1,499 research outputs found
Parallel Mapper
The construction of Mapper has emerged in the last decade as a powerful and
effective topological data analysis tool that approximates and generalizes
other topological summaries, such as the Reeb graph, the contour tree, split,
and joint trees. In this paper, we study the parallel analysis of the
construction of Mapper. We give a provably correct parallel algorithm to
execute Mapper on multiple processors and discuss the performance results that
compare our approach to a reference sequential Mapper implementation. We report
the performance experiments that demonstrate the efficiency of our method
Polymorphism in COMT is associated with IgG 3 subclass level and susceptibility to infection in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
Background Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is considered as a
neuroimmunological disease but the etiology and pathophysiology is poorly
understood. Patients suffer from sustained exhaustion, cognitive impairment
and an increased sensitivity to pain and sensory stimuli. A subset of patients
has frequent respiratory tract infections (RRTI). Dysregulation of the
sympathetic nervous system and an association with genetic variations in the
catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and glucocorticoid receptor genes
influencing sympathetic and glucocorticoid metabolism were reported in CFS.
Here, we analyzed the prevalence of SNPs of COMT and glucocorticoid receptor-
associated genes in CFS patients and correlated them to immunoglobulin levels
and susceptibility to RRTI. Methods We analyzed blood cells of 74 CFS patients
and 76 healthy controls for polymorphisms in COMT, FKBP5 and CRHR1 by allelic
discrimination PCR. Serum immunoglobulins were determined by
immunoturbidimetric technique, cortisol levels by ECLIA. Results Contrary to
previous reports, we found no difference between CFS patients and healthy
controls in the prevalence of SNPs for COMT, FKBP5 and CRHR1. In patients with
the Met/Met variant of COMT rs4680 we observed enhanced cortisol levels
providing evidence for its functional relevance. Both enhanced IgE and
diminished IgG 3 levels and an increased susceptibility to RRTI were observed
in CFS patients with the Met/Met variant. Such an association was not observed
in 68 non-CFS patients with RRTI. Conclusion Our results indicate a
relationship of COMT polymorphism rs4680 with immune dysregulation in CFS
providing a potential link for the association between stress and infection
susceptibility in CFS
Bacterial porin disrupts mitochondrial membrane potential and sensitizes host cells to apoptosis
The bacterial PorB porin, an ATP-binding beta-barrel protein of pathogenic Neisseria gonorrhoeae, triggers host cell apoptosis by an unknown mechanism. PorB is targeted to and imported by host cell mitochondria, causing the breakdown of the mitochondrial membrane potential (delta psi m). Here, we show that PorB induces the condensation of the mitochondrial matrix and the loss of cristae structures, sensitizing cells to the induction of apoptosis via signaling pathways activated by BH3-only proteins. PorB is imported into mitochondria through the general translocase TOM but, unexpectedly, is not recognized by the SAM sorting machinery, usually required for the assembly of beta-barrel proteins in the mitochondrial outer membrane. PorB integrates into the mitochondrial inner membrane, leading to the breakdown of delta psi m. The PorB channel is regulated by nucleotides and an isogenic PorB mutant defective in ATP-binding failed to induce delta psi m loss and apoptosis, demonstrating that dissipation of delta psi m is a requirement for cell death caused by neisserial infection
AFe2As2 (A = Ca, Sr, Ba, Eu) and SrFe_(2-x)TM_(x)As2 (TM = Mn, Co, Ni): crystal structure, charge doping, magnetism and superconductivity
The electronic structure and physical properties of the pnictide compound
families OFeAs ( = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm), FeAs ( = Ca,
Sr, Ba, Eu), LiFeAs and FeSe are quite similar. Here, we focus on the members
of the FeAs family whose sample composition, quality and single
crystal growth are better controllable compared to the other systems. Using
first principles band structure calculations we focus on understanding the
relationship between the crystal structure, charge doping and magnetism in
FeAs systems. We will elaborate on the tetragonal to
orthorhombic structural distortion along with the associated magnetic order and
anisotropy, influence of doping on the site as well as on the Fe site, and
the changes in the electronic structure as a function of pressure.
Experimentally, we investigate the substitution of Fe in
SrFeAs by other 3 transition metals, = Mn, Co, Ni.
In contrast to a partial substitution of Fe by Co or Ni (electron doping) a
corresponding Mn partial substitution does not lead to the supression of the
antiferromagnetic order or the appearance of superconductivity. Most calculated
properties agree well with the measured properties, but several of them are
sensitive to the As position. For a microscopic understanding of the
electronic structure of this new family of superconductors this structural
feature related to the Fe-As interplay is crucial, but its correct ab initio
treatment still remains an open question.Comment: 27 pages, single colum
Effects of anharmonic strain on phase stability of epitaxial films and superlattices: applications to noble metals
Epitaxial strain energies of epitaxial films and bulk superlattices are
studied via first-principles total energy calculations using the local-density
approximation. Anharmonic effects due to large lattice mismatch, beyond the
reach of the harmonic elasticity theory, are found to be very important in
Cu/Au (lattice mismatch 12%), Cu/Ag (12%) and Ni/Au (15%). We find that
is the elastically soft direction for biaxial expansion of Cu and Ni, but it is
for large biaxial compression of Cu, Ag, and Au. The stability of
superlattices is discussed in terms of the coherency strain and interfacial
energies. We find that in phase-separating systems such as Cu-Ag the
superlattice formation energies decrease with superlattice period, and the
interfacial energy is positive. Superlattices are formed easiest on (001) and
hardest on (111) substrates. For ordering systems, such as Cu-Au and Ag-Au, the
formation energy of superlattices increases with period, and interfacial
energies are negative. These superlattices are formed easiest on (001) or (110)
and hardest on (111) substrates. For Ni-Au we find a hybrid behavior:
superlattices along and like in phase-separating systems, while for
they behave like in ordering systems. Finally, recent experimental
results on epitaxial stabilization of disordered Ni-Au and Cu-Ag alloys,
immiscible in the bulk form, are explained in terms of destabilization of the
phase separated state due to lattice mismatch between the substrate and
constituents.Comment: RevTeX galley format, 16 pages, includes 9 EPS figures, to appear in
Physical Review
Gap structure in the electron-doped Iron-Arsenide Superconductor Ba(Fe0.92Co0.08)2As2: low-temperature specific heat study
We report the field and temperature dependence of the low-temperature
specific heat down to 400 mK and in magnetic fields up to 9 T of the
electron-doped Ba(Fe0.92Co0.08)2As2 superconductor. Using the phonon specific
heat obtained from pure BaFe2As2 we find the normal state Sommerfeld
coefficient to be 18 mJ/mol.K^2 and a condensation energy of 1.27 J/mol. The
temperature dependence of the electronic specific heat clearly indicate the
presence of the low-energy excitations in the system. The magnetic field
variation of field-induced specific heat cannot be described by single clean s-
or d-wave models. Rather, the data require an anisotropic gap scenario which
may or may not have nodes. We discuss the implications of these results.Comment: New Journal of Physics in press, 10 pages, 5 figure
Streptococcus uberis strains isolated from the bovine mammary gland evade immune recognition by mammary epithelial cells, but not of macrophages
Streptococcus uberis is frequently isolated from the mammary gland of dairy cattle. Infection with some strains can induce mild subclinical inflammation whilst others induce severe inflammation and clinical mastitis. We compared here the inflammatory response of primary cultures of bovine mammary epithelial cells (pbMEC) towards S. uberis strains collected from clinical or subclinical cases (seven strains each) of mastitis with the strong response elicited by Escherichia coli. Neither heat inactivated nor live S. uberis induced the expression of 10 key immune genes (including TNF, IL1B, IL6). The widely used virulent strain 0140J and the avirulent strain, EF20 elicited similar responses; as did mutants defective in capsule (hasA) or biofilm formation (sub0538 and sub0539). Streptococcus uberis failed to activate NF-κB in pbMEC or TLR2 in HEK293 cells, indicating that S. uberis particles did not induce any TLR-signaling in MEC. However, preparations of lipoteichoic acid (LTA) from two strains strongly induced immune gene expression and activated NF-κB in pbMEC, without the involvement of TLR2. The immune-stimulatory LTA must be arranged in the intact S. uberis such that it is unrecognizable by the relevant pathogen receptors of the MEC. The absence of immune recognition is specific for MEC, since the same S. uberis preparations strongly induced immune gene expression and NF-κB activity in the murine macrophage model cell RAW264.7. Hence, the sluggish immune response of MEC and not of professional immune cells to this pathogen may aid establishment of the often encountered belated and subclinical phenotype of S. uberis mastitis
The Forward Physics Facility at the High-Luminosity LHC
High energy collisions at the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produce a large number of particles along the beam collision axis, outside of the acceptance of existing LHC experiments. The proposed Forward Physics Facility (FPF), to be located several hundred meters from the ATLAS interaction point and shielded by concrete and rock, will host a suite of experiments to probe standard model (SM) processes and search for physics beyond the standard model (BSM). In this report, we review the status of the civil engineering plans and the experiments to explore the diverse physics signals that can be uniquely probed in the forward region. FPF experiments will be sensitive to a broad range of BSM physics through searches for new particle scattering or decay signatures and deviations from SM expectations in high statistics analyses with TeV neutrinos in this low-background environment. High statistics neutrino detection will also provide valuable data for fundamental topics in perturbative and non-perturbative QCD and in weak interactions. Experiments at the FPF will enable synergies between forward particle production at the LHC and astroparticle physics to be exploited. We report here on these physics topics, on infrastructure, detector, and simulation studies, and on future directions to realize the FPF's physics potential
Determination of nutrient salts by automatic methods both in seawater and brackish water: the phosphate blank
9 páginas, 2 tablas, 2 figurasThe main inconvenience in determining nutrients in seawater by automatic methods is simply solved:
the preparation of a suitable blank which corrects the effect of the refractive index change on the recorded
signal. Two procedures are proposed, one physical (a simple equation to estimate the effect) and the other
chemical (removal of the dissolved phosphorus with ferric hydroxide).Support for this work came from CICYT (MAR88-0245 project) and
Conselleria de Pesca de la Xunta de GaliciaPeer reviewe
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