85 research outputs found
Modulation of microglial activation by adenosine A2a receptor in animal models of perinatal brain injury
Neuroinflammation has a key role in the pathogenesis of perinatal brain injury. Caffeine, a nonspecific antagonist of adenosine receptors (ARs), is widely used to treat apnea of prematurity and has been linked to a decrease in the incidence of cerebral palsy in premature infants. The mechanisms explaining its neuroprotective effect have not yet been elucidated. The objective of this study was to characterize the expression of adenosine and ARs in two neonatal rat models of neuroinflammation and to determine the effect of A2aR blockade on microglial activation assessed through inflammatory cytokine gene expression. We have used two rat models of microglial activation: the gestational low protein diet (LPD) model, associated with chronic brain injury, and postnatal ibotenate intracerebral injections, responsible for acute excitotoxicity injury. Adenosine blood levels have been measured by Tandem Mass Spectrometry. The expression of ARs in vivo was assessed using qPCR and immunohistochemistry. In vivo models have been replicated in vitro on primary microglial cell cultures exposed to A2aR agonist CGS-21680 or antagonist SCH-58261. The effects of these treatments have been assessed on the M1/M2 cytokine expressions measured by RT-qPCR. LPD during pregnancy was associated with higher adenosine levels in pups at postnatal day 1 and 4. A2aR mRNA expression was significantly increased in both cortex and magnetically sorted microglial cells from LPD animals compared to controls. CD73 expression, responsible for extracellular production of brain adenosine, was significantly increased in LPD cortex and sorted microglia cells. Moreover, CD73 protein level was increased in ibotenate treated animals. In vitro experiments confirmed that LPD or control microglial cells exposed to ibotenate display an increased expression, at both protein and molecular levels, of A2aR and M1 markers (IL-1\u3b2, IL-6, iNOS, TNF\u3b1). This pro-inflammatory profile was significantly reduced by SCH-58261, which reduces M1 markers in both LPD and ibotenate-exposed cells, with no effect on control cells. In the same experimental conditions, a partial increased of M1 cytokines was observed in response to A2aR agonist CGS-21680. These results support the involvement of adenosine and particularly of its receptor A2aR in the regulation of microglia in two different animal models of neuroinflammation
Large-N limit of a magnetic impurity in unconventional density waves
We investigate the effect of unconventional density wave (UDW) condensate on
an Anderson impurity using large-N technique at T=0. In accordance with
previous treatments of a Kondo impurity in pseudogap phases, we find that Kondo
effect occurs only in a certain range of parameters. The f-electron density of
states reflects the influence of UDW at low energies and around the maximum of
the density wave gap. The static spin susceptibility diverges at the critical
coupling, indicating the transition from strong to weak coupling. In the
dynamic spin susceptibility an additional peak appears showing the presence the
UDW gap. Predictions concerning non-linear density of states are made. Our
results apply to other unconventional condensates such as d-wave
superconductors and d-density waves as well.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
Inferring Liquid Chaotic Dynamics in Bubble Columns
Experiments Carried Out to Study the Liquid Displacements in Bubble Columns Via the Computer Automated Radioactive Particle Tracking Technique Are Analyzed by Means of Lagrangian and Qualitative Dynamics Tools. the Lagrangian Approach Yields the Detailed Motion Sequences of the Tracer as Entrained by the Fast Ascending Bubbles or by the Liquid Flow Alongside the Column Walls. the Qualitative Dynamics Tools, on the Other Hand, Provide Prima Facie Corroboration of Chaos in Liquid Motion based on an Analysis of the Volume-Averaged Kolmogorov Entropy and the Mutual Information Function. Other Features of the Chaotic Motion, the Reconstructed Attractors and the Radial and Axial Distributions of Lyapunov Exponents, Are Noted. Variations in the Liquid Hydrodynamics Due to Changes in Column Diameter and Operating Pressure Are Inspected. by Increasing Pressure the Attractor\u27s Correlation Dimension and the Information Loss Rate Decrease, Whereas the Liquid Flow Path is Dramatically Affected. © 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd
Ground State Properties of Anderson Impurity in a Gapless Host
Using the Bethe ansatz method, we study the ground state properties of a
Anderson impurity in a ``gapless'' host, where a density of band
states vanishes at the Fermi level as . As
in metals, the impurity spin is proven to be screened at arbitrary parameters
of the system. However, the impurity occupancy as a function of the bare
impurity energy is shown to acquire novel qualitative features which
demonstrate a nonuniversal behavior of the system. The latter explains why the
Kondo screening is absent (or exists only at quite a large electron-impurity
coupling) in earlier studies based on scaling arguments.Comment: 5 pages, no figure, RevTe
Absence of overscreened Kondo effect in ferromagnetic host
We study the low temperature behavior of a boundary magnetic impurity S'=1/2
in an open ferromagnetic Takhatajian-Babujian spin-S chain. For
antiferromagnetic Kondo coupling, it is show via Bethe ansatz solution that the
impurity spin is always locked into the critical behavior the bulk. At low
temperature, a local composite of spin S-1/2 forms near the impurity site and
its contribution to specific heat is of simple power law T^{1/2}. The absence
of overscreened Kondo effect is due to the large correlation length of host
spins which is divergent near the quantum critical point.Comment: 4 pages. to appear in Phys. Rev. B1(R4A)(2000
Kondo screening in d-wave superconductors in a Zeeman field and implications for STM spectra of Zn-doped cuprates
We consider the screening of an impurity moment in a d-wave superconductor
under the influence of a Zeeman magnetic field. Using the Numerical
Renormalization Group technique, we investigate the resulting pseudogap Kondo
problem, in particular the field-induced crossover behavior in the vicinity of
the zero-field boundary quantum phase transition. The impurity spectral
function and the resulting changes in the local host density of states are
calculated, giving specific predictions for high-field STM measurements on
impurity-doped cuprates.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figs, (v2) remark on c-axis field added, discussion
extended, (v3) final version as publishe
Impurity in a d-wave superconductor: Kondo effect and STM spectra
We present a theory for recent STM studies of Zn impurities in the
superconductor BSCCO, using insights from NMR experiments which show that there
is a net S=1/2 moment on the Cu ions near the Zn. We argue that the Kondo spin
dynamics of this moment is the origin of the low bias peak in the differential
conductance, rather than a resonance in a purely potential scattering model.
The spatial and energy dependence of the STM spectra of our model can also fit
the experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 2 color figures. Found improved saddle-point with d-wave
correlations near the impurity; onset of Kondo screening now occurs at a
significantly smaller coupling, but there is little qualitative change in
other features. Noted connection to STM of Kondo impurities in normal metals.
Final version as publishe
Kondo effect in a quantum critical ferromagnet
We study the Heisenberg ferromagnetic spin chain coupled with a boundary
impurity. Via Bethe ansatz solution, it is found that (i) for J>0, the impurity
spin behaves as a diamagnetic center and is completely screened by 2S bulk
spins in the ground state, no matter how large the impurity spin is; (ii) The
specific heat of the local composite (impurity plus 2S bulk spins which form
bound state with it) shows a simple power law . (iii)For
J<0, the impurity is locked into the critical behavior of the bulk. Possible
phenomena in higher dimensions are discussed.Comment: 6page Revtex, no figure, final version in PRB, Jun 1 issue, 199
Critical properties of the Fermi-Bose Kondo and pseudogap Kondo models: Renormalized perturbation theory
Magnetic impurities coupled to both fermionic and bosonic baths or to a
fermionic bath with pseudogap density of states, described by the Fermi-Bose
Kondo and pseudogap Kondo models, display non-trivial intermediate coupling
fixed points associated with critical local-moment fluctuations and local
non-Fermi liquid behavior. Based on renormalization group together with a
renormalized perturbation expansion around the free-impurity limit, we
calculate various impurity properties in the vicinity of those
intermediate-coupling fixed points. In particular, we compute the conduction
electron T matrix, the impurity susceptibility, and the residual impurity
entropy, and relate our findings to certain scenarios of local quantum
criticality in strongly correlated lattice models.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figs; (v2) large-N results for entropy of Bose-Kondo
model added; (v3) final version as publishe
Bound States for a Magnetic Impurity in a Superconductor
We discuss a solvable model describing an Anderson like impurity in a BCS
superconductor. The model can be mapped onto an Ising field theory in a
boundary magnetic field, with the Ising fermions being the quasi-particles of
the Bogoliubov transformation in BCS theory. The reflection S-matrix exhibits
Andreev scattering, and the existence of bound states of the quasi-particles
with the impurity lying inside the superconducting gap.Comment: 7 pages, Plain Te
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