611 research outputs found
A novel kinematics analysis method using quaternion interpolation â a case study in frog jumping
Spherical Linear Interpolation (SLERP) has long been used in computer animation to interpolate movements between two 3D orientations. We developed a forward kinematics (FK) approach using quaternions and SLERP to predict how frogs modulate jump kinematics between start posture and takeoff. Frog limb kinematics have been studied during various activities, yet the causal link between differences in joint kinematics and locomotor variation remains unknown. We varied 1) takeoff angle from 8 to 60 degrees; 2) turn angle from 0 to 18 degrees; and 3) initial body pitch from 0 to 70 degrees. Simulations were similar to experimentally observed frog kinematics. Findings suggest a fundamental mechanism whereby limb elevation is modulated by thigh and shank adduction. Forward thrust is produced by thigh and proximal foot retraction with little contribution from the shank except to induce asymmetries for turning. Kinematic shifts causing turns were subtle, marked only by slight counter-rotation of the left versus right shank as well as a 10% timing offset in proximal foot adduction. Additionally, inclining initial body tilt influenced the centre of mass trajectory to determine direction of travel at takeoff. Most importantly, our theory suggests firstly that the convergence of leg segment rotation axes toward a common orientation is crucial both for limb extension and for coordinating jump direction; and, secondly, the challenge of simulating 3D kinematics is simplified using SLERP because frog limbs approximately follow linear paths in unit quaternion space. Our methodology can be applied more broadly to study living and fossil frog taxa as well as to inspire new control algorithms for robotic limbs
In vivo cranial bone strain and bite force in the agamid lizard Uromastyx geyri
In vivo bone strain data are the most direct evidence of deformation and strain regimes in the vertebrate cranium during feeding and can provide important insights into skull morphology. Strain data have been collected during feeding across a wide range of mammals; in contrast, in vivo cranial bone strain data have been collected from few sauropsid taxa. Here we present bone strain data recorded from the jugal of the herbivorous agamid lizard Uromastyx geyri along with simultaneously recorded bite force. Principal and shear strain magnitudes in Uromastyx geyri were lower than cranial bone strains recorded in Alligator mississippiensis, but higher than those reported from herbivorous mammals. Our results suggest that variations in principal strain orientations in the facial skeleton are largely due to differences in feeding behavior and bite location, whereas food type has little impact on strain orientations. Furthermore, mean principal strain orientations differ between male and female Uromastyx during feeding, potentially because of sexual dimorphism in skull morphology
Tackling the grapevine Pectate Lyase gene family and its role in the berry texture determination
Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the most commercially valuable fruit trees worldwide. Table grapes represent an important economic sector, where consumers highly appreciate the berry firmness trait. Although several studies have addressed the key role of the cell wall in fruit firmness, the main players among cell wall degrading enzymes during fruit ripening are still unclear. This work characterizes the grapevine Pectate Lyase (VvPL) gene family which catalyses the eliminative cleavage of de-esterified pectin during the berry development. Using the latest grapevine genome assembly and annotation, 17 members of the family containing the PL domain were identified. To identify the VvPL members most involved in pectin degradation during fruit softening, an in-silico analysis in Expression Atlas and in public RNA-Seq repositories was performed. Additionally, gene expression of the VvPL genes was evaluated in table grape varieties showing contrasting texture profiles. Our results demonstrated that specific VvPL genes were up-regulated in the softer variety compared to the firmer one, suggesting their active role in the softening process during berry development. Furthermore, two VvPL genes were selected for functional characterization via genome editing with CRISPR/Cas9 technology in the table grape variety âSugraone
An Analysis of Fundamental Waffle Mode in Early AEOS Adaptive Optics Images
Adaptive optics (AO) systems have significantly improved astronomical imaging
capabilities over the last decade, and are revolutionizing the kinds of science
possible with 4-5m class ground-based telescopes. A thorough understanding of
AO system performance at the telescope can enable new frontiers of science as
observations push AO systems to their performance limits. We look at recent
advances with wave front reconstruction (WFR) on the Advanced Electro-Optical
System (AEOS) 3.6 m telescope to show how progress made in improving WFR can be
measured directly in improved science images. We describe how a "waffle mode"
wave front error (which is not sensed by a Fried geometry Shack-Hartmann wave
front sensor) affects the AO point-spread function (PSF). We model details of
AEOS AO to simulate a PSF which matches the actual AO PSF in the I-band, and
show that while the older observed AEOS PSF contained several times more waffle
error than expected, improved WFR techniques noticeably improve AEOS AO
performance. We estimate the impact of these improved WFRs on H-band imaging at
AEOS, chosen based on the optimization of the Lyot Project near-infrared
coronagraph at this bandpass.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, 1 table; to appear in PASP, August 200
Endothelial Dysfunction in Patients with Severe Mitral Regurgitation
Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is the most common cause of severe mitral regurgitation. It has been reported that MVP patients-candidates for mitral valve repair (MVRep)-showed an alteration in the antioxidant defense systems as well as in the L-arginine metabolic pathway. In this study, we investigate if oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction are an MVP consequence or driving factors. Forty-five patients undergoing MVRep were evaluated before and 6 months post surgery and compared to 29 controls. Oxidized (GSSG) and reduced (GSH) forms of glutathione, and L-arginine metabolic pathway were analyzed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methods while osteoprotegerin (OPG) through the ELISA kit and circulating endothelial microparticles (EMP) by flow cytometry. Six-month post surgery, in MVP patients, the GSSG/GSH ratio decreased while symmetric and asymmetric dimethylarginines levels remained comparable to the baseline. Conversely, OPG levels significantly increased when compared to their baseline. Finally, pre-MVRep EMP levels were significantly higher in patients than in controls and did not change post surgery. Overall, these results highlight that MVRep completely restores the increased oxidative stress levels, as evidenced in MVP patients. Conversely, no amelioration of endothelial dysfunction was evidenced after surgery. Thus, therapies aimed to restore a proper endothelial function before and after surgical repair could benefit MVP patients
Patho- physiological role of BDNF in fibrin clotting
Circulating levels of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) are lower in coronary heart disease (CHD) than in healthy subjects and are associated with coronary events and mortality. However, the mechanism(s) underling this association is not fully understood. We hypothesize that BDNF may influence fibrin fiber structure and clot stability, favoring clot lysis and thrombus resolution. We showed that recombinant BDNF (rh-BDNF) influenced with clot formation in a concentration-dependent manner in both purified fibrinogen and plasma from healthy subjects. In particular, rh-BDNF reduced the density of fibrin fibers, the maximum clot firmness (MCF) and the maximum clot turbidity, and affected the lysis of clot. In addition, both thrombin and reptilase clotting time were prolonged by rh-BDNF, despite the amount of thrombin formed was greater. Intriguingly, CHD patients had lower levels of BDNF, greater fibrin fibers density, higher MCF than control subjects, and a negative correlation between BDNF and MCF was found. Of note, rh-BDNF markedly modified fibrin clot profile restoring physiological clot morphology in CHD plasma. In conclusion, we provide evidence that low levels of BDNF correlate with the formation of bigger thrombi (in vitro) and that this effect is mediated, at least partially, by the alteration of fibrin fibers formation
Cryo-Near-Field Photovoltage Microscopy of Heavy-Fermion Twisted Symmetric Trilayer Graphene
Ever since the initial experimental observation of correlated insulators and
superconductivity in the flat Dirac bands of magic angle twisted bilayer
graphene, a search for the microscopic description that explains its strong
electronic interactions has begun. While the seemingly disagreeing electronic
transport and scanning tunneling microscopy experiments suggest a dichotomy
between local and extended electronic orbitals, definitive experimental
evidence merging the two patterns together has been much sought after. Here, we
report on the local photothermoelectric measurements in the flat electronic
bands of twisted symmetric trilayer graphene (TSTG). We use a cryogenic
scanning near-field optical microscope with an oscillating atomic force
microscopy (AFM) tip irradiated by the infrared photons to create a nanoscopic
hot spot in the planar samples, which generates a photocurrent that we probe
globally. We observe a breakdown of the non-interacting Mott formalism at low
temperatures (10K), signaling the importance of the electronic interactions.
Our measurements reveal an overall negative offset of the Seebeck coefficient
and significant peaks of the local photovoltage values at all positive integer
fillings of the TSTG's moir\'e superlattice, further indicating a substantial
deviation from the classical two-band semiconductor Seebeck response. We
explain these observations using the interacting topological heavy-fermion
model. In addition, our data reveal a spatial variation of the relative
interaction strength dependent on the measured local twist angle (1.2{\deg} -
1.6{\deg}). Our findings provide experimental evidence of heavy fermion
behaviour in the topological flat bands of moir\'e graphene and epitomize an
avenue to apply local thermoelectric measurements to other strongly correlated
materials in the disorder-free limit
Extensive degeneracy, Coulomb phase and magnetic monopoles in an artificial realization of the square ice model
Artificial spin ice systems have been introduced as a possible mean to
investigate frustration effects in a well-controlled manner by fabricating
lithographically-patterned two-dimensional arrangements of interacting magnetic
nanostructures. This approach offers the opportunity to visualize
unconventional states of matter, directly in real space, and triggered a wealth
of studies at the frontier between nanomagnetism, statistical thermodynamics
and condensed matter physics. Despite the strong efforts made these last ten
years to provide an artificial realization of the celebrated square ice model,
no simple geometry based on arrays of nanomagnets succeeded to capture the
macroscopically degenerate ground state manifold of the corresponding model.
Instead, in all works reported so far, square lattices of nanomagnets are
characterized by a magnetically ordered ground state consisting of local
flux-closure configurations with alternating chirality. Here, we show
experimentally and theoretically, that all the characteristics of the square
ice model can be observed if the artificial square lattice is properly
designed. The spin configurations we image after demagnetizing our arrays
reveal unambiguous signatures of an algebraic spin liquid state characterized
by the presence of pinch points in the associated magnetic structure factor.
Local excitations, i.e. classical analogues of magnetic monopoles, are found to
be free to evolve in a massively degenerated, divergence-free vacuum. We thus
provide the first lab-on-chip platform allowing the investigation of collective
phenomena, including Coulomb phases and ice-like physics.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figure
ABCC Multidrug Transporters in Childhood Neuroblastoma: Clinical and Biological Effects Independent of Cytotoxic Drug Efflux
Background Although the prognostic value of the ATP-binding cassette, subfamily C (ABCC) transporters in childhood neuroblastoma is usually attributed to their role in cytotoxic drug efflux, certain observations have suggested that these multidrug transporters might contribute to the malignant phenotype independent of cytotoxic drug efflux. Methods A v-myc myelocytomatosis viral related oncogene, neuroblastoma derived (MYCN)-driven transgenic mouse neuroblastoma model was crossed with an Abcc1-deficient mouse strain (658 hMYCN1/â, 205 hMYCN+/1 mice) or, alternatively, treated with the ABCC1 inhibitor, Reversan (n = 20). ABCC genes were suppressed using short interfering RNA or overexpressed by stable transfection in neuroblastoma cell lines BE(2)-C, SH-EP, and SH-SY5Y, which were then assessed for wound closure ability, clonogenic capacity, morphological differentiation, and cell growth. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to examine the clinical significance of ABCC family gene expression in a large prospectively accrued cohort of patients (n = 209) with primary neuroblastomas. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression were used to test for associations with event-free and overall survival. Except where noted, all statistical tests were two-sided. Results Inhibition of ABCC1 statistically significantly inhibited neuroblastoma development in hMYCN transgenic mice (mean age for palpable tumor: treated mice, 47.2 days; control mice, 41.9 days; hazard ratio [HR] = 9.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.65 to 32; P < .001). Suppression of ABCC1 in vitro inhibited wound closure (P < .001) and clonogenicity (P = .006); suppression of ABCC4 enhanced morphological differentiation (P < .001) and inhibited cell growth (P < .001). Analysis of 209 neuroblastoma patient tumors revealed that, in contrast with ABCC1 and ABCC4, low rather than high ABCC3 expression was associated with reduced event-free survival (HR of recurrence or death = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.4 to 4.2; P = .001), with 23 of 53 patients with low ABCC3 expression experiencing recurrence or death compared with 31 of 155 patients with high ABCC3. Moreover, overexpression of ABCC3 in vitro inhibited neuroblastoma cell migration (P < .001) and clonogenicity (P = .03). The combined expression of ABCC1, ABCC3, and ABCC4 was associated with patients having an adverse event, such that of the 12 patients with the "poor prognosisâ expression pattern, 10 experienced recurrence or death (HR of recurrence or death = 12.3, 95% CI = 6 to 27; P < .001). Conclusion ABCC transporters can affect neuroblastoma biology independently of their role in chemotherapeutic drug efflux, enhancing their potential as targets for therapeutic interventio
Assessing Free-Radical-Mediated DNA Damage during Cardiac Surgery : 8-Oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine as a Putative Biomarker
Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), one of the most common cardiac surgical procedures, is characterized by a burst of oxidative stress. 8-Oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG), produced following DNA repairing, is used as an indicator of oxidative DNA damage in humans. The effect of CABG on oxidative-induced DNA damage, evaluated through the measurement of urinary 8-oxodG by a developed and validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method in 52 coronary artery disease (CAD) patients, was assessed before (T0), five days (T1), and six months (T2) after CABG procedure. These results were compared with those obtained in 40 subjects with cardiovascular risk factors and without overt cardiovascular disease (CTR). Baseline (T0) 8-oxodG was higher in CAD than in CTR (p = 0.035). A significant burst was detected at T1 (p = 0.019), while at T2, 8-oxodG levels were significantly lower than those measured at T0 (p < 0.0001) and comparable to those found in CTR (p = 0.73). A similar trend was observed for urinary 8-iso-prostaglandin F2\u3b1 (8-isoPGF2\u3b1 ), a reliable marker of oxidative stress. In the whole population baseline, 8-oxodG significantly correlated with 8-isoPGF2\u3b1 levels (r = 0.323, p = 0.002). These data argue for CABG procedure in CAD patients as inducing a short-term increase in oxidative DNA damage, as revealed by 8-oxodG concentrations, and a long-term return of such metabolite toward physiological levels
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