4,135 research outputs found
A magnified glance into the dark sector: probing cosmological models with strong lensing in A1689
In this paper we constrain four alternative models to the late cosmic
acceleration in the Universe: Chevallier-Polarski-Linder (CPL), interacting
dark energy (IDE), Ricci holographic dark energy (HDE), and modified polytropic
Cardassian (MPC). Strong lensing (SL) images of background galaxies produced by
the galaxy cluster Abell are used to test these models. To perform this
analysis we modify the LENSTOOL lens modeling code. The value added by this
probe is compared with other complementary probes: Type Ia supernovae (SNIa),
baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO), and cosmic microwave background (CMB). We
found that the CPL constraints obtained of the SL data are consistent with
those estimated using the other probes. The IDE constraints are consistent with
the complementary bounds only if large errors in the SL measurements are
considered. The Ricci HDE and MPC constraints are weak but they are similar to
the BAO, SNIa and CMB estimations. We also compute the figure-of-merit as a
tool to quantify the goodness of fit of the data. Our results suggest that the
SL method provides statistically significant constraints on the CPL parameters
but weak for those of the other models. Finally, we show that the use of the SL
measurements in galaxy clusters is a promising and powerful technique to
constrain cosmological models. The advantage of this method is that
cosmological parameters are estimated by modelling the SL features for each
underlying cosmology. These estimations could be further improved by SL
constraints coming from other galaxy clusters.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
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Differences Between Tourism Professionalsâ Value of Sustainable Tourism
This paper is an exploratory investigation to access the value a stakeholder group places on the different dimensions of sustainable tourism. Most definitions of sustainable tourism include three dimensions: economic, social and environmental. This study used on an online survey to determine if members of the Southeast Tourism Society understood that sustainable tourism included all three dimensions, and if they valued those three dimensions differently. Results and conclusions will be presented at the conference
Sliding Wear Study on the Valve-Seat Insert Contact
The aim of this work was to investigate the sliding wear coefficient k, using an experimental sliding wear study on the valve-seat insert contact. Commercial inlet valve and seat inserts were used as test specimens. The tests were performed at room temperature and at 200â, using test duration of 72,000 cycles and 18,000 cycles, respectively, and both in dry sliding conditions. A load of 5 N, an average speed of 22 mm/s and sliding distance of 2.2 mm were used for all tests. The sliding wear coefficients were calculated using experimental and analytical methods. The wear volume was higher in the tests at 200â both in valve and seat insert specimens. The principal wear mechanisms observed in valve specimen were oxidation and abrasion
Sensitivity study of a valve recession model
The aim of this work was to carry out a sensitivity
analysis of a valve recession model.
For the sensitivity study, the effects of the param
eters on the valve recession mode
l were
investigated, for both, light duty and heavy duty
engines. It was seen that for light duty
engines, the impact component parameters had the gr
eatest effect on valve recession and
for heavy duty engines the sliding wear component p
arameters have an increasing con-
tribution to the overall valve recession
Biodepuration of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons from a bivalve mollusk, Mercenaria mercenaria L
Mercenaria mercenaria, exposed in vitro for 48 h to nine parent polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) found in waste crankcase oil (WCCO) and analysed by multiparametric analysis over a 45- day depuration period in an activated carbon filtration aquaria system, did not depurate PAHs, but rather maintained them at detectable levels. Uptake of PAHs was shown to be directly related to clam weight. A cluster analysis of empirical results reaffirmed a biostabilization in PAH groupings in clam tissue over a 45-day depuration period and exhibited no evidence of a decreasing trend in total PAHs when subjected to ANOVA. Due to the commerical importance of hard-shell clams, the practices of clam depuration and clam relyaing are reviewed in light of potential long-term public health exposures to low-level xenobiotics and implications for human consumers
The anatomy of exhumed river-channel belts: Bedform to beltâscale river kinematics of the Ruby Ranch Member, Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah, USA
Many published interpretations of ancient fluvial systems have relied on observations of extensive outcrops of thick successions. This paper, in contrast, demonstrates that a regional understanding of palaeoriver kinematics, depositional setting and sedimentation rates can be interpreted from local sedimentological measurements of bedform and barform strata. Dune and bar strata, channel planform geometry and bed topography are measured within exhumed fluvial strata exposed as ridges in the Ruby Ranch Member of the Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah, USA. The ridges are composed of lithified stacked channel belts, representing at least five or six reâoccupations of a singleâstrand channel. Lateral sections reveal wellâpreserved barforms constructed of subaqueous dune crossâsets. The topography of palaeobarforms is preserved along the top surface of the outcrops. Comparisons of the channelâbelt centreline to local palaeotransport directions indicate that channel planform geometry was preserved through the reâoccupations, rather than being obscured by lateral migration. Rapid avulsions preserved the state of the active channel bed and its individual bars at the time of abandonment. Inferred minimum sedimentation durations for the preserved elements, inferred from crossâset thickness distributions and assumed bedform migration rates, vary within a belt from one to ten days. Using only these local sedimentological measurements, the depositional setting is interpreted as a fluvial megafan, given the similarity in river kinematics. This paper provides a systematic methodology for the future synthesis of vertical and planview data, including the droneâequipped 2020 Mars Rover mission, to exhumed fluvial and deltaic strata
Analysis of the Effects of Dam Release Properties and Ambient Groundwater Flow on Surface WaterâGroundwater Exchange Over a 100âkmâLong Reach
Hydroelectric dams often create highly dynamic downstream flows that promote surface waterâgroundwater (SWâGW) interactions including bank storage, the temporary storage of river water in the riverbank. Previous research on SWâGW exchanges in dammed rivers has primarily been at single study sites, which has limited the understanding of how these exchanges evolve as dam releases travel downstream. This study evaluates how dam releases affect SWâGW exchange continuously over a 100âkm distance. This is accomplished by longitudinally routing water releases through a synthetic river and modeling bed and bank fluid and solute exchange across transverse transects spaced along the reach. Peak and square dam release hydrograph shapes with three magnitudes (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 m) were considered. The effect of four ambient groundwater flow conditions (very slightly losing, neutral, and two gaining from the perspective of the river) was evaluated for each dam release scenario. Both types of dam release shapes cause SWâGW interaction over the entire 100âkm distance, and our results show that square type releases cause bank storage exchange well beyond this distance. Strongly gaining conditions reduce the amount of exchange and allow flushing of riverâsourced solute out of the bank after the dam pulse has passed. Both neutral and losing conditions have larger fluid and solute flux into the bank and limit the amount of solute that returns to the river. Our results support that river corridors downstream of dams have increased riverâaquifer connectivity and that this enhanced connectivity can extend at least 100 km downstream
Enforced expression of Tbx1 in fetal thymic epithelial cells antagonizes thymus organogenesis
Enforced expression of Tbx1 in fetal thymic epithelial cells antagonizes
thymus organogenesis
Kim T. Cardenas
The thymus and parathyroid glands originate from organ-specific domains of 3rd pharyngeal pouch (PP) endoderm. At embryonic day 11.5 (E11.5), the ventral thymus and dorsal parathyroid domains can be identified by Foxn1 and Gcm2 expression respectively. Neural crest cells, (NCCs) play a role in regulating patterning of 3rd PP endoderm. In addition, pharyngeal endoderm influences fate determination via secretion of Sonic hedgehog (Shh), a morphogen required for Gcm2 expression and generation of the parathyroid domain. Gcm2 is a downstream target of the transcription factor Tbx1, which in turn is positively regulated by Shh. Although initially expressed throughout pharyngeal pouch endoderm, Tbx1 expression is excluded from the thymus-specific domain of the 3rd PP by E10.5, but persists in the parathyroid domain. Based on these observations, we hypothesized that Tbx1 expression is non-permissive for thymus fate specification and that enforced expression of Tbx1 in the fetal thymus would impair thymus development.
To test this hypothesis, we generated knock-in mice containing a Cre-inducible allele that allows for tissue-specific Tbx1 expression. Expression of the R26iTbx1 allele in fetal and adult thymus using Foxn1Cre resulted in severe thymus hypoplasia throughout ontogeny that persisted in the adult. Thymic epithelial cell (TEC) development was impaired as determined by immunohistochemical and FACS analysis of various differentiation markers. The relative level of Foxn1 expression in fetal TECs was significantly reduced. TECs in R26iTbx1/+ thymi assumed an almost universal expression of Plet-1, a marker associated with a TEC stem/progenitor cell fate. In addition, embryonic R26iTbx1/+ mice develop a perithymic mesechymal capsule that appears expanded compared to control littermates. Interestingly, thymi from neonatal and adult R26iTbx1/+ but not R26+/+ mice were encased in adipose tissue. This thymic phenotype also correlated with a decrease in thymocyte cellularity and aberrant thymocyte differentiation. The results to date support the conclusion that enforced expression of Tbx1 in TECs antagonizes their differentiation and prevents normal organogenesis via both direct and indirect effects
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