Bound - states for truncated Coulomb potentials

The pseudoperturbative shifted - $l$ expansion technique PSLET is generalized for states with arbitrary number of nodal zeros. Bound- states energy eigenvalues for two truncated coulombic potentials are calculated using PSLET. In contrast with shifted large-N expansion technique, PSLET results compare excellently with those from direct numerical integration.Comment: TEX file, 22 pages. To appear in J. Phys. A: Math. & Ge

Digging deeper into colonial palaeontological practices in modern day Mexico and Brazil

Scientific practices stemming from colonialism, whereby middle- and low-income countries supply data for high-income countries and the contributions of local expertise are devalued, are still prevalent today in the field of palaeontology. In response to these unjust practices, countries such as Mexico and Brazil adopted protective laws and regulations during the twentieth century to preserve their palaeontological heritage. However, scientific colonialism is still reflected in many publications describing fossil specimens recovered from these countries. Here, we present examples of ‘palaeontological colonialism’ from publications on Jurassic–Cretaceous fossils from NE Mexico and NE Brazil spanning the last three decades. Common issues that we identified in these publications are the absence of both fieldwork and export permit declarations and the lack of local experts among authorships. In Mexico, access to many fossil specimens is restricted on account of these specimens being housed in private collections, whereas a high number of studies on Brazilian fossils are based on specimens illegally reposited in foreign collections, particularly in Germany and Japan. Finally, we outline and discuss the wider academic and social impacts of these research practices, and propose exhaustive recommendations to scientists, journals, museums, research institutions and government and funding agencies in order to overcome these practices

Rapid decline of the CO2 buffering capacity in the North Sea and implications for the North Atlantic Ocean

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles 21 (2007): GB4001, doi:10.1029/2006GB002825.New observations from the North Sea, a NW European shelf sea, show that between 2001 and 2005 the CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) in surface waters rose by 22 μatm, thus faster than atmospheric pCO2, which in the same period rose approximately 11 μatm. The surprisingly rapid decline in air-sea partial pressure difference (ΔpCO2) is primarily a response to an elevated water column inventory of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), which, in turn, reflects mostly anthropogenic CO2 input rather than natural interannual variability. The resulting decline in the buffering capacity of the inorganic carbonate system (increasing Revelle factor) sets up a theoretically predicted feedback loop whereby the invasion of anthropogenic CO2 reduces the ocean's ability to uptake additional CO2. Model simulations for the North Atlantic Ocean and thermodynamic principles reveal that this feedback should be stronger, at present, in colder midlatitude and subpolar waters because of the lower present-day buffer capacity and elevated DIC levels driven either by northward advected surface water and/or excess local air-sea CO2 uptake. This buffer capacity feedback mechanism helps to explain at least part of the observed trend of decreasing air-sea ΔpCO2 over time as reported in several other recent North Atlantic studies.S. Doney and I. Lima were supported by NSF/ONR NOPP (N000140210370) and NASA (NNG05GG30G)

Oral maxillofacial neoplasms in an East African population a 10 year retrospective study of 1863 cases using histopathological reports

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neoplasms of the oral maxillofacial area are an interesting entity characterized by differences in nomenclature and classification at different centers.</p> <p>We report neoplastic histopathological diagnoses seen at the departments of oral maxillofacial surgery of Muhimbili and Mulago referral hospitals in Tanzania and Uganda respectively over a 10-year period.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We retrieved histopathological reports archived at the departments of oral maxillofacial surgery of Muhimbili and Mulago referral hospitals in Tanzania and Uganda respectively over a 10-year period from June 1989–July 1999.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the period between June 1989 and July 1999, 565 and 1298 neoplastic oro-facial cases were retrieved of which 284 (50.53%) and 967 (74.54%) were malignant neoplasms at Muhimbili and Mulago hospitals respectively. Overall 67.28% of the diagnoses recorded were malignant with Kaposi's sarcoma (21.98%), Burkiits lymphoma (20.45%), and squamous cell carcinoma (15.22%) dominating that group while ameloblastoma (9.23%), fibromas (7.3%) and pleomorphic adenoma (4.95%) dominated the benign group.</p> <p>The high frequency of malignancies could be due to inclusion criteria and the clinical practice of selective histopathology investigation. However, it may also be due to higher chances of referrals in case of malignancies.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There is need to reexamine the slides in these two centers in order to bring them in line with the most recent WHO classification so as to allow for comparison with reports from else where.</p

Human Apolipoprotein A-I-Derived Amyloid: Its Association with Atherosclerosis

Amyloidoses constitute a group of diseases in which soluble proteins aggregate and deposit extracellularly in tissues. Nonhereditary apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) amyloid is characterized by deposits of nonvariant protein in atherosclerotic arteries. Despite being common, little is known about the pathogenesis and significance of apoA-I deposition. In this work we investigated by fluorescence and biochemical approaches the impact of a cellular microenvironment associated with chronic inflammation on the folding and pro-amyloidogenic processing of apoA-I. Results showed that mildly acidic pH promotes misfolding, aggregation, and increased binding of apoA-I to extracellular matrix elements, thus favoring protein deposition as amyloid like-complexes. In addition, activated neutrophils and oxidative/proteolytic cleavage of the protein give rise to pro amyloidogenic products. We conclude that, even though apoA-I is not inherently amyloidogenic, it may produce non hereditary amyloidosis as a consequence of the pro-inflammatory microenvironment associated to atherogenesis

Male mating biology

Before sterile mass-reared mosquitoes are released in an attempt to control local populations, many facets of male mating biology need to be elucidated. Large knowledge gaps exist in how both sexes meet in space and time, the correlation of male size and mating success and in which arenas matings are successful. Previous failures in mosquito sterile insect technique (SIT) projects have been linked to poor knowledge of local mating behaviours or the selection of deleterious phenotypes during colonisation and long-term mass rearing. Careful selection of mating characteristics must be combined with intensive field trials to ensure phenotypic characters are not antagonistic to longevity, dispersal, or mating behaviours in released males. Success has been achieved, even when colonised vectors were less competitive, due in part to extensive field trials to ensure mating compatibility and effective dispersal. The study of male mating biology in other dipterans has improved the success of operational SIT programmes. Contributing factors include inter-sexual selection, pheromone based attraction, the ability to detect alterations in local mating behaviours, and the effects of long-term colonisation on mating competitiveness. Although great strides have been made in other SIT programmes, this knowledge may not be germane to anophelines, and this has led to a recent increase in research in this area

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]