Thermoelastic Oscillations of Anisotropic Bodies

The generalized radiation conditions at infinity of Sommerfeld-Kupradze type are established in the theory of thermoelasticity of anisotropic bodies. Applying the potential method and the theory of pseudodifferential equations on manifolds the uniqueness and existence theorems of solutions to the basic three-dimensional exterior boundary value problems are proved and representation formulas of solutions by potential type integrals are obtained

Loss of the Na(+)/H(+) exchanger NHE8 causes male infertility in mice by disrupting acrosome formation

Mammalian sperm feature a specialized secretory organelle on the anterior part of the sperm nucleus, the acrosome, which is essential for male fertility. It is formed by a fusion of Golgi-derived vesicles. We show here that the predominantly Golgi-resident Na+/H+ exchanger NHE8 localizes to the developing acrosome of spermatids. Similar to wild-type mice, Nhe8-/- mice generated Golgi-derived vesicles positive for acrosomal markers and attached to nuclei, but these vesicles failed to form large acrosomal granules and the acrosomal cap. Spermatozoa from Nhe8-/- mice completely lacked acrosomes, were round-headed, exhibited abnormal mitochondrial distribution and displayed decreased motility, resulting in selective male infertility. Of note, similar features are also found in globozoospermia, one of the causes of male infertility in humans. Germ cell-specific, but not Sertoli cell-specific Nhe8 disruption recapitulated the globozoospermia phenotype, demonstrating that NHE8's role in spermiogenesis is germ cell-intrinsic. Our work has uncovered a crucial role of NHE8 in acrosome biogenesis and suggests that some forms of human globozoospermia might be caused by a loss of function of this Na+/H+ exchanger. It points to NHE8 as a candidate gene for human globozoospermia and a possible drug target for male contraception

Apollo 7 retrofire and reentry of service propulsion module. Further study of Intelsat 2 F-2 apogee burn

Photography of Apollo 7 retrofire and service propulsion module reentry and apogee burn of Intelsat 2 F-2 satellit

LRRC8/VRAC anion channels are required for late stages of spermatid development in mice

Spermatogenesis is a highly complex developmental process that occurs primarily in seminiferous tubules of the testes and requires additional maturation steps in the epididymis and beyond. Mutations in many different genes can lead to defective spermatozoa and hence to male infertility. Some of these genes encode for ion channels and transporters that play roles in various processes such as cellular ion homeostasis, signal transduction, sperm motility, and the acrosome reaction. Here we show that germ cell-specific, but not Sertoli cell-specific, disruption of Lrrc8a leads to abnormal sperm and male infertility in mice. LRRC8A (leucine-rich repeat containing 8 A) is the only obligatory subunit of heteromeric volume-regulated VRAC anion channels. Its ablation severely compromises cell volume regulation by completely abolishing the transport of anions and osmolytes through VRAC. Consistent with impaired volume regulation, the cytoplasm of late spermatids appeared swollen. These cells failed to properly reduce their cytoplasm during further development into spermatozoa and later displayed severely disorganized mitochondrial sheaths in the midpiece region as well as angulated or coiled flagella. These changes, which progressed in severity on the way to the epididymis, resulted in dramatically reduced sperm motility. Our work shows that VRAC, probably through its role in cell volume regulation, is required in a cell-autonomous manner for proper sperm development and explains the male infertility of Lrrc8a(-/-) mice and the spontaneous mouse mutant ébouriffé

Long Term Observation of the Grassland Vegetation Used Intensively or Extensively and Ecologically

The aim of the present paper was to study alterations of the grassland flora from 55 plots following a more extensive management under long term observation within 6 years. Extensification of grassland use leads to an increase of the numbers of plant species by 32%, “Red-list-species” included. The moisture number of the soils slightly increased and the reaction and nitrogen numbers decreased. Results are presented for different vegetation units

Influence of Grassland Management and Grazing by Different Farm Animals on Animal Performance and Flora Alterations

The objectives of this study were to test the possibilities of using different farm animals for landscape care on extensive pasture, taking into account their particular performance, and to analyse alterations of the flora in consequence of grazing by different animals and various pasture management. Salers had the highest (836g/d) and Galloways (584g/d) the lowest live weight gain as compared with the other breeds (771g/d). Lambs had higher live weight when grazing together with cattle and horses (mixed grazing) than under one species grazing. The number of legume increased and that of grass decreased. Following 3 years the grazing animals effected an increase of plant numbers in order of: Horses 86%, Cattle 15%, Mixed grazing 14% and sheep no effect. The most success of increasing plant numbers was registered when combined grazing and mowing of pasture was used

Immunosuppressive effect and global dysregulation of blood transcriptome in response to psychosocial stress in vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus sabaeus).

Psychosocial stressors - life events that challenge social support and relationships - represent powerful risk factors for human disease; included amongst these events are relocation, isolation and displacement. To evaluate the impact of a controlled psychosocial stressor on physiology and underlying molecular pathways, we longitudinally studied the influence of a 28-day period of quarantine on biomarkers of immune signalling, microbial translocation, glycaemic health and blood transcriptome in the wild-born vervet monkey. This event caused a coordinated, mostly transient, reduction of circulating levels of nine immune signalling molecules. These were paralleled by a massive dysregulation of blood transcriptome, including genes implicated in chronic pathologies and immune functions. Immune and inflammatory functions were enriched among the genes downregulated in response to stress. An upregulation of genes involved in blood coagulation, platelet activation was characteristic of the rapid response to stress induction. Stress also decreased neutrophils and increased CD4 + T cell proportions in blood. This model of psychosocial stress, characterised by an immune dysregulation at the transcriptomic, molecular and cellular levels, creates opportunities to uncover the underlying mechanisms of stress-related diseases with an immune component, including cardiovascular diseases and susceptibility to infections

Selective transport of neurotransmitters and modulators by distinct volume-regulated LRRC8 anion channels

In response to swelling, mammalian cells release chloride and organic osmolytes through VRAC volume-regulated anion channels. VRACs are heteromers of LRRC8A and other LRRC8 isoforms (B-E) which are co-expressed in HEK293 and most other cells. The spectrum of VRAC substrates and its dependence on particular LRRC8 isoforms remains largely unknown. We show that besides the osmolytes taurine and myo-inositol, LRRC8 channels transport the neurotransmitters glutamate, aspartate and GABA and the co-activator D-serine. HEK293 cells engineered to express defined subsets of LRRC8 isoforms were used to elucidate the subunit-dependence of transport. Whereas LRRC8D was crucial for the translocation of overall neutral compounds like myo-inositol, taurine and GABA and sustained the transport of positively charged lysine, flux of negatively charged aspartate was equally well supported by LRRC8E. Disruption of LRRC8B or LRRC8C failed to decrease transport rates of all investigated substrates, but their inclusion into LRRC8 heteromers influenced VRAC's substrate preference. This suggested that individual VRACs can contain three or more different LRRC8 subunits, a conclusion confirmed by sequential co-immunoprecipitations. Our work suggests a composition-dependent role of VRACs in extracellular signal transduction

Assessing the risk of climate change for buildings: A comparison between multi-year and probabilistic reference year simulations

Copyright © 2011 Elsevier. NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Building and Environment . Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as 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 Building and Environment Vol. 46 (2011), DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2010.12.018Given a changing climate, there is a need to provide data for future years so that practicing engineers can investigate the impact of climate change on particular designs and examine any risk the client might be exposed to. In addition, such files are of use to building scientists in developing generic solutions to problems such as elevated internal temperatures and poor thermal comfort. With the release of the UK Climate Projections (UKCP09) [1], and the publication of a methodology for the creation of probabilistic future reference years using the UKCP09 weather generator [2], it is possible to model future building performance. However, the collapse of the distribution of possibilities inherent in the UKCP09 method into a single reference year or a small number of reference years, potentially means the loss of most of the information about the potential range of the response of the building and of the risk occupants might be subject to. In this paper we model for the first time the internal conditions and energy use of a building with all 3000 example years produced by the UKCP09 weather generator in an attempt to study the full range of response and risk. The resultant histograms and cumulative distribution functions are then used to examine whether single reference years can be used to answer questions about response and risk under a changing climate, or whether a more probabilistic approach is unavoidable