Air pollution exposure and novel biomarkers of inflammation and cardiac stress in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution (MESA Air)

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

The origin of the difference in the superconducting critical temperatures of the beta(H) and beta(L) phases of (BEDT-TTF)(2)I-3

Incommensurate lattice fluctuations are present in the beta(L) phase (T-c similar to 1.5 K) of ET2I3 (where ET is BEDT-TTF - bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene) but are absent in the beta(H) phase (T-c similar to 7 K). We propose that the disorder in the conformational degrees of freedom of the terminal ethylene groups of the ET molecules, which is required to stabilise the lattice fluctuations, increases the quasiparticle scattering rate and that this leads to the observed difference in the Superconducting critical temperatures, T-c, of the two phases. We calculate the dependence of T-c on the interlayer residual resistivity. Our theory has no free parameters. Our predictions are shown to be consistent with experiment. We describe experiments to conclusively test our hypothesis.

Pumice rafting and faunal dispersion during 2001-2002 in the Southwest Pacific: record of a dacitic submarine explosive eruption from Tonga

A new influx of sea-rafted pumice reached the eastern coast of Australia in October 2002, approximately 1 year after a felsic, shallow-marine explosive eruption at a previously unknown volcano (0403-091) along the Tofua volcanic arc (Tonga). The eruption produced floating pumice rafts that first became stranded in Fiji in November 2001, approximately I month after the eruption. Strandings of sea-rafted pumice along shorelines have been the only record of products from this submarine explosive eruption at the remote, submerged volcano. Computed drift trajectories of the sea-rafted pumice using numerical models of southwest Pacific surface wind fields and ocean currents indicate two cyclonic systems disturbed the drift of pumice to eastern Australia, as well as the importance of the combined wave and direct wind effect on pumice trajectory. Pumice became stranded along at least two-thirds (>2000 km) of the coastline of eastern Australia, being deposited on beaches during a sustained period of fresh onshore winds. Typical amounts of pumice initially stranded on beaches were 500-4000 individual clasts per in, and a minimum volume estimate of pumice that arrived to eastern Australia is 1.25 x 10(5) m(3). Pumice was beached below maximum tidal/storm surge levels and was quickly reworked back into the ocean, such that the concentration of beached pumice rapidly dissipated within weeks of the initial stranding, and little record of this stranding event now exists. Most stranded pumice clasts ranged in size from 2 to 5 cm in diameter; the largest measured clasts were 10 cm in Australia and 20 cm in Fiji. The pumice has a low phenocryst content (3500 km) and period of pumice floatation (greater than or equal to1 year), confirm the importance of sea-rafted pumice as a long-distance dispersal mechanism for marine organisms including marine pests and harmful invasive species. Billions of individual rafting pumice clasts can be generated in a single small-volume eruption, such as observed here, and the geological implications for the transport of sessile taxa over large distances are significant. An avenue for future research is to examine whether speciation events and volcanicity are linked; the periodic development of globalism for some taxa (e.g., corals, gastropods, bryozoa) may correlate in time and/or space with voluminous silicic igneous events capable of producing >10(6) km(3) of silicic pumice-rich pyroclastic material and emplaced into ocean basins. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spatial and temporal definition of Ochlerotatus camptorhynchus (Thomson) (Diptera : Culicidae) in the Gippsland Lakes system of eastern Victoria

The confirmed vector of Ross River virus, Ochlerotatus camptorhynchus (Thomson), is the dominant mosquito species inhabiting saline marshes in coastal Victoria. This paper re-examines previously published data on Oc. camptorhynchus, plus additional data collected since that time, and provides greater spatial and temporal definition of Oc. camptorhynchus numbers at seven sites across the Gippsland Lakes system of eastern Victoria. A total of 357 672 Oc. camptorhynchus was captured from 1188 trap-nights across the seven trap sites during trapping seasons from 1990 to 2001. The dominance of Oc. camptorhynchus across the seven sites averaged 75%, with significant differences in mean abundance of Oc. camptorhynchus found between all trap sites. Significant differences in monthly abundance of Oc. camptorhynchus were observed for Wellington Shire. Increase in populations of Oc. camptorhynchus was associated with increases in rainfall at all trap sites, higher minimum temperatures at two of the seven trap sites, and wind speed at one trap site. Prioritisation of mosquito control may be applied based on spatial and temporal factors according to the findings of this study.

Does birth weight predict childhood diet in the Avon longitudinal study of parents and children?

Study objective: Low birth weight predicts cardiovascular disease in adulthood, and one possible explanation is that children with lower birth weight consume more fat than those born heavier. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate associations between birth weight and childhood diet, and in particular, to test the hypothesis that birth weight is inversely related to total and saturated fat intake. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: South west England. Participants: A subgroup of children enrolled in the Avon longitudinal study of parents and children, with data on birth weight and also diet at ages 8, 18, 43 months, and 7 years ( 1152, 998, 848, and 771 children respectively). Main results: Associations between birth weight and diet increased in strength from age 8 to 43 months, but had diminished by age 7 years. Fat, saturated fat, and protein intakes were inversely, and carbohydrate intake was positively associated with birth weight at 43 months of age, after adjusting for age, sex, and energy intake. After adjustment for other confounders, all associations were weakened, although there was still a suggestion of a relation with saturated fat ( -0.48 (95% CI -0.97, 0.02) g/day per 500 g increase in birth weight. Similar patterns were seen in boys and girls separately, and when the sample was restricted to those with complete data at all ages. Conclusions: A small inverse association was found between birth weight and saturated fat intake in children at 43 months of age but this was not present at 7 years of age. This study therefore provides little evidence that birth weight modifies subsequent childhood diet.

Dimethylsulfide dehydrogenase from rhodovulum sulfidophilum: EPR spectroscopy and biochemical analysis reveal its place in the DMSO reductase family of molybdenum enzymes

Dimethylsulfide (DMS) dehydrogenase catalyses the oxidation of DMS to dimethylsulfoxide. The purified enzyme has three subunits of Mr = 94, 38 and 32 kDa and has an optical spectrum dominated by a b-type cytochrome. The metal ion and nucleotide analysis revealed 0.5 g-atom Mo, 9.8 g-atom Fe and 1.96 mol GMP per tool of enzyme. Taken together, these data indicate that DMS dehydrogenase contains a bis(MGD)Mo cofactor. A comparison of the Nterminal amino acid sequence of DMS dehydrogenase revealed that the Mo-containing ct-subunit was most closely related to the c~-subunits of nitrate reductase (NarG) and selenate reductase (SerA). Similarly, the [~-subunit of DMS dehydrogenase was most closely related to the [3-subunits of nitrate reductase (NarH) and selenate reductase (SerB). Variable temperature X-band EPR spectra (120-2K) of 'as isolated' DMS dehydrogenase showed resonances arising from multiple redox centres, Mo(V), [3Fe-4S] +, [4Fe-4S] ÷. A pH dependent EPR study of the Mo(V) centre in lH20 and 2H20 reveals the presence of three Mo(V) species in equilibrium, Mo(V)-OH2, Mo(V)-X and Mo(V)-OH. Between pH6 and 8.2 the dominant species is Mo(V)-OH2 and Mo(V)-X is a minor component. X is probably the anion, chloride. Comparison of the rhombicity and anisotropy parameters for the Mo(V) species in DMS dehydrogenase with other Mo(V) centres in metalloproteins showed that it was most similar to the low pH nitrite spectrum of E. coli nitrate reductase (NarGHI). The spin Hamiltonian parameters (2.0158, 1.8870, 1.8620) for the [4Fe-4S] + cluster suggests the presence of histidine (N) coordination to iron in this cluster. It is suggested that this unusual [Fe-S] cluster may be associated with a histidine-cysteine rich sequence at the N-terminus of the ct-subunit of DMS dehydrogenase.

A fundamentális transzformáció és a referenciapont szerepe a hiányos szerződések elméletében (The role of basic transformation and reference point in the theory of incomplete contracts)

A cikk Oliver Hart és szerzőtársai modelljeinek következtetéseit hasonlítja össze Williamson tranzakciós költségekre vonatkozó nézeteivel. Megmutatja, hogy a két irányzat a vállalat vagy piac kérdéskörében más eszközöket használ, de hasonlóan érvel. Megismerkedhetünk Williamson Harttal szemben megfogalmazott azon kritikájával, hogy Hart modelljeiben az alkunak nincsenek tranzakciós költségei, illetve a kritika kritikájával is. Hart elképzeléseit támasztja alá a tulajdonjogi irányzaton belül nemrégiben kialakult referenciapont-elmélet, amely kísérleti lehetőségeket is nyújt a különböző feltételezések igazolására. ____ The article compares the conclusions from the models of Oliver Hart et al. with the views of Williamson on transaction costs. It shows that the two schools use different means on the question of the firm or the market, but similar reasoning. The author covers Williamson's criticism of Hart that there are no transaction costs in his models, and also the criticism of that criticism. Hart's notions are supported by the recently developed theory of reference point within the property-right trend, which offers chances of experimental proof of the various assumptions.

Essays in the Economics of Education

This dissertation is comprised of three essays in the economics of education. In the first essay, I examine how college students' major choice and major switching behavior responds to major-specific labor market shocks. The second essay explores the incidence and persistence of overeducation for workers in the United States. The final essay examines the role that students' cognitive and non-cognitive skills play in their transition from secondary to postsecondary education, and how the effect of these skills are moderated by race, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Hippocampal Transcriptomic and Proteomic Alterations in the BTBR Mouse Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are complex heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorders of an unclear etiology, and no cure currently exists. Prior studies have demonstrated that the black and tan, brachyury (BTBR) T+ Itpr3tf/J mouse strain displays a behavioral phenotype with ASD-like features. BTBR T+ Itpr3tf/J mice (referred to simply as BTBR) display deficits in social functioning, lack of communication ability, and engagement in stereotyped behavior. Despite extensive behavioral phenotypic characterization, little is known about the genes and proteins responsible for the presentation of the ASD-like phenotype in the BTBR mouse model. In this study, we employed bioinformatics techniques to gain a wide-scale understanding of the transcriptomic and proteomic changes associated with the ASD-like phenotype in BTBR mice. We found a number of genes and proteins to be significantly altered in BTBR mice compared to C57BL/6J (B6) control mice controls such as BDNF, Shank3, and ERK1, which are highly relevant to prior investigations of ASD. Furthermore, we identified distinct functional pathways altered in BTBR mice compared to B6 controls that have been previously shown to be altered in both mouse models of ASD, some human clinical populations, and have been suggested as a possible etiological mechanism of ASD, including "axon guidance" and "regulation of actin cytoskeleton." In addition, our wide-scale bioinformatics approach also discovered several previously unidentified genes and proteins associated with the ASD phenotype in BTBR mice, such as Caskin1, suggesting that bioinformatics could be an avenue by which novel therapeutic targets for ASD are uncovered. As a result, we believe that informed use of synergistic bioinformatics applications represents an invaluable tool for elucidating the etiology of complex disorders like ASD.

(Table T1) Initial water quality conditions for bioassay experiments during Nathaniel B. Palmer cruise NBP09-01 in the Amundsen Sea

Nutrient addition experiments were performed during the austral summer in the Amundsen Sea (Southern Ocean) to investigate the availability of organically bound iron (Fe) to the phytoplankton communities, as well as assess their response to Fe amendment. Changes in autotrophic biomass, pigment concentration, maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II, and nutrient concentration were recorded in response to the addition of dissolved free Fe (DFe) and Fe bound to different model ligands. Analysis of pigment concentrations indicated that the autotrophic community was dominated by the prymnesiophyte Phaeocystis antarctica throughout most of the Amundsen Sea, although diatoms dominated in two experiments conducted in the marginal ice zone. Few significant differences in bulk community biomass (particulate organic carbon, nitrogen, and chlorophyll a) were observed, relative to the controls, in treatments with Fe added alone or bound to the ligand phytic acid. In contrast, when Fe was bound to the ligand desferrioxamine B (DFB), decreases in the bulk biomass indices were observed. The concentration of the diatom accessory pigment fucoxanthin showed little response to Fe additions, while the concentration of the P. antarctica-specific pigment, 19'-hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin (19'-hex), decreased when Fe was added alone or bound to the model ligands. Lastly, differences in the nitrate:phosphate (NO3- :PO4**3-) utilization ratio were observed between the Fe-amended treatments, with Fe bound to DFB resulting in the lowest NO3- :PO4**3- uptake ratios (~ 10) and the remaining Fe treatments having higher NO3- :PO4**3- uptake ratios (~ 17). The data are discussed with respect to glacial inputs of Fe in the Amundsen Sea and the bioavailability of Fe. We suggest that the previously observed high NO3- :PO4**3- utilization ratio of P. antarctica is a consequence of its production of dissolved organic matter that acts as ligands and increases the bioavailability of Fe, thereby stimulating the uptake of NO3-.

Discussion about the validity of virtual practices in subjects in the radioccomunication area. Results of the educational experience

[EN]Nowadays we are living a virtual learning boom. Mainly, it is due to two facts: first, easy spreading of the knowledge and second, virtual learning is cheaper than classic instrumentation laboratories. This cost is even bigger in radiocommunication and high frequency area. In fact, time and time again there are more universities that give up offering the realization of laboratory practice. In the present report we propose a discussion about the increase of virtual practices when contact with instrumentation and circuits is basic. The experience of seven lecturers of the Communications Engineering Group (GIC) will be exposed.