Recent evidence has revealed the importance of reciprocal functional interactions between different types of mononuclear cells in coordinating the repair of injured muscles. In particular, signals ...released from the inflammatory infiltrate and from mesenchymal interstitial cells (also known as fibro-adipogenic progenitors (FAPs)) appear to instruct muscle stem cells (satellite cells) to break quiescence, proliferate and differentiate. Interestingly, conditions that compromise the functional integrity of this network can bias muscle repair toward pathological outcomes that are typically observed in chronic muscular disorders, that is, fibrotic and fatty muscle degeneration as well as myofiber atrophy. In this review, we will summarize the current knowledge on the regulation of this network in physiological and pathological conditions, and anticipate the potential contribution of its cellular components to relatively unexplored conditions, such as aging and physical exercise.
In a fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) structure designed using the emerging damage tolerance and structural health monitoring philosophy, sensors and models that describe crack propagation will enable ...a structure to operate despite the presence of damage by fully exploiting the material's mechanical properties. When applying this concept to different structures, sensor systems and damage types, a combination of damage mechanics, monitoring technology, and modelling is required. The primary objective of this article is to demonstrate such a combination. This article is divided in three main topics: the damage mechanism (delamination of FRP), the structural health monitoring technology (fibre Bragg gratings to detect delamination), and the finite element method model of the structure that incorporates these concepts into a final and integrated damage-monitoring concept. A novel method for assessing a crack growth/damage event in fibre-reinforced polymer or structural adhesive-bonded structures using embedded fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensors is presented by combining conventional measured parameters, such as wavelength shift, with parameters associated with measurement errors, typically ignored by the end-user. Conjointly, a novel model for sensor output prediction (virtual sensor) was developed using this FBG sensor crack monitoring concept and implemented in a finite element method code. The monitoring method was demonstrated and validated using glass fibre double cantilever beam specimens instrumented with an array of FBG sensors embedded in the material and tested using an experimental fracture procedure. The digital image correlation technique was used to validate the model prediction by correlating the specific sensor response caused by the crack with the developed model.
Divergent mitonuclear coadaptation could facilitate speciation. We investigate this possibility in two hybridizing species of warblers, Setophaga occidentalis and S. townsendi, in western North ...America. Inland S. townsendi harbor distinct mitochondrial DNA haplotypes from those of S. occidentalis. These populations also differ in several nuclear DNA regions. Coastal S. townsendi demonstrate mixed mitonuclear ancestry from S. occidentalis and inland S. townsendi. Of the few highly-differentiated chromosomal regions between inland S. townsendi and S. occidentalis, a 1.2 Mb gene block on chromosome 5 is also differentiated between coastal and inland S. townsendi. Genes in this block are associated with fatty acid oxidation and energy-related signaling transduction, thus linked to mitochondrial functions. Genetic variation within this candidate gene block covaries with mitochondrial DNA and shows signatures of divergent selection. Spatial variation in mitonuclear ancestries is correlated with climatic conditions. Together, these observations suggest divergent mitonuclear coadaptation underpins cryptic differentiation in this species complex.
Vegan diets - defined as the exclusion of all foods of animal origin from the diet- are becoming popular. In recent years, the prevalence of food allergy has also increased, and disproportionately ...affects children. When vegan diets and food allergy co-occur, this combination can be challenging and pose risks of nutritional deficiencies, particularly during childhood. In this paper, we aim to summarise the major concerns regarding vegan diets and food allergy, review the literature on this topic, and provide some suggestions for healthcare providers, particularly dietitians and nutritionists, who work with food allergic, vegan patients and their family. When working with this patient population, a regular and complete medical nutrition history, including screening for any possible nutritional deficiencies, is warranted. Likewise, the routine tracking of serum markers (especially iodine, iron, zinc, calcium, Vitamins B12, D, B2, and A, selected n-3 fatty acids and protein, which are more abundant in animal vs. plant foods) and symptoms of co-morbid diseases, including asthma, is important, as comorbid diseases may increase energy and nutrient requirements. For infants and children, anthropometry ought to be tracked longitudinally at regular intervals to identify any deviations from the child's previous growth pattern, and to accommodate any increased requirements for growth and development. Correct diagnoses, education and allergy management must be disseminated to the family in a clear and appropriate manner. Children with allergy may have increased nutritional needs due to comorbidity. This is complicated by coincident food allergy and vegan diet as both impose diet restrictions (limiting sources of important nutrients, need for dietary variety and/or increased consumption due to reduced bioavaliability).
A novel method to obtain independent strain and temperature measurements using embedded Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) in polymeric tensile test specimens is presented in this paper. The FBG strain and ...temperature cross-sensitivity was decoupled using two single mode FBG sensors, which were embedded in the specimen material with a certain angle between them. It is demonstrated that, during temperature variation, both FBG sensors show the same signal response. However, for any applied load the signal response is different, which is caused by the different levels of strain acting in each sensor. Equations to calculate independently the strain and temperature are presented in the article, together with a measurement resolution study.
This multi-parameter measurement method was applied to an epoxy tensile specimen, tested in a unidirectional tensile test machine with a temperature controlled cabinet. A full calibration procedure (temperature and strain) was performed to this material-sensor pair, where a calibration error < 1% was achieved. This was followed by a strain-temperature test case, where multiple two loading/strain stages of ε = 0.30% and ε = 0.50% were applied during a continuous variation of temperature, from 40 °C to –10 °C.
The consistency of the expected theoretical results with the calibration procedure and the experimental validation shows that this proposed method is applicable to measure accurate strain and temperature in polymers during static or fatigue tensile testing. Two different calibration protocols are presented and analysed.
This work investigates hygrothermal aging degradation of unidirectional glass/epoxy composite specimens through a combination of experiments and numerical modeling. Aging is performed through ...immersion in demineralized water. Interlaminar shear testes are performed after multiple conditioning times and after single immersion/redrying cycles. Degradation of the fiber-matrix interface is estimated using single-fiber fragmentation tests and reverse modeling combining analytical and numerical models. A fractographic analysis of specimens aged at 50°C and 65°C is performed through X-ray computed tomography. The aging process is modeled using a numerical framework combining a diffusion analysis with a concurrent multiscale model with embedded hyper-reduced micromodels. At the microscale, a pressure-dependent viscoelastic/viscoplastic model with damage is used for the resin and fiber-matrix debonding is modeled with a cohesive-zone model including friction. A comparison between numerical and experimental results is performed.
•Experiments and numerical models are used to investigate hot/wet aging in composites.•ILSS tests and X-ray micro CT scans are conducted on both unaged and aged specimens.•A multiphysics/multiscale numerical framework is used to simulate the aging process.•The micromodels feature a VE/VP/D epoxy model and cohesive interfaces with friction.•A hyper-reduced micromodel is obtained by combining the POD and ECM techniques.
The European Space Agency’s Planck satellite, dedicated to studying the early Universe and its subsequent evolution, was launched 14 May 2009 and has been scanning the microwave and submillimetre sky ...continuously since 12 August 2009. In March 2013, ESA and the Planck Collaboration released the initial cosmology products based on the first 15.5 months of Planck data, along with a set of scientific and technical papers and a web-based explanatory supplement. This paper gives an overview of the mission and its performance, the processing, analysis, and characteristics of the data, the scientific results, and the science data products and papers in the release. The science products include maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and diffuse extragalactic foregrounds, a catalogue of compact Galactic and extragalactic sources, and a list of sources detected through the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect. The likelihood code used to assess cosmological models against the Planck data and a lensing likelihood are described. Scientific results include robust support for the standard six-parameter ΛCDM model of cosmology and improved measurements of its parameters, including a highly significant deviation from scale invariance of the primordial power spectrum. The Planck values for these parameters and others derived from them are significantly different from those previously determined. Several large-scale anomalies in the temperature distribution of the CMB, first detected by WMAP, are confirmed with higher confidence. Planck sets new limits on the number and mass of neutrinos, and has measured gravitational lensing of CMB anisotropies at greater than 25σ. Planck finds no evidence for non-Gaussianity in the CMB. Planck’s results agree well with results from the measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations. Planck finds a lower Hubble constant than found in some more local measures. Some tension is also present between the amplitude of matter fluctuations (σ8) derived from CMB data and that derived from Sunyaev-Zeldovich data. The Planck and WMAP power spectra are offset from each other by an average level of about 2% around the first acoustic peak. Analysis of Planck polarization data is not yet mature, therefore polarization results are not released, although the robust detection of E-mode polarization around CMB hot and cold spots is shown graphically.
Serotonergic systems play important roles in modulating behavioral arousal, including behavioral arousal and vigilance associated with anxiety states. To further our understanding of the neural ...systems associated with increases in anxiety states, we investigated the effects of multiple anxiogenic drugs on topographically organized subpopulations of serotonergic neurons using double immunohistochemical staining for c-Fos and tryptophan hydroxylase combined with topographical analysis of the rat dorsal raphe nucleus (DR). Anxiogenic drugs with diverse pharmacological properties including the adenosine receptor antagonist caffeine, the serotonin 5-HT
2A/2C receptor agonist
m-chlorophenyl piperazine (mCPP), the α
2-adrenoreceptor antagonist yohimbine, and the benzodiazepine receptor partial inverse agonist
N-methyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxamide (FG-7142) induced increases in behavioral arousal and vigilance behaviors consistent with an increase in anxiety state. In addition, these anxiogenic drugs, excluding yohimbine, had convergent actions on an anatomically-defined subset of serotonergic neurons within the middle and caudal, dorsal subdivision of the DR. High resolution topographical analysis revealed that at the mid-rostrocaudal level, caffeine and FG-7142 had convergent effects on c-Fos expression in serotonergic neurons that were restricted to a previously undefined region, which we have named the shell region of the dorsal part of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRDSh), that overlaps the anatomical border between the dorsal part of the dorsal raphe nucleus, the ventral part of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRV), and the ventrolateral part of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRVL). Retrograde tracing methods revealed that DRDSh contains large numbers of neurons projecting to the basolateral amygdaloid nucleus, a forebrain structure important for emotional appraisal and modulation of anxiety-related physiological and behavioral responses. Together these findings support the hypothesis that there is a functional topographical organization in the DR and are consistent with the hypothesis that anxiogenic drugs have selective actions on a subpopulation of serotonergic neurons projecting to a distributed central autonomic and emotional motor control system regulating anxiety states and anxiety-related physiological and behavioral responses.
Strain gauges are used together with the corresponding gauge factor to relate the relative electrical resistance change of the strain gauge with the strain of the underlying material. The gauge ...factor is found from a calibration on a stiff material - steel. Nevertheless, the gauge factor depends on the stiffness of the calibration material and ideally the calibration should be done on a similar material as tested. In practice, the gauge factor found by the strain gauge manufacturer is often used. The paper documents that even for moderately stiff materials such as glass-fibre composites a significant error is found on the strain measurements obtained by the strain gauges. This is documented both experimentally and numerically. A stiffness, also test sample and strain gauge geometry dependent correction coefficient of the gauge factor is proposed. A correction coefficient covers material stiffnesses ranging from 1 GPa to 200 GPa.
In the presented study, it has been studied how tensile/tensile fatigue damage will develop in quasi-unidirectional non-crimp fabric based glass fibre epoxy matrix composites. A material system ...conventionally used as the load carrying laminates in wind turbine blades. It will be demonstrated by stopping a tensile/tensile fatigue test before the final material failure, how 3D X-ray computer tomography (x-ray CT) can be used for determining fibre failure inside the composite material. Due to the rather coarse bundle-structure of the non-crimp fabrics investigated, a relative large cross section area of the test-sample is necessary in order for testing a representative material volume. Therefore, the x-ray CT technique is used in a scout and zoom test-setup where a scout scan of the 15 mm large cross-section is used for identifying the damage region, while the subsequently zoom scan of a 2-3 mm field of view region is used for determine the fibre failures. This scan-setup is non-destructive, and it is therefore possible to obtain a number of scans during the fatigue damage development. Thereby, it is found that the fibre failure are mainly occurring close to points where the load carrying uni-directional fibre bundles are in close contact with the crossing points of secondary oriented fibre bundles, the so-called backing bundles.
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