Effective Rheology of Bubbles Moving in a Capillary Tube

We calculate the average volumetric flux versus pressure drop of bubbles moving in a single capillary tube with varying diameter, finding a square-root relation from mapping the flow equations onto that of a driven overdamped pendulum. The calculation is based on a derivation of the equation of motion of a bubble train from considering the capillary forces and the entropy production associated with the viscous flow. We also calculate the configurational probability of the positions of the bubbles.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Isospin violating dark matter in Stückelberg portal scenarios

Journal of High Energy Physics 2015.4 (2015): 175 reproduced by permission of Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA)Hidden sector scenarios in which dark matter (DM) interacts with the Standard Model matter fields through the exchange of massive Z′ bosons are well motivated by certain string theory constructions. In this work, we thoroughly study the phenomenological aspects of such scenarios and find that they present a clear and testable consequence for direct DM searches. We show that such string motivated Stückelberg portals naturally lead to isospin violating interactions of DM particles with nuclei. We find that the relations between the DM coupling to neutrons and protons for both, spin-independent (fn/fp) and spin-dependent (an/ap) interactions, are very flexible depending on the charges of the quarks under the extra U(1) gauge groups. We show that within this construction these ratios are generically different from ±1 (i.e. different couplings to protons and neutrons) leading to a potentially measurable distinction from other popular portals. Finally, we incorporate bounds from searches for dijet and dilepton resonances at the LHC as well as LUX bounds on the elastic scattering of DM off nucleons to determine the experimentally allowed values of fn/fp and an/apThe authors are grateful to D. G. Cerdeño, L. Ibañez, F. Kahlhoefer and G. Shiu for useful comments. V.M.L. and M.P. would like to thank the support of the European Union under the ERC Advanced Grant SPLE under contract ERC-2012-ADG-20120216-320421, the support of the Consolider-Ingenio 2010 programme under grant MULTIDARK CSD2009-00064, the Spanish MICINN under Grant No. FPA2012-34694, the Spanish MINECO “Centro de excelencia Severo Ochoa Program” under Grant No. SEV-2012-0249, and the Community of Madrid under Grant No. HEPHACOS S2009/ESP-1473. P.S. would like to thank DESY, the University of Hamburg, and the Hong Kong IAS for kind hospitality during the completion of this work. He acknowledges support from the DOE grant DEFG-02-95ER40896 and the HKRGC grant HKUST4/CRF/13G, 604231, as well as the Collaborative Research Center SFB676 of the DFG at the University of Hambur

Oligoasthenoteratozoospermia and Infertility in Mice Deficient for miR-34b/c and miR-449 Loci

Male fertility requires the continuous production of high quality motile spermatozoa in abundance. Alterations in all three metrics cause oligoasthenoteratozoospermia, the leading cause of human sub/infertility. Post-mitotic spermatogenesis inclusive of several meiotic stages and spermiogenesis (terminal spermatozoa differentiation) are transcriptionally inert, indicating the potential importance for the post-transcriptional microRNA (miRNA) gene-silencing pathway therein. We found the expression of miRNA generating enzyme Dicer within spermatogenesis peaks in meiosis with critical functions in spermatogenesis. In an expression screen we identified two miRNA loci of the miR-34 family (miR-34b/c and miR-449) that are specifically and highly expressed in post-mitotic male germ cells. A reduction in several miRNAs inclusive of miR-34b/c in spermatozoa has been causally associated with reduced fertility in humans. We found that deletion of both miR34b/c and miR-449 loci resulted in oligoasthenoteratozoospermia in mice. MiR-34bc/449-deficiency impairs both meiosis and the final stages of spermatozoa maturation. Analysis of miR-34bc-/-;449-/- pachytene spermatocytes revealed a small cohort of genes deregulated that were highly enriched for miR-34 family target genes. Our results identify the miR-34 family as the first functionally important miRNAs for spermatogenesis whose deregulation is causal to oligoasthenoteratozoospermia and infertility

Gravity-mediated (or composite) Dark Matter confronts astrophysical data

We consider the astrophysical bounds on a new form of dark matter, the so called Gravity-mediated Dark Matter. In this scenario, dark matter communicates with us through a mediator sector composed of gravitational resonances, namely a new scalar (radion) and a massive spin-two resonance (massive graviton). We consider specific models motivated by natural electroweak symmetry breaking or weak-scale dark matter in the context of models in warped extra-dimensions and their composite duals. The main Dark Matter annihilation mechanism is due to the interactions of KK gravitons to gauge bosons that propagate in bulk. We impose the bounds on monochromatic or continuum photons from Fermi-LAT and HESS. We also explore scenarios in which the Fermi gamma-ray line could be a manifestation of Gravity-mediated Dark Matter

Soil pH effects on the interactions between dissolved zinc, non-nano- and nano-ZnO with soil bacterial communities

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are used in an array of products and processes, ranging from personal care products to antifouling paints, textiles, food additives, antibacterial agents and environmental remediation processes. Soils are an environment likely to be exposed to manmade nanoparticles due to the practice of applying sewage sludge as a fertiliser or as an organic soil improver. However, understanding on the interactions between soil properties, nanoparticles and the organisms that live within soil is lacking, especially with regards to soil bacterial communities. We studied the effects of nanoparticulate, non-nanoparticulate and ionic zinc (in the form of zinc chloride) on the composition of bacterial communities in soil with a modified pH range (from pH 4.5 to pH 7.2). We observed strong pH dependent effects on the interaction between bacterial communities and all forms of zinc, with the largest changes in bacterial community composition occurring in soils with low and medium pH levels (pH 4.8 and 5.9). The high pH soil (pH 7.2) was less susceptible to the effects of zinc exposure. At the highest doses of zinc (2500 mg/kg dw soil) both nano and non-nano particulate zinc applications elicited a similar response in the soil bacterial community, and this differed significantly to the ionic zinc salt treatment. The results highlight the importance of considering soil pH in nanotoxicology studies, although further work is needed to determine the exact mechanisms controlling the toxicity and fate and interactions of nanoparticles with soil microbial communities

Alignment of the ALICE Inner Tracking System with cosmic-ray tracks

37 pages, 15 figures, revised version, accepted by JINSTALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) experiment devoted to investigating the strongly interacting matter created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. The ALICE ITS, Inner Tracking System, consists of six cylindrical layers of silicon detectors with three different technologies; in the outward direction: two layers of pixel detectors, two layers each of drift, and strip detectors. The number of parameters to be determined in the spatial alignment of the 2198 sensor modules of the ITS is about 13,000. The target alignment precision is well below 10 micron in some cases (pixels). The sources of alignment information include survey measurements, and the reconstructed tracks from cosmic rays and from proton-proton collisions. The main track-based alignment method uses the Millepede global approach. An iterative local method was developed and used as well. We present the results obtained for the ITS alignment using about 10^5 charged tracks from cosmic rays that have been collected during summer 2008, with the ALICE solenoidal magnet switched off.Peer reviewe

miR-210: fine-tuning the hypoxic response

Hypoxia is a central component of the tumor microenvironment and represents a major source of therapeutic failure in cancer therapy. Recent work has provided a wealth of evidence that noncoding RNAs and, in particular, microRNAs, are significant members of the adaptive response to low oxygen in tumors. All published studies agree that miR-210 specifically is a robust target of hypoxia-inducible factors, and the induction of miR-210 is a consistent characteristic of the hypoxic response in normal and transformed cells. Overexpression of miR-210 is detected in most solid tumors and has been linked to adverse prognosis in patients with soft-tissue sarcoma, breast, head and neck, and pancreatic cancer. A wide variety of miR-210 targets have been identified, pointing to roles in the cell cycle, mitochondrial oxidative metabolism, angiogenesis, DNA damage response, and cell survival. Additional microRNAs seem to be modulated by low oxygen in a more tissue-specific fashion, adding another layer of complexity to the vast array of protein-coding genes regulated by hypoxia

Locally applied Simvastatin improves fracture healing in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, statins, are widely prescribed to lower cholesterol. High doses of orally administered simvastatin has previously been shown to improve fracture healing in a mouse femur fracture model. In this study, simvastatin was administered either subcutaneously or directly to the fracture area, with the goal of stimulating fracture repair at acceptable doses.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Femur fractures were produced in 70 mature male Balb-C mice and stabilized with marrow-nailing. Three experiments were performed. Firstly, 20 mice received subcutaneous injections of either simvastatin (20 mg) or vehicle. Secondly, 30 mice were divided into three groups of 10 mice receiving continuous subcutaneous delivery of the vehicle substance, the vehicle with 5 mg or with 10 mg of simvastatin per kg bodyweight per day. Finally, in 20 mice, a silicone tube was led from an osmotic mini-pump to the fracture area. In this way, 10 mice received an approximate local dose of simvastatin of 0.1 mg per kg per day for the duration of the experiment and 10 mice received the vehicle compound. All treatments lasted until the end of the experiment. Bilateral femurs were harvested 14 days post-operative. Biomechanical tests were performed by way of three-point bending. Data was analysed with ANOVA, Scheffé's post-hoc test and Student's unpaired t-test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>With daily simvastatin injections, no effects could be demonstrated for any of the parameters examined. Continuous systemic delivery resulted in a 160% larger force at failure. Continuous local delivery of simvastatin resulted in a 170% larger force at failure as well as a twofold larger energy uptake.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study found a dramatic positive effect on biomechanical parameters of fracture healing by simvastatin treatment directly applied to the fracture area.</p