Mathematical Modelling of Hydrophilic Ionic Fertiliser Diffusion in Plant Cuticles: Lipophilic Surfactant Effects

The agricultural industry requires improved efficacy of sprays being applied to crops and weeds to reduce their environmental impact and increase financial returns. One way to improve efficacy is by enhancing foliar penetration. The plant leaf cuticle is the most significant barrier to agrochemical diffusion within the leaf. It has been noted that a comprehensive set of mechanisms for ionic active ingredient penetration through plant leaves with surfactants is not well defined and oils that enhance penetration have been given little attention. The importance of a mechanistic mathematical model has been noted previously in the literature. Two mechanistic mathematical models have been previously developed by the authors, focusing on plant cuticle penetration of calcium chloride through tomato fruit cuticles. The models included ion binding and evaporation with hygroscopic water absorption, along with the ability to vary the active ingredient concentration and type, relative humidity and plant species. Here we further develop these models to include lipophilic adjuvant effects, as well as the adsorption and desorption of compounds on the cuticle surface with a novel Adaptive Competitive Langmuir model. These modifications to a penetration model provide a novel addition to the literature. We validate our theoretical model results against appropriate experimental data, discuss key sensitivities and relate theoretical predictions to physical mechanisms. The results indicate the addition of the desorption mechanism may be one way to predict increased penetration at late times and the sensitivity of model parameters compares wells to those present in the literature

Evaluation d'un nouvel anneau mitral actif

En Europe, l'insuffisance mitrale (IM) est, après la sténose aortique, la deuxième valvulopathie cardiaque la plus fréquente. Les étiologies principales sont dégénératives, dystrophiques, ischémiques et infectieuses, à cause du déclin de l'origine rhumatismale. Il existe plusieurs possibilités de traitements, selon le degré de l'atteinte et l'étiologie. Actuellement, outre le traitement pharmacologique, la prise en charge chirurgicale de l'IM consiste en un remplacement valvulaire par une prothèse biologique ou mécanique, ou une plastie mitrale avec ou sans annuloplastie. Cette dernière, bien que techniquement compliquée, procure de meilleurs résultats à long terme que le remplacement valvulaire1. Cependant, suite à cette opération, il peut persister une régurgitation mitrale. Afin de palier à ce problème, un prototype d'anneau mitral a déjà été développé2. Il est actif, ce qui signifie qu'il est possible de modifier sa forme en post-opératoire, à coeur battant, sans besoin de réopérer. Le but de ce changement de conformation est d'augmenter la surface de coaptation des feuillets mitraux, afin de diminuer la régurgitation mitrale, voire de l'éliminer totalement. Les patients souffrant d'IM résiduelle ou de récidive d'IM n'auraient donc plus besoin d'être opérés une seconde fois pour corriger la fuite. Ce procédé améliorerait drastiquement la qualité et l'espérance de vie du patient et baisserait le taux de ré-hospitalisation et de mortalité. Dans cette étude, je vais tout d'abord passer en revue l'anatomie et la physiologie de la valve mitrale, ainsi que l'IM. Ensuite, je vais présenter et discuter les résultats de mon étude sur un nouvel anneau mitral actif, testé sur un modèle animal d'IM

Pan-STARRS1 Discovery of Two Ultraluminous Supernovae at z ≈ 0.9

We present the discovery of two ultraluminous supernovae (SNe) at z ≈ 0.9 with the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey. These SNe, PS1-10ky and PS1-10awh, are among the most luminous SNe ever discovered, comparable to the unusual transients SN 2005ap and SCP 06F6. Like SN 2005ap and SCP 06F6, they show characteristic high luminosities (M_(bol) ≈ –22.5 mag), blue spectra with a few broad absorption lines, and no evidence for H or He. We have constructed a full multi-color light curve sensitive to the peak of the spectral energy distribution in the rest-frame ultraviolet, and we have obtained time series spectroscopy for these SNe. Given the similarities between the SNe, we combine their light curves to estimate a total radiated energy over the course of explosion of (0.9-1.4) × 10^(51) erg. We find photospheric velocities of 12,000-19,000 km s^(–1) with no evidence for deceleration measured across ~3 rest-frame weeks around light curve peak, consistent with the expansion of an optically thick massive shell of material. We show that, consistent with findings for other ultraluminous SNe in this class, radioactive decay is not sufficient to power PS1-10ky, and we discuss two plausible origins for these events: the initial spin-down of a newborn magnetar in a core-collapse SN, or SN shock breakout from the dense circumstellar wind surrounding a Wolf-Rayet star

Improved electromechanical master-slave manipulator

Electric master-slave manipulator uses force multiplication and allows the operator to remotely control the slave arm. Both the master and slave arms execute seven distinct motions by a specially designed force-reflecting servo having a one to one correspondence between the motion at the master and slave

Origins of Bulk Viscosity at RHIC

A variety of physical phenomena can lead to viscous effects. Several sources of shear and bulk viscosity are reviewed with an emphasis on the bulk viscosity associated with chiral restoration and with chemical non-equilibrium. We show that in a mean-field treatment of the limiting case of a second order phase transition, the bulk viscosity peaks in a singularity at the critical point.Comment: submitted to PR

Supernova 2009kf: An Ultraviolet Bright Type IIP Supernova Discovered with Pan-STARRS 1 and GALEX

We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of a luminous Type IIP Supernova (SN) 2009kf discovered by the Pan-STARRS 1 (PS1) survey and also detected by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The SN shows a plateau in its optical and bolometric light curves, lasting approximately 70 days in the rest frame, with an absolute magnitude of M_V = -18.4 mag. The P-Cygni profiles of hydrogen indicate expansion velocities of 9000 km s^(-1) at 61 days after discovery which is extremely high for a Type IIP SN. SN 2009kf is also remarkably bright in the near-ultraviolet (NUV) and shows a slow evolution 10-20 days after optical discovery. The NUV and optical luminosity at these epochs can be modeled with a blackbody with a hot effective temperature (T ~ 16,000 K) and a large radius (R ~ 1 × 10^(15) cm). The bright bolometric and NUV luminosity, the light curve peak and plateau duration, the high velocities, and temperatures suggest that 2009kf is a Type IIP SN powered by a larger than normal explosion energy. Recently discovered high-z SNe (0.7 < z < 2.3) have been assumed to be IIn SNe, with the bright UV luminosities due to the interaction of SN ejecta with a dense circumstellar medium. UV-bright SNe similar to SN 2009kf could also account for these high-z events, and its absolute magnitude M_(NUV) = -21.5 ± 0.5 mag suggests such SNe could be discovered out to z ~ 2.5 in the PS1 survey

Morphology and scaling in the noisy Burgers equation: Soliton approach to the strong coupling fixed point

The morphology and scaling properties of the noisy Burgers equation in one dimension are treated by means of a nonlinear soliton approach based on the Martin-Siggia-Rose technique. In a canonical formulation the strong coupling fixed point is accessed by means of a principle of least action in the asymptotic nonperturbative weak noise limit. The strong coupling scaling behaviour and the growth morphology are described by a gas of nonlinear soliton modes with a gapless dispersion law and a superposed gas of linear diffusive modes with a gap. The dynamic exponent is determined by the gapless soliton dispersion law, whereas the roughness exponent and a heuristic expression for the scaling function are given by the form factor in a spectral representation of the interface slope correlation function. The scaling function has the form of a Levy flight distribution.Comment: 5 pages, Revtex file, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Latitudinal differences in the amplitude of the OAE-2 carbon isotopic excursion: pCO2 and paleoproductivity [Discussion paper]

A complete, well-preserved record of the Cenomanian/Turonian (C/T) Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE-2) was recovered from Demerara Rise in the southern North Atlantic Ocean (ODP site 1260). Across this interval, we determined changes in the stable carbon isotopic composition of sulfur-bound phytane (δ13Cphytane, a biomarker for photosynthetic algae. The δ13Cphytane record shows a positive excursion at the onset of the OAE-2 interval, with an unusually large amplitude (~7 ‰) compared to existing C/T proto-North Atlantic δ13Cphytane records (3–6 ‰). Overall, the amplitude of the excursion of δ13Cphytane decreases with latitude. Using reconstructed sea surface temperature (SST) gradients for the proto-North Atlantic, we investigated environmental factors influencing the latitudinal δ13Cphytane gradient. The observed gradient is best explained by high productivity at DSDP Site 367 and Tarfaya basin before OAE-2, which changed in overall high productivity throughout the proto-North Atlantic during OAE-2. During OAE-2, productivity at site 1260 and 603B was thus more comparable to the mid-latitude sites. Using these constraints as well as the SST and δ13Cphytane-records from Site 1260, we subsequently reconstructed pCO2 levels across the OAE-2 interval. Accordingly, pCO2 decreased from ca. 1750 to 900 ppm during OAE-2, consistent with enhanced organic matter burial resulting in lowering pCO2. Whereas the onset of OAE-2 coincided with increased pCO2, in line with a volcanic trigger for this event, the observed cooling within OAE-2 probably resulted from CO2 sequestration in black shales outcompeting CO2 input into the atmosphere. Together these results show that the ice-free Cretaceous world was sensitive to changes in pCO2 related to perturbations of the global carbon cycle

The Detection of Outflows in the IR-Quiet Molecular Core NGC 6334 I(North)

We find strong evidence for outflows originating in the dense molecular core NGC 6334 I(North): a 1000 Msol molecular core distinguished by its lack of HII regions and mid-IR emission. New observations were obtained of the SiO 2-1 and 5-4 lines with the SEST 15-m telescope and the H2 (1-0) S(1) line with the ESO 2.2-m telescope. The line profiles of the SiO transitions show broad wings extending from -50 to 40 km/s, and spatial maps of the line wing emission exhibit a bipolar morphology with the peaks of the red and blue wing separated by 30". The estimated mass loss rate of the outflow is comparable to those for young intermediate to high-mass stars. The near-IR images show eight knots of H2 emission. Five of the knots form a linear chain which is displaced from the axis of the SiO outflow; these knots may trace shock excited gas along the path of a second, highly collimated outflow. We propose that I(N) is a rare example of a molecular core in an early stage of cluster formation.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX, 3 ps figures, accepted by ApJ