Superconducting Quantum Point contacts and Maxwell Potential

The quantization of the current in a superconducting quantum point contact is reviewed and the critical current is discussed at different temperatures depending on the carrier concentration as well by suggesting a constant potential in the semiconductor and then a Maxwell potential. When the Fermi wave length is comparable with the constriction width we showed that the critical current has a step-like variation as a function of the constriction width and the carrier concentration.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, some figures are clarified; scheduled to appear in an issue in MPLB Vo.21, (2007

POTENTIAL IMPACT OF COQ10 AND VITAMIN E AGAINST (STZ) INDUCED METABOLIC DETERIORATION IN THE ALBINO RATS

Objective: This study evaluates the hypoglycemic effect of COQ10 and Vitamin E are determined using STZ induced diabetic rats.Methods: Rats selected for this study were divided into five groups of ten rats each as follows: first group Normal control rats, the second is considered as diabetic groups, injected intraperitoneal with a single dose of STZ (60 mg/kg B. wt). the third group Diabetic rats orally administered glibenclamide drug 10 mg/kg B. wt daily for 30 d 4th. And 5th groups were treated orally glibenclamide combined with vitamin E (2% concentration added to the normal basal diet), or coenzyme Q10 at the dose of 10 mg/kg i. p. daily for 30 consecutive days in addition histological examinations of liver, kidney and brain were carried out to confirm the biochemical changes of the diabetic group of rats.Results: All liver enzymes activities alanine and aspartate transferases and alkaline phosphatase (AST, ALT and ALP respectively), kidney function tests; creatinine and total urea, inflammatory biomarkers; CRP, IL-10 and TNF-α. Neurotransmitters; acetylcholine and acetylcholine esterase were enhanced with the highest degree in groups treated with COQ10 or vitamin E in addition to glibenclamide dug, almost restore the normal histological architecture of liver, kidney and brain.Conclusion: Orally supplemented glibenclamide with coenzyme Q10 or vitamin E showing significantly reduced blood glucose levels in STZ induced diabetic rats. It also showed hypolipidemia as well as hepatoprotective effects, enhance histological feature of liver, kidney and brain.Â

Minimal-memory realization of pearl-necklace encoders of general quantum convolutional codes

Quantum convolutional codes, like their classical counterparts, promise to offer higher error correction performance than block codes of equivalent encoding complexity, and are expected to find important applications in reliable quantum communication where a continuous stream of qubits is transmitted. Grassl and Roetteler devised an algorithm to encode a quantum convolutional code with a "pearl-necklace encoder." Despite their theoretical significance as a neat way of representing quantum convolutional codes, they are not well-suited to practical realization. In fact, there is no straightforward way to implement any given pearl-necklace structure. This paper closes the gap between theoretical representation and practical implementation. In our previous work, we presented an efficient algorithm for finding a minimal-memory realization of a pearl-necklace encoder for Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) convolutional codes. This work extends our previous work and presents an algorithm for turning a pearl-necklace encoder for a general (non-CSS) quantum convolutional code into a realizable quantum convolutional encoder. We show that a minimal-memory realization depends on the commutativity relations between the gate strings in the pearl-necklace encoder. We find a realization by means of a weighted graph which details the non-commutative paths through the pearl-necklace. The weight of the longest path in this graph is equal to the minimal amount of memory needed to implement the encoder. The algorithm has a polynomial-time complexity in the number of gate strings in the pearl-necklace encoder.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures; extends paper arXiv:1004.5179v

Die quantitative Serumhaptoglobinbestimmung mit der Peroxydaseaktivierungsmethode und der radialen Immunodiffusion. Ein Methodenvergleich

Peer Reviewe

HAEMATOCOCCUS PLUVIALIS EXTRACT PROMOTING THE RECOVERY OF MEMORY IMPAIRMENT IN ALZHEIMER'S RATS: ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AND ANTIAPOPTOTIC EFFECTS

ABSTRACTObjective: The present study was conducted to investigate the role of Haematococcus pluvialis extract against oxidative damage, the inflammatory,and apoptotic impacts characterizing the neurodegenerative disorders.Methods: Oxidative stress, B-cell lymphoma 2, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, the inflammation, apoptotic and antiapoptotic impacts in Alzheimer'sdisease (AD) rats were determined through assessment of glutathione reduced (GSH), GSH peroxidase (GPx), lipid peroxide (malondialdehyde), thecytokines level such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukins (IL-6 and IL-1β), and macrophage inflammation protein (MIP1α) in AD rats.Moreover, the expression of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and serine-threonine protein kinase (Akt) genes regulating the apoptosis in AD ratswas measured.Results: The results revealed that levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, and MIP1α were significantly increased in AD rats. Moreover, the expression of PI3Kand Akt genes was downregulated which it was coincided with the increase of apoptosis in AD rats. On the other hand, treatment of AD rats withH. pluvialis extract decreased the oxidative stress of AD in the form of prevention the inflammatory and apoptotic impacts.Conclusion: H. pluvialis could be used for ameliorating AD due to its role in decreases the oxidative stress of AD in the form of prevention theinflammatory and apoptotic impacts. H. pluvialis is a very attractive candidate for uses against neurodegenerative disorders that are caused byincreases oxidative stress inducing neuroinflammation and apoptosis.Keywords: Haematococcus pluvialis, Oxidative stress, Inflammation biomarkers, Apoptotic and antiapoptotic impacts

ANTINEURODEGENERATIVE ACTIVITY OF MICROALGAE DUNALIELLA SALINA IN RATS WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

Objective: The present study is aimed to investigate the promising action of Dunaliella salina extract as a natural protector against Alzheimer's disease (AD) and reported to possess a variety of activities, including antioxidant effects due to its ability to create large amount of carotenoids.Methods: D. salina is a type of halophile green microalgae was used in the present study. 50 male rats were used in this study, where aluminum chloride was orally administered to induce AD in a dose of 100 mg/kg, daily for 6 weeks. Al-intoxicated rats treated orally daily with D. salina ethanolic extract for 6 weeks in a dose of 150 mg/kg b.wt., whereas standard anti-Alzheimer drug donepezil tartrate was administered at the dose of 10 mg/kg b.wt./day for 6 consecutive weeks. The anti-Alzheimer properties of D. salina extract were achieved through measuring the calmodulin (CaM) level, paraoxonase 1 (PON1) activity, the antiapoptotic marker (Bcl2), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), the generation of the DNA adducts (8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine [8-OHdG]/2-deoxy guanosine [2-dG]), and alteration in the expression of amyloid precursor protein, β-site APP-cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1), and β-site APP-cleaving enzyme 2 (BACE2) in AD rats.Results: The current results demonstrated that supplementation of AD rats with D. salina extract-enhanced CaM level, and increased PON1 activity, upregulated Bcl2 and BDNF, decreased the levels of DNA adducts (8-OHdG/2-dG), and suppressed the alterations of the expression levels of APP, BACE1, and BACE2-m RNAs as compared with those in AD rats.Conclusion: It could be concluded that the biological activity of D. salina extract might be regulated by 9-cis b-carotene protecting the brain cells from the oxidative stress in AD rats.Keywords: Dunaliella salina, Calmodulin, Paraoxonase 1, Bcl2, Brain-derived neurotrophic factor, Alzheimer's disease, DNA adduct, Amyloid precursor protein

A Closer Look at Precision Hard Turning of AISI4340: Multi-Objective Optimization for Simultaneous Low Surface Roughness and High Productivity

This article reports an extended investigation into the precision hard turning of AISI 4340 alloy steel when machined by two different types of inserts: wiper nose and conventional round nose. It provides a closer look at previously published work and aims at determining the optimal process parameters for simultaneously minimizing surface roughness and maximizing productivity. In the mathematical models developed by the authors, surface roughness at different cutting speeds, depths of cut and feed rates is treated as the objective function. Three robust multi-objective techniques, (1) multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA), (2) multi-objective Pareto search algorithm (MOPSA) and (3) multi-objective emperor penguin colony algorithm (MOEPCA), were used to determine the optimal turning parameters when either the wiper or the conventional insert is used, and the results were experimentally validated. To investigate the practicality of the optimization algorithms, two turning scenarios were used. These were the machining of the combustion chamber of a gun barrel, first with an average roughness (Ra) of 0.4 µm and then with 0.8 µm, under conditions of high productivity. In terms of the simultaneous achievement of both high surface quality and productivity in precision hard turning of AISI 4340 alloy steel, this work illustrates that MOPSA provides the best optimal solution for the wiper insert case, and MOEPCA results are the best for the conventional insert. Furthermore, the results extracted from Pareto front plots show that the wiper insert is capable of successfully meeting both the requirements of Ra values of 0.4 µm and 0.8 µm and high productivity. However, the conventional insert could not meet the 0.4 µm Ra requirement; the recorded global minimum was Ra = 0.454 µm, which reveals the superiority of the wiper compared to the conventional insert

Isolation of avian influenza H5N1 virus from vaccinated commercial layer flock in Egypt

Uninterrupted transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) H5N1 of clade 2.2.1 in Egypt since 2006 resulted in establishment of two main genetic clusters. The 2.2.1/C group where all recent human and majority of backyard origin viruses clustered together, meanwhile the majority of viruses derived from vaccinated poultry in commercial farms grouped in 2.2.1.1 clade. In the present investigation, an HPAIV H5N1 was isolated from twenty weeks old layers chickens that were vaccinated with a homologous H5N1 vaccine at 1, 7 and 16 weeks old. At twenty weeks of age, birds showed cyanosis of comb and wattle, decrease in egg production and up to 27% mortality. Examined serum samples showed low antibody titer in HI test (Log2 3.2 ± 4.2). The hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes of the isolated virus were closely related to viruses in 2.2.1/C group isolated from poultry in live bird market (LBM) and backyards or from infected people. Conspicuous mutations in the HA and NA genes including a deletion within the receptor binding domain in the HA globular head region were observed. Despite repeated vaccination of layer chickens using a homologous H5N1 vaccine, infection with HPAIV H5N1 resulted in significant morbidity and mortality. In endemic countries like Egypt, rigorous control measures including enforcement of biosecurity, culling of infected birds and constant update of vaccine virus strains are highly required to prevent circulation of HPAIV H5N1 between backyard birds, commercial poultry, LBM and humans