505 research outputs found
Fundamental Cycles and Graph Embeddings
In this paper we present a new Good Characterization of maximum genus of a
graph which makes a common generalization of the works of Xuong, Liu, and Fu et
al. Based on this, we find a new polynomially bounded algorithm to find the
maximum genus of a graph
Efficient Path Planning in Narrow Passages via Closed-Form Minkowski Operations
Path planning has long been one of the major research areas in robotics, with
PRM and RRT being two of the most effective classes of path planners. Though
generally very efficient, these sampling-based planners can become
computationally expensive in the important case of "narrow passages". This
paper develops a path planning paradigm specifically formulated for narrow
passage problems. The core is based on planning for rigid-body robots
encapsulated by unions of ellipsoids. The environmental features are enclosed
geometrically using convex differentiable surfaces (e.g., superquadrics). The
main benefit of doing this is that configuration-space obstacles can be
parameterized explicitly in closed form, thereby allowing prior knowledge to be
used to avoid sampling infeasible configurations. Then, by characterizing a
tight volume bound for multiple ellipsoids, robot transitions involving
rotations are guaranteed to be collision-free without traditional collision
detection. Furthermore, combining the stochastic sampling strategy, the
proposed planning framework can be extended to solving higher dimensional
problems in which the robot has a moving base and articulated appendages.
Benchmark results show that, remarkably, the proposed framework outperforms the
popular sampling-based planners in terms of computational time and success rate
in finding a path through narrow corridors and in higher dimensional
configuration spaces
Comparison of the kā pkā p and direct diagonalization approaches to the electronic structure of InAs/GaAs quantum dots
We present a comparison of the 8-band kā
pkā
p and empirical pseudopotential approaches to describing the electronic structure of pyramidal InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots. We find a generally good agreement between the two methods. The most significant differences found in the kā
pkā
p calculation are (i) a reduced splitting of the electron p states (3 vs 24 meV), (ii) an incorrect in-plane polarization ratio for electron-hole dipole transitions (0.97 vs 1.24), and (iii) an over confinement of both electron (48 meV) and hole states (52 meV), resulting in a band gap error of 100 meV. We introduce a ālinear combination of bulk bandsā technique which produces results similar to a full direct diagonalization pseudopotential calculation, at a cost similar to the kā
pkā
p method. Ā© 2000 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70120/2/APPLAB-76-3-339-1.pd
Convergent diversity-oriented side-chain macrocyclization scan for unprotected polypeptides
Here we describe a general synthetic platform for side-chain macrocyclization of an unprotected peptide library based on the S[subscript N]Ar reaction between cysteine thiolates and a new generation of highly reactive perfluoroaromatic small molecule linkers. This strategy enabled us to simultaneously āscanā two cysteine residues positioned from i, i + 1 to i, i + 14 sites in a polypeptide, producing 98 macrocyclic products from reactions of 14 peptides with 7 linkers. A complementary reverse strategy was developed; cysteine residues within the polypeptide were first modified with non-bridging perfluoroaryl moieties and then commercially available dithiol linkers were used for macrocyclization. The highly convergent, site-independent, and modular nature of these two strategies coupled with the unique chemoselectivity of a S[subscript N]Ar transformation allows for the rapid diversity-oriented synthesis of hybrid macrocyclic peptide libraries with varied chemical and structural complexities.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (GM101762)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (GM046059)MIT Faculty Start-up FundSontag Foundation (Distinguished Scientist Award)Deshpande Center for Technological InnovationMassachusetts Institute of Technology (Charles E. Reed Faculty Initiative Fund)Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundatio
Ethylene-mediated nitric oxide depletion pre-adapts plants to hypoxia stress
Timely perception of adverse environmental changes is critical for survival. Dynamic changes in gases are important cues for plants to sense environmental perturbations, such as submergence. In Arabidopsis thaliana, changes in oxygen and nitric oxide (NO) control the stability of ERFVII transcription factors. ERFVII proteolysis is regulated by the N-degron pathway and mediates adaptation to flooding-induced hypoxia. However, how plants detect and transduce early submergence signals remains elusive. Here we show that plants can rapidly detect submergence through passive ethylene entrapment and use this signal to pre-adapt to impending hypoxia. Ethylene can enhance ERFVII stability prior to hypoxia by increasing the NO-scavenger PHYTOGLOBIN1. This ethylene-mediated NO depletion and consequent ERFVII accumulation pre-adapts plants to survive subsequent hypoxia. Our results reveal the biological link between three gaseous signals for the regulation of flooding survival and identifies key regulatory targets for early stress perception that could be pivotal for developing flood-tolerant crops
Novel TNF Receptor-1 Inhibitors Identified as Potential Therapeutic Candidates for Traumatic Brain Injury
Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) begins with the application of mechanical force to the head or brain, which initiates systemic and cellular processes that are hallmarks of the disease. The pathological cascade of secondary injury processes, including inflammation, can exacerbate brain injury-induced morbidities and thus represents a plausible target for pharmaceutical therapies. We have pioneered research on post-traumatic sleep, identifying that injury-induced sleep lasting for 6 h in brain-injured mice coincides with increased cortical levels of inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Here, we apply post-traumatic sleep as a physiological bio-indicator of inflammation. We hypothesized the efficacy of novel TNF receptor (TNF-R) inhibitors could be screened using post-traumatic sleep and that these novel compounds would improve functional recovery following diffuse TBI in the mouse.
Methods: Three inhibitors of TNF-R activation were synthesized based on the structure of previously reported TNF CIAM inhibitor F002, which lodges into a defined TNFR1 cavity at the TNF-binding interface, and screened for in vitro efficacy of TNF pathway inhibition (IĪŗB phosphorylation). Compounds were screened for in vivo efficacy in modulating post-traumatic sleep. Compounds were then tested for efficacy in improving functional recovery and verification of cellular mechanism.
Results: Brain-injured mice treated with Compound 7 (C7) or SGT11 slept significantly less than those treated with vehicle, suggesting a therapeutic potential to target neuroinflammation. SGT11 restored cognitive, sensorimotor, and neurological function. C7 and SGT11 significantly decreased cortical inflammatory cytokines 3 h post-TBI.
Conclusions: Using sleep as a bio-indicator of TNF-R-dependent neuroinflammation, we identified C7 and SGT11 as potential therapeutic candidates for TBI
Acute rejection is associated with antibodies to non-Gal antigens in baboons using Gal-knockout pig kidneys
We transplanted kidneys from Ī±1,3-galactosyltransferase knockout (GalT-KO) pigs into six baboons using two different immunosuppressive regimens, but most of the baboons died from severe acute humoral xenograft rejection. Circulating induced antibodies to non-Gal antigens were markedly elevated at rejection, which mediated strong complement-dependent cytotoxicity against GalT-KO porcine target cells. These data suggest that antibodies to non-Gal antigens will present an additional barrier to transplantation of organs from GalT-KO pigs to humans. Ā© 2005 Nature Publishing Group
Chalcogenide Glass-on-Graphene Photonics
Two-dimensional (2-D) materials are of tremendous interest to integrated
photonics given their singular optical characteristics spanning light emission,
modulation, saturable absorption, and nonlinear optics. To harness their
optical properties, these atomically thin materials are usually attached onto
prefabricated devices via a transfer process. In this paper, we present a new
route for 2-D material integration with planar photonics. Central to this
approach is the use of chalcogenide glass, a multifunctional material which can
be directly deposited and patterned on a wide variety of 2-D materials and can
simultaneously function as the light guiding medium, a gate dielectric, and a
passivation layer for 2-D materials. Besides claiming improved fabrication
yield and throughput compared to the traditional transfer process, our
technique also enables unconventional multilayer device geometries optimally
designed for enhancing light-matter interactions in the 2-D layers.
Capitalizing on this facile integration method, we demonstrate a series of
high-performance glass-on-graphene devices including ultra-broadband on-chip
polarizers, energy-efficient thermo-optic switches, as well as graphene-based
mid-infrared (mid-IR) waveguide-integrated photodetectors and modulators
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