692 research outputs found
Compressed vertebrae in Atlantic salmon <i>Salmo salar</i>: evidence for metaplastic chondrogenesis as a skeletogenic response late in ontogeny
Anterior/posterior (a/p) compression of the vertebral column, referred to as 'short tails', is a recurring event in farmed Atlantic salmon. Like other skeletal deformities, the problem usually becomes evident in a late life phase, too late for preventive measures, making it difficult to understand the aetiology of the disease. We use structural, radiological, histological, and mineral analyses to study 'short tail' adult salmon and to demonstrate that the study of adult fish can provide important insights into earlier developmental processes. 'Short tails' display a/p compressed vertebrae throughout the spine, except for the first post-cranial vertebrae. The vertebral number is unaltered, but the intervertebral space is reduced and the vertebrae are shorter. Compressed vertebrae are characterized by an unchanged central part, altered vertebral end plates (straight instead of funnel-shaped), an atypical inward bending of the vertebral edges, and structural alterations in the intervertebral tissue. The spongiosa is unaffected. The growth zones of adjacent vertebrae fuse and blend towards the intervertebral space into chondrogenic tissue. This tissue produces different types of cartilage, replacing the notochord. The correspondence in location of intervertebral cartilage and deformed vertebral end plates, and the clearly delimited, unaltered, central vertebral parts suggest that the a/p compression of vertebral bodies is a late developmental disorder that may be related to a metaplastic shift of osteogenic tissue into chondrogenic tissue in the vertebral growth zone. Given the lack of evidence for infections, metabolic disorders and/or genetic disorders, we propose that an altered mechanical load could have caused the transformation of the bone growth zones and the concomitant replacement of the intervertebral (notochord) tissue by cartilaginous tissues in the 'short tails' studied here. This hypothesis is supported by the role that notochord cells are known to play in spine development and in maintaining the structure of the intervertebral disk
A gauge model for quantum mechanics on a stratified space
In the Hamiltonian approach on a single spatial plaquette, we construct a
quantum (lattice) gauge theory which incorporates the classical singularities.
The reduced phase space is a stratified K\"ahler space, and we make explicit
the requisite singular holomorphic quantization procedure on this space. On the
quantum level, this procedure furnishes a costratified Hilbert space, that is,
a Hilbert space together with a system which consists of the subspaces
associated with the strata of the reduced phase space and of the corresponding
orthoprojectors. The costratified Hilbert space structure reflects the
stratification of the reduced phase space. For the special case where the
structure group is , we discuss the tunneling probabilities
between the strata, determine the energy eigenstates and study the
corresponding expectation values of the orthoprojectors onto the subspaces
associated with the strata in the strong and weak coupling approximations.Comment: 38 pages, 9 figures. Changes: comments on the heat kernel and
coherent states have been adde
An {\it ab initio} relativistic coupled-cluster theory of dipole and quadrupole polarizabilities: Applications to a few alkali atoms and alkaline earth ions
We present a general approach within the relativistic coupled-cluster theory
framework to calculate exactly the first order wave functions due to any rank
perturbation operators. Using this method, we calculate the static dipole and
quadrupole polarizabilities in some alkali atoms and alkaline earth-metal ions.
This may be a good test of the present theory for different rank and parity
interaction operators. This shows a wide range of applications including
precise calculations of both parity and CP violating amplitudes due to rank
zero and rank one weak interaction Hamiltonians. We also give contributions
from correlation effects and discuss them in terms of lower order many-body
perturbation theory.Comment: Three tables and one figur
Beam Test Results of the BTeV Silicon Pixel Detector
The results of the BTeV silicon pixel detector beam test carried out at
Fermilab in 1999-2000 are reported. The pixel detector spatial resolution has
been studied as a function of track inclination, sensor bias, and readout
threshold.Comment: 8 pages of text, 8 figures, Proceedings paper of Pixel 2000:
International Workshop on Semiconductor Pixel Detectors for Particles and
X-Rays, Genova, June 5-8, 200
Performance of prototype BTeV silicon pixel detectors in a high energy pion beam
The silicon pixel vertex detector is a key element of the BTeV spectrometer.
Sensors bump-bonded to prototype front-end devices were tested in a high energy
pion beam at Fermilab. The spatial resolution and occupancies as a function of
the pion incident angle were measured for various sensor-readout combinations.
The data are compared with predictions from our Monte Carlo simulation and very
good agreement is found.Comment: 24 pages, 20 figure
Beam Test of BTeV Pixel Detectors
The silicon pixel vertex detector is one of the key elements of the BTeV
spectrometer. Detector prototypes were tested in a beam at Fermilab. We report
here on the measured spatial resolution as a function of the incident angles
for different sensor-readout electronics combinations. We compare the results
with predictions from our Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, Invited talk given by J.C. Wang at "Vertex 2000,
9th International Workshop on Vertex Detectors", Michigan, Sept 10-15, 2000.
To be published in NIM
Probing Minimal Supergravity at the CERN LHC for Large
For large values of the minimal supergravity model parameter , the
tau lepton and the bottom quark Yukawa couplings become large, leading to
reduced masses of -sleptons and -squarks relative to their first and
second generation counterparts, and to enhanced decays of charginos and
neutralinos to -leptons and -quarks. We evaluate the reach of the CERN
LHC collider for supersymmetry in the mSUGRA model parameter space. We
find that values of GeV can be probed with just 10
fb of integrated luminosity for values as high as 45, so
that mSUGRA cannot escape the scrutiny of LHC experiments by virtue of having a
large value of . We also perform a case study of an mSUGRA model at
where \tz_2\to \tau\ttau_1 and \tw_1\to \ttau_1\nu_\tau
with branching fraction. In this case, at least within our
simplistic study, we show that a di-tau mass edge, which determines the value
of m_{\tz_2}-m_{\tz_1}, can still be reconstructed. This information can be
used as a starting point for reconstructing SUSY cascade decays on an
event-by-event basis, and can provide a strong constraint in determining the
underlying model parameters. Finally, we show that for large there
can be an observable excess of leptons, and argue that signals
might serve to provide new information about the underlying model framework.Comment: 22 page REVTEX file including 8 figure
A comparative histological study of the osteoderms in the lizards Heloderma suspectum (Squamata: Helodermatidae) and Varanus komodoensis (Squamata: Varanidae)
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Kirby, A, Vickaryous, M, Boyde, A, et al. A comparative histological study of the osteoderms in the lizards Heloderma suspectum (Squamata: Helodermatidae) and Varanus komodoensis (Squamata: Varanidae). J Anat. 2020; 00: 1â 9. https://doi.org/10.1111/taja.13156 which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/taja.13156
Interprofessional Education: An evaluation of a joint learning workshop for podiatry and pharmacy students
"Interprofessional Education occurs when two or more professionals learn with, from and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of care" (CAIPE 2002). Interprofessional education forms part of the Standards for the Initial Education and Training of Pharmacists. Working with and understanding the role of another profession has been shown to positively impact on the quality of care of the patient. Following positive pharmacy student feedback from visits to podiatry clinics an interprofessional learning workshop with case - based scenarios was developed. These were based on patients with high risk medical conditions that would impact on the work of both professions. Data from the feedback forms was evaluated and analysed to determine whether the workshop increased knowledge of the British National Formulary (BNF), the prescribing process and gave an insight in to the role of other healthcare professionals. We discuss how the studentâs learning has been enhanced by the contribution of another professional group. The workshop was positively received. Students were observed working together discussing the patientsâ conditions and issues relating to their care. This initially revolved around the studentsâ area of knowledge; however, as the session progressed it became apparent that the students were learning with, from and about each other for the benefit of patient care
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