1,270 research outputs found
Dynamic Image-Based Modelling of Kidney Branching Morphogenesis
Kidney branching morphogenesis has been studied extensively, but the
mechanism that defines the branch points is still elusive. Here we obtained a
2D movie of kidney branching morphogenesis in culture to test different models
of branching morphogenesis with physiological growth dynamics. We carried out
image segmentation and calculated the displacement fields between the frames.
The models were subsequently solved on the 2D domain, that was extracted from
the movie. We find that Turing patterns are sensitive to the initial conditions
when solved on the epithelial shapes. A previously proposed diffusion-dependent
geometry effect allowed us to reproduce the growth fields reasonably well, both
for an inhibitor of branching that was produced in the epithelium, and for an
inducer of branching that was produced in the mesenchyme. The latter could be
represented by Glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), which is expressed in
the mesenchyme and induces outgrowth of ureteric branches. Considering that the
Turing model represents the interaction between the GDNF and its receptor RET
very well and that the model reproduces the relevant expression patterns in
developing wildtype and mutant kidneys, it is well possible that a combination
of the Turing mechanism and the geometry effect control branching
morphogenesis
CONCENTRAÇÕES DE LACTATO SANGUÍNEO E DETERMINAÇÃO DO V4 DE CAVALOS DA RAÇA ÁRABE DURANTE TESTE DE EXERCÍCIO PROGRESSIVO EM ESTEIRA DE ALTA VELOCIDADE
Com este estudo objetivou-se avaliar as alterações da concentração de lactato sanguíneo
e determinar o V4 de cavalos da raça Árabe submetidos ao teste de exercício progressivo em
esteira de alta velocidade. Onze eqüinos adultos foram submetidos a um período de condicionamento
e ao teste de exercício progressivo em esteira de alta velocidade. Nas condições em que foi realizado
o experimento foi possível concluir que o protocolo de exercício proposto para aplicação do teste
padrão de exercício progressivo, mostrou-se eficaz na indução de respostas metabólicas e fisiológicas
para várias intensidades de exercício de cavalos da raça Árabe durante o trabalho físico em esteira
de alta velocidade. As concentrações de lactato sanguíneo elevam-se exponencialmente a partir da
velocidade de exercício de 8,0m/s, determinada como o V4 para o presente estudo.
Blood concentration of lactate and determination of V4 in Arabian horses during a
incremental exercise test performed at a high-speed treadmill
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the changes in the blood lactate
concentrations and to determine the V4 in Arabian horses, submitted to incremental exercise test
performed on a high-speed treadmill. Eleven adult horses underwent a conditioning period as well
as incremental exercise test performed on a high-speed treadmill. Under the circumstances that the
experiment was developed, it was possible to conclude that the results obtained during the incremental
exercise test were useful to assess the horses metabolic capability. The blood lactate levels
exponentially increase beyond the speed of 8.0 m/s, determined as the V4 for this study
c-Axis Transport and Resistivity Anisotropy of Lightly- to Moderately-Doped La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4} Single Crystals: Implications on the Charge Transport Mechanism
Both the in-plane and the out-of-plane resistivities (\rho_{ab} and \rho_{c})
are measured in high-quality La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4} (LSCO) single crystals in
the lightly- to moderately-doped region, x = 0.01 to 0.10, and the resistivity
anisotropy is determined. In all the samples studied, the anisotropy ratio \rho
_{c}/\rho_{ab} quickly increases with decreasing temperature, although in
non-superconducting samples the strong localization effect causes \rho
_{c}/\rho_{ab} to decrease at low temperatures. Most notably, it is found that
\rho_{c}/\rho_{ab} at moderate temperatures (100 - 300 K) is almost completely
independent of doping in the non-superconducting regime (x = 0.01 to 0.05);
this indicates that the same charge confinement mechanism that renormalizes the
c-axis hopping rate is at work down to x = 0.01. It is discussed that this
striking x-independence of \rho_{c}/\rho_{ab} is consistent with the idea that
holes form a self-organized network of hole-rich regions, which also explains
the unusually metallic in-plane transport of the holes in the lightly-doped
region. Furthermore, the data for x > 0.05 suggest that the emergence of the
superconductivity is related to an increase in the c-axis coupling.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Measurement of the decay width of He
We have precisely measured decay width of \5LHe and
demonstrated significantly larger - overlap than expected
from the central repulsion - potential, which is derived from
YNG \Lambda$-nucleon interaction.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Proton asymmetry in non-mesonic weak decay of light hypernuclei
We have obtained the decay asymmetry parameters in non-mesonic weak decay of
polarized Lambda-hypernuclei by measuring the proton asymmetry. The polarized
Lambda-hypernuclei, 5_Lambda-He, 12_Lambda-C, and 11_Lambda-B, were produced in
high statistics via the (pi^+,k^+) reaction at 1.05 GeV/c in the forward
angles. Preliminary analysis shows that the decay asymmetry parameters are very
small for these s-shell and p-shell hypernuclei.Comment: 4pages, 4figures, International Conference on Hypernuclear and
Strange Particle Physics (HYP2003
pi^0 decay branching ratios of 5_Lambda-He and 12_Lambda-C hypernuclei
We precisely measured pi^0 branching ratios of 5_Lambda-He and 12_Lambda-C
hypernuclei produced via (pi^+,k^+) reaction. Using these pi^0 branching ratios
with the pi^- branching ratios and the lifetimes, we obtained the pi^0 decay
widths and the non-mesonic weak decay widths at high statistics with the
accuracy of ~5 % (stat) for both hypernuclei.Comment: 4pages, 4figures, International Conference on Hypernuclear and
Strange Particle Physics (HYP2003
Effect of controlled disorder on quasiparticle thermal transport in BiSrCaCuO
Low temperature thermal conductivity, , of optimally-doped Bi2212 was
studied before and after the introduction of point defects by electron
irradiation. The amplitude of the linear component of remains
unchanged, confirming the universal nature of heat transport by zero-energy
quasiparticles. The induced decrease in the absolute value of at
finite temperatures allows us to resolve a nonuniversal term in due to
conduction by finite-energy quasiparticles. The magnitude of this term provides
an estimate of the quasiparticle lifetime at subkelvin temperatures.Comment: 5 pages including 2 .eps figuer
Gastric cancer and Helicobacter pylori: a combined analysis of 12 case control studies nested within prospective cohorts
BACKGROUND: The magnitude of the association
between Helicobacter pylori and
incidence of gastric cancer is unclear. H
pylori infection and the circulating antibody
response can be lost with development
of cancer; thus retrospective studies
are subject to bias resulting from classifi-
cation of cases as H pylori negative when
they were infected in the past.
AIMS: To combine data from all case control
studies nested within prospective
cohorts to assess more reliably the relative
risk of gastric cancer associated with H
pylori infection.To investigate variation in
relative risk by age, sex, cancer type and
subsite, and interval between blood sampling
and cancer diagnosis.
METHODS: Studies were eligible if blood
samples for H pylori serology were collected
before diagnosis of gastric cancer in
cases. Identified published studies and two
unpublished studies were included. Individual
subject data were obtained for
each. Matched odds ratios (ORs) and 95%
confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated
for the association between H pylori
and gastric cancer.
RESULTS: Twelve studies with 1228 gastric
cancer cases were considered. The association
with H pylori was restricted to noncardia
cancers (OR 3.0; 95% CI 2.3–3.8)
and was stronger when blood samples for
H pylori serology were collected 10+ years
before cancer diagnosis (5.9; 3.4–10.3). H
pylori infection was not associated with an
altered overall risk of cardia cancer (1.0;
0.7–1.4).
CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that
5.9 is the best estimate of the relative risk
of non-cardia cancer associated with H
pylori infection and that H pylori does not
increase the risk of cardia cancer. They
also support the idea that when H pylori
status is assessed close to cancer diagnosis,
the magnitude of the non-cardia
association may be underestimated
Interesting magnetic properties of FeCoSi alloys
Solid solution between nonmagnetic narrow gap semiconductor FeSi and
diamagnetic semi-metal CoSi gives rise to interesting metallic alloys with
long-range helical magnetic ordering, for a wide range of intermediate
concentration. We report various interesting magnetic properties of these
alloys, including low temperature re-entrant spin-glass like behaviour and a
novel inverted magnetic hysteresis loop. Role of Dzyaloshinski-Moriya
interaction in the magnetic response of these non-centrosymmetric alloys is
discussed.Comment: 11 pages and 3 figure
Nucleon-nucleon coincidence measurement in the non-mesonic weak decay of 5_Lambda-He and 12_Lambda-C hypernuclei
We have measured both yields of neutron-proton and neutron-neutron pairs
emitted from the non-mesonic weak decay process of 5_Lambda-He and 12_Lambda-C
hypernuclei produced via the (pi^+,K^+) reaction for the first time. We
observed clean back-to-back correlation of the np- and nn-pairs in the
coincidence spectra for both hypernuclei. The ratio of those back-to-back pair
yields, Nnn / Nnp, must be close to the ratio of neutron- and proton-induced
decay widths of the decay, Gn(Lambda n -> nn)/Gp(Lambda p -> np). The obtained
ratios for each hypernuclei support recent calculations based on short-range
interactions.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, International Nuclear Physics Conference (INPC
2004), Goteborg, Sweden, June 27 - July 2, 2004, to appear in Nuclear Physics
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