Energy levels, radiative rates and electron impact excitation rates for transitions in Si II

Energies for the lowest 56 levels, belonging to the 3s$^2$3p, 3s3p$^2$, 3p$^3$, 3s$^2$3d, 3s3p3d, 3s$^2$4$\ell$ and 3s$^2$5$\ell$ configurations of Si II, are calculated using the {\sc grasp} (General-purpose Relativistic Atomic Structure Package) code. Analogous calculations have also been performed (for up to 175 levels) using the Flexible Atomic Code ({\sc fac}). Furthermore, radiative rates are calculated for all E1, E2, M1 and M2 transitions. Extensive comparisons are made with available theoretical and experimental energy levels, and the accuracy of the present results is assessed to be better than 0.1 Ryd. Similarly, the accuracy for radiative rates (and subsequently lifetimes) is estimated to be better than 20% for most of the (strong) transitions. Electron impact excitation collision strengths are also calculated, with the Dirac Atomic R-matrix Code ({\sc darc}), over a wide energy range up to 13 Ryd. Finally, to determine effective collision strengths, resonances are resolved in a fine energy mesh in the thresholds region. These collision strengths are averaged over a Maxwellian velocity distribution and results listed over a wide range of temperatures, up to 10$^{5.5}$ K. Our data are compared with earlier $R$-matrix calculations and differences noted, up to a factor of two, for several transitions. Although scope remains for improvement, the accuracy for our results of collision strengths and effective collision strengths is assessed to be about 20% for a majority of transitions.Comment: Text: 8 pages, Tables: 6, Figures: 8 Will appear in MNRAS (2014

Assessment of atomic data: problems and solutions

For the reliable analysis and modelling of astrophysical, laser-produced and fusion plasmas, atomic data are required for a number of parameters, including energy levels, radiative rates and electron impact excitation rates. Such data are desired for a range of elements (H to W) and their many ions. However, measurements of atomic data, mainly for radiative and excitation rates, are not feasible for many species and therefore calculations are needed. For some ions (such as of C, Fe and Kr) there are a variety of calculations available in the literature, but often they significantly differ from one another. Therefore, there is a great demand from the user community to have data `assessed' for accuracy so that they can be confidently applied to the modelling of plasmas. In this paper we highlight the difficulties in assessing atomic data and offer some solutions for improving the accuracy of calculated results.Comment: 17 pages of Text only with 60 References - to be published in FS&T (2013

Energy levels and radiative rates for transitions in Ti VI

We report on calculations of energy levels, radiative rates, oscillator strengths, and line strengths for transitions among the lowest 253 levels of the (1s$^2$2s$^2$2p$^6$) 3s$^2$3p$^5$, 3s3p$^6$, 3s$^2$3p$^4$3d, 3s3p$^5$3d, 3s$^2$3p$^33d^2$, 3s$^2$3p$^4$4s, 3s$^2$3p$^4$4p and 3s$^2$3p$^4$4d configurations of Ti VI. The general-purpose relativistic atomic structure package ({\sc grasp}) and flexible atomic code ({\sc fac}) are adopted for the calculations. Radiative rates, oscillator strengths and line strengths are reported for all electric dipole (E1), magnetic dipole (M1), electric quadrupole (E2) and magnetic quadrupole (M2) transitions among the 253 levels, although calculations have been performed for a much larger number of levels. Comparisons are made with existing available results and the accuracy of the data is assessed. Additionally, lifetimes for all 253 levels are listed, although comparisons with other theoretical results are limited to only 88 levels. Our energy levels are estimated to be accurate to better than 1% (within 0.03 Ryd), whereas results for other parameters are probably accurate to better than 20%. A reassessment of the energy level data on the NIST website for Ti VI is suggested.Comment: 12p Text and 9 Tables will appear in Physica Scripta 88 (2013) xxxxx

Energy levels, radiative rates, and lifetimes for transitions in W XL

Energy levels and radiative rates are reported for transitions in Br-like W XL, calculated with the general-purpose relativistic atomic structure package ({\sc grasp}). Configuration interaction (CI) has been included among 46 configurations (generating 4215 levels) over a wide energy range up to 213 Ryd. However, for conciseness results are only listed for the lowest 360 levels (with energies up to $\sim$ 43 Ryd), which mainly belong to the 4s$^2$4p$^5$, 4s$^2$4p$^4$4d, 4s$^2$4p$^4$4f, 4s4p$^6$, 4p$^6$4d, 4s4p$^5$4d, 4s$^2$4p$^3$4d$^2$, and 4s$^2$4p$^3$4d4f configurations, and provided for four types of transitions, i.e. E1, E2, M1, and M2. Comparisons are made with existing (but limited) results. However, to fully assess the accuracy of our data, analogous calculations have been performed with the flexible atomic code ({\sc fac}), including even a larger CI than in {\sc grasp}. Our energy levels are estimated to be accurate to better than 0.02 Ryd, whereas results for radiative rates (and lifetimes) should be accurate to better than $20\%$ for a majority of the strong transitions.Comment: 12p Text+2 Tables. The paper will appear this year in ADND

An Australian longitudinal pilot study examining health determinants of cardiac outcomes 12 months post percutaneous coronary intervention

Background Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a very common revascularisation procedure for coronary artery disease (CAD). The purpose of this study was to evaluate cardiac outcomes, health related quality of life (HRQoL), resilience and adherence behaviours in patients who have undergone a PCI at two time points (6 and 12 months) following their procedure. Methods A longitudinal pilot study was conducted to observe the cardiac outcomes across a cohort of patients who had undergone a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Participants who had undergone PCI 6 months prior were invited. Those participants who met the inclusion criteria and provided consent then completed a telephone survey (time point 1). These participants were then contacted 6 months later (i.e. 12 months post-intervention, time point 2) and the measures were repeated. Results All patients (n = 51) were recorded as being alive at time point 1. The multiple model indicated that controlling for other factors, gender was significantly associated with a linear combination of outcome measures (p = 0.004). The effect was moderate in magnitude (partial-η2 = 0.303), where males performed significantly better than females 6 months after the PCI procedure physically and with mood. Follow-up univariate ANOVAs indicated that gender differences were grounded in the scale measuring depression (PHQ9) (p = 0.005) and the physical component score of the short form measuring HRQoL (SF12-PCS) (p = 0.003). Thirteen patients were lost to follow-up between time points 1 and 2. One patient was confirmed to have passed away. The pattern of correlations between outcome measures at time point 2 revealed statistically significant negative correlation between the PHQ instrument and the resilience scale (CD-RISC) (r = -0.611; p < 0.001); and the physical component score of the SF-12 instrument (r = -0.437; p = 0.054). Conclusions Men were performing better than women in the 6 months post-PCI, particularly in the areas of mood (depression) and physical health. This pilot results indicate gender-sensitive practices are recommended particularly up to 6 months post-PCI. Any gender differences observed at 6 month appear to disappear at 12 months post-PCI. Further research into the management of mood particularly for women post-PCI is warranted. A more detailed inquiry related to access/attendance to secondary prevention is also warranted

Snippet based trajectory statistics histograms for assistive technologies

Due to increasing hospital costs and traveling time, more and more patients decide to use medical devices at home without traveling to the hospital. However, these devices are not always very straight-forward for usage, and the recent reports show that there are many injuries and even deaths caused by the wrong use of these devices. Since human supervision during every usage is impractical, there is a need for computer vision systems that would recognize actions and detect if the patient has done something wrong. In this paper, we propose to use Snippet Based Trajectory Statistics Histograms descriptor to recognize actions in two medical device usage problems; inhaler device usage and infusion pump usage. Snippet Based Trajectory Statistics Histograms encodes the motion and position statistics of densely extracted trajectories from a video. Our experiments show that by using Snippet Based Trajectory Statistics Histograms technique, we improve the overall performance for both tasks. Additionally, this method does not require heavy computation, and is suitable for real-time systems. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015

Correlations of Behavioral Deficits with Brain Pathology Assessed through Longitudinal MRI and Histopathology in the R6/2 Mouse Model of HD

Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by the expansion of a CAG repeat in the huntingtin (HTT) gene. The R6/2 mouse model of HD expresses a mutant version of exon 1 HTT and develops motor and cognitive impairments, a widespread huntingtin (HTT) aggregate pathology and brain atrophy. Despite the vast number of studies that have been performed on this model, the association between the molecular and cellular neuropathology with brain atrophy, and with the development of behavioral phenotypes remains poorly understood. In an attempt to link these factors, we have performed longitudinal assessments of behavior (rotarod, open field, passive avoidance) and of regional brain abnormalities determined through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (whole brain, striatum, cortex, hippocampus, corpus callosum), as well as an end-stage histological assessment. Detailed correlative analyses of these three measures were then performed. We found a gender-dependent emergence of motor impairments that was associated with an age-related loss of regional brain volumes. MRI measurements further indicated that there was no striatal atrophy, but rather a lack of striatal growth beyond 8 weeks of age. T2 relaxivity further indicated tissue-level changes within brain regions. Despite these dramatic motor and neuroanatomical abnormalities, R6/2 mice did not exhibit neuronal loss in the striatum or motor cortex, although there was a significant increase in neuronal density due to tissue atrophy. The deposition of the mutant HTT (mHTT) protein, the hallmark of HD molecular pathology, was widely distributed throughout the brain. End-stage histopathological assessments were not found to be as robustly correlated with the longitudinal measures of brain atrophy or motor impairments. In conclusion, modeling pre-manifest and early progression of the disease in more slowly progressing animal models will be key to establishing which changes are causally related. © 2013 Rattray et al

Cardiosphere-derived cells suppress allogeneic lymphocytes by production of PGE2 acting via the EP4 receptor

derived cells (CDCs) are a cardiac progenitor cell population, which have been shown to possess cardiac regenerative properties and can improve heart function in a variety of cardiac diseases. Studies in large animal models have predominantly focussed on using autologous cells for safety, however allogeneic cell banks would allow for a practical, cost-effective and efficient use in a clinical setting. The aim of this work was to determine the immunomodulatory status of these cells using CDCs and lymphocytes from 5 dogs. CDCs expressed MHC I but not MHC II molecules and in mixed lymphocyte reactions demonstrated a lack of lymphocyte proliferation in response to MHC-mismatched CDCs. Furthermore, MHC-mismatched CDCs suppressed lymphocyte proliferation and activation in response to Concanavalin A. Transwell experiments demonstrated that this was predominantly due to direct cell-cell contact in addition to soluble mediators whereby CDCs produced high levels of PGE2 under inflammatory conditions. This led to down-regulation of CD25 expression on lymphocytes via the EP4 receptor. Blocking prostaglandin synthesis restored both, proliferation and activation (measured via CD25 expression) of stimulated lymphocytes. We demonstrated for the first time in a large animal model that CDCs inhibit proliferation in allo-reactive lymphocytes and have potent immunosuppressive activity mediated via PGE2

Multiple interactions between the alpha2C- and beta1-adrenergic receptors influence heart failure survival

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Persistent stimulation of cardiac β₁-adrenergic receptors by endogenous norepinephrine promotes heart failure progression. Polymorphisms of this gene are known to alter receptor function or expression, as are polymorphisms of the α_2C-adrenergic receptor, which regulates norepinephrine release from cardiac presynaptic nerves. The purpose of this study was to investigate possible synergistic effects of polymorphisms of these two intronless genes (<it>ADRB1 </it>and <it>ADRA2C</it>, respectively) on the risk of death/transplant in heart failure patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sixteen sequence variations in <it>ADRA2C </it>and 17 sequence variations in <it>ADRB1 </it>were genotyped in a longitudinal study of 655 white heart failure patients. Eleven sequence variations in each gene were polymorphic in the heart failure cohort. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to identify polymorphisms and potential intra- or intergenic interactions that influenced risk of death or cardiac transplant. A leave-one-out cross-validation method was utilized for internal validation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Three polymorphisms in <it>ADRA2C </it>and five polymorphisms in <it>ADRB1 </it>were involved in eight cross-validated epistatic interactions identifying several two-locus genotype classes with significant relative risks ranging from 3.02 to 9.23. There was no evidence of intragenic epistasis. Combining high risk genotype classes across epistatic pairs to take into account linkage disequilibrium, the relative risk of death or transplant was 3.35 (1.82, 6.18) relative to all other genotype classes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Multiple polymorphisms act synergistically between the <it>ADRA2C </it>and <it>ADRB1 </it>genes to increase risk of death or cardiac transplant in heart failure patients.</p

Novel Regulation of CCL2 Gene Expression by Murine LITAF and STAT6B

Inflammation is a multifaceted process: beneficial as a defense mechanism but also detrimental depending on its severity and duration. At the site of injury, inflammatory cells are activated by a cascade of mediators, one of which is LITAF, a transcription regulator known to upregulate TNF-α. We previously showed that human LITAF forms a complex with human STAT6B, which translocates into the nucleus to upregulate cytokine transcription. To dissect the molecular implications of this complex, a murine model was developed and interactions between mouse STAT6B (mSTAT6B) and mouse LITAF (mLITAF) were analyzed. Both mLITAF and mSTAT6B expression were MyD88- and TLR ligand-dependent. Furthermore, mLITAF was found to mediate LPS-induced CCL2 gene transcription with the cooperation of mSTAT6B leading to CCL2 protein expression. In LITAF-deficient mice, mLITAF-mediated CCL2 production in macrophages was significantly reduced compared to the wild-type control animals. Mice knockdown for mSTAT6B by 6BsiRNA1 tail vein injection resulted in a decrease in serum TNF-α and CCL2 production. mLITAF/mSTAT6B complex is proposed to play a role in LPS-induced CCL2 expression and possibly other cytokines