436 research outputs found
Human muscle-derived cell populations isolated by differential adhesion rates: Phenotype and contribution to skeletal muscle regeneration in Mdx/SCID mice
Muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) isolated from murine skeletal tissue by the preplate method have displayed the capability to commit to the myogenic lineage and regenerate more efficiently than myoblasts in skeletal and cardiac muscle in murine Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy mice (mdx). However, until now, these studies have not been translated to human muscle cells. Here, we describe the isolation, by a preplate technique, of candidate human MDSCs, which exhibit myogenic and regenerative characteristics similar to their murine counterparts. Using the preplate isolation method, we compared cells that adhere faster to the flasks, preplate 2 (PP2), and cells that adhere slower, preplate 6 (PP6). The human PP6 cells express several markers of mesenchymal stem cells and are distinct from human PP2 (a myoblast-like population) based on their expression of CD146 and myogenic markers desmin and CD56. After transplantation to the gastrocnemius muscle of mdx/SCID mice, we observe significantly higher levels of PP6 cells participating in muscle regeneration as compared with the transplantation of PP2 cells. This study supports some previous findings related to mouse preplate cells, and also identifies some differences between mouse and human muscle preplate cells
Classical confinement of test particles in higher-dimensional models: stability criteria and a new energy condition
We review the circumstances under which test particles can be localized
around a spacetime section \Sigma_0 smoothly contained within a codimension-1
embedding space M. If such a confinement is possible, \Sigma_0 is said to be
totally geodesic. Using three different methods, we derive a stability
condition for trapped test particles in terms of intrinsic geometrical
quantities on \Sigma_0 and M; namely, confined paths are stable against
perturbations if the gravitational stress-energy density on M is larger than
that on \Sigma_0, as measured by an observed travelling along the unperturbed
trajectory. We confirm our general result explicitly in two different cases:
the warped-product metric ansatz for (n+1)-dimensional Einstein spaces, and a
known solution of the 5-dimensional vacuum field equation embedding certain
4-dimensional cosmologies. We conclude by defining a confinement energy
condition that can be used to classify geometries incorporating totally
geodesic submanifolds, such as those found in thick braneworld and other
5-dimensional scenarios.Comment: 9 pages, REVTeX4, in press in Phys. Rev.
A Note on Solitons in Brane Worlds
We obtain the zero mode effective action for gravitating objects in the bulk
of dilatonic domain walls. Without additional fields included in the bulk
action, the zero mode effective action reproduces the action in one lower
dimensions obtained through the ordinary Kaluza-Klein (KK) compactification,
only when the transverse (to the domain wall) component of the bulk metric does
not have non-trivial term depending on the domain wall worldvolume coordinates.
With additional fields included in the bulk action, non-trivial dependence of
the transverse metric component on the domain wall worldvolume coordinates
appears to be essential in reproducing the lower-dimensional action obtained
via the ordinary KK compactification. We find, in particular, that the
effective action for the charged (p+1)-brane in the domain wall bulk reproduces
the action for the p-brane in one lower dimensions.Comment: 13 pages, LaTe
Wesson's IMT with a Weylian bulk
The foundations of Wesson's induced matter theory are analyzed. It is shown
that the 5D empty bulk must be regarded rather as a Weylian space than as a
Riemannian one.The framework of a Weyl-Dirac version of Wesson's theory is
elaborated and discussed. The bulk possesses in addition to the metric tensor a
Weylian connection vector as well Dirac's gauge function; there are no sources
(mass, current) in the bulk. On the 4D brane one obtains a geometrically based
unified theory of gravitation and electromagnetism with mass, currents and
equations induced by the 5D bulkComment: 29 page
Evidence of novel plant-species specific ammonia oxidizing bacteria clades in acidic South African fynbos soils
Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) are essential in the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen as they catalyze the rate-limiting oxidation of ammonia into nitrite. Since their first isolation in the late 19th century, chemolithoautotrophic AOBs have been identified in a wide range of natural (e.g., soils, sediments, estuarine, and freshwaters) and man created or impacted habitats (e.g., wastewater treatment plants and agricultural soils). However, little is known on the plant-species association of AOBs, particularly in the nutrient-starved fynbos terrestrial biome. In this study, we evaluated the diversity of AOBs in the plant canopy of three South African fynbos-specific plant species, namely Leucadendron xanthoconus, Leucospermum truncatulum and Leucadendron microcephalum, through the construction of amoA-gene clone libraries. Our results clearly demonstrate that plant-species specific and monophyletic AOB clades are present in fynbos canopy soils.Claude Leon Foundation, the South African National Research Foundation
(NRF) and University of Pretoria.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1521-40282016-08-28hb201
What can the Gulf of Mexico and Panama tell us about education and outreach?
ABSTRACT: A series of research grants funded by the National Science Foundation involved a major component about education and outreach as it pertained to marine algal diversity. These included comprehensive studies into 1) the diversity of the deep bank marine algae in the Gulf of Mexico (NSF Biodiversity Surveys and Inventories program) and the discovery of unsuspected eukaryotic life inhabiting rhodolith forming coralline algae (NSF DEB), 2) monographic research (NSF PEET), 3) advanced tropical
phycology with the integration of modern and traditional techniques in the study of tropical algae of Panama (NSF PASI), among others.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
On the selection of AGN neutrino source candidates for a source stacking analysis with neutrino telescopes
The sensitivity of a search for sources of TeV neutrinos can be improved by
grouping potential sources together into generic classes in a procedure that is
known as source stacking. In this paper, we define catalogs of Active Galactic
Nuclei (AGN) and use them to perform a source stacking analysis. The grouping
of AGN into classes is done in two steps: first, AGN classes are defined, then,
sources to be stacked are selected assuming that a potential neutrino flux is
linearly correlated with the photon luminosity in a certain energy band (radio,
IR, optical, keV, GeV, TeV). Lacking any secure detailed knowledge on neutrino
production in AGN, this correlation is motivated by hadronic AGN models, as
briefly reviewed in this paper.
The source stacking search for neutrinos from generic AGN classes is
illustrated using the data collected by the AMANDA-II high energy neutrino
detector during the year 2000. No significant excess for any of the suggested
groups was found.Comment: 43 pages, 12 figures, accepted by Astroparticle Physic
Relations between Financing and Output in the Not-for-Profit Hospital
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68639/2/10.1177_107755878804500204.pd
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