59 research outputs found

    Polarization and angular distribution of the radiation emitted in laser-assisted recombination

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    The effect of an intense external linear polarized radiation field on the angular distributions and polarization states of the photons emitted during the radiative recombination is investigated. It is predicted, on symmetry grounds, and corroborated by numerical calculations of approximate recombination rates, that emission of elliptically polarized photons occurs when the momentum of the electron beam is not aligned to the direction of the oscillating field. Moreover, strong modifications to the angular distributions of the emitted photons are induced by the external radiation field.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

    Influence of maternal dexamethasone treatment on morphometric characteristics of pituitary GH cells and body weight in near-term rat fetuses.

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    Growth hormone (GH) and glucocorticoids have a powerful influence on controlling fetal growth, differentiation and maturation of numerous tissues. In the present study, the effect of maternal dexamethasone (Dx) treatment on GH cells and body weight in 19- and 21-day-old rat fetuses was investigated using immunocytochemical and morphometric methods. Pregnant female rats received daily injections of 1.0-0.5-0.5 mg Dx/kg b.w. on days 16-18 of pregnancy (experimental group), while the control group received an equal volume of saline. Dx treatment of pregnant rats enhanced immunostaining intensity and significantly increased (

    Weak Hyperon Decays: Quark Sea and SU(3) Symmetry Breaking

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    An explanation of the difference in the values of the apparent f/df/d ratios for the S- and P- wave amplitudes of nonleptonic hyperon decays is proposed. The argument is formulated in the framework of the standard pole model with (56,0+)(56,0^{+}) ground-state and (70,1)(70,1^{-}) excited baryons as intermediate states for the P- and S- waves respectively. Under the assumption that the dominant part of the deviation of (f/d)Pwave(f/d)_{P-wave} from 1-1 is due to large quark sea effects, SU(3)SU(3) symmetry breaking in energy denominators is shown to lead to a prediction for (f/d)Swave(f/d)_{S-wave} which is in excellent agreement with experiment. This corroborates our previous unitarity calculations which indicated that the matrix elements of the parity conserving weak Hamiltonian between the ground-state baryons are characterized by f0/d01.6f_{0}/d_{0} \approx -1.6 or more. A brief discussion of the problem of the relative size of S- and P- wave amplitudes is given. Finally, implications for weak radiative hyperon decays are also discussed.Comment: 26 pages, LATEX, 1647/PH IFJ Krako

    Computational Modelling of Drug Effects on Cardiomyopathy and Analysis of Myocardial Work

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    Analysis of myocardial work is essential in determination of left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) and non-invasive assessment of different types of cardiomyopathies. Two major classifications of cardiomyopathy are: dilated (DCM) and hypertrophic (HCM) cardiomyopathy. Although there are clinical improvements in cardiomyopathy risk assessment, patients are still under high risk of severe events. Computational modeling of and computer-aided drug design can significantly advance the understanding of cardiac muscle activity in DCM and HCM cardiomyopathies, speed up the drug discovery and reduce the risk of severe events, aiming to improve the treatment of cardiomyopathy. The main advantage and novelty of presented study are coupled macro and micro simulations into the integrated Fluid Solid Interaction (FSI) system and its application for examination of heart behavior and drug interactions. In contrary to detailed and patient-specific models where FSI analyses are very timeconsuming, our models are parametric and based on dimensions of specific LV components. FSI algorithm within the PAK software is used for modeling the LV with nonlinear material model, together with stretches integration along muscle fibers. The methods are integrated within the SILICOFCM platform, and aim to propose an advanced approach for the assessment of work indices and biomechanical characteristics of cardiomyopathies and drugs effects, based on computational modelling. In this study, simulations of the effect of drugs on improving performance of DCM LV parametric model include the drugs that affect calcium transients (Dygoxin) and changes in kinetic parameters (2-deoxy adenosine triphosphate - dATP). Myocardial word is presented through changes of pressures and volumes (P-V diagrams) for DCM LV model at basic condition (without administered drug) and with using Dygoxin and dATP. Due to increased LV size, the P-V loop for the DCM model without administered drug is shifted toward lower ventricular pressure and lager ventricular volume, with LVEF = 56.83%. Effects of drugs on DCM show an increase in ventricular peak pressures and LVEFs, while the P-V loops are shifted toward decreased volumes, corresponding to healthy hearts. Computational modeling and drug design approaches can speed up the drug discovery and significantly reduce expenses aiming to improve the treatment of cardiomyopathyBook of abstract: 4th Belgrade Bioinformatics Conference, June 19-23, 202

    Adiabatic Theory of Electron Detachment from Negative Ions in Two-Color Laser Field

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    Negative ion detachment in bichromatic laser field is considered within the adiabatic theory. The latter represents a recent modification of the famous Keldysh model for multiphoton ionization which makes it quantitatively reliable. We calculate angular differential detachment rates, partial rates for particular ATD (Above Threshold Detachment) channels and total detachment rates for the Hydrogen ion in a bichromatic field with 1:3 frequency ratio and various phase differences. Reliability of the present, extremely simple approach is testified by comparison with much more elaborate earlier calculations.Comment: 22 pages, 6 Postscript figure

    Frequent deletions of JARID2 in leukemic transformation of chronic myeloid malignancies

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    Chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) have an inherent tendency to progress to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Using high-resolution SNP microarrays, we studied a total of 517 MPN and MDS patients in different disease stages, including 77 AML cases with previous history of MPN (N = 46) or MDS (N = 31). Frequent chromosomal deletions of variable sizes were detected, allowing the mapping of putative tumor suppressor genes involved in the leukemic transformation process. We detected frequent deletions on the short arm of chromosome 6 (del6p). The common deleted region on 6p mapped to a 1.1-Mb region and contained only the JARID2 genemember of the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2). When we compared the frequency of del6p between chronic and leukemic phase, we observed a strong association of del6p with leukemic transformation (P = 0.0033). Subsequently, analysis of deletion profiles of other PRC2 members revealed frequent losses of genes such as EZH2, AEBP2, and SUZ12; however, the deletions targeting these genes were large. We also identified two patients with homozygous losses of JARID2 and AEBP2. We observed frequent codeletion of AEBP2 and ETV6, and similarly, SUZ12 and NF1. Using next generation exome sequencing of 40 patients, we identified only one somatic mutation in the PRC2 complex member SUZ12. As the frequency of point mutations in PRC2 members was found to be low, deletions were the main type of lesions targeting PRC2 complex members. Our study suggests an essential role of the PRC2 complex in the leukemic transformation of chronic myeloid disorders. Am. J. Hematol. 2012

    Complex Patterns of Chromosome 11 Aberrations in Myeloid Malignancies Target CBL, MLL, DDB1 and LMO2

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    Exome sequencing of primary tumors identifies complex somatic mutation patterns. Assignment of relevance of individual somatic mutations is difficult and poses the next challenge for interpretation of next generation sequencing data. Here we present an approach how exome sequencing in combination with SNP microarray data may identify targets of chromosomal aberrations in myeloid malignancies. The rationale of this approach is that hotspots of chromosomal aberrations might also harbor point mutations in the target genes of deletions, gains or uniparental disomies (UPDs). Chromosome 11 is a frequent target of lesions in myeloid malignancies. Therefore, we studied chromosome 11 in a total of 813 samples from 773 individual patients with different myeloid malignancies by SNP microarrays and complemented the data with exome sequencing in selected cases exhibiting chromosome 11 defects. We found gains, losses and UPDs of chromosome 11 in 52 of the 813 samples (6.4%). Chromosome 11q UPDs frequently associated with mutations of CBL. In one patient the 11qUPD amplified somatic mutations in both CBL and the DNA repair gene DDB1. A duplication within MLL exon 3 was detected in another patient with 11qUPD. We identified several common deleted regions (CDR) on chromosome 11. One of the CDRs associated with de novo acute myeloid leukemia (P=0.013). One patient with a deletion at the LMO2 locus harbored an additional point mutation on the other allele indicating that LMO2 might be a tumor suppressor frequently targeted by 11p deletions. Our chromosome-centered analysis indicates that chromosome 11 contains a number of tumor suppressor genes and that the role of this chromosome in myeloid malignancies is more complex than previously recognized

    Cardiovascular diseases and air pollution in Novi Sad, Serbia

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    Objectives: A large body of evidence has documented that air pollutants have adverse effect on human health as well as on the environment. The aim of this study was to determine whether there was an association between outdoor concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and a daily number of hospital admissions due to cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in Novi Sad, Serbia among patients aged above 18. Material and Methods: The investigation was carried out during over a 3-year period (from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009) in the area of Novi Sad. The number (N = 10 469) of daily CVD (ICD-10: I00-I99) hospital admissions was collected according to patients' addresses. Daily mean levels of NO2 and SO2, measured in the ambient air of Novi Sad via a network of fixed samplers, have been used to put forward outdoor air pollution. Associations between air pollutants and hospital admissions were firstly analyzed by the use of the linear regression in a single polluted model, and then trough a single and multi-polluted adjusted generalized linear Poisson model. Results: The single polluted model (without confounding factors) indicated that there was a linear increase in the number of hospital admissions due to CVD in relation to the linear increase in concentrations of SO2 (p = 0.015; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.144-1.329, R2 = 0.005) and NO2 (p = 0.007; 95% CI: 0.214-1.361, R2 = 0.007). However, the single and multi-polluted adjusted models revealed that only NO2 was associated with the CVD (p = 0.016, relative risk (RR) = 1.049, 95% CI: 1.009-1.091 and p = 0.022, RR = 1.047, 95% CI: 1.007-1.089, respectively). Conclusions: This study shows a significant positive association between hospital admissions due to CVD and outdoor NO2 concentrations in the area of Novi Sad, Serbia
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