Induction of Prostaglandin Release from Macrophages by Bacterial Endotoxin

This review summarizes the role of the monocytic responses to lipopolysaccharide as it relates to periodontal disease severity. Data are presented which illustrate that the levels of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) secreted by systemic peripheral blood monocytes in culture, in the presence of bacterial endotoxins, are highly correlated with the levels observed in the gingival crevicular fluid. Furthermore, the different periodontal diagnostic categories have varying levels of monocytic and crevicular fluid PGE2, in juxtaposition with clinical disease severity. These data are consistent with the concept that there is close synchrony between the systemic responsiveness of peripheral blood monocytes with regard to prostanoid synthesis and the local levels of mediator present within the gingival crevic

Molecular detection of parasites (Trematoda, Digenea: Bucephalidae and Monorchiidae) in the European flat oyster Ostrea edulis (Mollusca: Bivalvia)

Members of the globally distributed bivalve family Ostreidae (oysters) have a significant role in marine ecosystems and include species of high economic importance. In this work, we report the occurrence of digenean parasites of the families Bucephalidae (Prosorhynchoides sp.) and Monorchiidae (Postmonorchis sp.) in Mediterranean native populations of Ostrea edulis (but not in the introduced Magallana gigas). Molecular detection was based on DNA sequencing of the ribosomal intergenic spacer 2 (ITS2) marker. The importance of detecting the presence of overlooked digenean parasites in Mediterranean oysters is discussed. © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Skeleton and fractal scaling in complex networks

We find that the fractal scaling in a class of scale-free networks originates from the underlying tree structure called skeleton, a special type of spanning tree based on the edge betweenness centrality. The fractal skeleton has the property of the critical branching tree. The original fractal networks are viewed as a fractal skeleton dressed with local shortcuts. An in-silico model with both the fractal scaling and the scale-invariance properties is also constructed. The framework of fractal networks is useful in understanding the utility and the redundancy in networked systems.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, final version published in PR

Large-momentum-transfer Bragg interferometer with strontium atoms

We report on the first atom interferometer based on Bragg diffraction in a fountain of alkaline-earth atoms, namely $^{88}$Sr. We demonstrate large momentum transfer to the atoms up to eight photon recoils and the use of the interferometer as a gravimeter with a sensitivity $\delta g/g=4\times 10^{-8}$. Thanks to the special characteristics of strontium atoms for precision measurements, this result opens a new way for experiments in fundamental and applied physics.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Sensitivity limits of a Raman atom interferometer as a gravity gradiometer

We evaluate the sensitivity of a dual cloud atom interferometer to the measurement of vertical gravity gradient. We study the influence of most relevant experimental parameters on noise and long-term drifts. Results are also applied to the case of doubly differential measurements of the gravitational signal from local source masses. We achieve a short term sensitivity of 3*10^(-9) g/Hz^(-1/2) to differential gravity acceleration, limited by the quantum projection noise of the instrument. Active control of the most critical parameters allows to reach a resolution of 5*10^(-11) g after 8000 s on the measurement of differential gravity acceleration. The long term stability is compatible with a measurement of the gravitational constant G at the level of 10^(-4) after an integration time of about 100 hours.Comment: 19 pages, 20 figure

Computational Engineering of Mixed-mode, In-plane Crack Propagation in Laminated Fiber Reinforced Composites

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90663/1/AIAA-2011-1928-472.pd

Structured light techniques for 3D surface reconstruction in robotic tasks

Robotic tasks such as navigation and path planning can be greatly enhanced by a vision system capable of providing depth perception from fast and accurate 3D surface reconstruction. Focused on robotic welding tasks we present a comparative analysis of a novel mathematical formulation for 3D surface reconstruction and discuss image processing requirements for reliable detection of patterns in the image. Models are presented for a parallel and angled configurations of light source and image sensor. It is shown that the parallel arrangement requires 35\% fewer arithmetic operations to compute a point cloud in 3D being thus more appropriate for real-time applications. Experiments show that the technique is appropriate to scan a variety of surfaces and, in particular, the intended metallic parts for robotic welding tasks