3,083 research outputs found
The Sodium and Potassium Exchange between Intact Frogs and Their Environment
Intact living frogs (Rana pipiens) were partially immersed in dilute
salt solution labeled with K42 or Na24 or, alternatively, injected
with Ringer’s fluid containing the appropriate isotope and then partially immersed
in unlabeled dilute salt. Before isotopic equilibrium, the animals were sacrificed and
specific activities of K42 and Na24 were determined for medium,
skin, plasma, and other tissues. With Na24, entering from the medium or
escaping to the medium, specific activities of the skin approach that of the plasma. For
K42, entering from the medium, the specific activity exceeds that of the
plasma. The results are interpreted as indicating that the exchange rate for Na is greater
plasma to skin than medium to skin, with the reverse situation for K. Values are given for
average Na, K, and Cl contents of the various organ systems
A portable site: a binding element for 17β-estradiol can be placed on any subunit of a nicotinic α4β2 receptor
Endogenous steroids can modulate the activity of transmitter-gated channels by directly interacting with the receptor. 17β-Estradiol potentiates activation of neuronal nicotinic α4β2 receptors by interacting with a 4 amino-acid sequence at the extreme carboxy-terminus of the α4 subunit, but it is not known whether potentiation requires that the sequence be placed on a specific subunit (e.g. an α4 subunit which is involved in forming an acetylcholine-binding site). By using concatemers of subunits and chimeric subunits, we have found that the carboxy-terminal domain can be moved from the α4 to the β2 subunit and still result in potentiation. In addition, the sequence can be placed on a subunit which contributes to an acetylcholine-binding site or on the structural subunit. The data indicate that this estradiol-binding element is a discrete sequence, and suggest that the effect of 17β-estradiol is mediated by actions on single subunits and that the overall consequences for gating occur due to the summation of independent energetic contributions to overall gating of this receptor
Risk and Utility in Portfolio Optimization
Modern portfolio theory(MPT) addresses the problem of determining the optimum
allocation of investment resources among a set of candidate assets. In the
original mean-variance approach of Markowitz, volatility is taken as a proxy
for risk, conflating uncertainty with risk. There have been many subsequent
attempts to alleviate that weakness which, typically, combine utility and risk.
We present here a modification of MPT based on the inclusion of separate risk
and utility criteria. We define risk as the probability of failure to meet a
pre-established investment goal. We define utility as the expectation of a
utility function with positive and decreasing marginal value as a function of
yield. The emphasis throughout is on long investment horizons for which
risk-free assets do not exist. Analytic results are presented for a Gaussian
probability distribution. Risk-utility relations are explored via empirical
stock-price data, and an illustrative portfolio is optimized using the
empirical data.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, presented at 2002 Conference on Econophysics in
Bali Indonesi
Online Popularity and Topical Interests through the Lens of Instagram
Online socio-technical systems can be studied as proxy of the real world to
investigate human behavior and social interactions at scale. Here we focus on
Instagram, a media-sharing online platform whose popularity has been rising up
to gathering hundred millions users. Instagram exhibits a mixture of features
including social structure, social tagging and media sharing. The network of
social interactions among users models various dynamics including
follower/followee relations and users' communication by means of
posts/comments. Users can upload and tag media such as photos and pictures, and
they can "like" and comment each piece of information on the platform. In this
work we investigate three major aspects on our Instagram dataset: (i) the
structural characteristics of its network of heterogeneous interactions, to
unveil the emergence of self organization and topically-induced community
structure; (ii) the dynamics of content production and consumption, to
understand how global trends and popular users emerge; (iii) the behavior of
users labeling media with tags, to determine how they devote their attention
and to explore the variety of their topical interests. Our analysis provides
clues to understand human behavior dynamics on socio-technical systems,
specifically users and content popularity, the mechanisms of users'
interactions in online environments and how collective trends emerge from
individuals' topical interests.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, Proceedings of ACM Hypertext 201
CD4+ and πσT Cells are the main Producers of IL-22 and IL-17A in Lymphocytes from Mycobacterium bovis-infected Cattle
Gene transcription studies have identified dual roles for the cytokines IL-17A and IL-22 in bovine tuberculosis, where they show potential as both predictors of vaccine success and correlates of infection. To allow for a detailed investigation of the cell populations responsible for production of these cytokines, we have utilised a novel bovine IL-22 specific recombinant antibody for flow cytometry. Bovine tuberculin (PPDB) induced greater IL-22 and IL-17A production in Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis)-infected cattle compared to non-infected controls, while PWM-induced cytokine levels were similar between the two groups. In M. bovis-infected animals, PPDB specific IL-22 and IL-17A responses were observed in both CD4+ T cell and γδ T cell populations. Although both cytokines were detected in both cell types, IL-22/IL-17A double producers were rare and confined mainly to the γδ T cell population. These results support previous gene transcription studies and extend the observation of increased IL-22 and IL-17A responses in M. bovis-infected animals to the level of protein production. We were also able to characterise the cell populations responsible for these disease-related cytokine responses. The data generated can be used to further our understanding of the immunopathology of bovine tuberculosis and to produce more sensitive and specific immune-diagnostic reagents
Thermal Kinetic Inductance Detectors for Millimeter-Wave Astrophysics
Thermal Kinetic Inductance Detectors (TKIDs) combine the excellent noise performance of traditional bolometers with a radio frequency (RF) multiplexing architecture that enables the large detector counts needed for the next generation of millimeter-wave instruments. Here we present dark prototype TKID pixels that demonstrate a noise equivalent power NEP = 2×10⁻¹⁷√W/Hz with a 1/f knee at 0.1 Hz, suitable for background-limited noise performance at 150 GHz from a ground-based site. We discuss the optimizations in the device design and fabrication techniques to realize optimal electrical performance and high quality factors at a bath temperature of 250 mK
Roughness gradient induced spontaneous motion of droplets on hydrophobic surfaces: A lattice Boltzmann study
The effect of a step wise change in the pillar density on the dynamics of
droplets is investigated via three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann simulations.
For the same pillar density gradient but different pillar arrangements, both
motion over the gradient zone as well as complete arrest are observed. In the
moving case, the droplet velocity scales approximately linearly with the
texture gradient. A simple model is provided reproducing the observed linear
behavior. The model also predicts a linear dependence of droplet velocity on
surface tension. This prediction is clearly confirmed via our computer
simulations for a wide range of surface tensions.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figure
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