3-D Imaging Applied To Foot Structures In Walking

Pedagogic and coaching experiments have demonstrated that learning and training difficulties encountered by physical education students, athletes and coaches are frequently related to poor or inadequate 3-D visual representation of human body structures and movement. In order to counteract this important shortcoming, a low cost computer platform including an Amiga 3000T computer, preparation software (Imagine and DCTV) and presentation software, has been developed. The purpose of this study was to generate 3-D objects of the ankle-foot structures and to animate these objects in order to accurately illustrate plantar flexion, dorsiflexion, supination and pronation of the foot as a function of the walking cycle. Using anatomical and biomechanical informations available in literature, this 3-D imaging study has succeeded in producing an interactive software permitting individual as well as large group visualisation (with the use of a video projector) of tibia and fibula interactions with talus, as well as movements of tarsal and metatarsal bones during the different support phases in walking. Positions and roles of ligaments have also been illustrated. Subsequent laboratory experiments have demonstrated that intermediate-term retention of knowledge is favored in teaching when using this computer-assisted technique. Actually, in a test-retest situation, intermediate retention decreased by 10.87% when using traditional teaching; the decrease in retention was only a slight 0.450 /0 when using this 3-D imaging program as a visualisation aid. Sports training and coaching have also benefitted from the use of this tool

Simulating Fully‐Integrated Hydrological Dynamics in Complex Alpine Headwaters: Potential and Challenges

Highly simplified approaches continue to underpin hydrological climate change impact assessments across the Earth's mountainous regions. Fully-integrated surface-subsurface models may hold far greater potential to represent the distinctive regimes of steep, geologically-complex headwater catchments. However, their utility has not yet been tested across a wide range of mountainous settings. Here, an integrated model of two adjacent calcareous Alpine headwaters that accounts for two-dimensional surface flow, three-dimensional (3D) variably-saturated groundwater flow, and evapotranspiration is presented. An energy balance-based representation of snow dynamics contributed to the model's high-resolution forcing data, and a sophisticated 3D geological model helped to define and parameterize its subsurface structure. In the first known attempt to calibrate a catchment-scale integrated model of a mountainous region automatically, numerous uncertain model parameters were estimated. The salient features of the hydrological regime could ultimately be satisfactorily reproduced – over an 11-month evaluation period, the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of simulated streamflow at the main gauging station was 0.76. Spatio-temporal visualization of the forcing data and simulated responses further confirmed the model's broad coherence. Presumably due to unresolved local subsurface heterogeneity, closely replicating the somewhat contrasting groundwater level signals observed near to one another proved more elusive. Finally, we assessed the impacts of various simplifications and assumptions that are commonly employed in physically-based modeling – including the use of spatially uniform forcings, a vertically limited model domain, and global geological data products – on key simulated outputs, finding strongly affected model performance in many cases. Although certain outstanding challenges must be overcome if the uptake of integrated models in mountain regions around the world is to increase, our work demonstrates the feasibility and benefits of their application in such complex systems

Eggshell geochemistry reveals ancestral metabolic thermoregulation in Dinosauria.

Studying the origin of avian thermoregulation is complicated by a lack of reliable methods for measuring body temperatures in extinct dinosaurs. Evidence from bone histology and stableisotopes often relies on uncertain assumptions about the relationship between growth rate and body temperature, or the isotopic composition (δ18O) of body water. Clumped isotope (Δ47) paleothermometry, based on binding of 13C to 18O, provides a more robust tool, but has yet to be applied across a broad phylogenetic range of dinosaurs while accounting for paleoenvironmental conditions. Applying this method to well-preserved fossil eggshells demonstrates that the three major clades of dinosaurs, Ornithischia, Sauropodomorpha, and Theropoda, were characterized by warm body temperatures. Dwarf titanosaurs may have exhibited similar body temperatures to larger sauropods, although this conclusion isprovisional, given current uncertainties in taxonomic assignment of dwarf titanosaur eggshell. Our results nevertheless reveal that metabolically controlled thermoregulation was the ancestral condition for Dinosauria

Scaling migrations to communities: An empirical case of migration network in the Arctic

Seasonal migrants transport energy, nutrients, contaminants, parasites and diseases, while also connecting distant food webs between communities and ecosystems, which contributes to structuring meta-communities and meta-ecosystems. However, we currently lack a framework to characterize the structure of the spatial connections maintained by all migratory species reproducing or wintering in a given community. Here, we use a network approach to represent and characterize migratory pathways at the community level and provide an empirical description of this pattern from a High-Arctic terrestrial community. We define community migration networks as multipartite networks representing different biogeographic regions connected with a focal community through the seasonal movements of its migratory species. We focus on the Bylot Island High-Arctic terrestrial community, a summer breeding ground for several migratory species. We define the non-breeding range of each species using tracking devices, or range maps refined by flyways and habitat types. We show that the migratory species breeding on Bylot Island are found across hundreds of ecoregions on several continents during the non-breeding period and present a low spatial overlap. The migratory species are divided into groups associated with different sets of ecoregions. The non-random structure observed in our empirical community migration network suggests evolutionary and geographic constraints as well as ecological factors act to shape migrations at the community level. Overall, our study provides a simple and generalizable framework as a starting point to better integrate migrations at the community level. Our framework is a far-reaching tool that could be adapted to address the seasonal transport of energy, contaminants, parasites and diseases in ecosystems, as well as trophic interactions in communities with migratory species

Proteomic profile of KSR1-regulated signalling in response to genotoxic agents in breast cancer

Kinase suppressor of Ras 1 (KSR1) has been implicated in tumorigenesis in multiple cancers, including skin, pancreatic and lung carcinomas. However, our recent study revealed a role of KSR1 as a tumour suppressor in breast cancer, the expression of which is potentially correlated with chemotherapy response. Here, we aimed to further elucidate the KSR1-regulated signalling in response to genotoxic agents in breast cancer. Stable isotope labelling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS) was implemented to globally characterise cellular protein levels induced by KSR1 in the presence of doxorubicin or etoposide. The acquired proteomic signature was compared and GO-STRING analysis was subsequently performed to illustrate the activated functional signalling networks. Furthermore, the clinical associations of KSR1 with identified targets and their relevance in chemotherapy response were examined in breast cancer patients. We reveal a comprehensive repertoire of thousands of proteins identified in each dataset and compare the unique proteomic profiles as well as functional connections modulated by KSR1 after doxorubicin (Doxo-KSR1) or etoposide (Etop-KSR1) stimulus. From the up-regulated top hits, several proteins, including STAT1, ISG15 and TAP1 are also found to be positively associated with KSR1 expression in patient samples. Moreover, high KSR1 expression, as well as high abundance of these proteins, is correlated with better survival in breast cancer patients who underwent chemotherapy. In aggregate, our data exemplify a broad functional network conferred by KSR1 with genotoxic agents and highlight its implication in predicting chemotherapy response in breast cancer

RNA aptamer delivery through intact human skin

It is generally recognised that only relatively small molecular weight (typically 100,000-fold) and aptamer integrity was confirmed using an oligonucleotide precipitation assay. A Th17 response was stimulated in freshly excised human skin resulting in significantly upregulated IL-17f, and 22; topical application of the IL-23 aptamer decreased both IL-17f and IL-22 by approximately 45% but did not result in significant changes to IL-23 mRNA levels, confirming that the aptamer did not globally suppress mRNA levels. This study demonstrates that very large molecular weight RNA aptamers can permeate across the intact human skin barrier to therapeutically relevant levels into both the epidermis and dermis and that the skin penetrating aptamer retains its biologically active conformational structure capable of binding to endogenous IL-23

Kepler Presearch Data Conditioning I - Architecture and Algorithms for Error Correction in Kepler Light Curves

Kepler provides light curves of 156,000 stars with unprecedented precision. However, the raw data as they come from the spacecraft contain significant systematic and stochastic errors. These errors, which include discontinuities, systematic trends, and outliers, obscure the astrophysical signals in the light curves. To correct these errors is the task of the Presearch Data Conditioning (PDC) module of the Kepler data analysis pipeline. The original version of PDC in Kepler did not meet the extremely high performance requirements for the detection of miniscule planet transits or highly accurate analysis of stellar activity and rotation. One particular deficiency was that astrophysical features were often removed as a side-effect to removal of errors. In this paper we introduce the completely new and significantly improved version of PDC which was implemented in Kepler SOC 8.0. This new PDC version, which utilizes a Bayesian approach for removal of systematics, reliably corrects errors in the light curves while at the same time preserving planet transits and other astrophysically interesting signals. We describe the architecture and the algorithms of this new PDC module, show typical errors encountered in Kepler data, and illustrate the corrections using real light curve examples.Comment: Submitted to PASP. Also see companion paper "Kepler Presearch Data Conditioning II - A Bayesian Approach to Systematic Error Correction" by Jeff C. Smith et a

Eggshell geochemistry reveals ancestral metabolic thermoregulation in Dinosauria

Studying the origin of avian thermoregulation is complicated by a lack of reliable methods for measuring body temperatures in extinct dinosaurs. Evidence from bone histology and stableisotopes often relies on uncertain assumptions about the relationship between growth rate and body temperature, or the isotopic composition (δ18O) of body water. Clumped isotope (Δ47) paleothermometry, based on binding of 13C to 18O, provides a more robust tool, but has yet to be applied across a broad phylogenetic range of dinosaurs while accounting for paleoenvironmental conditions. Applying this method to well-preserved fossil eggshells demonstrates that the three major clades of dinosaurs, Ornithischia, Sauropodomorpha, and Theropoda, were characterized by warm body temperatures. Dwarf titanosaurs may have exhibited similar body temperatures to larger sauropods, although this conclusion isprovisional, given current uncertainties in taxonomic assignment of dwarf titanosaur eggshell. Our results nevertheless reveal that metabolically controlled thermoregulation was the ancestral condition for Dinosauria

Can the evolution of music be analyzed in a quantitative manner?

We propose a methodology to study music development by applying multivariate statistics on composers characteristics. Seven representative composers were considered in terms of eight main musical features. Grades were assigned to each characteristic and their correlations were analyzed. A bootstrap method was applied to simulate hundreds of artificial composers influenced by the seven representatives chosen. Afterwards we quantify non-numeric relations like dialectics, opposition and innovation. Composers differences on style and technique were represented as geometrical distances in the feature space, making it possible to quantify, for example, how much Bach and Stockhausen differ from other composers or how much Beethoven influenced Brahms. In addition, we compared the results with a prior investigation on philosophy. Opposition, strong on philosophy, was not remarkable on music. Supporting an observation already considered by music theorists, strong influences were identified between composers by the quantification of dialectics, implying inheritance and suggesting a stronger master-disciple evolution when compared to the philosophy analysis.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, added references for sections 1 and 4.C, better mathematical description on section 2. New values and interpretation, now considering a bootstrap metho