Ion Drift Meter for Dynamics Explorer

The ion drift meter for Dynamics Explorer B is discussed. It measures two mutually perpendicular angles of arrival of thermal ions with respect to the sensor look directions. These angles lie in the vertical and horizontal planes and may be thought of as pitch and yaw in the conventional aerodynamic sense. The components of the ion drift velocity along vertical and horizontal axes through the spacecraft body are derived to first order from knowledge of the spacecraft velocity vector and more accurately with additional knowledge of the component of ion drift along the sensor look direction

Planar ion trap (retarding potential analyzer) experiment for atmosphere explorer

The retarding potential analyzer and drift meter were carried aboard all three Atmosphere Explorer spacecraft. These instruments measure the total thermal ion concentration and temperature, the bulk thermal ion velocity vector and some limited properties of the relative abundance of H(+), He(+), O(+) and molecular ions. These instruments functioned with no internal failures on all the spacecraft. On AE-E there existed some evidence for external surface contamination that damaged the integrity of the RPA sweep grids. This led to some difficulties in data reduction and interpretation that did not prove to be a disastrous problem. The AE-D spacecraft functioned for only a few months before it re-entered. During this time the satellite suffered from a nutation about the spin axis of about + or - 2 deg. This 2 deg modulation was superimposed upon the ion drift meter horizontal ion arrival angle output requiring the employment of filtering techniques to retrieve the real data

Deflectable beam linear strip cesium contact ion thruster system

Deflectable dual beam, linear strip cesium contact, ion thruster system design and performance testin

First Experience with Photobiomodulation (PBM) in Post-Surgical Wound Healing In Dogs

This prospective clinical study aimed to evaluate effectiveness and tolerability of PBM in canine post-surgical wound healing. Seven female dogs with post-neutering surgical skin wounds of at least 3 cm in length were selected. One-half of the wound was treated with a portable soft GaAlAs-laser and the other left untreated thus all subjects included in the study were simultaneously \u201ctreated\u201d and \u201ccontrol\u201d. The treated and control areas were evaluated and allocated a clinical score on the first day (D0) and at the end of laser treatment (D4). The protocol was twice daily, 6 minute, laser treatments for 5 days. Paired and un-paired t-test were used to compare scores in treated and control areas and between treated and control areas at D0 and D4. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Almost all treated areas had greater visible clinical improvement compared to control areas. Nevertheless, statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference between the total clinical score of treated areas and control areas at D0 (P=1.0000) and no statistical significant difference between the two groups at D4 (P=0.2315). There was a statistically significant decrease in exudate at D4 in treated areas compared to control areas (P=0.0300). There was also a statistically significant difference between total score of the treated areas at D0 and at D4 (P=0.0167) but also between D0 and D4 of the control areas (P=0.0223). No adverse reactions were reported. PBM caused a visible clinical improvement of post-operative healing of surgical wounds, but this was not statistically significant; however there was a statistically significant decrease in exudate in treated areas. It would be interesting to extend the study to more extensive surgical wounds in more dogs

Impacts of Climate Change on SOC Dynamic and Crop Yield of Italian Rainfed Wheat-Maize Cropping Systems Managed with Conventional or Conservation Tillage Practices

There is still uncertainty on the ability of conservation tillage (i.e., reduced- RT and no till - NT) in contributing to the resilience of cropping systems to climate change pressures (Powlson et al 2016). RT or NT can improve soil physical and biological proprieties thus increasing water holding capacity and fertility, stabilizing soil structure and enhancing soil biodiversity and functions. They are also frequently proposed as mitigation practices as they can contribute to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) compared to conventional moldboard ploughing practices (Gonzalez-Sanchezet al., 2012). However, SOC increase occurs mostly in the upper soil layer but not always in the deeper profile (Haddaway et al., 2016) where SOC measurements are less frequently measured. In this study, we used data obtained from long term field experiments(LTE) coupled with three crop simulation models in order to assess the long-term effects of different tillage management practices on crop yield and on changes in SOC stocks in both superficial (0-20cm) and deeper layers (20-50cm) in Mediterranean rainfed cereal cropping systems at current and future climate scenarios

Free Energy and Magnetic Penetration Depth of a dd-Wave Superconductor in the Meissner State

We investigate the free energy and the penetration depth of a quasi-two-dimensional d-wave superconductor in the presence of a weak magnetic field by taking account of thermal, nonlocal and nonlinear effects. In an approximation in which the superfluid velocity $v_s$ is assumed to be slowly varying, the free energy is calculated and compared with available results in several limiting cases. It is shown that either nonlocal or nonlinear effects may cut off the linear-$T$ dependence of both the free energy and the penetration depth in all the experimental geometries. At extremely low $T$, the nonlocal effects will also generically modify the linear $H$ dependence of the penetration depth ("nonlinear Meissner effect") in most experimental geometries, but for supercurrents oriented along the nodal directions, the effect may be recovered. We compare our predictions with existing experiments on the cuprate superconductors.Comment: 18 revtex pages with 4 eps figures, final versio

In planta expression of human polyQ-expanded huntingtin fragment reveals mechanisms to prevent disease-related protein aggregation

In humans, aggregation of polyglutamine repeat (polyQ) proteins causes disorders such as Huntington’s disease. Although plants express hundreds of polyQ-containing proteins, no pathologies arising from polyQ aggregation have been reported. To investigate this phenomenon, we expressed an aggregation-prone fragment of human huntingtin (HTT) with an expanded polyQ stretch (Q69) in Arabidopsis thaliana plants. In contrast to animal models, we find that Arabidopsis sp. suppresses Q69 aggregation through chloroplast proteostasis. Inhibition of chloroplast proteostasis diminishes the capacity of plants to prevent cytosolic Q69 aggregation. Moreover, endogenous polyQ-containing proteins also aggregate on chloroplast dysfunction. We find tha

Ethylene supports colonization of plant roots by the mutualistic fungus Piriformospora indica

The mutualistic basidiomycete Piriformospora indica colonizes roots of mono- and dicotyledonous plants, and thereby improves plant health and yield. Given the capability of P. indica to colonize a broad range of hosts, it must be anticipated that the fungus has evolved efficient strategies to overcome plant immunity and to establish a proper environment for nutrient acquisition and reproduction. Global gene expression studies in barley identified various ethylene synthesis and signaling components that were differentially regulated in P. indica-colonized roots. Based on these findings we examined the impact of ethylene in the symbiotic association. The data presented here suggest that P. indica induces ethylene synthesis in barley and Arabidopsis roots during colonization. Moreover, impaired ethylene signaling resulted in reduced root colonization, Arabidopsis mutants exhibiting constitutive ethylene signaling, -synthesis or ethylene-related defense were hyper-susceptible to P. indica. Our data suggest that ethylene signaling is required for symbiotic root colonization by P. indica

Occult HBV infection may negatively impact on drug survival in patients with rheumatoid arthritis on treatment with a first biologic drug. An appraisal from the Biologic Apulian Registry (BIOPURE)

We performed a retrospective analysis to evaluate the survival on first line biologic drug of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with potential occult HBV infection (pOBI). We analysed longitudinal data of 486 consecutive RA patients starting a first biological drug in a time frame from 1st January 2008 to 31st December 2014. Demographic and disease related characteristics were collected at baseline and at the last observation visit. Baseline serological markers of HBV infection and causes of treatment discontinuation were also recorded. Primary endpoint was the influence of pOBI on drug survival, estimated by Kaplan-Meier life table analysis. Estimates hazard ratios (HRs) of drug discontinuation, adjusted for disease characteristics, biological drug class and HBcAb status were computed by Cox-regression models. The retention rate was significantly lower in pOBI positive patients (58.2%) when compared to pOBI negative ones (67.8%) and this data was confirmed also when only discontinuation due to ineffectiveness was considered (pOBI positive 66.4% vs pOBI negative 75.3%, long rank 7.93, p=0.005). Cox regression models showed a significant association between HBcAb-neg (HR 0.58, 0.41-0.84), higher ESR-DAS28 at baseline (HR 1.07, 1.03-1.11) or RF/ACPA-neg (HR 1.46, 1.04-2.06) and drug discontinuation. Occult HBV infection seems to influence negatively the effectiveness of biological therapies in RA patients