The self-stimulated capillary jet

Inspired by a Savart’s pioneering work, we study the self-stimulated dynamics of a capillary jet. The feedback loop is realised by extracting surface perturbations from a section of the jet itself via a laser–photodiode pair, whose amplified signal drives an electromechanical actuator which, in turn, produces pressure perturbations at the exit chamber. Under specific conditions, this loop establishes phase-locked stimulation regimes that overcome the otherwise random natural breakup. For each laser position along the jet, the gain of the amplifier acts as a selector across a discrete set of observable frequencies. The main observed features are explained by a linear theory which combines the transfer function of each stage in the loop. Our findings are relevant to continuous inkjet technologies for the production of equally sized droplets

In Vivo Analysis of Trypanosoma cruzi Persistence Foci at Single-Cell Resolution

Infections with Trypanosoma cruzi are usually lifelong despite generating a strong adaptive immune response. Identifying the sites of parasite persistence is therefore crucial to understanding how T. cruzi avoids immune-mediated destruction. However, this is a major technical challenge, because the parasite burden during chronic infections is extremely low. Here, we describe an integrated approach involving comprehensive tissue processing, ex vivo imaging, and confocal microscopy, which allowed us to visualize infected host cells in murine tissue with exquisite sensitivity. Using bioluminescence-guided tissue sampling, with a detection level of 200 parasites, which we term mega-nests. In contrast, during the acute stage, when the total parasite burden is considerably higher and many cells are infected, nests containing >50 parasites are rarely found. In C3H/HeN mice, but not BALB/c mice, we identified skeletal muscle as a major site of persistence during the chronic stage, with most parasites being found in large mega-nests within the muscle fibers. Finally, we report that parasites are also frequently found in the skin during chronic murine infections, often in multiple infection foci. In addition to being a site of parasite persistence, this anatomical reservoir could play an important role in insect-mediated transmission and have implications for drug development.IMPORTANCETrypanosoma cruzi causes Chagas disease, the most important parasitic infection in Latin America. Major pathologies include severe damage to the heart and digestive tract, although symptoms do not usually appear until decades after infection. Research has been hampered by the complex nature of the disease and technical difficulties in locating the extremely low number of parasites. Here, using highly sensitive imaging technology, we reveal the sites of parasite persistence during chronic-stage infections of experimental mice at single-cell resolution. We show that parasites are frequently located in smooth muscle cells in the circular muscle layer of the colon and that skeletal muscle cells and the skin can also be important reservoirs. This information provides a framework for investigating how the parasite is able to survive as a lifelong infection, despite a vigorous immune response. It also informs drug development strategies by identifying tissue sites that must be accessed to achieve a curative outcome

Novel frontier in wildlife monitoring: Identification of small rodent species from fecal pellets using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS)

Small rodents are prevalent and functionally important across the world's biomes, making their monitoring salient for ecosystem management, conservation, forestry, and agriculture. There is a growing need for cost-effective and noninvasive methods for large-scale, intensive sampling. Fecal pellet counts readily provide relative abundance indices, and given suitable analytical methods, feces could also allow for the determination of multiple ecological and physiological variables, including community composition. In this context, we developed calibration models for rodent taxonomic determination using fecal near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (fNIRS). Our results demonstrate fNIRS as an accurate and robust method for predicting genus and species identity of five coexisting subarctic microtine rodent species. We show that sample exposure to weathering increases the method's accuracy, indicating its suitability for samples collected from the field. Diet was not a major determinant of species prediction accuracy in our samples, as diet exhibited large variation and overlap between species. fNIRS could also be applied across regions, as calibration models including samples from two regions provided a good prediction accuracy for both regions. We show fNIRS as a fast and cost-efficient high-throughput method for rodent taxonomic determination, with the potential for cross-regional calibrations and the use on field-collected samples. Importantly, appeal lies in the versatility of fNIRS. In addition to rodent population censuses, fNIRS can provide information on demography, fecal nutrients, stress hormones, and even disease. Given the development of such calibration models, fNIRS analytics could complement novel genetic methods and greatly support ecosystem- and interaction-based approaches to monitoring

Novel frontier in wildlife monitoring : Identification of small rodent species from fecal pellets using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS)

Small rodents are prevalent and functionally important across the world's biomes, making their monitoring salient for ecosystem management, conservation, forestry, and agriculture. There is a growing need for cost-effective and noninvasive methods for large-scale, intensive sampling. Fecal pellet counts readily provide relative abundance indices, and given suitable analytical methods, feces could also allow for the determination of multiple ecological and physiological variables, including community composition. In this context, we developed calibration models for rodent taxonomic determination using fecal near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (fNIRS). Our results demonstrate fNIRS as an accurate and robust method for predicting genus and species identity of five coexisting subarctic microtine rodent species. We show that sample exposure to weathering increases the method's accuracy, indicating its suitability for samples collected from the field. Diet was not a major determinant of species prediction accuracy in our samples, as diet exhibited large variation and overlap between species. fNIRS could also be applied across regions, as calibration models including samples from two regions provided a good prediction accuracy for both regions. We show fNIRS as a fast and cost-efficient high-throughput method for rodent taxonomic determination, with the potential for cross-regional calibrations and the use on field-collected samples. Importantly, appeal lies in the versatility of fNIRS. In addition to rodent population censuses, fNIRS can provide information on demography, fecal nutrients, stress hormones, and even disease. Given the development of such calibration models, fNIRS analytics could complement novel genetic methods and greatly support ecosystem- and interaction-based approaches to monitoring.Peer reviewe

Analysis of the backward bending modes in damped rotating beams

[EN] This article presents a study of the backward bending mode of a simply supported rotating Rayleigh beam with internal damping. The study analyses the natural frequency behaviour of the backward mode according to the internal viscous damping ratio, the slenderness of the beam and its spin speed. To date, the behaviour of the natural frequency of the backward mode is known to be a monotonically decreasing function with spin speed due to gyroscopic effects. In this article, however, it is shown that this behaviour of the natural frequency may not hold for certain damping and slenderness conditions, and reaches a minimum value (concave function) from which it begins to increase. Accordingly, the analytical expression of the spin speed for which the natural frequency of the backward mode attains the minimum value has been obtained. In addition, the internal damping ratio and slenderness intervals associated with such behaviour have been also provided.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades Agencia Estatal de Investigacion and the European Regional Development Fund (project TRA2017-84701-R), as well as Generalitat Valenciana (project Prometeo/2016/007) and European Commission through the project 'RUN2Rail - Innovative RUNning gear soluTiOns for new dependable, sustainable, intelligent and comfortable RAIL vehicles' (Horizon 2020 Shift2Rail JU call 2017, grant number 777564)Martínez Casas, J.; Denia Guzmán, FD.; Fayos Sancho, J.; Nadal, E.; Giner Navarro, J. (2019). Analysis of the backward bending modes in damped rotating beams. Advances in Mechanical Engineering. 11(4):1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1687814019840474S113114Zorzi, E. S., & Nelson, H. D. (1977). Finite Element Simulation of Rotor-Bearing Systems With Internal Damping. Journal of Engineering for Power, 99(1), 71-76. doi:10.1115/1.3446254Ku, D.-M. (1998). FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF WHIRL SPEEDS FOR ROTOR-BEARING SYSTEMS WITH INTERNAL DAMPING. Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 12(5), 599-610. doi:10.1006/mssp.1998.0159Dimentberg, M. F. (2005). Vibration of a rotating shaft with randomly varying internal damping. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 285(3), 759-765. doi:10.1016/j.jsv.2004.11.025Vatta, F., & Vigliani, A. (2008). Internal damping in rotating shafts. Mechanism and Machine Theory, 43(11), 1376-1384. doi:10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2007.12.009Rosales, M. B., & Filipich, C. P. (1993). Dynamic Stability of a Spinning Beam Carrying an Axial Dead Load. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 163(2), 283-294. doi:10.1006/jsvi.1993.1165Mazzei, A. J., & Scott, R. A. (2003). Effects of internal viscous damping on the stability of a rotating shaft driven through a universal joint. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 265(4), 863-885. doi:10.1016/s0022-460x(02)01256-7Ehrich, F. F. (1964). Shaft Whirl Induced by Rotor Internal Damping. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 31(2), 279-282. doi:10.1115/1.3629598Vance, J. M., & Lee, J. (1974). Stability of High Speed Rotors With Internal Friction. Journal of Engineering for Industry, 96(3), 960-968. doi:10.1115/1.3438468Vila, P., Baeza, L., Martínez-Casas, J., & Carballeira, J. (2014). Rail corrugation growth accounting for the flexibility and rotation of the wheel set and the non-Hertzian and non-steady-state effects at contact patch. Vehicle System Dynamics, 52(sup1), 92-108. doi:10.1080/00423114.2014.881513Glocker, C., Cataldi-Spinola, E., & Leine, R. I. (2009). Curve squealing of trains: Measurement, modelling and simulation. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 324(1-2), 365-386. doi:10.1016/j.jsv.2009.01.048Bauer, H. F. (1980). Vibration of a rotating uniform beam, part I: Orientation in the axis of rotation. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 72(2), 177-189. doi:10.1016/0022-460x(80)90651-3Shiau, T. N., & Hwang, J. L. (1993). Generalized Polynomial Expansion Method for the Dynamic Analysis of Rotor-Bearing Systems. Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, 115(2), 209-217. doi:10.1115/1.2906696Hili, M. A., Fakhfakh, T., & Haddar, M. (2006). Vibration analysis of a rotating flexible shaft–disk system. Journal of Engineering Mathematics, 57(4), 351-363. doi:10.1007/s10665-006-9060-3Young, T. H., Shiau, T. N., & Kuo, Z. H. (2007). Dynamic stability of rotor-bearing systems subjected to random axial forces. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 305(3), 467-480. doi:10.1016/j.jsv.2007.04.016Wang, J., Hurskainen, V.-V., Matikainen, M. K., Sopanen, J., & Mikkola, A. (2017). On the dynamic analysis of rotating shafts using nonlinear superelement and absolute nodal coordinate formulations. Advances in Mechanical Engineering, 9(11), 168781401773267. doi:10.1177/1687814017732672Lee, C.-W. (1993). Vibration Analysis of Rotors. Solid Mechanics and Its Applications. doi:10.1007/978-94-015-8173-8Genta, G. (1999). Vibration of Structures and Machines. doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-1450-2Cheng, C. C., & Lin, J. K. (2003). Modelling a rotating shaft subjected to a high-speed moving force. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 261(5), 955-965. doi:10.1016/s0022-460x(02)01374-

Chromatin targeting of the RNF12/RLIM E3 ubiquitin ligase controls transcriptional responses

Protein ubiquitylation regulates key biological processes including transcription. This is exemplified by the E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF12/RLIM, which controls developmental gene expression by ubiquitylating the REX1 transcription factor and is mutated in an X-linked intellectual disability disorder. However, the precise mechanisms by which ubiquitylation drives specific transcriptional responses are not known. Here, we show that RNF12 is recruited to specific genomic locations via a consensus sequence motif, which enables co-localisation with REX1 substrate at gene promoters. Surprisingly, RNF12 chromatin recruitment is achieved via a non-catalytic basic region and comprises a previously unappreciated N-terminal autoinhibitory mechanism. Furthermore, RNF12 chromatin targeting is critical for REX1 ubiquitylation and downstream RNF12-dependent gene regulation. Our results demonstrate a key role for chromatin in regulation of the RNF12-REX1 axis and provide insight into mechanisms by which protein ubiquitylation enables programming of gene expression.</p

Chromatin targeting of the RNF12/RLIM E3 ubiquitin ligase controls transcriptional responses

Protein ubiquitylation regulates key biological processes including transcription. This is exemplified by the E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF12/RLIM, which controls developmental gene expression by ubiquitylating the REX1 transcription factor and is mutated in an X-linked intellectual disability disorder. However, the precise mechanisms by which ubiquitylation drives specific transcriptional responses are not known. Here, we show that RNF12 is recruited to specific genomic locations via a consensus sequence motif, which enables co-localisation with REX1 substrate at gene promoters. Surprisingly, RNF12 chromatin recruitment is achieved via a non-catalytic basic region and comprises a previously unappreciated N-terminal autoinhibitory mechanism. Furthermore, RNF12 chromatin targeting is critical for REX1 ubiquitylation and downstream RNF12-dependent gene regulation. Our results demonstrate a key role for chromatin in regulation of the RNF12-REX1 axis and provide insight into mechanisms by which protein ubiquitylation enables programming of gene expression.</p

Comparison of hemodynamic and nutritional parameters between older persons practicing regular physical activity, nonsmokers and ex-smokers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sedentary lifestyle combined with smoking, contributes to the development of a set of chronic diseases and to accelerating the course of aging. The aim of the study was to compare the hemodynamic and nutritional parameters between elderly persons practicing regular physical activity, nonsmokers and ex-smokers.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The sample was comprised of 40 elderly people practicing regular physical activity for 12 months, divided into a Nonsmoker Group and an Ex-smoker Group. During a year four trimestrial evaluations were performed, in which the hemodynamic (blood pressure, heart rate- HR and VO₂) and nutritional status (measured by body mass index) data were collected. The paired t-test and t-test for independent samples were applied in the intragroup and intergroup analysis, respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean age of the groups was 68.35 years, with the majority of individuals in the Nonsmoker Group being women (n = 15) and the Ex-smoker Group composed of men (n = 11). In both groups the variables studied were within the limits of normality for the age. HR was diminished in the Nonsmoker Group in comparison with the Ex-smoker Group (p = 0.045) between the first and last evaluation. In the intragroup analysis it was verified that after one year of exercise, there was significant reduction in the HR in the Nonsmoker Group (p = 0.002) and a significant increase in VO₂for the Ex-smoker Group (p = 0.010). There are no significant differences between the hemodynamic and nutritional conditions in both groups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In elderly persons practicing regular physical activity, it was observed that the studied variables were maintained over the course of a year, and there was no association with the history of smoking, except for HR and VO₂.</p