Microstructure and Magnetic Properties of Very Thin CoCr Films Deposited on Different Underlayers by rf-Sputtering

Very thin CoCr films deposited on different underlayers on glass disk substrates were studied by the magneto-optic Kerr effect, VSM, torque magnetometry and TEM selected area diffraction. Square or near square perpendicular loops were obtained from Co/Ti, CoCr/Au, CoCr/Al, CoCr/C and CoCr/Si films. TEM SAD study revealed that the crystalline structure is a key factor determining the magnetic anisotropy of the very thin CoCr films. In particular, the c-axis of the hep CoCr films which exhibit square perpendicular loops is perpendicular to the film plane whilst that of the CoCr films which exhibit a thin and flat perpendicular loop lies in the film plane. The texture of the very thin CoCr films deposited on different underlayers is mainly dependent on the structure and texture of underlayers. The relation between the structure of CoCr and its underlayers is discussed

Prevalence-based modeling approach of schistosomiasis : global stability analysis and integrated control assessment

A system of nonlinear differential equations is proposed to assess the effects of prevalence-dependent disease contact rate, pathogen’s shedding rates, and treatment rate on the dynamics of schistosomiasis in a general setting. The decomposition techniques by Vidyasagar and the theory of monotone systems are the main ingredients to deal completely with the global asymptotic analysis of the system. Precisely, a threshold quantity for the analysis is derived and the existence of a unique endemic equilibrium is shown. Irrespective of the initial conditions, we prove that the solutions converge either to the disease-free equilibrium or to the endemic equilibrium, depending on whether the derived threshold quantity is less or greater than one. We assess the role of an integrated control strategy driven by human behavior changes through the incorporation of prevalence-dependent increasing the prophylactic treatment and decreasing the contact rate functions, as well as the mechanical water sanitation and the biological elimination of snails. Because schistosomiasis is endemic, the aim is to mitigate the endemic level of the disease. In this regard, we show both theoretically and numerically that: the reduction of contact rate through avoidance of contaminated water, the enhancement of prophylactic treatment, the water sanitation, and the removal of snails can reduce the endemic level and, to an ideal extent, drive schistosomiasis to elimination.The University of Pretoria Senior Postdoctoral Program Grant.https://www.springer.com/journal/403142022-01-20hj2021Mathematics and Applied Mathematic

Long-term expansion, enhanced chondrogenic potential, and suppression of endochondral ossification of adult human MSCs via WNT signaling mo

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a potential source of chondrogenic cells for the treatment of cartilage disorders, but loss of chondrogenic potential during in vitro expansion and the propensity of cartilage to undergo hypertrophic maturation impede their therapeutic application. Here we report that the signaling protein WNT3A, in combination with FGF2, supports long-term expansion of human bone marrow-derived MSCs. The cells retained their chondrogenic potential and other phenotypic and functional properties of multipotent MSCs, which were gradually lost in the absence of WNT3A. Moreover, we discovered that endogenous WNT signals are the main drivers of the hypertrophic maturation that follows chondrogenic differentiation. Inhibition of WNT signals during differentiation prevented calcification and maintained cartilage properties following implantation in a mouse model. By maintaining potency during expansion and preventing hypertrophic maturation following differentiation, the modulation of WNT signaling removes two major obstacles that impede the clinical application of MSCs in cartilage repair

Continuity of the Maximum-Entropy Inference

We study the inverse problem of inferring the state of a finite-level quantum system from expected values of a fixed set of observables, by maximizing a continuous ranking function. We have proved earlier that the maximum-entropy inference can be a discontinuous map from the convex set of expected values to the convex set of states because the image contains states of reduced support, while this map restricts to a smooth parametrization of a Gibbsian family of fully supported states. Here we prove for arbitrary ranking functions that the inference is continuous up to boundary points. This follows from a continuity condition in terms of the openness of the restricted linear map from states to their expected values. The openness condition shows also that ranking functions with a discontinuous inference are typical. Moreover it shows that the inference is continuous in the restriction to any polytope which implies that a discontinuity belongs to the quantum domain of non-commutative observables and that a geodesic closure of a Gibbsian family equals the set of maximum-entropy states. We discuss eight descriptions of the set of maximum-entropy states with proofs of accuracy and an analysis of deviations.Comment: 34 pages, 1 figur

Risk factors for longitudinal changes in left ventricular diastolic function among women and men

Objective To evaluate changes in left ventricular diastolic function (LVDF) parameters and their associated risk factors over a period of 11 years among communitydwelling women and men. Methods Echocardiography was performed three times among 870 women and 630 men (age 67±3 years) from the prospective population-based Rotterdam Study during a period of 11-year follow-up. Changes in six continuous LVDF parameters were correlated with cardiovascular risk factors using a linear-mixed effect model (LMM). Results In women, smoking was associated with deleterious longitudinal changes in deceleration time (DT) (Beta (β): 7.73; 95% CI 2.56 to 12.9) and highdensity lipoprotein cholesterol was associated with improvement of septal e’ (β: 0.37; 95% CI 0.13 to 0.62) and E/e’ ratio (β: −0.46; 95% CI −0.84 to –0.08) trajectories. Among men, diabetes was associated with deleterious longitudinal changes in A wave (β: 3.83; 95% CI 0.06 to 7.60), septal e’ (β: −0.40; 95% CI −0.70 to –0.09) and E/e’ ratio (β: 0.60; 95% CI 0.14 to 1.06) and body mass index was associated with deleterious longitudinal changes in A wave (β: 1.25; 95% CI 0.84 to 1.66), E/A ratio (β: −0.007; 95% CI −0.01 to –0.003), DT (β: 0.86; 95% CI 0.017 to 1.71) and E/e’ ratio (β: 0.12; 95% CI 0.06 to 0.19). Conclusions Smoking among women and metabolic factors (diabetes mellitus and body mass index) among men showed larger deleterious associations with longitudinal changes in LVDF parameters. The favourable association of HDL was mainly observed among women. This study, for the first time, evaluates risk factors associated with changes over time in continuous LVDF parameters among women and men and generates new hypothesis for further medical research

Prospective observational cohort study of oesophagogastric cancer patients (POCOP): A Dutch nationwide cohort

Experimentele farmacotherapi