66 research outputs found
Optoelectronic Properties of Carbon Nanorings: Excitonic Effects from Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory
The electronic structure and size-scaling of optoelectronic properties in
cycloparaphenylene carbon nanorings are investigated using time-dependent
density functional theory (TDDFT). The TDDFT calculations on these molecular
nanostructures indicate that the lowest excitation energy surprisingly becomes
larger as the carbon nanoring size is increased, in contradiction with typical
quantum confinement effects. In order to understand their unusual electronic
properties, I performed an extensive investigation of excitonic effects by
analyzing electron-hole transition density matrices and exciton binding
energies as a function of size in these nanoring systems. The transition
density matrices allow a global view of electronic coherence during an
electronic excitation, and the exciton binding energies give a quantitative
measure of electron-hole interaction energies in the nanorings. Based on
overall trends in exciton binding energies and their spatial delocalization, I
find that excitonic effects play a vital role in understanding the unique
photoinduced dynamics in these carbon nanoring systems.Comment: Accepted by the Journal of Physical Chemistry
Desmoglein 2 mutant mice develop cardiac fibrosis and dilation
Desmosomes are cellβcell adhesion sites and part of the intercalated discs, which couple adjacent cardiomyocytes. The connection is formed by the extracellular domains of desmosomal cadherins that are also linked to the cytoskeleton on the cytoplasmic side. To examine the contribution of the desmosomal cadherin desmoglein 2 to cardiomyocyte adhesion and cardiac function, mutant mice were prepared lacking a part of the extracellular adhesive domain of desmoglein 2. Most live born mutant mice presented normal overall cardiac morphology at 2Β weeks. Some animals, however, displayed extensive fibrotic lesions. Later on, mutants developed ventricular dilation leading to cardiac insufficiency and eventually premature death. Upon histological examination, cardiomyocyte death by calcifying necrosis and replacement by fibrous tissue were observed. Fibrotic lesions were highly proliferative in 2-week-old mutants, whereas the fibrotic lesions of older mutants showed little proliferation indicating the completion of local muscle replacement by scar tissue. Disease progression correlated with increased mRNA expression of c-myc, ANF, BNF, CTGF and GDF15, which are markers for cardiac stress, remodeling and heart failure. Taken together, the desmoglein 2-mutant mice display features of dilative cardiomyopathy and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, an inherited human heart disease with pronounced fibrosis and ventricular arrhythmias that has been linked to mutations in desmosomal proteins including desmoglein 2
The Human Affectome
Over the last decades, the interdisciplinary field of the affective sciences has seen proliferation rather than integration of theoretical perspectives. This is due to differences in metaphysical and mechanistic assumptions about human affective phenomena (what they are and how they work) which, shaped by academic motivations and values, have determined the affective constructs and operationalizations. An assumption on the purpose of affective phenomena can be used as a teleological principle to guide the construction of a common set of metaphysical and mechanistic assumptionsβa framework for human affective research. In this capstone paper for the special issue βTowards an Integrated Understanding of the Human Affectomeβ, we gather the tiered purpose of human affective phenomena to synthesize assumptions that account for human affective phenomena collectively. This teleologically-grounded framework offers a principled agenda and launchpad for both organizing existing perspectives and generating new ones. Ultimately, we hope Human Affectome brings us a step closer to not only an integrated understanding of human affective phenomena, but an integrated field for affective research
Functional effects of the TMEM43 Ser358Leu mutation in the pathogenesis of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy
Mutations with pathogenic potential in proteins located in or at the composite junctions of the intercalated disk connecting mammalian cardiomyocytes: a reference thesaurus for arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathies and for Naxos and Carvajal diseases
In the past decade, an avalanche of findings and reports has correlated arrhythmogenic ventricular cardiomyopathies (ARVC) and Naxos and Carvajal diseases with certain mutations in protein constituents of the special junctions connecting the polar regions (intercalated disks) of mature mammalian cardiomyocytes. These molecules, apparently together with some specific cytoskeletal proteins, are components of (or interact with) composite junctions. Composite junctions contain the amalgamated fusion products of the molecules that, in other cell types and tissues, occur in distinct separate junctions, i.e. desmosomes and adherens junctions. As the pertinent literature is still in an expanding phase and is obviously becoming important for various groups of researchers in basic cell and molecular biology, developmental biology, histology, physiology, cardiology, pathology and genetics, the relevant references so far recognized have been collected and are presented here in the following order: desmocollin-2 (Dsc2, DSC2), desmoglein-2 (Dsg2, DSG2), desmoplakin (DP, DSP), plakoglobin (PG, JUP), plakophilin-2 (Pkp2, PKP2) and some non-desmosomal proteins such as transmembrane protein 43 (TMEM43), ryanodine receptor 2 (RYR2), desmin, lamins A and C, striatin, titin and transforming growth factor-Ξ²3 (TGFΞ²3), followed by a collection of animal models and of reviews, commentaries, collections and comparative studies
Assessment of inflammation in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia
Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC): cardiovascular magnetic resonance update
Development Contributions for Regional and State Infrastructure β A Case Study of Melbourne, Australia
DielsβAlder Reactivity of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Bay Regions: Implications for Metal-Free Growth of Single-Chirality Carbon Nanotubes
The Effects of Cyclic Conjugation and Bending on the Optoelectronic Properties of Paraphenylenes
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