728 research outputs found
Muscarinic receptor subtypes and signalling involved in the attenuation of isoprenaline-induced rat urinary bladder relaxation
β-Adrenoceptors are important mediators of smooth muscle relaxation in the urinary bladder, but the concomitant presence of a muscarinic agonist, e.g., carbachol, can attenuate relaxation responses by reducing potency and/or efficacy of β-adrenoceptor agonists such as isoprenaline. Therefore, the present study was designed to explore the subtypes and signalling pathways of muscarinic receptors involved in the attenuation of isoprenaline-induced isolated rat detrusor preparations using novel subtype-selective receptor ligands. In radioligand binding studies, we characterized BZI to be a M3-sparing muscarinic agonist, providing selective M2 stimulation in rat bladder, and THRX-182087 as a highly M2-selective antagonist. The use of BZI and of THRX-182087 in the presence of carbachol enabled experimental conditions with a selective stimulation of only M2 or M3 receptors, respectively. Confirming previous findings, carbachol attenuated isoprenaline-induced detrusor relaxation. M2-selective stimulation partly mimicked this attenuation, indicating that both M2 and M3 receptors are involved. During M3-selective stimulation, the attenuation of isoprenaline responses was reduced by the phospholipase C inhibitor U 73,122 but not by the protein kinase C inhibitor chelerythrine. We conclude that both M2 and M3 receptors contribute to attenuation of β-adrenoceptor-mediated relaxation of rat urinary bladder; the signal transduction pathway involved in the M3 component of this attenuation differs from that mediating direct contractile effects of M3 receptors
Scalar and vector Slepian functions, spherical signal estimation and spectral analysis
It is a well-known fact that mathematical functions that are timelimited (or
spacelimited) cannot be simultaneously bandlimited (in frequency). Yet the
finite precision of measurement and computation unavoidably bandlimits our
observation and modeling scientific data, and we often only have access to, or
are only interested in, a study area that is temporally or spatially bounded.
In the geosciences we may be interested in spectrally modeling a time series
defined only on a certain interval, or we may want to characterize a specific
geographical area observed using an effectively bandlimited measurement device.
It is clear that analyzing and representing scientific data of this kind will
be facilitated if a basis of functions can be found that are "spatiospectrally"
concentrated, i.e. "localized" in both domains at the same time. Here, we give
a theoretical overview of one particular approach to this "concentration"
problem, as originally proposed for time series by Slepian and coworkers, in
the 1960s. We show how this framework leads to practical algorithms and
statistically performant methods for the analysis of signals and their power
spectra in one and two dimensions, and, particularly for applications in the
geosciences, for scalar and vectorial signals defined on the surface of a unit
sphere.Comment: Submitted to the 2nd Edition of the Handbook of Geomathematics,
edited by Willi Freeden, Zuhair M. Nashed and Thomas Sonar, and to be
published by Springer Verlag. This is a slightly modified but expanded
version of the paper arxiv:0909.5368 that appeared in the 1st Edition of the
Handbook, when it was called: Slepian functions and their use in signal
estimation and spectral analysi
Non-Perturbative Renormalization Group for Simple Fluids
We present a new non perturbative renormalization group for classical simple
fluids. The theory is built in the Grand Canonical ensemble and in the
framework of two equivalent scalar field theories as well. The exact mapping
between the three renormalization flows is established rigorously. In the Grand
Canonical ensemble the theory may be seen as an extension of the Hierarchical
Reference Theory (L. Reatto and A. Parola, \textit{Adv. Phys.}, \textbf{44},
211 (1995)) but however does not suffer from its shortcomings at subcritical
temperatures. In the framework of a new canonical field theory of liquid state
developed in that aim our construction identifies with the effective average
action approach developed recently (J. Berges, N. Tetradis, and C. Wetterich,
\textit{Phys. Rep.}, \textbf{363} (2002))
Superficial simplicity of the 2010 El Mayor–Cucapah earthquake of Baja California in Mexico
The geometry of faults is usually thought to be more complicated at the surface than at depth and to control the initiation, propagation and arrest of seismic ruptures. The fault system that runs from southern California into Mexico is a simple strike-slip boundary: the west side of California and Mexico moves northwards with respect to the east. However, the M_w 7.2 2010 El Mayor–Cucapah earthquake on this fault system produced a pattern of seismic waves that indicates a far more complex source than slip on a planar strike-slip fault. Here we use geodetic, remote-sensing and seismological data to reconstruct the fault geometry and history of slip during this earthquake. We find that the earthquake produced a straight 120-km-long fault trace that cut through the Cucapah mountain range and across the Colorado River delta. However, at depth, the fault is made up of two different segments connected by a small extensional fault. Both segments strike N130° E, but dip in opposite directions. The earthquake was initiated on the connecting extensional fault and 15 s later ruptured the two main segments with dominantly strike-slip motion. We show that complexities in the fault geometry at depth explain well the complex pattern of radiated seismic waves. We conclude that the location and detailed characteristics of the earthquake could not have been anticipated on the basis of observations of surface geology alone
Effect of pre-contraction on β-adrenoceptor-mediated relaxation of rat urinary bladder
Purpose The human physiological bladder contraction is largely mediated by acetylcholine acting on muscarinic receptors, but in pathophysiological settings the relative role of non-cholinergic stimuli gains importance. beta-Adrenoceptor agonists are currently in clinical development as treatments for the overactive bladder syndrome. Therefore, we have explored the ability of the beta-adrenoceptor agonist isoprenaline to induce rat isolated bladder strip relaxation on pre-contraction with the muscarinic agonist carbachol as compared to bladder tone induced by several non-cholinergic stimuli. Methods Bladder tone was induced by passive tension, receptor independently by KCl, carbachol, bradykinin or serotonin. Concentration-response curves were generated for relaxation by isoprenaline, and a single concentration of the receptor-independent relaxant forskolin was also tested. Results The various contractile stimuli induced different degrees of bladder tone, but the ability of isoprenaline or forskolin to relax rat bladder was not correlated with the degree of tone. Isoprenaline was significantly less potent and effective in causing relaxation against carbachol-induced tone than against any other stimulus, whereas no such relationship was observed for forskolin. Conclusions We conclude that beta-adrenoceptor agonists can induce rat bladder relaxation against a wide range of contractile stimuli and are more potent and/or effective against non-cholinergic stimuli than against muscarinic agonism. This profile appears desirable for agents intended for the treatment of overactive bladde
Effect of arsenic-phosphorus interaction on arsenic-induced oxidative stress in chickpea plants
Arsenic-induced oxidative stress in chickpea was investigated under glasshouse conditions in response to application of arsenic and phosphorus. Three levels of arsenic (0, 30 and 60 mg kg−1) and four levels of P (50, 100, 200, and 400 mg kg−1) were applied to soil-grown plants. Increasing levels of both arsenic and P significantly increased arsenic concentrations in the plants. Shoot growth was reduced with increased arsenic supply regardless of applied P levels. Applied arsenic induced oxidative stress in the plants, and the concentrations of H2O2 and lipid peroxidation were increased. Activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and concentrations of non-enzymatic antioxidants decreased in these plants, but activities of catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) were significantly increased under arsenic phytotoxicity. Increased supply of P decreased activities of CAT and APX, and decreased concentrations of non-enzymatic antioxidants, but the high-P plants had lowered lipid peroxidation. It can be concluded that P increased uptake of arsenic from the soil, probably by making it more available, but although plant growth was inhibited by arsenic the P may have partially protected the membranes from arsenic-induced oxidative stress
Correlations of Behavioral Deficits with Brain Pathology Assessed through Longitudinal MRI and Histopathology in the R6/2 Mouse Model of HD
Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by the expansion of a CAG repeat in the huntingtin (HTT) gene. The R6/2 mouse model of HD expresses a mutant version of exon 1 HTT and develops motor and cognitive impairments, a widespread huntingtin (HTT) aggregate pathology and brain atrophy. Despite the vast number of studies that have been performed on this model, the association between the molecular and cellular neuropathology with brain atrophy, and with the development of behavioral phenotypes remains poorly understood. In an attempt to link these factors, we have performed longitudinal assessments of behavior (rotarod, open field, passive avoidance) and of regional brain abnormalities determined through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (whole brain, striatum, cortex, hippocampus, corpus callosum), as well as an end-stage histological assessment. Detailed correlative analyses of these three measures were then performed. We found a gender-dependent emergence of motor impairments that was associated with an age-related loss of regional brain volumes. MRI measurements further indicated that there was no striatal atrophy, but rather a lack of striatal growth beyond 8 weeks of age. T2 relaxivity further indicated tissue-level changes within brain regions. Despite these dramatic motor and neuroanatomical abnormalities, R6/2 mice did not exhibit neuronal loss in the striatum or motor cortex, although there was a significant increase in neuronal density due to tissue atrophy. The deposition of the mutant HTT (mHTT) protein, the hallmark of HD molecular pathology, was widely distributed throughout the brain. End-stage histopathological assessments were not found to be as robustly correlated with the longitudinal measures of brain atrophy or motor impairments. In conclusion, modeling pre-manifest and early progression of the disease in more slowly progressing animal models will be key to establishing which changes are causally related. © 2013 Rattray et al
Impact of asymmetries on fuel performance in inertial confinement fusion
Low-mode asymmetries prevent effective compression, confinement, and heating of the fuel in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions, and their control is essential to achieving ignition. Ion temperatures (Tion) in ICF experiments are inferred from the broadening of primary neutron spectra. Directional motion (flow) of the fuel at burn also impacts broadening and will lead to artificially inflated "Tion" values. Flow due to low-mode asymmetries is expected to give rise to line-of-sight variations in measured Tion. We report on intentionally asymmetrically driven experiments at the OMEGA laser facility designed to test the ability to accurately predict and measure line-of-sight differences in apparent Tion due to low-mode asymmetry-seeded flows. Contrasted to chimera and xrage simulations, the measurements demonstrate how all asymmetry seeds have to be considered to fully capture the flow field in an implosion. In particular, flow induced by the stalk that holds the target is found to interfere with the seeded asymmetry. A substantial stalk-seeded asymmetry in the areal density of the implosion is also observed
MHD models of Pulsar Wind Nebulae
Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe) are bubbles or relativistic plasma that form when
the pulsar wind is confined by the SNR or the ISM. Recent observations have
shown a richness of emission features that has driven a renewed interest in the
theoretical modeling of these objects. In recent years a MHD paradigm has been
developed, capable of reproducing almost all of the observed properties of
PWNe, shedding new light on many old issues. Given that PWNe are perhaps the
nearest systems where processes related to relativistic dynamics can be
investigated with high accuracy, a reliable model of their behavior is
paramount for a correct understanding of high energy astrophysics in general. I
will review the present status of MHD models: what are the key ingredients,
their successes, and open questions that still need further investigation.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, Invited Review, Proceedings of the "ICREA
Workshop on The High-Energy Emission from Pulsars and their Systems", Sant
Cugat, Spain, April 12-16, 201
Thermal Properties of Graphene, Carbon Nanotubes and Nanostructured Carbon Materials
Recent years witnessed a rapid growth of interest of scientific and
engineering communities to thermal properties of materials. Carbon allotropes
and derivatives occupy a unique place in terms of their ability to conduct
heat. The room-temperature thermal conductivity of carbon materials span an
extraordinary large range - of over five orders of magnitude - from the lowest
in amorphous carbons to the highest in graphene and carbon nanotubes. I review
thermal and thermoelectric properties of carbon materials focusing on recent
results for graphene, carbon nanotubes and nanostructured carbon materials with
different degrees of disorder. A special attention is given to the unusual size
dependence of heat conduction in two-dimensional crystals and, specifically, in
graphene. I also describe prospects of applications of graphene and carbon
materials for thermal management of electronics.Comment: Review Paper; 37 manuscript pages; 4 figures and 2 boxe
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