17,068 research outputs found
Measurement of long-range steric repulsions between microspheres due to an adsorbed polymer
We have measured the interparticle potential between pairs of micron-sized silica spheres induced by adsorbed polyethylene oxide polymer using a line-scanned optical tweezer. We found this long-range steric repulsion to be exponential over the range of energies (0.1kBT–5kBT) and polymer molecular weights (452 000–1 580 000) studied, and that the potential scaled with the polymer’s radius of gyration RG. The potential’s exponential decay length was about 0.6RG and its range was about 4RG, although both parameters varied significantly from one pair of spheres to another. The potential’s exponential prefactor was greater than mean-field predictions
Huntington's disease: An immune perspective
Copyright © 2011 Annapurna Nayaketal. This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is caused by abnormal expansion of CAG trinucleotide repeats. Neuroinflammation is a typical feature of most neurodegenerative diseases that leads to an array of pathological changes within the affected areas in the brain. The neurodegeneration in HD is also caused by aberrant immune response in the presence of aggregated mutant huntingtin protein. The effects of immune activation in HD nervous system are a relatively unexplored area of research. This paper summarises immunological features associated with development and progression of HD.U. Kishore acknowledges funding via BRIEF and Brunel University’s strategic funding for the Centre of Infection, Immunity and Disease Mechanisms
Current iodine status and progress over the last decade towards elimination of iodine deficiency in Rajkot District, Gujarat
Objective: To find out prevalence of goitre in primary school children; to compare prevalence with previous survey; to determine median urinary iodine concentration; to assess level of iodine in salt samples at household and retail shop level; and to study profile of salt sold at retail shops. Design & Settings: 30 cluster survey study in primary schools of Rajkot district. Subjects: Children studying in 1st to 7th standard. Methods: Total 70 students including five boys and five girls from 1st to 7th standard present in class on the day of visit were selected randomly for Goitre examination, so, total 2100 students were examined in schools. Urine sample was collected from one boy & one girl from each standard in each cluster. From community, 28 students including two boys and two girls from each standard in same age group were examined and also salt samples were tested from their households. From each village, one retail shop was visited and salts were purchased and tested for iodine on the spot with spot kit. Results: Goitre prevalence was found 8.8% among primary school children compare to 5.6% in 1999. As the age increases the Goitre prevalence also increases except in age group of 12 years. Median urinary iodine excretion level was found 110 µg/L. Iodine level >15 ppm was found in 81% salts samples tested at household level. Conclusion: Present study showed mild Goitre prevalence in primary school children in Rajkot district of Gujarat but still iodine content of salt found inadequate at household level
Double step structure and meandering due to the many body interaction at GaN(0001) surface in N-rich conditions
Growth of gallium nitride on GaN(0001) surface is modeled by Monte Carlo
method. Simulated growth is conducted in N-rich conditions, hence it is
controlled by Ga atoms surface diffusion. It is shown that dominating four-body
interactions of Ga atoms can cause step flow anisotropy. Kinetic Monte Carlo
simulations show that parallel steps with periodic boundary conditions form
double terrace structures, whereas initially V -shaped parallel step train
initially bends and then every second step moves forward, building regular,
stationary ordering as observed during MOVPE or HVPE growth of GaN layers.
These two phenomena recover surface meandered pair step pattern observed, since
1953, on many semiconductor surfaces, such as SiC, Si or GaN. Change of terrace
width or step orientation particle diffusion jump barriers leads either to step
meandering or surface roughening. Additionally it is shown that step behavior
changes with the Schwoebel barrier height. Furthermore, simulations under
conditions corresponding to very high external particle flux result in
triangular islands grown at the terraces. All structures, emerging in the
simulations, have their corresponding cases in the experimental results.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figure
HST imaging of hyperluminous infrared galaxies
We present HST WFPC2 I band imaging for a sample of 9 Hyperluminous Infrared
Galaxies spanning a redshift range 0.45 < z < 1.34. Three of the sample have
morphologies showing evidence for interactions, six are QSOs. Host galaxies in
the QSOs are reliably detected out to z ~ 0.8. The detected QSO host galaxies
have an elliptical morphology with scalelengths spanning 6.5 < r_{e}(Kpc) < 88
and absolute k corrected magnitudes spanning -24.5 < M_{I} < -25.2. There is no
clear correlation between the IR power source and the optical morphology. None
of the sources in the sample, including F15307+3252, show any evidence for
gravitational lensing. We infer that the IR luminosities are thus real. Based
on these results, and previous studies of HLIRGs, we conclude that this class
of object is broadly consistent with being a simple extrapolation of the ULIRG
population to higher luminosities; ULIRGs being mainly violently interacting
systems powered by starbursts and/or AGN. Only a small number of sources whose
infrared luminosities exceed 10^{13}Lsun are intrinsically less luminous
objects which have been boosted by gravitational lensing.Comment: 16 Pages. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Mercury or Mercury Free Restorations in Oral Cavity
Amalgam is basically a concoction of metals that has been used as a potent filling material in dentistry for the last 150 years. Amalgam usually consists of silver, mercury, tin and copper. Dental amalgam is a material used to fill cavities of tooth. Over the years, amalgam has become a topic of concern because it contains mercury. Mercury is a naturally occurring metal in the environment. Mercury exists as a liquid in room temperature but when heated, it becomes a gas. Flexibility of amalgam as a filling material is due Mercury. An alloy powder, a compound that is soft in nature when mixed with mercury makes it enough to mix and condense into the tooth. It hardens quickly and offers strong resistance to the forces of biting and chewing. There are studies reported on the safety of amalgam fillings. In 2005, European Union launched a comprehensive mercury strategy to reduce use of mercury. In 2008, countries like Norway and Denmark restricted the use of dental amalgam containing mercury. In 2009, this research was evaluated by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and found no rationale to limit the use of amalgam. There are certain restorative materials that are available commercially that are mercury free in nature like Gold, Porcelain, Gallium alloys, Composite resin restoratives etc. They offer many advantages over amalgams containing mercury like: seals the dentin from future decay, reinforces remaining tooth structure, provides smooth and bonded margins, conservative and it blends naturally
Cohesion, Elastic Constants and Vibrational Mechanics of Fcc Platinum
A model in real space has been developed by extending the generalized form of the exponential potential known as extended generalized exponential potential (EGEP) to account for (a) the correct nature of repulsive and attractive components of forces for all the separations in general and that of small separations in particular, (b) the three-body forces such as volume forces in an indirect way in the framework of EGEP through the parameter n, (c) the dielectric screening functions in an alternative and simpler form through the parameter m. The model is employed to compute the cohesive energy, second-order elastic constants and phenon spectra for fcc platinum. The predictions show promising agreement with experimental findings.Author Affiliation: Divesh Verma
A. F. School of Engineering and Technology, Dhauj-121 004, Haryana, India
M L Verma* and A Verma
Department of Physics, GGDSD College, Palwal-121 102, Haryana, India
and
R P S Rathore
Department of Physics, B.M.A.S. Engineering College, Agra-282 002, Uttar Pradesh, India1.A. F. School of Engineering and Technology, Dhauj-121 004, Haryana, India 2.Department of Physics, GGDSD College, Palwal-121 102, Haryana, India 3.Department of Physics, B.M.A.S. Engineering College, Agra-282 002, Uttar Pradesh, Indi
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