3,158 research outputs found
Self-similar length-displacement scaling achieved by scale-dependent growth processes: Evidence from the Atacama Fault System
The complex process of tip-propagation and growth of natural faults remains poorly understood. We analyse field structural data of strike-slip faults from the Atacama Fault System using fracture mechanics theory to depict the mechanical controls of fault growth in crystalline rocks. We calculate the displacement-length relationship of faults developed in the same rock type and tectonic regime, covering a range of five orders of magnitude, showing a linear scaling defined by dmax = 0.0337L^1.02. A multiple linear regression approach based on the cohesive end zone (CEZ) crack model was formulated to estimate the range of possible effective elastic moduli, cohesive endzone lengths, stress drops, and fracture energies from displacement distributions mapped on natural faults. Our results challenge the existent paradigm wherein the self-similarity of fault growth is only achieved under the condition of invariable stresses and elastic properties. We propose a model of self-similar fault growth with scale-dependent evolution of shear modulus, cohesive end zone length and stress drop. These results also have implications for determination of stress drop for small earthquakes that are consistent with recent advances in observational seismology
Passive phloem loading and long-distance transport in a synthetic tree-on-a-chip
Vascular plants rely on differences of osmotic pressure to export sugars from
regions of synthesis (mature leaves) to sugar sinks (roots, fruits). In this
process, known as M\"unch pressure flow, the loading of sugars from
photosynthetic cells to the export conduit (the phloem) is crucial, as it sets
the pressure head necessary to power long-distance transport. Whereas most
herbaceous plants use active mechanisms to increase phloem concentration above
that of the photosynthetic cells, in most tree species, for which transport
distances are largest, loading seems to occur via passive symplastic diffusion
from the mesophyll to the phloem. Here, we use a synthetic microfluidic model
of a passive loader to explore the nonlinear dynamics that arise during export
and determine the ability of passive loading to drive long-distance transport.
We first demonstrate that in our device, phloem concentration is set by the
balance between the resistances to diffusive loading from the source and
convective export through the phloem. Convection-limited export corresponds to
classical models of M\"unch transport, where phloem concentration is close to
that of the source; in contrast, diffusion-limited export leads to small phloem
concentrations and weak scaling of flow rates with the hydraulic resistance. We
then show that the effective regime of convection-limited export is predominant
in plants with large transport resistances and low xylem pressures. Moreover,
hydrostatic pressures developed in our synthetic passive loader can reach
botanically relevant values as high as 10 bars. We conclude that passive
loading is sufficient to drive long-distance transport in large plants, and
that trees are well suited to take full advantage of passive phloem loading
strategies
Constraints on Superfluid Hydrodynamics from Equilibrium Partition Functions
Following up on recent work in the context of ordinary fluids, we study the
equilibrium partition function of a 3+1 dimensional superfluid on an arbitrary
stationary background spacetime, and with arbitrary stationary background gauge
fields, in the long wavelength expansion. We argue that this partition function
is generated by a 3 dimensional Euclidean effective action for the massless
Goldstone field. We parameterize the general form of this action at first order
in the derivative expansion. We demonstrate that the constitutive relations of
relativistic superfluid hydrodynamics are significantly constrained by the
requirement of consistency with such an effective action. At first order in the
derivative expansion we demonstrate that the resultant constraints on
constitutive relations coincide precisely with the equalities between
hydrodynamical transport coefficients recently derived from the second law of
thermodynamics.Comment: 46 page
Non-Abelian anomalous (super)fluids in thermal equilibrium from differential geometry
We apply differential geometry methods to the computation of the anomalyinduced
hydrodynamic equilibrium partition function. Implementing the imaginary-time
prescription on the Chern-Simons effective action on a stationary background, we obtain
general closed expressions for both the invariant and anomalous part of the partition function.
This is applied to the Wess-Zumino-Witten action for Goldstone modes, giving the
equilibrium partition function of superfluids. In all cases, we also study the anomalyinduced
gauge currents and energy-momentum tensor, providing explicit expressions for
them.This work has been supported by Plan Nacional de Altas Energías Spanish MINECO
grants FPA2015-64041-C2-1-P, FPA2015-64041-C2-2-P, and by Basque Government grant
IT979-16. The research of E.M. is also supported by Spanish MINEICO and European
FEDER funds grant FIS2017-85053-C2-1-P, Junta de Andalucía grant FQM-225, as well
as by Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU through a Visiting Professor appointment
and by Spanish MINEICO Ramón y Cajal Progra
A flea and tick collar containing 10% imidacloprid and 4.5% flumethrin prevents flea transmission of Bartonella henselae in cats
Calcification of intervertebral discs in the dachshund: a radiographic and histopathologic study of 20 dogs
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of the study was to compare radiographic and histopathologic findings with regard to number and extent of calcified discs in the dachshund.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The intervertebral discs of 20 dachshunds were subjected to a radiographic and histopathologic examination. The dogs were selected randomly from clinical cases euthanased for reasons unrelated to research at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science. Lateral radiographs were taken of the vertebral columns after removing them from the carcasses. The histopathologic examination included 5 μm thick sections in the transverse plane, stained with hematoxylin-eosin and von Kossa. Radiographs and histological sections were evaluated independently.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 148 (28.5%) calcified discs were identified at the radiographic and 230 (45.7%) at the histopathologic examination. Of 92 discs found to be calcified by histopathology, but not by radiography, the degree of calcification was evaluated as 'slight' in 84 (91.3%). All the intervertebral discs (n = 138) that were found to be calcified by radiography were also found to be calcified by histopathology.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A sensitivity of 0.6 and specificity of 1.0 for radiography was calculated when using histopathology as the gold standard.</p
A standardised study to compare prostate cancer targeting efficacy of five radiolabelled bombesin analogues
Purpose: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening for prostate cancer (PC) has dramatically increased early diagnosis. Current imaging techniques are not optimal to stage early PC adequately. A promising alternative to PC imaging is peptide-based scintigraphy using radiolabelled bombesin (BN) analogues that bind to gastrin-releasing peptide receptors (GRPR) being overexpressed in PC. When labelled to appropriate radionuclides BN targeting of GRPRs may also provide applications for peptide radionuclide receptor therapy (PRRT). Assessment studies under identical experimental conditions allowing a reliable comparison of the potential of such analogues are lacking. This study was performed to evaluate and directly compare five promising radiolabelled BN analogues for their targeting efficacy for PC under standardised conditions. Methods: The BN agonists [111In]DOTA-PESIN, [111In]AMBA, [111In]MP2346 and [111In]MP2653 and one antagonist [99mTc]Demobesin-1 were evaluated in GRPR-overexpressing human PC-3 tumou
Site-specific incorporation of phosphotyrosine using an expanded genetic code.
Access to phosphoproteins with stoichiometric and site-specific phosphorylation status is key to understanding the role of protein phosphorylation. Here we report an efficient method to generate pure, active phosphotyrosine-containing proteins by genetically encoding a stable phosphotyrosine analog that is convertible to native phosphotyrosine. We demonstrate its general compatibility with proteins of various sizes, phosphotyrosine sites and functions, and reveal a possible role of tyrosine phosphorylation in negative regulation of ubiquitination
Corrected score methods for estimating Bayesian networks with error-prone nodes
Motivated by inferring cellular signaling networks using noisy flow cytometry
data, we develop procedures to draw inference for Bayesian networks based on
error-prone data. Two methods for inferring causal relationships between nodes
in a network are proposed based on penalized estimation methods that account
for measurement error and encourage sparsity. We discuss consistency of the
proposed network estimators and develop an approach for selecting the tuning
parameter in the penalized estimation methods. Empirical studies are carried
out to compare the proposed methods and a naive method that ignores measurement
error with applications to synthetic data and to single cell flow cytometry
data
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