Cardiac Specific Gene Expression Changes in Long Term Culture of Murine Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Murine MSCs are a readily available source of adult stem cells enabling extensive in vitro study of this cell population. MSCs have been described as multipotent, and have been proven capable of differentiation into several connective tissue types. Furthermore some studies have suggested an ability to differentiate into non-connective tissue cell types such as the cardiomyocyte. The aim of this study was to differentiate murine MSCs toward cardiac lineage with the commonly used method of culture with 5’ Azacytidine. Critically, baseline analysis of gene expression of passage four MSCs demonstrated expression of key cardiac markers including cardiac troponin T and I, and the ryanodine receptor. Furthermore, expression analysis of these genes changed with time in culture and passage number. However, there was no significant alteration when cells were subjected to a differentiation protocol. This study therefore highlights the importance of analyzing baseline cells extensively, and indicates the limitations in extrapolating data for comparison between species. Furthermore this data brings into question the efficacy of cardiac differentiation using MSCs

Barrel medics for Eastern wheatbelt pastures

There is a big potential for the use of barrel medic in wheatbelt pastures, and prospects have been further improved by the advent of the early-maturing Cyprus strain. In this article Merredin Agricultural Adviser D. B. Argyle gives some hints on establishment and management of barrel medic pastures in the eastern wheatbelt. Much of what he says also applies to other areas; contact your local adviser for further information

Pruning citrus trees. 2. Pruning the mature tree

EXAMINATION of a mature tree in full production will show the natural pattern of growth already explained. It will be seen that over the years the frame has developed by a system of layers with new growth, stimulated by sunlight, constantly appearing on the top side of the older wood. Eventually the terminal portions of the older layers are weakened by lack of light, they become unproductive and in turn adversely affect the general fruitfulness of the rest of the tree by shading and crowding

Pruning citrus trees

PRUNING is one of the less important operations in citrus culture but if properly carried out it can contribute to the economy of production and the general wellbeing of the orchard

Cosmic downsizing of powerful radio galaxies to low radio luminosities

At bright radio powers ($P_{\rm 1.4 GHz} > 10^{25}$ W/Hz) the space density of the most powerful sources peaks at higher redshift than that of their weaker counterparts. This paper establishes whether this luminosity-dependent evolution persists for sources an order of magnitude fainter than those previously studied, by measuring the steep--spectrum radio luminosity function (RLF) across the range $10^{24} < P_{\rm 1.4 GHz} < 10^{28}$ W/Hz, out to high redshift. A grid-based modelling method is used, in which no assumptions are made about the RLF shape and high-redshift behaviour. The inputs to the model are the same as in Rigby et al. (2011): redshift distributions from radio source samples, together with source counts and determinations of the local luminosity function. However, to improve coverage of the radio power vs. redshift plane at the lowest radio powers, a new faint radio sample is introduced. This covers 0.8 sq. deg., in the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field, to a 1.4 GHz flux density limit of $S_{\rm 1.4 GHz} \geq 100~\mu$Jy, with 99% redshift completeness. The modelling results show that the previously seen high-redshift declines in space density persist to $P_{\rm 1.4 GHz} < 10^{25}$ W/Hz. At $P_{\rm 1.4 GHz} > 10^{26}$ W/Hz the redshift of the peak space density increases with luminosity, whilst at lower radio luminosities the position of the peak remains constant within the uncertainties. This `cosmic downsizing' behaviour is found to be similar to that seen at optical wavelengths for quasars, and is interpreted as representing the transition from radiatively efficient to inefficient accretion modes in the steep-spectrum population. This conclusion is supported by constructing simple models for the space density evolution of these two different radio galaxy classes; these are able to successfully reproduce the observed variation in peak redshift.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures; accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Establishing wheatbelt pastures? Don\u27t use a cover crop

One of the factors which influence the establishment of improved pasture in the West Australian wheatbelt is whether the pasture legume is sown with a cover crop or not. Mediocre establishment can follow when a cover crop is used and it is recommended that, for rapid establishment, any pasture legume should be sown without a cover crop

Supported, Alkali-Promoted Cobalt Oxide Catalysts for NOx Removal from Coal Combustion Flue Gases

A series of cobalt oxide catalysts supported on alumina ({gamma}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}) were synthesized with varying contents of cobalt and of added alkali metals, including lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, and cesium. Unsupported cobalt oxide catalysts and several cobalt oxide catalysts supported ceria (CeO{sub 2}) with varying contents of cobalt with added potassium were also prepared. The catalysts were characterized with UV-visible spectroscopy and were examined for NO{sub x} decomposition activity. The CoO{sub x}/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} catalysts and particularly the CoO{sub x}/CeO{sub 2} catalysts show N{sub 2}O decomposition activity, but none of the catalysts (unsupported Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} or those supported on ceria or alumina) displayed significant, sustained NO decomposition activity. For the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-supported catalysts, N{sub 2}O decomposition activity was observed over a range of reaction temperatures beginning about 723 K, but significant (&gt;50%) conversions of N{sub 2}O were observed only for reaction temperatures &gt;900 K, which are too high for practical commercial use. However, the CeO{sub 2}-supported catalysts display N{sub 2}O decomposition rates similar to the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-supported catalysts at much lower reaction temperatures, with activity beginning at {approx}573 K. Conversions of &gt;90% were achieved at 773 K for the best catalysts. Catalytic rates per cobalt atom increased with decreasing cobalt content, which corresponds to increasing edge energies obtained from the UV-visible spectra. The decrease in edge energies suggests that the size and dimensionality of the cobalt oxide surface domains increase with increasing cobalt oxide content. The rate data normalized per mass of catalyst that shows the activity of the CeO{sub 2}-supported catalysts increases with increasing cobalt oxide content. The combination of these data suggest that supported cobalt oxide species similar to bulk Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} are inherently more active than more dispersed cobalt oxide species, but this effect was only observed with the CeO{sub 2}-supported catalysts

Stable ultrahigh-density magneto-optical recordings using introduced linear defects

The stability of data bits in magnetic recording media at ultrahigh densities is compromised by thermal `flips' -- magnetic spin reversals -- of nano-sized spin domains, which erase the stored information. Media that are magnetized perpendicular to the plane of the film, such as ultrathin cobalt films or multilayered structures, are more stable against thermal self-erasure than conventional memory devices. In this context, magneto-optical memories seem particularly promising for ultrahigh-density recording on portable disks, and bit densities of $\sim$100 Gbit inch$^{-2}$ have been demonstrated using recent advances in the bit writing and reading techniques. But the roughness and mobility of the magnetic domain walls prevents closer packing of the magnetic bits, and therefore presents a challenge to reaching even higher bit densities. Here we report that the strain imposed by a linear defect in a magnetic thin film can smooth rough domain walls over regions hundreds of micrometers in size, and halt their motion. A scaling analysis of this process, based on the generic physics of disorder-controlled elastic lines, points to a simple way by which magnetic media might be prepared that can store data at densities in excess of 1 Tbit inch$^{-2}$.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, see also an article in TRN News at http://www.trnmag.com/Stories/041801/Defects_boost_disc_capacity_041801.htm