Reporting guidelines, review of methodological standards, and challenges toward harmonization in bone marrow adiposity research. Report of the Methodologies Working Group of the International Bone Marrow Adiposity Society

The interest in bone marrow adiposity (BMA) has increased over the last decade due to its association with, and potential role, in a range of diseases (osteoporosis, diabetes, anorexia, cancer) as well as treatments (corticosteroid, radiation, chemotherapy, thiazolidinediones). However, to advance the field of BMA research, standardization of methods is desirable to increase comparability of study outcomes and foster collaboration. Therefore, at the 2017 annual BMA meeting, the International Bone Marrow Adiposity Society (BMAS) founded a working group to evaluate methodologies in BMA research. All BMAS members could volunteer to participate. The working group members, who are all active preclinical or clinical BMA researchers, searched the literature for articles investigating BMA and discussed the results during personal and telephone conferences. According to the consensus opinion, both based on the review of the literature and on expert opinion, we describe existing methodologies and discuss the challenges and future directions for (1) histomorphometry of bone marrow adipocytes, (2

Conventional Machining of Green Aluminum/ Aluminum Nitride Ceramics

Author Institution: Department of Industrial Engineering, The University of ToledoCurrent methods for producing ceramic parts rely on finish machining using diamond creep feed grinding or some other non-traditional machining method. As a result, machining may represent as much as 90% of the cost of some ceramic parts. This research project focused on creating dimensionally accurate parts made from green engineering ceramic bodies. These bodies were designed to be reaction sintered. Reaction sintering is a method which drastically reduces shrinkage, from about 20% to about 1%. This project investigated the use of conventional milling to machine ceramic green bodies. The green bodies, consisting of 80% aluminum and 20% aluminum nitride, were machined under feed, speed, and depth of cut conditions designed as a 23 factorial experiment. Also, green bodies of 20% aluminum and 80% aluminum nitride were prepared, presintered, and machined. The key measurements taken were the number of chips on the machined geometries of the green body caused by the mill. In the 23 factorial experiment all green bodies exhibited chipping when subjected to drilling and milling. Feed, speed, and depth of cut were found not to be significant in chipping. The machined presintered bodies did not exhibit any chipping when machined

Le geste de metier : problèmes de la transmission

La transmission des gestes professionnels est au principe du développement de l'expérience dans beaucoup de métiers. Apprendre un geste c'est le retoucher en fonction des contextes hétérogènes qu'il traverse. Selon Bernstein, les automatismes qui réalisent ce geste sont composés en fonction de la tâche à accomplir, tout comme le contrôle du geste est organisé par l'action. C'est pourquoi nous ne concevons pas la transmission comme une intériorisation simple des gestes de l'imité par l'imitateur. Elle exige la réduction réciproque en cours d'activité de plusieurs mobilisations subjectives de direction opposée et, par suite, une action qui les dépasse toutes à la fois. Dans l'activité professionnelle, un geste se libère du geste des autres non pas en le niant mais par la voie de son perfectionnement lorsqu'il est re-conçu

GaAs Quantum Dot Thermometry Using Direct Transport and Charge Sensing

We present measurements of the electron temperature using gate defined quantum dots formed in a GaAs 2D electron gas in both direct transport and charge sensing mode. Decent agreement with the refrigerator temperature was observed over a broad range of temperatures down to 10 mK. Upon cooling nuclear demagnetization stages integrated into the sample wires below 1 mK, the device electron temperature saturates, remaining close to 10 mK. The extreme sensitivity of the thermometer to its environment as well as electronic noise complicates temperature measurements but could potentially provide further insight into the device characteristics. We discuss thermal coupling mechanisms, address possible reasons for the temperature saturation and delineate the prospects of further reducing the device electron temperature.Comment: 8 pages, 3 (color) figure

Fast-FISH using repeat sequence-depleted painting probes from microdissected DNA

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Synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymer for glucose binding

Molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) is an attractive technique for the synthesis of highly selective polymeric receptors having artificial generated recognition sites. These materials were synthesized with polymerizable functional monomers and crosslinker that were surrounded around the template molecule. After polymerization, a template molecule was removed leaving in the polymer selective recognition sites with shape, size and functionalities complementary to the template. This study presents a synthesis of MIP selectively for glucose binding. Glucose phosphate salt (GPS) was used as a template molecule with poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAA.HCl) as a functional monomer. Three types of crosslinkers which are epichlorohydrin (EPI), ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EDGE) and glycerol diglycidyl ether (GDE) were studied during the MIP synthesis. MIP prepared using EPI as a crosslinking showed the highest glucose binding capacity around 0.84 mg glucose/mg dried gel. The binding capacity of MIP prepared using EGDE and GDE are 0.78 mg glucose/mg gel and 0.38 mg glucose/mg gel respectively. It is also found that the increase on GPS monomer concentration will contribute to increase in glucose bindin

Artificial electron acceptors decouple archaeal methane oxidation from sulfate reduction

The oxidation of methane with sulfate is an important microbial metabolism in the global carbon cycle. In marine methane seeps, this process is mediated by consortia of anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) that live in syntrophy with sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). The underlying interdependencies within this uncultured symbiotic partnership are poorly understood. We used a combination of rate measurements and single-cell stable isotope probing to demonstrate that ANME in deep-sea sediments can be catabolically and anabolically decoupled from their syntrophic SRB partners using soluble artificial oxidants. The ANME still sustain high rates of methane oxidation in the absence of sulfate as the terminal oxidant, lending support to the hypothesis that interspecies extracellular electron transfer is the syntrophic mechanism for the anaerobic oxidation of methane

Changes in skeletal integrity and marrow adiposity during high-fat diet and after weight loss

The prevalence of obesity has continued to rise over the past three decades leading to significant increases in obesity-related medical care costs from metabolic and non-metabolic sequelae. It is now clear that expansion of body fat leads to an increase in inflammation with systemic effects on metabolism. In mouse models of diet-induced obesity there is also an expansion of bone marrow adipocytes. However, the persistence of these changes after weight-loss has not been well described. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of high-fat diet (HFD) and subsequent weight-loss on skeletal parameters in C57Bl6/J mice. Male mice were given a normal chow diet (ND) or 60% HFD at 6-weeks of age for 12-, 16-, or 20-weeks. A third group of mice was put on HFD for 12-weeks and then on ND for 8-weeks to mimic weight-loss. After these dietary challenges the tibia and femur were removed and analyzed by microCT for bone morphology. Decalcification followed by osmium staining was used to assess bone marrow adiposity and mechanical testing was performed to assess bone strength. After 12-, 16-, or 20-weeks of HFD, mice had significant weight gain relative to controls. Body mass returned to normal after weight-loss. Marrow adipose tissue (MAT) volume in the tibia increased after 16-weeks of HFD and persisted in the 20-week HFD group. Weight loss prevented HFD-induced MAT expansion. Trabecular bone volume fraction, mineral content, and number were decreased after 12-, 16-, or 20-weeks of HFD, relative to ND controls, with only partial recovery after weight-loss. Mechanical testing demonstrated decreased fracture resistance after 20-weeks of HFD. Loss of mechanical integrity did not recover after weight-loss. Our study demonstrates that HFD causes long-term, persistent changes in bone quality, despite prevention of marrow adipose tissue accumulation, as demonstrated through changes in bone morphology and mechanical strength in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity and weight-loss