Explore the vast range of titles available.

Exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) is associated with a range of neurodevelopmental disorders in human populations. In rodent models, prenatal TRAP exposure increased depressive behaviors and increased brain microglial activity. To identify cellular mechanisms, we examined adult neurogenesis and the blood–brain barrier (BBB) in relation to cognition and motivated behaviors in rats that were exposed to a nano-sized TRAP subfraction from gestation into adulthood. At age 5 months, exposed male rats had 70% fewer newly generated neurons in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus. Microglia were activated in DG and CA1 subfields (35% more Iba1). The BBB was altered, with a 75% decrease of the tight junction protein ZO-1 in the CA1 layer, and twofold more iron deposits, a marker of microhemorrhages. The exposed rats had impaired contextual memory (novel object in context), reduced food-seeking behavior, and increased depressive behaviors (forced swim). Deficits of de novo neurogenesis were inversely correlated with depressive behavior, whereas increased microbleeds were inversely correlated with deficits in contextual memory. These findings give the first evidence that prenatal and early life exposure to TRAP impairs adult hippocampal neurogenesis and increases microbleeds in association with behavioral deficits.

Delamination is a well-known defect mode that can arise in the manufacturing process of laminated composite plates. Due to the importance of analyzing the destructive effects of delamination on the mechanical behavior of composite plates, the flexural analysis of circular laminated composite plates with circular delamination is presented here. The governing equilibrium equations of laminated plates are first determined using third-order shear deformation theory. Both the linear and geometrically nonlinear strain states are considered, and the variational approach with a moving boundary is employed to derive the equilibrium equations. The governing equations in terms of the displacement field are then solved using the Galerkin method and the spectral homotopy analysis method to obtain the linear and nonlinear strain states, respectively. The effect of the variations of the elastic material properties on the strain energy release rate is also comprehensively studied. The results of the present study are consistent with the results of other methods found in the literature.

Magnetic Rotational Instability (MRI) can not performed well in accretion disks with strong magnetic field. Studies have indicated a new type of instability called thermomagnetic instability (TMI) in systems where Nernst coefficient and gradient temperature were considered. Nernst coefficient would appear if Boltzman equation could be expanded through ω B e (cyclotron frequency). However, the growth rate of this instability was two magnitude orders below MRI growth ( Ω k ), which could not act the same as MRI. Therefor, a higher growth rate of unstable modes was needed. In this paper, rotating viscid hot plasma with strong magnetic filed was studied. Firstly, a constant alpha viscosity was studied and then a temperature sensitive viscosity. The results showed that the temperature sensitive viscosity would be able to increase the growth rate of TMI modes significantly, hence capable of acting similar to MRI.

In this paper, the influence of the excitation angle on the Endurance Time (ET) analysis of skewed slab-on-girder bridges is studied. The excitation of the structure due to the critical angle produces maximum seismic responses that are sometimes significantly higher than the average. The modeled bridges are of slab-on-girder type that are typically used as highway bridges. The bridge models have skew angles of 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 degrees. The ET excitations exerted on structures cover a broad range of hazard levels. The results provide some insight with regard to choosing multiple excitation angles so as to balance computational costs and retain acceptable accuracy for practical design purposes. Sensitivity of Life-Cycle Cost (LCC) to skewness is also studied.

Genetic variation of striped stem borer Chilo suppressalis populations in Guilan and Mazandaran provinces in Iran was studied in 2010 by means of RAPD markers. Collected 45 samples from 19 locations (representing 17 counties in Guilan province and 2 counties in Mazandaran province) were classified into four groups of populations: three population groups corresponding to the west, centre, and east of Guilan and one population group from the west of Mazandaran. RAPD PCR analysis showed that Chilo suppressalis populations in Mazandaran are genetically different from the Guilan populations while the western populations of Guilan are genetically separated from the two other populations. The central and the eastern populations of Guilan exhibit some similarities with those of Mazandaran and the similarities are more obvious between the eastern populations of Guilan and the western population of Mazandaran. The population from the centre of Guilan showed the highest level of intra-population genetic variation possibly due to wider rice cultivated area and/or due to higher sample size. The results showed a high level of genetic variation in Chilo suppressalis populations in the two provinces in Iran. In spite of the model species is a widely distributed pest, the study indicated that the samples originated in populations with a different genetic make-up.

Abstract Cigarette smoke and air pollution are strong risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease and other age-associated chronic diseases. While the main effects of these environmental toxicants are well documented, less is known about their interactions with ApoE alleles and gender. This study investigates the pathways of interactions between of sex, ApoE genotype, and environmental toxicants contribute to aging and disease. We co-related humans phenotypic and genomic data with genome-wide transcriptomic data from male and female Apoe transgenic mice exposed to air pollution. Results from the human cohort show that APOE4, sex and smoking are risk factors for mortality that interact with each other. Further, APOE4 decreases the likelihood of being a long-lived smoker (64%), but only in females. We also find that smoking accelerates cognitive aging, but only in APOE4 homozygous females. To complement our human studies, we applied Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis to identify gene networks differentially expressed in mice as a function of sex, Apoe, and/or environmental toxins. Principle results from these studies included two gene modules with significant interactions among sex, Apoe and air pollution. The “turquoise” module was enriched with longevity-associated pathways, while the “brown” module contained nervous system-associated signaling pathways. Mouse gene hubs had high overlap with 215 previously-defined polygenic genes for predicting long-lived human survivors. This similarity suggests the shared gene modules may underlie a mechanism for differences in lifespan and cognitive aging. This study emphasizes the role of APOE in male vs. female cognitive aging and mortality differences on responding to environmental toxins.

Strip tearing during cold rolling process has always been considered among the main concerns for steel companies. Several works have been done so far regarding the examination of the issue. In this paper, experimental data from cold rolling tandem mill is used for detecting strip tearing. Sensors are placed across the cold rolling tandem mill. They receive information on parameters (such as angular velocity of the rolls, voltage and the electrical current of electrical motors driving rolls, roll gap, and strip tension force between rolls) directly from the cold rolling tandem mill and save as files. The information included two modes: perfect rolling and ruptured rolling. A neural network was designed by means of MATLAB software and, then, trained using the information from files. Finally, the neural network was examined by new data. It was concluded that neural network has high accuracy in distinguishing between perfect and defected rolling.

Summary Epigenetics has hitherto been studied and understood largely at the level of individual organisms. Here, we report a multi-faceted investigation of DNA methylation across 11,117 samples from 176 different species. We performed an unbiased clustering of individual cytosines into 55 modules and identified 31 modules related to primary traits including age, species lifespan, sex, adult species weight, tissue type and phylogenetic order. Analysis of the correlation between DNA methylation and species allowed us to construct phyloepigenetic trees for different tissues that parallel the phylogenetic tree. In addition, while some stable cytosines reflect phylogenetic signatures, others relate to age and lifespan, and in many cases responding to anti-aging interventions in mice such as caloric restriction and ablation of growth hormone receptors. Insights uncovered by this investigation have important implications for our understanding of the role of epigenetics in mammalian evolution, aging and lifespan. Competing Interest Statement SH is a founder of the non-profit Epigenetic Clock Development Foundation which plans to license several patents from his employer UC Regents. These patents list SH and JE as inventors. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.