Density functional theory for strongly-correlated bosonic and fermionic ultracold dipolar and ionic gases

We introduce a density functional formalism to study the ground-state properties of strongly-correlated dipolar and ionic ultracold bosonic and fermionic gases, based on the self-consistent combination of the weak and the strong coupling limits. Contrary to conventional density functional approaches, our formalism does not require a previous calculation of the interacting homogeneous gas, and it is thus very suitable to treat systems with tunable long-range interactions. Due to its asymptotic exactness in the regime of strong correlation, the formalism works for systems in which standard mean-field theories fail.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Rotating Bose-Einstein condensates: Closing the gap between exact and mean-field solutions

When a Bose-Einstein condensed cloud of atoms is given some angular momentum, it forms vortices arranged in structures with a discrete rotational symmetry. For these vortex states, the Hilbert space of the exact solution separates into a "primary" space related to the mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii solution and a "complementary" space including the corrections beyond mean-field. Considering a weakly-interacting Bose-Einstein condensate of harmonically-trapped atoms, we demonstrate how this separation can be used to close the conceptual gap between exact solutions for systems with only a few atoms and the thermodynamic limit for which the mean-field is the correct leading-order approximation. Although we illustrate this approach for the case of weak interactions, it is expected to be more generally valid.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Patients With Kidney Cancer

To develop a preoperative prognostic model in order to predict recurrence-free survival in patients with nonmetastatic kidney cancer.A multi-institutional data base of 1889 patients who underwent surgical resection between 1987 and 2007 for kidney cancer was retrospectively analyzed. Preoperative variables were defined as age, gender, presentation, size, presence of radiological lymph nodes and clinical stage. Univariate and multivariate analyses of the variables were performed using the Cox proportional hazards regression model. A model was developed with preoperative variables as predictors of recurrence after nephrectomy. Internal validation was performed by Harrells concordance index.The median follow-up was 23.6 months (1222 months). During the follow-up, 258 patients (13.7) developed cancer recurrence. The median follow-up for patients who did not develop recurrence was 25 months. The median time from surgery to recurrence was 13 months. The 5-year freedom from recurrence probability was 78.6. All variables except age were associated with freedom from recurrence in multivariate analyses (P 0.05). Age was marginally significant in the univariate analysis. All variables were included in the predictive model. The calculated c-index was 0.747.This preoperative model utilizes easy to obtain clinical variables and predicts the likelihood of development of recurrent disease in patients with kidney tumors

Вплив попиту на процес ціноутворення

The creep behavior of nanocellulose films and aerogels are studied in a dynamic moisture environment, which is crucial to their performance in packaging applications. For these materials, the creep rate under cyclic humidity conditions exceeds any constant humidity creep rate within the cycling range, a phenomenon known as mechanosorptive creep. By varying the sample thickness and relative humidity ramp rate, it is shown that mechanosorptive creep is not significantly affected by the through-thickness moisture gradient. It is also shown that cellulose nanofibril aerogels with high porosity display the same accelerated creep as films. Microstructures larger than the fibril diameter thus appear to be of secondary importance to mechanosorptive creep in nanocellulose materials, suggesting that the governing mechanism is found between molecular scales and the length-scales of the fibril diameter.funding agencies|BiMaC Innovation|

Tumour necrosis factor alpha, lipid peroxidation and NO* are increased and associated with decreased free-radical scavenging enzymes in patients with Weill-Marchesani syndrome.

AIM: Weill-Marchesani syndrome (WMS) is a rare systemic disorder with both autosomal recessive and dominant inheritances. Accumulation of reactive oxygen species such as O2*-, H2O2 and OH* causes lipid peroxidation (LPO), whereas antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx)) mediate defence against oxidative stress. Excess tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and NO* react with O2*- and cause further antioxidant depletion with an increase in mutation frequency by H2O2. This study investigated the levels of SOD, GSHPx, catalase (CAT), TNF-alpha, NO and LPO in patients with WMS. METHODS: A group of 10 WMS patients (four males, six females; age, 26.5+/-19.0 years) and 10 age-matched and sex-matched controls (five males, five females; age, 27.3+/-18.2 years) were included. Serum TNF-alpha levels were determined by a spectrophotometer technique using immulite chemiluminescent immunometric assay. Malondialdehyde (MDA) was determined in plasma; CAT in red blood cells (RBCs), and SOD and GSHPx in both plasma and RBCs. Total serum NO* levels were evaluated by Griess reaction. RESULTS: Mean levels of TNF-alpha (8.3+/-0.6 pg/ml) in WMS patients were significantly (p<0.001) higher than controls (4.3+/-0.2 pg/ml). Plasma MDA levels in patients and controls were 5.4+/-0.8 and 1.8+/-0.6 micromol/l, respectively, and the difference was significant (p=0.0002). SOD and GSHPx activities were significantly lower in both RBCs and plasma of WMS than in controls (RBC-SOD, 3981.9+/-626.6 versus 5261.6+/-523.0 U/g haemoglobin (Hb), p=0.0005; plasma-SOD, 529.4+/-49.3 versus 713.4+/-55.7 U/g protein, p=0.0002; RBC-GSHPx, 682.7+/-42.0 versus 756.5+/-47.6 U/g Hb, p=0.0011; plasma-GSHPx, 107.3+/-15.0 versus 131.4+/-19.7 U/g protein, p=0.0113). In addition, serum NO (NO*-2 + NO*-3) levels were also significantly (p = 0.0002) increased in WMS patients (54.4+/-5.7 versus 26.9+/-6.7 micromol/l). RBC-CAT levels were similar between groups (125.6+/-21.3 versus 131.0+/-21.5 k/g Hb, p = 0.8798). CONCLUSIONS: The elevated LPO, TNF-alpha and NO* with decreased antioxidant enzyme activities indicated impaired antioxidative defence mechanisms with an oxidative injury and cell toxicity in WMS patients. The use of multiple antioxidants and free radical scavengers might be helpful in this genetic disorder

Determining the effective constitutive parameters of finite periodic structures: photonic crystals and metamaterials

Cataloged from PDF version of article.A novel approach to find the effective electric and A novel approach to find the effective electric and magnetic parameters of finite periodic structures is proposed. The method uses the reflection coefficients at the interface between a homogenous half-space and the periodic structure of different thicknesses. The reflection data are then approximated by complex exponentials, from which one can deduce the wavenumber, and the effective electric and magnetic properties of the equivalent structure by a simple comparison to the geometrical series representation of the generalized reflection from a homogenous slab. Since the effective parameters are for the homogenous equivalent of the periodic structure, the results obtained are expected to be independent of the number of unit cells used in the longitudinal direction. Although the proposed method is quite versatile and applicable to any finite periodic structure, photonic crystals and metamaterials with metallic inclusions have been used to demonstrate the application of the method in this paper. © 2008 IEEE

Non-invasive detection of biliary leaks using Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MR cholangiography: Comparison with T2-weighted MR cholangiography

Objective: To evaluate the added role of T1-weighted (T1w) gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRC) compared with T2-weighted MRC (T2w-MRC) in the detection of biliary leaks. Methods: Ninety-nine patients with suspected biliary complications underwent routine T2w-MRC and T1w contrast-enhanced (CE) MRC using Gd-EOB-DTPA to identify biliary leaks. Two observers reviewed the image sets separately and together. MRC findings were compared with those of surgery and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiopancreatography. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the techniques in identifying biliary leaks were calculated. Results: Accuracy of locating biliary leaks was superior with the combination of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRC and T2w-MRC (P < 0.05).The mean sensitivities were 79 % vs 59 %, and the mean accuracy rates were 84 % vs 58 % for combined CE-MRC and T2w-MRC vs sole T2w-MRC. Nineteen out of 21 patients with biliary-cyst communication, 90.4 %, and 12/15 patients with post-traumatic biliary extravasations, 80 %, were detected by the combination of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRC and T2w-MRC images, P < 0.05. Conclusions: Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRC yields information that complements T2w-MRC findings and improves the identification and localisation of the bile extravasations (84 % accuracy, 100 % specificity, P < 0.05). We recommend Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRC in addition to T2w-MRC to increase the preoperative accuracy of identifying and locating extravasations of bile. Key Points: • Magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRC) does not always detect bile leakage and cysto-biliary communications. • Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRC helps by demonstrating extravasation of contrast material into fluid collections. • Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRC also demonstrates the leakage site and bile duct injury type. • Combined Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced and T2w-MRC can provide comprehensive information about biliary system. • Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRC is non-invasive and does not use ionising radiation. © 2013 The Author(s)

The effect of racemic gossypol and AT-101 on angiogenic profile of OVCAR-3 cells: a preliminary molecular framework for gossypol enantiomers

To compare the effect of racemic gossypol with its (–)/(–) enantiomer (AT-101) on expression profiles of angiogenic molecules by mRNA levels in human ovarian cancer cell line OVCAR-3. Methods: Cell viability assay (2,3-bis (2-methoxy-4-nitro-5- sulfophenyl)-5-[(phenylamino) carbonyl]-2H-tetrazolium hydroxide) was used to detect cytotoxicity of gossypol enantiomers. DNA fragmentation by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) assay was used to evaluate the rate of apoptosis. The mRNA expression levels of angiogenic molecules were investigated by Human Angiogenesis RT2 ProfilerTM PCR Array (SuperArray, Frederick, MD). Results: Both racemic form and AT-101 resulted in a significant cytotoxicity and induced apoptosis. This effect was observed in a dose- and time dependent manner. However, AT-101 was much more potent. In addition, the treatment of 10 μM of racemic gossypol alone and 3 μM of AT-101 alone resulted in significant down-regulation (≥ 3 fold) in mRNA levels of some pivotal angiogenic molecules in OVCAR-3, but altered gene profiles were different by the treatment of each enantiomer. Conclusion: The efficacy of two gossypol enantiomers in OVCAR-3 cells showed distinction. AT-101 was much more potent than racemic gossypol, not only by means of cell death and apoptosis, but also by modulation of angiogenic molecules released from OVCAR-3 cells. Further studies with endothelial cells should be done to verify the anti-angiogenic effect of gossypol enantiomers in cancer treatment

A Novel Approach for the Efficient Computation of 1-D and 2-D Summations

A novel computational method is proposed to evaluate 1-D and 2-D summations and integrals which are relatively difficult to compute numerically. The method is based on applying a subspace algorithm to the samples of partial sums and approximating them in terms of complex exponentials. For a convergent summation, the residue of the exponential term with zero complex pole of this approximation corresponds to the result of the summation. Since the procedure requires the evaluation of relatively small number of terms, the computation time for the evaluation of the summation is reduced significantly. In addition, by using the proposed method, very accurate and convergent results are obtained for the summations which are not even absolutely convergent. The efficiency and accuracy of the method are verified by evaluating some challenging 1-D and 2-D summations and integrals. © 2016 IEEE