1,473 research outputs found
Effect of turbulence on collisions of dust particles with planetesimals in protoplanetary disks
Planetesimals in gaseous protoplanetary disks may grow by collecting dust
particles. Hydrodynamical studies show that small particles generally avoid
collisions with the planetesimals because they are entrained by the flow around
them. This occurs when , the Stokes number, defined as the ratio of the
dust stopping time to the planetesimal crossing time, becomes much smaller than
unity. However, these studies have been limited to the laminar case, whereas
these disks are believed to be turbulent. We want to estimate the influence of
gas turbulence on the dust-planetesimal collision rate and on the impact
speeds. We used three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of a fixed
sphere (planetesimal) facing a laminar and turbulent flow seeded with small
inertial particles (dust) subject to a Stokes drag. A no-slip boundary
condition on the planetesimal surface is modeled via a penalty method. We find
that turbulence can significantly increase the collision rate of dust particles
with planetesimals. For a high turbulence case (when the amplitude of turbulent
fluctuations is similar to the headwind velocity), we find that the collision
probability remains equal to the geometrical rate or even higher for , i.e., for dust sizes an order of magnitude smaller than in the laminar
case. We derive expressions to calculate impact probabilities as a function of
dust and planetesimal size and turbulent intensity
Transformation of stimulus correlations by the retina
Redundancies and correlations in the responses of sensory neurons seem to
waste neural resources but can carry cues about structured stimuli and may help
the brain to correct for response errors. To assess how the retina negotiates
this tradeoff, we measured simultaneous responses from populations of ganglion
cells presented with natural and artificial stimuli that varied greatly in
correlation structure. We found that pairwise correlations in the retinal
output remained similar across stimuli with widely different spatio-temporal
correlations including white noise and natural movies. Meanwhile, purely
spatial correlations tended to increase correlations in the retinal response.
Responding to more correlated stimuli, ganglion cells had faster temporal
kernels and tended to have stronger surrounds. These properties of individual
cells, along with gain changes that opposed changes in effective contrast at
the ganglion cell input, largely explained the similarity of pairwise
correlations across stimuli where receptive field measurements were possible.Comment: author list corrected in metadat
Effect of turbulence on collisions of dust particles with planetesimals in protoplanetary disks
Vertical pairing of identical particles suspended in the plasma sheath
It is shown experimentally that vertical pairing of two identical
microspheres suspended in the sheath of a radio-frequency (rf) discharge at low
gas pressures (a few Pa), appears at a well defined instability threshold of
the rf power. The transition is reversible, but with significant hysteresis on
the second stage. A simple model, which uses measured microsphere resonance
frequencies and takes into account besides Coulomb interaction between
negatively charged microspheres also their interaction with positive ion wake
charges, seems to explain the instability threshold quite well.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures. to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, May 14th (2001
Effects of maleimide-polyethylene glycol-modified human hemoglobin (MP4) on tissue necrosis in SKH1-hr hairless mice
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>Tissue hypoxia after blood loss, replantation and flap reperfusion remains a challenging task in surgery. Normovolemic hemodilution improves hemorheologic properties without increasing oxygen carrying capacity. Red blood cell transfusion is the current standard of treatment with its attendant risks. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of the chemically modified hemoglobin, MP4, to reduce skin flap necrosis and its effect on selected blood markers and kidneys.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>Tissue ischemia was induced in the ear of hairless mice (n = 26). Hemodilution was performed by replacing one third of blood volume with the similar amount of MP4, dextran, or blood. The extent of non-perfused tissue was assessed by intravital fluorescent microscopy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of all groups, MP4 showed the smallest area of no perfusion (in percentage of the ear ± SEM: 16.3% ± 2.4), the control group the largest (22.4% ± 3.5). Leukocytes showed a significant increase in the MP4 and dextran group (from 8.7 to 13.6 respectively 15.4*10<sup>9</sup>/l). On histology no changes of the kidneys could be observed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>MP4 causes an increase of leukocytes, improves the oxygen supply of the tissue and shows no evidence of renal impairment.</p
Indigenous knowledges and development: a postcolonial caution
As a result of the failure of formal top-down development, there has recently been increased interest in the possibilities of drawing upon the indigenous knowledges of those in the communities involved, in an attempt to produce more effective development strategies. The concept of indigenous knowledge calls for the inclusion of local voices and priorities, and promises empowerment through ownership of the process. However, there has been little critical examination of the ways in which indigenous knowledges have been included in the development process. Drawing upon postcolonial theory, this article suggests that indigenous knowledges are often drawn into development by both theorists and development institutions in a very limited way, failing to engage with other ways of perceiving development, and thus missing the possibility of devising more challenging alternatives
Kinetic formulation and global existence for the Hall-Magneto-hydrodynamics system
This paper deals with the derivation and analysis of the the Hall
Magneto-Hydrodynamic equations. We first provide a derivation of this system
from a two-fluids Euler-Maxwell system for electrons and ions, through a set of
scaling limits. We also propose a kinetic formulation for the Hall-MHD
equations which contains as fluid closure different variants of the Hall-MHD
model. Then, we prove the existence of global weak solutions for the
incompressible viscous resistive Hall-MHD model. We use the particular
structure of the Hall term which has zero contribution to the energy identity.
Finally, we discuss particular solutions in the form of axisymmetric purely
swirling magnetic fields and propose some regularization of the Hall equation
Expression of Cholera Toxin B–Proinsulin Fusion Protein in Lettuce and Tobacco Chloroplasts – Oral Administration Protects Against Development of Insulitis in Non-Obese Diabetic Mice
Lettuce and tobacco chloroplast transgenic lines expressing the cholera toxin B subunit–human proinsulin (CTB-Pins) fusion protein were generated. CTB-Pins accumulated up to ~16% of total soluble protein (TSP) in tobacco and up to ~2.5% of TSP in lettuce. Eight milligrams of powdered tobacco leaf material expressing CTB-Pins or, as negative controls, CTB–green fluorescent protein (CTB-GFP) or interferon–GFP (IFN-GFP), or untransformed leaf, were administered orally, each week for 7 weeks, to 5-week-old female non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. The pancreas of CTB-Pins-treated mice showed decreased infiltration of cells characteristic of lymphocytes (insulitis); insulin-producing β-cells in the pancreatic islets of CTB-Pins-treated mice were significantly preserved, with lower blood or urine glucose levels, by contrast with the few β-cells remaining in the pancreatic islets of the negative controls. Increased expression of immunosuppressive cytokines, such as interleukin-4 and interleukin-10 (IL-4 and IL-10), was observed in the pancreas of CTB-Pins-treated NOD mice. Serum levels of immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1), but not IgG2a, were elevated in CTB-Pins-treated mice. Taken together, T-helper 2 (Th2) lymphocyte-mediated oral tolerance is a likely mechanism for the prevention of pancreatic insulitis and the preservation of insulin-producing β-cells. This is the first report of expression of a therapeutic protein in transgenic chloroplasts of an edible crop. Transplastomic lettuce plants expressing CTB-Pins grew normally and transgenes were maternally inherited in T1 progeny. This opens up the possibility for the low-cost production and delivery of human therapeutic proteins, and a strategy for the treatment of various other autoimmune diseases
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