Range-dependence compensation in bistatic radar STAP

Conference (2004)

Range-dependence Issues in Multistatic STAP-based Radar

Conference (2006)

Ranging behaviour and sleeping sites of Macaca fascicularis in Bali Barat National Park, Indonesia

Conference (2012, August 15)

Ranging behaviour and sleeping site selection are important primate behavioural traits likely to vary under environmental changes. We tested the role of ecological (predation avoidance) and anthropic ... [more ▼]

Ranging behaviour and sleeping site selection are important primate behavioural traits likely to vary under environmental changes. We tested the role of ecological (predation avoidance) and anthropic (human proximity) factors in Macaca fascicularis range use, an edge species known to prefer living along forests borders and in the vicinity of human settlements. Data result from 56 day follows of one group of Macaca fascicularis exploiting a human-modified landscape within Bali Barat National Park (Indonesia). Observations allowed identifying and describing 17 sleeping sites and the characteristics of 37 sleeping trees. Despite a large forest area available, the group’s home range centred around human settlements. The home range size, average daily range and daily travel decreased over the study period, while the human presence inside the park increased over the corresponding months. The proximity with humans also influenced the pattern of sleeping sites use; macaques slept more than expected close to human settlements and this tendency increased over the study period. In contradiction with the predation avoidance assumption, macaques did not choose sleeping trees significantly taller and larger than other trees available. We conclude that the observed sleeping site strategy (sleeping near humans) could be advantageous in terms of predator avoidance and proximity with human food, but additional influences should not be neglected. [less ▲]

A Rank-Based Nonparametric Method for Mapping Quantitative Trait Loci in Outbred Half-Sib Pedigrees: Application to Milk Production in a Granddaughter Design

in Genetics (1998), 149(3), 1547-55

We describe the development of a multipoint nonparametric quantitative trait loci mapping method based on the Wilcoxon rank-sum test applicable to outbred half-sib pedigrees. The method has been evaluated ... [more ▼]

We describe the development of a multipoint nonparametric quantitative trait loci mapping method based on the Wilcoxon rank-sum test applicable to outbred half-sib pedigrees. The method has been evaluated on a simulated dataset and its efficiency compared with interval mapping by using regression. It was shown that the rank-based approach is slightly inferior to regression when the residual variance is homoscedastic normal; however, in three out of four other scenarios envisaged, i.e., residual variance heteroscedastic normal, homoscedastic skewed, and homoscedastic positively kurtosed, the latter outperforms the former one. Both methods were applied to a real data set analyzing the effect of bovine chromosome 6 on milk yield and composition by using a 125-cM map comprising 15 microsatellites and a granddaughter design counting 1158 Holstein-Friesian sires. [less ▲]

Rankine cycle for waste heat recovery on commercial trucks: approach, constraints and modelling

(2010, May)

With increasing oil price and growing interest in cutting green house gases emissions, waste heat recovery techniques appear as a very promising path to enhance engine thermal efficiency ... [more ▼]

With increasing oil price and growing interest in cutting green house gases emissions, waste heat recovery techniques appear as a very promising path to enhance engine thermal efficiency. Thermoelectricity and Rankine cycles are two possible ways to recover thermal energy. The Rankine cycle shows the highest potential due to its higher cycle efficiency in comparison with the current state-of-the-art thermoelectric materials intrinsic conversion ratio. This paper will focus on the Rankine cycle system. The first part of the paper lists and describes the constraints of a heat recovery Rankine cycle system associated to a long haulage truck: limitation of heat available in the heat source, vehicle heat rejection constraints, safety and environmental issues for the working fluid, and backpressures occurring during the heat recovery process. The second part of the paper presents a 0-D simulation model of a Rankine cycle system. It is shown how the model can be used to compare the performance achieved with several working fluids. Moreover, basic thermodynamic limitations of the system are underlined. Conclusions are drawn concerning the limitation of using only thermodynamic simulations. The performance of the condenser (and its influence on the overall performance) has been investigated more in details, which is shown in the third part of the paper. This was carried out based on a 1-D simulation model of the condenser. Influence of the condenser size and ram air effect are discussed, and the impact on the Rankine cycle is assessed. [less ▲]

RANSAC-based Flight Parameter Estimation for Registration-based Range-dependence Compensation in Airborne Bistatic STAP Radar with Conformal Antenna Arrays

Conference (2006)

Rapamycin Delays Xenogeneic Acute Graft Versus Host Disease (aGVHD) in Nod/Scid/Il2RγNull (NSG) Mice: Impact of Regulatory T Cells

Poster (2011, February)

Rapamycin prevents experimental sclerodermatous chronic graft-versus-host disease in mice

Conference (2012)

Background: The most widely used mice model of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD) is an MHC-matched bone marrow transplantation model of sclerodermatous cGvHD. A limitation of that model is that ... [more ▼]

Background: The most widely used mice model of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD) is an MHC-matched bone marrow transplantation model of sclerodermatous cGvHD. A limitation of that model is that mortality is relatively low, making difficult to study the impact of potentially therapeutic compounds. Aims: To develop a more severe model of cGVHD and to assess the impact of Rapamycin administration in that model. Results: Lethally irradiated Balb/C mice were injected with 10x106 bone marrow cells and 70x106 splenocytes from B10.D2 donor mice. Twenty-one days later, all mice developed cGvHD. For the severe model, donor B10.D2 mice were injected with 0.5x106 splenocytes from Balb/C twenty-one days before transplantation. All mice from the severe model (n=8) died a median of 32 days while 3 of 7 mice in the classical model survived beyond day 52. Mean survival was decreased in the severe model compared to the classical model (32 days versus 37 days; p=0.0185). Recipient mice in the severe group experienced higher weight loss, hair loss and skin fi brosis. Numbers of T lymphocytes (231.9 ± 151.4 versus 951 ± 532.8; p=0.0032) and CD4+ T cells (63.25 ± 41.93 versus 135.0 ± 14.39; p=0.0018) per microliter of blood at day 21 were lower in the severe group than in the classical model. Moreover, number of regulatory T cells (Tregs) was decreased in the severe model (1.250 ± 0.8864 versus 8.000 ± 6.753; p=0.0151). We then investigated whether rapamycin administration could prevent GVHD in the severe model. All (n=8) mice treated with PBS (placebo) died a median of 32 days after transplantation, while 6 of 8 mice given 1 mg/kg/day i.p. rapamycin survived beyond day 52 (p=0.0012). Number of Tregs/μl was higher at day 21 in rapamycin-treated mice than in mice given PBS (2.000±1.195 versus 1.250±0.8864; p=0.0796). Moreover, number of naïve CD4+T (10.00±4.192 versus 30.25±5.185; p= 0.0089) and effector memory T cells (EMT) (30.67±3.180 versus 67.33±7.881; p= 0.0125) were higher in rapamycin mice. Finally, proliferation of EMT (assessed by fl ow cytometry using Ki-67) was higher in PBS than in rapamycin mice (45.28%±4.084 versus 31.90%± 2.003; p=0.0474). Conclusion: We have developed a mice model of severe cGVHD. Interestingly, rapamycin prevented death from cGVHD in that model, perhaps through in vivo expansion of Treg. [less ▲]

Rapamycin, FK506 and cyclosporin A inhibit human prolactin gene expression

in FEBS Letters (1995), 358(2), 158-60

In this work we demonstrate that transcription of the human prolactin gene is inhibited by the immunosuppressants FK506 (IC50 = 25 nM), cyclosporin A (IC50 = 190 nM) and rapamycin (IC50 = 25 nM). Whereas ... [more ▼]

In this work we demonstrate that transcription of the human prolactin gene is inhibited by the immunosuppressants FK506 (IC50 = 25 nM), cyclosporin A (IC50 = 190 nM) and rapamycin (IC50 = 25 nM). Whereas the effect of FK506 and cyclosporin A is specific for prolactin gene transcription, rapamycin has a more general effect on transcription and/or translation in pituitary cells. In view of recent work demonstrating the immunoactivating role of prolactin, these results suggest that inhibition of prolactin gene expression in the pituitary may contribute to the mechanism of action of immunosuppressants. [less ▲]

Rapid action on neuroplasticity precedes behavioral activation by testosterone.

in Hormones & Behavior (2008), 54(4), 488-95

Testosterone has been shown to increase the volume of steroid-sensitive brain nuclei in adulthood in several vertebrate species. In male Japanese quail the volume of the male-biased sexually dimorphic ... [more ▼]

Testosterone has been shown to increase the volume of steroid-sensitive brain nuclei in adulthood in several vertebrate species. In male Japanese quail the volume of the male-biased sexually dimorphic medial preoptic nucleus (POM), a key brain area for the control of male sexual behavior, is markedly increased by testosterone. Previous studies assessed this effect after a period of 8-14 days but the exact time course of these effects is unknown. We asked here whether testosterone-dependent POM plasticity could be observed at shorter latencies. Brains from castrated male quail were collected after 1, 2, 7 and 14 days of T treatment (CX+T) and compared to brains of untreated castrates (CX) collected after 1 or 14 days. POM volumes defined either by Nissl staining or by aromatase immunohistochemistry increased in a time-dependent fashion in CX+T subjects and almost doubled after 14 days of treatment with testosterone while no change was observed in CX birds. A significant increase in the average POM volume was detected after only one day of testosterone treatment. The optical density of Nissl and aromatase staining was also increased after one or two days of testosterone treatment. Activation of male copulatory behavior followed these morphological changes with a latency of approximately one day. This rapid neurochemical and neuroanatomical plasticity observed in the quail POM thus seems to limit the activation of male sexual behavior and offers an excellent model to analyze features of steroid-regulated brain structure and function that determine behavior expression. [less ▲]