Pathological Changes in Microvascular Morphology, Density, Size and Responses Following Comorbid Cerebral Injury

Aberrations in brain microcirculation and the associated increase in blood-brain-barrier (BBB) permeability in addition to neuroinflammation and Aβ deposition observed in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and ischemia have gained considerable attention recently. However, the role of microvascular homeostasis as a pathogenic substrate to disturbed microperfusion as well as an overlapping etiologic mechanism between AD and ischemia has not been thoroughly explored. In this study, we employ temporal histopathology of cerebral vasculature in a rat model of β-amyloid (Aβ) toxicity and endothelin-1 induced-ischemia (ET1) to investigate the panorama of cerebral pathology and the protein expression on d1, d7, and d28 post-injury. The combination of Aβ and ET1 pathological states leads to an alteration in microvascular anatomy, texture, diameter, density, and protein expression, in addition to disturbed vessel-matrix-connections, inter-compartmental water exchange and basement membrane profile within the lesion epicenter localized in the striatum of Aβ+ET1 brains compared to Aβ and ET1 rats. We conclude that the neural microvascular network, in addition to the neural tissue, is not only sensitive to structural deterioration but also serves as an underlying vascular etiology between ischemia and AD pathologies. Such investigation can provide prospects to appreciate the interrelationships between structure and responses of cerebral microvasculature and to provide a venue for vascular remodeling as a new treatment strategy

Calculations of polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilities for the Be+^+ ion

The polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilities of the Be$^+$ ion in the $2^2S$ state and the $2^2P$ state are determined. Calculations are performed using two independent methods: i) variationally determined wave functions using Hylleraas basis set expansions and ii) single electron calculations utilizing a frozen-core Hamiltonian. The first few parameters in the long-range interaction potential between a Be$^+$ ion and a H, He, or Li atom, and the leading parameters of the effective potential for the high-$L$ Rydberg states of beryllium were also computed. All the values reported are the results of calculations close to convergence. Comparisons are made with published results where available.Comment: 18 pp; added details to Sec. I

Doping-tunable thermal emission from plasmon polaritons in semiconductor epsilon-near-zero thin films

We utilize the unique dispersion properties of leaky plasmon polaritons in epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) thin films to demonstrate thermal radiation control. Owing to its highly flat dispersion above the light line, a thermally excited leaky wave at the ENZ frequency out-couples into free space without any scattering structures, resulting in a narrowband, wide-angle, p-polarized thermal emission spectrum. We demonstrate this idea by measuring angle-and polarization-resolved thermal emission spectra from a single layer of unpatterned, doped semiconductors with deep-subwavelength film thickness (d/lambda(0) similar to 6 x 10(-3), where d is the film thickness and lambda(0) is the free space wavelength). We show that this semiconductor ENZ film effectively works as a leaky wave thermal radiation antenna, which generates far-field radiation from a thermally excited mode. The use of semiconductors makes the radiation frequency highly tunable by controlling doping densities and also facilitates device integration with other components. Therefore, this leaky plasmon polariton emission from semiconductor ENZ films provides an avenue for on-chip control of thermal radiation. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLCopen0

Non-Markovian Quantum Trajectories of Many-Body Quantum Open Systems

A long-standing open problem in non-Markovian quantum state diffusion (QSD) approach to open quantum systems is to establish the non-Markovian QSD equations for multiple qubit systems. In this paper, we settle this important question by explicitly constructing a set of exact time-local QSD equations for $N$-qubit systems. Our exact time-local (convolutionless) QSD equations have paved the way towards simulating quantum dynamics of many-body open systems interacting with a common bosonic environment. The applicability of this multiple-qubit stochastic equation is exemplified by numerically solving several quantum open many-body systems concerning quantum coherence dynamics and dynamical control.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. manuscript revised and reference update

Mirror-Image 5S Ribonucleoprotein Complexes

After realizing mirror-image genetic replication, transcription, and reverse transcription, the biggest challenge in establishing a mirror-image version of the central dogma is to build a mirror-image ribosome-based translation machine. Here, we chemically synthesized the natural and mirror-image versions of three ribosomal proteins (L5, L18, and L25) in the large subunit of the Escherichia coli ribosome with post-translational modifications. We show that the synthetic mirror-image proteins can fold in vitro despite limited efficiency and assemble with enzymatically transcribed mirror-image 5S ribosomal RNA into ribonucleoprotein complexes. In addition, the RNA-protein interactions are chiral-specific in that the mirror-image ribosomal proteins do not bind with natural 5S ribosomal RNA and vice versa. The synthesis and assembly of mirror-image 5S ribonucleoprotein complexes are important steps towards building a functional mirror-image ribosome

The broad Fe K line profile in NGC 4151

We present an analysis of the Fe K line profile of NGC 4151 by using long ASCA observation data obtained in May 1995. The unprecedented good data quality, which is much better in the energy band around 6.4 keV than that of the famous 4.2-day ASCA observation of MCG -6-30-15 in July 1994, offers a unique opportunity to study the details of Fe K line profile. Apart from those characteristics already noticed in earlier ASCA observations on this object (Yaqoob et al. 1995): a broad and skewed profile, with a strong peak at about 6.4 keV and a large red wing extending to $\sim$4 - 5 keV, which is remarkably similar to that of MCG -6-30-15, we also find a weak blue wing extending to about 8 keV, thanks to the good quality of the data. When fitted by a relativistic accretion disk line plus a narrow core at 6.4 keV, the data constrain the accretion disk to be nearly face-on, contrary to the edge-on geometry inferred from optical and UV observations. However, the extended blue wing can not be well fitted even after we include corresponding Fe K$\beta$ components. Ni K$\alpha$ line emission by an amount of 12% of Fe K$\alpha$ is statistically required. An alternative explanation is a model consisting of a narrow core and two disk lines with inclinations of 58$^{\rm o}$ and 0$^{\rm o}$, respectively. We suppose that the component with inclination of 58$^{\rm o}$ was observed directly, consistent with its edge-on geometry, and the component with inclination of 0$^{\rm o}$ was scattered into our line of sight by a Compton mirror, which might be the cool accretion disk corona proposed by Poutanen et al. (1996).Comment: 15 pages, including 2 figures, aasms4.sty. To appear in ApJL 52

Fixation of transparent bone pins with photocuring biocomposites

Bone fractures are in need of rapid fixation methods, but the current strategies are limited to metal pins and screws, which necessitate secondary surgeries upon removal. New techniques are sought to avoid surgical revisions, while maintaining or improving the fixation speed. Herein, a method of bone fixation is proposed with transparent biopolymers anchored in place via light-activated biocomposites based on expanding CaproGlu bioadhesives. The transparent biopolymers serve as a UV light guide for the activation of CaproGlu biocomposites, which results in evolution of molecular nitrogen (from diazirine photolysis), simultaneously expanding the covalently cross-linked matrix. Osseointegration additives of hydroxyapatite or Bioglass 45S5 yield a biocomposite matrix with increased stiffness and pullout strength. The structure-property relationships of UV joules dose, pin diameter, and biocomposite additives are assessed with respect to the apparent viscosity, shear modulus, spatiotemporal pin curing, and lap-shear adhesion. Finally, a model system is proposed based onex vivoinvestigation with bone tissue for the exploration and optimization of UV-active transparent biopolymer fixation

Co–Sn nanocrystalline solid solutions as anode materials in lithium-ion batteries with high pseudocapacitive contribution

Co–Sn solid-solution nanoparticles with Sn crystal structure and tuned metal ratios were synthesized by a facile one pot solution-based procedure involving the initial reduction of a Sn precursor followed by incorporation of Co within the Sn lattice. These nanoparticles were used as anode materials for Li-ion batteries. Among the different compositions tested, Co0.7Sn and Co0.9Sn electrodes provided the highest capacities with values above 1500 mAh¿g-1 at a current density of 0.2 A¿g-1 after 220 cycles, and up to 800 mAh¿g-1 at 1.0 A¿g-1 after 400 cycles. Up to 81¿% pseudocapacitance contribution was measured for these electrodes at a sweep rate of 1.0 mV¿s-1, thereby indicating fast kinetics and long durability. The excellent performance of Co–Sn nanoparticle alloy-based electrodes was attributed to both the small size of the crystal domains and their suitable composition, which buffered volume changes of Sn and contributed to a suitable electrode restructuration.Postprint (author's final draft

Topological structures of adiabatic phase for multi-level quantum systems

The topological properties of adiabatic gauge fields for multi-level (three-level in particular) quantum systems are studied in detail. Similar to the result that the adiabatic gauge field for SU(2) systems (e.g. two-level quantum system or angular momentum systems, etc) have a monopole structure, the curvature two-forms of the adiabatic holonomies for SU(3) three-level and SU(3) eight-level quantum systems are shown to have monopole-like (for all levels) or instanton-like (for the degenerate levels) structures.Comment: 15 pages, no figures. Accepted by J.Phys.

The Radiative Decay of Vector Mesons

In this paper, radiative decays $\rho^0 \to \pi^+\pi^-\gamma, \pi^0\pi^0\gamma$ ,$\phi \to K^+K^-\gamma, K^0 \bar{K^0}\gamma$ are studied systematically in the U(3)_L\timesU(3)_R chiral theory of mesons. The theoretical differential spectrum with respect to photon energy and branch ratio for $\rho^0 \to \pi^+\pi^-\gamma$ agree well with the experimental data. Differential spectrums and branch ratios for $\rho^0 \to \pi^0\pi^0\gamma, \phi \to K^+ K^-\gamma,\phi \to K^0\bar{K^0}\gamma$ are predicted. The process $\phi \to K^0 \bar{K^0} \gamma$ is relevant to precision measurment of CP-violation parameters in the kaon systerm at a $\phi$-factory. We give a complete estimate of the branch ratio for this decay process by including scalar resonance $f_0, a_0$ poles, nonresonant smooth amplitude and an abnormal parity process with $K^*$ pole which hasn't been considered before. We conclude that processes with intermediate $K^*$ do not pose a potential background problem for $\phi\to K^0\bar{K}^0$ CP violation experiments.Comment: Revtex file, 12 pages, 9 eps figure