Satellite to satellite tracking error analysis studies and data processing

An error analysis was conducted to examine the effects of placing the target satellite in an orbit nearly coplanar with the relay satellite and of data span length on the accuracy with which the satellite states can be recovered. An analysis of error models using actual satellite to satellite tracking data spans is included. Results are tabulated

Isotropic, Nematic and Smectic A Phase Behaviour in a Fictitious Field

Phase behaviours of liquid crystals under external fields, conjugate to the nematic order and smectic order, are studied within the framework of mean field approximation developed by McMillan. It is found that phase diagrams, of temperature vs interaction parameter of smectic A order, show several topologically different types caused by the external fields. The influences of the field conjugate to the smectic A phase, which is fictitious field, are precisely discussed.Comment: To be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. vol.73 No.

An epithelial cell destined for apoptosis signals its neighbors to extrude it by an actin- and myosin-dependent mechanism

AbstractBackground: Simple epithelia encase developing embryos and organs. Although these epithelia consist of only one or two layers of cells, they must provide tight barriers for the tissues that they envelop. Apoptosis occurring within these simple epithelia could compromise this barrier. How, then, does an epithelium remove apoptotic cells without disrupting its function as a barrier?Results: We show that apoptotic cells are extruded from a simple epithelium by the concerted contraction of their neighbors. A ring of actin and myosin forms both within the apoptotic cell and in the cells surrounding it, and contraction of the ring formed in the live neighbors is required for apoptotic cell extrusion, as injection of a Rho GTPase inhibitor into these cells completely blocks extrusion. Addition of apoptotic MDCK cells to an intact monolayer induces the formation of actin cables in the cells contacted, suggesting that the signal to form the cable comes from the dying cell. The signal is produced very early in the apoptotic process, before procaspase activation, cell shrinkage, or phosphatidylserine exposure. Remarkably, electrical resistance studies show that epithelial barrier function is maintained, even when large numbers of dying cells are being extruded.Conclusions: We propose that apoptotic cell extrusion is important for the preservation of epithelial barrier function during cell death. Our results suggest that an early signal from the dying cell activates Rho in live neighbors to extrude the apoptotic cell out of the epithelium

The role of endogenous and exogenous RasGAP-derived fragment N in protecting cardiomyocytes from peroxynitrite-induced apoptosis.

Peroxynitrite (PN) is a potent nitrating and oxidizing agent generated during various pathological situations affecting the heart. The negative effects of PN result, at least in part, from its ability to activate caspases and apoptosis. RasGAP is a ubiquitously expressed protein that is cleaved sequentially by caspase-3. At low caspase-3 activity, RasGAP is cleaved into an N-terminal fragment, called fragment N, that protects cells by activating the Ras/PI3K/Akt pathway. At high caspase-3 activity, fragment N is further cleaved and this abrogates its capacity to stimulate the antiapoptotic Akt kinase. Fragment N formation is crucial for the survival of cells exposed to a variety of stresses. Here we investigate the pattern of RasGAP cleavage upon PN stimulation and the capacity of fragment N to protect cardiomyocytes. PN did not lead to sequential cleavage of RasGAP. Indeed, PN did not allow accumulation of fragment N because it induced its rapid cleavage into smaller fragments. No situations were found in cells treated with PN in which the presence of fragment N was associated with survival. However, expression of a caspase-resistant form of fragment N in cardiomyocytes protected them from PN-induced apoptosis. Our results indicate that the antiapoptotic pathway activated by fragment N is effective at inhibiting PN-induced apoptosis (as seen when cardiomyocytes express a capase-3-resistant form of fragment N) but because fragment N is too transiently generated in response to PN, no survival response is effectively produced. This may explain the marked deleterious consequences of PN generation in various organs, including the heart

Viscoelastic Properties of a Liquid-Crystalline Monomer and Its Dimer

Quasielastic-light-scattering measurements are reported for a dialkoxyphenylbenzoate monomer and its dimer in their respective nematic phases. The splay and twist elastic moduli of the dimer are found to be nearly independent of molecular length. The dimer\u27s bend modulus, however, shows an anomalous increase with decreasing temperature well below the nematic-isotropic phase transition. Monomer viscosities are consistent with typical literature values, although γ1/ηsplay and ηbend seem to be larger than expected for the dimer, where γ1 is the twist viscosity. The results are discussed in terms of viscoelastic properties of semiflexible rods. The elastic properties in particular are in good agreement with a recent model by Terentjev and Petschek (unpublished)

Applying machine learning to the problem of choosing a heuristic to select the variable ordering for cylindrical algebraic decomposition

Cylindrical algebraic decomposition(CAD) is a key tool in computational algebraic geometry, particularly for quantifier elimination over real-closed fields. When using CAD, there is often a choice for the ordering placed on the variables. This can be important, with some problems infeasible with one variable ordering but easy with another. Machine learning is the process of fitting a computer model to a complex function based on properties learned from measured data. In this paper we use machine learning (specifically a support vector machine) to select between heuristics for choosing a variable ordering, outperforming each of the separate heuristics.Comment: 16 page