Large-scale low-energy excitations in 3-d spin glasses

We numerically extract large-scale excitations above the ground state in the 3-dimensional Edwards-Anderson spin glass with Gaussian couplings. We find that associated energies are O(1), in agreement with the mean field picture. Of further interest are the position-space properties of these excitations. First, our study of their topological properties show that the majority of the large-scale excitations are sponge-like. Second, when probing their geometrical properties, we find that the excitations coarsen when the system size is increased. We conclude that either finite size effects are very large even when the spin overlap q is close to zero, or the mean field picture of homogeneous excitations has to be modified.Comment: 11 pages, typos corrected, added reference

Placental DEPTOR as a stress sensor during pregnancy

The author(s) has paid for this article to be freely available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Copyright @ 2012 Portland Press. The article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.DEPTOR [DEP-domain-containing and mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin)-interacting protein] is a modulator of mTOR signalling that binds to mTORC (mTOR complex) 1 and mTORC2. However, to date, the precise functions of DEPTOR are not fully elucidated, particularly in reproductive tissues where mTOR acts as a placental nutrient sensor. Pregnancy is associated with major physiological and psychosocial changes and adaptation to these changes is crucial for normal fetal development. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that maternal stress can affect mTOR signalling at term, and, as a result, influence placental growth. We first investigated the expression of DEPTOR, mTOR, rictor (rapamycin-insensitive companion of mTOR) and raptor (regulatory associated protein of mTOR) from human placentas (n=23) using Q-PCR (quantitative PCR), and correlated these data to days of pregnancy and maternal stress, as well as placental and fetal weight. Maternal and fetal cortisol levels were also measured. JEG-3 and BeWo cells, used as placental in vitro models, were treated with cortisol and DEPTOR expression was assessed using Q-PCR. DEPTOR appears to be the predominant transcript in the human placenta compared with mTOR, rictor and raptor in both term (n=13) and preterm (n=10) placentas as assessed by Q-PCR. There was a significantly lower level only of log-DEPTOR gene expression in the high stress group (-1.34) than in the low stress group (0.07; t₂₀=2.41, P=0.026). Interestingly, mothers with high stress had significantly elevated levels of cortisol (8555 pg/ml) compared with those with low stress (4900 pg/ml). We then tested the hypothesis that cortisol can directly affect DEPTOR expression. When BeWo cells were treated with cortisol 10, 100 and 1000 nM, the expression of DEPTOR was significantly down-regulated by 50, 41 and 39% (all P<0.05) respectively when compared with basal levels. Treatment of JEG-3 cells with cortisol, led to a significant decrease of DEPTOR expression at 100 nM (39%, P<0.05) and at 1000 nM (73%, P<0.01). These novel findings are indicative of a higher order of complexity of DEPTOR signalling in the human placenta that is affected by maternal stress, which could affect pregnancy outcome

Synthesis of Regioselectively Acylated Quercetin Analogues with Improved Antiplatelet Activity

The aim of the present study was to report on a complete synthetic approach, namely benzylation-hydrolysis-acylation-hydrogenation, to the synthesis of regioselectively acylated quercetin analogues using low-cost rutin as a starting material. Three quercetin analogues, quercetin-3-O-propionate (Q-pr), quercetin-3-O-butyrate (Q-bu) and quercetin-3-O-valerate (Q-va), containing 3-, 4- and 5-carbon aliphatic acyl chains, respectively, were synthesized and characterized with 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), 13C NMR and mass spectrometry. Compared with quercetin, all three analogues exhibited improved lipophilicity. The lipophilicity of the analogue increased with increasing acyl chain length. Q-va exhibited the highest lipophilicity among the three analogues, but a lower water solubility compared with quercetin. By contrast, Q-pr and Q-bu exhibited 8.2- and 4.7-fold higher water solubility compared with quercetin, respectively. The in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that Q-pr and Q-bu were more effective whereas Q-va was less effective in inhibiting platelet aggregation compared with quercetin. These results indicated that the water solubility and the lipophilicity of the analogues must be improved in order to achieve higher antiplatelet activity, and an optimal acyl chain length is crucial for the synthesized quercetin analogues to be more effective

Microfluidic method for rapid turbidimetric detection of the DNA of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using loop-mediated isothermal amplification in capillary tubes

We describe a microfluidic method for rapid isothermal turbidimetric detection of the DNA of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification is accomplished in capillary tubes for amplifying DNA in less than 15 min, and sensitivity and specificity were compared to conventional loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). The method can detect as little as 1 pg mL−1 DNA in a sample. Results obtained with clinical specimens indicated 90 % sensitivity and 95 % specificity for microfluidic LAMP in comparison to culture methods. No interference occurred due to the presence of nonspecific DNAs. The findings demonstrate the power of the new microfluidic LAMP test for rapid molecular detection of microorganisms even when using bare eyes. © 2014, Springer-Verlag Wien

Experimental pressure drop investigation of wetting and nonwetting mercury condensing in uniformly tapered tubes

Pressure drop of wetting and nonwetting mercury condensing in tapered tubes - turbogenerator system

The associations of adipokines with selected markers of the renin-angiotensinogen-aldosterone system: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis.

Among obese individuals, increased sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity results in increased renin and aldosterone production, as well as renal tubular sodium reabsorption. This study determined the associations between adipokines and selected measures of the renin-angiotensinogen-aldosterone system (RAAS). The sample consisted of 1970 men and women from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis who were free of clinical cardiovascular disease at baseline and had blood assayed for adiponectin, leptin, plasma renin activity (PRA) and aldosterone. The mean age was 64.7 years and 50% were female. The mean (s.d.) PRA and aldosterone were 1.45 (0.56) ng ml(-1) and 150.1 (130.5) pg ml(-1), respectively. After multivariable adjustment, a 1-s.d. increment of leptin was associated with a 0.55 ng ml(-1) higher PRA and 8.4 pg ml(-1) higher aldosterone (P&lt;0.01 for both). Although adiponectin was not significantly associated with PRA levels, the same increment in this adipokine was associated with lower aldosterone levels (-5.5 pg ml(-1), P=0.01). Notably, the associations between aldosterone and both leptin and adiponectin were not materially changed with additional adjustment for PRA. Exclusion of those taking antihypertensive medications modestly attenuated the associations. The associations between leptin and both PRA and aldosterone were not different by gender but were significantly stronger among non-Hispanic Whites and Chinese Americans than African and Hispanic Americans (P&lt;0.01). The findings suggest that both adiponectin and leptin may be relevant to blood pressure regulation via the RAAS, in that the associations appear to be robust to antihypertension medication use and that the associations are likely different by ethnicity

Patterns of Proinflammatory Cytokines and Inhibitors during Typhoid Fever

Cytokines and inhibitors in plasma were measured in 44 patients with typhoid fever. Ex vivo production of the cytokines was analyzed in a whole blood culture system with and without lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Acute phase circulating concentrations of cytokines (±SD) were as follows: interleukin (IL)-Iβ, <140 pg/mL; tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFa), 130 ± 50 pg/mL; IL-6, 96 ± 131 pg/mL; and IL-8, 278 ± 293 pg/mL. Circulating inhibitors were elevated in the acute phase: IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) was 2304 ± 1427 pg/mL and soluble TNF receptors 55 and 75 were 4973 ± 2644 pg/mL and 22,865 ± 15,143 pg/mL, respectively. LPS-stimulated production of cytokines was lower during the acute phase than during convalescence (mean values: IL-Iβ, 2547 vs. 6576 pg/mL; TNFα, 2609 vs. 6338 pg/mL; IL-6, 2416 vs. 7713 pg/mL), LPS-stimulated production of IL-1RA was higher in the acute than during the convalescent phase (5608 vs. 3977 pg/mL). Inhibited production of cytokines during the acute phase may bedue to a switch from a proinflammatory to an antiinflammatory mod