6,238 research outputs found
Theoretical investigation of magnetic order in ReOFeAs, Re = Ce, Pr
Density functional theory (DFT) calculations are carried out on ReOFeAs, Re =
Ce, Pr, the parent compounds of the high-T superconductors
ReOFFeAs, in order to determine the magnetic order of the ground
state. It is found that the magnetic moments on the Fe sites adopt a collinear
antiferromagnetic order, similar to the case of LaOFeAs. Within the generalized
gradient approximation along with Coulomb onsite repulsion (GGA+U), we show
that the Re magnetic moments also adopt an antiferromagnetic order for which,
within the ReO layer, same spin Re sites lie along a zigzag line perpendicular
to the Fe spin stripes. While within GGA the Re 4f band crosses the Fermi
level, upon inclusion of onsite Coulomb interaction the 4f band splits and
moves away from the Fermi level, making ReOFeAs a Mott insulator.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Synthesis and biodistribution of immunoconjugates of a human IgM and polymeric drug carriers
The synthesis and purification of radiolabelled immunoconjugates, composed of a human IgM monoclonal antibody directed against an intracellular tumour-associated antigen and either poly (alpha-L-glutamic acid) (PGA) or poly[N5-(2-hydroxyethyl)-L-glutamine] (PHEG) is described. Coupling of polymers to the antibody was performed through disulfide bond formation involving a single thiol group at the C-terminus of the polymer chain and 2-pyridyldisulfide groups introduced onto the antibody. The antibody was iodinated with 131I before conjugation. The polymers contained tyrosinamide in a low degree of substitution and were radiolabelled with 125I. 125I-labelled PGA and PHEG were found to be stable for at least 3 days in murine and human plasma. The biodistribution in mice of the doubly labelled immunoconjugates was studied and was compared with the pharmacokinetics of the individual components.\ud
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PHEG showed a relatively slow blood clearance, the half-life being approximately 10 h with low uptake in liver, kidneys and spleen. PGA was rapidly cleared from the circulation and was significantly taken up in liver, kidneys and spleen. The biodistribution of both immunoconjugates was indistinguishable from that of the IgM proper, with plasma half-lives of approximately 6 h, indicating that the pharmacokinetic properties of the immunoconjugates are largely determined by the antibody part
Reduction of mean-square advection in turbulent passive scalar mixing
Direct numerical simulation data show that the variance of the coupling term
in passive scalar advection by a random velocity field is smaller than it would
be if the velocity and scalar fields were statistically independent. This
effect is analogous to the "depression of nonlinearity" in hydrodynamic
turbulence. We show that the trends observed in the numerical data are
qualitatively consistent with the predictions of closure theories related to
Kraichnan's direct interaction approximation. The phenomenon is demonstrated
over a range of Prandtl numbers. In the inertial-convective range the depletion
is approximately constant with respect to wavenumber. The effect is weaker in
the Batchelor range
Synthesis and biological evaluation of immunoconjugates of adriamycin and a human IgM linked by poly[N5-(2-hydroxyethyl)-l-glutamine
The synthesis and purification of radiolabelled immunoconjugates, composed of a human IgM monoclonal antibody (IgM 16.88) directed against an intracellular tumour-associated antigen, the drug carrier poly[N5-(2-hydroxyethyl)--glutamine] (PHEG) and the cytostatic drug adriamycin (ADR) are described. The immunoconjugates were constructed to allow selective release of ADR in the putatively acidic environment of the tumour through a novel acid-labile maleamic acid linker. The conjugate of PHEG and the acid-labile ADR derivative effectively released ADR in cytotoxic amounts at a pH of 6.0 as judged from incubation in buffer and from inhibition of the growth of HT-29 colon tumour cells in vitro. Immunoconjugates were prepared by coupling of PHEG-ADR having a hydrolytically stable amide bond with 131I-labelled antibody through thioether bond formation involving a single thiol group at the C-terminus of the polymer chain and maleimido groups introduced onto th
The Physical Projector and Topological Quantum Field Theories: U(1) Chern-Simons Theory in 2+1 Dimensions
The recently proposed physical projector approach to the quantisation of
gauge invariant systems is applied to the U(1) Chern-Simons theory in 2+1
dimensions as one of the simplest examples of a topological quantum field
theory. The physical projector is explicitely demonstrated to be capable of
effecting the required projection from the initially infinite number of degrees
of freedom to the finite set of gauge invariant physical states whose
properties are determined by the topology of the underlying manifold.Comment: 24 pages, no figures, plain LaTeX file; one more reference added.
Final version to appear in Jour. Phys.
The laminin β1-competing peptide YIGSR induces a hypercontractile, hypoproliferative airway smooth muscle phenotype in an animal model of allergic asthma
Background: Fibroproliferative airway remodelling, including increased airway smooth muscle (ASM) mass and contractility, contributes to airway hyperresponsiveness in asthma. In vitro studies have shown that maturation of ASM cells to a (hyper)contractile phenotype is dependent on laminin, which can be inhibited by the laminin-competing peptide Tyr-Ile-Gly-Ser-Arg (YIGSR). The role of laminins in ASM remodelling in chronic asthma in vivo, however, has not yet been established. Methods: Using an established guinea pig model of allergic asthma, we investigated the effects of topical treatment of the airways with YIGSR on features of airway remodelling induced by repeated allergen challenge, including ASM hyperplasia and hypercontractility, inflammation and fibrosis. Human ASM cells were used to investigate the direct effects of YIGSR on ASM proliferation in vitro. Results: Topical administration of YIGSR attenuated allergen-induced ASM hyperplasia and pulmonary expression of the proliferative marker proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Treatment with YIGSR also increased both the expression of sm-MHC and ASM contractility in saline-and allergen-challenged animals; this suggests that treatment with the laminin-competing peptide YIGSR mimics rather than inhibits laminin function in vivo. In addition, treatment with YIGSR increased allergen-induced fibrosis and submucosal eosinophilia. Immobilized YIGSR concentration-dependently reduced PDGF-induced proliferation of cultured ASM to a similar extent as laminin-coated culture plates. Notably, the effects of both immobilized YIGSR and laminin were antagonized by soluble YIGSR. Conclusion: These results indicate that the laminin-competing peptide YIGSR promotes a contractile, hypoproliferative ASM phenotype in vivo, an effect that appears to be linked to the microenvironment in which the cells are exposed to the peptide
The incidence of osteopenia of prematurity in preterm infants without phosphate supplementation A prospective, observational study:A prospective, observational study
ABSTRACT: To meet their requirements for bone mineralization, it is recommended that preterm infants receive nutritional support containing calcium and phosphate. There are no clear data on the incidence of osteopenia of prematurity (OFP) in preterm infants without phosphate supplementation.This study aimed to investigate the incidence of OFP in preterm infants without phosphate supplementation and its relationship with the duration of parenteral nutrition (PN).This was a prospective and observational study.This study included 30 infants aged 15 days significantly increased the risk of OFP (odds ratio, 5.40; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-26.04; P = .035).We found a high incidence of OFP in preterm infants without phosphate supplementation. An association was found between the duration of PN and the incidence of OFP. Further research is needed to prevent the development of osteopenia in preterm infants
The Lie Algebraic Significance of Symmetric Informationally Complete Measurements
Examples of symmetric informationally complete positive operator valued
measures (SIC-POVMs) have been constructed in every dimension less than or
equal to 67. However, it remains an open question whether they exist in all
finite dimensions. A SIC-POVM is usually thought of as a highly symmetric
structure in quantum state space. However, its elements can equally well be
regarded as a basis for the Lie algebra gl(d,C). In this paper we examine the
resulting structure constants, which are calculated from the traces of the
triple products of the SIC-POVM elements and which, it turns out, characterize
the SIC-POVM up to unitary equivalence. We show that the structure constants
have numerous remarkable properties. In particular we show that the existence
of a SIC-POVM in dimension d is equivalent to the existence of a certain
structure in the adjoint representation of gl(d,C). We hope that transforming
the problem in this way, from a question about quantum state space to a
question about Lie algebras, may help to make the existence problem tractable.Comment: 56 page
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