Asymptotic Iteration Method Solutions to the Relativistic Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau Equation

A simple exact analytical solution of the relativistic Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau equation within the framework of the asymptotic iteration method is presented. Exact bound state energy eigenvalues and corresponding eigenfunctions are determined for the relativistic harmonic oscillator as well as the Coulomb potentials. As a non-trivial example, the anharmonic oscillator is solved and the energy eigenvalues are obtained within the perturbation theory using the asymptotic iteration method.Comment: 17 pages written with LaTeX Revtex4. accepted for publication in Journal of Mathematical Physic

Oral health and related factors in a group of children with cystic fibrosis in Istanbul, Turkey

Background: Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients can be considered as high caries risk patients because they frequently consume sugar.rich food between meals and they have a high intake of sugar containing syrups, aerosols, and salivary flow reducing medication. Variable caries prevalences were reported in CF patients in previous studies. There are no studies related to CF and salivary thromboplastic activity, which can be presented as a marker of wound healing and bleeding tendency of oral cavity.Objective: The aim of this study was to compare oral health status and salivary pH, flow rate, and thromboplastic activity in children with CF and healthy controls.Materials and Methods: Asample of 35 children with CF (23 girls and 12 boys), and 12 healthy control subjects (6 girls and 6 boys) were selected. Caries experience, oral hygiene, and dental erosion were assessed. Salivary flow rate, pH, thromboplastic activity, and total protein content were determined. Differences between the groups were evaluated using Chi.square test with a significance level set at 0.05.Results: The differences between children with CF and healthy controls in tooth brushing frequency, use of fluoride tablets, caries experience, dental erosion index, oral hygiene index, salivary flow rate and total protein levels were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Salivary thromboplastic activity of the CF group was significantly lower than the healthy controls (P < 0.01).Conclusion: Large population studies may be necessary to establish the role of salivary thromboplastic activity in children with CF considering our findings related to the decreased salivary thromboplastic activity, which  may indicate delayed oral wound healing process.Key words: Caries, children, cystic fibrosis, saliva, salivary thromboplastic activit

An Improvement of the Asymptotic Iteration Method for Exactly Solvable Eigenvalue Problems

We derive a formula that simplifies the original asymptotic iteration method formulation to find the energy eigenvalues for the analytically solvable cases. We then show that there is a connection between the asymptotic iteration and the Nikiforov--Uvarov methods, which both solve the second order linear ordinary differential equations analytically.Comment: RevTex4, 8 page

Approximate solution of the Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau equation for a vector Yukawa potential with arbitrary total angular momenta

The usual approximation scheme is used to study the solution of the Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau (DKP) equation for a vector Yukawa potential in the framework of the parametric Nikiforov-Uvarov (NU) method. The approximate energy eigenvalue equation and the corresponding wave function spinor components are calculated for arbitrary total angular momentum in closed form. Further, the approximate energy equation and wave function spinor components are also given for case. A set of parameter values is used to obtain the numerical values for the energy states with various values of quantum levelsComment: 17 pages; Communications in Theoretical Physics (2012). arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1205.0938, and with arXiv:quant-ph/0410159 by other author

Approximate k-state solutions to the Dirac-Yukawa problem based on the spin and pseudospin symmetry

Using an approximation scheme to deal with the centrifugal (pseudo-centrifugal) term, we solve the Dirac equation with the screened Coulomb (Yukawa) potential for any arbitrary spin-orbit quantum number {\kappa}. Based on the spin and pseudospin symmetry, analytic bound state energy spectrum formulas and their corresponding upper- and lower-spinor components of two Dirac particles are obtained using a shortcut of the Nikiforov-Uvarov method. We find a wide range of permissible values for the spin symmetry constant C_{s} from the valence energy spectrum of particle and also for pseudospin symmetry constant C_{ps} from the hole energy spectrum of antiparticle. Further, we show that the present potential interaction becomes less (more) attractive for a long (short) range screening parameter {\alpha}. To remove the degeneracies in energy levels we consider the spin and pseudospin solution of Dirac equation for Yukawa potential plus a centrifugal-like term. A few special cases such as the exact spin (pseudospin) symmetry Dirac-Yukawa, the Yukawa plus centrifugal-like potentials, the limit when {\alpha} becomes zero (Coulomb potential field) and the non-relativistic limit of our solution are studied. The nonrelativistic solutions are compared with those obtained by other methods.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figure

Polymerase δ deficiency causes syndromic immunodeficiency with replicative stress

Polymerase δ is essential for eukaryotic genome duplication and synthesizes DNA at both the leading and lagging strands. The polymerase δ complex is a heterotetramer comprising the catalytic subunit POLD1 and the accessory subunits POLD2, POLD3, and POLD4. Beyond DNA replication, the polymerase δ complex has emerged as a central element in genome maintenance. The essentiality of polymerase δ has constrained the generation of polymerase δ-knockout cell lines or model organisms and, therefore, the understanding of the complexity of its activity and the function of its accessory subunits. To our knowledge, no germline biallelic mutations affecting this complex have been reported in humans. In patients from 2 independent pedigrees, we have identified what we believe to be a novel syndrome with reduced functionality of the polymerase δ complex caused by germline biallelic mutations in POLD1 or POLD2 as the underlying etiology of a previously unknown autosomal-recessive syndrome that combines replicative stress, neurodevelopmental abnormalities, and immunodeficiency. Patients' cells showed impaired cell-cycle progression and replication-associated DNA lesions that were reversible upon overexpression of polymerase δ. The mutations affected the stability and interactions within the polymerase δ complex or its intrinsic polymerase activity. We believe our discovery of human polymerase δ deficiency identifies the central role of this complex in the prevention of replication-related DNA lesions, with particular relevance to adaptive immunity.</p

Fractured metallic tracheostomy tube in a child: a case report and review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Tracheostomy is a common airway procedure for life support. The fracture of the tracheostomy tube is a rare complication. We report a case of a 14-year-old boy whose fractured stainless steel tracheostomy tube dislodged into the tracheobronchial tree. We include a literature review and proposed recommendations for tracheostomy care.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 14-year-old Thai boy who had a stainless steel tracheostomy tube presented with a complaint of intermittent cough for 2 months. During tracheostomy tube cleaning, his parents found that the inner tube was missing. A chest X-ray revealed a metallic density foreign body in his right main bronchus. He underwent bronchoscopic removal of the inner tracheostomy tube and was discharged without further complications.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A fractured tracheostomy tube is a rare complication. Appropriate cleaning and scheduled replacement of the tracheostomy tube may prevent this complication.</p

Impaired respiratory burst contributes to infections in PKCδ-deficient patients

Patients with autosomal recessive protein kinase C δ (PKCδ) deficiency suffer from childhood-onset autoimmunity, including systemic lupus erythematosus. They also suffer from recurrent infections that overlap with those seen in patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), a disease caused by defects of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase and a lack of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. We studied an international cohort of 17 PKCδ-deficient patients and found that their EBV-B cells and monocyte-derived phagocytes produced only small amounts of ROS and did not phosphorylate p40phox normally after PMA or opsonized Staphylococcus aureus stimulation. Moreover, the patients' circulating phagocytes displayed abnormally low levels of ROS production and markedly reduced neutrophil extracellular trap formation, altogether suggesting a role for PKCδ in activation of the NADPH oxidase complex. Our findings thus show that patients with PKCδ deficiency have impaired NADPH oxidase activity in various myeloid subsets, which may contribute to their CGD-like infectious phenotype