8,356 research outputs found
Ultrasound-guided percutaneous treatment of a calcific acromioclavicular joint: A case report
Rationale:Calcific tendinopathy is one of the most frequent causes of nontraumatic shoulder pain. However, intra-articular calcifications appear to be an infrequent condition. We herein report a rare case study of an intra-articular calcification of the acromioclavicular joint.Patient concerns:A 46-year-old man presented with an acute pain in the anterior superior region of the left shoulder which also radiated to the left cervical region. The man during the physical evaluation also presented severe functional limitation of the shoulder movements in all planes of motion.Diagnoses:The diagnosis was carried out through a radiographic and an echotomographic examination, highlighting the intra-articular calcific formation associated to a reactive inflammatory reaction.Interventions:An ultrasound-guided percutaneous treatment following the guidelines for calcific tendinopathy of the shoulder was carried out.Outcomes:The posttreatment was satisfactory with the disappearance of the pain and the recovery of the shoulder movements in all planes of motion.Lessons:We can affirm that the ultrasound-guided percutaneous treatment in patients with calcification of the acromion-clavicular joint represents a valid and nonpainful therapeutic treatment
Polyelectrolyte Multilayering on a Charged Planar Surface
The adsorption of highly \textit{oppositely} charged flexible
polyelectrolytes (PEs) on a charged planar substrate is investigated by means
of Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. We study in detail the equilibrium structure
of the first few PE layers. The influence of the chain length and of a (extra)
non-electrostatic short range attraction between the polycations and the
negatively charged substrate is considered. We show that the stability as well
as the microstructure of the PE layers are especially sensitive to the strength
of this latter interaction. Qualitative agreement is reached with some recent
experiments.Comment: 28 pages; 11 (main) Figs - Revtex4 - Higher resolution Figs can be
obtained upon request. To appear in Macromolecule
Resonant effects in a SQUID qubit subjected to non adiabatic changes
By quickly modifying the shape of the effective potential of a double SQUID
flux qubit from a single-well to a double-well condition, we experimentally
observe an anomalous behavior, namely an alternance of resonance peaks, in the
probability to find the qubit in a given flux state. The occurrence of
Landau-Zener transitions as well as resonant tunneling between degenerate
levels in the two wells may be invoked to partially justify the experimental
results. A quantum simulation of the time evolution of the system indeed
suggests that the observed anomalous behavior can be imputable to quantum
coherence effects. The interplay among all these mechanisms has a practical
implication for quantum computing purposes, giving a direct measurement of the
limits on the sweeping rates possible for a correct manipulation of the qubit
state by means of fast flux pulses, avoiding transitions to non-computational
states.Comment: 6 pages and 6 figures. The paper, as it is, has been accepted for
publication on PRB on March 201
Large Binocular Telescope view of the atmosphere of GJ1214b
The atmospheric composition and vertical structure of the super-Earth GJ1214b
has been a subject of debate since its discovery in 2009. Recent studies have
indicated that high-altitude clouds might mask the lower layers. However, some
data points that were gathered at different times and facilities do not fit
this picture, probably because of a combination of stellar activity and
systematic errors. We observed two transits of GJ1214b with the Large Binocular
Camera, the dual-channel camera at the Large Binocular Telescope. For the first
time, we simultaneously measured the relative planetary radius
at blue and red optical wavelengths (), thus
constraining the Rayleigh scattering on GJ1214b after correcting for stellar
activity effects. To the same purpose, a long-term photometric follow-up of the
host star was carried out with WiFSIP at STELLA, revealing a rotational period
that is significantly longer than previously reported. Our new unbiased
estimates of yield a flat transmission spectrum extending to shorter
wavelengths, thus confirming the cloudy atmosphere scenario for GJ1214b.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables. Published in A&A. Minor changes to
reflect the published versio
Probing Low Energy Neutrino Backgrounds with Neutrino Capture on Beta Decaying Nuclei
We study the interaction of low energy neutrinos on nuclei that spontaneously
undergo beta decay showing that the product of the cross section times neutrino
velocity takes values as high as 10^{-42} cm^2 c for some specific nuclei that
decay via allowed transitions. The absence of energy threshold and the value of
the cross section single out these processes as a promising though very
demanding approach for future experiments aimed at a direct detection of low
energy neutrino backgrounds such as the cosmological relic neutrinos.Comment: Includes a discussion of local relic neutrino density effect on
neutrino capture rate. Accepted for publication in JCA
Distillation of Entanglement between Distant Systems by Repeated Measurements on Entanglement Mediator
A recently proposed purification method, in which the Zeno-like measurements
of a subsystem can bring about a distillation of another subsystem in
interaction with the former, is utilized to yield entangled states between
distant systems. It is shown that the measurements of a two-level system
locally interacting with other two spatially separated not coupled subsystems,
can distill entangled states from the latter irrespectively of the initial
states of the two subsystems.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures; the version accepted for publication in Phys.
Rev.
Accumulation of entanglement in a continuous variable memory
We study the accumulation of entanglement in a memory device built out of two
continuous variable (CV) systems. We address the case of a qubit mediating an
indirect joint interaction between the CV systems. We show that, in striking
contrast with respect to registers built out of bidimensional Hilbert spaces,
entanglement superior to a single ebit can be efficiently accumulated in the
memory, even though no entangled resource is used. We study the protocol in an
immediately implementable setup, assessing the effects of the main
imperfections.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTeX
Feasibility of high-voltage systems for a very long drift in liquid argon TPCs
Designs of high-voltage (HV) systems for creating a drift electric field in
liquid argon TPCs are reviewed. In ongoing experiments systems capable of
approx. 100 kV are realised for a drift field of 0.5-1 kV/cm over a length of
up to 1.5 m. Two of them having different approaches are presented: (1) the
ICARUS-T600 detector having a system consisting of an external power supply, HV
feedthroughs and resistive voltage degraders and (2) the ArDM-1t detector
having a cryogenic Greinacher HV multiplier inside the liquid argon volume. For
a giant scale liquid argon TPC, a system providing 2 MV may be required to
attain a drift length of approx. 20 m. Feasibility of such a system is
evaluated by extrapolating the existing designs.Comment: 8 pages, 13 figures, to appear in Proc. of 1st International Workshop
towards the Giant Liquid Argon Charge Imaging Experiment (GLA2010), Tsukuba
(Japan), March 201
The Transcription Factor Nfix Requires RhoA-ROCK1 Dependent Phagocytosis to Mediate Macrophage Skewing during Skeletal Muscle Regeneration
Macrophages (MPs) are immune cells which are crucial for tissue repair. In skeletal muscle regeneration, pro-inflammatory cells first infiltrate to promote myogenic cell proliferation, then they switch into an anti-inflammatory phenotype to sustain myogenic cells differentiation and myofiber formation. This phenotypical switch is induced by dead cell phagocytosis. We previously demonstrated that the transcription factor Nfix, a member of the nuclear factor I (Nfi) family, plays a pivotal role during muscle development, regeneration and in the progression of muscular dystrophies. Here, we show that Nfix is mainly expressed by anti-inflammatory macrophages. Upon acute injury, mice deleted for Nfix in myeloid line displayed a significant defect in the process of muscle regeneration. Indeed, Nfix is involved in the macrophage phenotypical switch and macrophages lacking Nfix failed to adopt an anti-inflammatory phenotype and interact with myogenic cells. Moreover, we demonstrated that phagocytosis induced by the inhibition of the RhoA-ROCK1 pathway leads to Nfix expression and, consequently, to acquisition of the anti-inflammatory phenotype. Our study identified Nfix as a link between RhoA-ROCK1-dependent phagocytosis and the MP phenotypical switch, thus establishing a new role for Nfix in macrophage biology for the resolution of inflammation and tissue repair
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