810 research outputs found
The anisotropic Ashkin-Teller model: a renormalization group study
The two-dimensional ferromagnetic anisotropic Ashkin-Teller model is
investigated through a real-space renormalization-group approach. The critical
frontier, separating five distinct phases, recover all the known exacts results
for the square lattice. The correlation length and crossover
critical exponents are also calculated. With the only exception of the
four-state Potts critical point, the entire phase diagram belongs to the Ising
universality class.Comment: 3 ps figures, accepted for publication in Physica
Generation and characterization of a recombinant chimeric protein (rCpLi) consisting of B-cell epitopes of a dermonecrotic protein from Loxosceles intermedia spider venom
AbstractA chimeric protein was constructed expressing three epitopes of LiD1, a dermonecrotic toxin from the venom of Loxosceles intermedia spider. This species is responsible for a large number of accidents involving spiders in Brazil. We demonstrated that the chimeric protein (rCpLi) generated is atoxic and that antibodies previously developed in rabbits against synthetic epitopes reactive with rCpLi in ELISA and immunoblot assays. The antibody response in rabbits against the rCpLi was evaluated by ELISA and we have detected an antibody response in all immunized animals. Overlapping peptides covering the amino acid sequence of the rCpLi were synthesized on a cellulose membrane, and their recognition by rabbit anti-rCpLi serum assessed. Three different antigenic regions were identified. The percentage of inhibition of the dermonecrotic, hemorrhagic and edematogenic activities caused by the recombinant protein LiD1r in naïve rabbits was assessed by pre-incubation with anti-rCpLi antibodies. Anti-rCpLi induced good dermonecrotic and hemorrhagic protection. The levels of protection were similar to the antiboides anti-LiD1r. In summary, we have developed a polyepitope recombinant chimeric protein capable of inducing multiple responses of neutralizing antibodies in a rabbit model. This engineered protein may be a promising candidate for therapeutic serum development or vaccination
The CMB power spectrum at l=30-200 from QMASK
We measure the cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectrum on angular
scales l~30-200 (1-6 degrees) from the QMASK map, which combines the data from
the QMAP and Saskatoon experiments. Since the accuracy of recent measurements
leftward of the first acoustic peak is limited by sample-variance, the large
area of the QMASK map (648 square degrees) allows us to place among the
sharpest constraints to date in this range, in good agreement with BOOMERanG
and (on the largest scales) COBE/DMR. By band-pass-filtering the QMAP and
Saskatoon maps, we are able to spatially compare them scale-by-scale to check
for beam- and pointing-related systematic errors.Comment: Revised to match accepted PRD version. Substantially expanded. Window
functions, map and covariance matrix at
http://www.hep.upenn.edu/~xuyz/qmask.htm
Polarized Dirac fermions in de Sitter spacetime
The tetrad gauge invariant theory of the free Dirac field in two special
moving charts of the de Sitter spacetime is investigated pointing out the
operators that commute with the Dirac one. These are the generators of the
symmetry transformations corresponding to isometries that give rise to
conserved quantities according to the Noether theorem. With their help the
plane wave spinor solutions of the Dirac equation with given momentum and
helicity are derived and the final form of the quantum Dirac field is
established. It is shown that the canonical quantization leads to a correct
physical interpretation of the massive or massless fermion quantum fields.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX w AMS sym
General Relativistic Mean Field Theory for Rotating Nuclei
We formulate a general relativistic mean field theory for rotating nuclei
starting from the special relativistic model Lagrangian. The
tetrad formalism is adopted to generalize the model to the accelerated frame.Comment: 13 pages, REVTeX, no figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett., the word
`curved' is replaced by `non-inertial' or `accelerated' in several places to
clarify the physical situation interested, some references are added, more
detail discussions are given with omitting some redundant sentence
Plasmodium vivax gametocytes in the bone marrow of an acute malaria patient and changes in the erythroid miRNA profile
Plasmodium vivax is the most widely distributed human malaria parasite and responsible for large amounts of disease and burden [1]. The presence of P. vivax in the bone marrow was first noticed in the late 19th century [2], and examinations of sternal bone marrow aspirates were performed as an accessory to examinations of peripheral blood in malaria, including P. vivax [3]. Since then, little progress has been made in studying P. vivax infections in this tissue. One report explored accumulation of dyserythropoietic cells in anaemic infected patients [4]. In addition, two case studies reported P. vivax infections after autologous bone marrow transplantation [5][6], and a third one documented an accidental P. vivax infection due to bone marrow transplantation between a malaria-infected donor and a malaria-free receptor [7]. In Brazil, one patient with persistent thrombocytopaenia and an enlarged spleen was diagnosed with chronic P. vivax malaria after the finding of schizonts in the bone marrow aspirate [8]. In all these reports and case studies, however, parasite loads and life stages found in the bone marrow were not investigated, and no molecular tools were available to rule out mixed infections or to characterize specific parasite stages
Structural assessment, toxicity, and increased antimicrobial activity
Scorpion venom is a rich source of biologically active components and various peptides with high-potential therapeutic use that have been characterized for their antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities. Stigmurin is a peptide identified from the Tityus stigmurus venom gland with high antibacterial and antiproliferative activities and low toxicity. Amino acid substitutions in peptides without a disulfide bridge sequence have been made with the aim of reducing their toxicity and increasing their biological activities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the structural conformation and structural stability, as well as antimicrobial, antiproliferative, and hemolytic activities of two peptide analogs to Stigmurin, denominated StigA6 and StigA16. In silico analysis revealed the α-helix structure for both analog peptides, which was confirmed by circular dichroism. Data showed that the net charge and hydrophobic moment of the analog peptides were higher than those for Stigmurin, which can explain the increase in antimicrobial activity presented by them. Both analog peptides exhibited activity on cancerous cells similar to the native peptide; however, they were less toxic when tested on the normal cell line. These results reveal a potential biotechnological application of the analog peptides StigA6 and StigA16 as prototypes to new therapeutic agents.publishersversionpublishe
Bianchi type I space and the stability of inflationary Friedmann-Robertson-Walker space
Stability analysis of the Bianchi type I universe in pure gravity theory is
studied in details. We first derive the non-redundant field equation of the
system by introducing the generalized Bianchi type I metric. This non-redundant
equation reduces to the Friedmann equation in the isotropic limit. It is shown
further that any unstable mode of the isotropic perturbation with respect to a
de Sitter background is also unstable with respect to anisotropic
perturbations. Implications to the choice of physical theories are discussed in
details in this paper.Comment: 5 pages, some comment adde
De Sitter and Schwarzschild-De Sitter According to Schwarzschild and De Sitter
When de Sitter first introduced his celebrated spacetime, he claimed,
following Schwarzschild, that its spatial sections have the topology of the
real projective space RP^3 (that is, the topology of the group manifold SO(3))
rather than, as is almost universally assumed today, that of the sphere S^3.
(In modern language, Schwarzschild was disturbed by the non-local correlations
enforced by S^3 geometry.) Thus, what we today call "de Sitter space" would not
have been accepted as such by de Sitter. There is no real basis within
classical cosmology for preferring S^3 to RP^3, but the general feeling appears
to be that the distinction is in any case of little importance. We wish to
argue that, in the light of current concerns about the nature of de Sitter
space, this is a mistake. In particular, we argue that the difference between
"dS(S^3)" and "dS(RP^3)" may be very important in attacking the problem of
understanding horizon entropies. In the approach to de Sitter entropy via
Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetime, we find that the apparently trivial
difference between RP^3 and S^3 actually leads to very different perspectives
on this major question of quantum cosmology.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, typos fixed, references added, equation numbers
finally fixed, JHEP versio
New Upper Limit of Terrestrial Equivalence Principle Test for Rotating Extended Bodies
Improved terrestrial experiment to test the equivalence principle for
rotating extended bodies is presented, and a new upper limit for the violation
of the equivalence principle is obtained at the level of 1.6, which is limited by the friction of the rotating gyroscope. It
means the spin-gravity interaction between the extended bodies has not been
observed at this level.Comment: 4 page
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