Phase and Charge reentrant phase transitions in two capacitively coupled Josephson arrays with ultra-small junction

We have studied the phase diagram of two capacitively coupled Josephson junction arrays with charging energy, $E_c$, and Josephson coupling energy, $E_J$. Our results are obtained using a path integral Quantum Monte Carlo algorithm. The parameter that quantifies the quantum fluctuations in the i-th array is defined by $\alpha_i\equiv \frac{E_{{c}_i}}{E_{J_i}}$. Depending on the value of $\alpha_i$, each independent array may be in the semiclassical or in the quantum regime: We find that thermal fluctuations are important when $\alpha \lesssim 1.5$ and the quantum fluctuations dominate when $2.0 \lesssim \alpha$. We have extensively studied the interplay between vortex and charge dominated individual array phases. The two arrays are coupled via the capacitance $C_{{\rm inter}}$ at each site of the lattices. We find a {\it reentrant transition} in $\Upsilon(T,\alpha)$, at low temperatures, when one of the arrays is in the semiclassical limit (i.e. $\alpha_{1}=0.5$) and the quantum array has $2.0 \leq\alpha_{2} \leq 2.5$, for the values considered for the interlayer capacitance. In addition, when $3.0 \leq \alpha_{2} < 4.0$, and for all the inter-layer couplings considered above, a {\it novel} reentrant phase transition occurs in the charge degrees of freedom, i.e. there is a reentrant insulating-conducting transition at low temperatures. We obtain the corresponding phase diagrams and found some features that resemble those seen in experiments with 2D JJA.Comment: 25 Latex pages including 8 encapsulated poscript figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev B (Nov. 2004 Issue

A HEV-restricted sulfotransferase is expressed in rheumatoid arthritis synovium and is induced by lymphotoxin-alpha/beta and TNF-alpha in cultured endothelial cells.

BackgroundThe recruitment of lymphocytes to secondary lymphoid organs relies on interactions of circulating cells with high endothelial venules (HEV). HEV are exclusive to these organs under physiological conditions, but they can develop in chronically-inflamed tissues. The interaction of L-selectin on lymphocytes with sulfated glycoprotein ligands on HEV results in lymphocyte rolling, which represents the initial step in lymphocyte homing. HEV expression of GlcNAc6ST-2 (also known as HEC-GlcNAc6ST, GST-3, LSST or CHST4), an HEV-restricted sulfotransferase, is essential for the elaboration of L-selectin functional ligands as well as a critical epitope recognized by MECA-79 mAb.ResultsWe examined the expression of GlcNAc6ST-2 in relationship to the MECA-79 epitope in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovial vessels. Expression of GlcNAc6ST-2 was specific to RA synovial tissues as compared to osteoarthritis synovial tissues and localized to endothelial cells of HEV-like vessels and small flat-walled vessels. Double MECA-79 and GlcNAc6ST-2 staining showed colocalization of the MECA-79 epitope and GlcNAc6ST-2. We further found that both TNF-alpha and lymphotoxin-alphabeta induced GlcNAc6ST-2 mRNA and protein in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells.ConclusionThese observations demonstrate that GlcNAc6ST-2 is induced in RA vessels and provide potential cytokine pathways for its induction. GlcNAc6ST-2 is a novel marker of activated vessels within RA ectopic lymphoid aggregates. This enzyme represents a potential therapeutic target for RA

La adición de enzimas a dietas basadas en maíz y harina de soya y el desempeño productivo y la composición de la canal de guineas (Numida me/eagris) de engorde.

Recent studies have demonstrated the benefits of supplementation of broiler chick diets based on corn and soybean meal with enzymes such as amylases and proteases. However, these benefits cannot necessarily be extrapolated to the commercial production of other species of domestic animals. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of diet fortification with Avizyme® (AV) on guinea broiler growth performance and processing yields. Six hundred guinea keets, randomly assigned to four treatments with 10 replications of 15 birds per pen, were reared under a three-phase feeding regime until market age (84 d) in a conventional poultry house. Treatments consisted of diets containing 0 (control), 0.025,0.050, and 0.075% of AV. Birds and feed were weighed weekly until 84 d of age to determine body weight (BW), feed intake (Fl), and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Dead and culled birds (CB) were remo ved and weighed daily. At 84 d, 50 birds per treatment were processed to evaluate carcass composition. The weights of carcass (CW), fat pad (FP) and carcass parts were obtained and yields were calculated as a percentage of live BW. No differences in BW, mortality, CB and CW were found among treatments. The yields of car cass, breast, drumsticks, thighs, and FP were similar for all dietary treatments evaluated. Results at 35, 63 and 84 d were mixed, but in general birds fed diets containing AV exhibited lower (P &lt; 0.01) Fl and FCR than control birds. At 84 d, birds fed 0.025% AV diets had lower (P &lt; 0.01) Fl and FCR than controls. These data suggest that supplementation with corn and soybean meal-based diets with at least 0.025% of AV improves FCR of guinea broilers without affecting BW at market age nor carcass composition.Estudios recientes han demostrado los beneficios de la suplementación con enzimas como amilasas y proteasas en dietas para pollos de engorde basadas en maíz y harina de soya. Sin embargo, estos beneficios no necesariamente pueden ser extrapolados a la producción comercial de otras especies de animales domésticos. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar los efectos de la fortificación dietética con Avizyme® (AV) sobre el crecimiento y rendimiento de procesado de guineas de engorde. Seiscientos pollos de guineas de engorde, asignados al azar a cuatro tratamientos con 10 repeticiones de 15 aves por jaula, se criaron bajo un régimen de alimentación trifásica hasta la edad de mercado (84 d) en un galpón de cría convencional. Los tratamientos consistieron en dietas que contenían 0 (Control), 0.025, 0.050 y 0.075% de AV. Semanalmente se pesó el alimento y las ares, hasta alcanzar los 84 d de edad, para determinar el peso corporal (PC), consumo de alimento (CA) y la razón de conversión de alimento (RCA). Las aves muertas y rezagadas (AR) se remo vieron y se pesar on diariamente. A los 84 d de edad, se procesaron 50 aves por tratamiento para evaluar las características de la canal, obteniéndose los pesos de la canal (PCN),grasa abdominal (GA) y partes de la canal; los rendimientos se calcularon como un porcentaje del peso vivo. No se observaron diferencias entre tratamientos para PC, mortalidad, AR ni PCN. Los rendimientos de canal, pechuga, muslos, caderas y GA fueron similares para todos los tratamientos evaluados. Los resultados para CA a los 35, 63 y 84 d de edad fueron mixtos, pero en general las aves suplementadas con AV exhibieron menor (P &lt; 0.01) CA y RCA que las guineas control. A los 84 d, las aves alimentadas con la adición dietética de 0.025% de AV obtuvieron menores CA y RCA (P &lt; 0.01) que las aves control. Estos datos sugieren que la adición de al menos un 0.025% de AV a dietas a base de soya y maíz mejora la conversión de alimento de gallinas de guinea de engorde sin afectar el PC a la edad de mercado ni la composición de la canal

Metabolic Profiling of Pancreatic Cancer for Early Detection and Determining Therapeutic Efficacy

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp21/1098/thumbnail.jp

Participación en la interacción profesor-alumnos al resolver un problema con apartados de distintos dominios cognitivos en primaria

La interacción en las aulas es de interés en Educación Matemática, por ejemplo, referido a la participación de los alumnos cuando resuelven problemas conjuntamente con el profesor en el aula de Primaria. Rosales et al. (2008) muestran que es escasa cuando resuelven problemas rutinarios, aunque aumenta en los no rutinarios (Sánchez et al., 2014). Analizamos la participación en la interacción profesor-alumnos cuando resuelven juntos un problema con tres apartados (adaptado de TIMSS 2007, IEA, 2011) ubicados en los dominios de conocimiento, aplicación y razonamiento

Optimizing morphology through blood cell image analysis

Introduction Morphological review of the peripheral blood smear is still a crucial diagnostic aid as it provides relevant information related to the diagnosis and is important for selection of additional techniques. Nevertheless, the distinctive cytological characteristics of the blood cells are subjective and influenced by the reviewer's interpretation and, because of that, translating subjective morphological examination into objective parameters is a challenge. Methods The use of digital microscopy systems has been extended in the clinical laboratories. As automatic analyzers have some limitations for abnormal or neoplastic cell detection, it is interesting to identify quantitative features through digital image analysis for morphological characteristics of different cells. Result Three main classes of features are used as follows: geometric, color, and texture. Geometric parameters (nucleus/cytoplasmic ratio, cellular area, nucleus perimeter, cytoplasmic profile, RBC proximity, and others) are familiar to pathologists, as they are related to the visual cell patterns. Different color spaces can be used to investigate the rich amount of information that color may offer to describe abnormal lymphoid or blast cells. Texture is related to spatial patterns of color or intensities, which can be visually detected and quantitatively represented using statistical tools. Conclusion This study reviews current and new quantitative features, which can contribute to optimize morphology through blood cell digital image processing techniques.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Consensus on the Clinical Approach to Moderate-to-Severe Atopic Dermatitis in Spain: A Delphi Survey

Background. The purpose of this study was to gather information on the current assessment and management of patients with moderate-to-severe AD in routine daily practice. Methods. A cross-sectional two-round Delphi survey with the participation of dermatologists and allergologists throughout Spain was conducted. They completed a 46-item questionnaire, and consensus was defined when responses of >= 80% of participants coincided in the categories of a 5-point Likert scale for that item. Results. A total of 105 specialists (aged 40-59 years) completed the two rounds. Participants agreed regarding the consideration of AD as a multifaceted disease and the differences in clinical presentation of AD according to the patient's age. It is recommendable to perform a skin biopsy to exclude early stage T-cell cutaneous lymphoma, psoriasis, or dermatitis herpetiformis, among others (99.1%). Also, consensus was reached regarding the use of the SCORAD index to quantify the severity of the disease (86.7%), the use of wet wraps to increase the effect of topical corticosteroids (90.4%), the usefulness of proactive treatment during follow-up (85.6%) and tacrolimus ointment (91.2%) to reduce new flares, and the fact that crisaborole is not the treatment of choice for severe AD (92.4%). AD was not considered a contraindication for immunotherapy in patients with allergic respiratory diseases (92.4%). In patients with severe AD, the use of immune response modifier drugs (97.6%) or phototherapy (92.8%) does not sufficiently cover their treatment needs. Consensus was also obtained regarding the role of the new biologic drugs (93.6%) targeting cytokines involved in the Th2 inflammatory pathway (92.0%) and the potential role of dupilumab as first-line treatment (90.4%) in moderate-to-severe AD patients. Conclusion. This study contributes a reference framework to the care of AD patients. There is no diagnostic test or biomarkers to direct treatment or to assess the severity of the disease, and many therapeutic challenges remain

A protein with simultaneous capsid scaffolding and dsRNA-binding activities enhances the birnavirus capsid mechanical stability

Viral capsids are metastable structures that perform many essential processes; they also act as robust cages during the extracellular phase. Viruses can use multifunctional proteins to optimize resources (e.g., VP3 in avian infectious bursal disease virus, IBDV). The IBDV genome is organized as ribonucleoproteins (RNP) of dsRNA with VP3, which also acts as a scaffold during capsid assembly. We characterized mechanical properties of IBDV populations with different RNP content (ranging from none to four RNP). The IBDV population with the greatest RNP number (and best fitness) showed greatest capsid rigidity. When bound to dsRNA, VP3 reinforces virus stiffness. These contacts involve interactions with capsid structural subunits that differ from the initial interactions during capsid assembly. Our results suggest that RNP dimers are the basic stabilization units of the virion, provide better understanding of multifunctional proteins, and highlight the duality of RNP as capsidstabilizing and genetic information platformsThis work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity (FIS2011-29493 to PJP, BFU2011-29038 to JLC and BFU2014-55475R to JRC) and Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (S2013/MIT-2850 to JLC and S2013/MIT-2807 to JRC

FDG-PET studies of the effect of MDMA in rat brain

[Abstract] The 10th International Conference on Functional Mapping of the Human Brain, June 13-17, 2004, Budapest, HungaryAlterations of the human brain due to MDMA use are a focus of ongoing research. MDMA abuse produces both short and long-term effects on brain; MDMA-induced functional alterations of the serotonergic system are reported to alter local energy metabolism of cortical and subcortical structures. Presently, there are no FDG-PET experimental studies reported in animals. The aim of this study is to assess these brain glucose metabolism changes after a single dose of MDMA in rats by using FDG-PETPublicad