Renal pericytes: regulators of medullary blood flow

Regulation of medullary blood flow (MBF) is essential in maintaining normal kidney function. Blood flow to the medulla is supplied by the descending vasa recta (DVR), which arise from the efferent arterioles of juxtamedullary glomeruli. DVR are composed of a continuous endothelium, intercalated with smooth muscle-like cells called pericytes. Pericytes have been shown to alter the diameter of isolated and in situ DVR in response to vasoactive stimuli that are transmitted via a network of autocrine and paracrine signalling pathways. Vasoactive stimuli can be released by neighbouring tubular epithelial, endothelial, red blood cells and neuronal cells in response to changes in NaCl transport and oxygen tension. The experimentally described sensitivity of pericytes to these stimuli strongly suggests their leading role in the phenomenon of MBF autoregulation. Because the debate on autoregulation of MBF fervently continues, we discuss the evidence favouring a physiological role for pericytes in the regulation of MBF and describe their potential role in tubulo-vascular cross-talk in this region of the kidney. Our review also considers current methods used to explore pericyte activity and function in the renal medulla

Calculation of magnetic anisotropy energy in SmCo5

SmCo5 is an important hard magnetic material, due to its large magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE). We have studied the magnetic properties of SmCo5 using density functional theory (DFT) calculations where the Sm f-bands, which are difficult to include in DFT calculations, have been treated within the LDA+U formalism. The large MAE comes mostly from the Sm f-shell anisotropy, stemming from an interplay between the crystal field and the spin-orbit coupling. We found that both are of similar strengths, unlike some other Sm compounds, leading to a partial quenching of the orbital moment (f-states cannot be described as either pure lattice harmonics or pure complex harmonics), an optimal situation for enhanced MAE. A smaller portion of the MAE can be associated with the Co-d band anisotropy, related to the peak in the density of states at the Fermi energy. Our result for the MAE of SmCo5, 21.6 meV/f.u., agrees reasonably with the experimental value of 13-16 meV/f.u., and the calculated magnetic moment (including the orbital component) of 9.4 mu_B agrees with the experimental value of 8.9 mu_B.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Finite temperature phase diagram of spin-1/2 bosons in two-dimensional optical lattice

We study a two-species bosonic Hubbard model on a two-dimensional square lattice by means of quantum Monte Carlo simulations and focus on finite temperature effects. We show in two different cases, ferro- and antiferromagnetic spin-spin interactions, that the phase diagram is composed of solid Mott phases, liquid phases and superfluid phases. In the antiferromagnetic case, the superfluid (SF) is polarized while the Mott insulator (MI) and normal Bose liquid (NBL) phases are not. On the other hand, in the ferromagnetic case, none of the phases is polarized. The superfluid-liquid transition is of the Berezinsky-Kosterlitz-Thouless type whereas the solid-liquid passage is a crossover.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figure

Extending Grazing In Heifer Development Systems Decreases Cost Without Compromising Production

Three experiments compared heifer development systems. In Exp. 1, 299 heifers (253 ± 2 kg) from 3 yr were used to compare dry lot (DL) to grazing corn residue (CR) post weaning. Heifers in the DL consumed a common diet after weaning for 187 d until breeding. The CR heifers grazed for 145 d with a supplement (0.45 kg/d; 28% CP) and were then fed in the DL until breeding. In Exp. 2, 270 heifers (225 ± 2 kg) in 3 yr grazed Sandhills winter range (WR) or CR with a supplement (0.45 kg/d; 28% CP) post weaning. In Exp. 3, 180 heifers (262 ± 3 kg) in 2 yr grazed Eastern Nebraska WR or CR with a supplement (0.45 – 0.90 kg/d; 29% CP) post weaning. The CR heifers had lower (P \u3c 0.001) ADG before breeding compared to DL or WR heifers in Exp. 1 and 2, but WR and CR were similar (P = 0.66) in Exp. 3. The DL and WR heifers were heavier (P \u3c 0.003) than CR at breeding and pregnancy diagnosis in Exp. 1 and 2, but similar (P = 0.62) in Exp. 3. The percentage of heifers pubertal at breeding was greater (P \u3c 0.001) for DL than CR in Exp. 1, for WR than CR in yr 1 and 2 of Exp. 2 (P \u3c 0.01), but similar (P = 0.36) in Exp. 3. Pregnancy rate to AI was lower (P = 0.08) for CR than DL heifers in Exp. 1, but not different (P = 0.89) in Exp. 3. Final pregnancy rate was not affected (P ≥ 0.27) in Exp. 1, 2 or 3. In Exp. 2,, yr 2, CR heifers required (P = 0.01) more calving assistance than WR. Milk production of WR heifers was greater (P = 0.04) than CR in Exp. 3. Calf weaning BW, two-year old AI (Exp. 1 and 3) and final pregnancy rates (Exp. 1, 2 and 3) were not different (P \u3e 0.10). Development grazing CR reduced cost by $45/pregnancy compared to DL, but cost of WR was similar to CR. Development grazing CR reduces ADG before breeding without sacrificing final pregnancy rate. Development grazing WR increases milk production, but does not increase weaning BW. Grazing CR during heifer development reduces cost compared to DL. Grazing CR or WR is suitable for heifer development at similar cost

Integrated analysis of germline and somatic variants in ovarian cancer

We report the first large-scale exome-wide analysis of the combined germline-somatic landscape in ovarian cancer. Here we analyze germline and somatic alterations in 429 ovarian carcinoma cases and 557 controls. We identify 3,635 high confidence, rare truncation and 22,953 missense variants with predicted functional impact. We find germline truncation variants and large deletions across Fanconi pathway genes in 20% of cases. Enrichment of rare truncations is shown in BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB2. Additionally, we observe germline truncation variants in genes not previously associated with ovarian cancer susceptibility (NF1, MAP3K4, CDKN2B, and MLL3). Evidence for loss of heterozygosity was found in 100% and 76% of cases with germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 truncations respectively. Germline-somatic interaction analysis combined with extensive bioinformatics annotation identifies 237 candidate functional germline truncation and missense variants, including 2 pathogenic BRCA1 and 1 TP53 deleterious variants. Finally, integrated analyses of germline and somatic variants identify significantly altered pathways, including the Fanconi, MAPK, and MLL pathways

An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics

For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types

Fitting the integrated Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies

Fitting the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies is an almost universally used technique that has matured significantly in the last decade. Model predictions and fitting procedures have improved significantly over this time, attempting to keep up with the vastly increased volume and quality of available data. We review here the field of SED fitting, describing the modelling of ultraviolet to infrared galaxy SEDs, the creation of multiwavelength data sets, and the methods used to fit model SEDs to observed galaxy data sets. We touch upon the achievements and challenges in the major ingredients of SED fitting, with a special emphasis on describing the interplay between the quality of the available data, the quality of the available models, and the best fitting technique to use in order to obtain a realistic measurement as well as realistic uncertainties. We conclude that SED fitting can be used effectively to derive a range of physical properties of galaxies, such as redshift, stellar masses, star formation rates, dust masses, and metallicities, with care taken not to over-interpret the available data. Yet there still exist many issues such as estimating the age of the oldest stars in a galaxy, finer details ofdust properties and dust-star geometry, and the influences of poorly understood, luminous stellar types and phases. The challenge for the coming years will be to improve both the models and the observational data sets to resolve these uncertainties. The present review will be made available on an interactive, moderated web page (sedfitting.org), where the community can access and change the text. The intention is to expand the text and keep it up to date over the coming years.Comment: 54 pages, 26 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

Some notes on the calculation of energy-angle correlated distributions with TNG and their representation in File 6 formats

The model code TNG has been extensively used in evaluation work of structural materials for ENDF/B-VI performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A new aspect of ENDF/B-VI is the use of File 6 formats for energy-angle correlated data. Such data are generally calculated, anchored by experimental data. In this informal note we outline how the TNG results are calculated and entered in the File 6 formats. 4 refs

Neutron emission spectra induced by 14-MeV neutrons from the Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF/B-V): a critical review

Neutron emission spectra induced by 14.6-MeV incident neutrons, retrieved from ENDF/B-V, are graphically compared with experimental data by Hermsdorf et al. and Clayeux and Voignier. The elements selected for the comparisons include Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Nb, W, and Pb. In addition to comparing the evaluated total neutron emission spectra with experimental data, individually evaluated spectra from contributing reactions are presented. Only a few of the evaluated spectra were found to agree well with the measured spectra, namely, those evaluations which utilized advanced nuclear model codes with precompound effects and competing binary and tertiary reactions. Recommendations for removing several defects in most evaluations are made. 3 figures

The Similarity Hypothesis in General Relativity

Self-similar models are important in general relativity and other fundamental theories. In this paper we shall discuss the ``similarity hypothesis'', which asserts that under a variety of physical circumstances solutions of these theories will naturally evolve to a self-similar form. We will find there is good evidence for this in the context of both spatially homogenous and inhomogeneous cosmological models, although in some cases the self-similar model is only an intermediate attractor. There are also a wide variety of situations, including critical pheneomena, in which spherically symmetric models tend towards self-similarity. However, this does not happen in all cases and it is it is important to understand the prerequisites for the conjecture.Comment: to be submitted to Gen. Rel. Gra