Exact solvability of potentials with spatially dependent effective masses

We discuss the relationship between exact solvability of the Schroedinger equation, due to a spatially dependent mass, and the ordering ambiguity. Some examples show that, even in this case, one can find exact solutions. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that operators with linear dependence on the momentum are nonambiguous.Comment: 12 page

The impact of regulatory compliance behavior on hazardous waste generation in European private healthcare facilities

Along with the increased provision of healthcare by private outpatient healthcare facilities within the EU countries, there is also an increase on waste generation from these facilities. A significant fraction of this waste is amongst the most hazardous of all wastes arising in communities, posing significant risks to people and the environment if inappropriately managed. The growing awareness that mismanagement of healthcare waste has serious environmental and public health consequences is reflected in the European waste legislation, aiming at waste prevention at the source and emphasizing the “management” aspects of the waste management process. Whether the increasingly large numbers of private healthcare facilities comply with the existing European waste legislation, and whether compliance with such legislation affects the fraction of healthcare waste classified as hazardous is an understudied subject. Using a large survey of private outpatient healthcare facilities, this study finds that although compliance with the law is far from ideal, it is the strongest factor influencing hazardous waste generation. These findings suggest that more public investments in monitoring healthcare facilities’ compliance with the law in EU countries is warranted, along with increased efforts to raise the facilities’ awareness of the cost savings brought about by compliance with the existing healthcare waste legislation

CD44v6 high membranous expression is a predictive marker of therapy response in gastric cancer patients

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).In gastric cancer (GC), biomarkers that define prognosis and predict treatment response remain scarce. We hypothesized that the extent of CD44v6 membranous tumor expression could predict prognosis and therapy response in GC patients. Two GC surgical cohorts, from Portugal and South Korea (n = 964), were characterized for the extension of CD44v6 membranous immuno-expression, clinicopathological features, patient survival, and therapy response. The value of CD44v6 expression in predicting response to treatment and its impact on prognosis was determined. High CD44v6 expression was associated with invasive features (perineural invasion and depth of invasion) in both cohorts and with worse survival in the Portuguese GC cohort (HR 1.461; 95% confidence interval 1.002-2.131). Patients with high CD44v6 tumor expression benefited from conventional chemotherapy in addition to surgery (p < 0.05), particularly those with heterogeneous CD44v6-positive and -negative populations (CD44v6_3+) (p < 0.007 and p < 0.009). Our study is the first to identify CD44v6 high membranous expression as a potential predictive marker of response to conventional treatment, but it does not clarify CD44v6 prognostic value in GC. Importantly, our data support selection of GC patients with high CD44v6-expressing tumors for conventional chemotherapy in addition to surgery. These findings will allow better stratification of GC patients for treatment, potentially improving their overall survival.This work was funded by FEDER-Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020–Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI), Portugal 2020, and by Portuguese funds through FCT–Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação in the framework of the project “Institute for Research and Innovation in Health Sciences” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007274). This work was also financed by the projects NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000003 and NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000029, supported by the Norte Portugal Regional Programme (NORTE 2020) under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016390 and SAICTPAC/0022/2015, funded by ERDF, POCI, and FCT; project PTDC/CTM-NAN/120958/2010, from FCT; and by project PTDC/BTM-TEC/30164/2017 funded by ERDF funds through the COMPETE 2020–POCI, Portugal 2020, and by FCT. Salary support to G.M.A. by PTDC/BTM-TEC/30164/2017 project; C.P. was supported by the grant SFRH/BD/113031/2015 from FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The controlled teleportation of an arbitrary two-atom entangled state in driven cavity QED

In this paper, we propose a scheme for the controlled teleportation of an arbitrary two-atom entangled state $|\phi>_{12}=a|gg>_{12}+b|ge>_{12}+c|eg>_{12}+d|ee>_{12}$ in driven cavity QED. An arbitrary two-atom entangled state can be teleported perfectly with the help of the cooperation of the third side by constructing a three-atom GHZ entangled state as the controlled channel. This scheme does not involve apparent (or direct) Bell-state measurement and is insensitive to the cavity decay and the thermal field. The probability of the success in our scheme is 1.0.Comment: 10 page

Euryale Ferox Seed-inspired Super-lubricated Nanoparticles for Treatment of Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis has been regarded as a typical lubrication deficiency related joint disease, which is characterized by the breakdown of articular cartilage at the joint surface and the inflammation of the joint capsule. Here, inspired by the structure of the fresh euryale ferox seed that possesses a slippery aril and a hard coat containing starchy kernel, a novel superlubricated nanoparticle, namely poly (3‐sulfopropyl methacrylate potassium salt)‐grafted mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs‐NH2@PSPMK), is biomimicked and synthesized via a one‐step photopolymerization method. The nanoparticles are endowed with enhanced lubrication by the grafted PSPMK polyelectrolyte polymer due to the formation of tenacious hydration layers surrounding the negative charges, and simultaneously are featured with effective drug loading and release behavior as a result of the sufficient mesoporous channels in the MSNs. When encapsulated with an anti‐inflammatory drug diclofenac sodium (DS), the lubrication capability of the superlubricated nanoparticles is improved, while the drug release rate is sustained by increasing the thickness of PSPMK layer, which is simply achieved via adjustment of the precursor monomer concentration in the photopolymerization process. Additionally, the in vitro and in vivo experimental results show that the DS‐loaded MSNs‐NH2@PSPMK nanoparticles effectively protect the chondrocytes from degeneration, and thus, inhibit the development of osteoarthritis.Peer reviewe

Proposal to produce long-lived mesoscopic superpositions through an atom-driven field interaction

We present a proposal for the production of longer-lived mesoscopic superpositions which relies on two requirements: parametric amplification and squeezed vacuum reservoir for cavity-field states. Our proposal involves the interaction of a two-level atom with a cavity field which is simultaneously subjected to amplification processes.Comment: 12 pages, title changed, text improved and refences adde

Proteomics and the search for welfare and stress biomarkers in animal production in the one-health context

Stress and welfare are important factors in animal production in the context of growing production optimization and scrutiny by the general public. In a context in which animal and human health are intertwined aspects of the one-health concept it is of utmost importance to define the markers of stress and welfare. These are important tools for producers, retailers, regulatory agents and ultimately consumers to effectively monitor and assess the welfare state of production animals. Proteomics is the science that studies the proteins existing in a given tissue or fluid. In this review we address this topic by showing clear examples where proteomics has been used to study stress-induced changes at various levels. We adopt a multi-species (cattle, swine, small ruminants, poultry, fish and shellfish) approach under the effect of various stress inducers (handling, transport, management, nutritional, thermal and exposure to pollutants) clearly demonstrating how proteomics and systems biology are key elements to the study of stress and welfare in farm animals and powerful tools for animal welfare, health and productivity

A splicing-dependent transcriptional checkpoint associated with prespliceosome formation

There is good evidence for functional interactions between splicing and transcription in eukaryotes, but how and why these processes are coupled remain unknown. Prp5 protein (Prp5p) is an RNA-stimulated adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) required for prespliceosome formation in yeast. We demonstrate through in vivo RNA labeling that, in addition to a splicing defect, the prp5-1 mutation causes a defect in the transcription of intron-containing genes. We present chromatin immunoprecipitation evidence for a transcriptional elongation defect in which RNA polymerase that is phosphorylated at Ser5 of the largest subunit’s heptad repeat accumulates over introns and that this defect requires Cus2 protein. A similar accumulation of polymerase was observed when prespliceosome formation was blocked by a mutation in U2 snRNA. These results indicate the existence of a transcriptional elongation checkpoint that is associated with prespliceosome formation during cotranscriptional spliceosome assembly. We propose a role for Cus2p as a potential checkpoint factor in transcription

A Failure-Tolerant Approach for Autonomous Mobile Manipulation in RoboCup@Work

In this paper we summarize how the LUHbots team was able to win the 2015 RoboCup@Work league. We introduce various failure handling concepts, which lead to the robustness necessary to outperform all the other teams. The proposed concepts are based on failure prevention and failure handling

γ-Glutamylcysteine detoxifies reactive oxygen species by acting as glutathione peroxidase-1 cofactor

Reactive oxygen species regulate redox-signaling processes, but in excess they can cause cell damage, hence underlying the aetiology of several neurological diseases. Through its ability to down modulate reactive oxygen species, glutathione is considered an essential thiol-antioxidant derivative, yet under certain circumstances it is dispensable for cell growth and redox control. Here we show, by directing the biosynthesis of γ-glutamylcysteine—the immediate glutathione precursor—to mitochondria, that it efficiently detoxifies hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anion, regardless of cellular glutathione concentrations. Knocking down glutathione peroxidase-1 drastically increases superoxide anion in cells synthesizing mitochondrial γ-glutamylcysteine. In vitro, γ-glutamylcysteine is as efficient as glutathione in disposing of hydrogen peroxide by glutathione peroxidase-1. In primary neurons, endogenously synthesized γ-glutamylcysteine fully prevents apoptotic death in several neurotoxic paradigms and, in an in vivo mouse model of neurodegeneration, γ-glutamylcysteine protects against neuronal loss and motor impairment. Thus, γ-glutamylcysteine takes over the antioxidant and neuroprotective functions of glutathione by acting as glutathione peroxidase-1 cofactor