Entanglement in nuclear quadrupole resonance

Entangled quantum states are an important element of quantum information techniques. We determine the requirements for states of quadrupolar nuclei with spins >1/2 to be entangled. It was shown that entanglement is achieved at low temperature by applying a magnetic field to a quadrupolar nuclei possess quadrupole moments, which interacts with the electricfield gradient produced by the charge distribution in their surroundings.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Sibling relationships and family functioning in siblings of early adolescents, adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder

The purpose of the study was to investigate how family functioning (defined as the ability that family members hold to manage stressful events, and intimate and social relationships), the degree to which family members feel happy and fulfilled with each other (called family satisfaction), and the demographical characteristics of siblings (age and gender) impacted on sibling relationships. The Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems and Behavioral Systems constituted the theoretical frameworks that guided our study. Eighty-six typically developing adolescents and young adults having a sister or a brother with autism spectrum disorder were enrolled. Results indicated that the youngest age group (early adolescents) reported to engage more frequently in negative behaviors with their siblings with ASD than the two older age groups (middle adolescents and young adults). No significant differences were found among the three age groups regarding behaviors derived from attachment, caregiving and affiliative systems. Family satisfaction and age significantly predicted behaviors during sibling interactions. Suggestions on prevention and intervention programs were discussed in order to prevent parentification among typically developing siblings and decrease episodes of quarrels and overt conflicts between brothers and sisters with and without AS

Non-Invasive Mouse Models of Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis

SummaryAnimal models of osteoarthritis (OA) are essential tools for investigating the development of the disease on a more rapid timeline than human OA. Mice are particularly useful due to the plethora of genetically modified or inbred mouse strains available. The majority of available mouse models of OA use a joint injury or other acute insult to initiate joint degeneration, representing post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). However, no consensus exists on which injury methods are most translatable to human OA. Currently, surgical injury methods are most commonly used for studies of OA in mice; however, these methods may have confounding effects due to the surgical/invasive injury procedure itself, rather than the targeted joint injury. Non-invasive injury methods avoid this complication by mechanically inducing a joint injury externally, without breaking the skin or disrupting the joint. In this regard, non-invasive injury models may be crucial for investigating early adaptive processes initiated at the time of injury, and may be more representative of human OA in which injury is induced mechanically. A small number of non-invasive mouse models of PTOA have been described within the last few years, including intra-articular fracture of tibial subchondral bone, cyclic tibial compression loading of articular cartilage, and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture via tibial compression overload. This review describes the methods used to induce joint injury in each of these non-invasive models, and presents the findings of studies utilizing these models. Altogether, these non-invasive mouse models represent a unique and important spectrum of animal models for studying different aspects of PTOA

Sudden switch of generalized Lieb-Robinson velocity in a transverse field Ising spin chain

The Lieb-Robinson theorem states that the speed at which the correlations between two distant nodes in a spin network can be built through local interactions has an upper bound, which is called the Lieb-Robinson velocity. Our central aim is to demonstrate how to observe the Lieb-Robinson velocity in an Ising spin chain with a strong transverse field. We adopt and compare four correlation measures for characterizing different types of correlations, which include correlation function, mutual information, quantum discord, and entanglement of formation. We prove that one of correlation functions shows a special behavior depending on the parity of the spin number. All the information-theoretical correlation measures demonstrate the existence of the Lieb-Robinson velocity. In particular, we find that there is a sudden switch of the Lieb-Robinson speed with the increasing of the number of spin

Second international round robin for the quantification of serum non-transferrin-bound iron and labile plasma iron in patients with iron-overload disorders

Non-transferrin-bound iron and its labile (redox active) plasma iron component are thought to be potentially toxic forms of iron originally identified in the serum of patients with iron overload. We compared ten worldwide leading assays (6 for non-transferrin-bound iron and 4 for labile plasma iron) as part of an international inter-laboratory study. Serum samples from 60 patients with four different iron-overload disorders in various treatment phases were coded and sent in duplicate for analysis to five different laboratories worldwide. Some laboratories provided multiple assays. Overall, highest assay levels were observed for patients with untreated hereditary hemochromatosis and beta-thalassemia intermedia, patients with transfusion-dependent myelodysplastic syndromes and patients with transfusion-dependent and chelated beta-thalassemia major. Absolute levels differed considerably between assays and were lower for labile plasma iron than for non-transferrin-bound iron. Four assays also reported negative values. Assays were reproducible with high between-sample and low within-sample variation. Assays correlated and correlations were highest within the group of non-transferrin-bound iron assays and within that of labile plasma iron assays. Increased transferrin saturation, but not ferritin, was a good indicator of the presence of forms of circulating non-transferrin-bound iron. The possibility of using non-transferrin-bound iron and labile plasma iron measures as clinical indicators of overt iron overload and/or of treatment efficacy would largely depend on the rigorous validation and standardization of assay

Foreign applications at the Japan Patent Office - An empirical analysis of selected growth factors

This article aims to evaluate some of the possible factors which could have had a significant role in the increase in the yearly number of foreign patent applications at the Japan Patent Office. The analysed period ranges from 1991 to 2005. In the years considered, foreign applications increased constantly while the number of domestic filings remained almost the same or even decreased. The increase is more striking when compared to analogous figures of the US Patent and Trademark Office and the European Patent Office, where the corresponding ratio did not change too much in the same period. Building on previous literature, this paper analyses the impact of some macroeconomic and structural characteristics of the extending countries, on one side, and, on the other side, some features specific to the receiving country and its Patent Office (here Japan and the JPO). This work tries to capture the relevance of such drivers in the increased amount of foreign patent applications at the JP

Potentiation of thrombus instability: a contributory mechanism to the effectiveness of antithrombotic medications

© The Author(s) 2018The stability of an arterial thrombus, determined by its structure and ability to resist endogenous fibrinolysis, is a major determinant of the extent of infarction that results from coronary or cerebrovascular thrombosis. There is ample evidence from both laboratory and clinical studies to suggest that in addition to inhibiting platelet aggregation, antithrombotic medications have shear-dependent effects, potentiating thrombus fragility and/or enhancing endogenous fibrinolysis. Such shear-dependent effects, potentiating the fragility of the growing thrombus and/or enhancing endogenous thrombolytic activity, likely contribute to the clinical effectiveness of such medications. It is not clear how much these effects relate to the measured inhibition of platelet aggregation in response to specific agonists. These effects are observable only with techniques that subject the growing thrombus to arterial flow and shear conditions. The effects of antithrombotic medications on thrombus stability and ways of assessing this are reviewed herein, and it is proposed that thrombus stability could become a new target for pharmacological intervention.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

The Role of Important Non-Parental Adults (VIPs) in the Lives of Older Adolescents: A Comparison of Three Ethnic Groups

Previous research has consistently documented the importance of VIPs (mentors or important non-parental adults) in the lives of adolescents. Little is known, however, about whether VIPs play the same important roles across ethnic groups and whether VIPs remain influential when adolescents are older and involved in romantic relationships. The present study compared VIPs of 355 Hispanic, Asian, and European American older adolescents (age range = 17–19 years; M = 18.7 years; 62% female). Results indicated that, despite ethnic differences in their social capital, VIPs’ psychological characteristics (e.g., warmth and acceptance, depressive symptoms, and problem behavior) were similar. VIPs were perceived to have more positive psychological profiles than parents and peers, and in some cases, romantic partners. Moreover, with a few exceptions, the associations between VIP characteristics and adolescent adjustment (e.g., self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and problem behavior) were largely similar across ethnic groups. Finally, VIPs made unique contributions to adolescents’ self-esteem and problem behaviors even after the effects of romantic partners were considered. Implications of the findings are discussed

Astrocytic Ion Dynamics: Implications for Potassium Buffering and Liquid Flow

We review modeling of astrocyte ion dynamics with a specific focus on the implications of so-called spatial potassium buffering, where excess potassium in the extracellular space (ECS) is transported away to prevent pathological neural spiking. The recently introduced Kirchoff-Nernst-Planck (KNP) scheme for modeling ion dynamics in astrocytes (and brain tissue in general) is outlined and used to study such spatial buffering. We next describe how the ion dynamics of astrocytes may regulate microscopic liquid flow by osmotic effects and how such microscopic flow can be linked to whole-brain macroscopic flow. We thus include the key elements in a putative multiscale theory with astrocytes linking neural activity on a microscopic scale to macroscopic fluid flow.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figure

PI3Kδ and PI3Kγ isoforms have distinct functions in regulating pro-tumoural signalling in the multiple myeloma microenvironment

Phosphoinositide-3-kinase and protein kinase B (PI3K-AKT) is upregulated in multiple myeloma (MM). Using a combination of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) lentivirus-mediated knockdown and pharmacologic isoform-specific inhibition we investigated the role of the PI3K p110γ (PI3Kγ) subunit in regulating MM proliferation and bone marrow microenvironment-induced MM interactions. We compared this with inhibition of the PI3K p110δ (PI3kδ) subunit and with combined PI3kδ/γ dual inhibition. We found that MM cell adhesion and migration were PI3Kγ-specific functions, with PI3kδ inhibition having no effect in MM adhesion or migration assays. At concentration of the dual PI3Kδ/γ inhibitor duvelisib, which can be achieved in vivo we saw a decrease in AKT phosphorylation at s473 after tumour activation by bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) and interleukin-6. Moreover, after drug treatment of BMSC/tumour co-culture activation assays only dual PI3kδ/γ inhibition was able to induce MM apoptosis. shRNA lentiviral-mediated targeting of either PI3Kδ or PI3Kγ alone, or both in combination, increased survival of NSG mice xeno-transplanted with MM cells. Moreover, treatment with duvelisib reduced MM tumour burden in vivo. We report that PI3Kδ and PI3Kγ isoforms have distinct functions in MM and that combined PI3kδ/γ isoform inhibition has anti-MM activity. Here we provide a scientific rationale for trials of dual PI3kδ/γ inhibition in patients with MM