1,107 research outputs found
Metabolite profiling characterises chemotypes of Musa diploids and triploids at juvenile and preflowering growth stages
Open Access Journal; Published online: 15 March 2019Bananas (Musa spp.) are consumed worldwide as dessert and cooking types. Edible banana varieties are for the most part seedless and sterile and therefore vegetatively propagated. This confers difficulties for breeding approaches against pressing biotic and abiotic threats and for the nutritional enhancement of banana pulp. A panel of banana accessions, representative of the diversity of wild and cultivated bananas, was analysed to assess the range of chemotypes available globally. The focus of this assessment was banana leaves at two growth stages (juvenile and pre-flowering), to see when during the plant growth metabolic differences can be established. The metabolic data corresponded to genomic trends reported in previous studies and demonstrated a link between metabolites/pathways and the genomes of M. acuminata and M. balbisiana. Furthermore, the vigour and resistance traits of M. balbisiana was connected to the phenolic composition and showed differences with the number of B genes in the hybrid accessions. Differences in the juvenile and pre-flowering data led to low correlation between the growth stages for prediction purposes
The mixed problem in L^p for some two-dimensional Lipschitz domains
We consider the mixed problem for the Laplace operator in a class of
Lipschitz graph domains in two dimensions with Lipschitz constant at most 1.
The boundary of the domain is decomposed into two disjoint sets D and N. We
suppose the Dirichlet data, f_D has one derivative in L^p(D) of the boundary
and the Neumann data is in L^p(N). We find conditions on the domain and the
sets D and N so that there is a p_0>1 so that for p in the interval (1,p_0), we
may find a unique solution to the mixed problem and the gradient of the
solution lies in L^p
Detection of aggrecanase- and MMP-generated catabolic neoepitopes in the rat iodoacetate model of cartilage degeneration
AbstractObjectiveTo characterize the time course of aggrecan and type II collagen degradation in the rat iodoacetate model of cartilage degeneration in relationship to the temporal sequence that has been described in human osteoarthritis (OA).DesignRats were injected intra-articularly in one knee joint with iodoacetate and damage to the tibial plateau was assessed from digitized images captured using an image analyzer. The articular cartilage from the tibial plateau was harvested, extracted and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content was measured using the dimethylmethylene blue (DMMB) assay. Cartilage aggrecan neoepitopes were detected in cartilage extracts by Western blotting using antibodies recognizing the aggrecanase-generated C-terminal neoepitope NITEGE (BC-13) and the MMP-generated C-terminal neoepitope DIPEN (BC-4). A type II collagen collagenase-generated neoepitope was detected in cartilage extracts by ELISA using the Col2-3/4Cshort antibody; denatured collagen was detected using the Col2-3/4m antibody.ResultsDegenerative joint changes and proteoglycan (GAG) loss progressed with time after iodoacetate injection. Western blotting of cartilage extracts of iodoacetate treated rats demonstrated an increase in both aggrecanase- and MMP-generated epitopes with the NITEGE aggrecanase neoepitope being significantly elevated on days 7, 14 and 21 while DIPEN the MMP neoepitope was significantly elevated on days 7 and 14. The type II collagen neoepitope recognized by Col2-3/4Cshort was significantly increased in cartilage extracts of rats at days 14 and 21 after iodoacetate injection.ConclusionThe proteoglycan fragments extracted from the knee cartilage of rats after the intra-articular injection of iodoacetate appeared to result from cleavage at both aggrecanase and MMP sites. Cleavage of type II collagen by collagenase was also detected after iodoacetate injection and occurred subsequent to the initiation of aggrecan loss. These observations serve to demonstrate similarities in the mechanisms of cartilage degeneration induced by iodoacetate to those seen in articular cartilage in OA
Fredholm Modules on P.C.F. Self-Similar Fractals and their Conformal Geometry
The aim of the present work is to show how, using the differential calculus
associated to Dirichlet forms, it is possible to construct Fredholm modules on
post critically finite fractals by regular harmonic structures. The modules are
d-summable, the summability exponent d coinciding with the spectral dimension
of the generalized laplacian operator associated with the regular harmonic
structures. The characteristic tools of the noncommutative infinitesimal
calculus allow to define a d-energy functional which is shown to be a
self-similar conformal invariant.Comment: 16 page
Thermally assisted magnetization reversal in the presence of a spin-transfer torque
We propose a generalized stochastic Landau-Lifshitz equation and its
corresponding Fokker-Planck equation for the magnetization dynamics in the
presence of spin transfer torques. Since the spin transfer torque can pump a
magnetic energy into the magnetic system, the equilibrium temperature of the
magnetic system is ill-defined. We introduce an effective temperature based on
a stationary solution of the Fokker-Planck equation. In the limit of high
energy barriers, the law of thermal agitation is derived. We find that the
N\'{e}el-Brown relaxation formula remains valid as long as we replace the
temperature by an effective one that is linearly dependent of the spin torque.
We carry out the numerical integration of the stochastic Landau-Lifshitz
equation to support our theory. Our results agree with existing experimental
data.Comment: 5 figure
Constraining the low energy pion electromagnetic form factor with space-like data
The pionic contribution to the g-2 of the muon involves a certain integral
over the the modulus squared of F_\pi(t), the pion electromagnetic form factor.
We extend techniques that use cut-plane analyticity properties of F_\pi(t) in
order to account for present day estimates of the pionic contribution and
experimental information at a finite number of points in the space-like region.
Using data from several experiments over a large kinematic range for |t|, we
find bounds on the expansion coefficients of F_\pi(t), sub-leading to the
charge radius. The value of one of these coefficients in chiral perturbation
theory respects these bounds. Furthermore, we present a sensitivity analysis to
the inputs. A brief comparison with results in the literature that use
observables other than the g-2 and timelike data is presented.Comment: 11 pages in EPJ journal style, to appear in European Physical Journal
Periodic Vortex Structures in Superfluid 3He-A
We discuss the general properties of periodic vortex arrangements in rotating
superfluids. The different possible structures are classified according to the
symmetry space-groups and the circulation number. We calculate numerically
several types of vortex structures in superfluid 3He-A. The calculations are
done in the Ginzburg-Landau region, but the method is applicable at all
temperatures. A phase diagram of vortices is constructed in the plane formed by
the magnetic field and the rotation velocity. The characteristics of the six
equilibrium vortex solutions are discussed. One of these, the locked vortex 3,
has not been considered in the literature before. The vortex sheet forms the
equilibrium state of rotating 3He-A at rotation velocities exceeding 2.6 rad/s.
The results are in qualitative agreement with experiments.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures,
http://boojum.hut.fi/research/theory/diagram.htm
Providing the Context for Intentional Learning
This article is written in response to Sharon Derry's article “Remediating Academic Difficulties Through Strategy Training: The Acquisition of Useful Knowledge.” The features of effective strategy instruction, to which Derry refers, are illustrated by examining the nature of the decisions the teacher confronts; specifically, determining the purposes of instruction, the context in which instruction occurs, and the roles of the teacher and students in instruction.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69150/2/10.1177_074193259001100608.pd
Diquark condensation at strong coupling
The possibility of diquark condensation at sufficiently large baryon chemical
potential and zero temperature is analyzed in QCD at strong coupling. In
agreement with other strong coupling analysis, it is found that a first order
phase transition separates a low density phase with chiral symmetry
spontaneously broken from a high density phase where chiral symmetry is
restored. In none of the phases diquark condensation takes place as an
equilibrium state, but, for any value of the chemical potential, there is a
metastable state characterized by a non-vanishing diquark condensate. The
energy difference between this metastable state and the equilibrium state
decreases with the chemical potential and is minimum in the high density phase.
The results indicate that there is attraction in the quark-quark sector also at
strong coupling, and that the attraction is more effective at high baryon
density, but for infinite coupling it is not enough to produce diquark
condensation. It is argued that the absence of diquark condensation is not a
peculiarity of the strong coupling limit, but persists at sufficiently large
finite couplings.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. An important discussion concerning the extension
of the results to finite couplings adde
Spectral Statistics of the Two-Body Random Ensemble Revisited
Using longer spectra we re-analyze spectral properties of the two-body random
ensemble studied thirty years ago. At the center of the spectra the old results
are largely confirmed, and we show that the non-ergodicity is essentially due
to the variance of the lowest moments of the spectra. The longer spectra allow
to test and reach the limits of validity of French's correction for the number
variance. At the edge of the spectra we discuss the problems of unfolding in
more detail. With a Gaussian unfolding of each spectrum the nearest neighbour
spacing distribution between ground state and first exited state is shown to be
stable. Using such an unfolding the distribution tends toward a semi-Poisson
distribution for longer spectra. For comparison with the nuclear table ensemble
we could use such unfolding obtaining similar results as in the early papers,
but an ensemble with realistic splitting gives reasonable results if we just
normalize the spacings in accordance with the procedure used for the data.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
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