500 research outputs found
Excitation Enhancement of a Quantum Dot Coupled to a Plasmonic Antenna
Plasmonic antennas are key elements to control the luminescence of quantum
emitters. However, the antenna's influence is often hidden by quenching losses.
Here, the luminescence of a quantum dot coupled to a gold dimer antenna is
investigated. Detailed analysis of the multiply excited states quantifies the
antenna's influence on the excitation intensity and the luminescence quantum
yield separately
Intermolecular N-H...O=C hydrogen bonding in the crystal structure of 6-amino-1,3-dimethyluracil
The 6-amino- 1,3-dimethyluracil molecule [6-amino- 1,3-
dimethyl-2,4(1H,3H)-pyrimidinedione], C6H9N302 (I),
lies on a crystallographic mirror plane and participates
in an extensive two-dimensional hydrogen-bonding network
in the solid state. Each molecule is involved in N--
H...O=C hydrogen bonding involving the amino and
carbonyl gr. oups, with O...N separations of 2.894 (3) and
2.904 (3) A
Non-minimally coupled scalar field cosmology on the phase plane
In this publication we investigate dynamics of a flat FRW cosmological model
with a non-minimally coupled scalar field with the coupling term in the scalar field action. The quadratic potential function
is assumed. All the evolutional paths are visualized
and classified in the phase plane, at which the parameter of non-minimal
coupling plays the role of a control parameter. The fragility of global
dynamics with respect to changes of the coupling constant is studied in
details. We find that the future big rip singularity appearing in the phantom
scalar field cosmological models can be avoided due to non-minimal coupling
constant effects. We have shown the existence of a finite scale factor singular
point (future or past) where the Hubble function as well as its first
cosmological time derivative diverges.Comment: revtex4, 20 pages, 12 figs; (v2) title changed, analysis of critical
points at infinity added, accepted to JCA
Sexual identity of enterocytes regulates autophagy to determine intestinal health, lifespan and responses to rapamycin
Pharmacological attenuation of mTOR presents a promising route for delay of age-related disease. Here we show that treatment of Drosophila with the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin extends lifespan in females, but not in males. Female-specific, age-related gut pathology is markedly slowed by rapamycin treatment, mediated by increased autophagy. Treatment increases enterocyte autophagy in females, via the H3/H4 histone-Bchs axis, whereas males show high basal levels of enterocyte autophagy that are not increased by rapamycin feeding. Enterocyte sexual identity, determined by transformerFemale expression, dictates sexually dimorphic cell size, H3/H4-Bchs expression, basal rates of autophagy, fecundity, intestinal homeostasis and lifespan extension in response to rapamycin. Dimorphism in autophagy is conserved in mice, where intestine, brown adipose tissue and muscle exhibit sex differences in autophagy and response to rapamycin. This study highlights tissue sex as a determining factor in the regulation of metabolic processes by mTOR and the efficacy of mTOR-targeted, anti-aging drug treatments
Scalar field cosmology in the energy phase-space -- unified description of dynamics
In this letter we apply dynamical system methods to study all evolutional
paths admissible for all initial conditions of the FRW cosmological model with
a non-minimally coupled to gravity scalar field and a barotropic fluid. We
choose "energy variables" as phase variables. We reduce dynamics to a
3-dimensional dynamical system for an arbitrary potential of the scalar field
in the phase space variables. After postulating the potential parameter
as a function of (defined as ) we reduce whole
dynamics to a 3-dimensional dynamical system and study evolutional paths
leading to current accelerating expansion. If we restrict the form of the
potential then we will obtain a 2-dimensional dynamical system. We use the
dynamical system approach to find a new generic quintessence scenario of
approaching to the de Sitter attractor which appears only for the case of
non-vanishing coupling constant.Comment: revtex4, 16 pages, 3 figs; (v2) refs. added, published versio
Intermediate inflation and the slow-roll approximation
It is shown that spatially homogeneous solutions of the Einstein equations
coupled to a nonlinear scalar field and other matter exhibit accelerated
expansion at late times for a wide variety of potentials . These potentials
are strictly positive but tend to zero at infinity. They satisfy restrictions
on and related to the slow-roll approximation. These results
generalize Wald's theorem for spacetimes with positive cosmological constant to
those with accelerated expansion driven by potentials belonging to a large
class.Comment: 19 pages, results unchanged, additional backgroun
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation in Dialysis Patients
Background/Aims: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has emerged as a new therapeutic option for high-risk patients. However, dialysis patients were excluded from all previous studies. The aim of this study is to compare the outcomes of TAVI for dialysis patients with those for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 3 and 4 and to compare TAVI with open surgery in dialysis patients. Methods: Part I: comparison of 10 patients on chronic hemodialysis with 116 patients with non-dialysis-dependent CKD undergoing TAVI. Part II: comparison of transcatheter (n = 15) with open surgical (n = 24) aortic valve replacement in dialysis patients. Results: Part I: dialysis patients were significantly younger (72.3 vs. 82.0 years; p < 0.01). Hospital stay was significantly longer in dialysis patients (21.8 vs. 12.1 days; p = 0.01). Overall 30-day mortality was 3.17%, with no deaths among dialysis patients. Six-month survival rates were similar (log-rank p = 0.935). Part II: patient age was comparable (66.5 vs. 69.5 years; p = 0.42). Patients in the surgical group tended to stay longer in hospital than TAVI patients (29.5 vs. 22.5 days; p = 0.35). Conclusion: TAVI is a safe procedure in patients on chronic hemodialysis. Until new data become available, we find no compelling reason to refuse these patients TAVI. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base
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