50 research outputs found
Decavanadate Inhibits Mycobacterial Growth More Potently Than Other Oxovanadates
51V NMR spectroscopy is used to document, using speciation analysis, that one oxometalate is a more potent growth inhibitor of two Mycobacterial strains than other oxovanadates, thus demonstrating selectivity in its interaction with cells. Historically, oxometalates have had many applications in biological and medical studies, including study of the phase-problem in X-ray crystallography of the ribosome. The effect of different vanadate salts on the growth of Mycobacterium smegmatis (M. smeg) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) was investigated, and speciation was found to be critical for the observed growth inhibition. Specifically, the large orange-colored sodium decavanadate (V10O286-) anion was found to be a stronger inhibitor of growth of two mycobacterial species than the colorless oxovanadate prepared from sodium metavanadate. The vanadium(V) speciation in the growth media and conversion among species under growth conditions was monitored using 51V NMR spectroscopy and speciation calculations. The findings presented in this work is particularly important in considering the many applications of polyoxometalates in biological and medical studies, such as the investigation of the phase-problem in X-ray crystallography for the ribosome. The findings presented in this work investigate the interactions of oxometalates with other biological systems
Spanning tree generating functions and Mahler measures
We define the notion of a spanning tree generating function (STGF) , which gives the spanning tree constant when evaluated at and gives
the lattice Green function (LGF) when differentiated. By making use of known
results for logarithmic Mahler measures of certain Laurent polynomials, and
proving new results, we express the STGFs as hypergeometric functions for all
regular two and three dimensional lattices (and one higher-dimensional
lattice). This gives closed form expressions for the spanning tree constants
for all such lattices, which were previously largely unknown in all but one
three-dimensional case. We show for all lattices that these can also be
represented as Dirichlet -series. Making the connection between spanning
tree generating functions and lattice Green functions produces integral
identities and hypergeometric connections, some of which appear to be new.Comment: 26 pages. Dedicated to F Y Wu on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
This version has additional references, additional calculations, and minor
correction
The Dark Side of a Patchwork Universe
While observational cosmology has recently progressed fast, it revealed a
serious dilemma called dark energy: an unknown source of exotic energy with
negative pressure driving a current accelerating phase of the universe. All
attempts so far to find a convincing theoretical explanation have failed, so
that one of the last hopes is the yet to be developed quantum theory of
gravity. In this article, loop quantum gravity is considered as a candidate,
with an emphasis on properties which might play a role for the dark energy
problem. Its basic feature is the discrete structure of space, often associated
with quantum theories of gravity on general grounds. This gives rise to
well-defined matter Hamiltonian operators and thus sheds light on conceptual
questions related to the cosmological constant problem. It also implies typical
quantum geometry effects which, from a more phenomenological point of view, may
result in dark energy. In particular the latter scenario allows several
non-trivial tests which can be made more precise by detailed observations in
combination with a quantitative study of numerical quantum gravity. If the
speculative possibility of a loop quantum gravitational origin of dark energy
turns out to be realized, a program as outlined here will help to hammer out
our ideas for a quantum theory of gravity, and at the same time allow
predictions for the distant future of our universe.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figures, Contribution to the special issue on Dark Energy
by Gen. Rel. Gra
Three-variable Mahler measures and special values of modular and Dirichlet -series
In this paper we prove that the Mahler measures of the Laurent polynomials
, ,
and , for various values of , are of the form , where , is a CM newform of
weight 3, and is a quadratic character. Since it has been proved that
these Maher measures can also be expressed in terms of logarithms and
-hypergeometric series, we obtain several new hypergeometric evaluations
and transformations from these results
The Generation Challenge Programme comparative plant stress-responsive gene catalogue
The Generation Challenge Programme (GCP; www.generationcp.org) has developed an online resource documenting stress-responsive genes comparatively across plant species. This public resource is a compendium of protein families, phylogenetic trees, multiple sequence alignments (MSA) and associated experimental evidence. The central objective of this resource is to elucidate orthologous and paralogous relationships between plant genes that may be involved in response to environmental stress, mainly abiotic stresses such as water deficit (‘drought’). The web-based graphical user interface (GUI) of the resource includes query and visualization tools that allow diverse searches and browsing of the underlying project database. The web interface can be accessed at http://dayhoff.generationcp.org
Modified gravity and its reconstruction from the universe expansion history
We develop the reconstruction program for the number of modified gravities:
scalar-tensor theory, , and string-inspired, scalar-Gauss-Bonnet
gravity. The known (classical) universe expansion history is used for the
explicit and successful reconstruction of some versions (of special form or
with specific potentials) from all above modified gravities. It is demonstrated
that cosmological sequence of matter dominance, decceleration-acceleration
transition and acceleration era may always emerge as cosmological solutions of
such theory. Moreover, the late-time dark energy FRW universe may have the
approximate or exact CDM form consistent with three years WMAP data.
The principal possibility to extend this reconstruction scheme to include the
radiation dominated era and inflation is briefly mentioned. Finally, it is
indicated how even modified gravity which does not describe the
matter-dominated epoch may have such a solution before acceleration era at the
price of the introduction of compensating dark energy.Comment: LaTeX file, 24 pages, no figure, prepared for the proceedings of ERE
2006, minor correction
Absence of system xc⁻ on immune cells invading the central nervous system alleviates experimental autoimmune encephalitis
Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune demyelinating disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS), leading to neurodegeneration and chronic disability. Accumulating evidence points to a key role for neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and excitotoxicity in this degenerative process. System x(c)- or the cystine/glutamate antiporter could tie these pathological mechanisms together: its activity is enhanced by reactive oxygen species and inflammatory stimuli, and its enhancement might lead to the release of toxic amounts of glutamate, thereby triggering excitotoxicity and neurodegeneration.
Methods: Semi-quantitative Western blotting served to study protein expression of xCT, the specific subunit of system x(c)-, as well as of regulators of xCT transcription, in the normal appearing white matter (NAWM) of MS patients and in the CNS and spleen of mice exposed to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an accepted mouse model of MS. We next compared the clinical course of the EAE disease, the extent of demyelination, the infiltration of immune cells and microglial activation in xCT-knockout (xCT(-/-)) mice and irradiated mice reconstituted in xCT(-/-) bone marrow (BM), to their proper wild type (xCT(+/+)) controls.
Results: xCT protein expression levels were upregulated in the NAWM of MS patients and in the brain, spinal cord, and spleen of EAE mice. The pathways involved in this upregulation in NAWM of MS patients remain unresolved. Compared to xCT(+/+) mice, xCT(-/-) mice were equally susceptible to EAE, whereas mice transplanted with xCT(-/-) BM, and as such only exhibiting loss of xCT in their immune cells, were less susceptible to EAE. In none of the above-described conditions, demyelination, microglial activation, or infiltration of immune cells were affected.
Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate enhancement of xCT protein expression in MS pathology and suggest that system x(c)- on immune cells invading the CNS participates to EAE. Since a total loss of system x(c)- had no net beneficial effects, these results have important implications for targeting system x(c)- for treatment of MS
Developing and validating of Ramathibodi Appendicitis Score (RAMA-AS) for diagnosis of appendicitis in suspected appendicitis patients
Why do banks promise to pay par on demand?
We survey the theories of why banks promise to pay par on demand and examine evidence about
the conditions under which banks have promised to pay the par value of deposits and banknotes on
demand when holding only fractional reserves. The theoretical literature can be broadly divided into four
strands: liquidity provision, asymmetric information, legal restrictions, and a medium of exchange. We
assume that it is not zero cost to make a promise to redeem a liability at par value on demand. If so, then
the conditions in the theories that result in par redemption are possible explanations of why banks
promise to pay par on demand. If the explanation based on customers’ demand for liquidity is correct,
payment of deposits at par will be promised when banks hold assets that are illiquid in the short run. If
the asymmetric-information explanation based on the difficulty of valuing assets is correct, the
marketability of banks’ assets determines whether banks promise to pay par. If the legal restrictions
explanation of par redemption is correct, banks will not promise to pay par if they are not required to do
so. If the transaction explanation is correct, banks will promise to pay par value only if the deposits are
used in transactions. After the survey of the theoretical literature, we examine the history of banking in
several countries in different eras: fourth-century Athens, medieval Italy, Japan, and free banking and
money market mutual funds in the United States. We find that all of the theories can explain some of the
observed banking arrangements, and none explain all of them