Light and Hydrogen Peroxide Inhibit C. elegans Feeding through Gustatory Receptor Orthologs and Pharyngeal Neurons

While gustatory sensing of the five primary flavors (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and savory) has been extensively studied, pathways that detect non-canonical taste stimuli remain relatively unexplored. In particular, while reactive oxygen species cause generalized damage to biological systems, no gustatory mechanism to prevent ingestion of such material has been identified in any organism. We observed that light inhibits C. elegans feeding and used light as a tool to uncover molecular and neural mechanisms for gustation. Light can generate hydrogen peroxide, and we discovered that hydrogen peroxide similarly inhibits feeding. The gustatory receptor family members LITE-1 and GUR-3 are required for the inhibition of feeding by light and hydrogen peroxide. The I2 pharyngeal neurons increase calcium in response to light and hydrogen peroxide, and these responses require GUR-3 and a conserved antioxidant enzyme peroxiredoxin PRDX-2. Our results demonstrate a gustatory mechanism that mediates the detection and blocks ingestion of a noncanonical taste stimulus, hydrogen peroxide.National Science Foundation (U.S.). Graduate Research Fellowship ProgramNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant GM24663

HPV vaccination of immunocompromised hosts.

It is well-established that immunocompromised people are at increased risk of HPV-related disease compared with those who are immunocompetent. Prophylactic HPV sub-unit vaccines are safe and immunogenic in immunocompromised people and it is strongly recommended that vaccination occur according to national guidelines. When delivered to immunocompromised populations, HPV vaccines should be given as a 3-dose regimen

Generating as-built 3D models from photos taken by handheld digital camera

textAs-built documentation is an essential set of records, consisting of construction drawings, specifications and equipment location, which are kept for facility management purposes. These documents are constantly being created and modified throughout the life of a project. This process is usually manual and fraught with errors, which inhibits reliable decision making. Technological advancements have made it possible to generate 3D models to assess as-built conditions for construction monitoring purposes, such as verifying conformance to baseline project schedules and contract specifications. For this purpose, 3D point clouds are widely generated using laser scanners. However, this approach has limitations in the construction industry due to the expensive and fragile equipment, lack of portability and need of trained operators. This study aims at investigating an alternate technology to generate as-built 3D point clouds using photos taken using handheld digital cameras, compare them against the original as-built 3D models, and check for accuracy of the modeling process. This analysis can aid in more reliable and effective decision making due to its cost effectiveness and ease of use, particularly in heavy infrastructure projects which are continually undergoing rehabilitation work. To achieve these objectives, a set of guidelines are developed for taking photographs that enable effective generation of 3D point clouds using off-the-shelf software packages. The accuracy of the modeling process is investigated using the results of the as-built 3D point cloud modeling of a 2000 feet under construction bridge in southern United States. Finally, the range of tolerance and deviation of element dimensions is determined by comparing the photo based model to the actual as-built model (developed using 2D drawings). Furthermore, to compare point clouds of laser scanning and photogrammetry, a laser scan and an image based survey of an exterior wall of a university building was also done. Results show that this technology in its present state is not suitable for modeling infrastructure projects, however technological developments can enable this to be an efficient way to extract measurements of inaccessible objects for progress monitoring purposes and the models can also be stored for future dimension takeoffs for decision making and asset management purposes.Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineerin

3D printing is a transformative technology in congenital heart disease

Survival in congenital heart disease has steadily improved since 1938, when Dr. Robert Gross successfully ligated for the first time a patent ductus arteriosus in a 7-year-old child. To continue the gains made over the past 80 years, transformative changes with broad impact are needed in management of congenital heart disease. Three-dimensional printing is an emerging technology that is fundamentally affecting patient care, research, trainee education, and interactions among medical teams, patients, and caregivers. This paper first reviews key clinical cases where the technology has affected patient care. It then discusses 3-dimensional printing in trainee education. Thereafter, the role of this technology in communication with multidisciplinary teams, patients, and caregivers is described. Finally, the paper reviews translational technologies on the horizon that promise to take this nascent field even further

Plant Physiology, Development and Metabolism

Water is one of the most important constituents of life. Chemically, water is the hydride of oxygen. Oxygen, being more electronegative, exerts a strong attractive pull on its electrons. This unequal attraction results in small positive charge on twohydrogenmoleculesandasmallnegativechargeontheoxygenmolecule.The two lone pairs of electrons of the oxygen molecule result in bending of water molecule. The partial charges on oxygen and hydrogen molecules result in high electric dipole moment and polarity of water molecule

Portland Daily Press: December 19,1888

https://digitalmaine.com/pdp_1888/1298/thumbnail.jp

Performance of cumulus parameterization schemes in the simulation of Indian Summer Monsoon using RegCM4

The Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) is driven by organized large-scale convection; hence, its simulation is expected to depend on an appropriate representation of cumulus convection in the model. In the present study, the performance of different cumulus parameterization schemes is examined towards simulations of the ISM. The Regional Climate Model (RegCM4) is coupled with the Community Land Model (CLM 3.5) at 30 km resolution for the period May 1-September 30 for seasonal simulation of the ISM in three consecutive years, 2007, 2008, and 2009. Five numerical experiments with five convection schemes (Kuo, Grell, MIT, GO_ML [Grell over ocean and MIT over land], GL_MO [Grell over land and MIT over ocean]) are conducted for each of these three years. Some important features of the ISM simulated by the model, viz. low level westerly jet, upper level easterly jet, heat low, Tibetan high, etc., are analyzed and compared with that of the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis. We found that the heat low over northwest India and Pakistan in all the three years is better simulated by the model with the MIT convection scheme compared to other convection schemes, whereas spatial distribution and accuracy of surface temperature is better simulated using GL_MO rather than MIT. The low level westerly jet is well captured by the model with MIT with slightly weaker strength compared to the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis. The location and strength of the tropical easterly jet is well predicted in each simulation with some uncertainty in strength, and are better simulated with MIT. The comparison of the model simulated rainfall with 0.5º × 0.5º datasets from the Climate Research Unit (CRU TS3.22) indicates that seasonal and monthly average rainfall are well simulated with MIT and GO_ML; however, the same over central and western India is significantly underestimated by the model with all the convection schemes. Comparatively, higher sensible heat flux and lower latent heat flux are noticed in the model simulation with all schemes. This change of fluxes affects surface temperature and rainfall simulation significantly. The statistical analysis indicates that surface temperature and rainfall are well reproduced by the model with GL_MO and GO_ML, but circulation is better simulated with MIT only. It is observed that although the bias in the model with MIT is slightly higher than that of the two mixed schemes, the spatial distribution and other synoptic features of surface temperature and rainfall during ISM are well simulated. Thus, considering overall performances, the RegCM4 with MIT the cumulus convection scheme provides better simulation of seasonal and monthly features of the monsoon

Rare cause of unexplained hypertension in an oligomenorrheic adolescent girl with adnexal mass: case report and review of literature

A 17-year-old girl with oligomenorrhoea was detected to have hypertension and right adnexal solid-cystic mass, 6×8 cm on ultrasound. Hormone profile was normal, CA-125 was 132.5 U/mL, other tumour markers were in normal range; though RMI-4 and ROMA index suggested malignancy. Patient underwent exploratory laparotomy, peritoneal wash cytology, right salpingo-oophorectomy, pelvic lymphadenectomy and omental biopsy. Intraoperative frozen-section revealed ovarian steroid cell tumour. Later, steroid cell tumour-not otherwise specified (SCT-NOS) was confirmed on histopathology and immunohistochemistry. When followed three months post-surgery, patient had resumed 30-32 days menstrual-cycle, and she was normotensive without medications. This case is being reported to emphasize that imaging though not recommended for evaluation of PCOS in adolescence; and measuring blood-pressure which is often skipped in young women; proved crucial in this patient