642 research outputs found
Mechanics reveals the biological trigger in wrinkly fingers
The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10439-016-1764-6Fingertips wrinkle due to long exposure to water. The biological reason for this morphological change is unclear and still not fully understood. There are two main hypotheses for the underlying mechanism of fingertip wrinkling: the âshrinkâ model (in which the wrinkling is driven by the contraction of the lower layers of skin, associated with the shrinking of the underlying vasculature), and the âswellâ model (in which the wrinkling is driven by the swelling of the upper layers of the skin, associated with osmosis). In reality, contraction of the lower layers of the skin and swelling of the upper layers will happen simultaneously. However, the relative importance of these two mechanisms to drive fingertip wrinkling also remains unclear. Simulating the swelling in the upper layers of skin alone, which is associated with neurological disorders, we found that wrinkles appeared above an increase of volume of Ë10%.Ë10%. Therefore, the upper layers can not exceed this swelling level in order to not contradict in vivo observations in patients with such neurological disorders. Simulating the contraction of the lower layers of the skin alone, we found that the volume have to decrease a Ë20%Ë20% to observe wrinkles. Furthermore, we found that the combined effect of both mechanisms leads to pronounced wrinkles even at low levels of swelling and contraction when individually they do not. This latter results indicates that the collaborative effect of both hypothesis are needed to induce wrinkles in the fingertips. Our results demonstrate how models from continuum mechanics can be successfully applied to testing hypotheses for the mechanisms that underly fingertip wrinkling, and how these effects can be quantified.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
Excitations of attractive 1-D bosons: Binding vs. fermionization
The stationary states of few bosons in a one-dimensional harmonic trap are
investigated throughout the crossover from weak to strongly attractive
interactions. For sufficient attraction, three different classes of states
emerge: (i) N-body bound states, (ii) bound states of smaller fragments, and
(iii) gas-like states that fermionize, that is, map to ideal fermions in the
limit of infinite attraction. The two-body correlations and momentum spectra
characteristic of the three classes are discussed, and the results are
illustrated using the soluble two-particle model.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Binding between two-component bosons in one dimension
We investigate the ground state of one-dimensional few-atom Bose-Bose
mixtures under harmonic confinement throughout the crossover from weak to
strong inter-species attraction. The calculations are based on the numerically
exact multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree method. For repulsive
components we detail the condition for the formation of a molecular
Tonks-Girardeau gas in the regime of intermediate inter-species interactions,
and the formation of a molecular condensate for stronger coupling. Beyond a
critical inter-species attraction, the system collapses to an overall bound
state. Different pathways emerge for unequal particle numbers and intra-species
interactions. In particular, for mixtures with one attractive component, this
species can be viewed as an effective potential dimple in the trap center for
the other, repulsive component.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figure
Hypertriglyceridaemia in adolescents may have serious complications
Acute pancreatitis is an often-overlooked cause of acute abdominal pain in children and adolescents. Severe hypertriglyceridaemia is an important cause of recurrent acute pancreatitis. Monogenic causes of hypertriglyceridaemia, such as familial chylomicronaemia caused by lipoprotein lipase deficiency, are more frequently encountered in children and adolescents, but remain rare. Polygenic hypertriglyceridaemia is more common, but may require a precipitant before manifesting. With the global increase in obesity and type 2 diabetes, secondary causes of hypertriglyceridaemia in children and adolescents are increasing. We report two cases of severe hypertriglyceridaemia and pancreatitis in adolescent females. Hypertriglyceridaemia improved markedly with restriction of dietary fat. An inhibitor to lipoprotein lipase was found to be the cause in one patient, while in the other limited genetic investigation excluded chylomicronaemia owing to deficiency of lipoprotein lipase, its activators and processing proteins
Three strongly correlated charged bosons in a one-dimensional harmonic trap: natural orbital occupancies
We study a one-dimensional system composed of three charged bosons confined
in an external harmonic potential. More precisely, we investigate the
ground-state correlation properties of the system, paying particular attention
to the strong-interaction limit. We explain for the first time the nature of
the degeneracies appearing in this limit in the spectrum of the reduced density
matrix. An explicit representation of the asymptotic natural orbitals and their
occupancies is given in terms of some integral equations.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, To appear in European Physical Journal
Cyclotron resonance of the quasi-two-dimensional electron gas at Hg1-xCdxTe grain boundaries
The magnetotransmission of a p-type Hg0.766Cd0.234Te bicrystal containing a single grain boundary with an inversion layer has been investigated in the submillimetre wavelength range. For the first time the cyclotron resonance lines belonging to the various electric subbands of a quasi-two-dimensional carrier system at a grain boundary could be detected. The measured cyclotron masses and the subband densities determined from Shubnikov-de Haas experiments are compared with theoretical predictions and it is found that the data can be explained very well within the framework of a triangular well approximation model which allows for non-parabolic effects
Availability of phosphate for phytoplankton and bacteria and of labile organic carbon for bacteria at different pCO2 levels in a mesocosm study
Availability of phosphate for phytoplankton and bacteria and of glucose for bacteria at different pCO2 levels were studied in a mesocosm experiment (PeECE III). Using nutrient-depleted SW Norwegian fjord waters, three different levels of pCO2 (350 ÎŒatm: 1ĂCO2; 700 ÎŒatm: 2ĂCO2; 1050 ÎŒatm: 3ĂCO2) were set up, and nitrate and phosphate were added at the start of the experiment in order to induce a phytoplankton bloom. Despite similar responses of total particulate P concentration and phosphate turnover time at the three different pCO2 levels, the size distribution of particulate P and 33PO4 uptake suggested that phosphate transferred to the >10 ÎŒm fraction was greater in the 3ĂCO2 mesocosm during the first 6â10 days when phosphate concentration was high. During the period of phosphate depletion (after Day 12), specific phosphate affinity and specific alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) suggested a P-deficiency (i.e. suboptimal phosphate supply) rather than a P-limitation for the phytoplankton and bacterial community at the three different pCO2 levels. Specific phosphate affinity and specific APA tended to be higher in the 3ĂCO2 than in the 2ĂCO2 and 1ĂCO2 mesocosms during the phosphate depletion period, although no statistical differences were found. Glucose turnover time was correlated significantly and negatively with bacterial abundance and production but not with the bulk DOC concentration. This suggests that even though constituting a small fraction of the bulk DOC, glucose was an important component of labile DOC for bacteria. Specific glucose affinity of bacteria behaved similarly at the three different pCO2 levels with measured specific glucose affinities being consistently much lower than the theoretical maximum predicted from the diffusion-limited model. This suggests that bacterial growth was not severely limited by the glucose availability. Hence, it seems that the lower availability of inorganic nutrients after the phytoplankton bloom reduced the bacterial capacity to consume labile DOC in the upper mixed layer of the stratified mesocosms
The granularity of weakly occupied bosonic fields beyond the local density approximation
We examine ground state correlations for repulsive, quasi one-dimensional
bosons in a harmonic trap. In particular, we focus on the few particle limit
N=2,3,4,..., where exact numerical solutions of the many particle Schroedinger
equation are available employing the Multi-Configuration Time-dependent Hartree
method. Our numerical results for the inhomogeneous system are modeled with the
analytical solution of the homogeneous problem using the Bethe ansatz and the
local density approximation. Tuning the interaction strength from the weakly
correlated Gross-Pitaevskii- to the strongly correlated Tonks-Girardeau regime
reveals finite particle number effects in the second order correlation function
beyond the local density approximation.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, submitted to NJ
Painful inflammation-induced increase in opioid receptor binding and G-protein coupling in primary afferent neurons
ABSTRACT Opioids mediate their analgesic effects by activating -opioid receptors (MOR) not only within the central nervous system but also on peripheral sensory neurons. The peripheral analgesic effects of opioids are best described under inflammatory conditions (e.g., arthritis). The present study investigated the effects of inflammation on MOR binding and G-protein coupling of full versus partial MOR agonists in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of primary afferent neurons. Our results show that Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA) unilateral hindpaw inflammation induces a significant up-regulation of MOR binding sites (25 to 47 fmol/mg of protein) on DRG membranes without affecting the affinity of either full or partial MOR agonists. In our immunohistochemical studies, the number of MOR-immunoreactive neurons consistently increased. This increase was mostly caused by small-diameter nociceptive DRG neurons. The full agonist DAMGO induced MOR G-protein coupling in DRG of animals without FCA inflammation (EC 50 Ï 56 nM; relative E max Ï 100%). FCA inflammation resulted in significant increases in DAMGO-induced MOR G-protein coupling (EC 50 Ï 29 nM; relative E max Ï 145%). The partial agonist buprenorphine hydrochloride (BUP) showed no detectable G-protein coupling in DRG of animals without FCA inflammation; however, partial agonist activity of BUP-induced MOR G-protein coupling was detectable in animals with FCA inflammation (EC 50 Ï 1.6 nM; relative E max Ï 82%). In behavioral studies, administration of BUP produced significant antinociception only in inflamed but not in noninflamed paws. These findings show that inflammation causes changes in MOR binding and G-protein coupling in primary afferent neurons. They further underscore the important differences in clinical studies testing peripherally active opioids in inflammatory painful conditions. Opioid analgesia is not mediated exclusively within the central nervous system but also in the periphery. This has been shown in many animal models, including unilateral hindpaw inflammation induced by intraplantar injection of Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA) Materials and Method
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