Seasonal movements of shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) in the Altamaha River,Georgia

Shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) populations were decimated by a variety of anthropogenic activities throughout much of the 20th century. Understanding the spatial and temporal dynamics of spawning migrations within natal rivers is a critical information gap with regard to habitat protection and ultimately, species recovery. The objectives of this study were to document and describe seasonal movements of shortnose sturgeon in the Altamaha River system, Georgia. Passive acoustic telemetry was used to monitor the movements of 40 adult individuals from April 2011 through February 2014. Telemetry data revealed that during much of the year, the adults resided within the tidally influenced portion of the river, with most detections occurring near the freshwater–saltwater interface. Upstream movements to potential spawning habitat occurred during winter and early spring, and most fish returned to the lower estuary by April. Upstream migrations appeared to be triggered by environmental cues and were initiated when mean weekly temperatures in the lower Altamaha River were 11.6–16.9 °C. Unlike spawning migrations documented in northern rivers, the pattern of movement observed in this study was a single‐step migration without an apparent resting or staging period. Upstream migrations during nonspawning months were also observed and appeared to correspond with increasing discharge, which potentially resulted in increased channel navigability and habitat availability in nondrought years. This study further illustrates the clinal variations in life history typical of the species and may have important implications on river‐specific strategies for species recovery.     

Cyp1 Inhibition Prevents Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiomyopathy in a Zebrafish Heart-Failure Model

Doxorubicin is a highly effective chemotherapy agent used to treat many common malignancies. However, its use is limited by cardiotoxicity, and cumulative doses exponentially increase the risk of heart failure. To identify novel heart failure treatment targets, a zebrafish model of doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy was previously established for small-molecule screening. Using this model, several small molecules that prevent doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity both in zebrafish and in mouse models have previously been identified. In this study, exploration of doxorubicin cardiotoxicity is expanded by screening 2271 small molecules from a proprietary, target-annotated tool compound collection. It is found that 120 small molecules can prevent doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity, including 7 highly effective compounds. Of these, all seven exhibited inhibitory activity towards cytochrome P450 family 1 (CYP1). These results are consistent with previous findings, in which visnagin, a CYP1 inhibitor, also prevents doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. Importantly, genetic mutation of cyp1a protected zebrafish against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity phenotypes. Together, these results provide strong evidence that CYP1 is an important contributor to doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity and highlight the CYP1 pathway as a candidate therapeutic target for clinical cardioprotection.     

Additional high-energy milling to enhance the performance of porcelain stoneware manufacturing

Porcelain stoneware tile is the best class of ceramic tiles regarding technical performance. Low porosity and high glass content are some of its highlighted characteristics. The manufacturing cost is highly dependent on the feldspar content and the processing flow rate. Certain technical bottlenecks in the manufacturing steps, such as milling, forming, and firing, are intrinsically associated with limitations in the processing properties, such as the dry strength, bulk density, and pyroplastic deformation. In this work, improvements in these properties were achieved using high-energy milling (HEM) after conventional milling (CM). This study was carried out on a pilot industrial scale in the milling stage. Six experimental runs were evaluated. Slurries were spray-dried. The powders were humidified with 6.5% moisture. Specimens were conformed under a specific pressure of 45 MPa. The firing was performed using temperature ranging from 1150 to 1230°C. The use of HEM, in comparison to traditional milling for the similar particle-size distributions, has increased the dry density, +0.2 g.cm⁻³, dry bending strength, +1.0 MPa, and decreased the pyroplastic deformation index, −1.10⁻⁵ cm⁻¹. These results allow an estimated thickness reduction of 10%.     

Reaction and total cross sections for low energy pi + and pi - on isospin zero nuclei

We calculated the electrostatic force between a planar interface, such as a planar-supported lipid bilayer membrane, and the tip of a stylus on which another lipid bilayer or some other biomacromolecular system might be deposited. We considered styli with rounded tips as well as conical tips. To take into account the effect of dynamical hydrogen-bonded structures in the aqueous phase, we used a theory of nonlocal electrostatics. We used the Derjaguin approximation and identified the systems for which its use is valid. We pointed out where our approach differs from previous calculations and to what extent the latter are inadequate. We found that 1) the nonlocal interactions have significant effects over distances of 10-15 A from the polar zone and that, at the surface of this zone, the effect on the calculated force can be some orders of magnitude; 2) the lipid dipoles and charges are located a distance L from the hydrophobic layer in the aqueous medium and this can have consequences that may not be appreciated if it is ignored; 3) dipoles, located in the aqueous region, can give rise to forces even though the polar layer is unchanged, and if this is ignored the interpretation of force data can be erroneous if an attempt is made to rationalize an observed force with a knowledge of an uncharged surface; 4) the shape of the stylus tip can be very important, and a failure to take this into account can result in incorrect conclusions, a point made by other workers; and 5) when L is nonzero, the presence of charges and dipoles can yield a force that can be nonmonotonic as a function of ionic concentration.     

A specific complex between a polypeptide in the left helical conformation of polyproline type II and the B-DNA minor groove

The model of complex formation between polypeptide adopted lefthanded conformation of polyproline II type and minor groove of B-DNA presented. The specific recognition is attained due to possibility of hydrogen bond between Gly NH-group and Thymine O2-group and in addition between Pro CO-group and Guanine NH2-group and between Gly CO-group and Guanine NH2-group. Stereochemical satisfactory of the complex is observed.     

Relaparotomy]

The study of intrarenal and upper urinary tracts urodynamics in the presence of the ureteropelvic obstruction and of the function of the lower urinary tract shows that congenital hydronephrosis was in 42.8% of cases associated with bladder dysfunction presenting with hyperreflex-type dysfunction. Maladapted hyperreflex bladder was diagnosed in 29.4%, adapted--in 13.5% of cases. The hyporeflex dysfunction occurred in 15.9% of cases. The urinary bladder dysfunction in children with congenital hydronephrosis accounts for 58.7%. These aggravate the same defects of the upper urinary tracts and deteriorate the course of chronic obstructive pyelonephritis.     

Small cell undifferentiated carcinoma of the pancreas

Small cell undifferentiated carcinoma of the pancreas is a rare neoplasm: Only 12 cases have previously been documented. This paper describes the clinical evolution, immunohistochemical profile, and ultrastructural features of a case occurring in a 37-year-old woman.     

Dynamics of cyanide binding to ferrous Scapharca inaequivalvis homodimeric hemoglobin

Flash photolysis experiments have been carried out for the first time on a hemoglobin ferrous cyanide adduct with an 8 ns laser pulse. A 95% nonexponential rebinding process occurs within 2 micros after full photolysis in ferrous cyanide dimeric Scapharca inaequivalvis hemoglobin (HbI), indicating that once photolyzed the cyanide anion is not able to escape from the protein matrix and rebinds to the heme iron. The resonance Raman spectrum of the 10 ns photoproduct is identical to that of the fully relaxed deoxy derivative, indicating that in the ferrous cyanide HbI adduct protein relaxation occurs within 10 ns after photolysis. This behavior is at variance with that of the carbonmonoxy HbI derivative in which very little geminate rebinding is observed and the photoproduct relaxes with a lifetime of 1 micros. The fast relaxation of the cyanide HbI photoproduct can be accounted for by the small perturbation of the heme structure induced by cyanide binding to ferrous HbI. This is consistent with a deoxy-like conformation of the HbI ferrous cyanide adduct and implies that the pathway for relaxation involves only minor local rearrangements of the heme moiety. Photolysis experiments carried out on ferrous cyanide horse myoglobin, which can be saturated only partially, show a qualitatively similar behavior in ligand rebinding, indicating that the geminate process of the cyanide anion is a general phenomenon in hemoproteins.     

虚拟三维交互技术的工业设计应用

虚拟三维交互技术广泛应用工业设计的多个过程,是现代工业设计一种不可或缺的重要设计方法,也是目前最流行的产品开发理念.本文介绍了虚拟三维交互工业设计的内容及技术支持;交互性、网络化、高效率、绿色设计的应用特点;在产品设计制造、展示体验、推广销售过程中的应用等形式和优势.这种技术的应用既能够有效降低产品开发成本,又方便用户...