2,873 research outputs found
Evaluation of Phage Display Discovered Peptides as Ligands for Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA)
The aim of this study was to identify potential ligands of PSMA suitable for further development as novel PSMA-targeted peptides using phage display technology. The human PSMA protein was immobilized as a target followed by incubation with a 15-mer phage display random peptide library. After one round of prescreening and two rounds of screening, high-stringency screening at the third round of panning was performed to identify the highest affinity binders. Phages which had a specific binding activity to PSMA in human prostate cancer cells were isolated and the DNA corresponding to the 15-mers were sequenced to provide three consensus sequences: GDHSPFT, SHFSVGS and EVPRLSLLAVFL as well as other sequences that did not display consensus. Two of the peptide sequences deduced from DNA sequencing of binding phages, SHSFSVGSGDHSPFT and GRFLTGGTGRLLRIS were labeled with 5-carboxyfluorescein and shown to bind and co-internalize with PSMA on human prostate cancer cells by fluorescence microscopy. The high stringency requirements yielded peptides with affinities KD∼1 μM or greater which are suitable starting points for affinity maturation. While these values were less than anticipated, the high stringency did yield peptide sequences that apparently bound to different surfaces on PSMA. These peptide sequences could be the basis for further development of peptides for prostate cancer tumor imaging and therapy. © 2013 Shen et al
(Non)-Renormalization of the Chiral Vortical Effect Coefficient
We show using diagramtic arguments that in some (but not all) cases, the
temperature dependent part of the chiral vortical effect coefficient is
independent of the coupling constant. An interpretation of this result in terms
of quantization in the effective 3 dimensional Chern-Simons theory is also
given. In the language of 3D dimensionally reduced theory, the value of the
chiral vortical coefficient is related to the formula . We also show that in the presence of dynamical gauge fields, the CVE
coefficient is not protected from renormalization, even in the large limit.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. Version 2 corrects an error and calculates
leading radiative correctio
Stringy effects in black hole decay
We compute the low energy decay rates of near-extremal three(four) charge
black holes in five(four) dimensional N=4 string theory to sub-leading order in
the large charge approximation. This involves studying stringy corrections to
scattering amplitudes of a scalar field off a black hole. We adapt and use
recently developed techniques to compute such amplitudes as near-horizon
quantities. We then compare this with the corresponding calculation in the
microscopic configuration carrying the same charges as the black hole. We find
perfect agreement between the microscopic and macroscopic calculations; in the
cases we study, the zero energy limit of the scattering cross section is equal
to four times the Wald entropy of the black hole.Comment: 32 page
Determining the mechanical properties of electrospun poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) nanofibers using AFM and a novel fiber anchoring technique
Due to its low cost, biocompatibility and slow bioresorption, poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) continues to be a suitable material for select biomedical engineering applications. We used a combined atomic force microscopy (AFM)/optical microscopy technique to determine key mechanical properties of individual electrospun PCL nanofibers with diameters between 440–1040 nm. Compared to protein nanofibers, PCL nanofibers showed much lower adhesion, as they slipped on the substrate when mechanically manipulated. We, therefore, first developed a novel technique to anchor individual PCL nanofibers to micrometer-sized ridges on a substrate, and then mechanically tested anchored nanofibers. When held at constant strain, tensile stress relaxed with fast and slow relaxation times of 1.0 ± 0.3 s and 8.8 ± 3.1 s, respectively. The total tensile modulus was 62 ± 26 MPa, the elastic (non-relaxing) component of the tensile modulus was 53 ± 36 MPa. Individual PCL fibers could be stretched elastically (without permanent deformation) to strains of 19–23%. PCL nanofibers are rather extensible; they could be stretched to a strain of at least 98%, and a tensile strength of at least 12 MPa, before they slipped off the AFM tip. PCL nanofibers that had aged for over a month at ambient conditions became stiffer and less elastic. Our technique provides accurate nanofiber mechanical data, which are needed to guide construction of scaffolds for cells and other biomedical devices
Discrete Information from CHL Black Holes
AdS_2/CFT_1 correspondence predicts that the logarithm of a Z_N twisted index
over states carrying a fixed set of charges grows as 1/N times the entropy of
the black hole carrying the same set of charges. In this paper we verify this
explicitly by calculating the microscopic Z_N twisted index for a class of
states in the CHL models. This demonstrates that black holes carry more
information about the microstates than just the total degeneracy.Comment: LaTeX file, 24 pages; v2: references adde
Correlation Functions of Large N Chern-Simons-Matter Theories and Bosonization in Three Dimensions
We consider the conformal field theory of N complex massless scalars in 2+1
dimensions, coupled to a U(N) Chern-Simons theory at level k. This theory has a
't Hooft large N limit, keeping fixed \lambda = N/k. We compute some
correlation functions in this theory exactly as a function of \lambda, in the
large N (planar) limit. We show that the results match with the general
predictions of Maldacena and Zhiboedov for the correlators of theories that
have high-spin symmetries in the large N limit. It has been suggested in the
past that this theory is dual (in the large N limit) to the Legendre transform
of the theory of fermions coupled to a Chern-Simons gauge field, and our
results allow us to find the precise mapping between the two theories. We find
that in the large N limit the theory of N scalars coupled to a U(N)_k
Chern-Simons theory is equivalent to the Legendre transform of the theory of k
fermions coupled to a U(k)_N Chern-Simons theory, thus providing a bosonization
of the latter theory. We conjecture that perhaps this duality is valid also for
finite values of N and k, where on the fermionic side we should now have (for
N_f flavors) a U(k)_{N-N_f/2} theory. Similar results hold for real scalars
(fermions) coupled to the O(N)_k Chern-Simons theory.Comment: 49 pages, 16 figures. v2: added reference
Robust Subspace Predictive Control based on Integral Sliding Mode for a Pressurized Water Reactor
This work combines the subspace predictive control technique with the integral sliding mode control strategy to formulate a novel robust subspace predictive control scheme. The subspace predictive controller provides the nominal control whereas the integral sliding mode controller gives the discontinuous control action. The aim is to improve the capability of subspace predictive controller in handling uncertainties and external disturbances. The proposed control scheme is evaluated with a simulated pressurized water nuclear reactor. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is demonstrated for two different load-following operations in the presence of uncertainties
Disturbance Observer-based Subspace Predictive Control of a Pressurized Water-type Nuclear Reactor
This work presents a disturbance observer-based predictive control strategy using a subspace matrix structure. The aim is to improve the capability of classical predictive controllers in handling external disturbances. A subspace-based predictive controller is designed directly from measurements. Then, a disturbance observer is designed using subspace matrices to estimate the external disturbance. Both of the designs are integrated using a feed-forward plus feed-back strategy to form the proposed control strategy. The proposed scheme is tested with a simulated model of a pressurized water nuclear reactor. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is demonstrated for two different load-following operations. Further, a quantitative analysis is performed to analyse the control performance of the proposed approach
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