inducible expression cassette. We demonstrate that a gene product can be conditionally expressed from the integrated transposon and a second gene can be simultaneously targeted by a short hairpin RNA contained within the transposon, both in vivo and in mammalian and avian cell lines. We applied this system to stably modify chicken primordial germ cell (PGC) lines in vitro and induce a reporter gene at specific developmental stages after injection of the transposon-modified germ cells into chicken embryos. We used this vector to express a constitutively-active AKT molecule during PGC migration to the forming gonad. We found that PGC migration was retarded and cells could not colonise the forming gonad. Correct levels of AKT activation are thus essential for germ cell migration during early embryonic development

Reclaiming space for small scale agriculture in Lincoln County, Oregon

As recent interest has grown in the connections between how food is produced, distributed and consumed, and the overall health of food systems for people and the environment, a movement toward localizing food systems has emerged. In Lincoln County, Oregon, citizens, restaurateurs and university extension faculty, among others, have started to examine ways a more locally based food system can be encouraged and strengthened. However, this research assessing the current Lincoln County food system quickly indicated that very little food consumed in Lincoln County was produced there. Where are the farmers of Lincoln County? This research uses qualitative and historic data to analyze Lincoln County's present and past farming and food system. The analysis indicates there are two major types of farmers extant in the area: the "old pioneers" with large acreages and family connections dating back to the homesteading period, and "new pioneers" with smaller acreages who grow food either for subsistence or for specialty markets. This typology arises from adaptive strategies: one to the conditions of an increasingly industrializing food system in rapid transition at mid 20th century, and the other adapting to new niches created as a result of gaps in a large-scale, globalizing food system. Historic records show a much stronger local food system during the first half of the 20th century, complete with processing capacity such as creameries and canneries. To illustrate the change that has occurred, this analysis uses Iowa as a paradigm-setting place of agricultural perfection with which a distinctly un-Iowa place like Lincoln County could not compete. Smallholding farmers either consolidated landholdings or left farming due to economic pressures resulting from the industrialized feedback loop of increasing production and declining value of food commodities which came to characterize the trajectory of American agriculture post World War II. Therefore, planning a localized food system in Lincoln County in the present ought to more properly be considered relocalization. The past conditions of agricultural production and processing in Lincoln County may provide a useful frame of reference for the transition from a cheap energy large-scale food system to one that is thriftier and smaller-scale

Genomic mining of prokaryotic repressors for orthogonal logic gates

Genetic circuits perform computational operations based on interactions between freely diffusing molecules within a cell. When transcription factors are combined to build a circuit, unintended interactions can disrupt its function. Here, we apply 'part mining' to build a library of 73 TetR-family repressors gleaned from prokaryotic genomes. The operators of a subset were determined using an in vitro method, and this information was used to build synthetic promoters. The promoters and repressors were screened for cross-reactions. Of these, 16 were identified that both strongly repress their cognate promoter (5- to 207-fold) and exhibit minimal interactions with other promoters. Each repressor-promoter pair was converted to a NOT gate and characterized. Used as a set of 16 NOT/NOR gates, there are >10[superscript 54] circuits that could be built by changing the pattern of input and output promoters. This represents a large set of compatible gates that can be used to construct user-defined circuits.United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Award FA9550-11-C-0028)American Society for Engineering Education. National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (32 CFR 168a)United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Chronical of Lineage Indicative of Origins (N66001-12-C-4016)United States. Office of Naval Research (N00014-13-1-0074)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (GM095765)National Science Foundation (U.S.). Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center (SA5284-11210

Oxytocin's neurochemical effects in the medial prefrontal cortex underlie recovery of task-specific brain activity in autism: a randomized controlled trial

The neuropeptide oxytocin may be an effective therapeutic strategy for the currently untreatable social and communication deficits associated with autism. Our recent paper reported that oxytocin mitigated autistic behavioral deficits through the restoration of activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), as demonstrated with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a socio-communication task. However, it is unknown whether oxytocin exhibited effects at the neuronal level, which was outside of the specific task examined. In the same randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject cross-over clinical trial in which a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (24 IU) was administered to 40 men with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (UMIN000002241/000004393), we measured N-acetylaspartate (NAA) levels, a marker for neuronal energy demand, in the vmPFC using (1)H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS). The differences in the NAA levels between the oxytocin and placebo sessions were associated with oxytocin-induced fMRI signal changes in the vmPFC. The oxytocin-induced increases in the fMRI signal could be predicted by the NAA differences between the oxytocin and placebo sessions (P=0.002), an effect that remained after controlling for variability in the time between the fMRI and (1)H-MRS scans (P=0.006) and the order of administration of oxytocin and placebo (P=0.001). Furthermore, path analysis showed that the NAA differences in the vmPFC triggered increases in the task-dependent fMRI signals in the vmPFC, which consequently led to improvements in the socio-communication difficulties associated with autism. The present study suggests that the beneficial effects of oxytocin are not limited to the autistic behavior elicited by our psychological task, but may generalize to other autistic behavioral problems associated with the vmPFC

Identification of Five Interacting Binaries in the Galactic Bulge Survey

We present optical light curves, spectroscopy, and classification of five X-ray sources in the Chandra Galactic Bulge Survey (CXOGBS J174009.1–284725 (CX5), CXOGBS J173935.7–272935 (CX18), CXOGBS J173946.9–271809 (CX28), CXOGBS J173729.1–292804 (CX37), CXOGBS J174607.6–261547 (CX561)). These objects were selected based on bright optical counterparts which were quickly found to have emission lines in their optical spectra. This paper presents an illustration of GBS optical follow-up, targeting emission line objects. Of these five objects, four exhibit photometric variability in the Sloan r' band. CX5 shows a tentative period of 2.1 hr and is clearly an intermediate polar (IP). CX28 and CX37 both exhibit flickering with no clear period. Both are also suggested to be IPs. CX18 was observed to undergo two dwarf nova outbursts. Finally, CX561 shows no detectable variability, although its characteristics would be consistent with either a quiescent low-mass X-ray binary or cataclysmic variable

Osmotic pressure modulates single cell cycle dynamics inducing reversible growth arrest and reactivation of human metastatic cells

Biophysical cues such as osmotic pressure modulate proliferation and growth arrest of bacteria, yeast cells and seeds. In tissues, osmotic regulation takes place through blood and lymphatic capillaries and, at a single cell level, water and osmoregulation play a critical role. However, the effect of osmotic pressure on single cell cycle dynamics remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the effect of osmotic pressure on single cell cycle dynamics, nuclear growth, proliferation, migration and protein expression, by quantitative time-lapse imaging of single cells genetically modified with fluorescent ubiquitination-based cell cycle indicator 2 (FUCCI2). Single cell data reveals that under hyperosmotic stress, distinct cell subpopulations emerge with impaired nuclear growth, delayed or growth arrested cell cycle and reduced migration. This state is reversible for mild hyperosmotic stress, where cells return to regular cell cycle dynamics, proliferation and migration. Thus, osmotic pressure can modulate the reversible growth arrest and reactivation of human metastatic cells