1,930 research outputs found
Reversing a granular flow on a vibratory conveyor
Experimental results are presented on the transport properties of granular
materials on a vibratory conveyor. For circular oscillations of the shaking
trough a non-monotonous dependence of the transport velocity on the normalized
acceleration is observed. Two maxima are separated by a regime, where the
granular flow is much slower and, in a certain driving range, even reverses its
direction. A similar behavior is found for a single solid body with a low
coefficient of restitution, whereas an individual glass bead of 1 mm diameter
is propagated in the same direction for all accelerations.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Applied Physics Letter
European farming sector with mixed views of new rules on plant protection
contribution to round tabl
Constitutional Law - Fourteenth Amendment - Equal Protection Clause - Adoption - Rights of Putative Fathers
The United States Supreme Court has held that a New York statute providing that a natural mother could withhold her consent to the adoption of her child, but denying the same right to an unwed father, violates the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment.
Caban v. Mohammed, 99 S. Ct. 1760 (1979)
Relationship between family history of alcohol addiction, parents’ education level, and smartphone problem use scale scores
Smartphones are ubiquitous. As smartphones increased in popularity, researchers realized that people were becoming dependent on their smartphones. The purpose here was to provide a better understanding of the factors related to problematic smartphone use (PSPU). Methods The participants were 100 undergraduates (25 males, 75 females) whose ages ranged from 18 to 23 (mean age = 20 years). The participants completed questionnaires to assess gender, ethnicity, year in college, father’s education level, mother’s education level, family income, age, family history of alcoholism, and PSPU. The Family Tree Questionnaire assessed family history of alcoholism. The Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale (MPPUS) and the Adapted Cell Phone Addiction Test (ACPAT) were used to determine the degree of PSPU. Whereas the MPPUS measures tolerance, escape from other problems, withdrawal, craving, and negative life consequences, the ACPAT measures preoccupation (salience), excessive use, neglecting work, anticipation, lack of control, and neglecting social life. Results Family history of alcoholism and father’s education level together explained 26% of the variance in the MPPUS scores and 25% of the variance in the ACPAT scores. The inclusion of mother’s education level, ethnicity, family income, age, year in college, and gender did not significantly increase the proportion of variance explained for either MPPUS or ACPAT scores. Discussion and conclusions Family history of alcoholism and father’s education level are good predictors of PSPU. As 74%–75% of the variance in PSPU scale scores was not explained, future studies should aim to explain this variance
Salivary gland-specific <i>P. berghei</i> reporter lines enable rapid evaluation of tissue-specific sporozoite loads in mosquitoes
Malaria is a life-threatening human infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes. Levels of the salivary gland sporozoites (sgs), the only mosquito stage infectious to a mammalian host, represent an important cumulative index of <i>Plasmodium</i> development within a mosquito. However, current techniques of sgs quantification are laborious and imprecise. Here, transgenic <i>P. berghei</i> reporter lines that produce the green fluorescent protein fused to luciferase (GFP-LUC) specifically in sgs were generated, verified and characterised. Fluorescence microscopy confirmed the sgs stage specificity of expression of the reporter gene. The luciferase activity of the reporter lines was then exploited to establish a simple and fast biochemical assay to evaluate sgs loads in whole mosquitoes. Using this assay we successfully identified differences in sgs loads in mosquitoes silenced for genes that display opposing effects on <i>P. berghei</i> ookinete/oocyst development. It offers a new powerful tool to study infectivity of <i>P. berghei</i> to the mosquito, including analysis of vector-parasite interactions and evaluation of transmission-blocking vaccines
Spontaneous Ratchet Effect in a Granular Gas
The spontaneous clustering of a vibrofluidized granular gas is employed to
generate directed transport in two different compartmentalized systems: a
"granular fountain" in which the transport takes the form of convection rolls,
and a "granular ratchet" with a spontaneous particle current perpendicular to
the direction of energy input. In both instances, transport is not due to any
system-intrinsic anisotropy, but arises as a spontaneous collective symmetry
breaking effect of many interacting granular particles. The experimental and
numerical results are quantitatively accounted for within a flux model.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures; Fig. 4 has been reduced in size and qualit
Erdheim-Chester disease and knee pain in a dialysis patient
Erdheim–Chester disease is a rare inflammatory condition characterized by a non-Langerhans histiocytic infiltration, involving the skeleton, nervous system, viscera, retroperitoneum and elsewhere. The aetiology is unknown. Positron emission tomography shows areas of involvement. We managed a dialysis patient with knee pain; a bone marrow specimen showed typical CD68 positive, but CD1a negative cells. We initiated interferon-α therapy although other options remain open. In our patient, the simultaneous presence of secondary hyperparathyroidism with tumorous calcifications provided an interesting additional differential diagnostic possibility regarding skeletal pain
- …