NFAT5 genes are part of the osmotic regulatory system in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Acknowledgements This study was supported by a grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC, BB/H008063/1), UK to DGH and SAM. Funding also came from Research Council Norway for project number 241016 for DGH and EJ. This work was carried out as part of a PhD thesis funded by the Marine Alliance of Science and Technology Scotland (MASTS).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Non-linear aeroelastic behavior of large horizontal-axis wind turbines:A multibody system approach

In this paper, we present the development of a rigid-flexible multibody model which, coupled with an existing aerodynamic model, is used to numerically simulate the non-linear aeroelastic behavior of large horizontal-axis wind turbines. The model is rather general, different configurations could be easily simulated though it is primarily intended to be used as a research tool to investigate influences of different dynamic aspects. It includes: i) a supporting tower; ii) a nacelle which contains the electricity generator, the power electronics and the control systems; iii) a hub, where the blades are fixed, connected to the generator rotating shaft; and, iv) three blades which extract energy from the airstream. The blades are considered flexible, and their equations of motion are discretized in space domain by using beam finite elements capable of taking into account the non-linearities coming from the kinematics. The tower is also considered flexible, but its equations of motion are discretized by using the method of assumed-modes. The nacelle and hub are considered rigid, and their equations of motion take into account the effects of the kinematic non-linearities. Due to the system complexity, the tower, nacelle and hub are modeled as a single kinematic chain and each blade is modeled separately. Constraint equations are used to connect the blades to the hub. The resulting governing equations are differential-algebraic, and these are numerically and interactively solved in the time domain by using a fourth order predictor-corrector scheme. The results help to understand the wind speed influence on: i) the rotor angular speed; ii) the after-forward and side-to-side displacements of the tower; and, iii) the flap- and edge-wise displacements of the blades. © 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Fil: Gebhardt, Cristian Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Departamento de Estructuras; ArgentinaFil: Preidikman, Sergio. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Estudios Avanzados en Ingeniería y Tecnología. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Avanzados en Ingeniería y Tecnología; ArgentinaFil: M. H. Jørgensen. Aalborg University; DinamarcaFil: Massa, Julio Cesar. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentin

Novel use of the Nintendo Wii board as a measure of reaction time: a study of reproducibility in older and younger adults

BACKGROUND: Reaction time (RT) has been associated with falls in older adults, but is not routinely tested in clinical practice. A simple, portable, inexpensive and reliable method for measuring RT is desirable for clinical settings. We therefore developed a custom software, which utilizes the portable and low-cost standard Nintendo Wii board (NWB) to record RT. The aims in the study were to (1) explore if the test could differentiate old and young adults, and (2) to study learning effects between test-sessions, and (3) to examine reproducibility. METHODS: A young (n = 25, age 20–35 years, mean BMI of 22.6) and an old (n = 25, age ≥65 years, mean BMI of 26.3) study-population were enrolled in this within- and between-day reproducibility study. A standard NWB was used along with the custom software to obtain RT from participants in milliseconds. A mixed effect model was initially used to explore systematic differences associated with age, and test-session. Reproducibility was then expressed by Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC), Coefficient of Variance (CV), and Typical Error (TE). RESULTS: The RT tests was able to differentiate the old group from the young group in both the upper extremity test (p < 0.001; −170.7 ms (95%CI −209.4;-132.0)) and the lower extremity test (p < 0.001; −224.3 ms (95%CI −274.6;-173.9)). Moreover, the mixed effect model showed no significant learning effect between sessions with exception of the lower extremity test between session one and three for the young group (−35,5 ms; 4.6 %; p = 0.02). A good within- and between-day reproducibility (ICC: 0.76-0.87; CV: 8.5-12.9; TE: 45.7-95.1 ms) was achieved for both the upper and lower extremity test with the fastest of three trials in both groups. CONCLUSION: A low-cost and portable reaction test utilizing a standard Nintendo wii board showed good reproducibility, no or little systematic learning effects across test-sessions, and could differentiate between young and older adults in both upper and lower extremity tests

Development of a multivariable prognostic PREdiction model for 1-year risk of FALLing in a cohort of community-dwelling older adults aged 75 years and above (PREFALL)

Abstract Background Falls are the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries in older adults, and attention to falls prevention is imperative. Prognostic models identifying high-risk individuals could guide fall-preventive interventions in the rapidly growing older population. We aimed to develop a prognostic prediction model on falls rate in community-dwelling older adults. Methods Design: prospective cohort study with 12 months follow-up and participants recruited from June 14, 2018, to July 18, 2019. Setting: general population. Subjects: community-dwelling older adults aged 75+ years, without dementia or acute illness, and able to stand unsupported for one minute. Outcome: fall rate for 12 months. Statistical methods: candidate predictors were physical and cognitive tests along with self-report questionnaires. We developed a Poisson model using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator penalization, leave-one-out cross-validation, and bootstrap resampling with 1000 iterations. Results Sample size at study start and end was 241 and 198 (82%), respectively. The number of fallers was 87 (36%), and the fall rate was 0.94 falls per person-year. Predictors included in the final model were educational level, dizziness, alcohol consumption, prior falls, self-perceived falls risk, disability, and depressive symptoms. Mean absolute error (95% CI) was 0.88 falls (0.71–1.16). Conclusion We developed a falls prediction model for community-dwelling older adults in a general population setting. The model was developed by selecting predictors from among physical and cognitive tests along with self-report questionnaires. The final model included only the questionnaire-based predictors, and its predictions had an average imprecision of less than one fall, thereby making it appropriate for clinical practice. Future external validation is needed. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov ( NCT03608709 )

Efficiency of a gyroscopic device for conversion of mechanical wave energy to electrical energy:Technical report from ESGI-83 workshop in industrial mathematics 2011

We consider a recently proposed gyroscopic device for conversion of mechanical ocean wave energy to electrical energy. Two models of the device derived from standard engineering mechanics from the literature are analysed, and a model is derived from analytical mechanics considerations. From these models, estimates of the power production, efficiency, forces and moments are made. We find that it is possible to extract a significant amount of energy from an ocean wave using the described device. Further studies are required for a full treatment of the device.Resulting from the interaction with Joltech A/S at ESGI-83 (European Study Group with Industry) workshop on industrial mathematics, Sønderborg Denmark, 2011.</p

Probing the atmosphere of the bulge G5III star OGLE-2002-BUL-069 by analysis of microlense H alpha line

We discuss high-resolution, time-resolved spectra of the caustic exit of the binary microlensing event OGLE 2002-BUL-69 obtained with UVES on the VLT. The source star is a G5III giant in the Galactic Bulge. During such events, the source star is highly magnified, and a strong differential magnification around the caustic resolves its surface. Using an appropriate model stellar atmosphere generated by the NextGEN code we obtained a model light curve for the caustic exit and compared it with a dense set of photometric observations obtained by the PLANET microlensing follow up network. We further compared predicted variations in the H alpha equivalent width with those measured from our spectra. While the model and observations agree in the gross features, there are discrepancies suggesting shortcomings in the model, particularly for the H alpha line core, where we have detected amplified emission from the stellar chromosphere as the source star's trailing limb exited the caustic. This achievement became possible by the provision of the OGLE-III Early Warning System, a network of small telescopes capable of nearly-continuous round-the-clock photometric monitoring, on-line data reduction, daily near-real-time modelling in order to predict caustic crossing parameters, and a fast and efficient response of a 8m-class telescope to a ``Target-Of-Opportunity'' observation request.Comment: 4 pages Latex, 3 figures, accepted for publication to astronomy and astrophysics letter

Transient evolution of C-type shocks in dusty regions of varying density

Outflows of young stars drive shocks into dusty, molecular regions. Most models of such shocks assume that they are steady and propagating perpendicular to the magnetic field. Real shocks often violate both of these assumptions and the media through which they propagate are inhomogeneous. We use the code employed previously to produce the first time-dependent simulations of fast-mode, oblique C-type shocks interacting with density perturbations. We include a self-consistent calculation of the thermal and ionisation balances and a fluid treatment of grains. We identify features that develop when a multifluid shock encounters a density inhomogeneity to investigate whether any part of the precursor region ever behaves in a quasi-steady fashion. If it does the shock may be modelled approximately without solving the time-dependent hydromagnetic equations. Simulations were made for initially steady oblique C-type shocks encountering density inhomogeneities. For a semi-finite inhomogeneity with a density larger than the surrounding medium, a transmitted shock evolves from being J-type to a steady C-type shock on a timescale comparable to the ion-flow time through it. A sufficiently upstream part of the precursor of an evolving J-type shock is quasi-steady. The ion-flow timescale is also relevant for the evolution of a shock moving into a region of decreasing density. The models for shocks propagating into regions in which the density increases and then decreases to its initial value cannot be entirely described in terms of the results obtained for monotonically increasing and decreasing densities. For the latter model, the long-term evolution to a C-type shock cannot be approximated by quasi-steady models.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Microbial community assembly and evolution in subseafloor sediment

Bacterial and archaeal communities inhabiting the subsurface seabed live under strong energy limitation and have growth rates that are orders of magnitude slower than laboratory-grown cultures. It is not understood how subsurface microbial communities are assembled and whether populations undergo adaptive evolution or accumulate mutations as a result of impaired DNA repair under such energy-limited conditions. Here we use amplicon sequencing to explore changes of microbial communities during burial and isolation from the surface to the > 5,000-y-old subsurface of marine sediment and identify a small core set of mostly uncultured bacteria and archaea that is present throughout the sediment column. These persisting populations constitute a small fraction of the entire community at the surface but become predominant in the subsurface. We followed patterns of genome diversity with depth in four dominant lineages of the persisting populations by mapping metagenomic sequence reads onto single-cell genomes. Nucleotide sequence diversity was uniformly low and did not change with age and depth of the sediment. Likewise, therewas no detectable change inmutation rates and efficacy of selection. Our results indicate that subsurface microbial communities predominantly assemble by selective survival of taxa able to persist under extreme energy limitation