Multi-region relaxed magnetohydrodynamics with anisotropy and flow

We present an extension of the multi-region relaxed magnetohydrodynamics (MRxMHD) equilibrium model that includes pressure anisotropy and general plasma flows. This anisotropic extension to our previous isotropic model is motivated by Sun and Finn's model of relaxed anisotropic magnetohydrodynamic equilibria. We prove that as the number of plasma regions becomes infinite, our anisotropic extension of MRxMHD reduces to anisotropic ideal MHD with flow. The continuously nested flux surface limit of our MRxMHD model is the first variational principle for anisotropic plasma equilibria with general flow fields.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1401.307

Engineering a catabolic pathway in plants for the degradation of 1,2-dichloroethane

Plants are increasingly being employed to clean up environmental pollutants such as heavy metals; however, a major limitation of phytoremediation is the inability of plants to mineralize most organic pollutants. A key component of organic pollutants is halogenated aliphatic compounds that include 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA). Although plants lack the enzymatic activity required to metabolize this compound, two bacterial enzymes, haloalkane dehalogenase (DhlA) and haloacid dehalogenase (DhlB) from the bacterium Xanthobacter autotrophicus GJ10, have the ability to dehalogenate a range of halogenated aliphatics, including 1,2-DCA. We have engineered the dhlA and dhlB genes into tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum ‘Xanthi’) plants and used 1,2-DCA as a model substrate to demonstrate the ability of the transgenic tobacco to remediate a range of halogenated, aliphatic hydrocarbons. DhlA converts 1,2-DCA to 2-chloroethanol, which is then metabolized to the phytotoxic 2-chloroacetaldehyde, then chloroacetic acid, by endogenous plant alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase activities, respectively. Chloroacetic acid is dehalogenated by DhlB to produce the glyoxylate cycle intermediate glycolate. Plants expressing only DhlA produced phytotoxic levels of chlorinated intermediates and died, while plants expressing DhlA together with DhlB thrived at levels of 1,2-DCA that were toxic to DhlA-expressing plants. This represents a significant advance in the development of a low-cost phytoremediation approach toward the clean-up of halogenated organic pollutants from contaminated soil and groundwater

TrkB Receptor Signalling: Implications in Neurodegenerative, Psychiatric and Proliferative Disorders

The Trk family of receptors play a wide variety of roles in physiological and disease processes in both neuronal and non-neuronal tissues. Amongst these the TrkB receptor in particular has attracted major attention due to its critical role in signalling for brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT3) and neurotrophin-4 (NT4). TrkB signalling is indispensable for the survival, development and synaptic plasticity of several subtypes of neurons in the nervous system. Substantial evidence has emerged over the last decade about the involvement of aberrant TrkB signalling and its compromise in various neuropsychiatric and degenerative conditions. Unusual changes in TrkB signalling pathway have also been observed and implicated in a range of cancers. Variations in TrkB pathway have been observed in obesity and hyperphagia related disorders as well. Both BDNF and TrkB have been shown to play critical roles in the survival of retinal ganglion cells in the retina. The ability to specifically modulate TrkB signalling can be critical in various pathological scenarios associated with this pathway. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms underlying TrkB signalling, disease implications and explore plausible ameliorative or preventive approaches

NACA Research Memorandums

Report presenting the results of a wind-tunnel investigation to determine the effects of a variation in wing taper ratio on the longitudinal characteristics of a wing-body combination at a variety of Mach numbers. The wings had an aspect ratio of 3, an unswept midchord line, and an NACA 64A003 profile. Results regarding the lift and pitching-moment characteristics and drag characteristics are provided

Ultra-high-field fMRI reveals a role for the subiculum in scene perceptual discrimination

Recent “representational” accounts suggest a key role for the hippocampus in complex scene perception. Due to limitations in scanner field strength, however, the functional neuroanatomy of hippocampal-dependent scene perception is unknown. Here, we applied 7 T high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) alongside a perceptual oddity task, modified from nonhuman primate studies. This task requires subjects to discriminate highly similar scenes, faces, or objects from multiple viewpoints, and has revealed selective impairments during scene discrimination following hippocampal lesions. Region-of-interest analyses identified a preferential response in the subiculum subfield of the hippocampus during scene, but not face or object, discriminations. Notably, this effect was in the anteromedial subiculum and was not modulated by whether scenes were subsequently remembered or forgotten. These results highlight the value of ultra-high-field fMRI in generating more refined, anatomically informed, functional accounts of hippocampal contributions to cognition, and a unique role for the human subiculum in discrimination of complex scenes from different viewpoints

The Fold Illusion: The Origins and Implications of Ogives on Silicic Lavas

Folds on the surfaces of mafic lavas are among the most readily recognized geological structures and are used as first-order criteria for identifying ancient lavas on Earth and other planetary bodies. However, the presence of surface-folds on the surface of silicic lavas is contested in this study and we challenge the widely accepted interpretation that silicic lava surfaces contain folds using examples from the western United States and Sardinia, Italy. We interpret the ridges and troughs on their upper surfaces, typically referred to as ‘ogives’ or ‘pressure ridges’, as fracture-bound structures rather than folds. We report on the absence of large-scale, buckle-style folds and note instead the ubiquitous presence of multiple generations and scales of tensile fractures comparable to crevasses in glaciers and formed in ways similar to already recognized crease structures. We report viscosity data and results of stress analyses that preclude folding (ductile deformation in compression) of the upper surface of silicic lavas at timescales of emplacement (weeks to months). Therefore, analysis of fold geometry (wavelength, amplitude, etc.) is erroneous, and instead the signal produced reflects the strength and thickness of the brittle upper surface stretching over a ductile interior. The presence of ogives on the surfaces of lavas on other planetary bodies may help to elucidate their rheological properties and crustal thicknesses, but relating to their tensile strength, not viscosity