2,817 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Cortisol levels in response to starting school in children at increased risk for social phobia
Background: Research on depression has identified hyperactivity of the HPA axis as a
potential contributory factor to the intergenerational transmission of affective symptoms. However,
this has not yet been examined in the context of social phobia. The current study compared HPA axis
activity in response to a universal social stressor (starting school) in children of 2 groups of women:
one with social phobia and one with no history of anxiety (comparison group). To determine specificity
of effects of maternal social phobia, a third group of children were also examined whose mothers had
generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).
Method: Children provided salivary cortisol samples in the morning, afternoon and at bedtime across 3
time-blocks surrounding the school start: a month before starting school (baseline), the first week at
school (stress response), and the end of the first school term (stress recovery). Child behavioural
inhibition at 14 months was also assessed to explore the influence of early temperament on later stress
responses.
Results: All children displayed an elevation in morning and afternoon cortisol from baseline during the
first week at school, which remained elevated until the end of the first term. Children in the social
phobia group, however, also displayed an equivalent elevation in bedtime cortisol, which was not
observed for comparison children or for children of mothers with GAD. Children in the social phobia
group who were classified as 'inhibited' at 14 months displayed significantly higher afternoon cortisol
levels overall.
Summary: A persistent stress response to school in the morning and afternoon is typical for all
children, but children of mothers with social phobia also display atypical elevations in evening cortisol
levels when at school - signalling long-term disruption of the circadian rhythm in HPA axis activity.
This is the first study to report HPA axis disruption in children at risk of developing social phobia, and
future research should aim to determine whether this represents a pathway for symptom
development, taking early temperament into account
Experimental determination of the degree of quantum polarisation of continuous variable states
We demonstrate excitation-manifold resolved polarisation characterisation of
continuous-variable (CV) quantum states. In contrast to traditional
characterisation of polarisation that is based on the Stokes parameters, we
experimentally determine the Stokes vector of each excitation manifold
separately. Only for states with a given photon number does the methods
coincide. For states with an indeterminate photon number, for example Gaussian
states, the employed method gives a richer and more accurate description. We
apply the method both in theory and in experiment to some common states to
demonstrate its advantages.Comment: 5 page
Reply to "Comment on `Self-organized Criticality and Absorbing States: Lessons from the Ising Model'"
In [Braz. J. Phys. 30, 27 (2000)] Dickman et al. suggested that
self-organized criticality can be produced by coupling the activity of an
absorbing state model to a dissipation mechanism and adding an external drive.
We analyzed the proposed mechanism in [Phys. Rev. E 73, 025106R (2006)] and
found that if this mechanism is at work, the finite-size scaling found in
self-organized criticality will depend on the details of the implementation of
dissipation and driving. In the preceding comment [Phys. Rev. E XX, XXXX
(2008)] Alava et al. show that one avalanche exponent in the AS approach
becomes independent of dissipation and driving. In our reply we clarify their
findings and put them in the context of the original article.Comment: 4 pages, REVTeX (draft
Creep in oak material from the Vasa ship: verification of linear viscoelasticity and identification of stress thresholds
Creep deformation is a general problem for large wooden structures, and in particular for shipwrecks in museums. In this study, experimental creep data on the wooden cubic samples from the Vasa ship have been analysed to confirm the linearity of the viscoelastic response in the directions where creep was detectable (T and R directions). Isochronous stress-strain curves were derived for relevant uniaxial compressive stresses within reasonable time spans. These curves and the associated creep compliance values justify that it is reasonable to assume a linear viscoelastic behaviour within the tested ranges, given the high degree of general variability. Furthermore, the creep curves were fitted with a one-dimensional standard linear solid model, and although the rheological parameters show a fair amount of scatter, they are candidates as input parameters in a numerical model to predict creep deformations. The isochronous stress-strain relationships were used to define a creep threshold stress below which only negligible creep is expected. These thresholds ranges were 0.3-0.5 MPa in the R direction and 0.05-0.2 MPa in the T direction
Development of a D-xylose fermenting and inhibitor tolerant industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain with high performance in lignocellulose hydrolysates using metabolic and evolutionary engineering
Background: The production of bioethanol from lignocellulose hydrolysates requires a robust, D-xylose-fermenting and inhibitor-tolerant microorganism as catalyst. The purpose of the present work was to develop such a strain from a prime industrial yeast strain, Ethanol Red, used for bioethanol production.
Results: An expression cassette containing 13 genes including Clostridium phytofermentans XylA, encoding D-xylose isomerase (XI), and enzymes of the pentose phosphate pathway was inserted in two copies in the genome of Ethanol Red. Subsequent EMS mutagenesis, genome shuffling and selection in D-xylose-enriched lignocellulose hydrolysate, followed by multiple rounds of evolutionary engineering in complex medium with D-xylose, gradually established efficient D-xylose fermentation. The best-performing strain, GS1.11-26, showed a maximum specific D-xylose consumption rate of 1.1 g/g DW/h in synthetic medium, with complete attenuation of 35 g/L D-xylose in about 17 h. In separate hydrolysis and fermentation of lignocellulose hydrolysates of Arundo donax (giant reed), spruce and a wheat straw/hay mixture, the maximum specific D-xylose consumption rate was 0.36, 0.23 and 1.1 g/g DW inoculum/h, and the final ethanol titer was 4.2, 3.9 and 5.8% (v/v), respectively. In simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of Arundo hydrolysate, GS1.11-26 produced 32% more ethanol than the parent strain Ethanol Red, due to efficient D-xylose utilization. The high D-xylose fermentation capacity was stable after extended growth in glucose. Cell extracts of strain GS1.11-26 displayed 17-fold higher XI activity compared to the parent strain, but overexpression of XI alone was not enough to establish D-xylose fermentation. The high D-xylose consumption rate was due to synergistic interaction between the high XI activity and one or more mutations in the genome. The GS1.11-26 had a partial respiratory defect causing a reduced aerobic growth rate.
Conclusions: An industrial yeast strain for bioethanol production with lignocellulose hydrolysates has been developed in the genetic background of a strain widely used for commercial bioethanol production. The strain uses glucose and D-xylose with high consumption rates and partial cofermentation in various lignocellulose hydrolysates with very high ethanol yield. The GS1.11-26 strain shows highly promising potential for further development of an all-round robust yeast strain for efficient fermentation of various lignocellulose hydrolysates
Rashba spin orbit interaction in a quantum wire superlattice
In this work we study the effects of a longitudinal periodic potential on a
parabolic quantum wire defined in a two-dimensional electron gas with Rashba
spin-orbit interaction. For an infinite wire superlattice we find, by direct
diagonalization, that the energy gaps are shifted away from the usual Bragg
planes due to the Rashba spin-orbit interaction. Interestingly, our results
show that the location of the band gaps in energy can be controlled via the
strength of the Rashba spin-orbit interaction. We have also calculated the
charge conductance through a periodic potential of a finite length via the
non-equilibrium Green's function method combined with the Landauer formalism.
We find dips in the conductance that correspond well to the energy gaps of the
infinite wire superlattice. From the infinite wire energy dispersion, we derive
an equation relating the location of the conductance dips as a function of the
(gate controllable) Fermi energy to the Rashba spin-orbit coupling strength. We
propose that the strength of the Rashba spin-orbit interaction can be extracted
via a charge conductance measurement.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
Interactions of multi-quark states in the chromodielectric model
We investigate 4-quark () systems as well as multi-quark
states with a large number of quarks and anti-quarks using the chromodielectric
model. In the former type of systems the flux distribution and the
corresponding energy of such systems for planar and non-planar geometries are
studied. From the comparison to the case of two independent -strings
we deduce the interaction potential between two strings. We find an attraction
between strings and a characteristic string flip if there are two degenerate
string combinations between the four particles. The interaction shows no strong
Van-der-Waals forces and the long range behavior of the potential is well
described by a Yukawa potential, which might be confirmed in future lattice
calculations. The multi-quark states develop an inhomogeneous porous structure
even for particle densities large compared to nuclear matter constituent quark
densities. We present first results of the dependence of the system on the
particle density pointing towards a percolation type of transition from a
hadronic matter phase to a quark matter phase. The critical energy density is
found at .Comment: 19 pages, 40 eps-figures, RevTex 4, v2: typos correcte
Cellular Dynamical Mean Field Approach to Strongly Correlated Systems
We propose a cellular version of dynamical-mean field theory which gives a
natural generalization of its original single-site construction and is
formulated in different sets of variables. We show how non-orthogonality of the
tight-binding basis sets enters the problem and prove that the resulting
equations lead to manifestly causal self energies.Comment: RevTex, 4 pages, 1 embedded figur
Spurious phase in a model for traffic on a bridge
We present high-precision Monte Carlo data for the phase diagram of a
two-species driven diffusive system, reminiscent of traffic across a narrow
bridge. Earlier studies reported two phases with broken symmetry; the existence
of one of these has been the subject of some debate. We show that the disputed
phase disappears for sufficiently large systems and/or sufficiently low bulk
mobility.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, JPA styl
Integrated transcriptomic and proteomic analyses ofP. falciparumgametocytes: molecular insight into sex-specific processes and translational repression
Sexual differentiation of malaria parasites into gametocytes in the vertebrate host and subsequent gamete fertilization in mosquitoes is essential for the spreading of the disease. The molecular processes orchestrating these transitions are far from fully understood. Here, we report the first transcriptome analysis of male and female Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes coupled with a comprehensive proteome analysis. In male gametocytes there is an enrichment of proteins involved in the formation of flagellated gametes; proteins involved in DNA replication, chromatin organization and axoneme formation. On the other hand, female gametocytes are enriched in proteins required for zygote formation and functions after fertilization; protein-, lipid- and energy-metabolism. Integration of transcriptome and proteome data revealed 512 highly expressed maternal transcripts without corresponding protein expression indicating large scale translational repression in P. falciparum female gametocytes for the first time. Despite a high degree of conservation between Plasmodium species, 260 of these 'repressed transcripts' have not been previously described. Moreover, for some of these genes, protein expression is only reported in oocysts and sporozoites indicating that repressed transcripts can be partitioned into short- and long-term storage. Finally, these data sets provide an essential resource for identification of vaccine/drug targets and for further mechanistic studies
- …