University of California, Santa Cruz

About: University of California, Santa Cruz is a education organization based out in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Galaxy & Population. The organization has 15541 authors who have published 44120 publications receiving 2759983 citations. The organization is also known as: UCSC & UC, Santa Cruz.

The 2.5 m Telescope of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Abstract: We describe the design, construction, and performance of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey telescope located at Apache Point Observatory. The telescope is a modified two-corrector Ritchey-Chretien design with a 2.5 m, f/2.25 primary, a 1.08 m secondary, a Gascoigne astigmatism corrector, and one of a pair of interchangeable highly aspheric correctors near the focal plane, one for imaging and the other for spectroscopy. The final focal ratio is f/5. The telescope is instrumented by a wide-area, multiband CCD camera and a pair of fiber-fed double spectrographs. Novel features of the telescope include the following: (1) A 3° diameter (0.65 m) focal plane that has excellent image quality and small geometric distortions over a wide wavelength range (3000-10,600 A) in the imaging mode, and good image quality combined with very small lateral and longitudinal color errors in the spectroscopic mode. The unusual requirement of very low distortion is set by the demands of time-delay-and-integrate (TDI) imaging. (2) Very high precision motion to support open-loop TDI observations. (3) A unique wind baffle/enclosure construction to maximize image quality and minimize construction costs. The telescope had first light in 1998 May and began regular survey operations in 2000.

A sensorimotor account of vision and visual consciousness

Abstract: Many current neurophysiological, psychophysical, and psychological approaches to vision rest on the idea that when we see, the brain produces an internal representation of the world. The activation of this internal representation is assumed to give rise to the experience of seeing. The problem with this kind of approach is that it leaves unexplained how the existence of such a detailed internal representation might produce visual consciousness. An alternative proposal is made here. We propose that seeing is a way of acting. It is a particular way of exploring the environment. Activity in internal representations does not generate the experience of seeing. The outside world serves as its own, external, representation. The experience of seeing occurs when the organism masters what we call the governing laws of sensorimotor contingency. The advantage of this approach is that it provides a natural and principled way of accounting for visual consciousness, and for the differences in the perceived quality of sensory experience in the different sensory modalities. Several lines of empirical evidence are brought forward in support of the theory, in particular: evidence from experiments in sensorimotor adaptation, visual “filling in,” visual stability despite eye movements, change blindness, sensory substitution, and color perception.

Comprehensive molecular characterization of urothelial bladder carcinoma

Abstract: Urothelial carcinoma of the bladder is a common malignancy that causes approximately 150,000 deaths per year worldwide. To date, no molecularly targeted agents have been approved for the disease. As part of The Cancer Genome Atlas project, we report here an integrated analysis of 131 urothelial carcinomas to provide a comprehensive landscape of molecular alterations. There were statistically significant recurrent mutations in 32 genes, including multiple genes involved in cell Users may view, print, copy, download and text and data- mine the content in such documents, for the purposes of academic research, subject always to the full Conditions of use: http://www.nature.com/authors/editorial_policies/license.html#termsThis paper is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons. Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike license, and the online version of the paper is freely available to all readers.

The ENCODE (ENCyclopedia of DNA elements) Project

Abstract: The ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements (ENCODE) Project aims to identify all functional elements in the human genome sequence. The pilot phase of the Project is focused on a specified 30 megabases (∼1%) of the human genome sequence and is organized as an international consortium of computational and laboratory-based scientists working to develop and apply high-throughput approaches for detecting all sequence elements that confer biological function. The results of this pilot phase will guide future efforts to analyze the entire human genome.

The genetic landscape of a cell.

Abstract: A genome-scale genetic interaction map was constructed by examining 5.4 million gene-gene pairs for synthetic genetic interactions, generating quantitative genetic interaction profiles for ~75% of all genes in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A network based on genetic interaction profiles reveals a functional map of the cell in which genes of similar biological processes cluster together in coherent subsets, and highly correlated profiles delineate specific pathways to define gene function. The global network identifies functional cross-connections between all bioprocesses, mapping a cellular wiring diagram of pleiotropy. Genetic interaction degree correlated with a number of different gene attributes, which may be informative about genetic network hubs in other organisms. We also demonstrate that extensive and unbiased mapping of the genetic landscape provides a key for interpretation of chemical-genetic interactions and drug target identification.