1,830 research outputs found
Shell model description of Ge isotopes
A shell model study of the low energy region of the spectra in Ge isotopes
for is presented, analyzing the excitation energies,
quadrupole moments, values and occupation numbers. The theoretical
results have been compared with the available experimental data. The shell
model calculations have been performed employing three different effective
interactions and valence spaces.We have used two effective shell model
interactions, JUN45 and jj44b, for the valence space
without truncation. To include the proton subshell in valence space
we have employed the effective interaction due to Sorlin {\it et al.},
with Ca as a core and a truncation in the number of excited particles.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, Proc. of the XXXV Nuclear Physics Symposium,
January 3-6 2012, Cocoyoc, Morelos, Mexico. IOP Journal of Physics:
Conference Series (in press
Transition in pipe flow: the saddle structure on the boundary of turbulence
The laminar-turbulent boundary S is the set separating initial conditions
which relaminarise uneventfully from those which become turbulent. Phase space
trajectories on this hypersurface in cylindrical pipe flow look to be chaotic
and show recurring evidence of coherent structures. A general numerical
technique is developed for recognising approaches to these structures and then
for identifying the exact coherent solutions themselves. Numerical evidence is
presented which suggests that trajectories on S are organised around only a few
travelling waves and their heteroclinic connections. If the flow is suitably
constrained to a subspace with a discrete rotational symmetry, it is possible
to find locally-attracting travelling waves embedded within S. Four new types
of travelling waves were found using this approach.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures. Accepted, Jou. Fluid Mec
Chemical etching of silicon carbide in pure water by using platinum catalyst
Chemical etching of SiC was found to proceed in pure water with the assistance of a Pt catalyst. A 4H-SiC (0001) wafer was placed and slid on a polishing pad in pure water, on which a thin Pt film was deposited to give a catalytic nature. Etching of the wafer surface was observed to remove protrusions preferentially by interacting with the Pt film more frequently, thus flattening the surface. In the case of an on-axis wafer, a crystallographically ordered surface was obtained with a straight step-and-terrace structure, the height of which corresponds to that of an atomic bilayer of Si and C. The etching rate depended upon the electrochemical potential of Pt. The vicinal surface was observed at the potential at which the Pt surface was bare. The primary etching mechanism was hydrolysis with the assistance of a Pt catalyst. This method can, therefore, be used as an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology.Ai Isohashi, P. V. Bui, D. Toh, S. Matsuyama, Y. Sano, K. Inagaki, Y. Morikawa, and K. Yamauchi, "Chemical etching of silicon carbide in pure water by using platinum catalyst", Appl. Phys. Lett. 110, 201601 (2017) https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4983206
Role of Interleukin 17 in arthritis chronicity through survival of synoviocytes via regulation of synoviolin expression
Background:
The use of TNF inhibitors has been a major progress in the treatment of chronic inflammation. However, not all patients respond. In addition, response will be often lost when treatment is stopped. These clinical aspects indicate that other cytokines might be involved and we focus here on the role of IL-17. In addition, the chronic nature of joint inflammation may contribute to reduced response and enhanced chronicity. Therefore we studied the capacity of IL-17 to regulate synoviolin, an E3 ubiquitin ligase implicated in synovial hyperplasia in human rheumatoid arthritis (RA) FLS and in chronic reactivated streptococcal cell wall (SCW)-induced arthritis.<p></p>
Methodology/Principal Findings:
Chronic reactivated SCW-induced arthritis was examined in IL-17R deficient and wild-type mice. Synoviolin expression was analysed by real-time RT-PCR, Western Blot or immunostaining in RA FLS and tissue, and p53 assessed by Western Blot. Apoptosis was detected by annexin V/propidium iodide staining, SS DNA apoptosis ELISA kit or TUNEL staining and proliferation by PCNA staining. IL-17 receptor A (IL-17RA), IL-17 receptor C (IL-17-RC) or synoviolin inhibition were achieved by small interfering RNA (siRNA) or neutralizing antibodies. IL-17 induced sustained synoviolin expression in RA FLS. Sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-induced RA FLS apoptosis was associated with reduced synoviolin expression and was rescued by IL-17 treatment with a corresponding increase in synoviolin expression. IL-17RC or IL-17RA RNA interference increased SNP-induced apoptosis, and decreased IL-17-induced synoviolin. IL-17 rescued RA FLS from apoptosis induced by synoviolin knockdown. IL-17 and TNF had additive effects on synoviolin expression and protection against apoptosis induced by synoviolin knowndown. In IL-17R deficient mice, a decrease in arthritis severity was characterized by increased synovial apoptosis, reduced proliferation and a marked reduction in synoviolin expression. A distinct absence of synoviolin expressing germinal centres in IL-17R deficient mice contrasted with synoviolin positive B cells and Th17 cells in synovial germinal centre-like structures.<p></p>
Conclusion/Significance:
IL-17 induction of synoviolin may contribute at least in part to RA chronicity by prolonging the survival of RA FLS and immune cells in germinal centre reactions. These results extend the role of IL-17 to synovial hyperplasia.<p></p>
Overexpression of metastasis-associated MTA1 mRNA in invasive oesophageal carcinomas
The MTA1 gene is a recently identified novel candidate breast cancer metastasis-associated gene which has been implicated in the signal transduction or regulation of gene expression. We examined the mRNA expression levels of the MTA1, the human homologue of the rat mta1 gene in 47 surgically resected oesophageal squamous cell carcinomas by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The relative overexpression of MTA1 mRNA (tumour/normal ratio ≥ 2) was observed in 16 out of 47 (34.0%) oesophageal carcinomas. Oesophageal tumours overexpressing MTA1 mRNA (T/N ratio ≥ 2) showed significantly higher frequencies of adventitial invasion (P < 0.05) and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05), and tended to have a higher rate of lymphatic involvement than the remaining tumours. Thus, the data suggest that the MTA1 gene might play an important role in invasion and metastasis of oesophageal carcinomas. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig
A Simple Model for Anisotropic Step Growth
We consider a simple model for the growth of isolated steps on a vicinal
crystal surface. It incorporates diffusion and drift of adatoms on the terrace,
and strong step and kink edge barriers. Using a combination of analytic methods
and Monte Carlo simulations, we study the morphology of growing steps in
detail. In particular, under typical Molecular Beam Epitaxy conditions the step
morphology is linearly unstable in the model and develops fingers separated by
deep cracks. The vertical roughness of the step grows linearly in time, while
horizontally the fingers coarsen proportional to . We develop scaling
arguments to study the saturation of the ledge morphology for a finite width
and length of the terrace.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures; [email protected]
Surface-reconstructed Icosahedral Structures for Lead Clusters
We describe a new family of icosahedral structures for lead clusters. In
general, structures in this family contain a Mackay icosahedral core with a
reconstructed two-shell outer-layer. This family includes the anti-Mackay
icosahedra, which have have a Mackay icosahedral core but with most of the
surface atoms in hexagonal close-packed positions. Using a many-body glue
potential for lead, we identify two icosahedral structures in this family which
have the lowest energies of any known structure in the size range from 900 to
15000 lead atoms. We show that these structures are stabilized by a feature of
the many-body glue part of the interatomic potential.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure
Solitary waves of nonlinear nonintegrable equations
Our goal is to find closed form analytic expressions for the solitary waves
of nonlinear nonintegrable partial differential equations. The suitable
methods, which can only be nonperturbative, are classified in two classes.
In the first class, which includes the well known so-called truncation
methods, one \textit{a priori} assumes a given class of expressions
(polynomials, etc) for the unknown solution; the involved work can easily be
done by hand but all solutions outside the given class are surely missed.
In the second class, instead of searching an expression for the solution, one
builds an intermediate, equivalent information, namely the \textit{first order}
autonomous ODE satisfied by the solitary wave; in principle, no solution can be
missed, but the involved work requires computer algebra.
We present the application to the cubic and quintic complex one-dimensional
Ginzburg-Landau equations, and to the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation.Comment: 28 pages, chapter in book "Dissipative solitons", ed. Akhmediev, to
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