1,732 research outputs found
Resident phenotypically modulated vascular smooth muscle cells in healthy human arteries.
Vascular interstitial cells (VICs) are non-contractile cells with filopodia previously described in healthy blood vessels of rodents and their function remains unknown. The objective of this study was to identify VICs in human arteries and to ascertain their role. VICs were identified in the wall of human gastro-omental arteries using transmission electron microscopy. Isolated VICs showed ability to form new and elongate existing filopodia and actively change body shape. Most importantly sprouting VICs were also observed in cell dispersal. RT-PCR performed on separately collected contractile vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and VICs showed that both cell types expressed the gene for smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (SM-MHC). Immunofluorescent labelling showed that both VSMCs and VICs had similar fluorescence for SM-MHC and αSM-actin, VICs, however, had significantly lower fluorescence for smoothelin, myosin light chain kinase, h-calponin and SM22α. It was also found that VICs do not have cytoskeleton as rigid as in contractile VSMCs. VICs express number of VSMC-specific proteins and display features of phenotypically modulated VSMCs with increased migratory abilities. VICs, therefore represent resident phenotypically modulated VSMCs that are present in human arteries under normal physiological conditions
Beyond Patient Reported Pain: Perfusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging Demonstrates Reproducible Cerebral Representation of Ongoing Post-Surgical Pain
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
A CO Survey of Young Planetary Nebulae
We report the results of a sensitive survey of young planetary nebulae in the
CO J=2-1 line that significantly increases the available data on warm, dense,
molecular gas in the early phases of planetary nebula formation. The
observations were made using the IRAM 30 m telescope with the 3 by 3 pixel
Heterodyne Receiver Array (HERA). The array provides an effective means of
discriminating the CO emission of planetary nebulae in the galactic plane from
contaminating emission of interstellar clouds along the line of sight. 110
planetary nebulae were observed in the survey and 40 were detected. The results
increase the number of young planetary nebulae with known CO emission by
approximately a factor of two. The CO spectra yield radial velocities for the
detected nebulae, about half of which have uncertain or no velocity
measurements at optical wavelengths. The CO profiles range from parabolic to
double-peaked, tracing the evolution of structure in the molecular gas. The
line widths are significantly larger than on the Asymptotic Giant Branch, and
many of the lines show extended wings, which probably result from the effects
on the envelopes of high velocity jets.Comment: 29 pages, 2 figures (with multiple panels), to be published in
Astrophysical Journal Supplement Serie
Imaging the dynamical atmosphere of the red supergiant Betelgeuse in the CO first overtone lines with VLTI/AMBER
We present the first 1-D aperture synthesis imaging of the red supergiant
Betelgeuse in the individual CO first overtone lines with VLTI/AMBER. The
reconstructed 1-D projection images reveal that the star appears differently in
the blue wing, line center, and red wing of the individual CO lines. The 1-D
projection images in the blue wing and line center show a pronounced,
asymmetrically extended component up to ~1.3 stellar radii, while those in the
red wing do not show such a component. The observed 1-D projection images in
the lines can be reasonably explained by a model in which the CO gas within a
region more than half as large as the stellar size is moving slightly outward
with 0--5 km s^-1, while the gas in the remaining region is infalling fast with
20--30 km s^-1. A comparison between the CO line AMBER data taken in 2008 and
2009 shows a significant time variation in the dynamics of the CO line-forming
region in the photosphere and the outer atmosphere. In contrast to the line
data, the reconstructed 1-D projection images in the continuum show only a
slight deviation from a uniform disk or limb-darkened disk. We derive a
uniform-disk diameter of 42.05 +/- 0.05 mas and a power-law-type limb-darkened
disk diameter of 42.49 +/- 0.06 mas and a limb-darkening parameter of (9.7 +/-
0.5) x 10^{-2}. This latter angular diameter leads to an effective temperature
of 3690 +/- 54 K for the continuum-forming layer. These diameters confirm that
the near-IR size of Betelgeuse was nearly constant over the last 18 years, in
marked contrast to the recently reported noticeable decrease in the mid-IR
size. The continuum data taken in 2008 and 2009 reveal no or only marginal time
variations, much smaller than the maximum variation predicted by the current
3-D convection simulations.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Testing significance relative to a fold-change threshold is a TREAT
Motivation: Statistical methods are used to test for the differential expression of genes in microarray experiments. The most widely used methods successfully test whether the true differential expression is different from zero, but give no assurance that the differences found are large enough to be biologically meaningful
An appropriate tool for entrepreneurial learning in SMEs? The case of the 20Twenty Leadership Programme
The 20Twenty Leadership Programme was developed by Cardiff Metropolitan University as an executive education programme to be delivered within South Wales to small businesses. It is funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and administered by the Welsh European Funding Office and has the key aim of developing SMEâs growth potential via a range of leadership and management skills, including a focus on âsoftâ skills. The focus of this paper is to place the 20Twenty Leadership Programme within the wider context of entrepreneurship policy and SME training initiatives in particular, and then to examine the rationale and delivery methods of the Programme in relation to these. It also reflects on the Programmeâs success (or otherwise) to date where possible. Finally, the paper seeks to suggest fruitful areas of further research both in terms of the 20Twenty Leadership Programme itself, but also with regard to evaluation in relation to other parallel programmes, and to SME training initiatives more generally
Size-dependent spinodal and miscibility gaps for intercalation in nano-particles
Using a recently-proposed mathematical model for intercalation dynamics in
phase-separating materials [Singh, Ceder, Bazant, Electrochimica Acta 53, 7599
(2008)], we show that the spinodal and miscibility gaps generally shrink as the
host particle size decreases to the nano-scale. Our work is motivated by recent
experiments on the high-rate Li-ion battery material LiFePO4; this serves as
the basis for our examples, but our analysis and conclusions apply to any
intercalation material. We describe two general mechanisms for the suppression
of phase separation in nano-particles: (i) a classical bulk effect, predicted
by the Cahn-Hilliard equation, in which the diffuse phase boundary becomes
confined by the particle geometry; and (ii) a novel surface effect, predicted
by chemical-potential-dependent reaction kinetics, in which
insertion/extraction reactions stabilize composition gradients near surfaces in
equilibrium with the local environment. Composition-dependent surface energy
and (especially) elastic strain can contribute to these effects but are not
required to predict decreased spinodal and miscibility gaps at the nano-scale
The dynamical evolution of the circumstellar gas around low-and intermediate-mass stars I: the AGB
We have investigated the dynamical interaction of low- and-intermediate mass
stars (from 1 to 5 Msun) with their interstellar medium (ISM). In this first
paper, we examine the structures generated by the stellar winds during the
Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase, using a numerical code and the wind
history predicted by stellar evolution. The influence of the external ISM is
also taken into account. We find that the wind variations associated with the
thermal pulses lead to the formation of transient shells with an average
lifetime of 20,000 yr, and consequently do not remain recorded in the density
or velocity structure of the gas. The formation of shells that survive at the
end of the AGB occurs via two main processes: shocks between the shells formed
by two consecutive enhancements of the mass-loss or via continuous accumulation
of the material ejected by the star in the interaction region with the ISM. Our
models show that the mass of the circumstellar envelope increases appreciably
due to the ISM material swept up by the wind (up to 70 % for the 1 Msun stellar
model). We also point out the importance of the ISM on the deceleration and
compression of the external shells. According to our simulations, large regions
(up to 2.5 pc) of neutral gas surrounding the molecular envelopes of AGB stars
are expected. These large regions of gas are formed from the mass-loss
experienced by the star during the AGB evolution.Comment: 43 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Foreign Direct Investments in Business Services: Transforming the VisegrĂĄd Four Region into a Knowledge-based Economy?
Foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the service sector are widely attributed an important role in bringing more skill-intensive activities into the Visegrad Four (V4). This regionâcomprising Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakiaârelied heavily on FDIs in manufacturing, which was often found to generate activities with limited skill content. This contribution deconstructs the chaotic concept of âbusiness servicesâ by analysing the actual nature of service sector activities outsourced and offshored to the V4. Using the knowledge-based economy (KBE) as a benchmark, the paper assesses the potential of service sector outsourcing in contributing to regional competitiveness by increasing the innovative capacity. It also discusses the role of state policies towards service sector FDI (SFDI). The analysis combines data obtained from case studies undertaken in service sector outsourcing projects in V4 countries. Moreover, it draws on interviews with senior employees of investment promotion agencies and publicly available data and statistics on activities within the service sector in the region. It argues that the recent inward investments in business services in the V4 mainly utilize existing local human capital resources, and their contribution to the development of the KBE is limited to employment creation and demand for skilled labour
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