Wet Granular Materials

Most studies on granular physics have focused on dry granular media, with no liquids between the grains. However, in geology and many real world applications (e.g., food processing, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, civil engineering, constructions, and many industrial applications), liquid is present between the grains. This produces inter-grain cohesion and drastically modifies the mechanical properties of the granular media (e.g., the surface angle can be larger than 90 degrees). Here we present a review of the mechanical properties of wet granular media, with particular emphasis on the effect of cohesion. We also list several open problems that might motivate future studies in this exciting but mostly unexplored field.Comment: review article, accepted for publication in Advances in Physics; tex-style change

NLRP3 Inflammasome: Key Mediator of Neuroinflammation in Murine Japanese Encephalitis

Background: Japanese Encephalitis virus (JEV) is a common cause of acute and epidemic viral encephalitis. JEV infection is associated with microglial activation resulting in the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines including Interleukin-1 b (IL-1b) and Interleukin-18 (IL-18). The Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRRs) and the underlying mechanism by which microglia identify the viral particle leading to the production of these cytokines is unknown. Methodology/Principal Findings: For our studies, we have used murine model of JEV infection as well as BV-2 mouse microglia cell line. In this study, we have identified a signalling pathway which leads to the activation of caspase-1 as the key enzyme responsible for the maturation of both IL-1b and IL-18 in NACHT, LRR and PYD domains-containing protein-3 (NLRP3) dependent manner. Depletion of NLRP3 results in the reduction of caspase-1 activity and subsequent production of these cytokines. Conclusion/Significance: Our results identify a mechanism mediated by Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) production and potassium efflux as the two danger signals that link JEV infection to caspase-1 activation resulting in subsequent IL-1b an

Epigenetic management of major psychosis

Epigenetic mechanisms are thought to play a major role in the pathogenesis of the major psychoses (schizophrenia and bipolar disorder), and they may be the link between the environment and the genome in the pathogenesis of these disorders. This paper discusses the role of epigenetics in the management of major psychosis: (1) the role of epigenetic drugs in treating these disorders. At present, there are three categories of epigenetic drugs that are being actively investigated for their ability to treat psychosis: drugs inhibiting histone deacetylation; drugs decreasing DNA methylation; and drugs targeting microRNAs; and (2) the role of epigenetic mechanisms in electroconvulsive therapy in these disorders

Indications of suppression of excited Υ states in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN = 2.76TeV

This is the pre-print version of the Published Article which can be accessed from the link below.A comparison of the relative yields of Υ resonances in the μ+μ- decay channel in Pb-Pb and pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 2.76 TeV is performed with data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. Using muons of transverse momentum above 4  GeV/c and pseudorapidity below 2.4, the double ratio of the Υ(2S) and Υ(3S) excited states to the Υ(1S) ground state in Pb-Pb and pp collisions, [Υ(2S+3S)/Υ(1S)]Pb-Pb/[Υ(2S+3S)/Υ(1S)]pp, is found to be 0.31-0.15+0.19(stat)±0.03(syst). The probability to obtain the measured value, or lower, if the true double ratio is unity, is calculated to be less than 1%

Soil moisture from Operational Meteorological Satellites

In recent years, unforeseen advances in monitoring soil moisture from operational satellite platforms have been made, mainly due to improved geophysical retrieval methods. In this study, four recently published soil-moisture datasets are compared with in-situ observations from the REMEDHUS monitoring network located in the semi-arid part of the Duero basin in Spain. The remotely sensed soil-moisture products are retrieved from (1) the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E), which is a passive microwave sensor on-board NASA's Aqua satellite, (2) European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS) scatterometer, which is an active microwave sensor on-board the two ERS satellites and (3) visible and thermal images from the METEOSAT satellite. Statistical analysis indicates that three satellite datasets contribute effectively to the monitoring of trends in surface soil-moisture conditions, but not to the estimation of absolute soil-moisture values. These sensors, or rather their successors, will be flown on operational meteorological satellites in the near future. With further improvements in processing techniques, operational meteorological satellites will increasingly deliver high-quality soil-moisture data. This may be of particular interest for hydrogeological studies that investigate long-term processes such as groundwater recharge. © Springer-Verlag 2006