Abanilla y Jumilla en la Corona catalano-aragonesa (s. XIV)

"Homenaje al Profesor Juan Torres Fontes", Murcia, 1987, pp. 477-490.Estudia los problemas entre la Corona catalanoaragonesa y Castilla después de la sentencia arbitral de Torrellas, que puso fin a la guerra entre ambos estados dividiendo el reino de Murcia entre ambos; había que establecer sobre el terreno los límites comunes indicados por la sentencia. Hubo controversia sobre la jurisdicción de Jumilla y de Abanilla o Favanella, que correspondían en principio a la Corona de Aragón, pero que se perdieron finalmente, Abanilla en 1348 y Jumilla durante la guerra de Castilla contra la Corona catalanoaragonesa, conocida como guerra de los dos Pedros (1356-1369). El trabajo se ha reeditado después en M. T. FERRER I MALLOL, Entre la paz y la guerra. La Corona Catalano-aragonesa y Castilla en la Baja Edad Media, Barcelona, Institución Milá y Fontanals. CSIC, 2005.Peer reviewe

Morphology of supported polymer electrolyte ultra-thin films: a numerical study

Morphology of polymer electrolytes membranes (PEM), e.g., Nafion, inside PEM fuel cell catalyst layers has significant impact on the electrochemical activity and transport phenomena that determine cell performance. In those regions, Nafion can be found as an ultra-thin film, coating the catalyst and the catalyst support surfaces. The impact of the hydrophilic/hydrophobic character of these surfaces on the structural formation of the films has not been sufficiently explored yet. Here, we report about Molecular Dynamics simulation investigation of the substrate effects on the ionomer ultra-thin film morphology at different hydration levels. We use a mean-field-like model we introduced in previous publications for the interaction of the hydrated Nafion ionomer with a substrate, characterized by a tunable degree of hydrophilicity. We show that the affinity of the substrate with water plays a crucial role in the molecular rearrangement of the ionomer film, resulting in completely different morphologies. Detailed structural description in different regions of the film shows evidences of strongly heterogeneous behavior. A qualitative discussion of the implications of our observations on the PEMFC catalyst layer performance is finally proposed

RAGE deficiency predisposes mice to virus-induced paucigranulocytic asthma

© 2017, eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease. Although many patients with asthma develop type-2 dominated eosinophilic inflammation, a number of individuals develop paucigranulocytic asthma, which occurs in the absence of eosinophilia or neutrophilia. The aetiology of paucigranulocytic asthma is unknown. However, both respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection and mutations in the receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) are risk factors for asthma development. Here, we show that RAGE deficiency impairs anti-viral immunity during an early-life infection with pneumonia virus of mice (PVM; a murine analogue of RSV). The elevated viral load was associated with the release of high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) which triggered airway smooth muscle remodelling in early-life. Re-infection with PVM in later-life induced many of the cardinal features of asthma in the absence of eosinophilic or neutrophilic inflammation. Anti-HMGB1 mitigated both early-life viral disease and asthma-like features, highlighting HMGB1 as a possible novel therapeutic target

Evidence for Magnetic Pseudoscaling in Overdoped La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4)

We report the results of electronic Raman scattering experiments on an overdoped La(1.78)Sr(0.22)CuO(4) single crystal as a function of temperature. The scattering rate Gamma(w->0,T) has been determined from the normal state B(1g) spectra in the range 50 K < T < 300 K. Gamma(T) decreases linearly from 300 K to about 175 K and then undergoes a reduction with respect to the expected mean-field behavior. This trend suggests a crossover to pseudoscaling regime at about T(cr)=160 K. The results are in good agreement with the prediction of the nearly antiferromagnetic Fermi liquid model. There is no evidence of a pseudogap in the spectra obtained from this overdoped sample.Comment: RevTex, 4 pages with 3 PS figures included, replaced with minor changes in the text and reference

Serumproteinbindung von ACTH

3H- 1–23-Corticotropin wurde an Dextrangel (Sephadex G-25) gebunden und konnte durch Serumproteine, Albumin oder 0,1 N HCl eluiert werden. Mittels Dextrangelfiltration wurde gefunden, daß3H-ACTH kompetitiv an Serumproteine (Albumin) und Dextrangel gebunden wurde. Auch für natürliches Schweine-ACTH und endogenes ACTH in Patientenplasma (Adrenalektomie) wurde mittels biologischer ACTH-Bestimmung die Bindung von ACTH an Proteine bestätigt.3H- 1–23 corticotropin was bound to dextran gel (sephadex G-25) and was eluted by either serum proteins, albumin or 0.1 N HCl. Competitive binding of3H-ACTH to serum proteins (albumin) and dextran gel was shown by dextran gel filtration. Likewise natural ACTH (pig) and endogenous ACTH from plasma of an adrenalectomized patient were shown to be partly protein bound using biological ACTH-assay

Doping Dependence of the Pseudogap in La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4)

We report the results of Raman scattering experiments on single crystals of La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4) that span the range from underdoped (x = 0.10) to overdoped (x =0.22). The spectra are consistent with the existence of a strong anisotropic quasiparticle interaction that results in a normal state depletion of spectral weight from regions of the Fermi surface located near the zone axes. The strength of the interaction decreases rapidly with increasing hole concentration and the spectral evidence for the pseudogap vanishes when the optimum doping level is reached. The results suggest that the pseudogap and superconducting gap arise from different mechanisms.Comment: 7 pages, 6 eps figures, added new sections, figures, reference

X-Ray-Diffraction Study of Charge-Density-Waves and Oxygen-Ordering in YBa2Cu3O6+x Superconductor

We report a temperature-dependent increase below 300 K of diffuse superlattice peaks corresponding to q_0 =(~2/5,0,0) in an under-doped YBa_2Cu_3O_6+x superconductor (x~0.63). These peaks reveal strong c-axis correlations involving the CuO_2 bilayers, show a non-uniform increase below \~220 K with a plateau for ~100-160 K, and appear to saturate in the superconducting phase. We interpret this unconventional T-dependence of the ``oxygen-ordering'' peaks as a manifestation of a charge density wave in the CuO_2 planes coupled to the oxygen-vacancy ordering.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

On the stability of 2 \sqrt{2} x 2 \sqrt{2} oxygen ordered superstructures in YBa2Cu3O6+x

We have compared the ground-state energy of several observed or proposed " 2 \sqrt{2} x 2 \sqrt{2} oxygen (O) ordered superstructures " (from now on HS), with those of "chain superstructures" (CS) (in which the O atoms of the basal plane are ordered in chains), for different compositions x in YBa2Cu3O6+x. The model Hamiltonian contains i) the Madelung energy, ii) a term linear in the difference between Cu and O hole occupancies which controls charge transfer, and iii) covalency effects based on known results for $t-J$ models in one and two dimensions. The optimum distribution of charge is determined minimizing the total energy, and depends on two parameters which are determined from known results for x=1 and x=0.5. We obtain that on the O lean side, only CS are stable, while for x=7/8, a HS with regularly spaced O vacancies added to the x=1 structure is more stable than the corresponding CS for the same x. We find that the detailed positions of the atoms in the structure, and long-range Coulomb interactions, are crucial for the electronic structure, the mechanism of charge transfer, the stability of the different phases, and the possibility of phase separation.Comment: 24 text pages, Latex, one fig. included as ps file, to be publisheb in Phys. Rev.

TRH: Pathophysiologic and clinical implications

Thyrotropin releasing hormone is thought to be a tonic stimulator of the pituitary TSH secretion regulating the setpoint of the thyrotrophs to the suppressive effect of thyroid hormones. The peptide stimulates the release of normal and elevated prolactin. ACTH and GH may increase in response to exogenous TRH in pituitary ACTH and GH hypersecretion syndromes and in some extrapituitary diseases. The pathophysiological implications of extrahypothalamic TRH in humans are essentially unknown. The TSH response to TRH is nowadays widely used as a diganostic amplifier in thyroid diseases being suppressed in borderline and overt hyperthyroid states and increased in primary thyroid failure. In hypothyroid states of hypothalamic origin, TSH increases in response to exogenous TRH often with a delayed and/or exaggerated time course. But in patients with pituitary tumors and suprasellar extension TSH may also respond to TRH despite secondary hypothyroidism. This TSH increase may indicate a suprasellar cause for the secondary hypothyroidism, probably due to portal vessel occlusion. The TSH released in these cases is shown to be biologically inactive

To wet or not to wet: that is the question

Wetting transitions have been predicted and observed to occur for various combinations of fluids and surfaces. This paper describes the origin of such transitions, for liquid films on solid surfaces, in terms of the gas-surface interaction potentials V(r), which depend on the specific adsorption system. The transitions of light inert gases and H2 molecules on alkali metal surfaces have been explored extensively and are relatively well understood in terms of the least attractive adsorption interactions in nature. Much less thoroughly investigated are wetting transitions of Hg, water, heavy inert gases and other molecular films. The basic idea is that nonwetting occurs, for energetic reasons, if the adsorption potential's well-depth D is smaller than, or comparable to, the well-depth of the adsorbate-adsorbate mutual interaction. At the wetting temperature, Tw, the transition to wetting occurs, for entropic reasons, when the liquid's surface tension is sufficiently small that the free energy cost in forming a thick film is sufficiently compensated by the fluid- surface interaction energy. Guidelines useful for exploring wetting transitions of other systems are analyzed, in terms of generic criteria involving the "simple model", which yields results in terms of gas-surface interaction parameters and thermodynamic properties of the bulk adsorbate.Comment: Article accepted for publication in J. Low Temp. Phy