53,930 research outputs found

    Association between the squat lobster Gastroptychus formosus and cold-water corals in the North Atlantic

    Get PDF
    Although there are no previous descriptions of the habits of chirostylids in the North Atlantic, it is likely that species in the genera Uroptychus, Eumunida and Gastroptychus have close ecological ties with deep-sea corals since they have all been recorded in trawl samples containing corals from ∼200m depth. We analysed in situ distribution of Gastroptychus formosus and potential hosts using a ROV at a range of north-eastern Atlantic sites and found that this species forms a close association with deep-sea corals that resembles the chirostylid-anthozoan associations reported in shallow Indo-Pacific waters. We update the known distribution for G. formosus, confirming that it is an amphiatlantic species that occurs along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at least as far south as the Azores and along continental margins from the Canary Islands to Scotland at depths of 600-1700m. The adults have very specific habitat preferences, being only found on gorgonian and antipatharian corals with a strong preference for Leiopathes sp. as a host. This highly restricted habitat preference is likely to render chirostylids vulnerable to the impacts of demersal fishing both directly, as by-catch, and indirectly through habitat loss. © 2010 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

    Emission Characteristics of the Projectile Fragments at Relativistic Energy

    Full text link
    A projectile (84^Kr_36) having kinetic energy around 1 A GeV was used to expose NIKFI BR-2 emulsion target. A total of 700 inelastic events are used in the present studies on projectile fragments. The emission angle of the projectile fragments are strongly affected by charge of the other projectile fragments emitted at same time with different emission angle is observed. The angular distribution studies show symmetrical nature for lighter charge projectile fragments. The symmetrical nature decreased with the charge of projectile fragments. At ~4o of emission angle for double charge projectile fragments, the momentum transfer during interaction is similar for various target species of emulsion were observed. We also observed a small but significant amplitude peaks on both side of the big peak for almost all light charge projectile fragments having different delta angle values. It reflects that there are few percent of projectile fragments that are coming from the decay of heavy projectile fragments or any other process.Comment: 32 pages, 17 Figure

    Effects of lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation on expression of growth-associated genes by corticospinal neurons

    Get PDF
    Background: Inflammation around cell bodies of primary sensory neurons and retinal ganglion cells enhances expression of neuronal growth-associated genes and stimulates axonal regeneration. We have asked if inflammation would have similar effects on corticospinal neurons, which normally show little response to spinal cord injury. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was applied onto the pial surface of the motor cortex of adult rats with or without concomitant injury of the corticospinal tract at C4. Inflammation around corticospinal tract cell bodies in the motor cortex was assessed by immunohistochemistry for OX42 ( a microglia and macrophage marker). Expression of growth-associated genes c-jun, ATF3, SCG10 and GAP-43 was investigated by immunohistochemistry or in situ hybridisation.Results: Application of LPS induced a gradient of inflammation through the full depth of the motor cortex and promoted c-Jun and SCG10 expression for up to 2 weeks, and GAP-43 upregulation for 3 days by many corticospinal neurons, but had very limited effects on neuronal ATF3 expression. However, many glial cells in the subcortical white matter upregulated ATF3. LPS did not promote sprouting of anterogradely labelled corticospinal axons, which did not grow into or beyond a cervical lesion site.Conclusion: Inflammation produced by topical application of LPS promoted increased expression of some growth-associated genes in the cell bodies of corticospinal neurons, but was insufficient to promote regeneration of the corticospinal tract

    Preparation, characterization and in vitro study of biocompatible fibroin hydrogel

    Get PDF
    In this study, Bombyx mori silk based hydrogels were prepared and their biorelevant properties like physical, chemical and thermal properties were studied. Firstly, silk fibroin aqueous solution was prepared and the molecular weight of fibroin protein was determined followed by particle size analysis for the confirmation of study. Silk fibroin hydrogels were prepared by treating a 12% (w/v) silk fibroin aqueous solution at 4°C (thermgel) and lyophilized. The swelling and thermorheological behaviour of fibroin hydrogels were studied. The morphology and crystalline structure of lyophilized hydrogels were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and wide-angle diffractometry, respectively while the surface functional groups were analyzed by FT-IR. The thermal behavior was also studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry and gravimetric method. The cytocompatibility of the hydrogels was evaluated through three-dimensional culture with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Lyophilized fibroin gel of high strength and high thermal stability were obtained. The β-crystelline structure of lyophilized fibroin hydrogel has shown excellent swelling capacity to mimic the living tissues. The surfaces of these hydrogels were found supporting to cell adherence and proliferation. hMNCs could survive and proliferate in the gel within 3 weeks, and the gel had good cytocompatibility. It was concluded that fibroin hydrogel not only has interpenetrating network structure but also has good cytocompatibility and could be used as injectable scaffolds able to promote in situ bone regeneration.Key words: Fibroin, hydrogel, tissue engineering, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, scanning electron microscopy, cytocompatibility

    Application of the operator product expansion to the short distance behavior of nuclear potentials

    Get PDF
    We investigate the short distance behavior of nucleon-nucleon (NN) potentials defined through Bethe-Salpeter wave functions, by perturbatively calculating anomalous dimensions of 6-quark operators in QCD. Thanks to the asymptotic freedom of QCD, 1-loop computations give certain exact results for the potentials in the zero distance limit. In particular the functional form of the S-state central NN potential at short distance rr is predicted to be a little weaker than r2r^{-2}. On the other hand, due to the intriguing character of the anomalous dimension spectrum, perturbative considerations alone can not determine whether this potential is repulsive or attractive at short distances. A crude estimation suggests that the force at short distance is repulsive, as found numerically in lattice QCD. A similar behavior is found for the tensor potential.Comment: 40 pages, no figure

    Lamotrigine treatment of aggression in female borderline patients, Part II: an 18-month follow-up

    Get PDF
    Borderline patients often display pathological aggression. We previously tested lamotrigine, an anti-convulsant, in therapy for aggression in women with borderline personality disorder (BPD) (J Psychopharmacol 2005; 19: 287–291), and found significant changes on most scales of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) after eight weeks. To assess the longerterm efficacy of lamotrigine in therapy for aggression in women with BPD, this 18-month follow-up observation was carried out, in which patients (treated with lamotrigine: n = 18; former placebo group: n = 9) were tested every six months. According to the intent-to-treat principle, significant changes on all scales of the STAXI were observed in the lamotrigine-treated subjects. All subjects tolerated lamotrigine relatively well. Lamotrigine appears to be an effective and relatively safe agent in the longer-term treatment of aggression in women with BPD

    Refusing to Endorse. A must Explanation for Pejoratives.

    Get PDF
    In her analysis of pejoratives, Eva Picardi rejects a too sharp separation between descriptive and expressive content. I reconstruct some of her arguments, endorsing Eva’s criticism of Williamson’s analysis of Dummett and developing a suggestion by Manuel Garcia Carpintero on a speech act analysis of pejoratives. Eva’s main concern is accounting for our instinctive refusal to endorse an assertion containing pejoratives because it suggests a picture of reality we do not share. Her stance might be further developed claiming that uses of pejoratives not only suggest, but also promote a wrong picture of reality. Our refusal to endorse implies rejecting not only a wrong picture of reality but also a call for participation to what that picture promotes
    corecore