39,731 research outputs found
Effects of deleting cannabinoid receptor-2 on mechanical and material properties of cortical and trabecular bone
Acknowledgements We thank Dr J.S. Gregory for assistance with Image J and Mr K. Mackenzie for assistance with Micro-CT analysis. Funding ABK was funded by a University of Aberdeen, Institute of Medical Sciences studentship and the Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Mechanical and material properties of cortical and trabecular bone from cannabinoid receptor-1-null (Cnr1-/-) mice
Funding ABK was funded by a studentship from the University of Aberdeen, Institute of Medical Sciences, and the Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme Acknowledgments We are grateful to Dr J.S. Gregory for assistance with Image J and Mr K. Mackenzie for assistance with Micro-CT analysis.Peer reviewedPostprin
Supernova enrichment and dynamical histories of solar-type stars in clusters
We use N-body simulations of star cluster evolution to explore the hypothesis
that short-lived radioactive isotopes found in meteorites, such as 26-Al, were
delivered to the Sun's protoplanetary disc from a supernova at the epoch of
Solar System formation. We cover a range of star cluster formation parameter
space and model both clusters with primordial substructure, and those with
smooth profiles. We also adopt different initial virial ratios - from cool,
collapsing clusters to warm, expanding associations. In each cluster we place
the same stellar population; the clusters each have 2100 stars, and contain one
massive 25M_Sun star which is expected to explode as a supernova at about
6.6Myr. We determine the number of Solar (G)-type stars that are within 0.1 -
0.3pc of the 25M_Sun star at the time of the supernova, which is the distance
required to enrich the protoplanetary disc with the 26-Al abundances found in
meteorites. We then determine how many of these G-dwarfs are unperturbed
`singletons'; stars which are never in close binaries, nor suffer sub-100au
encounters, and which also do not suffer strong dynamical perturbations.
The evolution of a suite of twenty initially identical clusters is highly
stochastic, with the supernova enriching over 10 G-dwarfs in some clusters, and
none at all in others. Typically only ~25 per cent of clusters contain
enriched, unperturbed singletons, and usually only 1 - 2 per cluster (from a
total of 96 G-dwarfs in each cluster). The initial conditions for star
formation do not strongly affect the results, although a higher fraction of
supervirial (expanding) clusters would contain enriched G-dwarfs if the
supernova occurred earlier than 6.6Myr. If we sum together simulations with
identical initial conditions, then ~1 per cent of all G-dwarfs in our
simulations are enriched, unperturbed singletons.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Beef Cattle Instance Segmentation Using Fully Convolutional Neural Network
In this paper we present a novel instance segmentation algorithm that extends a fully convolutional network to learn to label objects separately without prediction of regions of interest. We trained the new algorithm on a challenging CCTV recording of beef cattle, as well as benchmark MS COCO and Pascal VOC datasets. Extensive experimentation showed that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art solutions by up to 8% on our data
Letting Go: Conceptualizing intervention de-implementation in public health and social service settings
The discontinuation of interventions that should be stopped, or de-implementation, has emerged as a novel line of inquiry within dissemination and implementation science. As this area grows in human services research, like public health and social work, theory is needed to help guide scientific endeavors. Given the infancy of de-implementation, this conceptual narrative provides a definition and criteria for determining if an intervention should be de-implemented. We identify three criteria for identifying interventions appropriate for de-implementation: (a) interventions that are not effective or harmful, (b) interventions that are not the most effective or efficient to provide, and (c) interventions that are no longer necessary. Detailed, well-documented examples illustrate each of the criteria. We describe de-implementation frameworks, but also demonstrate how other existing implementation frameworks might be applied to de-implementation research as a supplement. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of de-implementation in the context of other stages of implementation, like sustainability and adoption; next steps for de-implementation research, especially identifying interventions appropriate for de-implementation in a systematic manner; and highlight special ethical considerations to advance the field of de-implementation research
Viscous Torque and Dissipation in the Inner Region of a Thin Accretion Disk: Implications for Measuring Black Hole Spin
We consider a simple Newtonian model of a steady accretion disk around a
black hole. The model is based on height-integrated hydrodynamic equations,
alpha-viscosity, and a pseudo-Newtonian potential that results in an innermost
stable circular orbit (ISCO) that closely approximates the one predicted by GR.
We find that the hydrodynamic models exhibit increasing deviations from the
standard disk model of Shakura & Sunyaev as disk thickness H/R or the value of
alpha increases. The latter is an analytical model in which the viscous torque
is assumed to vanish at the ISCO. We consider the implications of the results
for attempts to estimate black hole spin by using the standard disk model to
fit continuum spectra of black hole accretion disks. We find that the error in
the spin estimate is quite modest so long as H/R < 0.1 and alpha < 0.2. At
worst the error in the estimated value of the spin parameter is 0.1 for a
non-spinning black hole; the error is much less for a rapidly spinning hole. We
also consider the density and disk thickness contrast between the gas in the
disk and that inside the ISCO. The contrast needs to be large if black hole
spin is to be successfully estimated by fitting the relativistically-broadened
X-ray line profile of fluorescent iron emission from reflection off an
accretion disk. In our hydrodynamic models, the contrast in density and
thickness is low when H/R>0.1, sugesting that the iron line technique may be
most reliable in extemely thin disks. We caution that these results have been
obtained with a viscous hydrodynamic model and need to be confirmed with MHD
simulations of radiatively cooled thin disks.Comment: 32 pages, 10 figures; accepted by Ap
Lactobacillus ruminis strains cluster according to their mammalian gut source
peer-reviewedBackground
Lactobacillus ruminis is a motile Lactobacillus that is autochthonous to the human gut, and which may also be isolated from other mammals. Detailed characterization of L. ruminis has previously been restricted to strains of human and bovine origin. We therefore sought to expand our bio-bank of strains to identify and characterise isolates of porcine and equine origin by comparative genomics.
Results
We isolated five strains from the faeces of horses and two strains from pigs, and compared their motility, biochemistry and genetic relatedness to six human isolates and three bovine isolates including the type strain 27780T. Multilocus sequence typing analysis based on concatenated sequence data for six individual loci separated the 16 L. ruminis strains into three clades concordant with human, bovine or porcine, and equine sources. Sequencing the genomes of four additional strains of human, bovine, equine and porcine origin revealed a high level of genome synteny, independent of the source animal. Analysis of carbohydrate utilization, stress survival and technological robustness in a combined panel of sixteen L. ruminis isolates identified strains with optimal survival characteristics suitable for future investigation as candidate probiotics. Under laboratory conditions, six human isolates of L. ruminis tested were aflagellate and non-motile, whereas all 10 strains of bovine, equine and porcine origin were motile. Interestingly the equine and porcine strains were hyper-flagellated compared to bovine isolates, and this hyper-flagellate phenotype correlated with the ability to swarm on solid medium containing up to 1.8% agar. Analysis by RNA sequencing and qRT-PCR identified genes for the biosynthesis of flagella, genes for carbohydrate metabolism and genes of unknown function that were differentially expressed in swarming cells of an equine isolate of L. ruminis.
Conclusions
We suggest that Lactobacillus ruminis isolates have potential to be used in the functional food industry. We have also identified a MLST scheme able to distinguish between strains of L. ruminis of different origin. Genes for non-digestible oligosaccharide metabolism were identified with a putative role in swarming behaviour.This work was supported by a Principal Investigator Award (07/IN.1/B1780)
from Science Foundation Ireland to P.W. O’Toole
In-vivo magnetic resonance imaging of hyperpolarized silicon particles
Silicon-based micro and nanoparticles have gained popularity in a wide range
of biomedical applications due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability
in-vivo, as well as a flexible surface chemistry, which allows drug loading,
functionalization and targeting. Here we report direct in-vivo imaging of
hyperpolarized 29Si nuclei in silicon microparticles by MRI. Natural physical
properties of silicon provide surface electronic states for dynamic nuclear
polarization (DNP), extremely long depolarization times, insensitivity to the
in-vivo environment or particle tumbling, and surfaces favorable for
functionalization. Potential applications to gastrointestinal, intravascular,
and tumor perfusion imaging at sub-picomolar concentrations are presented.
These results demonstrate a new background-free imaging modality applicable to
a range of inexpensive, readily available, and biocompatible Si particles.Comment: Supplemental Material include
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