2,020 research outputs found
Blood-feeding in the young adult filarial worms litomosoides sigmodontis
In this study with the filarial model Litomosoides sigmodontis, we demonstrate that the worms ingest host red blood cells at a precise moment of their life-cycle, immediately after the fourth moult. The red blood cells (RBC) were identified microscopically in live worms immobilized in PBS at 4 degrees C, and their density assessed. Two hosts were used: Mongolian gerbils, where microfilaraemia is high, and susceptible BALB/c mice with lower microfilaraemia. Gerbils were studied at 12 time-points, between day 9 post-inoculation (the worms were young 4th stage larvae) and day 330 p.i. (worms were old adults). Only the very young adult filarial worms had red blood cells in their gut. Haematophagy was observed between days 25 and 56 p.i. and peaked between day 28 and day 30 p.i. in female worms. In males, haematophagy was less frequent and intense. Similar kinetics of haematophagy were found in BALB/c mice, but frequency and intensity tended to be lower. Haematophagy seems useful to optimize adult maturation. These observations suggest that haematophagy is an important step in the life-cycle of L. sigmodontis. This hitherto undescribed phenomenon might be characteristic of other filarial species including human parasites
Change in Physiological Variables in the Last Two Weeks of Life: An Observational Study of Hospitalized Adults With Heart Failure
Context
Recognition of dying is a difficult task in end-stage heart failure, yet it remains an important clinical skill in providing good palliative care to these patients.
Objectives
To use routinely collected data to explore evidence for physiological change in the final two weeks of life in end-stage heart failure.
Methods
This was a retrospective cohort study of routinely collected data from hospital inpatients dying as a result of heart failure during a one-year period in a U.K. hospital. Data were analyzed using descriptive techniques and multilevel modeling.
Results
Results were obtained on 81 patients. Respiratory function (evidenced by falling oxygen saturation and rising respiratory rate) deteriorated by a clinically significant amount in the final two weeks of life (P < 0.001). Renal function (evidenced by rising serum urea and creatinine) also demonstrated a clinically significant deterioration over the same period (P < 0.001 and P = 0.005, respectively). Serum albumin fell over a period of months (P < 0.001). Heart rate and blood pressure did not demonstrate clinically significant change over the same period.
Conclusions
Deteriorating respiratory and renal function may indicate imminent dying in heart failure. A fall in serum albumin may signify poor prognosis over a timescale of weeks to months. Conversely, hemodynamic parameters may remain relatively stable in the final days of life and should not be reassuring in end-stage heart failure patients
Reversible Pressure-Induced Amorphization in Solid C70 : Raman and Photoluminescence Study
We have studied single crystals of by Raman scattering and
photoluminescence in the pressure range from 0 to 31.1 GPa. The Raman spectrum
at 31.1 GPa shows only a broad band similar to that of the amorphous carbon
without any trace of the Raman lines of . After releasing the pressure
from 31.1 GPa, the Raman and the photoluminescence spectra of the recovered
sample are that of the starting crystal. These results indicate that
the molecules are stable upto 31.1 GPa and the amorphous carbon high
pressure phase is reversible, in sharp contrast to the results on solid
. A qualitative explaination is suggested in terms of inter- versus
intra-molecular interactions.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett., 12 pages, RevTeX (preprint format), 3
figures available upon reques
First-principles Calculation of the Formation Energy in MgO-CaO Solid Solutions
The electronic structure and total energy were calculated for ordered and
disordered MgO-CaO solid solutions within the multiple scattering theory in
real space and the local density approximation. Based on the dependence of the
total energy on the unit cell volume the equilibrium lattice parameter and
formation energy were determined for different solution compositions. The
formation energy of the solid solutions is found to be positive that is in
agreement with the experimental phase diagram, which shows a miscibility gap.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Vibrational properties of phonons in random binary alloys: An augmented space recursive technique in the k-representation
We present here an augmented space recursive technique in the
k-representation which include diagonal, off-diagonal and the environmental
disorder explicitly : an analytic, translationally invariant, multiple
scattering theory for phonons in random binary alloys.We propose the augmented
space recursion (ASR) as a computationally fast and accurate technique which
will incorporate configuration fluctuations over a large local environment. We
apply the formalism to , Ni_{88}Cr_12} and
alloys which is not a random choice. Numerical results on spectral functions,
coherent structure factors, dispersion curves and disordered induced FWHM's are
presented. Finally the results are compared with the recent itinerant coherent
potential approximation (ICPA) and also with experiments.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, 23 figure
Approximation of excitonic absorption in disordered systems using a compositional component weighted CPA
Employing a recently developed technique of component weighted two particle
Green's functions in the CPA of a binary substitutional alloy we
extend the existing theory of excitons in such media using a contact potential
model for the interaction between electrons and holes to an approximation which
interpolates correctly between the limits of weak and strong disorder. With our
approach we are also able to treat the case where the contact interaction
between carriers varies between sites of different types, thus introducing
further disorder into the system. Based on this approach we study numerically
how the formation of exciton bound states changes as the strengths of the
contact potentials associated with either of the two site types are varied
through a large range of parameter values.Comment: 27 pages RevTeX (preprint format), 13 Postscript figure file
Theory of band gap bowing of disordered substitutional II-VI and III-V semiconductor alloys
For a wide class of technologically relevant compound III-V and II-VI
semiconductor materials AC and BC mixed crystals (alloys) of the type
A(x)B(1-x)C can be realized. As the electronic properties like the bulk band
gap vary continuously with x, any band gap in between that of the pure AC and
BC systems can be obtained by choosing the appropriate concentration x, granted
that the respective ratio is miscible and thermodynamically stable. In most
cases the band gap does not vary linearly with x, but a pronounced bowing
behavior as a function of the concentration is observed. In this paper we show
that the electronic properties of such A(x)B(1-x)C semiconductors and, in
particular, the band gap bowing can well be described and understood starting
from empirical tight binding models for the pure AC and BC systems. The
electronic properties of the A(x)B(1-x)C system can be described by choosing
the tight-binding parameters of the AC or BC system with probabilities x and
1-x, respectively. We demonstrate this by exact diagonalization of finite but
large supercells and by means of calculations within the established coherent
potential approximation (CPA). We apply this treatment to the II-VI system
Cd(x)Zn(1-x)Se, to the III-V system In(x)Ga(1-x)As and to the III-nitride
system Ga(x)Al(1-x)N.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figure
Cosmic-ray strangelets in the Earth's atmosphere
If strange quark matter is stable in small lumps, we expect to find such
lumps, called ``strangelets'', on Earth due to a steady flux in cosmic rays.
Following recent astrophysical models, we predict the strangelet flux at the
top of the atmosphere, and trace the strangelets' behavior in atmospheric
chemistry and circulation. We show that several strangelet species may have
large abundances in the atmosphere; that they should respond favorably to
laboratory-scale preconcentration techniques; and that they present promising
targets for mass spectroscopy experiments.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figures, revtex
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