1,438 research outputs found
Characterization of a reproducible model of fracture healing in mice using an open femoral osteotomy
Purpose:
The classic fracture model, described by Bonnarens and Einhorn in 1984, enlists a blunt guillotine to generate a closed fracture in a pre-stabilized rodent femur. However, in less experienced hands, this technique yields considerable variability in fracture pattern and requires highly-specialized equipment. This study describes a reproducible and low-cost model of mouse fracture healing using an open femoral osteotomy.
Methods:
Femur fractures were produced in skeletally mature male and female mice using an open femoral osteotomy after intramedullary stabilization. Mice were recovered for up to 28 days prior to analysis with microradiographs, histomorphometry, a novel μCT methodology, and biomechanical torsion testing at weekly intervals.
Results:
Eight mice were excluded due to complications (8/193, 4.1%), including unacceptable fracture pattern (2/193, 1.0%). Microradiographs showed progression of the fracture site to mineralized callus by 14 days and remodelling 28 days after surgery. Histomorphometry from 14 to 28 days revealed decreased cartilage area and maintained bone area. μCT analysis demonstrated a reduction in mineral surface from 14 to 28 days, stable mineral volume, decreased strut number, and increased strut thickness. Torsion testing at 21 days showed that fractured femurs had 61% of the ultimate torque, 63% of the stiffness, and similar twist to failure when compared to unfractured contralateral femurs.
Conclusions:
The fracture model described herein, an open femoral osteotomy, demonstrated healing comparable to that reported using closed techniques. This simple model could be used in future research with improved reliability and reduced costs compared to the current options
Dark Energy and Extending the Geodesic Equations of Motion: Its Construction and Experimental Constraints
With the discovery of Dark Energy, , there is now a universal
length scale, , associated with the
universe that allows for an extension of the geodesic equations of motion. In
this paper, we will study a specific class of such extensions, and show that
contrary to expectations, they are not automatically ruled out by either
theoretical considerations or experimental constraints. In particular, we show
that while these extensions affect the motion of massive particles, the motion
of massless particles are not changed; such phenomena as gravitational lensing
remain unchanged. We also show that these extensions do not violate the
equivalence principal, and that because Mpc, a
specific choice of this extension can be made so that effects of this extension
are not be measurable either from terrestrial experiments, or through
observations of the motion of solar system bodies. A lower bound for the only
parameter used in this extension is set.Comment: 19 pages. This is the published version of the first half of
arXiv:0711.3124v2 with corrections include
Genetic partitioning of interleukin-6 signalling in mice dissociates Stat3 from Smad3-mediated lung fibrosis
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal disease that is unresponsive to current therapies and characterized by excessive collagen deposition and subsequent fibrosis. While inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-6, are elevated in IPF, the molecular mechanisms that underlie this disease are incompletely understood, although the development of fibrosis is believed to depend on canonical transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signalling. We examined bleomycin-induced inflammation and fibrosis in mice carrying a mutation in the shared IL-6 family receptor gp130. Using genetic complementation, we directly correlate the extent of IL-6-mediated, excessive Stat3 activity with inflammatory infiltrates in the lung and the severity of fibrosis in corresponding gp130757F mice. The extent of fibrosis was attenuated in B lymphocyte-deficient gp130757F;µMT−/− compound mutant mice, but fibrosis still occurred in their Smad3−/− counterparts consistent with the capacity of excessive Stat3 activity to induce collagen 1α1 gene transcription independently of canonical TGF-β/Smad3 signalling. These findings are of therapeutic relevance, since we confirmed abundant STAT3 activation in fibrotic lungs from IPF patients and showed that genetic reduction of Stat3 protected mice from bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis
The Isospin Makeup of the Giant Resonances from (p,n) Reaction Studies at Intermediate Energies
This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant PHY 75-00289 and Indiana Universit
Electroweak Baryogenesis in the Next to Minimal Supersymmetric Model
In the electroweak phase transition there arises the problem of baryon number
washout by sphaleron transitions, which can be avoided if the phase transition
is strongly enough first order. The minimal supersymmetric standard model has
just two Higgs doublets H1 and H2, while the next to minimal model, NMSSM, has
an additional singlet, N, this latter giving rise to the helpful feature that
the Higgs potential contains a tree level trilinear field term. We use the
tunneling criterion for the existence of a first order electroweak phase
change. A quantitative statistical analysis indicates that with parameters of
the NMSSM satisfying the experimental constraints a strong first order phase
change occurs in about 50% of cases.Comment: 15 pages, plain LaTe
Strong Spin-Flip Transitions in (p,n) Reactions
This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant PHY 76-84033 and Indiana Universit
Magnetic Phases of Electron-Doped Manganites
We study the anisotropic magnetic structures exhibited by electron-doped
manganites using a model which incorporates the double-exchange between orbital
ly degenerate electrons and the super-exchange between
electrons with realistic values of the Hund's coupling(), the
super-exchange coupling(), and the bandwidth(). We look at the
relative stabilities of the G, C and A type antiferromagnetic ph ases. In
particular we find that the G-phase is stable for low electron doping as seen
in experiments. We find good agreement with the experimentally observed
magnetic phase diagrams of electron-doped manganites
() such as NdSrMnO, PrSrMnO,
and SmCaMnO. We can also explain the experimentally
observed orbital structures of the C a nd A phases.
We also extend our calculation for electron-doped bilayer manganites of the
form RAMnO and predict that the C-phase will be
absent in t hese systems due to their reduced dimensionality.Comment: 7 .ps files included. To appear in Phys. Rev. B (Feb 2001
Continuous loading of a magnetic trap
We have realized a scheme for continuous loading of a magnetic trap (MT).
^{52}Cr atoms are continuously captured and cooled in a magneto-optical trap
(MOT). Optical pumping to a metastable state decouples atoms from the cooling
light. Due to their high magnetic moment (6 Bohr magnetons), low-field seeking
metastable atoms are trapped in the magnetic quadrupole field provided by the
MOT. Limited by inelastic collisions between atoms in the MOT and in the MT, we
load 10^8 metastable atoms at a rate of 10^8 atoms/s below 100 microkelvin into
the MT. After loading we can perform optical repumping to realize a MT of
ground state chromium atoms.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, version 2, modified references, included
additional detailed information, minor changes in figure 3 and in tex
An exact solution to determination of an open orbit
We present an exact solution of the equations for orbit determination of a
two body system in a hyperbolic or parabolic motion. In solving this problem,
we extend the method employed by Asada, Akasaka and Kasai (AAK) for a binary
system in an elliptic orbit. The solutions applicable to each of elliptic,
hyperbolic and parabolic orbits are obtained by the new approach, and they are
all expressed in an explicit form, remarkably, only in terms of elementary
functions. We show also that the solutions for an open orbit are recovered by
making a suitable transformation of the AAK solution for an elliptic case.Comment: 28 pages, text improved, references added; version accepted by
Celestial Mec
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