Table of Contents

Table of Content

Impact of Quadriceps/Hamstrings Torque Ratio on Three-Dimensional Pelvic Posture and Clinical Pubic Symphysis Pain-Preliminary Results in Healthy Young Male Athletes

Pain in the pubic symphysis is of significance, especially in high-performance sports. Pelvic torsion, possibly caused by muscular imbalances, is discussed as a pathogenic mechanism. This study examined a possible interrelationship between the maximum torques of quadriceps femoris and hamstrings and the spatial positioning of the hemi-pelvises, as well as the tenderness to palpation of the pubic symphysis. The three-dimensional pelvic contour of 26 pain free adolescents (age 16.0 ± 0.8 years, weight 66.3 ± 9.9 kg, height 176.2 ± 6.0 cm) was registered by means of an 3D optical system and the torsion of both hemi-pelvises against each other was calculated based on a simplified geometrical model. Tenderness on palpation of the pubic symphysis was assessed by means of a visual analogue scale, and isometric torques of knee extensors and flexors were measured for both legs. The torque ratio between knee extensors and flexors was calculated for both sides, as was the crossed torque ratio between the two legs. On the basis of a MANOVA, possible significant differences in torques and torque ratios between subgroups with lower and higher pelvic torsion were analyzed. The crossed torque ratio (F = 19.55, p < 0.001, partial η 2 = 0.453) and the tenderness to palpation of the pubic symphysis (F = 10.72, p = 0.003, partial η 2 = 0.309) were significantly higher in the subgroup with higher pelvic torsion. The results indicate the crossed torque ratio of knee flexors and extensors as a potential biomechanical-pathogenic mechanism to be considered in the primary prevention and diagnosis of symphyseal pain

Die Isotopenzusammensetzung von Helium, Neon und Argon in ultramafischen Gesteinen des subkontinentalen lithosphärischen Mantels im Gebiet des Roten Meeres

Für diese Arbeit wurden massenspektrometrische Analysen der Helium-, Neon- und Argon-Isotopenzusammensetzung von Mantel-Fluiden in Gesteinen des subkontinentalen lithosphärischen Mantels im Gebiet des Roten Meeres durchgeführt. Zuvor wurde mittels Ar-Analysen eine empirische Vorauswahl geeigneter Proben getroffen. Extraktion der Edelgase erfolgte preferentiell durch stufenweises mechanisches Zerkleinern der Gesteinsproben im Ultrahochvakuum. Die genaue Bestimmung der He- und vor allem Ne-Isotopenzusammensetzung führte zur Identifikation einer Fluid-Komponente, die vom Afar-Plume eingetragen wurde und bis zu 15% des Mantel-Ne betragen kann. Diese Fluide sind wahrscheinlich zu Beginn der Grabenbildung im Roten Meer nach der Platznahme des Afar-Plumes vor 30 Ma in die Lithosphäre eingetragen worden. Eine Probe weist keine Beiträge einer Plume-Komponente auf. Die Zusammensetzung dieser Probe wird als beste Näherung für den unbeeinflussten lithosphärischen Mantel dieser Region angesehen. Die Ergebnisse lassen sich am besten durch eine Zweikomponenten-Mischung zwischen Fluiden des Afar-Plumes und der ursprünglichen Lithosphäre erklären. Dies ist auch auf die lokale Asthenosphäre übertragbar, die sich offensichtlich erst bei der Platznahme des Afar-Plumes durch partielle Aufschmelzung des tieferen lithosphärischen Mantels bildete und dadurch die Grabenbildung ermöglichte. Die Ar-Isotopenzusammensetzung ist charakterisiert durch eher niedrige 40Ar/36Ar-Verhältnisse im Vergleich zu normaler Asthenosphäre. Eine Probe wies hohe, auf in situ radiogene Beiträge zurückzuführende 40Ar/36Ar-Werte auf. Das errechnete Modell-Alter von 580-740 Ma entspricht dem Bildungsalter der Lithosphäre selbst. Für fast alle Proben konnten zum Teil stark fraktionierte Elementverhältnisse beobachtet werden, die sich bei Bildung und Entzug partieller Schmelzen einstellten

Central rotations of Milky Way Globular Clusters

Most Milky Way globular clusters (GCs) exhibit measurable flattening, even if on a very low level. Both cluster rotation and tidal fields are thought to cause this flattening. Nevertheless, rotation has only been confirmed in a handful of GCs, based mostly on individual radial velocities at large radii. We are conducting a survey of the central kinematics of Galactic GCs using the new Integral Field Unit instrument VIRUS-W. We detect rotation in all 11 GCs that we have observed so far, rendering it likely that a large majority of the Milky Way GCs rotate. We use published catalogs of the ACS survey of GCs to derive central ellipticities and position angles. We show that in all cases where the central ellipticity permits an accurate measurement of the position angle, those angles are in excellent agreement with the kinematic position angles that we derive from the VIRUS-W velocity fields. We find an unexpected tight correlation between central rotation and outer ellipticity, indicating that rotation drives flattening for the objects in our sample. We also find a tight correlation between central rotation and published values for the central velocity dispersion, most likely due to rotation impacting the old dispersion measurements.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Transgenic Expression of the Anti-parasitic Factor TEP1 in the Malaria Mosquito Anopheles gambiae

Mosquitoes genetically engineered to be resistant to Plasmodium parasites represent a promising novel approach in the fight against malaria. The insect immune system itself is a source of anti-parasitic genes potentially exploitable for transgenic designs. The Anopheles gambiae thioester containing protein 1 (TEP1) is a potent anti-parasitic protein. TEP1 is secreted and circulates in the mosquito hemolymph, where its activated cleaved form binds and eliminates malaria parasites. Here we investigated whether TEP1 can be used to create malaria resistant mosquitoes. Using a GFP reporter transgene, we determined that the fat body is the main site of TEP1 expression. We generated transgenic mosquitoes that express TEP1r, a potent refractory allele of TEP1, in the fat body and examined the activity of the transgenic protein in wild-type or TEP1 mutant genetic backgrounds. Transgenic TEP1r rescued loss-of-function mutations, but did not increase parasite resistance in the presence of a wild-type susceptible allele. Consistent with previous reports, TEP1 protein expressed from the transgene in the fat body was taken up by hemocytes upon a challenge with injected bacteria. Furthermore, although maturation of transgenic TEP1 into the cleaved form was impaired in one of the TEP1 mutant lines, it was still sufficient to reduce parasite numbers and induce parasite melanization. We also report here the first use of Transcription Activator Like Effectors (TALEs) in Anopheles gambiae to stimulate expression of endogenous TEP1. We found that artificial elevation of TEP1 expression remains moderate in vivo and that enhancement of endogenous TEP1 expression did not result in increased resistance to Plasmodium. Taken together, our results reveal the difficulty of artificially influencing TEP1-mediated Plasmodium resistance, and contribute to further our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying mosquito resistance to Plasmodium parasites

The lunar Dhofar 1436 meteorite: ⁴⁰Ar‐ ³⁹Ar chronology and volatiles, revealed by stepwise combustion and crushing methods

The lunar meteorite Dhofar 1436 is dominated by solar wind type noble gases. Solar argon is equilibrated with “parentless” 40Ar commonly known as lunar orphan argon. Ar‐Ar isochron analyses determined the lunar trapped 40Ar/36Ar ratio to 2.51 ± 0.04, yielding a corrected plateau age of 4.1 ± 0.1 Ga, consistent with the lunar Late Heavy Bombardment period. Lunar trapped and radiogenic argon components are all released at high temperatures (1200–1400 °C). Surprisingly, solar noble gases and lunar trapped argon can largely be released by crushing. Initial crushing steps mainly release elementally fractionated solar wind gases, while in advanced crushing steps, cosmogenic components dominate. Cosmogenic noble gases indicate irradiation at the lunar surface; they are less fractionated than solar wind species. We favor a scenario in which both solar and a large fraction of cosmogenic gases were acquired before the 4.1 Ga event, which caused shock metamorphism and formation of the regolith breccia. Sintering and agglutination along grain boundaries resulted in mobilization of solar wind, reimplanted, radiogenic, and cosmogenic noble gases, and resulted in their partial homogenization, fractionation, and retrapping in voids and/or defects accessible by crushing. An alternative scenario would be complete reset of the K‐Ar system 4.1 Ga ago accompanied by loss of all previously accumulated solar and cosmogenic noble gases. Later, the precursor of Dhofar 1436 became lunar regolith and accumulated solar and cosmogenic noble gases and reimplanted 40Ar before its final formation of the polymict impact breccia. The C abundance of the step‐combusted Dhofar 1436 is 555.3 ppm, with δ13C of −28‰ to +11‰. Nitrogen contents released by crushing and combustion are 3.2 ppm and 20.8 ppm, respectively. The lightest nitrogen composition (δ15N = −79‰) is likely due to release from voids of shock metamorphic phases and is rather a result of the mobilization of nitrogen components that accumulated prior to the 4.1 Ga event

Composite Bulges -- III. A Study of Nuclear Star Clusters in Nearby Spiral Galaxies

We present photometric and morphological analyses of nuclear star clusters (NSCs) -- very dense, massive star clusters present in the central regions of most galaxies -- in a sample of 33 massive disk galaxies within 20 Mpc, part of the "Composite Bulges Survey." We use data from the Hubble Space Telescope including optical (F475W and F814W) and near-IR (F160W) images from the Wide Field Camera 3. We fit the images in 2D to take into account the full complexity of the inner regions of these galaxies (including the contributions of nuclear disks and bars), isolating the nuclear star cluster and bulge components. We derive NSC radii and magnitudes in all 3 bands, which we then use to estimate NSC masses. Our sample significantly expands the sample of massive late-type galaxies with measured NSC properties. We clearly identify nuclear star clusters in nearly 80% of our galaxies, putting a lower limit on the nucleation fraction in these galaxies that is higher than previous estimates. We find that the NSCs in our massive disk galaxies are consistent with previous NSC mass-NSC radius and Galaxy Mass-NSC Mass relations. However, we also find a large spread in NSC masses, with a handful of galaxies hosting very low-mass, compact clusters. Our NSCs are aligned in PA with their host galaxy disks but are less flattened. They show no correlations with bar or bulge properties. Finally, we find the ratio of NSC to BH mass in our massive disk galaxy sample spans a factor of $\sim$300.Comment: Accepted to The Astrophysical Journa

Transgenic Expression of the Anti-parasitic Factor TEP1 in the Malaria Mosquito Anopheles gambiae

Mosquitoes genetically engineered to be resistant to Plasmodium parasites represent a promising novel approach in the fight against malaria. The insect immune system itself is a source of anti-parasitic genes potentially exploitable for transgenic designs. The Anopheles gambiae thioester containing protein 1 (TEP1) is a potent anti-parasitic protein. TEP1 is secreted and circulates in the mosquito hemolymph, where its activated cleaved form binds and eliminates malaria parasites. Here we investigated whether TEP1 can be used to create malaria resistant mosquitoes. Using a GFP reporter transgene, we determined that the fat body is the main site of TEP1 expression. We generated transgenic mosquitoes that express TEP1r, a potent refractory allele of TEP1, in the fat body and examined the activity of the transgenic protein in wild-type or TEP1 mutant genetic backgrounds. Transgenic TEP1r rescued loss-of-function mutations, but did not increase parasite resistance in the presence of a wild-type susceptible allele. Consistent with previous reports, TEP1 protein expressed from the transgene in the fat body was taken up by hemocytes upon a challenge with injected bacteria. Furthermore, although maturation of transgenic TEP1 into the cleaved form was impaired in one of the TEP1 mutant lines, it was still sufficient to reduce parasite numbers and induce parasite melanization. We also report here the first use of Transcription Activator Like Effectors (TALEs) in Anopheles gambiae to stimulate expression of endogenous TEP1. We found that artificial elevation of TEP1 expression remains moderate in vivo and that enhancement of endogenous TEP1 expression did not result in increased resistance to Plasmodium. Taken together, our results reveal the difficulty of artificially influencing TEP1-mediated Plasmodium resistance, and contribute to further our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying mosquito resistance to Plasmodium parasites

Annama H chondrite-Mineralogy, physical properties, cosmic ray exposure, and parent body history

The fall of the Annama meteorite occurred early morning (local time) on April 19, 2014 on the Kola Peninsula (Russia). Based on mineralogy and physical properties, Annama is a typical H chondrite. It has a high Ar-Ar age of 4.4 Ga. Its cosmic ray exposure history is atypical as it is not part of the large group of H chondrites with a prominent 7-8 Ma peak in the exposure age histograms. Instead, its exposure age is within uncertainty of a smaller peak at 30 +/- 4 Ma. The results from short-lived radionuclides are compatible with an atmospheric pre-entry radius of 30-40 cm. However, based on noble gas and cosmogenic radionuclide data, Annama must have been part of a larger body (radius >65 cm) for a large part of its cosmic ray exposure history. The Be-10 concentration indicates a recent (3-5 Ma) breakup which may be responsible for the Annama parent body size reduction to 30-35 cm pre-entry radius.Peer reviewe

Composite Bulges – II. Classical Bulges and Nuclear Discs in Barred Galaxies: The Contrasting Cases of NGC 4608 and NGC 4643

Abstract We present detailed morphological, photometric, and stellar-kinematic analyses of the central regions of two massive, early-type barred galaxies with nearly identical large-scale morphologies. Both have large, strong bars with prominent inner photometric excesses that we associate with boxy/peanut-shaped (B/P) bulges; the latter constitute ∼30% of the galaxy light. Inside its B/P bulge, NGC 4608 has a compact, almost circular structure (half-light radius Re ≈ 310 pc, Sérsic n = 2.2) we identify as a classical bulge, amounting to 12.1% of the total light, along with a nuclear star cluster (Re ∼ 4 pc). NGC 4643, in contrast, has a nuclear disc with an unusual broken-exponential surface-brightness profile (13.2% of the light), and a very small spheroidal component (Re ≈ 35 pc, n = 1.6; 0.5% of the light). IFU stellar kinematics support this picture, with NGC 4608’s classical bulge slowly rotating and dominated by high velocity dispersion, while NGC 4643’s nuclear disc shows a drop to lower dispersion, rapid rotation, V-h3 anticorrelation, and elevated h4. Both galaxies show at least some evidence for V-h3correlation in the bar (outside the respective classical bulge and nuclear disc), in agreement with model predictions. Standard 2-component (bulge/disc) decompositions yield B/T ∼ 0.5–0.7 (and bulge n &amp;gt; 2) for both galaxies. This overestimates the true “spheroid” components by factors of four (NGC 4608) and over 100 (NGC 4643), illustrating the perils of naive bulge-disc decompositions applied to massive barred galaxies