Studies of the role of nf-κb in controlling osteoclast differentiation and bone loss

Increased osteoclast (OC) bone resorption and/or decreased osteoblast (OB) bone formation contribute to bone loss in osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Findings of the basic and translational research presented in this thesis demonstrate a number of mechanisms by which cytokine-induced NF-κB activation controls bone resorption and formation: 1) Tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF) expands pool of OC precursors (OCPs) by promoting their proliferation through stimulation of the expression of macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) receptor, c-Fms, and switching M-CSF-induced resident (M2) to inflammatory (M1) macrophages with enhanced OC forming potential and increased production of inflammatory factors through induction of NF-κB RelB; 2) Similar to RANKL, TNF sequentially activates transcriptional factors NF-κB p50 and p52 followed by c-Fos and then NFATc1 to induce OC differentiation. However, TNF alone nduces very limited OC differentiation. In contrast, it pre-activates OCPs to express cFos which cooperates with interleukin-1 (IL-1) produced by these OCPs in an autocrine mechanism by interacting with bone matrix to mediate the OC terminal differentiation and bone resorption from these pre-activated OCPs. 3) TNF-induced OC formation is independent of RANKL but it also induces NF-κB2 p100 to limit OC formation and bone resorption, and thus p100 deletion accelerates joint destruction and systemic bone loss in TNF-induced RA; 4) TNF receptor associated factor-3 (TRAF3) limits OC differentiation by negatively regulating non-canonical NF-κB activation and RANKL induces TRAF3 ubiquitination and lysosomal degradation to promote OC differentiation. Importantly, a lysosomal inhibitor that inhibits TRAF3 degradation prevents ovariectomy-induced bone loss; 5) RelB and Notch NICD bind RUNX2 to inhibit OB differentiation and RelB:p52 dimer association with NICD inhibit OB differentiation by enhancing the binding of RBPjκ to Hes1. These findings suggest that non-canonical NF- κB signaling could be targets to develop new therapies for RA or osteoporosis. For example 1) Agents that degrade TNF-induced RelB could block M1 macrophage differentiation to inhibit inflammation and joint destruction for the therapy of RA; 2)Agents that prevent p100 processing or TRAF3 degradation could inhibit bone resorption and also stimulate bone formation simultaneously for the therapy of osteoporosis

Does a proton "bubble" structure exist in the low-lying states of 34Si?

The possible existence of a "bubble" structure in the proton density of $^{34}$Si has recently attracted a lot of research interest. To examine the existence of the "bubble" structure in low-lying states, we establish a relativistic version of configuration mixing of both particle number and angular momentum projected quadrupole deformed mean-field states and apply this state-of-the-art beyond relativistic mean-field method to study the density distribution of the low-lying states in $^{34}$Si. An excellent agreement with the data of low-spin spectrum and electric multipole transition strengths is achieved without introducing any parameters. We find that the central depression in the proton density is quenched by dynamic quadrupole shape fluctuation, but not as significantly as what has been found in a beyond non-relativistic mean-field study. Our results suggest that the existence of proton "bubble" structure in the low-lying excited $0^+_2$ and $2^+_1$ states is very unlikely.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures and 1 table, accepted for publication in Physics Letters

Covariant description of shape evolution and shape coexistence in neutron-rich nuclei at N\approx60

The shape evolution and shape coexistence phenomena in neutron-rich nuclei at $N\approx60$, including Kr, Sr, Zr, and Mo isotopes, are studied in the covariant density functional theory (DFT) with the new parameter set PC-PK1. Pairing correlations are treated using the BCS approximation with a separable pairing force. Sharp rising in the charge radii of Sr and Zr isotopes at N=60 is observed and shown to be related to the rapid changing in nuclear shapes. The shape evolution is moderate in neighboring Kr and Mo isotopes. Similar as the results of previous Hartree-Fock-Bogogliubov (HFB) calculations with the Gogny force, triaxiality is observed in Mo isotopes and shown to be essential to reproduce quantitatively the corresponding charge radii. In addition, the coexistence of prolate and oblate shapes is found in both $^{98}$Sr and $^{100}$Zr. The observed oblate and prolate minima are related to the low single-particle energy level density around the Fermi surfaces of neutron and proton respectively. Furthermore, the 5-dimensional (5D) collective Hamiltonian determined by the calculations of the PC-PK1 energy functional is solved for $^{98}$Sr and $^{100}$Zr. The resultant excitation energy of $0^+_2$ state and E0 transition strength $\rho^2(E0;0^+_2\rightarrow0^+_1)$ are in rather good agreement with the data. It is found that the lower barrier height separating the two competing minima along the $\gamma$ deformation in $^{100}$Zr gives rise to the larger $\rho^2(E0;0^+_2\rightarrow0^+_1)$ than that in $^{98}$Sr.Comment: 1 table, 11 figures, 23 page

Protecting dissipative quantum state preparation via dynamical decoupling

We show that dissipative quantum state preparation processes can be protected against qubit dephasing by interlacing the state preparation control with dynamical decoupling (DD) control consisting of a sequence of short $\pi$-pulses. The inhomogeneous broadening can be suppressed to second order of the pulse interval, and the protection efficiency is nearly independent of the pulse sequence but determined by the average interval between pulses. The DD protection is numerically tested and found to be efficient against inhomogeneous dephasing on two exemplary dissipative state preparation schemes that use collective pumping to realize many-body singlets and linear cluster states respectively. Numerical simulation also shows that the state preparation can be efficiently protected by $\pi$-pulses with completely random arrival time. Our results make possible the application of these state preparation schemes in inhomogeneously broadened systems. DD protection of state preparation against dynamical noises is also discussed using the example of Gaussian noise with a semiclasscial description.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Sign Changes of Intrinsic Spin Hall Effect in Semiconductors and Simple Metals: First-Principles Calculations

First-principles calculations are applied to study spin Hall effect in semiconductors and simple metals. We found that intrinsic spin Hall conductivity (ISHC) in realistic materials shows rich sign changes, which may be used to distinguish the effect from the extrinsic one. The calculated ISHC in n-doped GaAs can be well compared with experiment, and it differs from the sign obtained from the extrinsic effect. On the other hand, the ISHC in W and Au, which shows opposite sign respectively, is robust and not sensitive to the disorder.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Distributed Clustering in Cognitive Radio Ad Hoc Networks Using Soft-Constraint Affinity Propagation

Absence of network infrastructure and heterogeneous spectrum availability in cognitive radio ad hoc networks (CRAHNs) necessitate the self-organization of cognitive radio users (CRs) for efficient spectrum coordination. The cluster-based structure is known to be effective in both guaranteeing system performance and reducing communication overhead in variable network environment. In this paper, we propose a distributed clustering algorithm based on soft-constraint affinity propagation message passing model (DCSCAP). Without dependence on predefined common control channel (CCC), DCSCAP relies on the distributed message passing among CRs through their available channels, making the algorithm applicable for large scale networks. Different from original soft-constraint affinity propagation algorithm, the maximal iterations of message passing is controlled to a relatively small number to accommodate to the dynamic environment of CRAHNs. Based on the accumulated evidence for clustering from the message passing process, clusters are formed with the objective of grouping the CRs with similar spectrum availability into smaller number of clusters while guaranteeing at least one CCC in each cluster. Extensive simulation results demonstrate the preference of DCSCAP compared with existing algorithms in both efficiency and robustness of the clusters

Magnetic Excitations in the High Tc Iron Pnictides

We calculate the expected finite frequency neutron scattering intensity based on the two-sublattice collinear antiferromagnet found by recent neutron scattering experiments as well as by theoretical analysis on the iron oxypnictide LaOFeAs. We consider two types of superexchange couplings between Fe atoms: nearest-neighbor coupling J1 and next-nearest-neighbor coupling J2. We show how to distinguish experimentally between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic J1. Whereas magnetic excitations in the cuprates display a so-called resonance peak at (pi,pi) (corresponding to a saddlepoint in the magnetic spectrum) which is at a wavevector that is at least close to nesting Fermi-surface-like structures, no such corresponding excitations exist in the iron pnictides. Rather, we find saddlepoints near (pi,pi/2) and (0,pi/2)(and symmetry related points). Unlike in the cuprates, none of these vectors are close to nesting the Fermi surfaces.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Neutrino emission from a GRB afterglow shock during an inner supernova shock breakout

The observations of a nearby low-luminosity gamma-ray burst (GRB) 060218 associated with supernova SN 2006aj may imply an interesting astronomical picture where a supernova shock breakout locates behind a relativistic GRB jet. Based on this picture, we study neutrino emission for early afterglows of GRB 060218-like GRBs, where neutrinos are expected to be produced from photopion interactions in a GRB blast wave that propagates into a dense wind. Relativistic protons for the interactions are accelerated by an external shock, while target photons are basically provided by the incoming thermal emission from the shock breakout and its inverse-Compton scattered component. Because of a high estimated event rate of low-luminosity GRBs, we would have more opportunities to detect afterglow neutrinos from a single nearby GRB event of this type by IceCube. Such a possible detection could provide evidence for the picture described above.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA