4,802 research outputs found
S-Nitrosoglutathione reduces asymptomatic embolization after carotid angioplasty
Background: The major complication of carotid angioplasty is embolic stroke, which may occur after balloon inflation and deflation or in the early postintervention period. Platelet adhesion and aggregation to the angioplasty site with subsequent embolization seems to plays a major role in early postangioplasty embolization and stroke. During this period, asymptomatic embolic signals can be detected in patients by transcranial Doppler ultrasound despite aspirin and heparin treatment. S-Nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) is a nitric oxide donor that appears to have relative platelet specificity. We evaluated its effectiveness in reducing embolization after carotid angioplasty.
Methods and results: Sixteen patients undergoing carotid angioplasty and stenting for symptomatic 70% internal carotid artery stenosis were randomized in a double-blind manner to GSNO or placebo given after surgery for 90 minutes. All patients were pretreated with aspirin and given heparin for 24 hours after the procedure. Transcranial Doppler recordings were made from the ipsilateral middle cerebral artery for 1 hour before treatment and at 0 to 3, 6, and 24 hours after treatment. GSNO resulted in a rapid reduction in the frequency of embolic signals of 95% at 0 to 3 hours and 100% at 6 hours (P=0.007 and P=0.01 versus placebo, respectively). In the placebo group, 2 patients experienced ipsilateral stroke after the angioplasty. No cerebrovascular events occurred in the GSNO group.
Conclusions: S-Nitrosoglutathione was highly effective in rapidly reducing the frequency of embolic signals after endovascular treatment for symptomatic high-grade carotid stenosis
Effect of graphene substrate on the SERS Spectra of Aromatic bifunctional molecules on metal nanoparticles
The design of molecular sensors plays a very important role within nanotechnology and
especially in the development of different devices for biomedical applications. Biosensors can be classified according to various criteria such as the type of interaction established between the recognition element and the analyte or the type of signal detection from the analyte
(transduction). When Raman spectroscopy is used as an optical transduction technique the
variations in the Raman signal due to the physical or chemical interaction between the analyte and the recognition element has to be detected. Therefore any significant improvement in the amplification of the optical sensor signal represents a breakthrough in the design of molecular sensors. In this sense, Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) involves an enormous enhancement of the Raman signal from a molecule in the vicinity of a metal surface.
The main objective of this work is to evaluate the effect of a monolayer of graphene oxide (GO)
on the distribution of metal nanoparticles (NPs) and on the global SERS enhancement of paminothiophenol (pATP) and 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4MBA) adsorbed on this substrate.
These aromatic bifunctional molecules are able to interact to metal NPs and also they offer the
possibility to link with biomolecules. Additionally by decorating Au or Ag NPs on graphene sheets, a coupled EM effect caused by the aggregation of the NPs and strong electronic
interactions between Au or Ag NPs and the graphene sheets are considered to be responsible
for the significantly enhanced Raman signal of the analytes [1-2]. Since there are increasing
needs for methods to conduct reproducible and sensitive Raman measurements, Grapheneenhanced
Raman Scattering (GERS) is emerging as an important method [3].Universidad de MĂĄlaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional AndalucĂa Tech
Commercial Policy Uncertainty, the Expected Cost of Protection, and Market Access
Protection unconstrained by rules often varies substantially over time. Rules-based disciplines like OECD industrial tariff bindings negotiated under GATT since 1947 and new Uruguay Round bindings on agricultural and services trade and on developing country industrial tariffs, constrain this variability. We examine the theoretical effects of such constraints on the expected cost of protection and offer a formalization of the concept of "market access," emphasizing both the first and second moments of the distribution of protection. As an illustration, we provide a stylized examination of Uruguay Round agricultural bindings
Formula Approaches for Market Access Negotiations
Most of the large tariff reductions achieved in multilateral trade negotiations have involved tariff-cutting formulas such as the "Swiss" formula. However, wide variations in initial tariff rates between active participants call for new approaches under the Doha Development Agenda. This paper surveys a range of formula options and examines both targeted and flexible applications of the Swiss formula that target tariff escalation and peaks, and would allow policy makers to directly target how far they will move towards free trade, while providing some flexibility for trading off reductions in peak tariffs against reductions in lower-tariff sectors
Complete two-loop effective potential approximation to the lightest Higgs scalar boson mass in supersymmetry
I present a method for accurately calculating the pole mass of the lightest
Higgs scalar boson in supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model, using a
mass-independent renormalization scheme. The Higgs scalar self-energies are
approximated by supplementing the exact one-loop results with the second
derivatives of the complete two-loop effective potential in Landau gauge. I
discuss the dependence of this approximation on the choice of renormalization
scale, and note the existence of particularly poor choices which fortunately
can be easily identified and avoided. For typical input parameters, the
variation in the calculated Higgs mass over a wide range of renormalization
scales is found to be of order a few hundred MeV or less, and is significantly
improved over previous approximations.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. References added, sample test model parameters
listed, minor wording change
Van Hove Singularity and D-Wave Pairing in Disordered Superconductors
We apply the coherent potential approximation (CPA) to a simple model for
disordered superconductors with d-wave pairing. We demonstrate that whilst the
effectiveness of an electronic Van Hove singularity to enhance the transition
temperature T is reduced by disorder it is not eliminated. In fact we give
a qualitative account of changes in the T vs. doping curve with increasing
disorder and compare our results with experiments on the
Y_{0.8}Ca_{0.2}Ba_2(Cu_{1-c}Zn_c)_{3}O_{7-\delta} alloys.Comment: 4 pages of text and 7 postscript file
Resolving the wave-vector in negative refractive media: The sign of
We address the general issue of resolving the wave-vector in complex
electromagnetic media including negative refractive media. This requires us to
make a physical choice for the sign of a square-root imposed merely by
conditions of causality. By considering the analytic behaviour of the
wave-vector in the complex plane, it is shown that there are a total of eight
physically distinct cases in the four quadrants of two Riemann sheets.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, RevTe
Large-x Parton Distributions
Reliable knowledge of parton distributions at large x is crucial for many
searches for new physics signals in the next generation of collider
experiments. Although these are generally well determined in the small and
medium x range, it has been shown that their uncertainty grows rapidly for
x>0.1. We examine the status of the gluon and quark distributions in light of
new questions that have been raised in the past two years about "large-x"
parton distributions, as well as recent measurements which have improved the
parton uncertainties. Finally, we provide a status report of the data used in
the global analysis, and note some of the open issues where future experiments,
including those planned for Jefferson Labs, might contribute.Comment: LaTeX, 9 pages, 7 figures. Invited talk presented at the ``Workshop
on Nucleon Structure in the High x-Bjorken Region (HiX2000),'' Temple
University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 30-April 1, 200
Syntectonic granite emplacement at different structural levels: The Closepet granite, South India
The Closepet granite, in South India, is a large (400 km long but only 30 km wide), elongate, Late Archaean granitic body. Structural levels from deep crust to upper levels crop out, as evidenced by a shallowing of paleo-depths from north to south all along the Closepet granite. This allows the study of the emplacement of the same granitic body at various crustal levels. Four zones have been identified: a root zone, where magmas are collected in active shear zones; a transfer zone, featuring large-scale magma ascent and crystal-liquid partitioning in the granitic 'mush'; a 'gap', where the mush was filtered, allowing only the liquids to rise; shallow intrusions, filled with this liquid. The Closepet granite was emplaced syntectonically. Field work and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility allowed documentation of steep foliations with subhorizontal lineations, both in the root and transfer zones and in the shallow intrusions. Remote sensing evidenced a network of shear zones bounding the Closepet granite. In the porphyritic root and transfer zones, magmas cooled slowly, thus developing strong fabrics during large-scale dextral shearing. Ascent of residual liquids amidst the crystallizing solid framework was not recorded in the fabrics. However, these liquids were channelised through the gap and infilled the homogeneous shallow intrusions, where rapid cooling only permitted the development of feint, although wholly consistent, fabrics. Ă© 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
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