Surface structure of Quark stars with magnetic fields

We investigate the impact of magnetic fields on the electron distribution in the electrosphere of quark stars. For moderately strong magnetic fields $B\sim 10^{13}$G, quantization effects are generally weak due to the large number density of electrons at surface, but can nevertheless affect the spectral features of quark stars. We outline the main observational characteristics of quark stars as determined by their surface emission, and briefly discuss their formation in explosive events termed Quark-Novae, which may be connected to the $r$-process.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Contribution to the proceedings of the IXth Workshop on High Energy Physics Phenomenology (WHEPP-9), Bhubaneswar, India, 3-14 Jan. 200

Prenatal and Lactational Exposure to Bisphenol A in Mice Alters Expression of Genes Involved in Cortical Barrel Development without Morphological Changes

It has been reported that premature infants in neonatal intensive care units are exposed to a high rate of bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disrupting chemical. Our previous studies demonstrated that corticothalamic projection was disrupted by prenatal exposure to BPA, which persisted even in adult mice. We therefore analyzed whether prenatal and lactational exposure to low doses of BPA affected the formation of the cortical barrel, the barreloid of the thalamus, and the barrelette of the brainstem in terms of the histology and the expression of genes involved in the barrel development. Pregnant mice were injected subcutaneously with 20 µg/kg of BPA daily from embryonic day 0 (E0) to postnatal 3 weeks (P3W), while the control mice received a vehicle alone. The barrel, barreloid and barrelette of the adult mice were examined by cytochrome C oxidase (COX) staining. There were no significant differences in the total and septal areas and the patterning of the posterior medial barrel subfield (PMBSF), barreloid and barrelette, between the BPA-exposure and control groups in the adult mice. The developmental study at postnatal day 1 (PD1), PD4 and PD8 revealed that the cortical barrel vaguely appeared at PD4 and completely formed at PD8 in both groups. The expression pattern of some genes was spatiotemporally altered depending on the sex and the treatment. These results suggest that the trigeminal projection and the thalamic relay to the cortical barrel were spared after prenatal and lactational exposure to low doses of BPA, although prenatal exposure to BPA was previously shown to disrupt the corticothalamic projection

Dense nuclear matter in a strong magnetic field

We investigate in a relativistic Hartree theory the gross properties of cold symmetric nuclear matter and nuclear matter in beta equilibrium under the influence of strong magnetic fields. If the field strengths are above the critical values for electrons and protons, the respective phase spaces are strongly modified. This results in additional binding of the systems with distinctively softer equations of state compared to the field free cases. For magnetic field $\sim 10^{20}$ Gauss and beyond, the nuclear matter in beta equilibrium practically converts into a stable proton rich matter.Comment: 13 pages, Revtex, figure include

Radial Oscillations of Neutron Stars in Strong Magnetic Fields

The eigen frequencies of radial pulsations of neutron stars are calculated in a strong magnetic field. At low densities we use the magnetic BPS equation of state(EOS) similar to that obtained by Lai and Shapiro while at high densities the EOS obtained from the relativistic nuclear mean field theory is taken and extended to include strong magnetic field. It is found that magnetised neutron stars support higher maximum mass where as the effect of magnetic field on radial stability for observed neutron star masses is minimal.Comment: latex2e file with five postscript figure

Micro-computed tomography of pulmonary fibrosis in mice induced by adenoviral gene transfer of biologically active transforming growth factor-β1

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) is a novel tool for monitoring acute and chronic disease states in small laboratory animals. Its value for assessing progressive lung fibrosis in mice has not been reported so far. Here we examined the importance of in vivo micro-CT as non-invasive tool to assess progression of pulmonary fibrosis in mice over time.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Pulmonary fibrosis was induced in mice by intratracheal delivery of an adenoviral gene vector encoding biologically active TGF-ß1 (AdTGF-ß1). Respiratory gated and ungated micro-CT scans were performed at 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks post pulmonary adenoviral gene or control vector delivery, and were then correlated with respective histopathology-based Ashcroft scoring of pulmonary fibrosis in mice. Visual assessment of image quality and consolidation was performed by 3 observers and a semi-automated quantification algorithm was applied to quantify aerated pulmonary volume as an inverse surrogate marker for pulmonary fibrosis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found a significant correlation between classical Ashcroft scoring and micro-CT assessment using both visual assessment and the semi-automated quantification algorithm. Pulmonary fibrosis could be clearly detected in micro-CT, image quality values were higher for respiratory gated exams, although differences were not significant. For assessment of fibrosis no significant difference between respiratory gated and ungated exams was observed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Together, we show that micro-CT is a powerful tool to assess pulmonary fibrosis in mice, using both visual assessment and semi-automated quantification algorithms. These data may be important in view of pre-clinical pharmacologic interventions for the treatment of lung fibrosis in small laboratory animals.</p