Flow patterns generated by oblate medusan jellyfish: field measurements and laboratory analyses

Flow patterns generated by medusan swimmers such as jellyfish are known to differ according the morphology of the various animal species. Oblate medusae have been previously observed to generate vortex ring structures during the propulsive cycle. Owing to the inherent physical coupling between locomotor and feeding structures in these animals, the dynamics of vortex ring formation must be robustly tuned to facilitate effective functioning of both systems. To understand how this is achieved, we employed dye visualization techniques on scyphomedusae (Aurelia aurita) observed swimming in their natural marine habitat. The flow created during each propulsive cycle consists of a toroidal starting vortex formed during the power swimming stroke, followed by a stopping vortex of opposite rotational sense generated during the recovery stroke. These two vortices merge in a laterally oriented vortex superstructure that induces flow both toward the subumbrellar feeding surfaces and downstream. The lateral vortex motif discovered here appears to be critical to the dual function of the medusa bell as a flow source for feeding and propulsion. Furthermore, vortices in the animal wake have a greater volume and closer spacing than predicted by prevailing models of medusan swimming. These effects are shown to be advantageous for feeding and swimming performance, and are an important consequence of vortex interactions that have been previously neglected

The reaction πN→ππN\pi N \to \pi \pi N at threshold in chiral perturbation theory

In the framework of heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory, we give thIn the framework of heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory, we give the chiral expansion for the $\pi N \to \pi \pi N$ threshold amplitudes $D_1$ and $D_2$ to quadratic order in the pion mass. The theoretical results agree within one standard deviation with the empirical values. We also derive a relation between the two threshold amplitudes of the reaction $\pi N \to \pi \pi N$ and the $\pi \pi$ S--wave scattering lengths, $a_0^0$ and $a_0^2$, respectively, to order ${\cal O}(M_\pi^2)$. We show that there are uncertainties mostly related to resonance excitation which make an accurate determination of the $\pi \pi$ scattering length $a_0^0$ from the $\pi \pi N$ threshold amplitudes at present very difficult. The situation is different in the $\pi \pi$ isospin two final state. Here, the chiral series converges and one finds $a_0^2 = -0.031 \pm 0.007$ consistent with the one--loop chiral perturbation theory prediction.Comment: 30 pp, LaTeX file, uses epsf, 6 figures (appended), corrections in sections 5 and 6, conclusions unchange

New EUV Fe IX emission line identifications from Hinode/EIS

Four Fe IX transitions in the wavelength range 188--198 A are identified for the first time in spectra from the EUV Imaging Spectrometer on board the Hinode satellite. In particular the emission line at 197.86 A is unblended and close to the peak of the EIS sensitivity curve, making it a valuable diagnostic of plasma at around 800,000 K - a critical temperature for studying the interface between the corona and transition region. Theoretical ratios amongst the four lines predicted from the CHIANTI database reveal weak sensitivity to density and temperature with observed values consistent with theory. The ratio of 197.86 relative to the 171.07 resonance line of Fe IX is found to be an excellent temperature diagnostic, independent of density, and the derived temperature in the analysed data set is log T=5.95, close to the predicted temperature of maximum ionization of Fe IX.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, submitted to ApJ Letter

From VGKC to LGI1 and Caspr2 encephalitis: The evolution of a disease entity over time

AbstractA wide variety of clinical syndromes has been associated with antibodies to voltage-gated potassium channels (VGKCs). Six years ago, it was discovered that patients do not truly have antibodies to potassium channels, but to associated proteins. This enabled the distinction of three VGKC-positive subgroups: anti-LGI1 patients, anti-Caspr2 patients and VGKC-positive patients lacking both antibodies. Patients with LGI1-antibodies have a limbic encephalitis, often with hyponatremia, and about half of the patients have typical faciobrachial dystonic seizures. Caspr2-antibodies cause a more variable syndrome of peripheral or central nervous system symptoms, almost exclusively affecting older males. Immunotherapy seems to be beneficial in patients with antibodies to LGI1 or Caspr2, stressing the need for early diagnosis. Half of the VGKC-positive patients lack antibodies to both LGI1 and Caspr2. This is a heterogeneous group of patients with a wide variety of clinical syndromes, raising the question whether VGKC-positivity is truly a marker of disease in these patients. Data regarding this issue are limited, but a recent study did not show any clinical relevance of VGKC-positivity in the absence of antibodies to LGI1 and Caspr2. The three VGKC-positive subgroups are essentially different, therefore, the lumping term ‘VGKC-complex antibodies’ should be abolished

Multilayer coating facility for the HEFT hard x-ray telescope

A planar magnetron sputtering facility has been established at the Danish Space Research Institute (DSRI) for the production coating of depth graded multilayers on the thermally slumped glass segments which form the basis for the hard X-ray telescope on the HEFT balloon project. The facility is capable of coating 20-45 mirrors segments in each run. The coatings are optimized W/Si coatings. The paper describes the facility, the results of the calibration and presents data for the X-ray testing of flight mirrors

Gene expression profiles of gliomas in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded material

Background: We have recently demonstrated that expression profiling is a more accurate and objective method to classify gliomas than histology. Similar to most expression profiling studies, our experiments were performed using fresh frozen (FF) glioma samples whereas most archival samples are fixed in formalin and embedded in paraffin (FFPE). Identification of the same, expression-based intrinsic subtypes in FFPE-stored samples would enable validation of the prognostic value of these subtypes on these archival samples. In this study, we have therefore determined whether the intrinsic subtypes identified using FF material can be reproduced in FFPE-stored samples.Methods: We have performed expression profiling on 55 paired FF-FFPE glioma samples using HU133 plus 2.0 arrays (FF) and Exon 1.0 ST arrays (FFPE). The median time in paraffin of the FFPE samples was 14.1 years (range 6.6-26.4 years). Results: In general, the correlation between FF and FFPE expression in a single sample was poor. We then selected the most variable probe sets per gene (n17 583), and of these, the 5000 most variable probe sets on FFPE expre

Mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy caused by thymidine phosphorylase enzyme deficiency: From pathogenesis to emerging therapeutic options

Mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy (MNGIE) is a progressive metabolic disorder caused by thymidine phosphorylase (TP) enzyme deficiency. The lack of TP results in systemic accumulation of deoxyribonucleosides thymidine (dThd) and deoxyuridine (dUrd). In these patients, clinical features include mental regression, ophthalmoplegia, and fatal gastrointestinal complications. The accumulation of nucleosides also causes imbalances in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs), which may play a direct or indirect role in the mtDNA depletion/deletion abnormalities, although the exact underlying mechanism remains unknown. The available therapeutic approaches include dialysis and enzyme replacement therapy, both can only transiently reverse the biochemical imbalance. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is shown to be able to restore normal enzyme activity and improve clinical manifestations in MNGIE patients. However, transplant related complications and disease progression result in a high mortality rate. New therapeutic approaches, such as adeno-associated viral vector and hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy have been tested in Tymp−/− Upp1−/− mice, a murine model for MNGIE. This review provides background information on disease manifestations of MNGIE with a focus on current management and treatment options. It also outlines the pre-clinical approaches toward future treatment of the disease