Dynamic spatiotemporal expression patterns of neurocan and phosphacan indicate diverse roles in the developing and adult mouse olfactory system

The chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans neurocan and phosphacan are believed to modulate neurite outgrowth by binding to cell adhesion molecules, tenascin, and the differentiation factors heparin-binding growth-associated molecule and amphoterin. To assess the role of these chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans in the olfactory system, we describe here their expression patterns during both embryonic and postnatal development in the mouse. Immunoreactivity for neurocan was first detected in primary olfactory neurons at embryonic day 11.5 (E11.5). Neurocan was expressed by primary olfactory axons as they extended toward the rostral pole of the telencephalon as well as by their arbors in glomeruli after they contacted the olfactory bulb. The role of neurocan was examined by growing olfactory neurons on an extracellular matrix substrate containing neurocan or on extracellular matrix in the presence of soluble neurocan. In both cases, neurocan strongly promoted neurite outgrowth. These results suggest that neurocan supports the growth of primary olfactory axons through the extracellular matrix as they project to the olfactory bulb during development. Phosphacan, unlike neurocan, was present within the mesenchyme surrounding the E11.5 and E12.5 nasal cavity. This expression decreased at E13.5, concomitant with a transient appearance of phosphacan in nerve fascicles. Within the embryonic olfactory bulb, phosphacan was localised to the external and internal plexiform layers. However, during early postnatal development phosphacan was concentrated in the glomerular layer. These results suggest that phosphacan may play a role in delineating the pathway of growing olfactory axons as well as defining the laminar organization of the bulb. Together, the spatiotemporal expression patterns of neurocan and phosphacan indicate that these chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans have diverse in situ roles, which are dependent on context-specific interactions with extracellular and cell adhesion molecules within the developing olfactory nerve pathway. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Blood vessels from bone marrow

Lengths of silastic tubing were inserted into the peritoneal cavity of rats or rabbits. By two weeks the free-floating implants had become covered by a capsule consisting of several layers of macrophage-derived myofibroblasts and collagen matrix overlaid by a single layer of mesothelial cells. The tubing was removed from the harvested implant and the tissue everted. This now resembled an artery with an inner lining of mesothelial cells (the intima), a media of myofibroblasts, and an outer collagenous adventitia. The tube of living tissue was grafted by end-to-end anastomoses into the transected carotid artery or abdominal aorta of the same animal in which the tissue had been grown, where it remained parent for four months and developed structures resembling elastic lamellae, The myofibroblasts developed a high volume fraction of myofilaments and became responsive to contractile and relaxing agents similar to smooth muscle cells of the adjacent artery wall.

Change in the rate of shell deposition and shell microstructure in response to shell borers in the abalone Haliotis rubra

Gastropod shells consist of two crystal types of calcium carbonate, an outer, prismatic calcite layer and an inner nacreous layer made of aragonite. In cross-section, the nacre of the nacreous layer appears to have a regular brick-like microstructure composed of thin laminae of aragonite crystals, separated by very thin sheets of protein (Lutz and Rhoads, 1980; Nakahara, 1983). In abalone (Genus, Haliotis) and other gastropods, thin layers of non-lamellar pigmented material occur within the nacre and have been termed alternatively, fine lines, growth rings or growth lines (Shepherd et al., 1995). It has been suggested that these pigmented layers are small, prismatic, calcite layers (Shepherd and Avalos-Borja, 1997; Zaremba et al., 1996) but investigations using a Raman laser in Haliotis rubra show that they contain aragonite rather than calcite (Hawkes et al, 1996). Day and Fleming (1992) suggest that the occurrence of pigmented layers is correlated with regular exogenous cues such as reproduction or temperature changes and indeed in some species, pigmented layers in the shell can be used to age abalone (review: Shepherd and Triantafillos, 1997). However, McShane and Smith (1992) suggest that pigmented layers can occur irregularly and therefore may be unreliable indicators of age.

A numerical study of flexural buckling of foliated rock slopes

The occurrence of foliated rock masses is common in mining environment. Methods employing continuum approximation in describing the deformation of such rock masses possess a clear advantage over methods where each rock layer and each inter-layer interface (joint) is explicitly modelled. In devising such a continuum model it is imperative that moment (couple) stresses and internal rotations associated with the bending of the rock layers be properly incorporated in the model formulation. Such an approach will lead to a Cosserat-type theory. In the present model, the behaviour of the intact rock layer is assumed to be linearly elastic and the joints are assumed to be elastic-perfectly plastic. Condition of slip at the interfaces are determined by a Mohr-Coulomb criterion with tension cut off at zero normal stress. The theory is valid for large deformations. The model is incorporated into the finite element program AFENA and validated against an analytical solution of elementary buckling problems of a layered medium under gravity loading. A design chart suitable for assessing the stability of slopes in foliated rock masses against flexural buckling failure has been developed. The design chart is easy to use and provides a quick estimate of critical loading factors for slopes in foliated rock masses. It is shown that the model based on Euler's buckling theory as proposed by Cavers (Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering 1981; 14:87-104) substantially overestimates the critical heights for a vertical slope and underestimates the same for sub-vertical slopes. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Charge ordering and antiferromagnetic exchange in layered molecular crystals of the theta type

We consider the electronic properties of layered molecular crystals of the type theta -D(2)A where A is an anion and D is a donor molecule such as bis-(ethylenedithia-tetrathiafulvalene) (BEDT-TTF), which is arranged in the theta -type pattern within the layers. We argue that the simplest strongly correlated electron model that can describe the rich phase diagram of these materials is the extended Hubbard model on the square lattice at one-quarter filling. In the limit where the Coulomb repulsion on a single site is large, the nearest-neighbor Coulomb repulsion V plays a crucial role. When V is much larger than the intermolecular hopping integral t the ground state is an insulator with charge ordering. In this phase antiferromagnetism arises due to a novel fourth-order superexchange process around a plaquette on the square lattice. We argue that the charge ordered phase is destroyed below a critical nonzero value V, of the order of t. Slave-boson theory is used to explicitly demonstrate this for the SU(N) generalization of the model, in the large-N limit. We also discuss the relevance of the model to the all-organic family beta-(BEDT-TTF)(2)SF5YSO3 where Y=CH2CF2, CH2, CHF.

A director theory for visco-elastic folding instabilities in multilayered rock

A model for finely layered visco-elastic rock proposed by us in previous papers is revisited and generalized to include couple stresses. We begin with an outline of the governing equations for the standard continuum case and apply a computational simulation scheme suitable for problems involving very large deformations. We then consider buckling instabilities in a finite, rectangular domain. Embedded within this domain, parallel to the longer dimension we consider a stiff, layered beam under compression. We analyse folding up to 40% shortening. The standard continuum solution becomes unstable for extreme values of the shear/normal viscosity ratio. The instability is a consequence of the neglect of the bending stiffness/viscosity in the standard continuum model. We suggest considering these effects within the framework of a couple stress theory. Couple stress theories involve second order spatial derivatives of the velocities/displacements in the virtual work principle. To avoid C-1 continuity in the finite element formulation we introduce the spin of the cross sections of the individual layers as an independent variable and enforce equality to the spin of the unit normal vector to the layers (-the director of the layer system-) by means of a penalty method. We illustrate the convergence of the penalty method by means of numerical solutions of simple shears of an infinite layer for increasing values of the penalty parameter. For the shear problem we present solutions assuming that the internal layering is oriented orthogonal to the surfaces of the shear layer initially. For high values of the ratio of the normal-to the shear viscosity the deformation concentrates in thin bands around to the layer surfaces. The effect of couple stresses on the evolution of folds in layered structures is also investigated. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The influence of the atmosphere on the sintering of aluminum

Alloys of Al, Al-0.15Mg, and Al-12Sn made using air atomized aluminum powder and pressed to green densities of 75 to 98 pet were sintered under argon or nitrogen. Sintering in argon is only effective at high green densities when magnesium is present. In contrast, highly porous aluminum can be sintered in nitrogen without the need for magnesium. The oxygen concentration in the gas is reduced by the aluminum through a self-gettering process. The outer layers of the porous powder compact serve as a getter for the inner layers such that the oxygen partial pressure is reduced deep within the pore network. Aluminum nitride then forms, either by direct reaction with the metal or by reduction of the oxide layer, and sintering follows.

Anisotropic convection model for the earth's mantle

The paper presents a theory for modeling flow in anisotropic, viscous rock. This theory has originally been developed for the simulation of large deformation processes including the folding and kinking of multi-layered visco-elastic rock (Muhlhaus et al. [1,2]). The orientation of slip planes in the context of crystallographic slip is determined by the normal vector - the director - of these surfaces. The model is applied to simulate anisotropic mantle convection. We compare the evolution of flow patterns, Nusselt number and director orientations for isotropic and anisotropic rheologies. In the simulations we utilize two different finite element methodologies: The Lagrangian Integration Point Method Moresi et al [8] and an Eulerian formulation, which we implemented into the finite element based pde solver Fastflo (www.cmis.csiro.au/Fastflo/). The reason for utilizing two different finite element codes was firstly to study the influence of an anisotropic power law rheology which currently is not implemented into the Lagrangian Integration point scheme [8] and secondly to study the numerical performance of Eulerian (Fastflo)- and Lagrangian integration schemes [8]. It turned out that whereas in the Lagrangian method the Nusselt number vs time plot reached only a quasi steady state where the Nusselt number oscillates around a steady state value the Eulerian scheme reaches exact steady states and produces a high degree of alignment (director orientation locally orthogonal to velocity vector almost everywhere in the computational domain). In the simulations emergent anisotropy was strongest in terms of modulus contrast in the up and down-welling plumes. Mechanisms for anisotropic material behavior in the mantle dynamics context are discussed by Christensen [3]. The dominant mineral phases in the mantle generally do not exhibit strong elastic anisotropy but they still may be oriented by the convective flow. Thus viscous anisotropy (the main focus of this paper) may or may not correlate with elastic or seismic anisotropy.

Predicting sheetwash and rill erosion over the Australian continent

Soil erosion is a major environmental issue in Australia. It reduces land productivity and has off-site effects of decreased water quality. Broad-scale spatially distributed soil erosion estimation is essential for prioritising erosion control programs and as a component of broader assessments of natural resource condition. This paper describes spatial modelling methods and results that predict sheetwash and rill erosion over the Australian continent using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) and spatial data layers for each of the contributing environmental factors. The RUSLE has been used before in this way but here we advance the quality of estimation. We use time series of remote sensing imagery and daily rainfall to incorporate the effects of seasonally varying cover and rainfall intensity, and use new digital maps of soil and terrain properties. The results are compared with a compilation of Australian erosion plot data, revealing an acceptable consistency between predictions and observations. The modelling results show that: (1) the northern part of Australia has greater erosion potential than the south; (2) erosion potential differs significantly between summer and winter; (3) the average erosion rate is 4.1 t/ha. year over the continent and about 2.9 x 10(9) tonnes of soil is moved annually which represents 3.9% of global soil erosion from 5% of world land area; and (4) the erosion rate has increased from 4 to 33 times on average for agricultural lands compared with most natural vegetated lands.

Neuroarchitecture of the color and polarization vision system of the stomatopod haptosquilla

The apposition compound eyes of stomatopod crustaceans contain a morphologically distinct eye region specialized for color and polarization vision, called the mid-band. In two stomatopod superfamilies, the mid-band is constructed from six rows of enlarged ommatidia containing multiple photoreceptor classes for spectral and polarization vision. The aim of this study was to begin to analyze the underlying neuroarchitecture, the design of which might reveal clues how the visual system interprets and communicates to deeper levels of the brain the multiple channels of information supplied by the retina. Reduced silver methods were used to investigate the axon pathways from different retinal regions to the lamina ganglionaris and from there to the medulla externa, the medulla interna, and the medulla terminalis. A swollen band of neuropil-here termed the accessory lobe-projects across the equator of. the lamina ganglionaris, the medulla externa, and the medulla interna and represents, structurally, the retina's mid-band. Serial semithin and ultrathin resin sections were used to reconstruct the projection of photoreceptor axons from the retina to the lamina ganglionaris. The eight axons originating from one ommatidium project to the same lamina cartridge. Seven short visual fibers end at two distinct levels in each lamina cartridge, thus geometrically separating the two channels of polarization and spectral information. The eighth visual fiber runs axially through the cartridge and terminates in the medulla externa. We conclude that spatial, color, and polarization information is divided into three parallel data streams from the retina to the central nervous system. (C) 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

A proteome analysis of conditioned media from human neonatal fibroblasts used in the maintenance of human embryonic stem cells

The pathways involved in the maintenance of human embryonic stem (hES) cells remain largely unknown, although some signaling pathways have been identified in mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells. Fibroblast feeder layers are used to maintain the undifferentiated growth of hES cells and an examination of the conditioned media (CM) of human neonatal fibroblasts (HNFs) could provide insights into the maintenance of hES cells. The neonatal foreskin fibroblast line (HNF02) used in this study was shown to have a normal 2n = 46, XY chromosomal complement and to support the undifferentiated growth of the Embryonic Stem Cell International Pte. Ltd.-hES3 cell line. The CM of HNF02 was examined using two-dimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (2-D LCMS) and two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) followed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight tandem mass spectrometry (2-DE/MALDI). A total of 102 proteins were identified, 19 by 2-DE/MALDI, 53 by 2-D LCMS and 30 by both techniques. These proteins were classified into 15 functional groups. Proteins identified in the extracellular matrix and differentiation and growth factor functional categories were considered most likely to be involved in the maintenance of hES cell growth, differentiation and pluripotency as these groups contained proteins involved in a variety of events including cell adhesion, cell proliferation and inhibition of cell proliferation, Writ signaling and inhibition of bone morphogenetic proteins.

Effects of Si content on defect band formation in hypoeutectic Al-Si die castings

Al-3-11% Si alloys have been high-pressure die-cast and characterized microstructurally. Alstruc was used to calculate the solidification characteristics and fraction of eutectic. Defect bands were observed at all Si contents, although their constitution, position and distinctiveness were a function of Si content. The defect bands contain a higher fraction Al-Si eutectic than the surroundings in all alloys, and porosity was additionally found in the band in AlSi3. With decreasing Si content, the defect bands formed closer to the casting surface, became more prevalent and also the width of the bands decreased. These differences are discussed by considering the effect of Si content on the distribution of solid in the mushy wall layers and on the feeding potentials of the alloys. The observations are consistent with the mechanism proposed by Gourlay et al. in which bands form due to deformation within the solidifying mushy wall layers. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ferromagnetism, paramagnetism, and a Curie-Weiss metal in an electron-doped Hubbard model on a triangular lattice

Motivated by the unconventional properties and rich phase diagram of NaxCoO2 we consider the electronic and magnetic properties of a two-dimensional Hubbard model on an isotropic triangular lattice doped with electrons away from half-filling. Dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) calculations predict that for negative intersite hopping amplitudes (t < 0) and an on-site Coulomb repulsion, U, comparable to the bandwidth, the system displays properties typical of a weakly correlated metal. In contrast, for t > 0 a large enhancement of the effective mass, itinerant ferromagnetism, and a metallic phase with a Curie-Weiss magnetic susceptibility are found in a broad electron doping range. The different behavior encountered is a consequence of the larger noninteracting density of states (DOS) at the Fermi level for t > 0 than for t < 0, which effectively enhances the mass and the scattering amplitude of the quasiparticles. The shape of the DOS is crucial for the occurrence of ferromagnetism as for t > 0 the energy cost of polarizing the system is much smaller than for t < 0. Our observation of Nagaoka ferromagnetism is consistent with the A-type antiferromagnetism (i.e., ferromagnetic layers stacked antiferromagnetically) observed in neutron scattering experiments on NaxCoO2. The transport and magnetic properties measured in NaxCoO2 are consistent with DMFT predictions of a metal close to the Mott insulator and we discuss the role of Na ordering in driving the system towards the Mott transition. We propose that the Curie-Weiss metal phase observed in NaxCoO2 is a consequence of the crossover from a bad metal with incoherent quasiparticles at temperatures T > T-* and Fermi liquid behavior with enhanced parameters below T-*, where T-* is a low energy coherence scale induced by strong local Coulomb electron correlations. Our analysis also shows that the one band Hubbard model on a triangular lattice is not enough to describe the unusual properties of NaxCoO2 and is used to identify the simplest relevant model that captures the essential physics in NaxCoO2. We propose a model which allows for the Na ordering phenomena observed in the system which, we propose, drives the system close to the Mott insulating phase even at large dopings.

The intercalated disc of monkey myocardial cells and Purkinje fibers as revealed by scanning electron microscopy

The intercalated discs of working myocardium and Purkinje fibers of the monkey heart were examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The NaOH/ultrasonication technique resulted in the digestion of connective tissue and a separation of the intercellular junctions of intercalated discs, such that these could be visualized three-dimensionally. The intercalated discs of ventricular myocytes, atrial myocytes and Purkinje fibers vary considerably in number and configuration, as do the intercalated discs of the three different layers of the ventricular myocardium. Myocytes in the subepicardial, middle and subendocardial layers of the ventricle have 1-3, 4-5 and 5-6 intercalated discs at the end of these cells, respectively, Those in the endocardial layer are characterized by the presence of small laterally-placed intercalated discs. Atrial myocytes and Purkinje fibers usually only have 1-2 intercalated discs, Individual intercalated discs in ventricular myocytes have complicated stairs with 10-30 steps and corresponding risers, while those of atrial myocytes and Purkinje fibers have simple stairs with 1-3 steps and risers, Steps equivalent to the plicate segments are characterized by densely-packed microplicae and finger-like microprojections which greatly increase surface area in vertricular myocytes, Microprojections in atrial myocytes and Purkinje fibers are sparse by comparison, Risers equivalent to the interplicate segments containing large gap junctional areas are most numerous in left ventricular myocytes, followed by right ventricular myocytes, Purkinje fibers and atrial myocytes in decreasing order. The geometric arrangement of the various types of myocytes may be related with impulse propagation. Large intercalated discs of cell trunks and series branches may participate in longitudinal propagation, while small laterally-placed ones may be the site of transverse propagation.