Monte Carlo simulations of infinitely dilute solutions of amphiphilic diblock star copolymers

Single-chain Monte Carlo simulations of amphiphilic diblock star copolymers were carried out in continuous space using implicit solvents. Two distinct architectures were studied: stars with the hydrophobic blocks attached to the core, and stars with the polar blocks attached to the core, with all arms being of equal length. The ratio of the lengths of the hydrophobic block to the length of the polar block was varied from 0 to 1. Stars with 3, 6, 9 or 12 arms, each of length 10, 15, 25, 50, 75 and 100 Kuhn segments were analysed. Four distinct types of conformations were observed for these systems. These, apart from studying the snapshots from the simulations, have been quantitatively characterised in terms of the mean-squared radii of gyration, mean-squared distances of monomers from the centre-of-mass, asphericity indices, static scattering form factors in the Kratky representation as well as the intra-chain monomer-monomer radial distribution functions.Comment: 12 pages, 11 ps figures. Accepted for publication in J. Chem. Phy

A flat-topped leaky-wave source for phased arrays with reduced scan losses

International audienceThis paper describes the design of a planar Fabry-Perot leaky wave antenna generating a flat-topped radiation pattern. The flat-topped pattern is achieved by exciting various leaky-wave modes between a metallic ground plane and a superstrate. Two configurations for the superstrate structure are proposed and analyzed: i) dielectric layers; ii) impedance sheets. In all cases, the antennas are fed by a small waveguide opening in the ground plane. An in-house optimization tool based on a Green's function spectral approach is used to derive the appropriate arrangement for the generation of the required flat-topped pattern. The proposed approach is validated numerically for an antenna generating a flat topped pattern in an angular range of ±25°. The proposed flat-topped antenna may be used for the design of phased arrays with reduced scan losses over a given angular range

Kinematic Effects in Radiative Quarkonia Decays

Non-relativistic QCD (NRQCD) predicts colour octet contributions to be significant not only in many production processes of heavy quarkonia but also in their radiative decays. We investigate the photon energy distributions in these processes in the endpoint region. There the velocity expansion of NRQCD breaks down which requires a resummation of an infinite class of colour octet operators to so-called shape functions. We model these non-perturbative functions by the emission of a soft gluon cluster in the initial state. We found that the spectrum in the endpoint region is poorly understood if the values for the colour octet matrix elements are taken as large as indicated from NRQCD scaling rules. Therefore the endpoint region should not be taken into account for a fit of the strong coupling constant at the scale of the heavy quark mass.Comment: LaTeX, 17 pages, 5 figures. The complete paper is also available via the www at http://www-ttp.physik.uni-karlsruhe.de/Preprints

Molecular Genetic Variability Of Commercial And Wild Accessions Of Passion Fruit (passiflora Spp.) Targeting Ex Situ Conservation And Breeding.

Passiflora species are distributed throughout Latin America, and Brazil and Colombia serve as the centers of diversity for this genus. We performed cross-species amplification to evaluate 109 microsatellite loci in 14 Passiflora species and estimated the diversity and genetic structure of Passiflora cincinnata, Passiflora setaceae and Passiflora edulis. A total of 127 accessions, including 85 accessions of P. edulis, a commercial species, and 42 accessions of 13 wild species, were examined. The cross-species amplification was effective for obtaining microsatellite loci (average cross-amplification of 70%). The average number of alleles per locus (five) was relatively low, and the average diversity ranged from 0.52 in P. cincinnata to 0.32 in P. setacea. The Bayesian analyses indicated that the P. cincinnata and P. setacea accessions were distributed into two groups, and the P. edulis accessions were distributed into five groups. Private alleles were identified, and suggestions for core collections are presented. Further collections are necessary, and the information generated may be useful for breeding and conservation.1522933-5

A geometric network model of intrinsic grey-matter connectivity of the human brain

Network science provides a general framework for analysing the large-scale brain networks that naturally arise from modern neuroimaging studies, and a key goal in theoretical neuro- science is to understand the extent to which these neural architectures influence the dynamical processes they sustain. To date, brain network modelling has largely been conducted at the macroscale level (i.e. white-matter tracts), despite growing evidence of the role that local grey matter architecture plays in a variety of brain disorders. Here, we present a new model of intrinsic grey matter connectivity of the human connectome. Importantly, the new model incorporates detailed information on cortical geometry to construct ‘shortcuts’ through the thickness of the cortex, thus enabling spatially distant brain regions, as measured along the cortical surface, to communicate. Our study indicates that structures based on human brain surface information differ significantly, both in terms of their topological network characteristics and activity propagation properties, when compared against a variety of alternative geometries and generative algorithms. In particular, this might help explain histological patterns of grey matter connectivity, highlighting that observed connection distances may have arisen to maximise information processing ability, and that such gains are consistent with (and enhanced by) the presence of short-cut connections

Magnetic stray fields of Co-Cr microstrips measured by Lorentz microscopy

Magnetic stray fields of Co‐Cr microstrips are investigated for bit stabilization in a vertical Bloch line memory (VBLM). The stray fields were revealed using Lorentz force based Foucault and differential phase contrast (DPC) techniques in a transmission electron microscope. The assumed shape of the stray fields for VBLM use has been experimentally verified. Agreement between experiment and simulation is obtained

A phase 1 trial evaluating thioridazine in combination with cytarabine in patients with acute myeloid leukemia

We completed a phase 1 dose-escalation trial to evaluate the safety of a dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) antagonist thioridazine (TDZ), in combination with cytarabine. Thirteen patients 55 years and older with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were enrolled. Oral TDZ was administered at 3 dose levels: 25 mg (n = 6), 50 mg (n = 4), or 100 mg (n = 3) every 6 hours for 21 days. Intermediate-dose cytarabine was administered on days 6 to 10. Dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) included grade 3 QTc interval prolongation in 1 patient at 25 mg TDZ and neurological events in 2 patients at 100 mg TDZ (gait disturbance, depressed consciousness, and dizziness). At the 50-mg TDZ dose, the sum of circulating DRD2 antagonist levels approached a concentration of 10 mM, a level noted to be selectively active against human AML in vitro. Eleven of 13 patients completed a 5-day lead-in with TDZ, of which 6 received TDZ with hydroxyurea and 5 received TDZ alone. During this period, 8 patients demonstrated a 19% to 55% reduction in blast levels, whereas 3 patients displayed progressive disease. The extent of blast reduction during this 5-day interval was associated with the expression of the putative TDZ target receptor DRD2 on leukemic cells. These preliminary results suggest that DRD2 represents a potential therapeutic target for AML disease. Future studies are required to corroborate these observations, including the use of modified DRD2 antagonists with improved tolerability in AML patients. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT02096289

Targeting quiescent leukemic stem cells using second generation autophagy inhibitors

In chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment induces autophagy that promotes survival and TKI-resistance in leukemic stem cells (LSCs). In clinical studies hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), the only clinically approved autophagy inhibitor, does not consistently inhibit autophagy in cancer patients, so more potent autophagy inhibitors are needed. We generated a murine model of CML in which autophagic flux can be measured in bone marrow-located LSCs. In parallel, we use cell division tracing, phenotyping of primary CML cells, and a robust xenotransplantation model of human CML, to investigate the effect of Lys05, a highly potent lysosomotropic agent, and PIK-III, a selective inhibitor of VPS34, on the survival and function of LSCs. We demonstrate that long-term haematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs: Lin−Sca-1+c-kit+CD48−CD150+) isolated from leukemic mice have higher basal autophagy levels compared with non-leukemic LT-HSCs and more mature leukemic cells. Additionally, we present that while HCQ is ineffective, Lys05-mediated autophagy inhibition reduces LSCs quiescence and drives myeloid cell expansion. Furthermore, Lys05 and PIK-III reduced the number of primary CML LSCs and target xenografted LSCs when used in combination with TKI treatment, providing a strong rationale for clinical use of second generation autophagy inhibitors as a novel treatment for CML patients with LSC persistence