Fabrication of mesoscale topographical gradients in bulk titanium and their use in injection moulding

Fabrication methods for titanium substrates exhibiting continuous micro and nano scale arrays, with increasing feature heights over the length of the array are reported. The resultant feature heights spanned 0–2 μm. Patterned gradient arrays of circular features with diameters of: 500 nm, 1 μm and 2 μm, spaced by twice the diameter were manufactured by the process using specially prepared titanium substrates. Patterns were exposed by electron beam lithography and the length of the patterned arrays was 15 mm or 20 mm. This work presents two selectivity amplification processes to achieve a gradient of feature heights ranging over the titanium array after consecutive reactive ion etching processes. The first, route A: a HSQ on Ti, gradient amplification process. The second, route B, a SiO2 layer amplification transfer into Ti. The crucial initial gradient component deposited for the amplification process for both routes was a diffusion limited plasma polymerised hexane gradient. Etching using respective reactive ion etch chemistries for each gradient transfer through the various selectivity amplification layers (employing consecutive etch steps, in this way) enables a dual amplification for each route to manufacture. The original gradient is transferred into titanium as a function of the sum of the respective selectivities between the materials, using the appropriate dry etch plasma conditions. The substrates henceforth are referred to as inlays, and were tested for use as a high throughput platform for polymer replication by injection moulding. It is envisaged that the fabrication methodology and resultant topographies have use in a range of engineering applications. The overall selectivity to Ti for polymerised hexane is increased by more than 20 times using each dual amplification process

Collaborative Research Opportunities with Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine

This presentation offers an overview of the research conducted at the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. The presentation was part of a retreat mini-symposium entitled: Collaborative Research Opportunities with Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine (TCSVM)

Ethnobotanical study of some medicinal plants from tehsil BudhaL, District Rajouri, (Jammu and Kashmir)

An ethno-botanical survey was carried out in Tehsil Budhal of District Rajouri for documentation and information from local tribal communities (Gujjar and Bakerwals) about the ethno-medicines uses of plants. The indigenous knowledge of local uses of plants by these tribal communities was collected through personal interviews during field of this hilly and far flung Tehsil of Jammu and Kashmir. Most of the ethno-medicinal knowledge about the local uses of the plants was poorly known by the locals of this hilly area because of the elders of this region died along the traditional knowledge of the plants as they failed to document or communicate the same to their offspring due to lack of education and writing skill. I made extensive survey and trips to reach the head men and oldest persons of these communities in the different villages of this Tehsil for gathering the long-hidden indigenous knowledge. This study is one of its kinds in this hilly and remotest Tehsil of Jammu and Kashmir State. While interviewing the tribal, they got delighted in expressing their indigenous knowledge about the local uses of plants in this area

Effects of sand-shale anisotropy on amplitude variation with angle (AVA) modelling: The Sawan Gas Field (Pakistan) as a key case-study for South Asia's sedimentary basins

Amplitude variation with angle (AVA) is a technique widely used in the characterisation of hydrocarbon reservoirs and assumes the Earth’s crust to be an isotropic medium. Yet, anisotropy is ubiquitous in stratigraphic sequences and has first-order effects on seismic AVA responses when investigating subsurface prospects. This work analyses the effects of anisotropic strata on AVA responses using the Lower Goru Formation, middle Indus basin (Pakistan) as a case study. In the study area, shale intervals are interbedded with reservoir sands of the Sawan gas field. Shales in this field form laminae or are dispersed within reservoir sands, making the Lower Goru Formation an example of a vertically transversely isotropic (VTI) medium. In this work, we calculate the effective (saturated) mechanical properties of the Lower Goru Formation based on rock physics templates; the Backus (1962) average typically designed for layered media, combined with the empirical relations of Brown and Korringa (1975) and Wood (1955). The input data used in our rock physics modelling is based on detailed petrophysical analyses of well data. Using the saturated effective mechanical properties of the Lower Goru Formation, we generate angle-dependent reflection coefficient curves (and seismic AVA responses) based on exact and approximate solutions, for both isotropic and anisotropic reservoir scenarios. Our results suggest that the effects of lithological anisotropy are more pronounced in places with thick shale beds within reservoir sands. Conversely, angle-dependent reflection curves, and seismic AVA responses based on isotropic or anisotropic cases, give similar solutions in the presence of thin shale beds. As a corollary of this work, we present a Bayesian inversion method for the estimation of porosity in VTI media

In silico Proteome-wide Amino aCid and Elemental Composition (PACE) Analysis of Expression Proteomics Data Provides A Fingerprint of Dominant Metabolic Processes

AbstractProteome-wide Amino aCid and Elemental composition (PACE) analysis is a novel and informative way of interrogating the proteome. The PACE approach consists of in silico decomposition of proteins detected and quantified in a proteomics experiment into 20 amino acids and five elements (C, H, N, O and S), with protein abundances converted to relative abundances of amino acids and elements. The method is robust and very sensitive; it provides statistically reliable differentiation between very similar proteomes. In addition, PACE provides novel insights into proteome-wide metabolic processes, occurring, e.g., during cell starvation. For instance, both Escherichia coli and Synechocystis down-regulate sulfur-rich proteins upon sulfur deprivation, but E. coli preferentially down-regulates cysteine-rich proteins while Synechocystis mainly down-regulates methionine-rich proteins. Due to its relative simplicity, flexibility, generality and wide applicability, PACE analysis has the potential of becoming a standard analytical tool in proteomics

Effect of gender on strength gains after isometric exercise coupled with electromyographic biofeedback in knee osteoarthritis: A preliminary study

AbstractObjectiveThe objective of this trial was to evaluate the effect of gender on strength gains after five week training programme that consisted of isometric exercise coupled with electromyographic biofeedback to the quadriceps muscle.Materials and methodsForty-three (20 men and 23 women) patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), were placed into two groups based on their gender. Both groups performed isometric exercise coupled with electromyographic biofeedback for five days a week for five weeks.ResultsBoth groups reported gains in muscle strength after five week training. However, the difference was found to be statistically insignificant between the two groups (P=0.224).ConclusionThe results suggest that gender did not affect gains in muscle strength by isometric exercise coupled with electromyographic biofeedback in patients with knee OA

Molecular mechanism of photoperiod sensing

ELF3 and GI are two important components of the Arabidopsis circadian clock. They are not only essential for the oscillator function but are also pivotal in mediating light inputs to the oscillator. Lack of either results in a defective oscillator causing severely compromised output pathways, such as photoperiodic flowering and hypocotyl elongation. Although single loss of function mutants of ELF3 and GI have been well-studied, their genetic interaction remains unclear. We generated an elf3 gi double mutant to study their genetic relationship in clock-controlled growth and phase transition phenotypes. We found that ELF3 and GI repress growth during the night and the day, respectively. We also provide evidence that ELF3, for which so far only a growth inhibitory role has been reported, can also act as a growth promoter under certain conditions. Finally, circadian clock assays revealed that ELF3 and GI are essential Zeitnehmers that enable the oscillator to synchronize the endogenous cellular mechanisms to external environmental signals. In their absence, the circadian oscillator fails to synchronize to the light dark cycles even under diurnal conditions. Consequently, clock-mediated photoperiod-responsive growth and development is completely lost in plants lacking both genes, suggesting that ELF3 and GI together convey photoperiod sensing to the central oscillator. Since ELF3 and GI are conserved across flowering plants and represent important breeding and domestication targets, our data highlight the possibility of developing photoperiod-insensitive crops by manipulating the combination of these two key genes

Photoperiod sensing of the circadian clock is controlled by EARLY FLOWERING 3 and GIGANTEA

ELF3 and GI are two important components of the Arabidopsis circadian clock. They are not on-ly essential for the oscillator function but are also pivotal in mediating light inputs to the oscillator. Lack of either results in a defective oscillator causing severely compromised output pathways, such as photoperiodic flowering and hypocotyl elongation. Although single loss of function mu-tants of ELF3 and GI have been well-studied, their genetic interaction remains unclear. We gen-erated an elf3 gi double mutant to study their genetic relationship in clock-controlled growth and phase transition phenotypes. We found that ELF3 and GI repress growth differentially during the night and the day, respectively. Circadian clock assays revealed that ELF3 and GI are essential Zeitnehmers that enable the oscillator to synchronize the endogenous cellular mechanisms to external environmental signals. In their absence, the circadian oscillator fails to synchronize to the light-dark cycles even under diurnal conditions. Consequently, clock-mediated photoperiod-responsive growth and development are completely lost in plants lacking both genes, suggesting that ELF3 and GI together convey photoperiod sensing to the central oscillator. Since ELF3 and GI are conserved across flowering plants and represent important breeding and domestication targets, our data highlight the possibility of developing photoperiod-insensitive crops by adjusting the allelic combination of these two key genes

Spatial Humanities

This roundtable introduces spatial humanities researches at Purdue. Projects include Mapping Victorian women\u27s habitation and violence encounter by Dr. Megha Anwer; Animating material agencies with GIS data: an example from the archealogy of the Soviet Union by Dr. Elizabeth Brite; Modeling community interaction in Bronze Age Greece by Dr. Katherine Jarriel; Mapping \u27no place\u27: Eastern and Central Europe\u27s nineteenth and twentieth century phantom, indifferent, and alternative geographies by Amber Nickell