19,581 research outputs found
Invariance of density correlations with charge density in polyelectrolyte solutions
We present a theory for the equilibrium structure of polyelectrolyte
solutions. The main element is a simple, new optimization scheme that allows
theories such as the random phase approximation (RPA) to handle the harsh
repulsive forces present in such systems. Comparison is made with data from
recent neutron scattering experiments of randomly charged, hydrophilic polymers
in salt-free, semi-dilute solution at various charge densities. Models with
varying degrees of realism are examined. The usual explanation of the
invariance observed at high charge density has been counterion condensation.
However, when polymer-polymer correlations are treated properly, we find that
modeling polymer-counterion correlations at the level of Debye-Huckel theory is
sufficient.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
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Patient and Disease-Specific Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Discovery of Personalized Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapeutics.
Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have emerged as an effective platform for regenerative therapy, disease modeling, and drug discovery. iPSCs allow for the production of limitless supply of patient-specific somatic cells that enable advancement in cardiovascular precision medicine. Over the past decade, researchers have developed protocols to differentiate iPSCs to multiple cardiovascular lineages, as well as to enhance the maturity and functionality of these cells. Despite significant advances, drug therapy and discovery for cardiovascular disease have lagged behind other fields such as oncology. We speculate that this paucity of drug discovery is due to a previous lack of efficient, reproducible, and translational model systems. Notably, existing drug discovery and testing platforms rely on animal studies and clinical trials, but investigations in animal models have inherent limitations due to interspecies differences. Moreover, clinical trials are inherently flawed by assuming that all individuals with a disease will respond identically to a therapy, ignoring the genetic and epigenomic variations that define our individuality. With ever-improving differentiation and phenotyping methods, patient-specific iPSC-derived cardiovascular cells allow unprecedented opportunities to discover new drug targets and screen compounds for cardiovascular disease. Imbued with the genetic information of an individual, iPSCs will vastly improve our ability to test drugs efficiently, as well as tailor and titrate drug therapy for each patient
The Emergent Landscape of Detecting EGFR Mutations Using Circulating Tumor DNA in Lung Cancer.
The advances in targeted therapies for lung cancer are based on the evaluation of specific gene mutations especially the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The assays largely depend on the acquisition of tumor tissue via biopsy before the initiation of therapy or after the onset of acquired resistance. However, the limitations of tissue biopsy including tumor heterogeneity and insufficient tissues for molecular testing are impotent clinical obstacles for mutation analysis and lung cancer treatment. Due to the invasive procedure of tissue biopsy and the progressive development of drug-resistant EGFR mutations, the effective initial detection and continuous monitoring of EGFR mutations are still unmet requirements. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) detection is a promising biomarker for noninvasive assessment of cancer burden. Recent advancement of sensitive techniques in detecting EGFR mutations using ctDNA enables a broad range of clinical applications, including early detection of disease, prediction of treatment responses, and disease progression. This review not only introduces the biology and clinical implementations of ctDNA but also includes the updating information of recent advancement of techniques for detecting EGFR mutation using ctDNA in lung cancer
Wannier-based calculation of the orbital magnetization in crystals
We present a first-principles scheme that allows the orbital magnetization of
a magnetic crystal to be evaluated accurately and efficiently even in the
presence of complex Fermi surfaces. Starting from an initial
electronic-structure calculation with a coarse ab initio k-point mesh,
maximally localized Wannier functions are constructed and used to interpolate
the necessary k-space quantities on a fine mesh, in parallel to a
previously-developed formalism for the anomalous Hall conductivity [X.Wang, J.
Yates, I. Souza, and D. Vanderbilt, Phys. Rev. B 74, 195118 (2006)]. We
formulate our new approach in a manifestly gauge-invariant manner, expressing
the orbital magnetization in terms of traces over matrices in Wannier space.
Since only a few (e.g., of the order of 20) Wannier functions are typically
needed to describe the occupied and partially occupied bands, these Wannier
matrices are small, which makes the interpolation itself very efficient. The
method has been used to calculate the orbital magnetization of bcc Fe, hcp Co,
and fcc Ni. Unlike an approximate calculation based on integrating orbital
currents inside atomic spheres, our results nicely reproduce the experimentally
measured ordering of the orbital magnetization in these three materials.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 4 table
A new procedure for analyzing the nucleation kinetics of freezing in computer simulation
A new method for deriving the size of the critical nucleus and the Zeldovich factor directly from kinetic data is presented. Moreover, in principle, the form of G(n)G(n), the free energy of formation of nuclei consisting of nn molecules, can be inferred. The method involves measuring times of first appearance of nuclei of size nn in the transient regime and applying the Becker-Döring theory. Times of first appearance exhibit the same characteristics as the conventional times associated with N(n,t)N(n,t), the number of nuclei of at least size nn per unit volume that have materialized at time tt. That is, they are well represented by three nucleation parameters, the reduced moment, the time lag, and the steady state nucleation rate. But unlike the conventional steady state rate which is independent of nn, the steady state times of first appearance vary with nn. In order to characterize the three nucleation parameters with precision, however, thousands of independent stochastic events with known nn are required. Such sets of data are readily generated in molecular dynamic simulations but, so far, not in laboratory experiments. Results are illustrated by an analysis of simulations of the spontaneous freezing of large clusters of SeF6SeF6.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87865/2/194503_1.pd
Emerging applications of integrated optical microcombs for analogue RF and microwave photonic signal processing
We review new applications of integrated microcombs in RF and microwave
photonic systems. We demonstrate a wide range of powerful functions including a
photonic intensity high order and fractional differentiators, optical true time
delays, advanced filters, RF channelizer and other functions, based on a Kerr
optical comb generated by a compact integrated microring resonator, or
microcomb. The microcomb is CMOS compatible and contains a large number of comb
lines, which can serve as a high performance multiwavelength source for the
transversal filter, thus greatly reduce the cost, size, and complexity of the
system. The operation principle of these functions is theoretically analyzed,
and experimental demonstrations are presented.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, 136 References. Photonics West 2018 invited
paper, expanded version. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:1710.00678, arXiv:1710.0861
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