121 research outputs found
Generalized Involution Models for Wreath Products
We prove that if a finite group has a generalized involution model, as
defined by Bump and Ginzburg, then the wreath product also has a
generalized involution model. This extends the work of Baddeley concerning
involution models for wreath products. As an application, we construct a
Gelfand model for wreath products of the form with abelian, and
give an alternate proof of a recent result due to Adin, Postnikov, and Roichman
describing a particularly elegant Gelfand model for the wreath product \ZZ_r
\wr S_n. We conclude by discussing some notable properties of this
representation and its decomposition into irreducible constituents, proving a
conjecture of Adin, Roichman, and Postnikov's.Comment: 29 page
Determination of Inter-Phase Line Tension in Langmuir Films
A Langmuir film is a molecularly thin film on the surface of a fluid; we
study the evolution of a Langmuir film with two co-existing fluid phases driven
by an inter-phase line tension and damped by the viscous drag of the underlying
subfluid. Experimentally, we study an 8CB Langmuir film via digitally-imaged
Brewster Angle Microscopy (BAM) in a four-roll mill setup which applies a
transient strain and images the response. When a compact domain is stretched by
the imposed strain, it first assumes a bola shape with two tear-drop shaped
reservoirs connected by a thin tether which then slowly relaxes to a circular
domain which minimizes the interfacial energy of the system. We process the
digital images of the experiment to extract the domain shapes. We then use one
of these shapes as an initial condition for the numerical solution of a
boundary-integral model of the underlying hydrodynamics and compare the
subsequent images of the experiment to the numerical simulation. The numerical
evolutions first verify that our hydrodynamical model can reproduce the
observed dynamics. They also allow us to deduce the magnitude of the line
tension in the system, often to within 1%. We find line tensions in the range
of 200-600 pN; we hypothesize that this variation is due to differences in the
layer depths of the 8CB fluid phases.Comment: See (http://www.math.hmc.edu/~ajb/bola/) for related movie
Anxiety is associated with diminished exercise performance and quality of life in severe emphysema: a cross-sectional study
Background: Anxiety in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with selfreported
disability. The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is an association between anxiety and
functional measures, quality of life and dyspnea.
Methods: Data from 1828 patients with moderate to severe emphysema enrolled in the National Emphysema
Treatment Trial (NETT), collected prior to rehabilitation and randomization, were used in linear regression models to
test the association between anxiety symptoms, measured by the Spielberger State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)
and: (a) six-minute walk distance test (6 MWD), (b) cycle ergometry peak workload, (c) St. Georges Respiratory
Questionnaire (SRGQ), and (d) UCSD Shortness of Breath Questionnaire (SOBQ), after controlling for potential
confounders including age, gender, FEV1 (% predicted), DLCO (% predicted), and the Beck Depression Inventory
(BDI).
Results: Anxiety was significantly associated with worse functional capacity [6 MWD (B = -0.944, p < .001),
ergometry peak workload (B = -.087, p = .04)], quality of life (B = .172, p < .001) and shortness of breath (B = .180,
p < .001). Regression coefficients show that a 10 point increase in anxiety score is associated with a mean decrease
in 6 MWD of 9 meters, a 1 Watt decrease in peak exercise workload, and an increase of almost 2 points on both
the SGRQ and SOBQ.
Conclusion: In clinically stable patients with moderate to severe emphysema, anxiety is associated with worse
exercise performance, quality of life and shortness of breath, after accounting for the influence of demographic
and physiologic factors known to affect these outcomes.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91944/1/2010 RR Anxiety is associated with diminished exercise performance and quality of life in severe emphysema.pd
Conservation implications of the mating system of the Pampa Hermosa landrace of peach palm analyzed with microsatellite markers
Peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) is cultivated by many indigenous and traditional communities from Amazonia to Central America for its edible fruits, and is currently important for its heart-of-palm. The objective of this study was to investigate the mating system of peach palm, as this is important for conservation and breeding. Eight microsatellite loci were used to genotype 24 open-pollinated progenies from three populations of the Pampa Hermosa landrace maintained in a progeny trial for genetic improvement. Both the multi-locus outcrossing rates (0.95 to 0.99) and the progeny level multi-locus outcrossing rates (0.9 to 1.0) were high, indicating that peach palm is predominantly allogamous. The outcrossing rates among relatives were significantly different from zero (0.101 to 0.202), providing evidence for considerable biparental inbreeding within populations, probably due to farmers planting seeds of a small number of open-pollinated progenies in the same plot. The correlations of paternity estimates were low (0.051 to 0.112), suggesting a large number of pollen sources (9 to 20) participating in pollination of individual fruit bunches. Effective population size estimates suggest that current germplasm collections are insufficient for long-term ex situ conservation. As with most underutilized crops, on farm conservation is the most important component of an integrated conservation strategy
Hypothyroidism attenuates protein tyrosine nitration, oxidative stress and renal damage induced by ischemia and reperfusion: effect unrelated to antioxidant enzymes activities
BACKGROUND: It has been established that hypothyroidism protects rats against renal ischemia and reperfusion (IR) oxidative damage. However, it is not clear if hypothyroidism is able to prevent protein tyrosine nitration, an index of nitrosative stress, induced by IR or if antioxidant enzymes have involved in this protective effect. In this work it was explored if hypothyroidism is able to prevent the increase in nitrosative and oxidative stress induced by IR. In addition the activity of the antioxidant enzymes catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase was studied. Control and thyroidectomized (HTX) rats were studied 24 h of reperfusion after 60 min ischemia. METHODS: Male Wistar rats weighing 380 ± 22 g were subjected to surgical thyroidectomy. Rats were studied 15 days after surgery. Euthyroid sham-operated rats were used as controls (CT). Both groups of rats underwent a right kidney nephrectomy and suffered a 60 min left renal ischemia with 24 h of reperfusion. Rats were divided in four groups: CT, HTX, IR and HTX+IR. Rats were sacrificed and samples of plasma and kidney were obtained. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine were measured in blood plasma. Kidney damage was evaluated by histological analysis. Oxidative stress was measured by immunohistochemical localization of protein carbonyls and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal modified proteins. The protein carbonyl content was measured using antibodies against dinitrophenol (DNP)-modified proteins. Nitrosative stress was measured by immunohistochemical analysis of 3-nitrotyrosine modified proteins. The activity of the antioxidant enzymes catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase was measured by spectrophotometric methods. Multiple comparisons were performed with ANOVA followed by Bonferroni t test. RESULTS: The histological damage and the rise in plasma creatinine and BUN induced by IR were significantly lower in HTX+IR group. The increase in protein carbonyls and in 3-nitrotyrosine and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal modified proteins was prevented in HTX+IR group. IR-induced decrease in renal antioxidant enzymes was essentially not prevented by HTX in HTX+IR group. CONCLUSION: Hypothyroidism was able to prevent not only oxidative but also nitrosative stress induced by IR. In addition, the antioxidant enzymes catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase seem not to play a protective role in this experimental model
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