195 research outputs found
A theoretical study of the structural phases of Group 5B - 6B metals and their transport properties
In order to predict the stable and metastable phases of the bcc metals in the
block of the Periodic Table defined by groups 5B to 6B and periods 4 to 6, as
well as the structure dependence of their transport properties, we have
performed full potential computations of the total energies per unit cell as a
function of the c/a ratio at constant experimental volume. In all cases, a
metastable body centered tetragonal (bct) phase was predicted from the
calculations. The total energy differences between the calculated stable and
metastable phases ranged from 0.09 eV/cell (vanadium) to 0.39 eV/cell
(tungsten). The trends in resistivity as a function of structure and atomic
number are discussed in terms of a model of electron transport in metals.
Theoretical calculations of the electrical resistivity and other transport
properties show that bct phases derived from group 5B elements are more
conductive than the corresponding bcc phases, while bct phases formed from
group 6B elements are less conductive than the corresponding bcc phases.
Special attention is paid to the phases of tantalum where we show that the
frequently observed beta phase is not a simple tetragonal distortion of bcc
tantalum
Reevaluating electron-phonon coupling strengths: Indium as a test case for ab initio and many-body-theory methods
Using indium as a test case, we investigate the accuracy of the
electron-phonon coupling calculated with state-of-the-art ab initio and
many-body theory methods. The ab initio calculations -- where electrons are
treated in the local-density approximation, and phonons and the electron-phonon
interaction are treated within linear response -- predict an electron-phonon
spectral function alpha^2 F(omega) which translates into a relative tunneling
conductance that agrees with experiment to within one part in 1000. The
many-body theory calculations -- where alpha^2 F(omega) is extracted from
tunneling data by means of the McMillan-Rowell tunneling inversion method --
provide spectral functions that depend strongly on details of the inversion
process. For the the most important moment of alpha^2 F(omega), the
mass-renormalization parameter lambda, we report 0.9 +/- 0.1, in contrast to
the value 0.805 quoted for nearly three decades in the literature. The ab
initio calculations also provide the transport electron-phonon spectral
function alpha_{tr}^2 F(omega), from which we calculate the resistivity as a
function of temperature in good agreement with experiment.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure
Effective treatment of experimental U-87MG human glioblastoma in nude mice with a targeted cytotoxic bombesin analogue, AN-215
Some brain tumours, such as glioblastomas express high levels of receptors for bombesin/gastrin releasing peptide. We investigated whether bombesin/gastrin releasing peptide receptors found in glioblastoma cell lines can be utilised for targeting of a cytotoxic bombesin analogue, AN-215 consisting of a potent derivative of doxorubicin, 2-pyrrolino-doxorubicin (AN-201) linked to a bombesin-like peptide carrier. This study reports the effect of AN-215 on the growth of U-87MG human glioblastomas xenografted into nude mice. High affinity binding of AN-215 to U-87MG tumours was characterised by an IC50 value of 4.0±0.1 nM, as determined by radioreceptor assays. mRNA analyses revealed the presence of mRNA for BN receptor subtypes 1 and 2. Treatment with AN-215 significantly (P<0.05) extended tumour doubling time from 4.54±0.2 days to 8.18±1.8 days and inhibited tumour growth as demonstrated by a 69.6% reduction in final tumour volume (P<0.001) and a 64.6% decrease in tumour weight as compared to controls. Cytotoxic radical AN-201 at the same dose was ineffective. The antitumour effect of AN-215 could be blocked by pretreatment with an excess of a bombesin antagonist, indicating that the action of this cytotoxic analogue is receptor-mediated. Our results suggest that patients with inoperable brain tumours such as malignant gliomas may benefit from targeted chemotherapy based on cytotoxic bombesin analogue AN-215
Nonlinear Magneto-Optics of Fe Monolayers from first principles: Structural dependence and spin-orbit coupling strength
We calculate the nonlinear magneto-optical response of free-standing fcc
(001), (110) and (111) oriented Fe monolayers. The bandstructures are
determined from first principles using a full-potential LAPW method with the
additional implementation of spin-orbit coupling. The variation of the
spin-orbit coupling strength and the nonlinear magneto-optical spectra upon
layer orientation are investigated. We find characteristic differences which
indicate an enhanced sensitivity of nonlinear magneto-optics to surface
orientation and variation of the in-plane lattice constants. In particular the
crossover from onedimensional stripe structures to twodimensional films of
(111) layers exhibits a clean signature in the nonlinear Kerr-spectra and
demonstrates the versatility of nonlinear magneto-optics as a tool for in situ
thin-film analysis.Comment: 28 pages, RevTeX, psfig, submitted to PR
Anisotropic normal-state properties of the MgB2 superconductor
Based on the experimentally found existence of two gaps in MgB2 (one gap
associated to the boron sigma-states and the other to the boron pi-states), the
different contributions to the transport properties, electrical conductivity
and Hall coefficient, were studied using the full potential-linearized
augmented plane wave method and the generalized gradient approximation. MgB2
doping was analyzed in the rigid band approximation. This permitted the study
of the partial substitution of magnesium for aluminium (Mg1-xAlxB2) as well as
other substitutions such as AB2 (A=Be, Zr, Nb and Ta). The sigma-bands (boron
sigma-states), which are associated to the large superconducting gap, are very
anisotropic at EF, while the pi-bands have very little anisotropic character.
In (Mg1-xAlxB2) Tc diminishes with Al content, the other compounds are not
superconductors. In this work it was found that with electron doping, such as
Al substitution, the sigma-band conductivity decreases and the corresponding
bands become less anisotropic. sigma-band contribution for BeB2 and ScB2 at EF
is very small and the anisotropy is much lower. For Zr, Nb and Ta there are no
sigma-bands at EF. These results give a connection between superconductivity
and the character of the sigma-band; band conductivity and band anisotropy.
This gives a plausible explanation for the diminution of Tc with different
doping of MgB2
A recursive field-normalized bibliometric performance indicator: An application to the field of library and information science
Two commonly used ideas in the development of citation-based research
performance indicators are the idea of normalizing citation counts based on a
field classification scheme and the idea of recursive citation weighing (like
in PageRank-inspired indicators). We combine these two ideas in a single
indicator, referred to as the recursive mean normalized citation score
indicator, and we study the validity of this indicator. Our empirical analysis
shows that the proposed indicator is highly sensitive to the field
classification scheme that is used. The indicator also has a strong tendency to
reinforce biases caused by the classification scheme. Based on these
observations, we advise against the use of indicators in which the idea of
normalization based on a field classification scheme and the idea of recursive
citation weighing are combined
First amyloid β1-42 certified reference material for re-calibrating commercial immunoassays
INTRODUCTION: Reference materials based on human cerebrospinal fluid were certified for the mass concentration of amyloid beta (Aβ)1-42 (Aβ42 ). They are intended to be used to calibrate diagnostic assays for Aβ42 . METHODS: The three certified reference materials (CRMs), ERM-DA480/IFCC, ERM-DA481/IFCC and ERM-DA482/IFCC, were prepared at three concentration levels and characterized using isotope dilution mass spectrometry methods. Roche, EUROIMMUN, and Fujirebio used the three CRMs to re-calibrate their immunoassays. RESULTS: The certified Aβ42 mass concentrations in ERM-DA480/IFCC, ERM-DA481/IFCC, and ERM-DA482/IFCC are 0.45, 0.72, and 1.22 μg/L, respectively, with expanded uncertainties (k = 2) of 0.07, 0.11, and 0.18 μg/L, respectively. Before re-calibration, a good correlation (Pearson's r > 0.97), yet large biases, were observed between results from different commercial assays. After re-calibration the between-assay bias was reduced to < 5%. DISCUSSION: The Aβ42 CRMs can ensure the equivalence of results between methods and across platforms for the measurement of Aβ42
Mathematical properties of weighted impact factors based on measures of prestige of the citing journals
The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-015-1741-0An abstract construction for general weighted impact factors is introduced. We
show that the classical weighted impact factors are particular cases of our model, but it can
also be used for defining new impact measuring tools for other sources of information as
repositories of datasets providing the mathematical support for a new family of altmet-
rics. Our aim is to show the main mathematical properties of this class of impact measuring
tools, that hold as consequences of their mathematical structure and does not depend on the
definition of any given index nowadays in use. In order to show the power of our approach
in a well-known setting, we apply our construction to analyze the stability of the ordering
induced in a list of journals by the 2-year impact factor (IF2). We study the change of this
ordering when the criterium to define it is given by the numerical value of a new weighted
impact factor, in which IF2 is used for defining the weights. We prove that, if we assume
that the weight associated to a citing journal increases with its IF2, then the ordering given
in the list by the new weighted impact factor coincides with the order defined by the IF2. We give a quantitative bound for the errors committed. We also show two examples of
weighted impact factors defined by weights associated to the prestige of the citing journal
for the fields of MATHEMATICS and MEDICINE, GENERAL AND INTERNAL,
checking if they satisfy the increasing behavior mentioned above.Ferrer Sapena, A.; Sánchez Pérez, EA.; González, LM.; Peset Mancebo, MF.; Aleixandre Benavent, R. (2015). Mathematical properties of weighted impact factors based on measures of prestige of the citing journals. Scientometrics. 105(3):2089-2108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-015-1741-0S208921081053Ahlgren, P., & Waltman, L. (2014). The correlation between citation-based and expert-based assessments of publication channels: SNIP and SJR vs. Norwegian quality assessments. Journal of Informetrics, 8, 985–996.Aleixandre Benavent, R., Valderrama Zurián, J. C., & González Alcaide, G. (2007). Scientific journals impact factor: Limitations and alternative indicators. El Profesional de la Información, 16(1), 4–11.Altmann, K. G., & Gorman, G. E. (1998). The usefulness of impact factor in serial selection: A rank and mean analysis using ecology journals. Library Acquisitions-Practise and Theory, 22, 147–159.Arnold, D. N., & Fowler, K. K. (2011). Nefarious numbers. Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 58(3), 434–437.Beliakov, G., & James, S. (2012). Using linear programming for weights identification of generalized bonferroni means in R. In: Proceedings of MDAI 2012 modeling decisions for artificial intelligence. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 7647, pp. 35–44.Beliakov, G., & James, S. (2011). Citation-based journal ranks: The use of fuzzy measures. Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 167, 101–119.Buela-Casal, G. (2003). Evaluating quality of articles and scientific journals. Proposal of weighted impact factor and a quality index. Psicothema, 15(1), 23–25.Dorta-Gonzalez, P., & Dorta-Gonzalez, M. I. (2013). Comparing journals from different fields of science and social science through a JCR subject categories normalized impact factor. Scientometrics, 95(2), 645–672.Dorta-Gonzalez, P., Dorta-Gonzalez, M. I., Santos-Penate, D. R., & Suarez-Vega, R. (2014). Journal topic citation potential and between-field comparisons: The topic normalized impact factor. Journal of Informetrics, 8(2), 406–418.Egghe, L., & Rousseau, R. (2002). A general frame-work for relative impact indicators. Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science, 27(1), 29–48.Gagolewski, M., & Mesiar, R. (2014). Monotone measures and universal integrals in a uniform framework for the scientific impact assessment problem. Information Sciences, 263, 166–174.Garfield, E. (2006). The history and meaning of the journal impact factor. JAMA, 295(1), 90–93.Habibzadeh, F., & Yadollahie, M. (2008). Journal weighted impact factor: A proposal. Journal of Informetrics, 2(2), 164–172.Klement, E., Mesiar, R., & Pap, E. (2010). A universal integral as common frame for Choquet and Sugeno integral. IEEE Transaction on Fuzzy System, 18, 178–187.Leydesdorff, L., & Opthof, T. (2010). Scopus’s source normalized impact per paper (SNIP) versus a journal impact factor based on fractional counting of citations. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 61, 2365–2369.Li, Y. R., Radicchi, F., Castellano, C., & Ruiz-Castillo, J. (2013). Quantitative evaluation of alternative field normalization procedures. Journal of Informetrics, 7(3), 746–755.Moed, H. F. (2010). Measuring contextual citation impact of scientific journals. Journal of Informetrics, 4, 265–277.NISO. (2014). Alternative metrics initiative phase 1. White paper. http://www.niso.org/apps/group-public/download.php/13809/Altmetrics-project-phase1-white-paperOwlia, P., Vasei, M., Goliaei, B., & Nassiri, I. (2011). Normalized impact factor (NIF): An adjusted method for calculating the citation rate of biomedical journals. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 44(2), 216–220.Pinski, G., & Narin, F. (1976). Citation influence for journal aggregates of scientific publications: Theory, with application to the literature of physics. Information Processing and Management, 12, 297–312.Pinto, A. C., & Andrade, J. B. (1999). Impact factor of scientific journals: What is the meaning of this parameter? Quimica Nova, 22, 448–453.Raghunathan, M. S., & Srinivas, V. (2001). Significance of impact factor with regard to mathematics journals. Current Science, 80(5), 605.Ruiz Castillo, J., & Waltman, L. (2015). Field-normalized citation impact indicators using algorithmically constructed classification systems of science. Journal of Informetrics, 9, 102–117.Saha, S., Saint, S., & Christakis, D. A. (2003). Impact factor: A valid measure of journal quality? Journal of the Medical Library Association, 91, 42–46.Torra, V., & Narukawa, Y. (2008). The h-index and the number of citations: Two fuzzy integrals. IEEE Transaction on Fuzzy System, 16, 795–797.Torres-Salinas, D., & Jimenez-Contreras, E. (2010). Introduction and comparative study of the new scientific journals citation indicators in journal citation reports and scopus. El Profesional de la Información, 19, 201–207.Waltman, L., & van Eck, N. J. (2008). Some comments on the journal weighted impact factor proposed by Habibzadeh and Yadollahie. Journal of Informetrics, 2(4), 369–372.Waltman, L., van Eck, N. J., van Leeuwen, T. N., & Visser, M. S. (2013). Some modifications to the SNIP journal impact indicator. Journal of Informetrics, 7, 272–285.Zitt, M. (2011). Behind citing-side normalization of citations: some properties of the journal impact factor. Scientometrics, 89, 329–344.Zitt, M., & Small, H. (2008). Modifying the journal impact factor by fractional citation weighting: The audience factor. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 59, 1856–1860.Zyczkowski, K. (2010). Citation graph, weighted impact factors and performance indices. Scientometrics, 85(1), 301–315
A comprehensive candidate gene approach identifies genetic variation associated with osteosarcoma
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Osteosarcoma (OS) is a bone malignancy which occurs primarily in adolescents. Since it occurs during a period of rapid growth, genes important in bone formation and growth are plausible modifiers of risk. Genes involved in DNA repair and ribosomal function may contribute to OS pathogenesis, because they maintain the integrity of critical cellular processes. We evaluated these hypotheses in an OS association study of genes from growth/hormone, bone formation, DNA repair, and ribosomal pathways.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We evaluated 4836 tag-SNPs across 255 candidate genes in 96 OS cases and 1426 controls. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twelve SNPs in growth or DNA repair genes were significantly associated with OS after Bonferroni correction. Four SNPs in the DNA repair gene <it>FANCM </it>(ORs 1.9-2.0, <it>P </it>= 0.003-0.004) and 2 SNPs downstream of the growth hormone gene <it>GH1 </it>(OR 1.6, <it>P </it>= 0.002; OR 0.5, <it>P </it>= 0.0009) were significantly associated with OS. One SNP in the region of each of the following genes was significant: <it>MDM2</it>, <it>MPG</it>, <it>FGF2</it>, <it>FGFR3</it>, <it>GNRH2</it>, and <it>IGF1</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggest that several SNPs in biologically plausible pathways are associated with OS. Larger studies are required to confirm our findings.</p
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