Variation in growth form and precocity at birth in eutherian mammals

Using the flexible Chapman-Richards model for describing the growth curves from birth to adulthood of 69 species of eutherian mammals, we demonstrate that growth form differs among eutherian mammals. Thereby the commonly used Gompertz model can no longer be considered as the general model for describing mammalian growth. Precocial mammals have their peak growth rate earlier in the growth process than altricial mammals. However, the position on the altricial-precocial continuum accounts for most growth-form differences only between mammalian lineages. Within mammalian genera differences in growth form are not related to precocity at birth. This indicates that growth form may have been associated with precocity at birth early in mammalian evolution, when broad patterns of body development radiated. We discuss four non-exclusive interpretations to account for the role of precocity at birth on the observed variation in growth form among mammals. Precocial and altricial mammals could differ according to (i) the distribution of energy output by the mother, (ii) the ability of the young to assimilate the milk yield, (iii) the allocation of energy by the young between competing functions and (iv) the position of birth between conception and attainment of physical maturity.     

1/f noise in the extinction coefficient of an optical fibre

The extinction coefficient, used to express losses in optical fibres due to absorption and diffusion, fluctuates in time with a 1/f spectrum. The authors have measured fluctuations in the intensity of light propagating through optical fibres. Noise measurements as a function of fibre length show that the noise is not due to fluctuations in reflectivity at the ends. The relative noise in the intensity of the transmitted light is proportional to fibre length     

Dielectric ceramics with relaxors and a tetragonal tungsten bronze

Type II ferroelectric ceramics with high dielectric constants and flat curves = f(T) have, until now, only been obtained with oxides which exhibit the perovskite structure. Another family of oxides, the tetragonal tungsten bronze (TTB)-type niobates, should be of great interest for such applications because of their structure, which is, indeed, very closely related to that of perovskite.

The authors report here on the sintering and dielectric properties of new ceramics based on the niobate K_0·2Sr_0·4NbO₃ (KSN) which exhibits the TTB structure, and show how the addition of a perovskite such as a relaxor or BaTiO₃ or a mixture of these perovskites can lead to a dielectric material compatible with the Y7 R or X7R Electronic Industries Association specifications with a dielectric constant as high as 6000. Moreover, the use of a lithium salt as sintering agent has been shown to be important for the elaboration of those ceramics, and particularly allows the synthesis of type I materials with a dielectric constant as high as 3000.     

Caspase-1 Inhibition Impacts the Formation of Chondrogenic Nodules,and the Expression of Markers Related to Osteogenic Differentiation and Lipid Metabolism

Caspase-1, as the main pro-inflammatory cysteine protease, was investigated mostly with respect to inflammation-related processes. Interestingly, caspase-1 was identified as being involved in lipid metabolism, which is extremely important for the proper differentiation of chondrocytes. Based on a screening investigation, general caspase inhibition impacts the expression of Cd36 in chondrocytes, the fatty acid translocase with a significant impact on lipid metabolism. However, the engagement of individual caspases in the effect has not yet been identified. Therefore, the hypothesis that caspase-1 might be a candidate here appears challenging. The primary aim of this study thus was to find out whether the inhibition of caspase-1 activity would affect Cd36 expression in a chondrogenic micromass model. The expression of Pparg, a regulator Cd36, was examined as well. In the caspase-1 inhibited samples, both molecules were significantly downregulated. Notably, in the treated group, the formation of the chondrogenic nodules was apparently disrupted, and the subcellular deposition of lipids and polysaccharides showed an abnormal pattern. To further investigate this observation, the samples were subjected to an osteogenic PCR array containing selected markers related to cartilage/bone cell differentiation. Among affected molecules, Bmp7 and Gdf10 showed a significantly increased expression, while Itgam, Mmp9, Vdr, and Rankl decreased. Notably, Rankl is a key marker in bone remodeling/homeostasis and thus is a target in several treatment strategies, including a variety of fatty acids, and is balanced by its decoy receptor Opg (osteoprotegerin). To evaluate the effect of Cd36 downregulation on Rankl and Opg, Cd36 silencing was performed using micromass cultures. After Cd36 silencing, the expression of Rankl was downregulated and Opg upregulated, which was an inverse effect to caspase-1 inhibition (and Cd36 upregulation). These results demonstrate new functions of caspase-1 in chondrocyte differentiation and lipid metabolism-related pathways. The effect on the Rankl/Opg ratio, critical for bone maintenance and pathology, including osteoarthritis, is particularly important here as well.     

Genetic selection for hoof health traits and cow mobility scores can accelerate the rate of genetic gain in producer-scored lameness in dairy cows

Cattle breeding programs that strive to reduce the animal-level incidence of lameness are often hindered by the availability of informative phenotypes. As a result, indicator traits of lameness (i.e., hoof health and morphological conformation scores) can be used to improve the accuracy of selection and subsequent genetic gain. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were to estimate the variance components for hoof health traits using various phenotypes collected from a representative sample of Irish dairy cows. Also of interest to the present study was the genetic relationship between both hoof health traits and conformation traits with producer-scored lameness. Producer-recorded lameness events and linear conformation scores from 307,657 and 117,859 Irish dairy cows, respectively, were used. Data on hoof health (i.e., overgrown sole, white line disease, and sole hemorrhage), mobility scores, and body condition scores were also available from a research study on up to 11,282 Irish commercial dairy cows. Linear mixed models were used to quantify variance components for each trait and to estimate genetic correlations among traits. The estimated genetic parameters for hoof health traits in the present study were greater (i.e., heritability range: 0.005 to 0.27) than previously reported in dairy cows. With the exception of analyses that considered hoof health traits in repeatability models, little difference in estimated variance components existed among the various hoof-health phenotypes. Results also suggest that producer-recorded lameness is correlated with both hoof health (i.e., genetic correlation up to 0.48) and cow mobility (i.e., genetic correlation = 0.64). Moreover, cows that genetically tend to have rear feet that appear more parallel when viewed from the rear are also genetically more predisposed to lameness (genetic correlation = 0.39); genetic correlations between lameness and other feet and leg type traits, as well as between lameness and frame type traits, were not different from zero. Results suggest that if the population breeding goal was to reduce lameness incidence, improve hoof health, or improve cow mobility, genetic selection for either of these traits should indirectly benefit the other traits. Results were used to quantify the genetic gains achievable for lameness when alternative phenotypes are available.     

Personalization of cardiac motion and contractility from images using variational data assimilation

Personalization is a key aspect of biophysical models in order to impact clinical practice. In this paper, we propose a personalization method of electromechanical models of the heart from cine-MR images based on the adjoint method. After estimation of electrophysiological parameters, the cardiac motion is estimated based on a proactive electromechanical model. Then cardiac contractilities on two or three regions are estimated by minimizing the discrepancy between measured and simulation motion. Evaluation of the method on three patients with infarcted or dilated myocardium is provided.     

The interpretation of ligand displacement experiments: calculations for multisite acceptors

A method is described for calculating the degree of competition for binding between two ligands which are bound at any number of site classes on a binding protein from a generalization of the equilibrium competitive binding equations, the protein's binding parameters for each of the ligands, and the total protein and ligand concentrations. Theoretical displacement curves thus obtained for each of the possible competitive binding models with a multisite protein can then be compared with experimentally determined ligand displacements in order to find which model is most realistic or if measured displacements are due rather to negative cooperativity effects. The binding parameters used for the calculations have a statistical error attached to them, since they have been obtained experimentally, so here we also propose a method for calculating the standard deviations of the theoretical displacement curves deriving from these errors. This permits the use of statistical hypothesis testing in the comparison of theoretical and experimental results. An example is shown in which this method permits the verification that two drugs (phenylbutazone and azapropazone) are both bound by the same high- and low-affinity sites of a protein (alpha-fetoprotein).     

Metal Carbonyls in Phase Transfer Catalysis

This review is limited to phase transfer systems (solid—liquid and liquid—liquid) involving metal carbonyls. The principles of phase transfer catalysis, related to metal carbonyl properties which play a key role in these two-phase systems, are first briefly recalled. Then, in the light of these principles, applications to inorganic chemistry (ligand exchange, preparation of metal carbonyl anions), organometallic chemistry (synthesis of π allyl complexes, clusters, orthometalated compounds, acylmetal carbonyls, complexed ylids), and finally to organic chemistry are comprehensively reviewed. In this last part, both stoichiometric and catalytic systems (with respect to the metal carbonyl) are reviewed essentially in the fields of functional reduction and carbonylation.     

Influence of geometric variables on the current distribution uniformity at the edge of parallel plate electrodes

In electrochemical processes, the reaction is controlled by electrodes relative placement; to many respects parallel plates seems close to the ideal configuration. However, edge effect represents a detrimental phenomenon that can compromise overall process efficiency. Cell's enclosing insulating walls can attenuate extreme current densities occurring at the electrode edge if appropriately designed to modify the current flow paths. Configurations comprising a limited counter electrode width, an enclosing normal insulating wall, an enclosing oblique insulating wall and a thin parallel mask have been studied. Potential distribution and electrical current lines of these configurations are obtained from algebra operations of complex variables owing to conformal mapping method. It was found that current distribution non-uniformity is conveniently expressed as the absolute deviation from the prescribed value. The dependence of this parameter on geometric variables can be mapped. The picture given by these maps solved the engineering problem of deducing the cell geometry complying with a given current distribution uniformity. Furthermore, optimal parameters providing the best possible performance of each configuration have been identified. Among the geometric variables, the gap between electrodes is the governing parameter of uniformity; it scales the magnitude of edge effect.