Comparison among Various Expressions of Complex Admittance for Quantum System in Contact with Heat Reservoir

Relation among various expressions of the complex admittance for quantum systems in contact with heat reservoir is studied. Exact expressions of the complex admittance are derived in various types of formulations of equations of motion under contact with heat reservoir. Namely, the complex admittance is studied in the relaxation method and the external-field method. In the former method, the admittance is calculated using the Kubo formula for quantum systems in contact with heat reservoir in no external driving fields, while in the latter method the admittance is directly calculated from equations of motion with external driving terms. In each method, two types of equation of motions are considered, i.e., the time-convolution (TC) equation and time-convolutionless (TCL) equation. That is, the full of the four cases are studied. It is turned out that the expression of the complex admittance obtained by using the relaxation method with the TC equation exactly coincides with that obtained by using the external-field method with the TC equation, while other two methods give different forms. It is also explicitly demonstrated that all the expressions of the complex admittance coincide with each other in the lowest Born approximation for the systemreservoir interaction. The formulae necessary for the higher order expansions in powers of the system-reservoir interaction are derived, and also the expressions of the admittance in the n-th order approximation are given. To characterize the TC and TCL methods, we study the expressions of the admittances of two exactly solvable models. Each exact form of admittance is compared with the results of the two methods in the lowest Born approximation. It is found that depending on the model, either of TC and TCL would be the better method.Comment: 34pages, no figur

The Gs-Linked Receptor GPR3 Inhibits the Proliferation of Cerebellar Granule Cells during Postnatal Development

BACKGROUND:During postnatal murine and rodent cerebellar development, cerebellar granule precursors (CGP) gradually stop proliferating as they differentiate after migration to the internal granule layer (IGL). Molecular events that govern this program remain to be fully elucidated. GPR3 belongs to a family of Gs-linked receptors that activate cyclic AMP and are abundantly expressed in the adult brain. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:To investigate the role of this orphan receptor in CGP differentiation, we determined that exogenous GPR3 expression in rat cerebellar granule neurons partially antagonized the proliferative effect of Sonic hedgehog (Shh), while endogenous GPR3 inhibition by siRNA stimulated Shh-induced CGP proliferation. In addition, exogenous GPR3 expression in CGPs correlated with increased p27/kip expression, while GPR3 knock-down led to a decrease in p27/kip expression. In wild-type mice, GPR3 expression increased postnatally and its expression was concentrated in the internal granular layer (IGL). In GPR3 -/- mice, the IGL was widened with increased proliferation of CGPs, as measured by bromodeoxyuridine incorporation. Cell cycle kinetics of GPR3-transfected medulloblastoma cells revealed a G0/G1 block, consistent with cell cycle exit. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:These results thus indicate that GPR3 is a novel antiproliferative mediator of CGPs in the postnatal development of murine cerebellum

Carbon storage and DNA absorption in allophanic soils and paleosols

Andisols and andic paleosols dominated by the nanocrystalline mineral allophane sequester large amounts of carbon (C), attributable mainly to its chemical bonding with charged hydroxyl groups on the surface of allophane together with its physical protection in nanopores within and between allophane nanoaggregates. C near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectra for a New Zealand Andisol (Tirau series) showed that the organic matter (OM) mainly comprises quinonic, aromatic, aliphatic, and carboxylic C. In different buried horizons from several other Andisols, C contents varied but the C species were similar, attributable to pedogenic processes operating during developmental upbuilding, downward leaching, or both. The presence of OM in natural allophanic soils weakened the adsorption of DNA on clay; an adsorption isotherm experiment involving humic acid (HA) showed that HA-free synthetic allophane adsorbed seven times more DNA than HA-rich synthetic allophane. Phosphorus X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra for salmonsperm DNA and DNA-clay complexes indicated that DNA was bound to the allophane clay through the phosphate group, but it is not clear if DNA was chemically bound to the surface of the allophane or to OM, or both. We plan more experiments to investigate interactions among DNA, allophane (natural and synthetic), and OM. Because DNA shows a high affinity to allophane, we are studying the potential to reconstruct late Quaternary palaeoenvironments by attempting to extract and characterise ancient DNA from allophanic paleosol

Análisis de la producción científica de los encuentros de investigadores en salud mental y encuentro de especialistas en enfermería psiquiátrica

Este é um estudo de revisão de literatura, organizado a partir dos Anais dos Encontros de Pesquisadores em Saúde Mental e Encontros de Especialistas em Enfermagem Psiquiátrica, promovidos pela Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto/USP com o objetivo de descrever a trajetória histórica dos referidos eventos e investigar o panorama e tendências, por meio da leitura dos textos divulgados nos mesmos. Todos os Anais, disponíveis de 1990 a 2004, foram analisados e o material publicado submetido à leitura, orientada por protocolo de análise. Os resultados mostraram que os textos divulgados retratam o momento histórico de cada movimento produzido pela política nacional de saúde mental, sinalizando contradições e avanços. A conclusão é de que os eventos se constituíram em espaço privilegiado para discussão e trocas de experiência dos rumos da assistência, ensino e pesquisa em enfermagem psiquiátrica e saúde mental no Brasil.Estudio de revisión de literatura organizado a partir de los Anales de los Encuentros de Investigadores en Salud Mental y Encuentros de Especialistas en Enfermería Psiquiátrica promovidos por la Escuela de Enfermería de Ribeirão Preto/USP, con objeto de describir la trayectoria histórica de los referidos eventos e investigar el panorama y tendencias mediante la lectura de los textos divulgados en esos anales. Todos los Anales disponibles de 1990 a 2004 fueron analizados y el material publicado sometido a lectura, orientada por un protocolo de análisis. Los resultados mostraron que los textos divulgados retratan el momento histórico de cada movimiento producido por la política nacional de salud mental, señalizando contradicciones y avances. La conclusión es que los eventos se constituyeron en un espacio privilegiado para discusión y intercambios de experiencias sobre los rumos de la atención, enseñanza e investigación en enfermería psiquiátrica y salud mental en Brasil.This literature review was organized on the basis of the Annals of Mental Health Researcher and Psychiatric Nursing Specialists Meetings promoted by the University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing. It aimed to describe the history of these events, investigating the scenario and trends through the reading of texts published in these documents. All annals available from 1990 to 2004 were analyzed and read, based on an analysis protocol. The results showed that the published texts reflect the historical momentum of each national mental health policy movement in Brazil, indicating contradictions and advances. The conclusion is that the events provided a privileged forum to discuss and exchange experiences about the future of psychiatric nursing and mental health care, teaching and research in Brazil

Transient improvement of urticaria induces poor adherence as assessed by Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8.

Poor adherence to medication is a major public health challenge. Here, we aimed to determine the adherence to oral and topical medications and to analyze underlying associated factors using the translated Japanese version of Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 regarding urticaria treatment. Web-based questionnaires were performed for 3096 registered dermatological patients, along with a subanalysis of 751 registered urticaria patients in this study. The adherence to oral medication was significantly associated with the frequency of hospital visits. Variables that affected the adherence to topical medication included age and experience of drug effectiveness. The rate of responses that "It felt like the symptoms had improved" varied significantly among the dermatological diseases treated with oral medications. Dermatologists should be aware that adherence to the treatment of urticaria is quite low. Regular visits and active education for patients with urticaria are mandatory in order to achieve a good therapeutic outcome by increasing the adherence

A Conditional Yeast E1 Mutant Blocks the Ubiquitin–Proteasome Pathway and Reveals a Role for Ubiquitin Conjugates in Targeting Rad23 to the Proteasome

E1 ubiquitin activating enzyme catalyzes the initial step in all ubiquitin-dependent processes. We report the isolation of uba1-204, a temperature-sensitive allele of the essential Saccharomyces cerevisiae E1 gene, UBA1. Uba1-204 cells exhibit dramatic inhibition of the ubiquitin–proteasome system, resulting in rapid depletion of cellular ubiquitin conjugates and stabilization of multiple substrates. We have employed the tight phenotype of this mutant to investigate the role ubiquitin conjugates play in the dynamic interaction of the UbL/UBA adaptor proteins Rad23 and Dsk2 with the proteasome. Although proteasomes purified from mutant cells are intact and proteolytically active, they are depleted of ubiquitin conjugates, Rad23, and Dsk2. Binding of Rad23 to these proteasomes in vitro is enhanced by addition of either free or substrate-linked ubiquitin chains. Moreover, association of Rad23 with proteasomes in mutant and wild-type cells is improved upon stabilizing ubiquitin conjugates with proteasome inhibitor. We propose that recognition of polyubiquitin chains by Rad23 promotes its shuttling to the proteasome in vivo

Time-convolutionless reduced-density-operator theory of a noisy quantum channel: a two-bit quantum gate for quantum information processing

An exact reduced-density-operator for the output quantum states in time-convolutionless form was derived by solving the quantum Liouville equation which governs the dynamics of a noisy quantum channel by using a projection operator method and both advanced and retarded propagators in time. The formalism developed in this work is general enough to model a noisy quantum channel provided specific forms of the Hamiltonians for the system, reservoir, and the mutual interaction between the system and the reservoir are given. Then, we apply the formulation to model a two-bit quantum gate composed of coupled spin systems in which the Heisenberg coupling is controlled by the tunneling barrier between neighboring quantum dots. Gate Characteristics including the entropy, fidelity, and purity are calculated numerically for both mixed and entangled initial states

Enfermeiros assistenciais das instituições psiquiátricas de Ribeirão Preto: caracterização, formação e atuação

Estudo quanti-qualitativo, com proposta de caracterizar enfermeiros que trabalham em instituições psiquiátricas em Ribeirão Preto, focalizar sua formação, identificar ações de enfermagem que referem desenvolver rotineiramente e relacionar formação, prática e conhecimento considerado específico da área pelos mesmos. As discussões dos resultados foram alicerçadas em autores que trabalham com o ensino e a pesquisa em enfermagem e enfermagem psiquiátrica. Os dados evidenciaram pessoas predominantemente do sexo feminino, em fase adulta, com tempo razoável de serviço na área. A maioria não procurou por cursos de especialização e atualização, não participou de treinamentos e eventos de enfermagem. Entre ações que os enfermeiros revelaram realizar destacam-se as de natureza burocrática-administrativas. Consideram alguns temas como conhecimento específico da enfermagem psiquiátrica, o mais enfatizado foi o relacionamento terapêutico. Apontaram ainda algumas dificuldades e facilidades para sua formação/atualização.Estudio cuanti-cualitativo, buscando caracterizar los enfermeros que trabajan en instituciones psiquiátricas en Ribeirão Preto, focalizar su formación, identificar acciones de enfermería que dicen realizar de forma rutinaria y relacionar la formación, la práctica y el conocimiento considerado por ellos mismos, específicos del área. Los resultados mostraron personas predominantemente de sexo femenino, en etapa adulta, con tiempo razonable de servicio en el área. La mayoría no ha buscado curso de especialización y actualización, no participó en entrenamientos y eventos de enfermería. Entre las acciones que los enfermeros manifiestan realizar se destacan las de naturaleza burocrático-administrativas. Consideran algunos temas como conocimiento específico de la enfermería psiquiátrica, entre ellos el más enfatizado fue la relación terapéutica. Enunciaron también dificultades y facilidades para su formación/actualización.This is a quanti-qualitative study that had the purpose to characterize nurses who work in psychiatric institutions at the city of Ribeirão Preto, focussing on their education, identifying nursing actions that those professionals perform daily and finding out about practice and knowledge that they consider specific to their area. The discussions on the results were based on authors who study psychiatric nursing teaching and research. Data evidenced a sample mainly formed by adult women, with a reasonable period of service in the area. The majority of the professionals did not search for specialization or continuing education courses and did not participate in training courses and scientific events. Among the actions that nurses perform daily, the bureaucratic-administrative ones are emphasized. They mentioned some themes such as specific knowledge on psychiatric nursing, especially therapeutic relationship. They also pointed out some difficulties and facilities they found regarding their professional education and knowledge updating

Recurrent growth factor starvation promotes drug resistance in human leukaemic cells

Multi-drug resistance can be induced by various environmental stresses including an exposure to chemical drugs and X-ray irradiation. In addition, hypo-nutritive conditions are known to promote multi-drug resistance in solid tumours. To understand the importance of nutritive conditions in the development of drug resistance in non-solid tumours and to know whether a transient malnutrition could induce a permanent reduction in drug sensitivity, leukaemic cells were transiently cultured under growth factor-starved conditions. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor-dependent human leukaemic MO7e cells were cultured in the absence of granulocyte-macrophage colon-stimulating factor for 2 weeks, during which the majority of the cells died, and the minor viable cells were expanded in the presence of granulocyte-macrophage colon-stimulating factor for following 1 week. This procedure was repeated three times, and the surviving cells were cloned by limiting dilution. These clones underwent G1 arrest in the absence of granulocyte-macrophage colon-stimulating factor, while parental cells underwent apoptosis. Interestingly, activities of the downstream targets of granulocyte-macrophage colon-stimulating factor receptor were regulated in a granulocyte-macrophage colon-stimulating factor-independent manner, indicating that the ligand-independent activation of granulocyte-macrophage colon-stimulating factor receptor had not taken place. Moreover, the 4–7-fold increases in IC50 for etoposide and the 2–6-fold increase in IC90 for doxorubicin was observed. Furthermore, Bcl-2 protein expression was significantly up-regulated in the clones while no significant changes in Bax, Bcl-xL, P-glycoprotein and Hsp70 protein expression and no consistent changes in p53 expression were detected. We propose that recurrent growth factor starvation, which may occur in vivo when stromal function is damaged after intensive chemotherapy or bone marrow occupation by malignant cells, causes selection of drug resistant leukaemia cells that will expand when the growth factor supply recovers