872 research outputs found
Factors influencing hindgut fermentation characteristics of the leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis): Survey of the microbiome
Novel fecal microbiome identification of mature female leopard tortoises (Stigmochelys pardalis, n = 16) fed exclusively one of three, nutritionally complete, pelleted diets was evaluated in a blind, complete randomized design study. Two diets included insoluble fiber (powdered cellulose) consisting of either 2.0 mm or 0.2 mm length. There were no differences in diversity indices (J’ and H’) of total OTUs by diet, with and without unidentified sequences. Analysis of phyla similarity by diet revealed three distinct groups with \u3e 92% similarity. Analysis of genera similarity revealed two distinct groups with \u3e 80% similarity. At both phyla and genera levels, fecal microbiomes were more similar between tortoises fed the cellulose-added diets versus the control diet, suggesting that the hindgut microbial communities adjusted in the hindgut of tortoises fed the cellulose-added diets by shifting proportions of microbes, based on their role in the hindgut (i.e., cellulose digestion), to accommodate for the addition of cellulose in the two treatment diets. This suggests that adaptability of the hindgut microbial communities should be considered when choosing dietary fiber lengths for hindgut-fermenting vertebrates
Branching Structures in Elastic Shape Optimization
Fine scale elastic structures are widespread in nature, for instances in
plants or bones, whenever stiffness and low weight are required. These patterns
frequently refine towards a Dirichlet boundary to ensure an effective load
transfer. The paper discusses the optimization of such supporting structures in
a specific class of domain patterns in 2D, which composes of periodic and
branching period transitions on subdomain facets. These investigations can be
considered as a case study to display examples of optimal branching domain
patterns.
In explicit, a rectangular domain is decomposed into rectangular subdomains,
which share facets with neighbouring subdomains or with facets which split on
one side into equally sized facets of two different subdomains. On each
subdomain one considers an elastic material phase with stiff elasticity
coefficients and an approximate void phase with orders of magnitude softer
material. For given load on the outer domain boundary, which is distributed on
a prescribed fine scale pattern representing the contact area of the shape, the
interior elastic phase is optimized with respect to the compliance cost. The
elastic stress is supposed to be continuous on the domain and a stress based
finite volume discretization is used for the optimization. If in one direction
equally sized subdomains with equal adjacent subdomain topology line up, these
subdomains are consider as equal copies including the enforced boundary
conditions for the stress and form a locally periodic substructure.
An alternating descent algorithm is employed for a discrete characteristic
function describing the stiff elastic subset on the subdomains and the solution
of the elastic state equation. Numerical experiments are shown for compression
and shear load on the boundary of a quadratic domain.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure
Tightness for a stochastic Allen--Cahn equation
We study an Allen-Cahn equation perturbed by a multiplicative stochastic
noise which is white in time and correlated in space. Formally this equation
approximates a stochastically forced mean curvature flow. We derive uniform
energy bounds and prove tightness of of solutions in the sharp interface limit,
and show convergence to phase-indicator functions.Comment: 27 pages, final Version to appear in "Stochastic Partial Differential
Equations: Analysis and Computations". In Version 4, Proposition 6.3 is new.
It replaces and simplifies the old propositions 6.4-6.
Singular kernels, multiscale decomposition of microstructure, and dislocation models
We consider a model for dislocations in crystals introduced by Koslowski,
Cuiti\~no and Ortiz, which includes elastic interactions via a singular kernel
behaving as the norm of the slip. We obtain a sharp-interface limit
of the model within the framework of -convergence. From an analytical
point of view, our functional is a vector-valued generalization of the one
studied by Alberti, Bouchitt\'e and Seppecher to which their rearrangement
argument no longer applies. Instead we show that the microstructure must be
approximately one-dimensional on most length scales and exploit this property
to derive a sharp lower bound
Motion of a droplet for the Stochastic mass conserving Allen-Cahn equation
We study the stochastic mass-conserving Allen-Cahn equation posed on a smoothly bounded domain of R2 with additive, spatially smooth, space-time noise. This equation describes the stochastic motion of a small almost semicircular droplet attached to domain's boundary and moving towards a point of locally maximum curvature. We apply It^o calculus to derive the stochastic dynamics of the center of the droplet by utilizing the approximately invariant manifold introduced by Alikakos, Chen and Fusco [2] for the deterministic problem. In the stochastic case depending on the scaling, the motion is driven by the change in the curvature of the boundary and the stochastic forcing. Moreover, under the assumption of a su ciently small noise strength, we establish stochastic stability of a neighborhood of the manifold of boundary droplet states in the L2- and H1-norms, which means that with overwhelming probability the solution stays close to the manifold for very long time-scales
Phenotypic diversity of Thuridilla hopei (Verany, 1853) (Gastropoda Heterobranchia Sacoglossa). A DNA-barcoding approach
The sacoglossan Thuridilla hopei (Verany, 1853) shows highly diverse chromatic patterns. Based on the morphological examination of specimens from different Mediterranean localities, we have observed that in spite of this great variability in colours of T. hopei, two major chromatic morphotypes are related to bathymetry. Specimens from deeper water exhibit blue darker and more uniform patterns than individuals from shallower water, which show a more variable, dashed and spotted arrangement of light blue, yellow, orange, white and black pigmentation. A molecular genetic analysis using the mitochondrial COI and 16S rDNA markers has confirmed that all these extremely different chromatic morphotypes belong to a single specific entity, i.e. T. hopei, a sacoglossan with a wide distribution, from Macaronesia in the Atlantic, to the easternmost Mediterranean Sea
Frontal brain asymmetries as effective parameters to assess the quality of audiovisual stimuli perception in adult and young cochlear implant users
How is music perceived by cochlear implant (CI) users? This question arises as "the next step" given the impressive performance obtained by these patients in language perception. Furthermore, how can music perception be evaluated beyond self-report rating, in order to obtain measurable data? To address this question, estimation of the frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha activity imbalance, acquired through a 19-channel EEG cap, appears to be a suitable instrument to measure the approach/withdrawal (AW index) reaction to external stimuli. Specifically, a greater value of AW indicates an increased propensity to stimulus approach, and vice versa a lower one a tendency to withdraw from the stimulus. Additionally, due to prelingually and postlingually deafened pathology acquisition, children and adults, respectively, would probably differ in music perception. The aim of the present study was to investigate children and adult CI users, in unilateral (UCI) and bilateral (BCI) implantation conditions, during three experimental situations of music exposure (normal, distorted and mute). Additionally, a study of functional connectivity patterns within cerebral networks was performed to investigate functioning patterns in different experimental populations. As a general result, congruency among patterns between BCI patients and control (CTRL) subjects was seen, characterised by lowest values for the distorted condition (vs. normal and mute conditions) in the AW index and in the connectivity analysis. Additionally, the normal and distorted conditions were significantly different in CI and CTRL adults, and in CTRL children, but not in CI children. These results suggest a higher capacity of discrimination and approach motivation towards normal music in CTRL and BCI subjects, but not for UCI patients. Therefore, for perception of music CTRL and BCI participants appear more similar than UCI subjects, as estimated by measurable and not self-reported parameters
Targeting the MET oncogene by concomitant inhibition of receptor and ligand via an antibody-“decoy” strategy
MET, a master gene sustaining "invasive growth," is a relevant target for cancer precision therapy. In the vast majority of tumors, wild-type MET behaves as a "stress-response" gene and relies on the ligand (HGF) to sustain cell "scattering," invasive growth and apoptosis protection (oncogene "expedience"). In this context, concomitant targeting of MET and HGF could be crucial to reach effective inhibition. To test this hypothesis, we combined an anti-MET antibody (MvDN30) inducing "shedding" (i.e., removal of MET from the cell surface), with a "decoy" (i.e., the soluble extracellular domain of the MET receptor) endowed with HGF-sequestering ability. To avoid antibody/decoy interaction-and subsequent neutralization-we identified a single aminoacid in the extracellular domain of MET-lysine 842-that is critical for MvDN30 binding and engineered the corresponding recombinant decoyMET (K842E). DecoyMET(K842E) retains the ability to bind HGF with high affinity and inhibits HGF-induced MET phosphorylation. In HGF-dependent cellular models, MvDN30 antibody and decoyMET(K842E) used in combination cooperate in restraining invasive growth, and synergize in blocking cancer cell "scattering." The antibody and the decoy unbridle apoptosis of colon cancer stem cells grown in vitro as spheroids. In a preclinical model, built by orthotopic transplantation of a human pancreatic carcinoma in SCID mice engineered to express human HGF, concomitant treatment with antibody and decoy significantly reduces metastatic spread. The data reported indicate that vertical targeting of the MET/HGF axis results in powerful inhibition of ligand-dependent MET activation, providing proof of concept in favor of combined target therapy of MET "expedience.
Sympatric sibling species: The case of Caloria elegans and Facelina quatrefagesi (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia)
The aeolid nudibranch Caloria elegans (Facelinidae) is quite common in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean and is easily recognized by the presence of a typical black spot at the apical portion of its cerata. Facelina quatrefagesi (Facelinidae) was long considered as a synonym of C. elegans until recently, when it was re-evaluated as a valid species based mainly on rhinophore morphology. In order to definitively assess the status of these aeolid taxa, we employed an integrative taxonomy approach using the nuclear H3 and the two mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I and 16S markers. The molecular analyses clearly showed that, although morphologically closely related to C. elegans, F. quatrefagesi is a valid species
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