Large amplitude electrothermal waves in a nonequilibrium plasma

Steady, one-dimensional current streamers have been observed in nonequilibrium plasma subjected to crossed E and B fields. Their half-width and amplitude agree with a nonlinear model of electrothermal waves

Experimental and Theoretical Studies of Electrothermal Waves

Experimental and theoretical studies have been made of the electrothennal waves occurring in a nonequilibrium electrical discharge in a potassium-seeded argon plasma. The studies presented in this paper refer to discharges in transverse gas flow and magnetic field. The behavior of these discharges as determined by photographs, photomultiplier measurements, and voltage probes is discussed and the results interpreted in terms of a steady, one-dimensional theory. A single discharge was found to operate in one of three modes-the shorted, transition, or normal mode-depending on the length of the ionization transient. An extension of the one-dimensional theory to the inlet problem predicts the approximate length of this transient and thus provides criteria for the existence of each mode. The normal mode was studied in a duct with a series of circuits discharging in parallel across a gas flow. Here, a regular set of steady, one-dimensional streamers was found in the center of the duct between hot boundary regions along each electrode wall. The properties of the one-dimensional streamers are shown to agree in detail with values predicted from the one-dimensional theory. A scheme is then presented for calculation of the effective conductivity of a duct using the amplitude of conductivity fluctuations predicted by this theory

Abnormal expression of p27kip1 protein in levator ani muscle of aging women with pelvic floor disorders – a relationship to the cellular differentiation and degeneration

BACKGROUND: Pelvic floor disorders affect almost 50% of aging women. An important role in the pelvic floor support belongs to the levator ani muscle. The p27/kip1 (p27) protein, multifunctional cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, shows changing expression in differentiating skeletal muscle cells during development, and relatively high levels of p27 RNA were detected in the normal human skeletal muscles. METHODS: Biopsy samples of levator ani muscle were obtained from 22 symptomatic patients with stress urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and overlaps (age range 38–74), and nine asymptomatic women (age 31–49). Cryostat sections were investigated for p27 protein expression and type I (slow twitch) and type II (fast twitch) fibers. RESULTS: All fibers exhibited strong plasma membrane (and nuclear) p27 protein expression. cytoplasmic p27 expression was virtually absent in asymptomatic women. In perimenopausal symptomatic patients (ages 38–55), muscle fibers showed hypertrophy and moderate cytoplasmic p27 staining accompanied by diminution of type II fibers. Older symptomatic patients (ages 57–74) showed cytoplasmic p27 overexpression accompanied by shrinking, cytoplasmic vacuolization and fragmentation of muscle cells. The plasma membrane and cytoplasmic p27 expression was not unique to the muscle cells. Under certain circumstances, it was also detected in other cell types (epithelium of ectocervix and luteal cells). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report on the unusual (plasma membrane and cytoplasmic) expression of p27 protein in normal and abnormal human striated muscle cells in vivo. Our data indicate that pelvic floor disorders are in perimenopausal patients associated with an appearance of moderate cytoplasmic p27 expression, accompanying hypertrophy and transition of type II into type I fibers. The patients in advanced postmenopause show shrinking and fragmentation of muscle fibers associated with strong cytoplasmic p27 expression

How states exerted power to create the Millennium Development Goals and how this shaped the global health agenda: Lessons for the sustainable development goals and the future of global health.

Since 2000, the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provided the framework for global development efforts transforming the field now known as global health. The MDGs both reflected and contributed to shaping a normative global health agenda. In the field of global health, the role of the state is largely considered to have diminished; however, this paper reasserts states as actors in the conceptualisation and institutionalisation of the MDGs, and illustrates how states exerted power and engaged in the MDG process. States not only sanctioned the MDGs through their heads of states endorsing the Millennium Declaration, but also acted more subtly behind the scenes supporting, enabling, and/or leveraging other actors, institutions and processes to conceptualise and legitimize the MDGs. Appreciating the MDGs' role in the conceptualisation of global health is particularly relevant as the world transitions to the MDGs' successor, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs' influence, impact and importance remains to be seen; however, to understand the future of global health and how actors, particularly states, can engage to shape the field, a deeper sense of the MDGs' legacy and how actors engaged in the past is helpful