9,303 research outputs found
Suppression of Charge Equilibration leading to the Synthesis of Exotic Nuclei
Charge equilibration between two colliding nuclei can take place in the early
stage of heavy-ion collisions. A basic mechanism of charge equilibration is
presented in terms of the extension of single-particle motion from one nucleus
to the other, from which the upper energy-limit of the bombarding energy is
introduced for significant charge equilibration at the early stage of the
collision. The formula for this limit is presented, and is compared to various
experimental data. It is examined also by comparison to three-dimensional
time-dependent density functional calculations. The suppression of charge
equilibration, which appears in collisions at the energies beyond the upper
energy-limit, gives rise to remarkable effects on the synthesis of exotic
nuclei with extreme proton-neutron asymmetry.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Asymmetric synthesis of gonytolide A: strategic use of an aryl halide blocking group for oxidative coupling
The first synthesis of the chromanone lactone dimer gonytolide A has been achieved employing vanadium(V)-mediated oxidative coupling of the monomer gonytolide C. An o-bromine blocking group strategy was employed to favor para- para coupling and to enable kinetic resolution of (±)-gonytolide C. Asymmetric conjugate reduction enabled practical kinetic resolution of a chiral, racemic precursor and the asymmetric synthesis of (+)-gonytolide A and its atropisomer.We thank the National Institutes of Health (R35 GM-118173) for research support. Work at the BU-CMD is supported by NIH R24 Grant GM-111625. We thank Prof. Scott Miller and Dr. Anthony Metrano (Yale University) for helpful discussions and preliminary experiments. We thank the Uehara Memorial Foundation for a postdoctoral fellowship to T.I., the American Cancer Society for a postdoctoral fellowship to K.D.R. (PF-16-235-01-CDD), Dr. Jeffrey Bacon (Boston University) for X-ray crystal structure analyses, and Prof. Haruhisa Kikuchi (Tohoku University) for providing a natural sample of gonytolide A. NMR (CHE-0619339) and MS (CHE-0443618) facilities at Boston University are supported by the NSF. (R35 GM-118173 - National Institutes of Health; GM-111625 - NIH; Uehara Memorial Foundation; PF-16-235-01-CDD - American Cancer Society; CHE-0619339 - NSF; CHE-0443618 - NSF
Cohomogeneity one manifolds and selfmaps of nontrivial degree
We construct natural selfmaps of compact cohomgeneity one manifolds with
finite Weyl group and compute their degrees and Lefschetz numbers. On manifolds
with simple cohomology rings this yields in certain cases relations between the
order of the Weyl group and the Euler characteristic of a principal orbit. We
apply our construction to the compact Lie group SU(3) where we extend identity
and transposition to an infinite family of selfmaps of every odd degree. The
compositions of these selfmaps with the power maps realize all possible degrees
of selfmaps of SU(3).Comment: v2, v3: minor improvement
Nonadiabatic generation of coherent phonons
The time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) is the leading
computationally feasible theory to treat excitations by strong electromagnetic
fields. Here the theory is applied to coherent optical phonon generation
produced by intense laser pulses. We examine the process in the crystalline
semimetal antimony (Sb), where nonadiabatic coupling is very important. This
material is of particular interest because it exhibits strong phonon coupling
and optical phonons of different symmetries can be observed. The TDDFT is able
to account for a number of qualitative features of the observed coherent
phonons, despite its unsatisfactory performance on reproducing the observed
dielectric functions of Sb. A simple dielectric model for nonadiabatic coherent
phonon generation is also examined and compared with the TDDFT calculations.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures. This is prepared for a special issue of Journal
of Chemical Physics on the topic of nonadiabatic processe
Myoglobin inhibits proliferation of cultured human proximal tubular (HK-2) cells
Myoglobin inhibits proliferation of cultured human proximal tubular (HK-2) cells. Following nephrotoxic injury, renal repair is dependent on tubular regeneration. In the case of myoglobinuric acute renal failure (ARF), persistence of myoglobin within tubular cells, or sublethal injury sustained at the height of exposure to it, might retard this process. To test this hypothesis, a human proximal tubular cell line (HK-2) was cultured for 24 hours in the absence or presence of clinically relevant myoglobin concentrations (0.5, 1, 2, 4 mg/ml). Immediately following myoglobin removal, lethal cell injury (vital dye uptake), lipid peroxidation, and DNA damage (alkaline unwinding assay) were assessed. The extent of cell proliferation was estimated over the next four days by a tetrazolium based (MTT) assay and by determining total intracellular LDH. Myoglobin's effects on protein and DNA synthesis were also assessed (35S-methionine and bromodeoxyuridine incorporation, respectively). Myoglobin induced dose-dependent lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde generation) and cell death (up to 80% vital dye uptake with the 4 mg/ml challenge). Although 1 mg/ml myoglobin caused no cell death, it induced nearly complete growth arrest. This lasted for approximately three days following myoglobin removal from the media. Neither of two control proteins (albumin; lysozyme) nor a second nephrotoxin (gentamicin; 1 mg/ml) reproduced this effect. The 1 mg/ml myoglobin challenge caused an 80 to 90% depression in protein and DNA synthesis. It also induced significant DNA damage, as assessed by the alkaline unwinding assay (P < 0.01). Iron chelation therapy (deferoxamine) mitigated myoglobin-induced cell killing. However, its addition following myoglobin loading worsened HK-2 outgrowth by exerting a direct anti-proliferative effect. These results indicate that: (1) sublethal myoglobin toxicity can induce transient proximal tubular cell growth arrest, potentially slowing recovery from ARF; (2) this effect correlates with, and could result from, heme-induced DNA damage and a blockade in DNA/protein synthesis; and (3) deferoxamine can inhibit proximal tubular cell proliferation. This possibility needs to be considered in designing clinical trials with DFO for myohemoglobinuric ARF
A Field-Induced Re-Entrant Novel Phase and A Ferroelectric-Magnetic Order Coupling in HoMnO3
A re-entrant novel phase has been observed in the hexagonal ferroelectric
HoMnO3 in the presence of magnetic fields, in the temperature ranges defined by
the plateau of the dielectric constant anomaly. The dielectric plateau evolves
with fields from a narrow sharp dielectric peak at the Mn-spin rotation
transition at 32.8 K in zero magnetic field. Such a field-induced dielectric
plateau anomaly appears both in the temperature sweep at a constant field and
in the field sweep at a constant temperature without detectable hysteresis.
This is attributed to the indirect coupling between the ferroelectric and
antiferromagnetic orders, arising from an antiferromagnetic domain wall effect,
where the magnetic order parameter of the Mn subsystem has to change sign
across the ferroelectric domain wall in the compound, that influences the
ferroelectric domains via a local magnetostrictive effect
Preliminary Comparison of Two Negative Reinforcement Schedules to Reduce Self-Injury
This study compared the effectiveness of differential negative reinforcement of other behavior (DNRO) and alternative behavior (DNRA) for reducing self-injurious tantrums maintained by escape from demands in a 4-year-old girl with severe retardation. Both DNRA and DNRO reduced self-injury and increased independent performance of two tasks (tooth brushing and bathing); however, improvement on both measures was greater with the DNRA intervention
High-precision spectroscopy of ultracold molecules in an optical lattice
The study of ultracold molecules tightly trapped in an optical lattice can
expand the frontier of precision measurement and spectroscopy, and provide a
deeper insight into molecular and fundamental physics. Here we create, probe,
and image microkelvin Sr molecules in a lattice, and demonstrate
precise measurements of molecular parameters as well as coherent control of
molecular quantum states using optical fields. We discuss the sensitivity of
the system to dimensional effects, a new bound-to-continuum spectroscopy
technique for highly accurate binding energy measurements, and prospects for
new physics with this rich experimental system.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Global Thrombosis Test - a possible monitoring system for the effects and safety of dabigatran
© Otsui et al. 2015BACKGROUND: Dabigatran is an alternative to warfarin (WF) for the thromboprophylaxis of stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). The advantage of dabigatran over WF is that monitoring is not required; however, a method to monitor the effect and the safety of dabigatran is not currently available. The Global Thrombosis Test (GTT) is a novel method to assess both clot formation and lysis activities under physiological conditions. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether treatment with dabigatran might affect shear-induced thrombi (occlusion time [OT], sec) by the GTT, and to investigate the possibility that the GTT could be useful as a monitoring system for dabigatran. PATIENTS/METHODS: The study population consisted of 50 volunteers and 43 NVAF patients on WF therapy, who were subsequently switched to dabigatran. Using the GTT, the thrombotic status was assessed one day before and 1 month after switching anticoagulation from WF to dabigatran. RESULTS: The OT was 524.9 ± 17.0 sec in volunteers whereas that of NVAF patients on WF therapy was 581.7 ± 26.3 sec. The switch from WF to dabigatran significantly prolonged OT (784.5 ± 19.3 sec). One patient on WF therapy and 12 patients on dabigatran therapy were shown to have OT > 900 sec. CONCLUSION: The GTT could be used to assess the risk of dabigatran-related bleeding complications.Peer reviewe
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