Complete phase diagram for the integrable chain with alternating spins in the sectors with competing interactions

We investigate the anisotropic integrable spin chain consisting of spins $s={1/2}$ and $s=1$ by means of thermodynamic Bethe ansatz for the anisotropy $\gamma>\pi/3$, where the analysis of the Takahashi conditions leads to a more complicated string picture. We give the phase diagram with respect to the two real coupling constants $\bar{c}$ and $\tilde{c}$, which contains a new region where the ground state is formed by strings with infinite Fermi zones. In this region the velocities of sound for the two physical excitations have been calculated from the dressed energies. This leads to an additional line of conformal invariance not known before.Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX, uses ioplppt.sty and epsfig.sty, figure 3 correcte

Elongation factor P: Function and effects on bacterial fitness.

The elongation phase of translation is promoted by three universal elongation factors, EF-Tu, EF-Ts, and EF-G in bacteria and their homologs in archaea and eukaryotes. Recent findings demonstrate that the translation of a subset of mRNAs requires a fourth elongation factor, EF-P in bacteria or the homologous factors a/eIF5A in other kingdoms of life. EF-P prevents the ribosome from stalling during the synthesis of proteins containing consecutive Pro residues, such as PPG, PPP, or longer Pro clusters. The efficient and coordinated synthesis of such proteins is required for bacterial growth, motility, virulence, and stress response. EF-P carries a unique post-translational modification which contributes to its catalytic proficiency. The modification enzymes, which are lacking in higher eukaryotes, provide attractive new targets for the development of new, highly specific antimicrobials

Ground State Structure and Low Temperature Behaviour of an Integrable Chain with Alternating Spins

In this paper we continue the investigation of an anisotropic integrable spin chain, consisting of spins $s=1$ and $s=\frac{1}{2}$, started in our paper \cite{meissner}. The thermodynamic Bethe ansatz is analysed especially for the case, when the signs of the two couplings $\bar{c}$ and $\tilde{c}$ differ. For the conformally invariant model ($\bar{c}=\tilde{c}$) we have calculated heat capacity and magnetic susceptibility at low temperature. In the isotropic limit our analysis is carried out further and susceptibilities are calculated near phase transition lines (at $T=0$).Comment: 22 pages, LaTeX, uses ioplppt.sty and PicTeX macro

Existence of the magnetization plateau in a class of exactly solvable Ising-Heisenberg chains

The mapping transformation technique is applied to obtain exact results for the spin-1/2 and spin-S (S=1/2,1) Ising-Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain in the presence of an external magnetic field. Within this scheme, a field-induced first-order metamagnetic transition resulting in multiplateau magnetization curves, is investigated in detail. It is found that the scenario of the plateau formation depends fundamentally on the ratio between Ising and Heisenbrg interaction constants, as well as on the anisotropy strength of the XXZ Heisenberg interaction.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, submitted to J. Phys: Condens. Matte

Mixed Heisenberg Chains. I. The Ground State Problem

We consider a mechanism for competing interactions in alternating Heisenberg spin chains due to the formation of local spin-singlet pairs. The competition of spin-1 and spin-0 states reveals hidden Ising symmetry of such alternating chains.Comment: 7 pages, RevTeX, 4 embedded eps figures, final versio

Neutralization of B-Cell Activating Factor (BAFF) by Belimumab Reinforces Small Molecule Inhibitor Treatment in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

The introduction of idelalisib, ibrutinib and venetoclax for treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has greatly improved long term survival of patients. However, many patients do not achieve complete remission and suffer from development of resistance upon treatment with these small molecule inhibitors. Here we report that the TNF family member B-cell activating factor (BAFF) mediates resistance of CLL cells to idelalisib, ibrutinib and venetoclax by sustaining survival and preventing apoptosis of the malignant B cells as revealed by analysis of cellular ATP levels and mitochondrial membrane integrity as well as caspase activation, respectively. As BAFF also plays a prominent role in autoimmune diseases, the BAFF-neutralizing antibody belimumab was developed and approved for treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). When we employed belimumab in the context of CLL treatment with idelalisib, ibrutinib and venetoclax, BAFF neutralization was found to significantly increase the sensitivity of the leukemic cells to all three small molecule inhibitors. Notably, BAFF neutralization proved to be beneficial independently of clinical stage according to Binet and Rai or IgVH mutational status. Our results identify drug repurposing of belimumab for neutralization of BAFF to complement small molecule inhibitor treatment as a promising therapeutic approach in CLL that is presently undergoing clinical evaluation

The transcription factor MITF is a critical regulator of GPNMB expression in dendritic cells

BACKGROUND: Dendritic cells (DC) are the most potent antigen-presenting cells (APC) with the unique ability to activate naïve T cells and to initiate and maintain primary immune responses. Immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory stimuli on DC such as the cytokine IL-10 suppress the activity of the transcription factor NF-κB what results in downregulation of costimulatory molecules, MHC and cytokine production. Glycoprotein NMB (GPNMB) is a transmembrane protein, which acts as a coinhibitory molecule strongly inhibiting T cell responses if present on APC. Interestingly, its expression on human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDC) is dramatically upregulated upon treatment with IL-10 but also by the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) imatinib, nilotinib or dasatinib used for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for GPNMB overexpression are yet unknown. RESULTS: The immunosuppressive cytokine IL-10 and the BCR-ABL TKI imatinib or nilotinib, that were examined here, concordantly inhibit the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, thereby activating the downstream serine/threonine protein kinase GSK3ß, and subsequently the microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) that is phosphorylated and translocated into the nucleus. Treatment of moDC with a small molecule inhibitor of MITF activity reduced the expression of GPNMB at the level of mRNA and protein, indicating that GPNMB expression is in fact facilitated by MITF activation. In line with these findings, PI3K/Akt inhibition was found to result in GPNMB overexpression accompanied by reduced stimulatory capacity of moDC in mixed lymphocyte reactions (MLR) with allogeneic T cells that could be restored by addition of the GPNMB T cell ligand syndecan-4 (SD-4). CONCLUSIONS: In summary, imatinib, nilotinib or IL-10 congruently inhibit the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway thereby activating MITF in moDC, resulting in a tolerogenic phenotype. These findings extend current knowledge on the molecular mechanisms balancing activating and inhibitory signals in human DC and may facilitate the targeted manipulation of T cell responses in the context of DC-based immunotherapeutic interventions. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12964-015-0099-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Ground state and low excitations of an integrable chain with alternating spins

An anisotropic integrable spin chain, consisting of spins $s=1$ and $s=\frac{1}{2}$, is investigated \cite{devega}. It is characterized by two real parameters $\bar{c}$ and $\tilde{c}$, the coupling constants of the spin interactions. For the case $\bar{c}<0$ and $\tilde{c}<0$ the ground state configuration is obtained by means of thermodynamic Bethe ansatz. Furthermore the low excitations are calculated. It turns out, that apart from free magnon states being the holes in the ground state rapidity distribution, there exist bound states given by special string solutions of Bethe ansatz equations (BAE) in analogy to \cite{babelon}. The dispersion law of these excitations is calculated numerically.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, uses ioplppt.sty and PicTeX macro

A DMRG Study of Low-Energy Excitations and Low-Temperature Properties of Alternating Spin Systems

We use the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method to study the ground and low-lying excited states of three kinds of uniform and dimerized alternating spin chains. The DMRG procedure is also employed to obtain low-temperature thermodynamic properties of these systems. We consider a 2N site system with spins $s_1$ and $s_2$ alternating from site to site and interacting via a Heisenberg antiferromagnetic exchange. The three systems studied correspond to $(s_1 ,s_2 )$ being equal to $(1,1/2),(3/2,1/2)$ and $(3/2,1)$; all of them have very similar properties. The ground state is found to be ferrimagnetic with total spin $s_G =N(s_1 - s_2)$. We find that there is a gapless excitation to a state with spin $s_G -1$, and a gapped excitation to a state with spin $s_G +1$. Surprisingly, the correlation length in the ground state is found to be very small for this gapless system. The DMRG analysis shows that the chain is susceptible to a conditional spin-Peierls instability. Furthermore, our studies of the magnetization, magnetic susceptibility $\chi$ and specific heat show strong magnetic-field dependences. The product $\chi T$ shows a minimum as a function of temperature T at low magnetic fields; the minimum vanishes at high magnetic fields. This low-field behavior is in agreement with earlier experimental observations. The specific heat shows a maximum as a function of temperature, and the height of the maximum increases sharply at high magnetic fields. Although all the three systems show qualitatively similar behavior, there are some notable quantitative differences between the systems in which the site spin difference, $|s_1 - s_2|$, is large and small respectively.Comment: 16 LaTeX pages, 13 postscript figure

Thermodynamics and conformal properties of XXZ chains with alternating spins

The quantum periodic XXZ chain with alternating spins is studied. The properties of the related R-matrix and Hamiltonians are discussed. A compact expression for the ground state energy is obtained. The corresponding conformal anomaly is found via the finite-size computations and also by means of the Bethe ansatz method. In the presence of an external magnetic field, the magnetic susceptibility is derived. The results are also generalized to the case of a chain containing several different spins.Comment: 28 pages, LaTeX2