121 research outputs found
Orbital Dependent Phase Control in Ca2-xSrxRuO4
We present first-principles studies on the orbital states of the layered
perovskites CaSrRuO. The crossover from antiferromagnetic (AF)
Mott insulator for to nearly ferromagnetic (FM) metal at is
characterized by the systematic change of the orbital occupation. For the
AF side (), we present firm evidence for the ferro-orbital
ordering. It is found that the degeneracy of (or ) states is
lifted robustly due to the two-dimensional (2D) crystal-structure, even without
the Jahn-Teller distortion of RuO. This effect dominates, and the
cooperative occupation of orbital is concluded. In contrast to recent
proposals, the resulting electronic structure explains well both the observed
X-ray absorption spectra and the double peak structure of optical conductivity.
For the FM side (), however, the orbital with half filling opens a
pseudo-gap in the FM state and contributes to the spin =1/2 moment (rather
than =1 for =0.0 case) dominantly, while states are itinerant
with very small spin polarization, explaining the recent neutron data
consistently.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Moving Complementary Feeding Forward: Report on a Workshop of the Federation of International Societies for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (FISPGHAN) and the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe.
The WHO Regional Office for Europe and the Federation of International Societies for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition held a joint workshop, "Moving Complementary Feeding Forward" at the sixth World Congress Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition in 2021. Here we summarize workshop presentations and discussions. The workshop covered health implications of complementary feeding (CF) including allergies, challenges to meet dietary needs during the CF period, quality of commercial complementary foods (CFD) and respective marketing practices, national CF guidelines in Europe, a nutrient profiling system for CFD, and global policy perspectives on the standards and regulation of marketing for CFD. Adequate CF practices are of critical importance for short and long-term child health, prevention of nutrient deficiencies, normal growth and development, and reducing the risk of allergies. The workshop identified the need to improve feeding practices, harmonize evidence-based information and develop guidance jointly with various stakeholders, improve the composition and marketing practices of commercial CFD and their transparent labeling based on nutrient profiling. Renewed efforts for collaboration between scientists, public health experts, pediatric associations, national governments, and the WHO are necessary for advancing progress
Abscopal Effects in Radio-ImmunotherapyâResponse Analysis of Metastatic Cancer Patients With Progressive Disease Under Anti-PD-1 Immune Checkpoint Inhibition
Immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) targeting the programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1) has shown promising results in the fight against cancer. Systemic anti-tumor reactions due to radiation therapy (RT) can lead to regression of non-irradiated lesions (NiLs), termed âabscopal effectâ (AbE). Combination of both treatments can enhance this effect. The aim of this study was to evaluate AbEs during anti-PD-1 therapy and irradiation. We screened 168 patients receiving pembrolizumab or nivolumab at our center. Inclusion criteria were start of RT within 1 month after the first or last application of pembrolizumab (2 mg/kg every 3 weeks) or nivolumab (3 mg/kg every 2 weeks) and at least one metastasis outside the irradiation field. We estimated the total dose during ICI for each patient using the linear quadratic (LQ) model expressed as 2 Gy equivalent dose (EQD2) using α/ÎČ of 10 Gy. Radiological images were required showing progression or no change in NiLs before and regression after completion of RT(s). Images must have been acquired at least 4 weeks after the onset of ICI or RT. The surface areas of the longest diameters of the short- and long-axes of NiLs were measured. One hundred twenty-six out of 168 (75%) patients received ICI and RT. Fifty-three percent (67/126) were treated simultaneously, and 24 of these (36%) were eligible for lesion analysis. AbE was observed in 29% (7/24). One to six lesions (mean = 3 ± 2) in each AbE patient were analyzed. Patients were diagnosed with malignant melanoma (MM) (n = 3), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (n = 3), and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) (n = 1). They were irradiated once (n = 1), twice (n = 2), or three times (n = 4) with an average total EQD2 of 120.0 ± 37.7 Gy. Eighty-two percent of RTs of AbE patients were applied with high single doses. MM patients received pembrolizumab, NSCLC, and RCC patients received nivolumab for an average duration of 45 ± 35 weeks. We demonstrate that 29% of the analyzed patients showed AbE. Strict inclusion criteria were applied to distinguish the effects of AbE from the systemic effect of ICI. Our data suggest the clinical existence of systemic effects of irradiation under ICI and could contribute to the development of a broader range of cancer treatments
CD40-activated B cells induce anti-tumor immunity in vivo
The introduction of checkpoint inhibitors represents a major advance in cancer immunotherapy. Some studies on checkpoint inhibition demonstrate that combinatorial immunotherapies with secondary drivers of anti-tumor immunity provide beneficial effects for patients that do not show a strong endogenous immune response. CD40-activated B cells (CD40B cells) are potent antigen presenting cells by activating and expanding naĂŻve and memory CD4 + and CD8 + and homing to the secondary lymphoid organs. In contrast to dendritic cells, the generation of highly pure CD40B cells is simple and time efficient and they can be expanded almost limitlessly from small blood samples of cancer patients. Here, we show that the vaccination with antigen-loaded CD40B cells induces a specific T-cell response in vivo comparable to that of dendritic cells. Moreover, we identify vaccination parameters, including injection route, cell dose and vaccination repetitions to optimize immunization and demonstrate that application of CD40B cells is safe in terms of toxicity in the recipient. We furthermore show that preventive immunization of tumor-bearing mice with tumor antigen-pulsed CD40B cells induces a protective anti-tumor immunity against B16.F10 melanomas and E.G7 lymphomas leading to reduced tumor growth. These results and our straightforward method of CD40B-cell generation underline the potential of CD40B cells for cancer immunotherapy
Differential impact of two doses of antithymocyte globulin conditioning on lymphocyte recovery upon haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
First-principles quantum transport modeling of spin-transfer and spin-orbit torques in magnetic multilayers
We review a unified approach for computing: (i) spin-transfer torque in
magnetic trilayers like spin-valves and magnetic tunnel junction, where
injected charge current flows perpendicularly to interfaces; and (ii)
spin-orbit torque in magnetic bilayers of the type
ferromagnet/spin-orbit-coupled-material, where injected charge current flows
parallel to the interface. Our approach requires to construct the torque
operator for a given Hamiltonian of the device and the steady-state
nonequilibrium density matrix, where the latter is expressed in terms of the
nonequilibrium Green's functions and split into three contributions. Tracing
these contributions with the torque operator automatically yields field-like
and damping-like components of spin-transfer torque or spin-orbit torque
vector, which is particularly advantageous for spin-orbit torque where the
direction of these components depends on the unknown-in-advance orientation of
the current-driven nonequilibrium spin density in the presence of spin-orbit
coupling. We provide illustrative examples by computing spin-transfer torque in
a one-dimensional toy model of a magnetic tunnel junction and realistic
Co/Cu/Co spin-valve, both of which are described by first-principles
Hamiltonians obtained from noncollinear density functional theory calculations;
as well as spin-orbit torque in a ferromagnetic layer described by a
tight-binding Hamiltonian which includes spin-orbit proximity effect within
ferromagnetic monolayers assumed to be generated by the adjacent monolayer
transition metal dichalcogenide.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, PDFLaTeX; prepared for Springer Handbook of
Materials Modeling, Volume 2 Applications: Current and Emerging Material
The Multi-Scale Infrastructure for Chemistry and Aerosols (MUSICA)
To explore the various couplings across space and time and between ecosystems in a consistent manner, atmospheric modeling is moving away from the fractured limited-scale modeling strategy of the past toward a unification of the range of scales inherent in the Earth system. This paper describes the forward-looking Multi-Scale Infrastructure for Chemistry and Aerosols (MUSICA), which is intended to become the next-generation community infrastructure for research involving atmospheric chemistry and aerosols. MUSICA will be developed collaboratively by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and university and government researchers, with the goal of serving the international research and applications communities. The capability of unifying various spatiotemporal scales, coupling to other Earth system components, and process-level modularization will allow advances in both fundamental and applied research in atmospheric composition, air quality, and climate and is also envisioned to become a platform that addresses the needs of policy makers and stakeholders
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