7,072 research outputs found
Superconductivity and Magnetism in REFeAsO1-xFx (RE=Rare Earth Elements)
Fluoride-doped iron-based oxypnictides containing rare-earth gadolinium
(GdFeAsO0.8F0.2) and co-doping with yttrium (Gd0.8Y0.2FeAsO0.8F0.2) have been
prepared via conventional solid state reaction at ambient pressure. The
non-yttrium substituted oxypnictide show superconducting transition as high as
43.9 K from temperature dependent resistance measurements with the Meissner
effect observed at a lower temperature of 40.8 K from temperature dependent
magnetization measurements. By replacing a small amount of gadolinium with
yttrium Tc was observed to be lowered by 10 K which might be caused by a change
in the electronic or magnetic structures since the crystal structure was not
altered.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Journal of Physics: Conference Series
(Proceedings in the LT25 Low Temperature Physics Conference) Submitte
Mode-coupling theory for structural and conformational dynamics of polymer melts
A mode-coupling theory for dense polymeric systems is developed which
unifyingly incorporates the segmental cage effect relevant for structural
slowing down and polymer chain conformational degrees of freedom. An ideal
glass transition of polymer melts is predicted which becomes molecular-weight
independent for large molecules. The theory provides a microscopic
justification for the use of the Rouse theory in polymer melts, and the results
for Rouse-mode correlators and mean-squared displacements are in good agreement
with computer simulation results.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett. in pres
CAutoCSD-evolutionary search and optimisation enabled computer automated control system design
This paper attempts to set a unified scene for various linear time-invariant (LTI) control system design schemes, by transforming the existing concept of 'Computer-Aided Control System Design' (CACSD) to the novel 'Computer-Automated Control System Design' (CAutoCSD). The first step towards this goal is to accommodate, under practical constraints, various design objectives that are desirable in both time and frequency-domains. Such performance-prioritised unification is aimed to relieve practising engineers from having to select a particular control scheme and from sacrificing certain performance goals resulting from pre-committing to the adopted scheme. With the recent progress in evolutionary computing based extra-numeric, multi-criterion search and optimisation techniques, such unification of LTI control schemes becomes feasible, analytically and practically, and the resultant designs can be creative. The techniques developed are applied to, and illustrated by, three design problems. The unified approach automatically provides an integrator for zero-steady state error in velocity control of a DC motor, meets multiple objectives in designing an LTI controller for a non-minimum phase plant and offers a high-performing LTI controller network for a nonlinear chemical process
Improving the economic value of photographic screening for optical coherence tomography-detectable macular oedema : a prospective, multicentre, UK study
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Elongated TCR alpha chain CDR3 favors an altered CD4 cytokine profile
Background
CD4 T lymphocyte activation requires T cell receptor (TCR) engagement by peptide/MHC (major histocompatibility complex) (pMHC). The TCR complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) contains variable α and ÎČ loops critical for pMHC recognition. During any immune response, tuning of TCR usage through progressive clonal selection occurs. Th1 and Th2 cells operate at different avidities for activation and display distinct transcriptional programs, although polarization may be plastic, influenced by pathogens and cytokines. We therefore hypothesized that CDR3αÎČ sequence features may intrinsically influence CD4 phenotype during progression of a response.
Results
We show that CD4 polarization involves distinct CDR3α usage: Th1 and Th17 cells favored short TCR CDR3α sequences of 12 and 11 amino acids, respectively, while Th2 cells favored elongated CDR3α loops of 14 amino acids, with lower predicted affinity. The dominant Th2- and Th1-derived TCRα sequences with14 amino acid CDR3 loops and 12 amino acid CDR3 loops, respectively, were expressed in TCR transgenics. The functional impact of these TCRα transgenes was assessed after in vivo priming with a peptide/adjuvant. The short, Th1-derived receptor transgenic T cell lines made IFNÎł, but not IL-4, 5 or 13, while the elongated, Th2-derived receptor transgenic T cell lines made little or no IFNÎł, but increased IL-4, 5 and 13 with progressive re-stimulations, mirrored by GATA-3 up-regulation. T cells from primed Th2 TCRα transgenics selected dominant TCR VÎČ expansions, allowing us to generate TCRαÎČ transgenics carrying the favored, Th2-derived receptor heterodimer. Primed T cells from TCRαÎČ transgenics made little or no IL-17 or IFNÎł, but favored IL-9 after priming with Complete Freundâs adjuvant and IL-4, 5, 9, 10 and 13 after priming with incomplete Freundâs. In tetramer-binding studies, this transgenic receptor showed low binding avidity for pMHC and polarized T cell lines show TCR avidity for Th17â>âTh1â>âTh2. While transgenic expression of a Th2-derived, âelongatedâ TCR-CDR3α and the TCRαÎČ pair, clearly generated a program shifted away from Th1 immunity and with low binding avidity, cytokine-skewing could be over-ridden by altering peptide challenge dose.
Conclusion
We propose that selection from responding clones with distinctive TCRs on the basis of functional avidity can direct a preference away from Th1 effector responses, favoring Th2 cytokines
Photon-induced production of the mirror quarks from the model at the
The photon-induced processes at the provide clean experimental
conditions due to absence of the proton remnants, which might produce
complementary and interesting results for tests of the standard model and for
searching of new physics. In the context of the littlest model with
T-parity, we consider the photon-induced production of the mirror quarks at the
. The cross sections for various production channels are calculated and a
simply phenomenology analysis is performed by assuming leptonic decays.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figure
PT-Symmetric Electronics
We show both theoretically and experimentally that a pair of inductively
coupled active LRC circuits (dimer), one with amplification and another with an
equivalent amount of attenuation, display all the features which characterize a
wide class of non-Hermitian systems which commute with the joint parity-time PT
operator: typical normal modes, temporal evolution, and scattering processes.
Utilizing a Liouvilian formulation, we can define an underlying PT-symmetric
Hamiltonian, which provides important insight for understanding the behavior of
the system. When the PT-dimer is coupled to transmission lines, the resulting
scattering signal reveals novel features which reflect the PT-symmetry of the
scattering target. Specifically we show that the device can show two different
behaviors simultaneously, an amplifier or an absorber, depending on the
direction and phase relation of the interrogating waves. Having an exact
theory, and due to its relative experimental simplicity, PT-symmetric
electronics offers new insights into the properties of PT-symmetric systems
which are at the forefront of the research in mathematical physics and related
fields.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure
A mode-coupling theory for the glassy dynamics of a diatomic probe molecule immersed in a simple liquid
Generalizing the mode-coupling theory for ideal liquid-glass transitions,
equations of motion are derived for the correlation functions describing the
glassy dynamics of a diatomic probe molecule immersed in a simple glass-forming
system. The molecule is described in the interaction-site representation and
the equations are solved for a dumbbell molecule consisting of two fused hard
spheres in a hard-sphere system. The results for the molecule's arrested
position in the glass state and the reorientational correlators for
angular-momentum index and near the glass transition are
compared with those obtained previously within a theory based on a
tensor-density description of the molecule in order to demonstrate that the two
approaches yield equivalent results. For strongly hindered reorientational
motion, the dipole-relaxation spectra for the -process can be mapped on
the dielectric-loss spectra of glycerol if a rescaling is performed according
to a suggestion by Dixon et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 65}, 1108 (1990)]. It is
demonstrated that the glassy dynamics is independent of the molecule's inertia
parameters.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, Phys. Rev. E, in prin
A random quantum key distribution by using Bell states
We proposed a new scheme for quantum key distribution based on entanglement
swapping. By this protocol \QTR{em}{Alice} can securely share a random quantum
key with \QTR{em}{Bob}, without transporting any particle.Comment: Accepted by J. Opt. B: Quantum Semiclass. Op
A review of remote sensing applications for oil palm studies
Oil palm becomes an increasingly important source of vegetable oil for its production exceeds soybean, sunflower, and rapeseed. The growth of the oil palm industry causes degradation to the environment, especially when the expansion of plantations goes uncontrolled. Remote sensing is a useful tool to monitor the development of oil palm plantations. In order to promote the use of remote sensing in the oil palm industry to support their drive for sustainability, this paper provides an understanding toward the use of remote sensing and its applications to oil palm plantation monitoring. In addition, the existing knowledge gaps are identified and recommendations for further research are given
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