A study analysis of cable-body systems totally immersed in a fluid stream

A general stability analysis of a cable-body system immersed in a fluid stream is presented. The analytical portion of this analysis treats the system as being essentially a cable problem, with the body dynamics giving the end conditions. The mathematical form of the analysis consists of partial differential wave equations, with the end and auxiliary conditions being determined from the body equations of motion. The equations uncouple to give a lateral problem and a longitudinal problem as in first order airplane dynamics. A series of tests on a tethered wind tunnel model provide a comparison of the theory with experiment

The aetiopathogenesis of feline osteoclastic resorptive lesions (FORL)

External feline osteoclastic resorptive lesions (FORL) of the tooth occur in 20-75% of domestic cats. Epidemiological studies have shown that the incidence of FORL increases with age, and premolars and molars are the most commonly affected teeth. However, the aetiological mechanisms of tooth destruction in FORL are unknown. In this study, the normal surface anatomy of the tooth, and the surface features of early and advanced FORL were described using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The local expression of mediators involved in the differentiation and activity of osteoclasts in teeth was investigated using RT-PCR and immunocytochemistry. Markers of bone turnover were measured in serum and urine to assess systemic processes of bone formation and resorption in normal cats and in cats affected with FORL. SEM demonstrated that the enamel at the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ) of the tooth was thinner than at other sites. There was reduced mineralisation of enamel and dentine at this location, potentially predisposing it to damage by resorption. In radiographically normal teeth, early resorption occurred most frequently at the CEJ, and involved enamel. This was the only region of the tooth that did not show evidence of repair, providing compelling evidence for the CEJ-origin of FORL. Resorption was prevalent among young animals, indicating that the initiation of disease occurs early in life. mRNA expression of interleukin- IP and interleukin-6 was elevated in teeth affected with FORL. mRNA and protein expression of Receptor Activator of NFKB (RANKL) was elevated in normal teeth and gingiva, while osteoprotegerin (OPG) was elevated in teeth and gingiva affected with FORL. The presence or severity of FORL was not associated with alterations in bone turnover markers, indicating that the stimulus for resorption occurs locally in the tooth microenvironment. This study has identified a number of factors that may be important in the pathogenesis of FORL, including features of the CEJ and changes in the expression of local cytokines in the tooth microenvironment; however, FORL does not appear to be associated with systemic alterations in bone cell activity

Wait Times to Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Services for Persons with Arthritis in Quebec

L’arthrite est l’une des causes principales de douleur et d’incapacité auprès de la population canadienne. Les gens atteints d’arthrite rhumatoïde (AR) devraient être évalués par un rhumatologue moins de trois mois suivant l’apparition des premiers symptômes et ce afin de débuter un traitement médical approprié qui leur sera bénéfique. La physiothérapie et l’ergothérapie s’avèrent bénéfiques pour les patients atteints d’ostéoarthrite (OA) et d’AR, et aident à réduire l’incapacité. Notre étude a pour but d’évaluer les délais d’attente afin d’obtenir un rendez-vous pour une consultation en rhumatologie et en réadaptation dans le système de santé public québécois, et d’explorer les facteurs associés. Notre étude est de type observationnel et transversal et s’intéresse à la province de Québec. Un comité d’experts a élaboré trois scénarios pour les consultations en rhumatologie : AR présumée, AR possible, et OA présumée ; ainsi que deux scénarios pour les consultations en réadaptation : AR diagnostiquée, OA diagnostiquée. Les délais d’attente ont été mesurés entre le moment de la requête initiale et la date de rendez-vous fixée. L’analyse statistique consiste en une analyse descriptive de même qu’une analyse déductive, à l’aide de régression logistique et de comparaison bivariée. Parmi les 71 bureaux de rhumatologie contactés, et pour tous les scénarios combinés, 34% ont donné un rendez-vous en moins de trois mois, 32% avaient une attente de plus de trois mois et 34% ont refusé de fixer un rendez-vous. La probabilité d’obtenir une évaluation en rhumatologie en moins de trois mois est 13 fois plus grande pour les cas d’AR présumée par rapport aux cas d’OA présumée (OR=13; 95% Cl [1.70;99.38]). Cependant, 59% des cas d’AR présumés n’ont pas obtenu rendez-vous en moins de trois mois. Cent centres offrant des services publics en réadaptation ont été contactés. Pour tous les scénarios combinés, 13% des centres ont donné un rendez-vous en moins de 6 mois, 13% entre 6 et 12 mois, 24% avaient une attente de plus de 12 mois et 22% ont refusé de fixer un rendez-vous. Les autres 28% restant requéraient les détails d’une évaluation relative à l’état fonctionnel du patient avant de donner un rendez-vous. Par rapport aux services de réadaptation, il n’y avait aucune différence entre les délais d’attente pour les cas d’AR ou d’OA. L’AR est priorisée par rapport à l’OA lorsque vient le temps d’obtenir un rendez-vous chez un rhumatologue. Cependant, la majorité des gens atteints d’AR ne reçoivent pas les services de rhumatologie ou de réadaptation, soit physiothérapie ou ergothérapie, dans les délais prescrits. De meilleures méthodes de triage et davantage de ressources sont nécessaires.Arthritis is a leading cause of pain and disability in Canada. Persons with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) should be seen by a rheumatologist within three months of symptom onset to begin appropriate medical treatment and improve health outcomes. Early physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) are beneficial for both osteoarthritis (OA) and RA and may prevent disability. The objectives of the study are to describe wait times from referral by primary care provider to rheumatology and rehabilitation consultation in the public system of Quebec and to explore associated factors. We conducted a cross-sectional study in the province of Quebec, Canada whereby we requested appointments from all rheumatology practices and public rehabilitation departments using case scenarios that were created by a group of experts. Three scenarios were developed for the rheumatology referrals: Presumed RA; Possible RA; and Presumed OA and two scenarios for the rehabilitation referrals: diagnosed RA and diagnosed OA. Wait times were evaluated as the time between the initial request and the appointment date provided. The statistical analysis consisted primarily of descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics (bivariate comparisons and logistic regression). Seventy-one rheumatology practices were contacted. For all scenarios combined, 34% were given an appointment with a rheumatologist within three months of referral, 32% waited longer than three months and 34% were refused services. The odds of getting an appointment with a rheumatologist within three months was 13 times greater for the Presumed RA scenario versus the Presumed OA scenario (OR=13; 95% Cl[1.70;99.38]). However, 59% of the Presumed RA cases did not receive an appointment within three months. One hundred rehabilitation departments were also contacted. For both scenarios combined, 13% were given an appointment within 6 months, 13% within 6 to 12 months, 24% waited longer than 12 months and 22% were refused services. The remaining 28% were told that they would require an evaluation appointment based on functional assessment prior to being given an appointment. There was no difference with regards to diagnosis, RA versus OA, for the rehabilitation consultation. RA is prioritized over OA when obtaining an appointment to a rheumatologist in Quebec. However, the majority of persons with RA are still not receiving rheumatology or publicly accessible PT or OT intervention in a timely manner. Better methods for triage and increased resource allocation are needed

Optimizing sperm collection procedures in zebrafish

Zebrafish are a highly-valued model organism used for developmental biology research. Zebrafish can be used for genetic manipulation and hence, many mutant and transgenic lines exist. It is impractical to maintain lines of adult zebrafish, due to resource constraints and the need to continuously produce new generations. Therefore, a practical way to preserve zebrafish lines is to freeze sperm and retrieve lines using in vitro fertilization of fresh eggs. Most existing in vitro protocols used by research labs have a wide variety of fertilization rates (ranging from 0% to \u3e90%). Due to this variability, lines may be at risk of not being regenerated, and may be permanently lost. For this project, aspects of existing published sperm collection protocols were tested and modified, with the goal of improving the proportion of males giving quality ejaculate. Males were tested for production of ejaculate by housing fish either in groups or in separate, individual tanks the night before sperm collection. The effect of age of male zebrafish and genetic background (5D and AB lines) on production of quality ejaculate was also tested. Isolating males before sperm collection significantly increased the proportion of individuals producing quality ejaculate. The proportion of fish that gave quality ejaculate samples did not co-vary with age between 17-68 weeks. Overall, AB fish were significantly more likely to give quality ejaculate samples compared to 5D fish. Based on this study, we strongly recommend separating male fish before sperm collection to improve the likelihood of obtaining samples. Our results indicate that AB fish give proportionately better samples than 5D fish, and this does not vary with age between 17-68 weeks

The Radical Frances Wright and Antebellum Evangelical Reviewers: Self-Silencing in the Works of Sarah Josepha Hale, Lydia Maria Child, and Eliza Cabot Follen

The early antebellum, a nation-building period of industrial progress, financial crisis, and social upheaval, associated the values of evangelical Protestantism with American middle-class respectability. Individuals who contested those values, like Scottish heiress Frances Wright, came under intense public scrutiny. Once the intimate of revolutionary heroes, liberal theorists, and elite society, a radicalized Wright established in rural Tennessee a utopian and protofeminist community that promoted interracial sexual unions and women’s reproductive rights and forbade religion (as irrational and hypocritical) and marriage (as entrapping and enfeebling to women). She charged the Protestant clergy with conspiring with bankers and lawyers to deny Americans true liberty and argued that “universal education” would develop a generation of libertarian leaders by boarding poor and wealthy children equally together from infancy; she hoped to stimulate through an amalgamation of the races the organic attenuation of American slavery over three generations. Wright circulated her theories through radical newspapers, but received little public notice until she discovered the lecture platform, speaking to mixed audiences of middle- and working-class men and women. Male evangelical magazine reviewers had staunchly maintained that middle-class women never read Wright’s radical words, but once women stood alongside men at her lectures, reviewers could no longer deny that they were being exposed to heretical ideas. Her message’s new medium resulted in a widespread print backlash: evangelical reviewers denounced her as the “Red Harlot of Infidelity” and previously sympathetic writers shunned her. I argue broadly that antebellum cultural acceptance of evangelical Protestant values coopted women’s attempts to enlarge their autonomy and agency, and specifically that throughout a decade of Wright’s character assassination, female editors and novelists Sarah Josepha Hale, Lydia Maria Child, and Eliza Cabot Follen, performed a strategic self-silencing. They rejected Wright by name and distanced themselves from feminist arguments they would later embrace. In this project I examine the resonance that the evangelical press’s rejection of Wright had with these three antebellum women novelists. There has been little recent scholarly notice taken of Wright, and no discussion of the impact that the ruin of her reputation had on antebellum women’s fiction – lacunae I intend to address

The Mouse Limb Anatomy Atlas: An interactive 3D tool for studying embryonic limb patterning

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The developing mouse limb is widely used as a model system for studying tissue patterning. Despite this, few references are available that can be used for the correct identification of developing limb structures, such as muscles and tendons. Existing textual references consist of two-dimensional (2D) illustrations of the adult rat or mouse limb that can be difficult to apply when attempting to describe the complex three-dimensional (3D) relationship between tissues.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To improve the resources available in the mouse model, we have generated a free, web-based, interactive reference of limb muscle, tendon, and skeletal structures at embryonic day (E) 14.5 <url>http://www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk/3dlimb/</url>. The Atlas was generated using mouse forelimb and hindlimb specimens stained using immunohistochemistry to detect muscle and tendon. Limbs were scanned using Optical Projection Tomography (OPT), reconstructed to make 3D models and annotated using computer-assisted segmentation tools in Amira 3D Visualisation software. The annotated dataset is visualised using Java, JAtlasView software. Users click on the names of structures and view their shape, position and relationship with other structures within the 3D model and also in 2D virtual sections.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Mouse Limb Anatomy Atlas provides a novel and valuable tool for researchers studying limb development and can be applied to a range of research areas, including the identification of abnormal limb patterning in transgenic lines and studies of models of congenital limb abnormalities. By using the Atlas for "virtual" dissection, this resource offers an alternative to animal dissection. The techniques we have developed and employed are also applicable to many other model systems and anatomical structures.</p

The Mouse Limb Anatomy Atlas: An interactive 3D tool for studying embryonic limb patterning

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The developing mouse limb is widely used as a model system for studying tissue patterning. Despite this, few references are available that can be used for the correct identification of developing limb structures, such as muscles and tendons. Existing textual references consist of two-dimensional (2D) illustrations of the adult rat or mouse limb that can be difficult to apply when attempting to describe the complex three-dimensional (3D) relationship between tissues.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To improve the resources available in the mouse model, we have generated a free, web-based, interactive reference of limb muscle, tendon, and skeletal structures at embryonic day (E) 14.5 <url>http://www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk/3dlimb/</url>. The Atlas was generated using mouse forelimb and hindlimb specimens stained using immunohistochemistry to detect muscle and tendon. Limbs were scanned using Optical Projection Tomography (OPT), reconstructed to make 3D models and annotated using computer-assisted segmentation tools in Amira 3D Visualisation software. The annotated dataset is visualised using Java, JAtlasView software. Users click on the names of structures and view their shape, position and relationship with other structures within the 3D model and also in 2D virtual sections.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Mouse Limb Anatomy Atlas provides a novel and valuable tool for researchers studying limb development and can be applied to a range of research areas, including the identification of abnormal limb patterning in transgenic lines and studies of models of congenital limb abnormalities. By using the Atlas for "virtual" dissection, this resource offers an alternative to animal dissection. The techniques we have developed and employed are also applicable to many other model systems and anatomical structures.</p

Evaluation of a Water Channel-Based Platform for Characterizing Aerostat Flight Dynamics: A Case Study on a Lighter-Than-Air Wind Energy System

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140442/1/6.2014-2711.pd

hdac4 mediates perichondral ossification and pharyngeal skeleton development in the zebrafish

Background Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are epigenetic factors that function to repress gene transcription by removing acetyl groups from the N-terminal of histone lysines. Histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4), a class IIa HDAC, has previously been shown to regulate the process of endochondral ossification in mice via repression of Myocyte enhancer factor 2c (MEF2C), a transcriptional activator of Runx2, which in turn promotes chondrocyte maturation and production of bone by osteoblasts. Methods & Materials In this study, we generated two zebrafish lines with mutations in hdac4 using CRISPR/Cas9 and analyzed mutants for skeletal phenotypes and expression of genes known to be affected by Hdac4 expression. Results Lines have insertions causing a frameshift in a proximal exon of hdac4 and a premature stop codon. Mutations are predicted to result in aberrant protein sequence and a truncated protein, eliminating the Mef2c binding domain and Hdac domain. Zygotic mutants from two separate lines show a significant increase in ossification of pharyngeal ceratohyal cartilages at 7 days post fertilization (dpf) (p < 0.01, p < 0.001). At 4 dpf, mutant larvae have a significant increase of expression of runx2a and runx2b in the ceratohyal cartilage (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). A subset of maternal-zygotic (mz) mutant and heterozygote larvae (40%) have dramatically increased ossification at 7 dpf compared to zygotic mutants, including formation of a premature anguloarticular bone and mineralization of the first and second ceratobranchial cartilages and symplectic cartilages, which normally does not occur until fish are approximately 10 or 12 dpf. Some maternal-zygotic mutants and heterozygotes show loss of pharyngeal first arch elements (25.9% and 10.2%, respectively) and neurocranium defects (30.8% and 15.2%, respectively). Analysis of RNA-seq mRNA transcript levels and in situ hybridizations from zygotic stages to 75–90% epiboly indicates that hdac4 is highly expressed in early embryos, but diminishes by late epiboly, becoming expressed again in larval stages. Discussion Loss of function of hdac4 in zebrafish is associated with increased expression of runx2a and runx2b targets indicating that a role for hdac4 in zebrafish is to repress activation of ossification of cartilage. These findings are consistent with observations of precocious cartilage ossification in Hdac4 mutant mice, demonstrating that the function of Hdac4 in skeletal development is conserved among vertebrates. Expression of hdac4 mRNA in embryos younger than 256–512 cells indicates that there is a maternal contribution of hdac4 to the early embryo. The increase in ossification and profound loss of first pharyngeal arch elements and anterior neurocranium in a subset of maternal-zygotic mutant and heterozygote larvae suggests that maternal hdac4 functions in cartilage ossification and development of cranial neural crest-derived structures