333 research outputs found
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Intestinal absorption of macromolecules during viral enteritis: an experimental study on rotavirus-infected conventional and germ-free mice.
Epithelial transport and degradation of horseradish peroxidase (HRP), a macromolecular tracer, was studied in conventional and germ-free suckling mice following an experimental infection with rotavirus. Conventional and germ-free mice developed diarrhea from days 2 to 8 postinfection (pi), with growth failure. In mucosal homogenates, infectious virus detected by immunofluorescence on MA 104 cells was present from day 2 through day 8 pi in germ-free mice, but persisted longer (day 13 pi) in conventional mice. Only mild histological lesions were observed during diarrhea, but obvious macrovacuolation of epithelial cells and increased cellular density occurred during the convalescence period (days 9 to 13 pi). Intact and degraded HRP fluxes from mucosa to serosa were measured in vitro on segments of jejunum mounted in Ussing chambers. Both groups of mice developed increased HRP permeability during the experimental period, but at different times after inoculation: during the diarrheal period (days 2 and 3 pi) conventional mouse epithelium absorbed five times more HRP than noninfected controls and during the convalescence period (days 9 to 13 pi) HRP absorption in germ-free mice rose 10-fold as compared to its level before infection. In both cases, this increase in HRP permeability was entirely due to an increase in intact HRP absorption, probably via a transcellular route, and occurred without any alteration in degraded HRP transport. These results indicate that in mice, rotavirus infection causes a transient rise in gut permeability to undegraded proteins. The intestinal microflora seems to affect the timing, magnitude, and duration of this increased permeability
Health-Related Philanthropy: Toward Understanding the Relationship Between the Donation of the Body (and Its Parts) and Traditional Forms of Philanthropic Giving
The academic study of philanthropy has focused on the public good from private action
and includes the study of the public good of improving health and studies of the various
determinants of giving. Yet one very obvious act of giving in the health field has been
largely neglected in philanthropic studies: the donation of the body, such as blood and
tissue donation, organ donation, and the donation of one’s body for medical research or
education. In August 2003, a research team at the Indiana University Center for
Bioethics conducted a study of these two aspects of philanthropy as part of a project
titled Health Related Philanthropy: The Donation of the Body (and Parts Thereof). This
article describes the project and summarizes the results of a national survey conducted
as part of that project
Protecting Ideas: Ethical and Legal Considerations when a Grant’s Principal Investigator Changes
Ethical issues related the responsible conduct of research involve questions concerning the rights and obligations of investigators to propose, design, implement, and publish research. When a principal investigator (PI) transfers institutions during a grant cycle, financial and recognition issues need to be addressed to preserve all parties’ obligations and best interests in a mutually beneficial way. Although grants often transfer with the PI, sometimes they do not. Maintaining a grant at an institution after the PI leaves does not negate the grantee institution’s obligation to recognize the PI’s original ideas, contributions, and potential rights to some forms of expression and compensation. Issues include maintaining a role for the PI in determining how to take credit for, share and publish results that involve his or her original ideas. Ascribing proper credit can become a thorny issue. This paper provides a framework for addressing situations and disagreements that may occur when a new PI continues the work after the original PI transfers. Included are suggestions for proactively developing institutional mechanisms that address such issues. Considerations include how to develop solutions that comply with the responsible conduct of research, equitably resolve claims regarding reporting of results, and avoid the possibility of plagiarism
Modification of the trapped field in bulk high-temperature superconductors as a result of the drilling of a pattern of artificial columnar holes
The trapped magnetic field is examined in bulk high-temperature
superconductors that are artificially drilled along their c-axis. The influence
of the hole pattern on the magnetization is studied and compared by means of
numerical models and Hall probe mapping techniques. To this aim, we consider
two bulk YBCO samples with a rectangular cross-section that are drilled each by
six holes arranged either on a rectangular lattice (sample I) or on a centered
rectangular lattice (sample II). For the numerical analysis, three different
models are considered for calculating the trapped flux: (i), a two-dimensional
(2D) Bean model neglecting demagnetizing effects and flux creep, (ii), a 2D
finite-element model neglecting demagnetizing effects but incorporating
magnetic relaxation in the form of an E-J power law, and, (iii), a 3D finite
element analysis that takes into account both the finite height of the sample
and flux creep effects. For the experimental analysis, the trapped magnetic
flux density is measured above the sample surface by Hall probe mapping
performed before and after the drilling process. The maximum trapped flux
density in the drilled samples is found to be smaller than that in the plain
samples. The smallest magnetization drop is found for sample II, with the
centered rectangular lattice. This result is confirmed by the numerical models.
In each sample, the relative drops that are calculated independently with the
three different models are in good agreement. As observed experimentally, the
magnetization drop calculated in the sample II is the smallest one and its
relative value is comparable to the measured one. By contrast, the measured
magnetization drop in sample (1) is much larger than that predicted by the
simulations, most likely because of a change of the microstructure during the
drilling process.Comment: Proceedings of EUCAS 09 conferenc
Pulsed-field magnetization of drilled bulk high-temperature superconductors: flux front propagation in the volume and on the surface
We present a method for characterizing the propagation of the magnetic flux
in an artificially drilled bulk high-temperature superconductor (HTS) during a
pulsed-field magnetization. As the magnetic pulse penetrates the cylindrical
sample, the magnetic flux density is measured simultaneously in 16 holes by
means of microcoils that are placed across the median plane, i.e. at an equal
distance from the top and bottom surfaces, and close to the surface of the
sample. We discuss the time evolution of the magnetic flux density in the holes
during a pulse and measure the time taken by the external magnetic flux to
reach each hole. Our data show that the flux front moves faster in the median
plane than on the surface when penetrating the sample edge; it then proceeds
faster along the surface than in the bulk as it penetrates the sample further.
Once the pulse is over, the trapped flux density inside the central hole is
found to be about twice as large in the median plane than on the surface. This
ratio is confirmed by modelling
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Modeling the martian atmosphere with the LMD global climate model
Introduction: For several years we have been developing a 3D Global Climate Model (GCM) for Mars derived from the models used on Earth for weather forecasting or climate changes studies [1]. The purpose of such a project is ambitious: we wish to build a 'Mars simulator' based only on physical equations, with no tailor-made forcing, but able to reproduce all the available observations of the Martian climate (temperatures, winds, but also clouds, dust, ices, chemical species, etc...).
The GCM is constantly evolving, thanks to a contnuous collaboration between several teams based in France (LMD, SA), the UK (The Open University, University of Oxford) and Spain (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia), and with the support of ESA and CNES.
We are currently working on an improved version of the model. Several new parametrisation are included in the heart of the model (radiative transfer, surface and subsurface processes, dynamics) and the applications of the GCM are in contnuous development (Water, dust, CO2, radon cycles, photochemistry, thermosphere, ionosphere, etc...
Report from the PredictER Expert Panel Meeting, November 2, 2007
On November 2, 2007, the Indiana University Center for Bioethics convened an expert panel on predictive health research (PHR) as part of the Center’s Program in Predictive Health Ethics Research (http://www.bioethics.iu.edu/predicter.asp) which is supported by a grant from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. The goal of this meeting was to identify the major obstacles and opportunities for engaging the community in PHR. PredictER intends to use the results of this meeting as a first step toward more fully engaging the Indianapolis community in discussions about PHR.Richard M. Fairbanks Foundatio
PhyleasProg: a user-oriented web server for wide evolutionary analyses
Evolutionary analyses of biological data are becoming a prerequisite in many fields of biology. At a time of high-throughput data analysis, phylogenetics is often a necessary complementary tool for biologists to understand, compare and identify the functions of sequences. But available bioinformatics tools are frequently not easy for non-specialists to use. We developed PhyleasProg (http://phyleasprog.inra.fr), a user-friendly web server as a turnkey tool dedicated to evolutionary analyses. PhyleasProg can help biologists with little experience in evolutionary methodologies by analysing their data in a simple and robust way, using methods corresponding to robust standards. Via a very intuitive web interface, users only need to enter a list of Ensembl protein IDs and a list of species as inputs. After dynamic computations, users have access to phylogenetic trees, positive/purifying selection data (on site and branch-site models), with a display of these results on the protein sequence and on a 3D structure model, and the synteny environment of related genes. This connection between different domains of phylogenetics opens the way to new biological analyses for the discovery of the function and structure of proteins
Theory of a quodon gas. With application to precipitation kinetics in solids under irradiation
Rate theory of the radiation-induced precipitation in solids is modified with
account of non-equilibrium fluctuations driven by the gas of lattice solitons
(a.k.a. quodons) produced by irradiation. According to quantitative
estimations, a steady-state density of the quodon gas under sufficiently
intense irradiation can be as high as the density of phonon gas. The quodon gas
may be a powerful driver of the chemical reaction rates under irradiation, the
strength of which exponentially increases with irradiation flux and may be
comparable with strength of the phonon gas that exponentially increases with
temperature. The modified rate theory is applied to modelling of copper
precipitation in FeCu binary alloys under electron irradiation. In contrast to
the classical rate theory, which disagrees strongly with experimental data on
all precipitation parameters, the modified rate theory describes quite well
both the evolution of precipitates and the matrix concentration of copper
measured by different methodsComment: V. Dubinko, R. Shapovalov, Theory of a quodon gas. With application
to precipitation kinetics in solids under irradiation. (Springer
International Publishing, Switzerland, 2014
Bulk high-Tc superconductors with drilled holes: how to arrange the holes to maximize the trapped magnetic flux ?
Drilling holes in a bulk high-Tc superconductor enhances the oxygen annealing
and the heat exchange with the cooling liquid. However, drilling holes also
reduces the amount of magnetic flux that can be trapped in the sample. In this
paper, we use the Bean model to study the magnetization and the current line
distribution in drilled samples, as a function of the hole positions. A single
hole perturbs the critical current flow over an extended region that is bounded
by a discontinuity line, where the direction of the current density changes
abruptly. We demonstrate that the trapped magnetic flux is maximized if the
center of each hole is positioned on one of the discontinuity lines produced by
the neighbouring holes. For a cylindrical sample, we construct a polar
triangular hole pattern that exploits this principle; in such a lattice, the
trapped field is ~20% higher than in a squared lattice, for which the holes do
not lie on discontinuity lines. This result indicates that one can
simultaneously enhance the oxygen annealing, the heat transfer, and maximize
the trapped field
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