1,163 research outputs found
The Mullins effect in the wrinkling behavior of highly stretched thin films
Recent work demonstrates that finite-deformation nonlinear elasticity is
essential in the accurate modeling of wrinkling in highly stretched thin films.
Geometrically exact models predict an isola-center bifurcation, indicating that
for a bounded interval of aspect ratios only, stable wrinkles appear and then
disappear as the macroscopic strain is increased. This phenomenon has been
verified in experiments. In addition, recent experiments revealed the following
striking phenomenon: For certain aspect ratios for which no wrinkling occurred
upon the first loading, wrinkles appeared during the first unloading and again
during all subsequent cyclic loading. Our goal here is to present a simple
pseudo-elastic model, capturing the stress softening and residual strain
observed in the experiments, that accurately predicts wrinkling behavior on the
first loading that differs from that under subsequent cyclic loading. In
particular for specific aspect ratios, the model correctly predicts the
scenario of no wrinkling during first loading with wrinkling occurring during
unloading and for all subsequent cyclic loading.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure
Identification of epidermal Pdx1 expression discloses different roles of Notch1 and Notch2 in murine KrasG12D-induced skin carcinogenesis in vivo
Background
The Ras and Notch signaling pathways are frequently activated during development to control many diverse cellular processes and are often dysregulated during tumorigenesis. To study the role of Notch and oncogenic Kras signaling in a progenitor cell population, Pdx1-Cre mice were utilized to generate conditional oncogenic KrasG12D mice with ablation of Notch1 and/or Notch2.
Methodology/Principal Findings
Surprisingly, mice with activated KrasG12D and Notch1 but not Notch2 ablation developed skin papillomas progressing to squamous cell carcinoma providing evidence for Pdx1 expression in the skin. Immunostaining and lineage tracing experiments indicate that PDX1 is present predominantly in the suprabasal layers of the epidermis and rarely in the basal layer. Further analysis of keratinocytes in vitro revealed differentiation-dependent expression of PDX1 in terminally differentiated keratinocytes. PDX1 expression was also increased during wound healing. Further analysis revealed that loss of Notch1 but not Notch2 is critical for skin tumor development. Reasons for this include distinct Notch expression with Notch1 in all layers and Notch2 in the suprabasal layer as well as distinctive p21 and ÎČ-catenin signaling inhibition capabilities.
Conclusions/Significance
Our results provide strong evidence for epidermal expression of Pdx1 as of yet not identified function. In addition, this finding may be relevant for research using Pdx1-Cre transgenic strains. Additionally, our study confirms distinctive expression and functions of Notch1 and Notch2 in the skin supporting the importance of careful dissection of the contribution of individual Notch receptors
Mid-infrared interferometric variability of DG Tau: implications for the inner-disk structure
Context. DG Tau is a low-mass pre-main sequence star, whose strongly
accreting protoplanetary disk exhibits a so-far enigmatic behavior: its
mid-infrared thermal emission is strongly time-variable, even turning the 10
m silicate feature from emission to absorption temporarily. Aims. We look
for the reason for the spectral variability at high spatial resolution and at
multiple epochs. Methods. We study the temporal variability of the mid-infrared
interferometric signal, observed with the VLTI/MIDI instrument at six epochs
between 2011 and 2014. We fit a geometric disk model to the observed
interferometric signal to obtain spatial information about the disk. We also
model the mid-infrared spectra by template fitting to characterize the profile
and time dependence of the silicate emission. We use physically motivated
radiative transfer modeling to interpret the mid-infrared interferometric
spectra. Results. The inner disk (r<1-3 au) spectra exhibit a 10 m
absorption feature related to amorphous silicate grains. The outer disk (r>1-3
au) spectra show a crystalline silicate feature in emission, similar to the
spectra of comet Hale-Bopp. The striking difference between the inner and outer
disk spectral feature is highly unusual among T Tauri stars. The mid-infrared
variability is dominated by the outer disk. The strength of the silicate
feature changed by more than a factor of two. Between 2011 and 2014 the
half-light radius of the mid-infrared-emitting region decreased from 1.15 to
0.7 au. Conclusions. For the origin of the absorption we discuss four possible
explanations: a cold obscuring envelope, an accretion heated inner disk, a
temperature inversion on the disk surface and a misaligned inner geometry. The
silicate emission in the outer disk can be explained by dusty material high
above the disk plane, whose mass can change with time, possibly due to
turbulence in the disk.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figure
The Use of Statistics in Experimental Physics
Most mathematicians are aware of the importance of statistics in biological sciences, business, and economics, but are less aware that statistics is used every day in experimental physics. This paper gives three interesting examples of how statistics plays a vital role in physics. These examples use the basic statistical tools of residuals analysis and goodness of fit
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