POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CHIRPING OF LASER-PULSES SHORTER THAN 100 FSEC IN A SATURABLE ABSORBER

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Field-induced quantum fluctuations in the heavy fermion superconductor CeCu2Ge2

Quantum-mechanical fluctuations in strongly correlated electron systems cause unconventional phenomena such as non-Fermi liquid behavior, and arguably high temperature superconductivity. Here we report the discovery of a field-tuned quantum critical phenomenon in stoichiometric CeCu2Ge2, a spin density wave ordered heavy fermion metal that exhibits unconventional superconductivity under ~ 10 GPa of applied pressure. Our finding of the associated quantum critical spin fluctuations of the antiferromagnetic spin density wave order, dominating the local fluctuations due to single-site Kondo effect, provide new information about the underlying mechanism that can be important in understanding superconductivity in this novel compound.Comment: Heavy Fermion, Quantum Critical Phenomeno

Stem cell differentiation increases membrane-actin adhesion regulating cell blebability, migration and mechanics

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder in order to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/K. S. is funded by an EPSRC PhD studentship. S.T. is funded by an EU Marie Curie Intra European Fellowship (GENOMICDIFF)

The Cytotoxic Necrotizing Factor of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (CNFy) is Carried on Extracellular Membrane Vesicles to Host Cells

In this study we show Yersinia pseudotuberculosis secretes membrane vesicles (MVs) that contain different proteins and virulence factors depending on the strain. Although MVs from Y. pseudotuberculosis YPIII and ATCC 29833 had many proteins in common (68.8% of all the proteins identified), those located in the outer membrane fraction differed significantly. For instance, the MVs from Y. pseudotuberculosis YPIII harbored numerous Yersinia outer proteins (Yops) while they were absent in the ATCC 29833 MVs. Another virulence factor found solely in the YPIII MVs was the cytotoxic necrotizing factor (CNFy), a toxin that leads to multinucleation of host cells. The ability of YPIII MVs to transport this toxin and its activity to host cells was verified using HeLa cells, which responded in a dose-dependent manner; nearly 70% of the culture was multinucleated after addition of 5 mu g/ml of the purified YPIII MVs. In contrast, less than 10% were multinucleated when the ATCC 29833 MVs were added. Semi-quantification of CNFy within the YPIII MVs found this toxin is present at concentrations of 5 -10 ng per mu g of total MV protein, a concentration that accounts for the cellular responses see

Magnetism and its microscopic origin in iron-based high-temperature superconductors

High-temperature superconductivity in the iron-based materials emerges from, or sometimes coexists with, their metallic or insulating parent compound states. This is surprising since these undoped states display dramatically different antiferromagnetic (AF) spin arrangements and N$\rm \acute{e}$el temperatures. Although there is general consensus that magnetic interactions are important for superconductivity, much is still unknown concerning the microscopic origin of the magnetic states. In this review, progress in this area is summarized, focusing on recent experimental and theoretical results and discussing their microscopic implications. It is concluded that the parent compounds are in a state that is more complex than implied by a simple Fermi surface nesting scenario, and a dual description including both itinerant and localized degrees of freedom is needed to properly describe these fascinating materials.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, Review article, accepted for publication in Nature Physic

Study protocol of psychometric properties of the Spanish translation of a competence test in evidence based practice: The Fresno test

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There are few high-quality instruments for evaluating the effectiveness of Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) curricula with objective outcomes measures. The Fresno test is an instrument that evaluates most of EBP steps with a high reliability and validity in the English original version. The present study has the aims to translate the Fresno questionnaire into Spanish and its subsequent validation to ensure the equivalence of the Spanish version against the English original.</p> <p>Methods and design</p> <p>The questionnaire will be translated with the back translation technique and tested in Primary Care Teaching Units in Catalonia (PCTU). Participants will be: (a) tutors of Family Medicine residents (expert group); (b) Family Medicine residents in their second year of the Family Medicine training program (novice group), and (c) Family Medicine physicians (intermediate group). The questionnaire will be administered before and after an educational intervention. The educational intervention will be an interactive four half-day sessions designed to develop the knowledge and skills required to EBP. Responsiveness statistics used in the analysis will be the effect size, the standardised response mean and Guyatt's method. For internal consistency reliability, two measures will be used: corrected item-total correlations and Cronbach's alpha. Inter-rater reliability will be tested using Kappa coefficient for qualitative items and intra-class correlation coefficient for quantitative items and the overall score. Construct validity, item difficulty, item discrimination and feasibility will be determined.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The validation of the Fresno questionnaire into different languages will enable the expansion of the questionnaire, as well as allowing comparison between countries and the evaluation of different teaching models.</p

Functional Polymorphisms in IL13 Are Protective against High Schistosoma mansoni Infection Intensity in a Brazilian Population

IL-13 is a signature cytokine of the helper T cell type 2 (TH2) pathway which underlies host defense to helminthic infection and activates production of IgE in both parasitized populations and in urban settings after allergen exposure.Two functional polymorphisms in IL13, rs1800925 (or c.1-1111C>T) and rs20541 (or R130Q) were previously found to be associated with Schistosoma hematobium infection intensity. They have not been thoroughly explored in S. mansoni-endemic populations, however, and were selected along with 5 tagging SNPs for genotyping in 812 individuals in 318 nuclear families from a schistosomiasis-endemic area of Conde, Bahia, in Brazil. Regression models using GEE to account for family membership and family-based quantitative transmission disequilibrium tests (QTDT) were used to evaluate associations with total serum IgE (tIgE) levels and S. mansoni fecal egg counts adjusted for non-genetic covariates. We identified a protective effect for the T allele at rs20541 (P = 0.005) against high S. mansoni egg counts, corroborated by QTDT (P = 0.014). Our findings also suggested evidence for protective effects for the T allele at rs1800925 and A allele at rs2066960 after GEE analysis only (P = 0.050, 0.0002).The two functional variants in IL13 are protective against high S. mansoni egg counts. These markers showed no evidence of association with tIgE levels, unlike tIgE levels previously studied in non-parasitized or atopic study populations