Ultralow Voltage Nanoelectronics Powered Directly, and Solely, From a Tree

Complex patterns of electrical potential differences exist across the structure of a tree. We have characterized these voltages, and measured values ranging from a few millivolts to a few hundred millivolts for Bigleaf maple trees. These potential differences provide a unique opportunity to power nanoelectronic circuits directly from a tree. We have designed, constructed, and successfully tested two ICs, powered solely through a connection to Bigleaf maple trees. The first circuit, built in a 130-nm technology, creates a stable 1.1 V supply from input voltages as low as 20 mV, and can be deployed to generate a usable voltage level for standard circuits. The second circuit, fabricated in 90-nm technology is a timer, operating at 0.045 Hz and can be used for time keeping in stand-alone sensor network nodes. The boost circuit and timer consume 10 and 2.5 nW of power during operation, respectively.      

New Standards Release Sets Stage for 5G Future

Over the past year or so,wireless companies have begun to roll out fifth-generation (5G),the latest generation wireless network[1].For today's consumers,moving ...     

Minor components ofLesquerella fendleri seed oil

Routine analysis of fatty ester fractions ofLesquerella fendleri oil suggested the presence of epoxy compounds and other minor components. By a combination of open silica column and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fractionations of the methyl esters prepared from the oil, these constitutents were isolated and then characterized by thin-layer chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS—electron ionization, EI, and chemical ionization, CI) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR—¹H and¹³C). Three epoxy acids, 15,16-epoxy-9,12-octadecadienoic, 9,10-epoxy-12-octadecenoic and 9,10-epoxy-octadecanoic, were found. Hydroxy acids present included a C-22 homologue of lesquerolic acid (16-hydroxy-12-docosenoic acid) and 14,15-dihydroxy-tricosanoic acid. Other minor ocmponents included four sterols, brassicasterol, campesterol, β-sitosterol and stigmasterol, and a series of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids up to C30. Visiting postdoctoral scientist sponsored by the government of India.     

A new method for estimating of evapotranspiration and surface soil moisture from optical and thermal infrared measurements: the simplified triangle

Earth Observation (EO) provides a promising approach towards deriving accurate spatiotemporal estimates of key parameters characterizing land surface interactions, such as latent (LE) and sensible (H) heat fluxes as well as soil moisture content. This paper proposes a very simple method to implement, yet reliable to calculate evapotranspiration fraction (EF) and surface moisture availability (M_o) from remotely sensed imagery of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and surface radiometric temperature (T_ir). The method is unique in that it derives all of its information solely from these two images. As such, it does not depend on knowing ancillary surface or atmospheric parameters, nor does it require the use of a land surface model. The procedure for computing spatiotemporal estimates of these important land surface parameters is outlined herein stepwise for practical application by the user. Moreover, as the newly developed scheme is not tied to any particular sensor, it can also be implemented with technologically advanced EO sensors launched recently or planned to be launched such as Landsat 8 and Sentinel 3. The latter offers a number of key advantages in terms of future implementation of the method and wider use for research and practical applications alike.     

Abattoir survey of sheep and goats in The Gambia

An abattoir survey of sheep and goats was carried out in The Gambia for one year. A total of 1248 goats and 438 sheep, predominantly young females, were slaughtered and sampled. Sixty per cent of the females of both species were pregnant. There were no significant differences between the dressing percentages of different breeds and age groups. Sex and stage of pregnancy had a significant influence on carcase yields in both species. In goats the highest carcase yields were obtained during the early dry season. Most of the animals were clinically healthy and there were few pathological findings postmortem. In both species, there was a seasonal fluctuation of packed cell volume (PCV), with a minimum during the rains, and although the prevalence of trypanosomiasis was low it reduced the PCV. Faecal egg counts of Trichostrongylidae were highest during the rainy season and goats had higher faecal egg and coccidial oocyst counts than sheep. In sheep, a breed difference was observed for PCV and an age difference for egg excretion. The peak or higher rates of egg excretion occurred during the rains in both species. The immune status against peste des petits ruminants was significantly lower in goats (39 per cent) than in sheep (49.5 per cent). Antibodies against bluetongue virus were found in 62.6 per cent of goats and 55.8 per cent of sheep.     

CTA-based angle selection for diagnostic and interventional angiography of saccular intracranial aneurysms

Coil embolization is a safe treatment for cerebral aneurysms only if the width of the neck in relation to the fundus of the aneurysm is small. Therefore, accurate visualization of the aneurysmal neck is required both in the diagnostic process and during the intervention. Conventional digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is still the preferred modality for the examination of cerebrovascular abnormalities like aneurysms, but it often does not provide the required morphological characteristics due to the suboptimal selection of projection angles and resulting overprojections of surrounding vasculature. This paper presents a method for performing a computer-assisted calculation of the optimal projection angles for DSA by post-processing computed tomographic angiography (CTA) volume data using ray-casting techniques and a combination of image processing algorithms. By means of phantom studies, retrospective simulations of angiograms, and in vivo applications of calculated optimal viewing angles, it is demonstrated that the proposed method results in better angiographic projections of the neck of saccular aneurysms with small neck-fundus ratio than those acquired at standard angles prescribed by clinical protocols.     

Bcl-xL functions downstream of caspase-8 to inhibit Fas- and tumor necrosis factor receptor 1-induced apoptosis of MCF7 breast carcinoma cells

Stimulation of the Fas or tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1) cell surface receptors leads to the activation of the death effector protease, caspase-8, and subsequent apoptosis. In some cells, Bcl-xL overexpression can inhibit anti-Fas- and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-induced apoptosis. To address the effect of Bcl-xL on caspase-8 processing, Fas- and TNFR1-mediated apoptosis were studied in the MCF7 breast carcinoma cell line stably transfected with human Fas cDNA (MCF7/F) or double transfected with Fas and human Bcl-xL cDNAs (MCF7/FB). Bcl-xL strongly inhibited apoptosis induced by either anti-Fas or TNF-alpha. In addition, Bcl-xL prevented the change in cytochrome c immunolocalization induced by anti-Fas or TNF-alpha treatment. Using antibodies that recognize the p20 and p10 subunits of active caspase-8, proteolytic processing of caspase-8 was detected in MCF7/F cells following anti-Fas or TNF-alpha, but not during UV-induced apoptosis. In MCF7/FB cells, caspase-8 was processed normally while processing of the downstream caspase-7 was markedly attenuated. Moreover, apoptosis induced by direct microinjection of recombinant, active caspase-8 was completely inhibited by Bcl-xL. These data demonstrate that Bcl-xL can exert an anti-apoptotic function in cells in which caspase-8 is activated. Thus, at least in some cells, caspase-8 signaling in response to Fas or TNFR1 stimulation is regulated by a Bcl-xL-inhibitable step.     

Pulmonary delivery of nanoparticles of insoluble, iodinated CT X-ray contrast agents to lung draining lymph nodes in dogs

Lung cancer continues to be a leading cause of death around the world. Staging of this disease is critically dependent upon the involvement or noninvolvement of the lymph nodes which drain the region of lung containing the lesion/tumor. Palpation, unenhanced CT, and lymph node excision (i.e., mediastinectomy) are currently used to ascertain the status of these regional draining lymph nodes. The work reported herein details the first efforts toward the pulmonary instillation of iodinated nanoparticles for contrast-enhanced CT of lung draining lymph nodes. The data reflect the impact of dose, time post instillation, and formulation (surfactant) upon the observed CT enhancement of the tracheobronchial lymph nodes of beagle dogs. In addition, initial safety is discussed with both macroscopic and microscopic observations. The results indicate that pulmonary instillation of small volumes of iodinated nanoparticles could be successfully used to aid staging of lung cancer by CT imaging.     

The management of Stress Management: A decade of the journal.

It has been more than four years since the last of my infrequent editorials in the International Journal of Stress Management (IJSM) and nearly a decade since my first (Carlson, 1998b). I am writing to you at this time first to inform you of a change in editorship, then to summarize a few high points of the past 10 years of IJSM as they relate to its management and future. My focus will be on matters dear to journal editors and useful to submitters and subscribers concerning submissions, content, and editorial activity, since such issues determine journal policy and direction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

End labeling studies of fragmented DNA in the avian growth plate: evidence of apoptosis in terminally differentiated chondrocytes

The chondro-osseous junction has been the subject of considerable scrutiny, especially in terms of the fate and role of the terminally differentiated chondrocyte. Although it has been proposed that these cells change their phenotype and survive in the epiphysis, possibly as osteoblasts, evidence from a number of other studies suggests that chondrocytes may undergo apoptosis or programmed cell death. A useful test for programmed cell death is to end label DNA in cryosections using the commercial reagent ApopTag and detect antibody binding to fragmented DNA by epifluorescence; more direct assessments include examination of the nucleus for condensation of chromatin evaluating fragmentation through alkaline and pulsed field agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA, and measuring apoptosis by flow cytometry. We found that we could label cells in the proliferative and the hypertrophic region of the proximal tibial growth plate of the chick with ApopTag. Most of the chondrocytes in the hypertrophic region were labeled by the reagent; in contrast, few proliferative chondrocytes were stained by the end-labeling procedure. Both agarose and pulsed field electrophoresis were used to confirm that there was fragmentation of chondrocyte DNA. Alkaline gel electrophoresis indicated that there was more fragmentation of DNA from hypertrophic cells than from proliferative chondrocytes. Further evidence in support of apoptosis was provided by electron microscopic observation of cells in the hypertrophic region of the growth plate. We noted that many of the cells in this region of the growth plate appeared to be undergoing programmed cell death since their nuclei contained condensed chromatin. Finally, we used flow cytometry to analyze chondrocytes isolated from the proliferating and hypertrophic regions of the growth plate for apoptosis. Dual parameteric flow cytometric contour plots of Hoechst and 7-amino-actinomycin D fluorescence showed that abut 8% of cells in the plate were apoptotic. Most of these cells were in hypertrophic cartilage. In summary, the results of this investigation indicate that chondrocytes terminate their life history by apoptosis. While it is possible that the terminal labeling studies may overestimate the number of cells undergoing this event, the data lend credence to the view that cells are removed from the epiphysis through apoptosis. If this is the case, then chondrocytes probably enter the terminal phase of their life as fully functioning cells and genomic, and/or local environmental conditions provide termination signals that initiate events that lead to programmed cell death.