526 research outputs found
Firing frequency response to current and conductance periodic inputs in a Ih/INap biophysical neuron model
Coral Disease and Health Workshop: Coral Histopathology II
The health and continued existence of coral reef ecosystems are threatened by an increasing array of environmental and anthropogenic impacts. Coral disease is one of the prominent causes of increased mortality among reefs globally, particularly in the Caribbean. Although over 40 different coral diseases and syndromes have been reported
worldwide, only a few etiological agents have been confirmed; most pathogens remain unknown and the dynamics of disease transmission, pathogenicity and mortality are not
understood. Causal relationships have been documented for only a few of the coral diseases, while new syndromes continue to emerge. Extensive field observations by coral
biologists have provided substantial documentation of a plethora of new pathologies, but our understanding, however, has been limited to descriptions of gross lesions with names reflecting these observations (e.g., black band, white band, dark spot). To determine etiology, we must equip coral diseases scientists with basic biomedical knowledge and specialized training in areas such as histology, cell biology and pathology. Only through
combining descriptive science with mechanistic science and employing the synthesis epizootiology provides will we be able to gain insight into causation and become equipped to handle the pending crisis.
One of the critical challenges faced by coral disease researchers is to establish a framework to systematically study coral pathologies drawing from the field of diagnostic
medicine and pathology and using generally accepted nomenclature. This process began in April 2004, with a workshop titled Coral Disease and Health Workshop: Developing Diagnostic Criteria co-convened by the Coral Disease and Health Consortium (CDHC), a working group organized under the auspices of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, and the International Registry for Coral Pathology (IRCP). The workshop was hosted by the U.S. Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) in Madison, Wisconsin and was focused on gross morphology and disease signs observed in the field. A resounding recommendation from the histopathologists participating in the workshop was the urgent need to develop diagnostic criteria that are suitable to move from gross observations to morphological diagnoses based on evaluation of microscopic anatomy. (PDF contains 92 pages
Pattern of Disease after Murine Hepatitis Virus Strain 3 Infection Correlates with Macrophage Activation and Not Viral Replication
Murine hepatitis virus strain (MHV-3) produces a strain-dependent pattern of disease which has been used as a model for fulminant viral hepatitis. This study was undertaken to examine whether there was a correlation between macrophage activation and susceptibility or resistance to MHV-3 infection. Peritoneal macrophages were isolated from resistant A/J and susceptible BALB/cJ mice and, following stimulation with MHV-3 or lipopolysaccharide (LPS), analyzed for transcription of mRNA and production of interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), mouse fibrinogen-like protein (musfiblp), tissue factor (TF), leukotriene B4, and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). Macrophages from BALB/cJ mice produced greater amounts of IL-1, TNF-alpha, TGF-beta, leukotriene B4, and musfiblp following MHV-3 infection than macrophages from resistant A/J mice, whereas in response to LPS, equivalent amounts of IL-1, TNF-alpha, TGF-beta, and TF were produced by macrophages from both strains of mice. Levels of mRNA of IL-1, TNF-alpha, and musfiblp were greater and more persistent in BALB/cJ than in A/J macrophages, whereas the levels and kinetics of IL-1, TNF-alpha, and TF mRNA following LPS stimulation were identical in macrophages from both strains of mice. Levels of production of PGE2 by MHV-3-stimulated macrophages from resistant and susceptible mice were equivalent; however, the time course for induction of PGE2, differed, but the total quantity of PGE2 produced was insufficient to inhibit induction of musfiblp, a procoagulant known to correlate with development of fulminant hepatic necrosis in susceptible mice. These results demonstrate marked differences in production of inflammatory mediators to MHV-3 infection in macrophages from resistant A/J and susceptible BALB/cJ mice, which may explain the marked hepatic necrosis and fibrin deposition and account for the lethality of MHV-3 in susceptible mice
Anomalous Dynamics of Forced Translocation
We consider the passage of long polymers of length N through a hole in a
membrane. If the process is slow, it is in principle possible to focus on the
dynamics of the number of monomers s on one side of the membrane, assuming that
the two segments are in equilibrium. The dynamics of s(t) in such a limit would
be diffusive, with a mean translocation time scaling as N^2 in the absence of a
force, and proportional to N when a force is applied. We demonstrate that the
assumption of equilibrium must break down for sufficiently long polymers (more
easily when forced), and provide lower bounds for the translocation time by
comparison to unimpeded motion of the polymer. These lower bounds exceed the
time scales calculated on the basis of equilibrium, and point to anomalous
(sub-diffusive) character of translocation dynamics. This is explicitly
verified by numerical simulations of the unforced translocation of a
self-avoiding polymer. Forced translocation times are shown to strongly depend
on the method by which the force is applied. In particular, pulling the polymer
by the end leads to much longer times than when a chemical potential difference
is applied across the membrane. The bounds in these cases grow as N^2 and
N^{1+\nu}, respectively, where \nu is the exponent that relates the scaling of
the radius of gyration to N. Our simulations demonstrate that the actual
translocation times scale in the same manner as the bounds, although influenced
by strong finite size effects which persist even for the longest polymers that
we considered (N=512).Comment: 13 pages, RevTeX4, 16 eps figure
Polarized semi-inclusive electroweak structure functions at next-to-leading-order
We present a next-to-leading order (NLO) computation of the full set of
polarized and unpolarized electroweak semi-inclusive DIS (SIDIS) structure
functions, whose knowledge is crucial for a precise extraction of polarized
parton distributions. We focus on the phenomenology of the polarized structure
functions for the kinematical conditions that could be reached in an
Electron-Ion-Collider.
We show that the NLO corrections are sizeable, particularly in the small-
range. We test the sensitivity of these structure functions on certain quark
distributions and compare it to the situation of inclusive DIS and
electromagnetic SIDIS.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis 10 years post bone marrow transplantation: a case report
Abstract Introduction Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in bone marrow transplant recipients. Establishing the diagnosis remains a challenge for clinicians working in acute care setting. However, prompt diagnosis and treatment can lead to favourable outcomes Case presentation We report a case of invasive aspergillosis occurring in a 39-year-old Caucasian female 10 years after an allogeneic haematopoietic bone marrow transplant, and 5 years after stopping all immunosuppression. Possible risk factors include bronchiolitis obliterans and exposure to building dust (for example, handling her husband's dusty overalls). There are no similar case reports in the literature at this time. Conclusion High clinical suspicion, especially in the setting of failure to respond to broad-spectrum antibiotics, should alert clinicians to the possibility of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, which, in this case, responded to antifungal therapy.</p
Comparison of corticosteroid, autologous blood or sclerosant injections for chronic tennis elbow
Objectives To compare three different ultrasound-guided injections for chronic tennis elbow. Design Assessor-blinded, randomized controlled comparative trial. Methods 44 patients with clinically diagnosed tennis elbow, confirmed by Doppler ultrasound, received under ultrasound guidance, a single corticosteroid injection (n\ua0=\ua014), or two injections (separated by 4 weeks) of either autologous blood (n\ua0=\ua014) or polidocanol (n\ua0=\ua016). Clinical and ultrasound examination was performed at baseline, 4, 12 and 26 weeks. Results Complete recovery or much improvement was greater for corticosteroid injection than autologous blood and polidocanol at 4 weeks (p\ua
On the role of theory and modeling in neuroscience
In recent years, the field of neuroscience has gone through rapid
experimental advances and extensive use of quantitative and computational
methods. This accelerating growth has created a need for methodological
analysis of the role of theory and the modeling approaches currently used in
this field. Toward that end, we start from the general view that the primary
role of science is to solve empirical problems, and that it does so by
developing theories that can account for phenomena within their domain of
application. We propose a commonly-used set of terms - descriptive,
mechanistic, and normative - as methodological designations that refer to the
kind of problem a theory is intended to solve. Further, we find that models of
each kind play distinct roles in defining and bridging the multiple levels of
abstraction necessary to account for any neuroscientific phenomenon. We then
discuss how models play an important role to connect theory and experiment, and
note the importance of well-defined translation functions between them.
Furthermore, we describe how models themselves can be used as a form of
experiment to test and develop theories. This report is the summary of a
discussion initiated at the conference Present and Future Theoretical
Frameworks in Neuroscience, which we hope will contribute to a much-needed
discussion in the neuroscientific community
Front propagation in a phase field model with phase-dependent heat absorption
Copyright © 2006 Elsevier. NOTICE: This is the author’s version of a work accepted for publication by Elsevier. Changes resulting from the publishing process, including peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting and other quality control mechanisms, may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Physica D, Vol 215, Issue 2, 2006, DOI: 10.1016/j.physd.2006.01.024We present a model for the spatio-temporal behaviour of films exposed to radiative
heating, where the film can change reversibly between amorphous (glassy) and
crystalline states. Such phase change materials are used extensively in read-write
optical disk technology.
In cases where the heat absorption of the crystal phase is less than that in the
amorphous state we find that there is a bi-stability of the phases. We investigate
the spatial behaviours that are a consequence of this property and use a phase field
model for the spatio-temporal dynamics in which the phase variable is coupled to a
suitable temperature field. It is shown that travelling wave solutions of the system
are possible and, depending on the precise system parameters, these waves can take
a range of forms and velocities. Some examples of possible dynamical behaviours
are discussed and we show, in particular, that the waves may collide and annihilate.
The longitudinal and transverse stability of the travelling waves are examined using
an Evans function method which suggests that the fronts are stable structures
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