Soliton response to transient trap variations

The response of bright and dark solitons to rapid variations in an expulsive longitudinal trap is investigated. We concentrate on the effect of transient changes in the trap frequency in the form of temporal delta kicks and the hyperbolic cotangent functions. Exact expressions are obtained for the soliton profiles. This is accomplished using the fact that a suitable linear Schrodinger stationary state solution in time can be effectively combined with the solutions of non-linear Schrodinger equation, for obtaining solutions of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation with time dependent scattering length in a harmonic trap. Interestingly, there is rapid pulse amplification in certain scenarios

Cytotoxic factor in dengue haemorrhagic fever

Objective: Cytotoxic factor is a unique pathogenesis-associated cytokine that is produced in mice (mCF) and man (hCF) during dengue virus infection. This study was undertaken to investigate the prevalence of hCF and its relationship to the duration and severity of the illness, and to ascertain its role, if any, in the pathogenesis of dengue fever (DF) and dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF). Methods: Peripheral venous blood was collected from the patients of various grades and on different days after the onset of clinical illness. Sera were collected from a total of 333 cases, and analysed for the presence of hCF by inhibition ELISA and dot blot tests. Result: The positivity for hCF was 100% in cases of DHF grades III and IV, while overall positivity was seen in 295 out of 333 (88%) cases studied. Sera collected from the 1st to the 20th day of illness were positive for hCF. This was not seen at later periods. A majority of cases (52%) were below 15 years of age and peak positivity of 96% was noticed in the age-group of 11-15 years. The mean inhibition value of the ELISA was lowest (40 ± 8%) in cases of DF and was highest (70 ± 10%) in DHF grade IV, and the peak titres were found on the first 4 days of the illness. Conclusion: The findings show the presence of hCF in the majority of cases. It is detectable up to the 20th day of illness and may suggest an association of higher levels of hCF with the onset and severity of the illness

Preparation, Characterization & Solubility of Arsenic Hydroxylapatite

1014-101

Enabling Multichannel Participation Through ICT Adaptation

Online deliberation invests significant sums in priorities co-decided by inhabitants, and is mostly relegated to small and non-influential experiments. There is a gap between ICT solutions and participatory initiatives. E-participation is a broad, undefined space of opportunities that needs to be operationalized to prove if the many theoretical exercises emphasizing on the potential of ICT in increasing deliberative quality of participatory processes and security, are realistic or not. The EMPATIA platform seeks to radically enhance inclusiveness and impact of participatory budgeting processes in increasing multichannel citizen participation by designing, evaluating and making publicly available an advanced ICT platform for participatory budgeting. EMPATIA takes advantage of the fact that it surrounds an established and widespread social practice with clear and adaptable principles recognized worldwide, alongside a community of practitioners and researchers, and ICT tools, which only need to be adapted, refined and integrated into an adequate PB platform

Hyperpigmentation of hard palate induced by chloroquine therapy

The antimalarials are one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for conditions such as lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis, and the side effects, though infrequent, are well known. The antimalarial agent chloroquine diphosphate usually causes pigmentary changes in the oral mucosa characterized by a bluish-grey to black discolorations mainly in the hard palate. Considering only the hard palate hyperpigmentation caused by chloroquine, to the best of our knowledge, only 13 cases have been reported in the English language literature. We described an additional case of palate hyperpigmentation related to the chronic use of chloroquine diphosphate in a 60-year-old Mexican woman. Although the diagnosis is usually made based on medication history and clinical presentation, a biopsy specimen may be helpful to confirm the diagnosis. Clinicians must be aware of these drugs and their adverse effects in order to make the correct diagnosis and decide on the optimal treatment for the condition

Detection of Landmine Signature using SAW-based Polymer-coated Chemical Sensor

The explosive charge within a landmine is the source for a mixture of chemical vapours that form a distinctive chemical signature indicative of a landmine. The concentrations of these compounds in the air over landmines is extremely low (parts-per-trillion or lower), well below the minimum detection limits of most field-portable chemical sensors. This paper describes a portable  surface acoustic wave-based polymer-coated sensor for the detection of hidden explosives. The sensitivity and selectivity of polymer-based sensors depend on several factors including the chemo-selective coating used, the physical properties of the vapour(s) of interest, the selected transducers, and the operating conditions. The polymer-based sensor was calibrated in the  laboratory using the explosive vapour generator. The preliminary results indicated that the carbowax 1000 could be a very good chemical interface to sense low levels of chemical signature of explosive material. Response for 50 ppb of TNT vapours was observed to be 400 Hz for an exposure of 2 min

Cytotoxicity of serum and cerebrospinal fluid from cases of acute encephalopathy

This article does not have an abstract

Serological Studies Confirm the Novel Astrovirus HMOAstV-C as a Highly Prevalent Human Infectious Agent

Molecular identification of a microbe is the first step in determining its prevalence of infection and pathogenic potential. Detection of specific adaptive immune responses can provide insights into whether a microbe is a human infectious agent and its epidemiology. Here we characterized human anti-IgG antibody responses by luciferase immunoprecipitation systems (LIPS) against two protein fragments derived from the capsid protein of the novel HMOAstV-C astrovirus. While antibodies to the N-terminal fragment were not informative, the C-terminal capsid fragment of HMOAstV-C showed a high frequency of immunoreactivity with serum from healthy blood donors. In contrast, a similar C-terminal capsid fragment from the related HMOAstV-A astrovirus failed to show immunoreactivity. Detailed analysis of adult serum from the United Sates using a standardized threshold demonstrated HMOAstV-C seropositivity in approximately 65% of the samples. Evaluation of serum samples from different pediatric age groups revealed that the prevalence of antibodies in 6–12 month, 1–2 year, 2–5 year and 5–10 year olds was 20%, 23%, 32% and 36%, respectively, indicating rising seroprevalence with age. Additionally, 50% (11/22) of the 0–6 month old children showed anti-HMOAstV-C antibody responses, likely reflecting maternal antibodies. Together these results document human humoral responses to HMOAstV-C and validate LIPS as a facile and effective approach for identifying humoral responses to novel infectious agents

Suv4-20h Histone Methyltransferases Promote Neuroectodermal Differentiation by Silencing the Pluripotency-Associated Oct-25 Gene

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) of histones exert fundamental roles in regulating gene expression. During development, groups of PTMs are constrained by unknown mechanisms into combinatorial patterns, which facilitate transitions from uncommitted embryonic cells into differentiated somatic cell lineages. Repressive histone modifications such as H3K9me3 or H3K27me3 have been investigated in detail, but the role of H4K20me3 in development is currently unknown. Here we show that Xenopus laevis Suv4-20h1 and h2 histone methyltransferases (HMTases) are essential for induction and differentiation of the neuroectoderm. Morpholino-mediated knockdown of the two HMTases leads to a selective and specific downregulation of genes controlling neural induction, thereby effectively blocking differentiation of the neuroectoderm. Global transcriptome analysis supports the notion that these effects arise from the transcriptional deregulation of specific genes rather than widespread, pleiotropic effects. Interestingly, morphant embryos fail to repress the Oct4-related Xenopus gene Oct-25. We validate Oct-25 as a direct target of xSu4-20h enzyme mediated gene repression, showing by chromatin immunoprecipitaton that it is decorated with the H4K20me3 mark downstream of the promoter in normal, but not in double-morphant, embryos. Since knockdown of Oct-25 protein significantly rescues the neural differentiation defect in xSuv4-20h double-morphant embryos, we conclude that the epistatic relationship between Suv4-20h enzymes and Oct-25 controls the transit from pluripotent to differentiation-competent neural cells. Consistent with these results in Xenopus, murine Suv4-20h1/h2 double-knockout embryonic stem (DKO ES) cells exhibit increased Oct4 protein levels before and during EB formation, and reveal a compromised and biased capacity for in vitro differentiation, when compared to normal ES cells. Together, these results suggest a regulatory mechanism, conserved between amphibians and mammals, in which H4K20me3-dependent restriction of specific POU-V genes directs cell fate decisions, when embryonic cells exit the pluripotent state