4,758 research outputs found
Calcium-sensing receptor activation increases cell-cell adhesion and ß-cell function
Background/Aims: The extracellular calcium-sensing receptor (CaR) is expressed in pancreatic β-cells where it is thought to facilitate cell-to-cell communication and augment insulin secretion. However, it is unknown how CaR activation improves β-cell function. Methods: Immunocytochemistry and western blotting confirmed the expression of CaR in MIN6 β-cell line. The calcimimetic R568 (1µM) was used to increase the affinity of the CaR and specifically activate the receptor at a physiologically appropriate extracellular calcium concentration. Incorporation of 5-bromo-2’-deoxyuridine (BrdU) was used to measure cell proliferation, whilst changes in non-nutrient-evoked cytosolic calcium were assessed using fura-2-microfluorimetry. AFM-single-cell-force spectroscopy related CaR-evoked changes in epithelial (E)-cadherin expression to improved functional tethering between coupled cells. Results: Activation of the CaR over 48hr doubled the expression of E-cadherin (206±41%) and increased L-type voltage-dependent calcium channel expression by 70% compared to control. These changes produced a 30% increase in cell-cell tethering and elevated the basal-to-peak amplitude of ATP (50µM) and tolbutamide (100µM)-evoked changes in cytosolic calcium. Activation of the receptor also increased PD98059 (1-100µM) and SU1498 (1-100µM)-dependent β-cell proliferation. Conclusion: Our data suggest that activation of the CaR increases E-cadherin mediated functional tethering between β-cells and increases expression of L-type VDCC and secretagogue-evoked changes in [Ca2+]i. These findings could explain how local changes in calcium, co-released with insulin, activate the CaR on neighbouring cells to help ensure efficient and appropriate secretory function
Position paper on the potential of inadvertent weather modification of the Florida peninsula resulting from the stabilized ground cloud
Based on the climatology of the Florida Peninsula, we assessed the risk for weather modification. Certain weather situations warrant launch rescheduling because of the risk of possible impact on hurricanes, hail formation and lightning activity, strong wind developments, and intensification of high rainfall rates. The cumulative effects of 40 launches per year on weather modification were found to be insignificant
Position paper on the potential of inadvertent weather modification of the Florida Peninsula resulting from neutralization of space shuttle solid rocket booster exhaust clouds
A concept of injecting compounds into the exhaust cloud was proposed to neutralize the acidic nature of the low-level stabilized ground cloud (SGC) was studied. The potential Inadvertent Weather Modification caused by exhaust cloud characteristics from three hours to seven days after launch was studied. Possible effects of the neutralized SGC in warm and cloud precipitation processes were discussed. Based on a detailed climatology of the Florida Peninsula, the risk for weather modification under a variety of weather situations was assessed
Wolverine Food Habitats and Foraging Strategies in Glacier National Park, Montana
From 2003-2007 we captured and instrumented 28 wolverines (Gulo gulo) in Glacier National Park to investigate reproduction and recruitment. We collected 189 scat samples at reproductive den, forage and rendezvous sites, and documented 90 prey species through observation and prey remains found at similar sites. Seasonal scat analysis provided evidence of differences in prey species consumed during winter (n = 170), summer (n = 19), and reproductive den (n = 103) periods. Ungulates were the most frequently observed prey found in all scats (71%; N=135), with Cervid remains being observed most often (37%; n = 70). Hibernating rodents (ground squirrels and marmots) (36%; n = 68) were the next most utilized prey, with the third most documented prey being mice and voles (31%; n = 56). Vegetation (72%; n = 169), soil material (31%; n = 59), and bone (90%; n = 171) were also found in scats. Seasonal importance of prey was documented, with ungulates being the most observed prey in winter scats (75%; n = 128) and den period scats (79%; n = 81), and hibernating rodents being most observed in summer scats (47%; n = 9). A similar condition was found with analysis of all prey remains (n = 90); ungulates were consumed most often (69%; n = 63), with hibernating rodents as the second most documented prey (12%; n = 11). Wolverines exhibited seasonal dietary shifts in that ungulates were consumed most frequently during winter (77%; n = 55) and the den period (78%; n = 17), with hibernating rodents the most frequent prey documented in summer (50%; n = 9). Wolverine foraging strategies, including searching tree wells, fishing, decapitation, and food caching are also discussed
Wolverine Reproductive Den Habitat in Glacier National Park, Montana
Wolverine reproductive dens occur in habitat not easily accessible to humans during the denning period (Feb – May) and can be challenging to find. As such, few den sites have been precisely described. From 2003 – 2007 we located and documented 14 natal and maternal dens of 3 reproductive female wolverine in Glacier National Park. Two females were known to have produced young in multiple years, using different den sites each year. Reproductive dens occurred at an average elevation of 1890m (range: 1805-1999m), on 9° slopes (range: 5-22o), within a variable range of aspects (  =263°), and with an average snow depth of 2.6m (range: 2.4-3.4m). Den structures included downed trees, large boulders, and rock caves associated with alpine cirques, ridges, and cliff bands at, or below, existing tree line. Distance to occupied human development averaged 6.4km, and distance between denning areas of the same female in different years averaged 5.8 km. Various climate change models predict less persistent snowpack in many areas of the conterminous United States, with a resultant potential for increased isolation of island populations of wolverines
Spin anisotropy of the resonance in superconducting FeSe0.5Te0.5
We have used polarized-neutron inelastic scattering to resolve the spin
fluctuations in superconducting FeSe0.5Te0.5 into components parallel and
perpendicular to the layers. A spin resonance at an energy of 6.5 meV is
observed to develop below T_c in both fluctuation components. The resonance
peak is anisotropic, with the in-plane component slightly larger than the
out-of-plane component. Away from the resonance peak the magnetic fluctuations
are isotropic in the energy range studied. The results are consistent with a
dominant singlet pairing state with s^{\pm} symmetry, with a possible minority
component of different symmetry.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Slip-velocity of large neutrally-buoyant particles in turbulent flows
We discuss possible definitions for a stochastic slip velocity that describes
the relative motion between large particles and a turbulent flow. This
definition is necessary because the slip velocity used in the standard drag
model fails when particle size falls within the inertial subrange of ambient
turbulence. We propose two definitions, selected in part due to their
simplicity: they do not require filtration of the fluid phase velocity field,
nor do they require the construction of conditional averages on particle
locations. A key benefit of this simplicity is that the stochastic slip
velocity proposed here can be calculated equally well for laboratory, field,
and numerical experiments. The stochastic slip velocity allows the definition
of a Reynolds number that should indicate whether large particles in turbulent
flow behave (a) as passive tracers; (b) as a linear filter of the velocity
field; or (c) as a nonlinear filter to the velocity field. We calculate the
value of stochastic slip for ellipsoidal and spherical particles (the size of
the Taylor microscale) measured in laboratory homogeneous isotropic turbulence.
The resulting Reynolds number is significantly higher than 1 for both particle
shapes, and velocity statistics show that particle motion is a complex
non-linear function of the fluid velocity. We further investigate the nonlinear
relationship by comparing the probability distribution of fluctuating
velocities for particle and fluid phases
Spin Waves in Striped Phases
In many antiferromagnetic, quasi-two-dimensional materials, doping with holes
leads to "stripe" phases, in which the holes congregate along antiphase domain
walls in the otherwise antiferromagnetic texture. Using a suitably parametrized
two-dimensional Heisenberg model on a square lattice, we study the spin wave
spectra of well-ordered spin stripes, comparing bond-centered antiphase domain
walls to site-centered antiphase domain walls for a range of spacings between
the stripes and for stripes both aligned with the lattice ("vertical") and
oriented along the diagonals of the lattice ("diagonal"). Our results establish
that there are qualitative differences between the expected neutron scattering
responses for the bond-centered and site-centered cases. In particular,
bond-centered stripes of odd spacing generically exhibit more elastic peaks
than their site-centered counterparts. For inelastic scattering, we find that
bond-centered stripes produce more spin wave bands than site-centered stripes
of the same spacing and that bond-centered stripes produce rather isotropic low
energy spin wave cones for a large range of parameters, despite local
microscopic anisotropy. We find that extra scattering intensity due to the
crossing of spin wave modes (which may be linked to the "resonance peak" in the
cuprates) is more likely for diagonal stripes, whether site- or bond-centered,
whereas spin wave bands generically repel, rather than cross, when stripes are
vertical.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, for some high-res.pics, see
http://physics.bu.edu/~yaodx/spinwave/spinw.htm
Dispersive magnetic excitations in the S=1 antiferromagnet BaMnO
We present powder inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the S=1
dimerized antiferromagnet BaMnO. The K magnetic spectrum
exhibits a spin-gap of meV and a dispersive spectrum with
a bandwidth of approximately 1.5 meV. Comparison to coupled dimer models
describe the dispersion and scattering intensity accurately and determine the
exchange constants in BaMnO. The wave vector dependent scattering
intensity confirms the proposed S=1 dimer bond. Temperature dependent
measurements of the magnetic excitations indicate the presence of both
singlet-triplet and thermally activated triplet-quintet excitations.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, Submitted to Physical Review B, Resubmited
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Causality of the brane universe
Causal structure of the brane universe with respect to null geodesics in the
bulk spacetime is studied. It is pointed out that apparent causality violation
is possible for the brane universe which contains matter energy. It is also
shown that there is no 'horizon problem' in the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker
brane universe.Comment: LaTeX, 9 pages, 4 EPS figures to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
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