Histamine as a marker for hydroxyl radicals

During inflammation an influx of neutrophils and release of mediators from mast cells (such as histamine) take place. The stimulated neutrophils can produce reactive oxygen species (ROS). One of these ROS is the highly reactive hydroxyl radical (OH.). It would be interesting to be able to quantify the extent of ROS formation. We investigated if histamine which is present at the inflammation site can serve as an endogenous marker for the formation of OH.. We found that histamine after incubation with OH. gave two distinct products in our HPLC system. One of the products gave the same characteristics as the synthesized 2-imidazolone derivative of histamine. This suggests that this derivative will be formed when histamine is incubated with OH.

Numerical Renormalization Group Study of Pseudo-Fermion and Slave-Boson Spectral Functions in the Single Impurity Anderson Model

We use the numerical renormalization group to calculate the auxiliary spectral functions of the $U=\infty$ Anderson impurity model. The slave--boson and pseudo--fermion spectral functions diverge at the threshold with exponents $\alpha_{b}$ and $\alpha_{f}$ given in terms of the conduction electron phase shifts by the X--ray photoemission and the X--ray absorption exponents respectively. The exact exponents obtained here depend on the impurity occupation number, in contrast to the NCA results. Vertex corrections in the convolution formulae for physical Green's functions are singular at the threshold and may not be neglected in the Fermi liquid regime.Comment: 12 pages, RevTeX 3.0, 2 PS figures appende

Universality class of non-Fermi liquid behavior in mixed valence systems

A generalized Anderson single-impurity model with off-site Coulomb interactions is derived from the extended three-band Hubbard model, originally proposed to describe the physics of the copper-oxides. Using the abelian bosonization technique and canonical transformations, an effective Hamiltonian is derived in the strong coupling limit, which is essentially analogous to the Toulouse limit of the ordinary Kondo problem. In this limit, the effective Hamiltonian can be exactly solved, with a mixed valence quantum critical point separating two different Fermi liquid phases, {\it i.e.} the Kondo phase and the empty orbital phase. In the mixed valence quantum critical regime, the local moment is only partially quenched and X-ray edge singularities are generated. Around the quantum critical point, a new type of non-Fermi liquid behavior is predicted with an extra specific heat $C_{imp}\sim T^{1/4}$ and a singular spin-susceptibility $\chi_{imp}\sim T^{-3/4}$. At the same time, the effective Hamiltonian under single occupancy is transformed into a resonant-level model, from which the correct Kondo physical properties (specific heat, spin susceptibility, and an enhanced Wilson ratio) are easily rederived. Finally, a brief discussion is given to relate these theoretical results to observations in $UPd_xCu_{5-x}$ ($x=1,1.5$) alloys, which show single-impurity critical behavior consistent with our predictions.Comment: 26 pages, revtex, no figure. Some corrections have been made, but the basic results are kept. To be published in Physical Review

Novel Qualitative Structure-Activity Relationships for the Antinociceptive Actions of H 2 Antagonists, H 3 Antagonists and Derivatives 1

ABSTRACT Recent studies have shown that cimetidine, burimamide and improgan (also known as SKF92374, a cimetidine congener lacking H 2 antagonist activity) induce antinociception after intracerebroventricular administration in rodents. Because these substances closely resemble the structure of histamine (a known mediator of some endogenous analgesic responses), yet no role for known histamine receptors has been found in the analgesic actions of these agents, the structure-activity relationships for the antinociceptive effects of 21 compounds chemically related to H 2 and H 3 antagonists were investigated in this study. Antinociceptive activity was assessed on the hot-plate and tail-flick tests after intracerebroventricular administration in rats. Eleven compounds induced time-dependent (10-min peak) and dose-dependent antinociceptive activity with no observable behavioral impairment. ED 50 values, estimated by nonlinear regression, were highly correlated across nociceptive assays (r 2 ϭ 0.98, n ϭ 11). Antinociceptive potencies varied more than 6-fold (80 -464 nmol), but were not correlated with activity on H 1 , H 2 or H 3 receptors. Although highly potent H 3 antagonists such as thioperamide lacked antinociceptive activity, homologs of burimamide and thioperamide containing N-aromatic substituents retained H 3 antagonist activity and also showed potent, effective analgesia. A literature review of the pharmacology of these agents did not find a basis for their antinociceptive effects. Taken with previous findings, the present results suggest: 1) these compounds act on the brain to activate powerful analgesic responses that are independent of known histamine receptors, 2) the structure-activity profile of these agents is novel and 3) brain-penetrating derivatives of these compounds could be clinically useful analgesics

Vertex-corrected perturbation theory for the electron-phonon problem with non-constant density of states

A series of weak-coupling perturbation theories which include the lowest-order vertex corrections are applied to the attractive Holstein model in infinite dimensions. The approximations are chosen to reproduce the iterated perturbation theory in the limit of half-filling and large phonon frequency (where the Holstein model maps onto the Hubbard model). Comparison is made with quantum Monte Carlo solutions to test the accuracy of different approximation schemes.Comment: 31 pages, 15 figures, typeset in ReVTe

Magnetic and Dynamic Properties of the Hubbard Model in Infinite Dimensions

An essentially exact solution of the infinite dimensional Hubbard model is made possible by using a self-consistent mapping of the Hubbard model in this limit to an effective single impurity Anderson model. Solving the latter with quantum Monte Carlo procedures enables us to obtain exact results for the one and two-particle properties of the infinite dimensional Hubbard model. In particular we find antiferromagnetism and a pseudogap in the single-particle density of states for sufficiently large values of the intrasite Coulomb interaction at half filling. Both the antiferromagnetic phase and the insulating phase above the N\'eel temperature are found to be quickly suppressed on doping. The latter is replaced by a heavy electron metal with a quasiparticle mass strongly dependent on doping as soon as $n<1$. At half filling the antiferromagnetic phase boundary agrees surprisingly well in shape and order of magnitude with results for the three dimensional Hubbard model.Comment: 32 page

Iterated perturbation theory for the attractive Holstein and Hubbard models

A strictly truncated (weak-coupling) perturbation theory is applied to the attractive Holstein and Hubbard models in infinite dimensions. These results are qualified by comparison with essentially exact Monte Carlo results. The second order iterated perturbation theory is shown to be quite accurate in calculating transition temperatures for retarded interactions, but is not as accurate for the self energy or the irreducible vertex functions themselves. Iterated perturbation theory is carried out thru fourth order for the Hubbard model. The self energy is quite accurately reproduced by the theory, but the vertex functions are not. Anomalous behavior occurs near half filling because the iterated perturbation theory is not a conserving approximation. (REPLACED WITH UUENCODED FIGURES AT THE END. THE TEXT IS UNCHANGED)Comment: 27 pages, RevTex (figures appended at end

A partition functional and thermodynamic properties of the infinite-dimensional Hubbard model

An approximate partition functional is derived for the infinite-dimensional Hubbard model. This functional naturally includes the exact solution of the Falicov-Kimball model as a special case, and is exact in the uncorrelated and atomic limits. It explicitly keeps spin-symmetry. For the case of the Lorentzian density of states, we find that the Luttinger theorem is satisfied at zero temperature. The susceptibility crosses over smoothly from that expected for an uncorrelated state with antiferromagnetic fluctuations at high temperature to a correlated state at low temperature via a Kondo-type anomaly at a characteristic temperature $T^\star$. We attribute this anomaly to the appearance of the Hubbard pseudo-gap. The specific heat also shows a peak near $T^\star$. The resistivity goes to zero at zero temperature, in contrast to other approximations, rises sharply around $T^\star$ and has a rough linear temperature dependence above $T^\star$.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures upon request, latex, (to appear in Phys. Rev. B

Kondo Problem and Related One-Dimensional Quantum Systems: Bethe Ansatz Solution and Boundary Conformal Field Theory

We review some exact results on Kondo impurity systems derived from Bethe-ansatz solutions and boundary conformal field theory with particular emphasis on universal aspects of the phenomenon. The finite-size spectra characterizing the low-energy fixed point are computed from the Bethe-ansatz solutions of various models related to the Kondo problem. Using the finite-size scaling argument, we investigate their exact critical properties. We also discuss that a universal relation between the Kondo effect and the impurity effect in one-dimensional quantum systems usefully expedites our understanding of these different phenomena.Comment: 6 pages, no figure

THE STRUCTURE OF SUBTIDAL MACROALGAL ASSEMBLAGES AT THE TAMOIOS ECOLOGICAL STATION, A THREATENED CONSERVATION UNIT IN RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

The structure of subtidal rocky bottom communities at Tamoios Ecological Station (TES), situated in Ilha Grande Bay, Rio de Janeiro State, as well as in other Brazilian marine protected areas, is insufficiently characterized. The present study describes the macroalgal assemblages of shallow subtidal rocky bottoms on two islands of the TES-Imboassica (IM) and Búzios Pequena (BP)adopting species and genera as observational units. Two sites were surveyed on each island in summer 2011. Random 30x30 cm quadrats (n=3) were scraped to collect all macroalgae except crustose species. The subtidal assemblages, in which 58 macroalgal species occurred, were characterized by the high frequency and percent cover of Sargassum vulgare C. Agardh (56.8±8.4%). The sites differed significantly in total number of species and Shannon-Weiner diversity index (PERMANOVA, p5%) were Sargassum, Laurencia, Wrangelia, Canistrocarpus, Asparagopsis, Hypnea, Ceratodictyon, Gayliella, Spyridia and Chondria.Dissimilarities within and between the islands, as shown by nMDS of the cover data, suggest that different spatial scales should be considered in monitoring the rocky bottom communities of Ilha Grande Bay