11,842 research outputs found
Characterizing fruit ripening in plantain and Cavendish bananas: A proteomics approach
The fruit physiology of banana cultivars other than Cavendish is poorly understood. To study the ripening process, samples were taken daily from plantain and Cavendish bananas and the ripening stages were determined. We present data from the green to the fully mature stage. By
analyzing the protein abundances during ripening we provide some new insights into the
ripening process and how plantains fruits are different. Multivariate analysis of the proteins was performed correlated to the starch dynamics. A drop in sucrose synthase and a rise of acid
invertase during ripening indicated a change in the balance of the sucrose fate. During ripening, sugars may no longer be available for respiration since they are stored in the vacuoles, making citrate the preferred respiratory substrate. We found significant cultivar specific differences in granule-bound starch synthase, alpha- and beta amylases and cell wall invertase when comparing the protein content at the same ripening stage. This corroborates the difference in starch content/structure between both banana types. Differences in small heat shock proteins and in the cell wall-modifying enzyme xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolase support respectively the presumed higher carotenoid content and the firmer fruit structure of plantains
Long-distance entanglement and quantum teleportation in XX spin chains
Isotropic XX models of one-dimensional spin-1/2 chains are investigated with
the aim to elucidate the formal structure and the physical properties that
allow these systems to act as channels for long-distance, high-fidelity quantum
teleportation. We introduce two types of models: I) open, dimerized XX chains,
and II) open XX chains with small end bonds. For both models we obtain the
exact expressions for the end-to-end correlations and the scaling of the energy
gap with the length of the chain. We determine the end-to-end concurrence and
show that model I) supports true long-distance entanglement at zero
temperature, while model II) supports {\it ``quasi long-distance''}
entanglement that slowly falls off with the size of the chain. Due to the
different scalings of the gaps, respectively exponential for model I) and
algebraic in model II), we demonstrate that the latter allows for efficient
qubit teleportation with high fidelity in sufficiently long chains even at
moderately low temperatures.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Constraining Elko Dark Matter at the LHC with Monophoton Events
A mass dimension one fermion, also known as Elko, constitutes a dark matter
candidate which might interact with photons at the tree level in a specific
fashion. In this work, we investigate the constraints imposed by unitarity and
LHC data on this type of interactions using the search for new physics in
monophoton events. We found that Elkos which can explain the dark matter relic
abundance mainly through electromagnetic interactions are excluded at the
95\%CL by the 8 TeV LHC data for masses up to 1 TeV.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Effects of Liposomes Contained in Thermosensitive Hydrogels as Biomaterials Useful in Neural Tissue Engineering
Indexación: Scopus.Advances in the generation of suitable thermosensitive hydrogels for the delivery of cells in neural tissue engineering demonstrate a delicate relationship between physical properties and capabilities to promote cell proliferation and differentiation. To improve the properties of these materials, it is possible to add liposomes for the controlled release of bioactive elements, which in turn can affect the physical and biological properties of the hydrogels. In the present investigation, different hydrogels based on Pluronic F127 have been formulated with the incorporation of chitosan and two types of liposomes of two different sizes. The rheological and thermal properties and their relation with the neurite proliferation and growth of the PC12 cell line were evaluated. Our results show that the incorporation of liposomes modifies the properties of the hydrogels dependent on the concentration of chitosan and the lipid type in the liposomes, which directly affect the capabilities of the hydrogels to promote the viability and differentiation of PC12 cells. © 2017 by the authors.http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/10/10/112
Bringing global gyrokinetic turbulence simulations to the transport timescale using a multiscale approach
The vast separation dividing the characteristic times of energy confinement
and turbulence in the core of toroidal plasmas makes first-principles
prediction on long timescales extremely challenging. Here we report the
demonstration of a multiple-timescale method that enables coupling global
gyrokinetic simulations with a transport solver to calculate the evolution of
the self-consistent temperature profile. This method, which exhibits resiliency
to the intrinsic fluctuations arising in turbulence simulations, holds
potential for integrating nonlocal gyrokinetic turbulence simulations into
predictive, whole-device models.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Cell death induced by the application of alternating magnetic fields to nanoparticle-loaded dendritic cells
In this work, the capability of primary, monocyte-derived dendritic cells
(DCs) to uptake iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) is assessed and a
strategy to induce selective cell death in these MNP-loaded DCs using external
alternating magnetic fields (AMFs) is reported. No significant decrease in the
cell viability of MNP-loaded DCs, compared to the control samples, was observed
after five days of culture. The amount of MNPs incorporated into the cytoplasm
was measured by magnetometry, which confirmed that 1 to 5 pg of the particles
were uploaded per cell. The intracellular distribution of these MNPs, assessed
by transmission electron microscopy, was found to be primarily inside the
endosomic structures. These cells were then subjected to an AMF for 30 min, and
the viability of the blank DCs (i.e., without MNPs), which were used as control
samples, remained essentially unaffected. However, a remarkable decrease of
viability from approximately 90% to 2-5% of DCs previously loaded with MNPs was
observed after the same 30 min exposure to an AMF. The same results were
obtained using MNPs having either positive (NH2+) or negative (COOH-) surface
functional groups. In spite of the massive cell death induced by application of
AMF to MNP-loaded DCs, the amount of incorporated magnetic particles did not
raise the temperature of the cell culture. Clear morphological changes at the
cell structure after magnetic field application were observed using scanning
electron microscopy. Therefore, local damage produced by the MNPs could be the
main mechanism for the selective cell death of MNP-loaded DCs under an AMF.
Based on the ability of these cells to evade the reticuloendothelial system,
these complexes combined with an AMF should be considered as a potentially
powerful tool for tumour therapy.Comment: In Press. 33 pages, 11 figure
Tuned liquid dampers simulation for earthquake response control of buildings
This paper is focused on the study of an earthquake protection system, the Tuned Liquid Damper (TLD), which
can, if adequately designed, reduce earthquake demands on buildings. This positive effect is accomplished taking
into account the oscillation of the free surface of a fluid inside a tank (sloshing). The behaviour of an isolated
Tuned Liquid Damper, subjected to a sinusoidal excitation at its base, with different displacement amplitudes,
was studied by finite element analysis. The efficiency of the TLD in improving the seismic response of an existing building, representative of modern architecture buildings in southern European countries was also evaluated based on linear dynamic analyses
Hot and repulsive traffic flow
We study a message passing model, applicable also to traffic problems. The
model is implemented in a discrete lattice, where particles move towards their
destination, with fluctuations around the minimal distance path. A repulsive
interaction between particles is introduced in order to avoid the appearance of
traffic jam. We have studied the parameter space finding regions of fluid
traffic, and saturated ones, being separated by abrupt changes. The improvement
of the system performance is also explored, by the introduction of a
non-constant potential acting on the particles. Finally, we deal with the
behavior of the system when temporary failures in the transmission occurs.Comment: 22 pages, uuencoded gzipped postscript file. 11 figures include
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