Lagrangian tracers on a surface flow: the role of time correlations

Finite time correlations of the velocity in a surface flow are found to be important for the formation of clusters of Lagrangian tracers. The degree of clustering characterized by the Lyapunov spectrum of the flow is numerically shown to be in qualitative agreement with the predictions for the white-in-time compressible Kraichnan flow, but to deviate quantitatively. For intermediate values of compressibility the clustering is surprisingly weakened by time correlations.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to be published in PR

Changes in the proteome of pea (Pisum sativum L.) seeds germinating under optimal and osmotic stress conditions and subjected to post-stress recovery

Plants growing under natural conditions are exposed to a variety of stresses, which can lead to undesirable changes in the physiological processes and yielding. These changes can be regulated at different levels, resulting in the synthesis of specific proteins which participate in the plant's response to stress. The purpose of this study was to determine changes in the accumulation of proteins in germinating pea (Pisum sativum L.) seeds under optimal and osmotic (short- and long-term) stress conditions as well as recovery following a short-term stress. For identification of the proteins, two-dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) were employed. Germination in optimal conditions increased the accumulation of several proteins involved in glycolysis, Krebs cycle, synthesis of fatty acids, cell growth, cellular transport and detoxification. Osmotic stress, in turn, depressed the accumulation of proteins involved in glycolysis, synthesis of fatty acids, detoxication, methionine conversions, cellular transport, translation, growth control and of cytoskeletal proteins, but raised the accumulation of enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle as well as proteins participating in signal transduction and protection (chaperones). One protein, 6a-hydroxymaackian-3-O-methyltransferase, which is involved in the synthesis of pisatin, was present only under osmotic stress conditions and recovery. Pisatin is synthesized mainly in response to microbiological infections and under stress conditions, indicating its key role in the acquisition of stress tolerance by plants

The FLUKA code for application of Monte Carlo methods to promote high precision ion beam therapy

Monte Carlo (MC) methods are increasingly being utilized to support several aspects of commissioning and clinical operation of ion beam therapy facilities. In this contribution two emerging areas of MC applications are outlined. The value of MC modeling to promote accurate treatment planning is addressed via examples of application of the FLUKA code to proton and carbon ion therapy at the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center in Heidelberg, Germany, and at the Proton Therapy Center of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Boston, USA. These include generation of basic data for input into the treatment planning system (TPS) and validation of the TPS analytical pencil-beam dose computations. Moreover, we review the implementation of PET/CT (Positron-Emission-Tomography / Computed- Tomography) imaging for in-vivo verification of proton therapy at MGH. Here, MC is used to calculate irradiation-induced positron-emitter production in tissue for comparison with the +-activity measurement in order to infer indirect information on the actual dose delivery

Unmixing in Random Flows

We consider particles suspended in a randomly stirred or turbulent fluid. When effects of the inertia of the particles are significant, an initially uniform scatter of particles can cluster together. We analyse this 'unmixing' effect by calculating the Lyapunov exponents for dense particles suspended in such a random three-dimensional flow, concentrating on the limit where the viscous damping rate is small compared to the inverse correlation time of the random flow (that is, the regime of large Stokes number). In this limit Lyapunov exponents are obtained as a power series in a parameter which is a dimensionless measure of the inertia. We report results for the first seven orders. The perturbation series is divergent, but we obtain accurate results from a Pade-Borel summation. We deduce that particles can cluster onto a fractal set and show that its dimension is in satisfactory agreement with previously reported in simulations of turbulent Navier-Stokes flows. We also investigate the rate of formation of caustics in the particle flow.Comment: 39 pages, 8 figure

Large-Eddy Simulation of a Gas Turbine Model Combustor

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106433/1/AIAA2013-172.pd

Effective Swarm Parameters And Transport Coefficients In CO2 Laser Mixtures

A pulsed electron swarm technique has been used to obtain effective attachment and ionization cross-sections as well as electron drift velocities in mixtures of CO2 laser interest. In binary CO2:N 2 mixtures, below a reduced electric field of E/N=60*10 -17 V cm2, attachment was the principal ion production process. (N is the total gas number density.) The reduced attachment coefficients measured were small and in excellent agreement with numerical predictions. In ternary mixtures of He:CO2:N2, positive ion formation described by Townsend\u27s first ionisation coefficient played a more important role over the same range of E/N. The reduced coefficient for total ion formation was measured and found to be in good agreement with numerical calculations. Electron drift velocities in both the binary and ternary mixtures were determined using a time-of-flight technique. Overall agreement with previous experimental and numerical results was good

Systematic literature review of burden of illness in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP)

Altres ajuts: CSL Behring GmbHBackground: Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is a rare neurological disorder characterised by muscle weakness and impaired sensory function. The present study provides a comprehensive literature review of the burden of illness of CIDP. Methods: Systematic literature search of PubMed, Embase, and key conferences in May 2019. Search terms identified studies on the epidemiology, humanistic burden, current treatment, and economic burden of CIDP published since 2009 in English. Results: Forty-five full texts and nineteen conference proceedings were identified on the epidemiology (n = 9), humanistic burden (n = 7), current treatment (n = 40), and economic burden (n = 8) of CIDP. Epidemiological studies showed incidence and prevalence of 0.2-1.6 and 0.8-8.9 per 100,000, respectively, depending on geography and diagnostic criteria. Humanistic burden studies revealed that patients experienced physical and psychosocial burden, including impaired physical function, pain and depression. Publications on current treatments reported on six main types of therapy: intravenous immunoglobulins, subcutaneous immunoglobulins, corticosteroids, plasma exchange, immunosuppressants, and immunomodulators. Treatments may be burdensome, due to adverse events and reduced independence caused by treatment administration setting. In Germany, UK, France, and the US, CIDP economic burden was driven by direct costs of treatment and hospitalisation. CIDP was associated with indirect costs driven by impaired productivity. Conclusions: This first systematic review of CIDP burden of illness demonstrates the high physical and psychosocial burden of this rare disease. Future research is required to fully characterise the burden of CIDP, and to understand how appropriate treatment can mitigate burden for patients and healthcare systems

Emotional Impairment and Persistent Upregulation of mGlu5 Receptor following Morphine Abstinence: Implications of an mGlu5-MOPr Interaction.

BACKGROUND: A difficult problem in treating opioid addicts is the maintenance of a drug-free state because of the negative emotional symptoms associated with withdrawal, which may trigger relapse. Several lines of evidence suggest a role for the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 in opioid addiction; however, its involvement during opioid withdrawal is not clear. METHODS: Mice were treated with a 7-day escalating-dose morphine administration paradigm. Following withdrawal, the development of affective behaviors was assessed using the 3-chambered box, open-field, elevated plus-maze and forced-swim tests. Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 autoradiographic binding was performed in mouse brains undergoing chronic morphine treatment and 7 days withdrawal. Moreover, since there is evidence showing direct effects of opioid drugs on the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 system, the presence of an metabotropic glutamate receptor 5/μ-opioid receptor interaction was assessed by performing metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 autoradiographic binding in brains of mice lacking the μ-opioid receptor gene. RESULTS: Withdrawal from chronic morphine administration induced anxiety-like, depressive-like, and impaired sociability behaviors concomitant with a marked upregulation of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 binding. Administration of the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 antagonist, 3-((2-Methyl-4-thiazolyl)ethynyl)pyridine, reversed morphine abstinence-induced depressive-like behaviors. A brain region-specific increase in metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 binding was observed in the nucleus accumbens shell, thalamus, hypothalamus, and amygdala of μ-opioid receptor knockout mice compared with controls. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest an association between metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 alterations and the emergence of opioid withdrawal-related affective behaviors. This study supports metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 system as a target for the development of pharmacotherapies for the treatment of opioid addiction. Moreover, our data show direct effects of μ-opioid receptor system manipulation on metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 binding in the brain

The role of nuclear reactions in Monte Carlo calculations of absorbed and biological effective dose distributions in hadron therapy

Monte Carlo codes are rapidly spreading among hadron therapy community due to their sophisticated nuclear/electromagnetic models which allow an improved description of the complex mixed radiation field produced by nuclear reactions in therapeutic irradiation. In this contribution results obtained with the Monte Carlo code FLUKA are presented focusing on the production of secondary fragments in carbon ion interaction with water and on CT-based calculations of absorbed and biological effective dose for typical clinical situations. The results of the simulations are compared with the available experimental data and with the predictions of the GSI analytical treatment planning code TRiP