414 research outputs found
Superradiance from an ultrathin film of three-level V-type atoms: Interplay between splitting, quantum coherence and local-field effects
We carry out a theoretical study of the collective spontaneous emission
(superradiance) from an ultrathin film comprised of three-level atoms with
-configuration of the operating transitions. As the thickness of the system
is small compared to the emission wavelength inside the film, the local-field
correction to the averaged Maxwell field is relevant. We show that the
interplay between the low-frequency quantum coherence within the subspace of
the upper doublet states and the local-field correction may drastically affect
the branching ratio of the operating transitions. This effect may be used for
controlling the emission process by varying the doublet splitting and the
amount of low-frequency coherence.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
Melting of tantalum at high pressure determined by angle dispersive x-ray diffraction in a double-sided laser-heated diamond-anvil cell
The high pressure and high temperature phase diagram of Ta has been studied
in a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell (DAC) using x-ray diffraction measurements
up to 52 GPa and 3800 K. The melting was observed at nine different pressures,
being the melting temperature in good agreement with previous laser-heated DAC
experiments, but in contradiction with several theoretical calculations and
previous piston-cylinder apparatus experiments. A small slope for the melting
curve of Ta is estimated (dTm/dP = 24 K/GPa at 1 bar) and a possible
explanation for this behaviour is given. Finally, a P-V-T equation of states is
obtained, being the temperature dependence of the thermal expansion coefficient
and the bulk modulus estimated.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figures, to appear in J.Phys.:Cond.Matte
Atomic diffraction from nanostructured optical potentials
We develop a versatile theoretical approach to the study of cold-atom
diffractive scattering from light-field gratings by combining calculations of
the optical near-field, generated by evanescent waves close to the surface of
periodic nanostructured arrays, together with advanced atom wavepacket
propagation on this optical potential.Comment: 8 figures, 10 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Design of smart garments for sports and rehabilitation
Physical exercise has proved benefits for general health [1] and can reduce the number
of sports injuries to one third [2]. However, an athlete that has been injured during sports practice
may omit this out of fear of discrimination, and worsen the injury in the weight room, during
strength training [5]. Monitoring physiological status of an athlete or rehabilitation patients
during training may thus help the person to get an earlier intervention, preventing injuries from
getting worse. With this in mind, we propose a set of compression garments – shirt and leggings
– with textile sensors to continually monitor heart and muscle activity, breathing rate and
temperature. This paper reports the design of the garments and production of the shirt, which
comprised a 3-lead ECG system, sEMG (Surface Electromiography) electrodes and a breathing
sensor. The ECG (Electrocardiography) system was tested and presented some good results, in
particular for very even movements, but the system still needs to be improved, in order to get a
better signal, when it comes to movements with a considerable amplitude.This work is financed by Project “Deus ex Machina”, NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000026, funded by CCDRN, through Sistema de Apoio à Investigação Cientifica e Tecnológica (Projetos Estruturados I&D&I) of Programa Operacional Regional do Norte, from Portugal 2020 and by FEDER funds through the Competitivity Factors Operational Programme - COMPETE and by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007136.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Refined high-content imaging-based phenotypic drug screening in zebrafish xenografts
Zebrafish xenotransplantation models are increasingly applied for phenotypic drug screening to identify small compounds for precision oncology. Larval zebrafish xenografts offer the opportunity to perform drug screens at high-throughput in a complex in vivo environment. However, the full potential of the larval zebrafish xenograft model has not yet been realized and several steps of the drug screening workflow still await automation to increase throughput. Here, we present a robust workflow for drug screening in zebrafish xenografts using high-content imaging. We established embedding methods for high-content imaging of xenografts in 96-well format over consecutive days. In addition, we provide strategies for automated imaging and analysis of zebrafish xenografts including automated tumor cell detection and tumor size analysis over time. We also compared commonly used injection sites and cell labeling dyes and show specific site requirements for tumor cells from different entities. We demonstrate that our setup allows us to investigate proliferation and response to small compounds in several zebrafish xenografts ranging from pediatric sarcomas and neuroblastoma to glioblastoma and leukemia. This fast and cost-efficient assay enables the quantification of anti-tumor efficacy of small compounds in large cohorts of a vertebrate model system in vivo. Our assay may aid in prioritizing compounds or compound combinations for further preclinical and clinical investigations
Growth accounting in economic history:Findings, lessons and new directions
There is now a large volume of growth accounting estimates covering the long run experience of advanced countries. However, most of the studies in economic history are not based on state-of-the-art methods. There is a trade-off between maintaining international comparability and achieving the best results for individual countries. A one-size-fits-all approach will not always do justice to the variety of historical experiences since the conventional assumptions may sometimes be inappropriate. Nevertheless, growth-accounting studies have produced some eye-catching results which provide food for thought both for economic historians and for growth economists. These include (1) the finding that TFP growth was comparatively slow during the First Industrial Revolution, (2) Solow's famous conclusion that TFP growth accounted for 7/8ths of American labour-productivity growth was atypical, (3) the impact of new general-purpose technologies on growth typically takes a long time to materialize, ICT being the notable exception and (4) that capital-deepening was much more important relative to TFP growth in east Asian than in western European catch-up growth. Growth accounting is undoubtedly a valuable item in the cliometrician's toolkit. Nonetheless, we anticipate the introduction of more sophisticated methods and look forward to progress in understanding what explains marked differences in TFP performance
MARS an improved de novo peptide candidate selection method for non-canonical antigen target discovery in cancer
Understanding the nature and extent of non-canonical human leukocyte antigen (HLA) presentation in tumour cells is a priority for target antigen discovery for the development of next generation immunotherapies in cancer. We here employ a de novo mass spectrometric sequencing approach with a refined, MHC-centric analysis strategy to detect non-canonical MHC-associated peptides specific to cancer without any prior knowledge of the target sequence from genomic or RNA sequencing data. Our strategy integrates MHC binding rank, Average local confidence scores, and peptide Retention time prediction for improved de novo candidate Selection; culminating in the machine learning model MARS. We benchmark our model on a large synthetic peptide library dataset and reanalysis of a published dataset of high-quality non-canonical MHC-associated peptide identifications in human cancer. We achieve almost 2-fold improvement for high quality spectral assignments in comparison to de novo sequencing alone with an estimated accuracy of above 85.7% when integrated with a stepwise peptide sequence mapping strategy. Finally, we utilize MARS to detect and validate lncRNA-derived peptides in human cervical tumour resections, demonstrating its suitability to discover novel, immunogenic, non-canonical peptide sequences in primary tumour tissue
Under-reporting of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders: an analysis of hospital episode statistics
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Internationally, 0.97 per 1,000 live births are affected by foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). However, prevalence intelligence has been limited in the UK, hindering the development of appropriate services. This analysis compares hospital admissions over time, between regions and with alcohol-related admissions for adult females to assess whether established patterns (such as the North experiencing elevated harms) can be identified.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A retrospective analysis of hospital admissions data (April 2002 to March 2008) for foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)-related conditions: foetal alcohol syndrome (dysmorphic) (n = 457); foetus and newborn affected by maternal use of alcohol (n = 157); maternal care for (suspected) damage to foetus from alcohol (n = 285); and 322,161 women admitted due to alcohol-related conditions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Whilst the rate of admission for alcohol-related conditions in women aged 15-44 years increased significantly by 41% between 2002/03 and 2007/08 (p < 0.0001), no such increases were seen in the numbers of FASD-related conditions (all p < 0.05). Established regional rates of admission for alcohol-related conditions in women aged 15-44 years old were not associated with admission for FASD-related conditions.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It would be expected that the North West and North East regions, known to have higher levels of alcohol harm would have higher levels of FASD-related conditions. However, this was not reflected in the incidence of such conditions, suggesting under-reporting. With incomplete datasets, intelligence systems are severely limited, hampering efforts to develop targeted interventions. Improvements to intelligence systems, practitioner awareness and screening are essential in tackling this.</p
Global expression profiling of theophylline response genes in macrophages: evidence of airway anti-inflammatory regulation
BACKGROUND: Theophylline has been used widely as a bronchodilator for the treatment of bronchial asthma and has been suggested to modulate immune response. While the importance of macrophages in asthma has been reappraised and emphasized, their significance has not been well investigated. We conducted a genome-wide profiling of the gene expressions of macrophages in response to theophylline. METHODS: Microarray technology was used to profile the gene expression patterns of macrophages modulated by theophylline. Northern blot and real-time quantitative RT-PCR were also used to validate the microarray data, while Western blot and ELISA were used to measure the levels of IL-13 and LTC4. RESULTS: We identified dozens of genes in macrophages that were dose-dependently down- or up-regulated by theophylline. These included genes related to inflammation, cytokines, signaling transduction, cell adhesion and motility, cell cycle regulators, and metabolism. We observed that IL-13, a central mediator of airway inflammation, was dramatically suppressed by theophylline. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR and ELISA analyses also confirmed these results, without respect to PMA-treated THP-1 cells or isolated human alveolar macrophages. Theophylline, rolipram, etazolate, db-cAMP and forskolin suppressed both IL-13 mRNA expression (~25%, 2.73%, 8.12%, 5.28%, and 18.41%, respectively) and protein secretion (<10% production) in macrophages. These agents also effectively suppressed LTC4 expression. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the suppression of IL-13 by theophylline may be through cAMP mediation and may decrease LTC4 production. This study supports the role of theophylline as a signal regulator of inflammation, and that down regulation of IL-13 by theophylline may have beneficial effects in inflammatory airway diseases
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