446 research outputs found
Processing and adjusting the hydrophilicity of poly(oxymethylene) (co)polymers: nanoparticle preparation and film formation
Toward the First Nonpeptidic Molecular Tong Inhibitor of Wild-Type and Mutated HIV-1 Protease Dimerization
Modeling interstellar amorphous solid water grains by tight-binding based methods: comparison between GFN-XTB and CCSD(T) results for water clusters
One believed path to Interstellar Complexes Organic Molecules (iCOMs)
formation inside the Interstellar Medium (ISM) is through chemical
recombination at the surface of amorphous solid water (ASW) mantle covering the
silicate-based core of the interstellar grains. The study of these iCOMs
formation and their binding energy to the ASW, using computational chemistry,
depends strongly on the ASW models used, as different models may exhibit sites
with different adsorbing features. ASW extended models are rare in the
literature because large sizes require very large computational resources when
quantum mechanical methods based on DFT are used. To circumvent this problem,
we propose to use the newly developed GFN-xTB Semi-empirical Quantum Mechanical
(SQM) methods from the Grimme's group. These methods are, at least, two orders
of magnitude faster than conventional DFT, only require modest central memory,
and in this paper we aim to benchmark their accuracy against rigorous and
resource hungry quantum mechanical methods. We focused on 38 water structures
studied by MP2 and CCSD(T) approaches comparing energetic and structures with
three levels of GFN-xTB parametrization (GFN0, GFN1, GFN2) methods. The
extremely good results obtained at the very cheap GFN-xTB level for both water
cluster structures and energetic paved the way towards the modeling of very
large AWS models of astrochemical interest.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to LNCS (Springer) ICCSA202
The study of the negative pion production in neutron-proton collisions at beam momenta below 1.8 GeV/c
A detailed investigation of the reaction np -> pp\pi^{-} has been carried out
using the data obtained with the continuous neutron beam produced by charge
exchange scattering of protons off a deuterium target. A partial wave
event-by-event based maximum likelihood analysis was applied to determine
contributions of different partial waves to the pion production process. The
combined analysis of the np -> pp\pi^{-} and pp -> pp\pi^{0} data measured in
the same energy region allows us to determine the contribution of isoscalar
partial waves (I=0) in the momentum range from 1.1 up to 1.8 GeV/c. The decay
of isoscalar partial waves into (^1S_0)_{pp}\pi$ channel provides a good tool
for a determination of the pp S-wave scalar scattering length in the final
state which was found to be a_{pp}=-7.5\pm 0.3 fm.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Observation of strong final-state effects in pi+ production in pp collisions at 400 MeV
Differential cross sections of the reactions and have been measured at MeV by detecting the charged
ejectiles in the angular range . The
deduced total cross sections agree well with those published previously for
neighbouring energies. The invariant mass spectra are observed to be strongly
affected by production and final-state interaction. The data are
well described by Monte Carlo simulations including both these effects. The
ratio of and cross sections also compares
favourably to a recent theoretical prediction which suggests a dominance of
-production in the relative -state.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Single \pi^- production in np collisions for excess energies up to 90 MeV
The quasifree reaction np\to pp\pim was studied in a kinematically complete
experiment by bombarding a liquid hydrogen target with a deuteron beam of
momentum 1.85 GeV/c and analyzing the data along the lines of the spectator
model. In addition to the three charged ejectiles the spectator proton was also
detected in the large-acceptance time-of-flight spectrometer COSY-TOF. It was
identified by its momentum and flight direction thus yielding access to the
Fermi motion of the bound neutron and to the effective neutron 4-momentum
vector which differed from event to event. A range of almost 90
MeV excess energy above threshold was covered. Energy dependent angular
distributions, invariant mass spectra as well as fully covered Dalitz plots
were deduced. Sizeable FSI effects were found as were contributions of
and partial waves. The behavior of the elementary cross section
close to threshold is discussed in view of new cross section
data. In comparison with existing literature data the results provide a
sensitive test of the spectator model.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJ
Cerebrospinal fluid findings in adults with acute Lyme neuroborreliosis
Presence of BB-specific antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with evidence of their intrathecal production in conjunction with the white cell count in the CSF and typical clinical symptoms is the traditional diagnostic gold standard of Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB). Few data are available on the CSF lactate concentration in European adults with the diagnosis of acute LNB. The objective of the study was to investigate the CSF changes during acute LNB. Routine CSF parameters [leukocyte count, protein, lactate and albumin concentrations, CSF/serum quotients of albumin (QAlb), IgG, IgA and IgM, and oligoclonal IgG bands] and the Borrelia burgdorferi (BB)-specific antibody index were retrospectively studied in relation to the clinical presentation in patients diagnosed with acute LNB. A total of 118 patients with LNB were categorized into the following groups according to their symptoms at presentation; group 1: polyradiculoneuritis (Bannwarth’s syndrome), group 2: isolated facial palsy and group 3: predominantly meningitic course of the disease. In addition to the CSF of patients with acute LNB, CSF of 19 patients with viral meningitis (VM) and 3 with neurolues (NL) were analyzed. There were 97 patients classified with definite LNB, and 21 as probable LNB. Neck stiffness and fever were reported by 15.3% of patients. Most of these patients were younger than 50 years. Polyradiculoneuritis was frequently found in patients older than 50 years. Lymphopleocytosis was found in all patients. Only 5 patients had a CSF lactate ≥3.5 mmol/l, and the mean CSF lactate level was not elevated (2.1 ± 0.6 mmol/l). The patients with definite LNB had significantly higher lactate levels than patients with probable LNB. Elevated lactate levels were accompanied by fever and headache. In the Reiber nomograms, intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis was found for IgM in 70.2% followed by IgG in 19.5%. Isoelectric focussing detected an intrathecal IgG synthesis in 83 patients (70.3%). Elevated BB AIs in the CSF were found in 97 patients (82.2%). Patients with VM showed lower CSF protein concentration and CSF/serum quotients of albumin than LNB patients. In acute LNB, all patients had elevated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leukocyte counts. In contrast to infections by other bacteria, CSF lactate was lower than 3.5 mmol/l in all but 5 patients. The CSF findings did not differ between polyradiculoneuritis, facial palsy, and meningitis. The CSF in LNB patients strongly differed from CSF in VM patients with respect to protein concentration and the CSF/serum albumin quotient
Pathogenic p62/SQSTM1 mutations impair energy metabolism through limitation of mitochondrial substrates
Abnormal mitochondrial function has been found in patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Mutations in the p62 gene (also known as SQSTM1) which encodes the p62 protein have been reported in both disorders supporting the idea of an ALS/FTD continuum. In this work the role of p62 in energy metabolism was studied in fibroblasts from FTD patients carrying two independent pathogenic mutations in the p62 gene, and in a p62-knock-down (p62 KD) human dopaminergic neuroblastoma cell line (SH-SY5Y). We found that p62 deficiency is associated with inhibited complex I mitochondrial respiration due to lack of NADH for the electron transport chain. This deficiency was also associated with increased levels of NADPH reflecting a higher activation of pentose phosphate pathway as this is accompanied with higher cytosolic reduced glutathione (GSH) levels. Complex I inhibition resulted in lower mitochondrial membrane potential and higher cytosolic ROS production. Pharmacological activation of transcription factor Nrf2 increased mitochondrial NADH levels and restored mitochondrial membrane potential in p62-deficient cells. Our results suggest that the phenotype is caused by a loss-of-function effect, because similar alterations were found both in the mutant fibroblasts and the p62 KD model. These findings highlight the implication of energy metabolism in pathophysiological events associated with p62 deficiency
Prevalence of fibromyalgia in France: a multi-step study research combining national screening and clinical confirmation: The DEFI study (Determination of Epidemiology of FIbromyalgia)
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fibromyalgia is a common disease, but little is known on its real prevalence in France. This epidemiological study aimed to assess fibromyalgia (FM) prevalence in the French metropolitan population, based on a multi-step sampling analysis, combining national screening and clinical confirmation by trained specialists.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>a sampling method on the entire national territory was used: patients over 18 years of age accepting to take part in the study were contacted by telephone using the LFES Questionnaire, a screening test for FM. The, for patients detected by the LFESQ, a visit with a FM-trained rheumatologist was proposed to confirm FM, based on 1990 ACR criteria. Each detected patient completed the following self-questionnaires: SF36, HADS, stress VAS, Co-morbidities and Regional pain score.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>3081 patients were contacted in 5 representative French regions, of which 232 patients were screened for FM. A fibromyalgia diagnosis was then confirmed by rheumatologist in 20 cases (17 female and 3 male, 56.9 ± 13.2 years). The final estimated FM prevalence was 1.6 (CI95: 1.2%; 2.0%). No significant difference was detected between the patients accepting (CS+) and refusing (CS-) rheumatologist visit for the SF36 score, regional pain score, stress VAS scale and co-morbidities. In patients detected for FM by the LFESQ, we found a statistically significant decrease in quality of life and a statistically significant increase in stress level in patients with a confirmed diagnosis (FM+) (6.3 ± 1.9) compared to patients with an invalidated diagnosis (FM-) (4.4 ± 2.8; p = 0.007). The study also demonstrated a significant association, independently of ACR criteria, between the diagnosis of FM and several factors such as regional pain score > 10, elevated stress level, low SF36 scale score and presence of gastro-intestinal disorder co-morbidities.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Fibromyalgia is a common condition; the 1.6% prevalence calculated in the French population in our study corroborates the figures published in the European literature. Our results also suggest that criteria such as regional pain score, stress level or SF36 quality of life, could represent useful tools in fibromyalgia diagnosis.</p
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