Lagrangian formulation for noncommutative nonlinear systems

In this work we use the well known formalism developed by Faddeev and Jackiw to introduce noncommutativity within two nonlinear systems, the SU(2) Skyrme and O(3) nonlinear sigma models. The final result is the Lagrangian formulations for the noncommutative versions of both models. The possibility of obtaining different noncommutative versions for these nonlinear systems is demonstrated.Comment: 8 pages. Revex 4.

Madera de compresión en Pinus radiata III: Propiedades de pulpas kraft

Estudios anteriores en estos mismos árboles de Pinus radiata con fustes levemente inclinados, demostraron que la madera de compresión leve que ellos exhibían presentaba: traqueidas más cortas, mayor densidad, mayor proporción de lignina, mayor proporción de extraíbles en etanol tolueno y menor proporción de alfa celulosa que la madera opuesta y que la madera de árboles sin madera de compresión.En el presente estudio se analiza las propiedades pulpables de la madera de compresión y la de sus respectivas maderas opuestas de los quince árboles de Pinus radiata estudiados, crecidos en suelos de arena húmeda en Chile. Se estudió separadamente la madera de compresión y la madera opuesta. Con distintas proporciones, de entre 0, 40, 70 y 100 % de madera de compresión y madera opuesta, se efectuaron pulpajes kraft  para cada una de las mezclas.De estos pulpajes con y sin blanqueo se informan valores de 501 y 695 kg/m3 de densidad; 28 a 51 Nm/g en índice de tensión, 18 a 25 mNm2/g en índice de rasgado, 2.2 a 4.1 kPam2/g en índice de explosión y rendimiento de 44 a 50.6 % en las mezclas de la pulpa estudiada.En la pulpa cruda de MC, de la madera pulpable y de la madera exterior aserrable, se registró me-nor densidad, mayor índice de tensión, de rasgado y de explosión, en comparación con los resultados obtenidos en la pulpa cruda de MO. En el caso de las pulpas blanqueadas, la densidad y el índice de tensión resultaron mayores en la MC.En el resto de las propiedades las diferencias entre MC y MO fueron oscilantes y reducidas. El aumento de la proporción de MC en la mezcla de MC y MO, produjo una reducción de rendimiento. Los rendimiento de las mezclas de la madera pulpable indicaron para el 100 % de MO un 50.6 % y para el 100% de MC un 44 %: En los casos de las pulpas de madera exterior aserrable el 100% de MO tuvo un rendimiento de de 48.4% en cambio el 100% de la MC registró un 44.3%.Los resultados obtenidos indicaron que la MC leve, que se encuentra en árboles con inclinaciones menores, tuvo un efecto de menor magnitud que él que se produce en la MC severa sobre las características y rendimiento de la pulpa kraft. AbstractPrevious studies with radiata pine trees growing slightly leaned towards one side showed that they have small amounts of compression wood with different characteristics than the opposite wood at the other side of the annual rings. These differences include shorter tracheids, higher density, higher proportion of lining, higher proportion of extractives in toluene ethanol, and a smaller amount of alpha-cellulose.The present study compares the properties of kraft pulp, with and without bleaching, for mixtures of compression and opposite wood obtained from fifteen 22-year-old radiata pine trees that grew in humid sand soils of Chile. The kraft pulp mixture was studied for different proportions of 0, 40, 70 and 100% compression wood. Considering all mixtures with and without bleaching, the study reports values between 501 and 695 kg/m3 density, 28 and 51 Nm/g tension index, 18 and 25 mNm2/g tear index, 2,2 and 4,1 kPam2 burst index, and 44% and 50,6% pulp yield.It was found that the pulp without bleaching from compression wood (for both the internal pulp and the external lumber areas) had lower density, but higher tension, tear, and burst indexes. The pulp with bleaching from compression wood had both higher density and tension index, but the other properties only show small random differences with respect to opposite wood.A higher proportion of compression wood in the mixture reduced pulp yield. The yield for the internal pulp area was 50,6 % with pure opposite wood and 44% with pure compression wood, while the yield for external lumber area was 48,4% with pure opposite wood and 44,3% with pure compression wood. I was concluded, however, that the relatively small amount of compression wood found in these trees had only a minor effect in the properties and yield of kraft pulp

Operatorial quantization of Born-Infeld Skyrmion model and hidden symmetries

The SU(2) collective coordinates expansion of the Born-Infeld\break Skyrmion Lagrangian is performed. The classical Hamiltonian is computed from this special Lagrangian in approximative way: it is derived from the expansion of this non-polynomial Lagrangian up to second-order variable in the collective coordinates. This second-class constrained model is quantized by Dirac Hamiltonian method and symplectic formalism. Although it is not expected to find symmetries on second-class systems, a hidden symmetry is disclosed by formulating the Born-Infeld Skyrmion %model as a gauge theory. To this end we developed a new constraint conversion technique based on the symplectic formalism. Finally, a discussion on the role played by the hidden symmetry on the computation of the energy spectrum is presented.Comment: A new version of hep-th/9901133. To appear in JP

Trends in ExPEC serogroups in the UK and their significance

We thank the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy for kindly providing E. coli bloodstream isolates from the BSAC Bacteraemia Resistance Surveillance Programme (2011), and all the staff at PHE’s Gastrointestinal Bacteria Reference Unit for their guidance and patience during the serogrouping process. This work was performed as part of a PhD study funded by PHE

Plasma concentration of Propionibacterium acnes antibodies and prostate cancer risk: results from an Australian population-based case–control study

Background:Recent studies in prostatic tissue suggest that Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes), a bacterium associated with acne that normally lives on the skin, is the most prevalent bacterium in the prostate and in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Its prevalence is higher in samples from patients subsequently diagnosed with prostate cancer. The aim of our study was to test whether circulating levels of P. acnes antibodies are associated with prostate cancer risk and tumour characteristics using plasma samples from a population-based case-control study.Methods:We measured plasma concentration of P. acnes antibodies for 809 cases and 584 controls using a recently developed ELISA assay. We compared antibody titres between cases and controls using unconditional logistic regression adjusted for batch and variables associated with the study design (i.e., age, year of selection and centre). The primary analysis included P. acnes titres in the model as a dichotomous variable using the median value for controls as the cut-off value.Results:P. acnes antibody titres for both cases and controls ranged from 1: 16 (i.e., low concentration) to 1: 65 536 (i.e., high concentration; median value1: 1024). The odds ratio for prostate cancer associated with titres at or above the median value was 0.73 (95% CI 0.58-0.91, P0.005). The association appeared to be particularly strong for advanced prostate cancer (AJCC Stage grouping III-IV) for which the odds ratio was 0.59 (95% CI 0.43-0.81, P0.001) but there was insufficient evidence that the association differed by tumour stage (p heterogeneity0.07).Conclusion: These results need to be confirmed in prospective studies but they are consistent with the hypothesis that P. acnes has a role in prostate cancer. © 2010 Cancer Research UK All rights reserved

Intratumoral Injection of Propionibacterium acnes Suppresses Malignant Melanoma by Enhancing Th1 Immune Responses

Malignant melanoma (MM) is an aggressive cutaneous malignancy associated with poor prognosis; many putatively therapeutic agents have been administered, but with mostly unsuccessful results. Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) is an aerotolerant anaerobic gram-positive bacteria that causes acne and inflammation. After being engulfed and processed by phagocytes, P. acnes induces a strong Th1-type cytokine immune response by producing cytokines such as IL-12, IFN-γ and TNF-α. The characteristic Th2-mediated allergic response can be counteracted by Th1 cytokines induced by P. acnes injection. This inflammatory response induced by P. acnes has been suggested to have antitumor activity, but its effect on MM has not been fully evaluated

Three-dimensional lanthanide-organic frameworks based on di-, tetra-, and hexameric clusters

Three-dimensional lanthanide-organic frameworks formulated as (CH3)2NH2[Ln(pydc)2] · 1/2H2O [Ln3+ ) Eu3+ (1a) or Er3+ (1b); pydc2- corresponds to the diprotonated residue of 2,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (H2pydc)], [Er4(OH)4(pydc)4(H2O)3] ·H2O (2), and [PrIII 2PrIV 1.25O(OH)3(pydc)3] (3) have been isolated from typical solvothermal (1a and 1b in N,N-dimethylformamide - DMF) and hydrothermal (2 and 3) syntheses. Materials were characterized in the solid state using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, vibrational spectroscopy (FT-IR and FT-Raman), electron microscopy, and CHN elemental analysis. While synthesis in DMF promotes the formation of centrosymmetric dimeric units, which act as building blocks in the construction of anionic ∞ 3{[Ln(pydc)2]-} frameworks having the channels filled by the charge-balancing (CH3)2NH2 + cations generated in situ by the solvolysis of DMF, the use of water as the solvent medium promotes clustering of the lanthanide centers: structures of 2 and 3 contain instead tetrameric [Er4(μ3-OH)4]8+ and hexameric |Pr6(μ3-O)2(μ3-OH)6| clusters which act as the building blocks of the networks, and are bridged by the H2-xpydcx- residues. It is demonstrated that this modular approach is reflected in the topological nature of the materials inducing 4-, 8-, and 14-connected uninodal networks (the nodes being the centers of gravity of the clusters) with topologies identical to those of diamond (family 1), and framework types bct (for 2) and bcu-x (for 3), respectively. The thermogravimetric studies of compound 3 further reveal a significant weight increase between ambient temperature and 450 °C with this being correlated with the uptake of oxygen from the surrounding environment by the praseodymium oxide inorganic core