28,146 research outputs found
Excessive growth hormone expression in male GH transgenic mice adversely alters bone architecture and mechanical strength
Patients with acromegaly have a higher prevalence of vertebral fractures despite normal bone mineral density (BMD), suggesting that GH overexpression has adverse effects on skeletal architecture and strength. We used giant bovine GH (bGH) transgenic mice to analyze the effects of high serum GH levels on BMD, architecture, and mechanical strength. Five-month-old hemizygous male bGH mice were compared with age- and sex-matched nontransgenic littermates controls (NT; n=16/group). Bone architecture and BMD were analyzed in tibia and lumbar vertebrae using microcomputed tomography. Femora were tested to failure using three-point bending and bone cellular activity determined by bone histomorphometry. bGH transgenic mice displayed significant increases in body weight and bone lengths. bGH tibia showed decreases in trabecular bone volume fraction, thickness, and number compared with NT ones, whereas trabecular pattern factor and structure model index were significantly increased, indicating deterioration in bone structure. Although cortical tissue perimeter was increased in transgenic mice, cortical thickness was reduced. bGH mice showed similar trabecular BMD but reduced trabecular thickness in lumbar vertebra relative to controls. Cortical BMD and thickness were significantly reduced in bGH lumbar vertebra. Mechanical testing of femora confirmed that bGH femora have decreased intrinsic mechanical properties compared with NT ones. Bone turnover is increased in favor of bone resorption in bGH tibia and vertebra compared with controls, and serum PTH levels is also enhanced in bGH mice. These data collectively suggest that high serum GH levels negatively affect bone architecture and quality at multiple skeletal sites
Análise de modelos de distribuição de freqüências e valores probabilísticos de evapotranspiração potencial para Nova Odessa,SP.
The distribution of frequencies of the potential evapotranspiration (ETo) estimated with Priestley-Taylor method was analyzed for the region of Nova Odessa, state of São Paulo, Brazil. The annual maximum values of accumulated ETo were adjusted for periods from 2 to 30 days to the normal, lognormal, gama, beta and gumbel frequency distribution models. Using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, it was verified that the distributions normal, lognormal, beta and gumbel presented good adjustment. The gama model did not present adjustment to the data of this study. The medium values of potential evapotranspiração were very close to the obtained at the level of 50% of probability (two years of return period) and lightly inferior to the values of ETo at the level of 75% of probability (four years of return period). Considering the recommendation of adopting the evapotranspiration at the level of 75% of probability, it is verified that a relative underestimation of the irrigations systems design in the region to the if it uses the medium value of ETo in projects
Photonic superdiffusive motion in resonance line radiation trapping - partial frequency redistribution effects
The relation between the jump length probability distribution function and
the spectral line profile in resonance atomic radiation trapping is considered
for Partial Frequency Redistribution (PFR) between absorbed and reemitted
radiation. The single line Opacity Distribution Function [M.N. Berberan-Santos
et.al. J.Chem.Phys. 125, 174308 (2006)] is generalized for PFR and used to
discuss several possible redistribution mechanisms (pure Doppler broadening,
combined natural and Doppler broadening and combined Doppler, natural and
collisional broadening). It is shown that there are two coexisting scales with
a different behavior: the small scale is controlled by the intricate PFR
details while the large scale is essentially given by the atom rest frame
redistribution asymptotic. The pure Doppler and combined natural, Doppler and
collisional broadening are characterized by both small and large scale
superdiffusive Levy flight behaviors while the combined natural and Doppler
case has an anomalous small scale behavior but a diffusive large scale
asymptotic. The common practice of assuming complete redistribution in core
radiation and frequency coherence in the wings of the spectral distribution is
incompatible with the breakdown of superdiffusion in combined natural and
Doppler broadening conditions
Optical Self Energy in Graphene due to Correlations
In highly correlated systems one can define an optical self energy in analogy
to its quasiparticle (QP) self energy counterpart. This quantity provides
useful information on the nature of the excitations involved in inelastic
scattering processes. Here we calculate the self energy of the intraband
optical transitions in graphene originating in the electron-electron
interaction (EEI) as well as electron-phonon interaction (EPI). Although optics
involves an average over all momenta () of the charge carriers, the
structure in the optical self energy is nevertheless found to mirror mainly
that of the corresponding quasiparticles for equal to or near the Fermi
momentum . Consequently plasmaronic structures which are associated with
momenta near the Dirac point at are not important in the intraband
optical response. While the structure of the electron-phonon interaction (EPI)
reflects the sharp peaks of the phonon density of states, the excitation
spectrum associated with the electron-electron interaction is in comparison
structureless and flat and extends over an energy range which scales linearly
with the value of the chemical potential. Modulations seen on the edge of the
interband optical conductivity as it rises towards its universal background
value are traced to structure in the quasiparticle self energies around
of the lower Dirac cone associated with the occupied states.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figure
Electrostatically confined Quantum Rings in bilayer Graphene
We propose a new system where electron and hole states are electrostatically
confined into a quantum ring in bilayer graphene. These structures can be
created by tuning the gap of the graphene bilayer using nanostructured gates or
by position-dependent doping. The energy levels have a magnetic field ()
dependence that is strikingly distinct from that of usual semiconductor quantum
rings. In particular, the eigenvalues are not invariant under a
transformation and, for a fixed total angular momentum index , their field
dependence is not parabolic, but displays two minima separated by a saddle
point. The spectra also display several anti-crossings, which arise due to the
overlap of gate-confined and magnetically-confined states.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Nano Letter
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