4,311 research outputs found
VO2: A Novel View from Band Theory
New calculations for vanadium dioxide, one of the most controversely
discussed materials for decades, reveal that band theory as based on density
functional theory is well capable of correctly describing the electronic and
magnetic properties of the metallic as well as both the insulating M1 and M2
phases. Considerable progress in the understanding of the physics of VO2 is
achieved by the use of the recently developed hybrid functionals, which include
part of the electron-electron interaction exactly and thereby improve on the
weaknesses of semilocal exchange functionals as provided by the local density
and generalized gradient approximations. Much better agreement with
photoemission data as compared to previous calculations is found and a
consistent description of the rutile-type early transition-metal dioxides is
achieved.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Fractional diffusion models of cardiac electrical propagation: role of structural heterogeneity in dispersion of repolarization
Structural heterogeneity constitutes one of the main substrates influencing impulse propagation in living tissues. In cardiac muscle, improved understanding on its role is key to advancing our interpretation of cell-to-cell coupling, and how tissue structure modulates electrical propagation and arrhythmogenesis in the intact and diseased heart. We propose fractional diffusion models as a novel mathematical description of structurally heterogeneous excitable media, as a mean of representing the modulation of the total electric field by the secondary electrical sources associated with tissue inhomogeneities. Our results, validated against in-vivo human recordings and experimental data of different animal species, indicate that structural heterogeneity underlies many relevant characteristics of cardiac propagation, including the shortening of action potential duration along the activation pathway, and the progressive modulation by premature beats of spatial patterns of dispersion of repolarization. The proposed approach may also have important implications in other research fields involving excitable complex media
Band gap control via tuning of inversion degree in CdInS spinel
Based on theoretical arguments we propose a possible route for controlling
the band-gap in the promising photovoltaic material CdInS. Our
\textit{ab initio} calculations show that the experimental degree of inversion
in this spinel (fraction of tetrahedral sites occupied by In) corresponds
approximately to the equilibrium value given by the minimum of the theoretical
inversion free energy at a typical synthesis temperature. Modification of this
temperature, or of the cooling rate after synthesis, is then expected to change
the inversion degree, which in turn sensitively tunes the electronic band-gap
of the solid, as shown here by accurate screened hybrid functional
calculations.Comment: In press in Applied Physics Letters (2012); 4 pages, 2 figures, 1
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Phosphocholine-Modified Lipooligosaccharides of Haemophilus influenzae Inhibit ATP-Induced IL-1beta Release by Pulmonary Epithelial Cells
Phosphocholine-modified bacterial cell wall components are virulence factors enabling immune evasion and permanent colonization of the mammalian host, by mechanisms that are poorly understood. Recently, we demonstrated that free phosphocholine (PC) and PC-modified lipooligosaccharides (PC-LOS) from Haemophilus influenzae, an opportunistic pathogen of the upper and lower airways, function as unconventional nicotinic agonists and efficiently inhibit the ATP-induced release of monocytic IL-1beta. We hypothesize that H. influenzae PC-LOS exert similar effects on pulmonary epithelial cells and on the complex lung tissue. The human lung carcinoma-derived epithelial cell lines A549 and Calu-3 were primed with lipopolysaccharide from Escherichia coli followed by stimulation with ATP in the presence or absence of PC or PC-LOS or LOS devoid of PC. The involvement of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors was tested using specific antagonists. We demonstrate that PC and PC-LOS efficiently inhibit ATP-mediated IL-1beta release by A549 and Calu-3 cells via nicotinic acetylcholine receptors containing subunits alpha7, alpha9, and/or alpha10. Primed precision-cut lung slices behaved similarly. We conclude that H. influenzae hijacked an endogenous anti-inflammatory cholinergic control mechanism of the lung to evade innate immune responses of the host. These findings may pave the way towards a host-centered antibiotic treatment of chronic airway infections with H. influenzae
VEGF<inf>111</inf>: New insights in tissue invasion
© 2015 Danastas, Combes, Lindsay, Grau, Thompson and Murphy. Vascular endothelial growth factor is a secreted glycoprotein that acts on endothelial cells to induce developmental and physiological angiogenesis. It has also been implicated in angiogenesis occurring in several pathologies, most notably, cancer. Alternative splicing of VEGF mRNA transcripts results in several isoforms with distinct properties depending on their exon composition. Recently, a new isoform has been identified, VEGF111 with a unique exon composition responsible for its high angiogenic potential. In humans, the only known inducer of VEGF111 is DNA damage but its natural presence in the uterus of the viviparous lizard, Saiphos equalis, suggests other mechanisms of regulation. Most interestingly, the possible relationship between the evolution of viviparity and the associated increased risk in developing cancer may be important in understanding the mechanisms underlying tumor development
An Sp1/KLF binding site is important for the activity of a Polycomb group response element from the Drosophila engrailed gene
Polycomb-group response elements (PREs) are DNA elements through which the Polycomb-group (PcG) of transcriptional repressors act. Many of the PcG proteins are associated with two protein complexes that repress gene expression by modifying chromatin. Both of these protein complexes specifically associate with PREs in vivo, however, it is not known how they are recruited or held at the PRE. PREs are complex elements, made up of binding sites for many proteins. Our laboratory has been working to define all the sequences and DNA binding proteins required for the activity of a 181 bp PRE from the Drosophila engrailed gene. Here we show that one of the sites necessary for PRE activity, Site 2, can be bound by members of the Sp1/KLF family of zinc finger proteins. There are 10 Sp1/KLF family members in Drosophila, and nine of them bind to Site 2. We derive a consensus binding site for the Sp1/KLF Drosophila family members and show that this consensus sequence is present in most of the molecularly characterized PREs. These data suggest that one or more Sp1/KLF family members play a role in PRE function in Drosophila
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Multi-touch Interaction Data Analysis System (MIDAS) for 2-D tactile display research
The study of haptic perception and cognition requires data about how humans interact with tactile surfaces in the context of performing cognitive tasks. MIDAS is a set of three tools for the digital capture, coding, analysis, and interpretation of timeseries, multitouch, interactive behaviors on a tactile surface. The MIDAS-logger uses the current screen technology of tablet computers to capture touches (up to ten fingers at high spatial and temporal resolution) through conventional tactile graphics that are overlaid on the screen. The MIDAS-analyser is a software program for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of MIDASlogger touch data, which includes a fully interactive visualization of the data and a yoked display of a conventional simultaneous video recording made of the interactions. MIDAS-tactile protocol analysis (TPA) provides a scheme and a method to enable the rich coding and interpretation of tactile behaviors over multiple spatial and temporal scales. The efficacy of MIDAS was assessed against a set of criteria drawn from the successes and limitations of prior approaches to the study of tactile interactions. To demonstrate the functions of MIDAS, its three components were used to capture, analyze, code, and interpret the behavior of an experienced user and an inexperienced user of tactile graphics as they performed a shape-matching task
The effective mass of two--dimensional 3He
We use structural information from diffusion Monte Carlo calculations for
two--dimensional 3He to calculate the effective mass. Static effective
interactions are constructed from the density-- and spin structure functions
using sumrules. We find that both spin-- and density-- fluctuations contribute
about equally to the effective mass. Our results show, in agreement with recent
experiments, a flattening of the single--particle self--energy with increasing
density, which eventually leads to a divergent effective mass.Comment: 4 pages, accepted in PR
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