A study of the incidence, aetiology and pathology of senile osteoporosis

This Thesis is about generalised osteoporosis, a condition in which there is reduction of calcified bone mass per unit volume of bone without distinctive biochemical changes in the serum. The incidence, aetiology, and pathology of senile osteoporosis, the most common variety of generalised osteoporosis, is studied. The Introduction defines generalised osteoporosis and describes the conditions in which it may occur, thus providing the background of knowledge for this study. Because the hormones produced by the adrenal glands, ovaries and testes are obviously implicated in the production of osteoporosis the relevant articles describing the effects of cortisone, oestrogens, and androgens on bone are reviewed and summarised. The problems involved in radiological evaluation of the degree of bone mineralisation and previously reported methods are also briefly described. The work is divided into three parts. Part I describes a simple but accurate radiographic method of estimating the degree of mineralisation of lumbar vertebral bone slabs. This method is correlated with chemical analysis of the calcium content of the vertebral slabs and bone histological examinations, undertaken with a view to determining the range of variation of calcium content and radiographic density of normal and osteoporotic bone. A series of 300 necropsy cases was examined in this manner. Part II is a study of the histological and histochemical patterns of adrenal glands obtained within six hours of death from 31 of these 300 cases. By reference to the vertebral bone density results the adrenal cortical histochemical patterns in osteoporotic cases are compared with those in cases having a high normal bone density. Part III describes how osteoporosis was produced in male albino rats (150 g.) by ablation of adrenal glands and testes and daily cortisone injections. The osteoporosis was treated either by oily solutions or microcrystalline suspensions of the sex hormones in various combinations and the results were assessed by radiographic, chemical, and histological examinations of the long bones. The General Discussion which follows deals with the additional points raised by the combination of these three studies as a result of which a clear cut picture of the condition called senile osteoporosis is presented. The text and tables are presented in Volume I and the illustrations in Volume II. An Appendix including some of the technical methods and an account of the work personally performed is also presented in Volume I

Radiation constraints from cosmic strings

We show that it is possible to evolve a network of global strings numerically including the effects of radiative backreaction, using the renormalised equations for the Kalb-Ramond action. We calculate radiative corrections to the equations of motion and deduce the effect on a network of global strings. We also discuss the implications of this work for the cosmological axion density.Comment: 4 Pages, UUencoded postscript file, to appear in 'Trends in Astro-Particle Physics - Nuclear Physics B, Proceedings Supplement

Some FRW Models of Accelerating Universe with Dark Energy

The paper deals with a spatially homogeneous and isotropic FRW space-time filled with perfect fluid and dark energy components. The two sources are assumed to interact minimally, and therefore their energy momentum tensors are conserved separately. A special law of variation for the Hubble parameter proposed by Berman (1983) has been utilized to solve the field equations. The Berman's law yields two explicit forms of the scale factor governing the FRW space-time and constant values of deceleration parameter. The role of dark energy with variable equation of state parameter has been studied in detail in the evolution of FRW universe. It has been found that dark energy dominates the universe at the present epoch, which is consistent with the observations. The physical behavior of the universe is discussed in detail.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Spherical collapse with dark energy

I discuss the work of Maor and Lahav [1], in which the inclusion of dark energy into the spherical collapse formalism is reviewed. Adopting a phenomenological approach, I consider the consequences of - a) allowing the dark energy to cluster, and, b) including the dark energy in the virialization process. Both of these issues affect the final state of the system in a fundamental way. The results suggest a potentially differentiating signature between a true cosmological constant and a dynamic form of dark energy. This signature is unique in the sense that it does not depend on a measurement of the value of the equation of state of dark energy.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the ``Peyresq Physics 10" Workshop, 19 - 24 June 2005, Peyresq, Franc

Do primordial Lithium abundances imply there's no Dark Energy?

Explaining the well established observation that the expansion rate of the universe is apparently accelerating is one of the defining scientific problems of our age. Within the standard model of cosmology, the repulsive 'dark energy' supposedly responsible has no explanation at a fundamental level, despite many varied attempts. A further important dilemma in the standard model is the Lithium problem, which is the substantial mismatch between the theoretical prediction for 7-Li from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and the value that we observe today. This observation is one of the very few we have from along our past worldline as opposed to our past lightcone. By releasing the untested assumption that the universe is homogeneous on very large scales, both apparent acceleration and the Lithium problem can be easily accounted for as different aspects of cosmic inhomogeneity, without causing problems for other cosmological phenomena such as the cosmic microwave background. We illustrate this in the context of a void model.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures. v2: minor rearrangements in the text, comments and references expanded, results unchange

Quantum driven Bounce of the future Universe

It is demonstrated that due to back-reaction of quantum effects, expansion of the universe stops at its maximum and takes a turnaround. Later on, it contracts to a very small size in finite future time. This phenomenon is followed by a " bounce" with re-birth of an exponentially expanding non-singular universe

Asymptotic behavior of w in general quintom model

For the quintom models with arbitrary potential $V=V(\phi,\sigma)$, the asymptotic value of equation of state parameter w is obtained by a new method. In this method, w of stable attractors are calculated by using the ratio (d ln V)/(d ln a) in asymptotic region. All the known results, have been obtained by other methods, are reproduced by this method as specific examples.Comment: 8 pages, one example is added, accepted for publication in Gen. Rel. Gra

Massive Charged Scalar Quasinormal Modes of Reissner-N\"ordstrom Black Hole Surrounded by Quintessence

We evaluate the complex frequencies of the normal modes for the massive charged scalar field perturbations around a Reissner-N\"ordstrom black hole surrounded by a static and spherically symmetric quintessence using third order WKB approximation approach. Due to the presence of quintessence, quasinormal frequencies damp more slowly. We studied the variation of quasinormal frequencies with charge of the black bole, mass and charge of perturbating scalar field and the quintessential state parameter.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures and one tabl

Limits on decaying dark energy density models from the CMB temperature-redshift relation

The nature of the dark energy is still a mystery and several models have been proposed to explain it. Here we consider a phenomenological model for dark energy decay into photons and particles as proposed by Lima (J. Lima, Phys. Rev. D 54, 2571 (1996)). He studied the thermodynamic aspects of decaying dark energy models in particular in the case of a continuous photon creation and/or disruption. Following his approach, we derive a temperature redshift relation for the CMB which depends on the effective equation of state $w_{eff}$ and on the "adiabatic index" $\gamma$. Comparing our relation with the data on the CMB temperature as a function of the redshift obtained from Sunyaev-Zel'dovich observations and at higher redshift from quasar absorption line spectra, we find $w_{eff}=-0.97 \pm 0.034$, adopting for the adiabatic index $\gamma=4/3$, in good agreement with current estimates and still compatible with $w_{eff}=-1$, implying that the dark energy content being constant in time.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

In vivo airway surface liquid Cl- analysis with solid-state electrodes

The pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis (CF) airways disease remains controversial. Hypotheses that link mutations in CFTR and defects in ion transport to CF lung disease predict that alterations in airway surface liquid (ASL) isotonic volume, or ion composition, are critically important. ASL [Cl-] is pivotal in discriminating between these hypotheses, but there is no consensus on this value given the difficulty in measuring [Cl-] in the "thin" ASL (∼30 μm) in vivo. Consequently, a miniaturized solid-state electrode with a shallow depth of immersion was constructed to measure ASL [Cl-] in vivo. In initial experiments, the electrode measured [Cl-] in physiologic salt solutions, small volume (7.6 μl) test solutions, and in in vitro cell culture models, with ≥93% accuracy. Based on discrepancies in reported values and/or absence of data, ASL Cl- measurements were made in the following airway regions and species. First, ASL [Cl-] was measured in normal human nasal cavity and averaged 117.3 ± 11.2 mM (n = 6). Second, ASL [Cl-] measured in large airway (tracheobronchial) regions were as follows: rabbit trachea and bronchus = 114.3 ± 1.8 mM; (n = 6) and 126.9 ± 1.7 mM; (n = 3), respectively; mouse trachea = 112.8 ± 4.2 mM (n = 13); and monkey bronchus = 112.3 ± 10.9 mM (n = 3). Third, Cl- measurements were made in small (1-2 mm) diameter airways of the rabbit (108.3 ± 7.1 mM, n = 5) and monkey (128.5 ± 6.8 mM, n = 3). The measured [Cl-], in excess of 100 mM throughout all airway regions tested in multiple species, is consistent with the isotonic volume hypothesis to describe ASL physiology