4,957 research outputs found
Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati Cosmology in Bianchi I brane
The dynamics of Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati Cosmology (DGP) braneworld with an
anisotropic brane is studied. The Friedmann equations and their solutions are
obtained for two branches of anisotropic DGP model. The late time behavior in
DGP cosmology is examined in the presence of anisotropy which shows that
universe enters a self-accelerating phase much later compared to the isotropic
case. The acceleration conditions and slow-roll conditions for inflation are
obtained
Controls of soil spatial variability in a dry tropical forest
We examined the roles of lithology, topography, vegetation and fire in generating local-scale (= 1 cm diameter at breast height (DBH), and spatial variation in fire frequency (times burnt during the 17 years preceding soil sampling) in a permanent 50-ha plot. Unlike classic catenas, lower elevation soils had lesser moisture, plant-available Ca, Cu, Mn, Mg, Zn, B, clay and total C. The distribution of plant-available Ca, Cu, Mn and Mg appeared to largely be determined by the whole-rock chemical composition differences between amphibolites and hornblende-biotite gneisses. Amphibolites were associated with summit positions, while gneisses dominated lower elevations, an observation that concurs with other studies in the region which suggest that hillslope-scale topography has been shaped by differential weathering of lithologies. Neither NO3--N nor NH4+-N was explained by the basal area of trees belonging to Fabaceae, a family associated with N-fixing species, and no long-term effects of fire on soil parameters were detected. Local-scale lithological variation is an important first-order control over soil variability at the hillslope scale in this SDTF, by both direct influence on nutrient stocks and indirect influence via control of local relief
Bulk scalar field in DGP braneworld cosmology
We investigated the effects of bulk scalar field in the braneworld
cosmological scenario. The Friedmann equations and acceleration condition in
presence of the bulk scalar field for a zero tension brane and cosmological
constant are studied. In DGP model the effective Einstein equation on the brane
is obtained with bulk scalar field. The rescaled bulk scalar field on the brane
in the DGP model behaves as an effective four dimensional field, thus standard
type cosmology is recovered. In present study of the DGP model, the late-time
accelerating phase of the universe can be explained .Comment: 10 pages, to appear in JCA
Nature of yeasts present on grapes grown in south lndia andin their wines
Yeasts isolated from juice, fermenting juice and wines made from the varieties Bangalore Blue and Black Champa feil into 6 genera namely Kloeckera, Torulopsis, Candida, Rhodotorula, Cryptococcus and Saccharomyces.Kloeckera apiculata and Torulopsis spp. were predominant during initial stages of fermentation. Torulopsis spp., Saccharomyces chevalieri and S. cerevisiae were present in the wine.This is the first report on the isolation of Kloeckera apiculata, Saccharomyces chevalieri, Torulopsis spp., Rhodotorula rubra and Cryptococcus albidus var. albidus from grape musts from India.Die Hefenflora südindischer Trauben und ihrer WeineDie aus Traubensaft, gärendem Most und Wein der Rebsorten Bangalore Blue und Black Champa isolierten Hefen gehörten 6 Gattungen an, nämlich Kloeckera, Torulopsis, Candida, Rhodotorula, Cryptococcus und Saccharomyces. Während der frühen Gärungsphasen überwogen Kloeckera apiculata und Torulopsis spp.; im Wein waren Torulopsis spp., Saccharomyces chevalieri und S. cerevisiae vorhanden. Kloeckera apiculata, Saccharomyces chevalieri, Torulopsis spp., Rhodotorula rubra und Cryptococcus albidus var. albidus wurden aus indischen Traubenmosten erstmals isoliert
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Free-energy-based framework for early forecasting of stem cell differentiation.
Commitment of stem cells to different lineages is inherently stochastic but regulated by a range of environmental bio/chemo/mechanical cues. Here, we develop an integrated stochastic modelling framework for predicting the differentiation of hMSCs in response to a range of environmental cues, including sizes of adhesive islands, stiffness of substrates and treatment with ROCK inhibitors in both growth and mixed media. The statistical framework analyses the fluctuations of cell morphologies over approximately a 24 h period after seeding the cells in the specific environment and uses the cytoskeletal free-energy distribution to forecast the lineage the hMSCs will commit to. The cytoskeletal free energy which succinctly parametrizes the biochemical state of the cell is shown to capture hMSC commitment over a range of environments while simple morphological factors such as cell shape, tractions on their own are unable to correlate with lineages hMSCs adopt
DBC based Face Recognition using DWT
The applications using face biometric has proved its reliability in last
decade. In this paper, we propose DBC based Face Recognition using DWT (DBC-
FR) model. The Poly-U Near Infra Red (NIR) database images are scanned and
cropped to get only the face part in pre-processing. The face part is resized
to 100*100 and DWT is applied to derive LL, LH, HL and HH subbands. The LL
subband of size 50*50 is converted into 100 cells with 5*5 dimention of each
cell. The Directional Binary Code (DBC) is applied on each 5*5 cell to derive
100 features. The Euclidian distance measure is used to compare the features of
test image and database images. The proposed algorithm render better percentage
recognition rate compared to the existing algorithm.Comment: 15 pages,9 figures, 4 table
Antimicrobial actions of the human epididymis 2 (HE2) protein isoforms, HE2alpha, HE2beta1 and HE2beta2
BACKGROUND: The HE2 gene encodes a group of isoforms with similarities to the antimicrobial beta-defensins. We demonstrated earlier that the antimicrobial activity of HE2 proteins and peptides is salt resistant and structure dependent and involves permeabilization of bacterial membranes. In this study, we further characterize the antimicrobial properties of HE2 peptides in terms of the structural changes induced in E. coli and the inhibition of macromolecular synthesis. METHODS: E. coli treated with 50 micro g/ml of HE2alpha, HE2beta1 or HE2beta2 peptides for 30 and 60 min were visualized using transmission and scanning electron microscopy to investigate the impact of these peptides on bacterial internal and external structure. The effects of HE2alpha, HE2beta1 and HE2beta2 on E. coli macromolecular synthesis was assayed by incubating the bacteria with 2, 10 and 25 micro g/ml of the individual peptides for 0–60 min and measuring the incorporation of the radioactive precursors [methyl-(3)H]thymidine, [5-(3)H]uridine and L-[4,5-(3)H(N)]leucine into DNA, RNA and protein. Statistical analyses using Student's t-test were performed using Sigma Plot software. Values shown are Mean ± S.D. RESULTS: E. coli treated with HE2alpha, HE2beta1 and HE2beta2 peptides as visualized by transmission electron microscopy showed extensive damage characterized by membrane blebbing, thickening of the membrane, highly granulated cytoplasm and appearance of vacuoles in contrast to the smooth and continuous membrane structure of the untreated bacteria. Similarly, bacteria observed by scanning electron microscopy after treating with HE2alpha, HE2beta1 or HE2beta2 peptides exhibited membrane blebbing and wrinkling, leakage of cellular contents, especially at the dividing septa, and external accumulation of fibrous materials. In addition, HE2alpha, HE2beta1 and HE2beta2 peptides inhibited E. coli DNA, RNA and protein synthesis. CONCLUSIONS: The morphological changes observed in E. coli treated with epididymal HE2 peptides provide further evidence for their membrane dependent mechanism of antibacterial action. HE2 C-terminal peptides can inhibit E. coli macromolecular synthesis, suggesting an additional mechanism of bacterial killing supplementary to membrane permeabilization
A High Throughput Workflow Environment for Cosmological Simulations
The next generation of wide-area sky surveys offer the power to place
extremely precise constraints on cosmological parameters and to test the source
of cosmic acceleration. These observational programs will employ multiple
techniques based on a variety of statistical signatures of galaxies and
large-scale structure. These techniques have sources of systematic error that
need to be understood at the percent-level in order to fully leverage the power
of next-generation catalogs. Simulations of large-scale structure provide the
means to characterize these uncertainties. We are using XSEDE resources to
produce multiple synthetic sky surveys of galaxies and large-scale structure in
support of science analysis for the Dark Energy Survey. In order to scale up
our production to the level of fifty 10^10-particle simulations, we are working
to embed production control within the Apache Airavata workflow environment. We
explain our methods and report how the workflow has reduced production time by
40% compared to manual management.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. V2 corrects an error in figure
Z-scores of fetal bladder distention for the antenatal differential diagnosis of posterior urethral valves and urethral atresia
Objective: To construct reference values for fetal urinary bladder distension in pregnancy and use Z-scores as a diagnostic tool to differentiate posterior urethral valves (PUV) from urethral atresia (UA). Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study in healthy singleton pregnancies aimed at constructing nomograms of fetal urinary bladder diameter and volume between 15 and 35 weeks' gestation. Z-scores of longitudinal bladder diameter (LBD) were calculated and validated in a cohort of fetuses with megacystis with ascertained postnatal or postmortem diagnosis, collected from a retrospective, multicenter study. Correlations between anatomopathological findings, based on medical examination of the infant or postmortem examination, and fetal megacystis were established. The accuracy of the Z-scores was evaluated by receiver-operating-characteristics (ROC)-curve analysis. Results: Nomograms of fetal urinary bladder diameter and volume were produced from three-dimensional ultrasound volumes in 225 pregnant women between 15 and 35 weeks of gestation. A total of 1238 urinary bladder measurements were obtained. Z-scores, derived from the fetal nomograms, were calculated in 106 cases with suspected lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTO), including 76 (72%) cases with PUV, 22 (21%) cases with UA, four (4%) cases with urethral stenosis and four (4%) cases with megacystis-microcolon-intestinal hypoperistalsis syndrome. Fetuses with PUV showed a significantly lower LBD Z-score compared to those with UA (3.95 vs 8.83, P < 0.01). On ROC-curve analysis, we identified 5.2 as the optimal Z-score cut-off to differentiate fetuses with PUV from the rest of the study population (area under the curve, 0.84 (95% CI, 0.748–0.936); P < 0.01; sensitivity, 74%; specificity, 86%). Conclusions: Z-scores of LBD can distinguish reliably fetuses with LUTO caused by PUV from those with other subtypes of LUTO, with an optimal cut-off of 5.2. This information should be useful for prenatal counseling and management of LUTO
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