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Appropriate Location (appropriate + location)
Selected AbstractsModulation of calcium signalling by intracellular organelles seen with targeted aequorinsACTA PHYSIOLOGICA, Issue 1 2009M. T. Alonso Abstract The cytosolic Ca2+ signals that trigger cell responses occur either as localized domains of high Ca2+ concentration or as propagating Ca2+ waves. Cytoplasmic organelles, taking up or releasing Ca2+ to the cytosol, shape the cytosolic signals. On the other hand, Ca2+ concentration inside organelles is also important in physiology and pathophysiology. Comprehensive study of these matters requires to measure [Ca2+] inside organelles and at the relevant cytosolic domains. Aequorins, the best-known chemiluminescent Ca2+ probes, are excellent for this end as they do not require stressing illumination, have a large dynamic range and a sharp Ca2+ -dependence, can be targeted to the appropriate location and engineered to have the proper Ca2+ affinity. Using this methodology, we have evidenced the existence in chromaffin cells of functional units composed by three closely interrelated elements: (1) plasma membrane Ca2+ channels, (2) subplasmalemmal endoplasmic reticulum and (3) mitochondria. These Ca2+ -signalling triads optimize Ca2+ microdomains for secretion and prevent propagation of the Ca2+ wave towards the cell core. Oscillatory cytosolic Ca2+ signals originate also oscillations of mitochondrial Ca2+ in several cell types. The nuclear envelope slows down the propagation of the Ca2+ wave to the nucleus and filters high frequencies. On the other hand, inositol-trisphosphate may produce direct release of Ca2+ to the nucleoplasm in GH3 pituitary cells, thus providing mechanisms for selective nuclear signalling. Aequorins emitting at different wavelengths, prepared by fusion either with green or red fluorescent protein, permit simultaneous and independent monitorization of the Ca2+ signals in different subcellular domains within the same cell. [source] System identification of linear structures based on Hilbert,Huang spectral analysis.EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS, Issue 10 2003Part 2: Complex modes Abstract A method, based on the Hilbert,Huang spectral analysis, has been proposed by the authors to identify linear structures in which normal modes exist (i.e., real eigenvalues and eigenvectors). Frequently, all the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of linear structures are complex. In this paper, the method is extended further to identify general linear structures with complex modes using the free vibration response data polluted by noise. Measured response signals are first decomposed into modal responses using the method of Empirical Mode Decomposition with intermittency criteria. Each modal response contains the contribution of a complex conjugate pair of modes with a unique frequency and a damping ratio. Then, each modal response is decomposed in the frequency,time domain to yield instantaneous phase angle and amplitude using the Hilbert transform. Based on a single measurement of the impulse response time history at one appropriate location, the complex eigenvalues of the linear structure can be identified using a simple analysis procedure. When the response time histories are measured at all locations, the proposed methodology is capable of identifying the complex mode shapes as well as the mass, damping and stiffness matrices of the structure. The effectiveness and accuracy of the method presented are illustrated through numerical simulations. It is demonstrated that dynamic characteristics of linear structures with complex modes can be identified effectively using the proposed method. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] AGRICULTURAL EXPANSION IN NORTHERN ALBERTAGEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW, Issue 4 2002DAWN BOWEN ABSTRACT. Since the early 1980s some 40,000 acres of forested land have been cleared and placed under cultivation by Mennonite farmers near the small town of La Crete in northern Alberta's Peace River district. This incipient agriculture has been accompanied by dramatic increases in road building and home construction and by the establishment of churches and schools. The principal force behind the acquisition of land has been a desire of families to have homes in rural areas where they can enjoy lifestyles based on traditional Mennonite values. Because most new farmers cannot earn a living in the district from agriculture alone, they must rely on the wood industries to supplement their incomes. Demand is building for the province to open still more land, but disagreements between the government and the Mennonite community about the most appropriate location for developing new farms has put further expansion on hold until the conflict can be resolved. [source] Symposium 8: Regulation of Oligodendrocyte DevelopmentJOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY, Issue 2002R. H. Miller Oligodendrocyte precursors arise in restricted regions of the developing neuroepithelium due to local signals that include sonic hedgehog. In the spinal cord the founder cells of the oligodendrocyte lineage develop in a specific domain of the ventral ventricular zone. These cells or their progeny subsequently migrate long distances to populate the entire spinal cord and myelinate axons in the peripheral presumptive white matter. The majority of migration in the oligodendrocyte lineage is accomplished by immature precursors, which then stop, proliferate and differentiate in the appropriate location. Several distinct mechanisms appear to regulate this migration. The initial dispersal of cells from the ventral ventricular zone is guided by chemorepellent cues including netrin-1 present in the ventral ventricular domain. Migratory precursors are arrested in particular locations within the developing spinal cord as the result of the localized expression of the chemokine, CXCL1 by astrocytes. This chemokine, signalling through the CXCR2 receptor combines with PDGF to inhibit cell migration and enhance cell proliferation thereby facilitating the local expansion of the oligodendrocyte lineage and myelination of all relevant axons. [source] Finite element analysis of vent/hand hole designs for corrugated fibreboard boxesPACKAGING TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Issue 1 2007Jongkoo Han Abstract Corrugated fibreboard is an economical and efficient material for fabricating shipping containers that are widely used for the distribution, transportation and storage of goods. Corrugated fibreboard is usually considered to be an orthotropic material because the principal fibre directions, machine direction (MD) and cross-machine direction (CD), are identical to the fibres in paperboard, which has apparent directional property differences. The purpose of this study is to investigate the principal design parameters of ventilation holes and hand holes in the faces of the shipping container, (corrugated fibreboard boxes), using finite element analysis (FEA). Various designs of ventilation holes were studied with respect to stress distribution and stress level. It was found that the appropriate pattern and location of the ventilation holes were vertical oblong-shaped and symmetrically positioned within a certain extent of distance to the right and left from the centre of the front and rear faces of the boxes. On the other hand, the appropriate location and pattern of the hand holes were a short distance from the centre to the top of the boxes on both side faces. The appropriate pattern was a modified shape, such as the radius of curvature of both sides in horizontal oblong. The pattern and location of both the ventilation holes and the hand holes determined by the FEA simulation generally agreed well with laboratory experimental results. The decrease in compression strength of the box could be minimized with identical area of the ventilation holes if the length of the major axis of the ventilation hole is less than 1/4 of the depth of the box and the ratio of the minor axis to the major axis is 1/3.5,1/2.5, provided that even-numbered holes are located symmetrically. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & son, Ltd. [source] Intercellular adhesion and cell separation in plantsPLANT CELL & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 7 2003M. C. JARVIS ABSTRACT Adhesion between plant cells is a fundamental feature of plant growth and development, and an essential part of the strategy by which growing plants achieve mechanical strength. Turgor pressure provides non-woody plant tissues with mechanical rigidity and the driving force for growth, but at the same time it generates large forces tending to separate cells. These are resisted by reinforcing zones located precisely at the points of maximum stress. In dicots the reinforcing zones are occupied by networks of specific pectic polymers. The mechanisms by which these networks cohere vary and are not fully understood. In the Poaceae their place is taken by phenolic cross-linking of arabinoxylans. Whatever the reinforcing polymers, a targeting mechanism is necessary to ensure that they become immobilized at the appropriate location, and there are secretory mutants that appear to have defects in this mechanism and hence are defective in cell adhesion. At the outer surface of most plant parts, the tendency of cells to cohere is blocked, apparently by the cuticle. Mutants with lesions in the biosynthesis of cuticular lipids show aberrant surface adhesion and other developmental abnormalities. When plant cells separate, the polymer networks that join them are locally dismantled with surgical precision. This occurs during the development of intercellular spaces; during the abscission of leaves and floral organs; during the release of seeds and pollen; during differentiation of root cap cells; and during fruit ripening. Each of these cell separation processes has its own distinctive features. Cell separation can also be induced during cooking or processing of fruit and vegetables, and the degree to which it occurs is a significant quality characteristic in potatoes, pulses, tomatoes, apples and other fruit. Control over these technological characteristics will be facilitated by understanding the role of cell adhesion and separation in the life of plants. [source] The influence of scale and geography on relationships between stream community composition and landscape variables: description and predictionFRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2003Colin R. Townsend SUMMARY 1.,We analysed an existing database of macroinvertebrates and fish in the context of a newly established geographical information system (GIS) of physical features to determine the relationships between stream community composition and physical factors measured at three landscape scales , catchment, reach and bedform. Both an exploratory (concordance analysis) and a predictive (ausrivas) approach were used. 2.,The environmental variables that most successfully accounted for variation in macroinvertebrate assemblages were mainly ,natural' and at the catchment-scale (relief ratio, basin diameter, etc.) but the human-induced physical setting of percentage of pasture in the riparian zone was also influential. For fish, ,natural' variables were also dominant, but these were mostly at the bedform or reach scales and land use featured strongly. 3.,Geographic location accounted for some of the variation in invertebrate assemblages, partly because geography and influential conditions/resources are correlated but also because different species may have evolved in different places and have not colonised every ,ecologically appropriate' location. Geographic location was not influential in accounting for variation in assemblages of strongly flying invertebrates, supporting the hypothesis that organisms having high dispersal potential can be expected to break down geographic barriers more readily than those with poor dispersal powers. In accord with what is known about the local evolution and restricted distributions of native and exotic species, history (reflected in geography) appeared to account for some variation in fish assemblages. 4.,Given their different mathematical bases, the fact that exploratory and predictive analyses yielded similar results provides added confidence to our conclusions. [source] | |||||||||||||