11,396 research outputs found
Correction of Optical Aberrations in Elliptic Neutron Guides
Modern, nonlinear ballistic neutron guides are an attractive concept in
neutron beam delivery and instrumentation, because they offer increased
performance over straight or linearly tapered guides. However, like other
ballistic geometries they have the potential to create significantly
non-trivial instrumental resolution functions. We address the source of the
most prominent optical aberration, namely coma, and we show that for extended
sources the off-axis rays have a different focal length from on-axis rays,
leading to multiple reflections in the guide system. We illustrate how the
interplay between coma, sources of finite size, and mirrors with non-perfect
reflectivity can therefore conspire to produce uneven distributions in the
neutron beam divergence, the source of complicated resolution functions. To
solve these problems, we propose a hybrid elliptic-parabolic guide geometry.
Using this new kind of neutron guide shape, it is possible to condition the
neutron beam and remove almost all of the aberrations, whilst providing the
same performance in beam current as a standard elliptic neutron guide. We
highlight the positive implications for a number of neutron scattering
instrument types that this new shape can bring.Comment: Presented at NOP2010 Conference in Alpe d'Huez, France, in March 201
Prevalence of qacA/B genes and mupirocin resistance among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates in the setting of chlorhexidine bathing without mupirocin
OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine the frequency of qacA/B chlorhexidine tolerance genes and high-level mupirocin resistance among MRSA isolates before and after the introduction of a chlorhexidine (CHG) daily bathing intervention in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU). DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study (2005–2012) SETTING: A large tertiary-care center PATIENTS: Patients admitted to SICU who had MRSA surveillance cultures of the anterior nares METHODS: A random sample of banked MRSA anterior nares isolates recovered during (2005) and after (2006–2012) implementation of a daily CHG bathing protocol was examined for qacA/B genes and high-level mupirocin resistance. Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing was also performed. RESULTS: Of the 504 randomly selected isolates (63 per year), 36 (7.1%) were qacA/B positive ( + ) and 35 (6.9%) were mupirocin resistant. Of these, 184 (36.5%) isolates were SCCmec type IV. There was a significant trend for increasing qacA/B (P= .02; highest prevalence, 16.9% in 2009 and 2010) and SCCmec type IV (P< .001; highest prevalence, 52.4% in 2012) during the study period. qacA/B( + ) MRSA isolates were more likely to be mupirocin resistant (9 of 36 [25%] qacA/B( + ) vs 26 of 468 [5.6%] qacA/B(−); P= .003). CONCLUSIONS: A long-term, daily CHG bathing protocol was associated with a change in the frequency of qacA/B genes in MRSA isolates recovered from the anterior nares over an 8-year period. This change in the frequency of qacA/B genes is most likely due to patients in those years being exposed in prior admissions. Future studies need to further evaluate the implications of universal CHG daily bathing on MRSA qacA/B genes among hospitalized patients
From classical to modern ether-drift experiments: the narrow window for a preferred frame
Modern ether-drift experiments look for a preferred frame by measuring the
difference \Delta \nu in the relative frequencies of two cavity-stabilized
lasers, upon local rotations of the apparatus or under the Earth's rotation. If
the small deviations observed in the classical ether-drift experiments were not
mere instrumental artifacts, by replacing the high vacuum in the resonating
cavities with a dielectric gaseous medium (e.g. air), the typical measured
\Delta\nu\sim 1 Hz should increase by orders of magnitude. This prediction is
consistent with the characteristic modulation of a few kHz observed in the
original experiment with He-Ne masers. However, if such enhancement would not
be confirmed by new and more precise data, the existence of a preferred frame
can be definitely ruled out.Comment: 15 pages, Latex fil
Rocaglates as dual-targeting agents for experimental cerebral malaria
Cerebral malaria (CM) is a severe and rapidly progressing complication of infection by Plasmodium parasites that is associated with high rates of mortality and morbidity. Treatment options are currently few, and intervention with artemisinin (Art) has limited efficacy, a problem that is compounded by the emergence of resistance to Art in Plasmodium parasites. Rocaglates are a class of natural products derived from plants of the Aglaia genus that have been shown to interfere with eukaryotic initiation factor 4A (eIF4A), ultimately blocking initiation of protein synthesis. Here, we show that the rocaglate CR-1-31B perturbs association of Plasmodium falciparum eIF4A (PfeIF4A) with RNA. CR-1-31B shows potent prophylactic and therapeutic antiplasmodial activity in vivo in mouse models of infection with Plasmodium berghei (CM) and Plasmodium chabaudi (blood-stage malaria), and can also block replication of different clinical isolates of P. falciparum in human erythrocytes infected ex vivo, including drug-resistant P. falciparum isolates. In vivo, a single dosing of CR-1-31B in P. berghei-infected animals is sufficient to provide protection against lethality. CR-1-31B is shown to dampen expression of the early proinflammatory response in myeloid cells in vitro and dampens the inflammatory response in vivo in P. berghei-infected mice. The dual activity of CR-1-31B as an antiplasmodial and as an inhibitor of the inflammatory response in myeloid cells should prove extremely valuable for therapeutic intervention in human cases of CM.We thank Susan Gauthier, Genevieve Perreault, and Patrick Senechal for technical assistance. This work was supported by a research grant (to P.G.) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (Foundation Grant). J.P. and P.G. are supported by a James McGill Professorship salary award. D.L. is supported by fellowships from the Fonds de recherche sante Quebec, the CIHR Neuroinflammation training program. J.P. is supported by CIHR Research Grant FDN-148366. M.S. is supported by a CIHR Foundation grant. J.A.P. is supported by NIH Grant R35 GM118173. Work at the Boston University Center for Molecular Discovery is supported by Grant R24 GM111625. K.C.K. was supported by a CIHR Foundation Grant and the Canada Research Chair program. (Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR); James McGill Professorship salary award; Fonds de recherche sante Quebec; CIHR Neuroinflammation training program; FDN-148366 - CIHR Research Grant; CIHR Foundation grant; R35 GM118173 - NIH; Canada Research Chair program; R24 GM111625
Reducing in-stent restenosis therapeutic manipulation of miRNA in vascular remodeling and inflammation
Background:
Drug-eluting stents reduce the incidence of in-stent restenosis, but they result in delayed arterial healing and are associated with a chronic inflammatory response and hypersensitivity reactions. Identifying novel interventions to enhance wound healing and reduce the inflammatory response may improve long-term clinical outcomes. Micro–ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) are noncoding small ribonucleic acids that play a prominent role in the initiation and resolution of inflammation after vascular injury.<p></p>
Objectives:
This study sought to identify miRNA regulation and function after implantation of bare-metal and drug-eluting stents.<p></p>
Methods:
Pig, mouse, and in vitro models were used to investigate the role of miRNA in in-stent restenosis.<p></p>
Results:
We documented a subset of inflammatory miRNAs activated after stenting in pigs, including the miR-21 stem loop miRNAs. Genetic ablation of the miR-21 stem loop attenuated neointimal formation in mice post-stenting. This occurred via enhanced levels of anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages coupled with an impaired sensitivity of smooth muscle cells to respond to vascular activation.<p></p>
Conclusions:
MiR-21 plays a prominent role in promoting vascular inflammation and remodeling after stent injury. MiRNA-mediated modulation of the inflammatory response post-stenting may have therapeutic potential to accelerate wound healing and enhance the clinical efficacy of stenting
Speeding up finite step-size updating of full QCD on the lattice
We propose various improvements of finite step-size updating for full QCD on
the lattice that might turn finite step-size updating into a viable alternative
to the hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm. These improvements are noise reduction of
the noisy estimator of the fermion determinant, unbiased inclusion of the
hopping parameter expansion and a multi-level Metropolis scheme. First
numerical tests are performed for the 2 dimensional Schwinger model with two
flavours of Wilson fermions and for QCD two flavours of Wilson fermions and
Schr"odinger functional boundary conditions.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figur
Circumbinary disk evolution in the presence of an outer companion star
We consider a hierarchical triple system consisting of an inner eccentric
binary with an outer companion. A highly misaligned circumbinary disk around
the inner binary is subject to two competing effects: (i) nodal precession
about the inner binary eccentricity vector that leads to an increase in
misalignment (polar alignment) and (ii) Kozai-Lidov (KL) oscillations of
eccentricity and inclination driven by the outer companion that leads to a
reduction in the misalignment. The outcome depends upon the ratio of the
timescales of these effects. If the inner binary torque dominates, then the
disk aligns to a polar orientation. If the outer companion torque dominates,
then the disk undergoes KL oscillations. In that case, the highly eccentric and
misaligned disk is disrupted and accreted by the inner binary, while some mass
is transferred to the outer companion. However, when the torques are similar,
the outer parts of the circumbinary disk can undergo large eccentricity
oscillations while the inclination remains close to the polar orientation. The
range of initial disk inclinations that evolve to a polar orientation is
smaller in the presence of the outer companion. Disk breaking is also more
likely, at least temporarily, during the polar alignment process. The stellar
orbits in HD 98800 have parameters such that polar alignment of the
circumbinary disk is expected. In the absence of the gas, solid particles are
unstable at much smaller radii than the gas disk inner tidal truncation radius
because KL driven eccentricity leads to close encounters with the binary.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ
First-principles study of orthorhombic CdTiO3 perovskite
In this work we perform an ab-initio study of CdTiO3 perovskite in its
orthorhombic phase using FLAPW method. Our calculations help to decide between
the different cristallographic structures proposed for this perovskite from
X-Ray measurements. We compute the electric field gradient tensor (EFG) at Cd
site and obtain excellent agreement with available experimental information
from a perturbed angular correlation (PAC) experiment. We study EFG under an
isotropic change of volume and show that in this case the widely used "point
charge model approximation" to determine EFG works quite well.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. Accepted in Physical Review
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