Sonic levitation apparatus

A sonic levitation apparatus is disclosed which includes a sonic transducer which generates acoustical energy responsive to the level of an electrical amplifier. A duct communicates with an acoustical chamber to deliver an oscillatory motion of air to a plenum section which contains a collimated hole structure having a plurality of parallel orifices. The collimated hole structure converts the motion of the air to a pulsed. Unidirectional stream providing enough force to levitate a material specimen. Particular application to the production of microballoons in low gravity environment is discussed

Systematic derivation of a rotationally covariant extension of the 2-dimensional Newell-Whitehead-Segel equation

An extension of the Newell-Whitehead-Segel amplitude equation covariant under abritrary rotations is derived systematically by the renormalization group method.Comment: 8 pages, to appear in Phys. Rev. Letters, March 18, 199

Fine roots distribution, light conditions and yield in a tree-based intercrop system

Paper presented at the 13th North American Agroforesty Conference, which was held June 19-21, 2013 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.In Poppy, L., Kort, J., Schroeder, B., Pollock, T., and Soolanayakanahally, R., eds. Agroforestry: Innovations in Agriculture. Proceedings, 13th North American Agroforestry Conference, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, June 19-21, 2013."In tree-based intercrop systems (TBI), trees are planted in widely spaced rows to allow agricultural activities to continue. These agroforestry systems are new in Qu_bec but well known in Europe, USA and China (Baldy et al., 1993; Rivest and Olivier, 2007). The integration of trees into an agroforestry system has the potential to enhance soil fertility, reduce erosion, improve water quality, increase biodiversity and aesthetics, and sequester carbon (Jose, 2009; Montagnini and Nair, 2004). However, the presence of trees also results in aboveground and belowground interspecific interactions with crop, which can include competition, facilitation or complementarity (Jose et al., 2004; Rivest and Olivier, 2007; Van Noordwijk et al., 1996). In theory, TBI systems can be more productive than the respective monocultures if trees have the capacity to take resources like water and nutrients in deeper soil layers than those used by crops (Cannell et al., 1996)."--Introduction.L�a Bouttier (1), Alain Paquette (2), Christian Messier (2) and Alain Cogliastro (1) ; 1. Institut de Recherche en Biologie V�g�tale, 4101 Sherbrooke Est, Montr�al, QC H1X 2B2, Canada. 2. Universit� du Qu�bec a Montr�al, 270 Rue Saint Antoine Ouest, Montreal, QC H2Y 0A3, Canada.Includes bibliographical references

Sustained expression of microRNA-155 in hematopoietic stem cells causes a myeloproliferative disorder

Mammalian microRNAs are emerging as key regulators of the development and function of the immune system. Here, we report a strong but transient induction of miR-155 in mouse bone marrow after injection of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) correlated with granulocyte/monocyte (GM) expansion. Demonstrating the sufficiency of miR-155 to drive GM expansion, enforced expression in mouse bone marrow cells caused GM proliferation in a manner reminiscent of LPS treatment. However, the miR-155–induced GM populations displayed pathological features characteristic of myeloid neoplasia. Of possible relevance to human disease, miR-155 was found to be overexpressed in the bone marrow of patients with certain subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Furthermore, miR-155 repressed a subset of genes implicated in hematopoietic development and disease. These data implicate miR-155 as a contributor to physiological GM expansion during inflammation and to certain pathological features associated with AML, emphasizing the importance of proper miR-155 regulation in developing myeloid cells during times of inflammatory stress

Muscle Activation Patterns of Lower Body Musculature Among Three Traditional Lower Body Exercises in Trained Women

Korak, JA, Paquette, MR, Fuller, DK, Caputo, JL, and Coons, JM. Muscle activation patterns of lower-body musculature among 3 traditional lower-body exercises in trained women. J Strength Cond Res 32(10): 2770-2775, 2018-The deadlift and back and front squats are common multijoint, lower-body resistance exercises that target similar musculature. To our knowledge, muscle activity measured using surface electromyography has never been analyzed among these 3 exercises. Furthermore, most literature examining this topic has included male participants creating a void in the literature for the female population. Knowledge of lower-body muscle activation among these 3 exercises can aid coaches, trainers, and therapists for training and rehabilitative purposes. Trained women (n = 13) completed 2 days of testing including a 1-repetition maximum (1RM) estimation, an actual 1RM, and 3 repetitions at 75% 1RM load for the deadlift and back and front squats. Muscle activity of the 3 repetitions of each muscle was averaged and normalized as a percentage to the 1RM lifts for the deadlift and front and back squats. Five separate repeated-measure analysis of variances were performed indicating muscle activity of the gluteus maximus (GM) differed among the 3 exercises (p = 0.01, (Equation is included in full-text article.)= 0.39). Specifically, post hoc analysis indicated greater muscle activity during the front squat (M = 94%, SD = 15%) compared with the deadlift (M = 72%, SD = 16%; p ≤ 0.05) in the GM. No significant differences were observed among the lifts in the vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, biceps femoris, and rectus femoris. Strength and conditioning specialist and trainers can use these findings by prescribing the front squat to recruit greater motor units of the GM

The Weakly Pushed Nature of "Pulled" Fronts with a Cutoff

The concept of pulled fronts with a cutoff $\epsilon$ has been introduced to model the effects of discrete nature of the constituent particles on the asymptotic front speed in models with continuum variables (Pulled fronts are the fronts which propagate into an unstable state, and have an asymptotic front speed equal to the linear spreading speed $v^*$ of small linear perturbations around the unstable state). In this paper, we demonstrate that the introduction of a cutoff actually makes such pulled fronts weakly pushed. For the nonlinear diffusion equation with a cutoff, we show that the longest relaxation times $\tau_m$ that govern the convergence to the asymptotic front speed and profile, are given by $\tau_m^{-1} \simeq [(m+1)^2-1] \pi^2 / \ln^2 \epsilon$, for $m=1,2,...$.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Brief Reports, Phys. Rev.

Thyroid hormone-regulated gene expression in juvenile mouse liver: identification of thyroid response elements using microarray profiling and in silico analyses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Disruption of thyroid hormone signalling can alter growth, development and energy metabolism. Thyroid hormones exert their effects through interactions with thyroid receptors that directly bind thyroid response elements and can alter transcriptional activity of target genes. The effects of short-term thyroid hormone perturbation on hepatic mRNA transcription in juvenile mice were evaluated, with the goal of identifying genes containing active thyroid response elements. Thyroid hormone disruption was induced from postnatal day 12 to 15 by adding goitrogens to dams' drinking water (hypothyroid). A subgroup of thyroid hormone-disrupted pups received intraperitoneal injections of replacement thyroid hormones four hours prior to sacrifice (replacement). An additional group received only thyroid hormones four hours prior to sacrifice (hyperthyroid). Hepatic mRNA was extracted and hybridized to Agilent mouse microarrays.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Transcriptional profiling enabled the identification of 28 genes that appeared to be under direct thyroid hormone-regulation. The regulatory regions of the genome adjacent to these genes were examined for half-site sequences that resemble known thyroid response elements. A bioinformatics search identified 33 thyroid response elements in the promoter regions of 13 different genes thought to be directly regulated by thyroid hormones. Thyroid response elements found in the promoter regions of Tor1a, 2310003H01Rik, Hect3d and Slc25a45 were further validated by confirming that the thyroid receptor is associated with these sequences <it>in vivo </it>and that it can bind directly to these sequences <it>in vitro</it>. Three different arrangements of thyroid response elements were identified. Some of these thyroid response elements were located far up-stream (> 7 kb) of the transcription start site of the regulated gene.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Transcriptional profiling of thyroid hormone disrupted animals coupled with a novel bioinformatics search revealed new thyroid response elements associated with genes previously unknown to be responsive to thyroid hormone. The work provides insight into thyroid response element sequence motif characteristics.</p

The Renormalization Group and Singular Perturbations: Multiple-Scales, Boundary Layers and Reductive Perturbation Theory

Perturbative renormalization group theory is developed as a unified tool for global asymptotic analysis. With numerous examples, we illustrate its application to ordinary differential equation problems involving multiple scales, boundary layers with technically difficult asymptotic matching, and WKB analysis. In contrast to conventional methods, the renormalization group approach requires neither {\it ad hoc\/} assumptions about the structure of perturbation series nor the use of asymptotic matching. Our renormalization group approach provides approximate solutions which are practically superior to those obtained conventionally, although the latter can be reproduced, if desired, by appropriate expansion of the renormalization group approximant. We show that the renormalization group equation may be interpreted as an amplitude equation, and from this point of view develop reductive perturbation theory for partial differential equations describing spatially-extended systems near bifurcation points, deriving both amplitude equations and the center manifold.Comment: 44 pages, 2 Postscript figures, macro \uiucmac.tex available at macro archives or at ftp://gijoe.mrl.uiuc.edu/pu

Implications of Inflammatory Bowel Disease for reconstructive surgery in non-malignant urinary tract dysfunction:an International Continence Society working group report

Potential consequences of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) need evaluation for patients considering urinary tract reconstruction for benign disease. A working group was formed by the International Continence Society, which considered urinary tract reconstruction in IBD.Methods Nominal group technique was used to derive consensus. Principal aspects of IBD assessment and surgery decision-making were agreed. A questionnaire was used to facilitate the generation of statements by a core focus group of experts, which were modified and ratified by the wider working group. This was followed by final voting by the full working group.Results General considerations included identification importance of the specialist IBD multi-disciplinary team. Peri-operative considerations recommended avoiding pre-operative fasting from midnight and using an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol. Selection of bowel segment, pre-operative optimisation and post-operative issues were considered for both Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease. UC is not an absolute contraindication to urinary tract reconstruction using small or large bowel. Elective reconstructive surgery should wait at least three months following resolution of any acute UC flare-up to correct all abnormalities. Crohn’s disease is a high-risk disease for urinary tract reconstruction, even if in remission. In Crohn’s, reconstructive surgical options are limited by the location and extent of gastrointestinal segment(s) affected and the phenotype of disease.Conclusion The consensus opinion indicates that urinary tract reconstruction using bowel segments is feasible in carefully selected and optimised patients with IBD lacking alternative management options, provided there is access to appropriate multidisciplinary skills. UC is relatively low risk for surgical procedures, whereas Crohn’s has considerably increased risk of morbidity. The potential risks must be properly discussed with patients considering reconstructive urological procedures. Outcomes should be carefully monitored and published to identify the safety and efficacy of reconstructive surgery in IBD, including full description of the disease status