225 research outputs found
Resummed thermodynamic perturbation theory for bond cooperativity in associating fluids
We develop a resummed thermodynamic perturbation theory for bond
cooperativity in associating fluids by extension of Wertheim's multi - density
formalism. We specifically consider the case of an associating hard sphere with
two association sites and both pairwise and triplet contributions to the
energy. To test the theory we perform new monte carlo simulations. Theory and
simulation are found to be in excellent agreement
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Effect of gait speed on gait rhythmicity in Parkinson's disease: variability of stride time and swing time respond differently
BACKGROUND: The ability to maintain a steady gait rhythm is impaired in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). This aspect of locomotor dyscontrol, which likely reflects impaired automaticity in PD, can be quantified by measuring the stride-to-stride variability of gait timing. Previous work has shown an increase in both the variability of the stride time and swing time in PD, but the origins of these changes are not fully understood. Patients with PD also generally walk with a reduced gait speed, a potential confounder of the observed changes in variability. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between walking speed and gait variability. METHODS: Stride time variability and swing time variability were measured in 36 patients with PD (Hoehn and Yahr stage 2â2.5) and 30 healthy controls who walked on a treadmill at four different speeds: 1) Comfortable walking speed (CWS), 2) 80% of CWS 3) 90% of CWS, and 4) 110% of CWS. In addition, we studied the effects of walking slowly on level ground, both with and without a walker. RESULTS: Consistent with previous findings, increased variability of stride time and swing time was observed in the patients with PD in CWS, compared to controls. In both groups, there was a small but significant association between treadmill gait speed and stride time variability such that higher speeds were associated with lower (better) values of stride time variability (p = 0.0002). In contrast, swing time variability did not change in response to changes in gait speed. Similar results were observed with walking on level ground. CONCLUSION: The present results demonstrate that swing time variability is independent of gait speed, at least over the range studied, and therefore, that it may be used as a speed-independent marker of rhythmicity and gait steadiness. Since walking speed did not affect stride time variability and swing time variability in the same way, it appears that these two aspects of gait rhythmicity are not entirely controlled by the same mechanisms. The present findings also suggest that the increased gait variability in PD is disease-related, and not simply a consequence of bradykinesia
Bundle gerbes and moduli spaces
In this paper, we construct the index bundle gerbe of a family of
self-adjoint Dirac-type operators, refining a construction of Segal. In a
special case, we construct a geometric bundle gerbe called the caloron bundle
gerbe, which comes with a natural connection and curving, and show that it is
isomorphic to the analytically constructed index bundle gerbe. We apply these
constructions to certain moduli spaces associated to compact Riemann surfaces,
constructing on these moduli spaces, natural bundle gerbes with connection and
curving, whose 3-curvature represent Dixmier-Douady classes that are generators
of the third de Rham cohomology groups of these moduli spaces.Comment: 19 pages. Latex2e, typos corrected, a reference adde
Algebras, BPS States, and Strings
We clarify the role played by BPS states in the calculation of threshold
corrections of D=4, N=2 heterotic string compactifications. We evaluate these
corrections for some classes of compactifications and show that they are sums
of logarithmic functions over the positive roots of generalized Kac-Moody
algebras. Moreover, a certain limit of the formulae suggests a reformulation of
heterotic string in terms of a gauge theory based on hyperbolic algebras such
as . We define a generalized Kac-Moody Lie superalgebra associated to
the BPS states. Finally we discuss the relation of our results with string
duality.Comment: 64 pages, harvmac (b), Discussion of BRST improved, typos fixed, two
references adde
Vibrio vulnificus MO6-24/O Lipopolysaccharide Stimulates Superoxide Anion, Thromboxane B\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e, Matrix Metalloproteinase-9, Cytokine and Chemokine Release by Rat Brain Microglia in Vitro
Although human exposure to Gram-negative Vibrio vulnificus (V. vulnificus) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has been reported to result in septic shock, its impact on the central nervous systemâs innate immunity remains undetermined. The purpose of this study was to determine whether V. vulnificus MO6-24/O LPS might activate rat microglia in vitro and stimulate the release of superoxide anion (O2â), a reactive oxygen species known to cause oxidative stress and neuronal injury in vivo. Brain microglia were isolated from neonatal rats, and then treated with either V. vulnificus MO6-24/O LPS or Escherichia coli O26:B6 LPS for 17 hours in vitro. O2â was determined by cytochrome C reduction, and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 by gelatinase zymography. Generation of cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1α), IL-6, and transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-ÎČ1), chemokines macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP-1α)/chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 3 (CCL3), MIP-2/chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 2 (CXCL2), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1)/CCL2, and cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant-2alpha/beta (CINC-2α/ÎČ)/CXCL3, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), were determined by specific immunoassays. Priming of rat microglia by V. vulnificus MO6-24/O LPS in vitro yielded a bell-shaped dose-response curve for PMA (phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate)-stimulated O2â generation: (1) 0.1â1 ng/mL V. vulnificus LPS enhanced O2â generation significantly but with limited inflammatory mediator generation; (2) 10â100 ng/mL V. vulnificus LPS maximized O2â generation with concomitant release of thromboxane B2 (TXB2), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), and several cytokines and chemokines; (3) 1000â100,000 ng/mL V. vulnificus LPS, with the exception of TXB2, yielded both attenuated O2â production, and a progressive decrease in MMP-9, cytokines and chemokines investigated. Thus concentration-dependent treatment of neonatal brain microglia with V. vulnificus MO6-24/O LPS resulted in a significant rise in O2â production, followed by a progressive decrease in O2â release, with concomitant release of lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), and generation of TXB2, MMP-9, cytokines and chemokines. We hypothesize that the inflammatory mediators investigated may be cytotoxic to microglia in vitro, by an as yet undetermined autocrine mechanism. Although V. vulnificus LPS was less potent than E. coli LPS in vitro, inflammatory mediator release by the former was clearly more efficacious. Finally, we hypothesize that should V. vulnificus LPS gain entry into the CNS, it would be possible that microglia might become activated, resulting in high levels of O2â as well as neuroinflammatory TXB2, MMP-9, cytokines and chemokines
Four-Dimensional Avatars of Two-Dimensional RCFT
We investigate a 4D analog of 2D WZW theory. The theory turns out to have
surprising finiteness properties and an infinite-dimensional current algebra
symmetry. Some correlation functions are determined by this symmetry. One way
to define the theory systematically proceeds by the quantization of moduli
spaces of holomorphic vector bundles over algebraic surfaces. We outline how
one can define vertex operators in the theory. Finally, we define
four-dimensional ``conformal blocks'' and present an analog of the Verlinde
formula.Comment: 28pp. harvmac l-mode, Talk presented at Strings 95 and at the Trieste
Conference on S-Duality and Mirror Symmetry. References added, misprints
corrected, improved discussion of the gauged actio
QCD strings with spinning quarks
We construct a consistent action for a massive spinning quark on the end of a
QCD string that leads to pure Thomas precession of the quark's spin. The string
action is modified by the addition of Grassmann degrees of freedom to the
string such that the equations of motion for the quark spin follow from
boundary conditions, just as do those for the quark's position.Comment: REVTeX4, 10 pages, no figure
Translational and Rotational Motion of C8 Aromatics Adsorbed in Isotropic Porous Media (MOF-5): NMR Studies and MD Simulations
We combined nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to study xylene behavior in MOF-5, probing the effects of adsorbate geometry in a weakly interacting model isotropic metal organic framework (MOF) system. We employed NMR diffusometry and relaxometry techniques at low field (13 MHz) to quantify the self -diffusion coefficients (Ds) and the longitudinal relaxation times (T-1) of xylenes in MOF-5 as a function of temperature at the saturated loading for each xylene. These "experiments reveal the translational motion activation energies to be 15.3, 19.7, and 21.2 kj mol(-1) and the rotational activation energies to be 47.26, 12.88, and 11.55 for the (p-, m-, o-) xylene isomers, respectively. Paraxylene exhibits faster translational motion, yet shows four times the activation energy barrier for rotational motion vis-a-vis the other isomers. MD simulations performed on these model systems corroborate the findings for paraxylene and suggest that paraxylene has the lower free energy barrier for hopping away from its binding sites, yet has the slowest rotational motion in the plane of the xylene molecule
Role of water states on water uptake and proton transport in Nafion using molecular simulations and bimodal network
Using molecular simulations and a bimodal domain network, the role of water state on Nafion water uptake and water and proton transport is investigated. Although the smaller domains provide moderate transport pathways, their effectiveness remains low due to strong, resistive water molecules/domain surface interactions. The water occupancy of the larger domains yields bulk-like water, and causes the observed transition in the water uptake and significant increases in transport properties
Mutation of HIV-1 Genomes in a Clinical Population Treated with the Mutagenic Nucleoside KP1461
The deoxycytidine analog KP1212, and its prodrug KP1461, are prototypes of a new class of antiretroviral drugs designed to increase viral mutation rates, with the goal of eventually causing the collapse of the viral population. Here we present an extensive analysis of viral sequences from HIV-1 infected volunteers from the first âmechanism validationâ phase II clinical trial of a mutagenic base analog in which individuals previously treated with antiviral drugs received 1600 mg of KP1461 twice per day for 124 days. Plasma viral loads were not reduced, and overall levels of viral mutation were not increased during this short-term study, however, the mutation spectrum of HIV was altered. A large number (N = 105 per sample) of sequences were analyzed, each derived from individual HIV-1 RNA templates, after 0, 56 and 124 days of therapy from 10 treated and 10 untreated control individuals (>7.1 million base pairs of unique viral templates were sequenced). We found that private mutations, those not found in more than one viral sequence and likely to have occurred in the most recent rounds of replication, increased in treated individuals relative to controls after 56 (p = 0.038) and 124 (p = 0.002) days of drug treatment. The spectrum of mutations observed in the treated group showed an excess of A to G and G to A mutations (p = 0.01), and to a lesser extent T to C and C to T mutations (p = 0.09), as predicted by the mechanism of action of the drug. These results validate the proposed mechanism of action in humans and should spur development of this novel antiretroviral approach.Koronis Pharmaceutical
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