Implementing Activity Structures Process Modeling On Top Of The MARVEL Environment Kernel

Our goal was to implement the activity structures model defined by Software Design & Analysis on top of the MARVEL environment kernel. This involved further design of the activity structures process definition language and enaction model as well as translation and run-time support in terms of facilities provided by MARVEL. The result is an elegant declarative control language for multi-user software processes, with data and activities defined as classes and rules in the previously existing MARVEL Strategy Language. Semantics-based concurrency control is provided by a combination of the MARVEL kernel‘s lock and transaction managers and the send/receive synchronization primitives of the activity structures model

Macrophages Promote Axon Regeneration with Concurrent Neurotoxicity

Activated macrophages can promote regeneration of CNS axons. However, macrophages also release factors that kill neurons. These opposing functions are likely induced simultaneously but are rarely considered together in the same experimental preparation. A goal of this study was to unequivocally document the concurrent neurotoxic and neuroregenerative potential of activated macrophages. To do so, we quantified the length and magnitude of axon growth from enhanced green fluorescent protein-expressing dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons transplanted into the spinal cord in relationship to discrete foci of activated macrophages. Macrophages were activated via intraspinal injections of zymosan, a potent inflammatory stimulus known to increase axon growth and cause neurotoxicity. Using this approach, a significant increase in axon growth up to macrophage foci was evident. Within and adjacent to macrophages, DRG and spinal cord axons were destroyed. Macrophage toxicity became more evident when zymosan was injected closer to DRG soma. Under these conditions, DRG neurons were killed or their ability to extend axons was dramatically impaired. The concurrent induction of pro-regenerative and neurotoxic functions in zymosan-activated macrophages (ZAMs) was confirmed in vitro using DRG and cortical neurons. Importantly, the ability of ZAMs to stimulate axon growth was transient; prolonged exposure to factors produced by ZAMs enhanced cell death and impaired axon growth in surviving neurons. Lipopolysaccharide, another potent macrophage activator, elicited a florid macrophage response, but without enhancing axon growth or notable toxicity. Together, these data show that a single mode of activation endows macrophages with the ability to simultaneously promote axon regeneration and cell killin

Dimensionality Control of Electronic Phase Transitions in Nickel-Oxide Superlattices

The competition between collective quantum phases in materials with strongly correlated electrons depends sensitively on the dimensionality of the electron system, which is difficult to control by standard solid-state chemistry. We have fabricated superlattices of the paramagnetic metal LaNiO3 and the wide-gap insulator LaAlO3 with atomically precise layer sequences. Using optical ellipsometry and low-energy muon spin rotation, superlattices with LaNiO3 as thin as two unit cells are shown to undergo a sequence of collective metalinsulator and antiferromagnetic transitions as a function of decreasing temperature, whereas samples with thicker LaNiO3 layers remain metallic and paramagnetic at all temperatures. Metal-oxide superlattices thus allow control of the dimensionality and collective phase behavior of correlated-electron systems

Iron pnictides: Single crystal growth and effect of doping on structural, transport and magnetic properties

We demonstrate the preparation of large, free standing iron pnictide single crystals with a size up to 20 x 10 x 1 mm3 using solvents in zirconia crucibles under argon atmosphere. Transport and magnetic properties are investigated to study the effect of potassium doping on the structural and superconducting property of the compounds. The spin density wave (SDW) anomaly at Ts ~138 K in BaFe2As2 single crystals from self-flux shifts to Ts ~85 K due to Sn solvent growth. We show direct evidence for an incorporation of Sn on the Fe site. The electrical resistivity data show a sharp superconducting transition temperature Tc~38.5 K for the single crystal of Ba0.68K0.32Fe2As2. A nearly 100% shielding fraction and bulk nature of the superconductivity for the single crystal were confirmed by magnetic susceptibility data. A sharp transition Tc~25 K occurred for the single crystal of Sr0.85K0.15Fe2As2. There is direct evidence for a coexistence of the SDW and superconductivity in the low doping regime of Sr1-xKxFe2As2 single crystals. Structural implications of the doping effects as well as the coexistence of the two order parameters are discussed.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure

Docosahexaenoic acid reduces microglia phagocytic activity via miR-124 and induces neuroprotection in rodent models of spinal cord contusion injury

Microglia are activated after spinal cord injury (SCI), but their phagocytic mechanisms and link to neuroprotection remain incompletely characterized. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has been shown to have significant neuroprotective effects after hemisection and compression SCI and can directly affect microglia in these injury models. In rodent contusion SCI, we demonstrate that DHA (500 nmol/kg) administered acutely post-injury confers neuroprotection and enhances locomotor recovery, and also exerts a complex modulation of the microglial response to injury. In rodents, at 7 days after SCI, the level of phagocytosed myelin within Iba1-positive or P2Y12-positive cells was significantly lower after DHA treatment, and this occurred in parallel with an increase in intracellular miR-124 expression. Furthermore, intraspinal administration of a miR-124 inhibitor significantly reduced the DHA-induced decrease in myelin phagocytosis in mice at 7 days post-SCI. In rat spinal primary microglia cultures, DHA reduced the phagocytic response to myelin, which was associated with an increase in miR-124, but not miR-155. A similar response was observed in a microglia cell line (BV2) treated with DHA, and the effect was blocked by a miR-124 inhibitor. Furthermore, the phagocytic response of BV2 cells to stressed neurones was also reduced in the presence of DHA. In peripheral monocyte-derived macrophages, the expression of the M1, but not the M0 or M2 phenotype, was reduced by DHA, but the phagocytic activation was not altered. These findings show that DHA induces neuroprotection in contusion injury. Furthermore, the improved outcome is via a miR-124-dependent reduction in the phagocytic response of microglia.US Department of Defence CDMRP/SCIRP award (W81XWH-10-1-1040 to P.K.Y., T.B. and A.M.T.); The Barts and London Charity (to P.K.Y. and A.M.T.); Rod Flower Vacation Scholarship (to A.L.B.); International Spinal Research Trust (to J.H. and P.G.P.); Ray W. Poppleton Endowment (to P.G.P.); Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan (CMRPG3A1051–1054 to Z.-H.L.). M.A.B. is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity (Programa Ramón y Cajal: RYC-2017-21804)

Rare earth magnetism in CeFeAsO: A single crystal study

Single crystals of CeFeAsO, large enough to study the anisotropy of the magnetic properties, were grown by an optimized Sn-flux technique. The high quality of our single crystals is apparent from the highest residual resistivity ratio, RRR = 12, reported among undoped RFeAsO compounds (R=rare earth) as well as sharp anomalies in resistivity, specific heat, C(T), and thermal expansion at the different phase transitions. The magnetic susceptibility chi(T) presents a large easy-plane anisotropy consistent with the lowest crystal electric field doublet having a dominant Gamma_6 character. Curie-Weiss like susceptibilities for magnetic field parallel and perpendicular to the crystallographic c-axis do not reveal an influence of a staggered field on the Ce site induced by magnetic ordering of the Fe. Furthermore, the standard signatures for antiferromagnetic order of Ce at T_N = 3.7 K observed in chi(T) and C(T) are incompatible with a Zeeman splitting Delta = 10 K of the CEF ground state doublet at low temperature due to the Fe-magnetic order as previously proposed. Our results can be reconciled with the earlier observation by assuming a comparatively stronger effect of the Ce-Ce exchange leading to a reduction of this Zeeman splitting below 15 K.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, added section on magn. susceptibilit

Specific-heat study of superconducting and normal states in FeSe1-xTex (0.6<=x<=1) single crystals: Strong-coupling superconductivity, strong electron-correlation, and inhomogeneity

The electronic specific heat of as-grown and annealed single-crystals of FeSe1-xTex (0.6<=x<=1) has been investigated. It has been found that annealed single-crystals with x=0.6-0.9 exhibit bulk superconductivity with a clear specific-heat jump at the superconducting (SC) transition temperature, Tc. Both 2Delta_0/kBTc [Delta_0: the SC gap at 0 K estimated using the single-band BCS s-wave model] and Delta C/(gamma_n-gamma_0)Tc [Delta C$: the specific-heat jump at Tc, gamma_n: the electronic specific-heat coefficient in the normal state, gamma_0: the residual electronic specific-heat coefficient at 0 K in the SC state] are largest in the well-annealed single-crystal with x=0.7, i.e., 4.29 and 2.76, respectively, indicating that the superconductivity is of the strong coupling. The thermodynamic critical field has also been estimated. gamma_n has been found to be one order of magnitude larger than those estimated from the band calculations and increases with increasing x at x=0.6-0.9, which is surmised to be due to the increase in the electronic effective mass, namely, the enhancement of the electron correlation. It has been found that there remains a finite value of gamma_0 in the SC state even in the well-annealed single-crystals with x=0.8-0.9, suggesting an inhomogeneous electronic state in real space and/or momentum space.Comment: 22 pages, 1 table, 6 figures, Version 2 has been accepted for publication in J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Hybrid Equation/Agent-Based Model of Ischemia-Induced Hyperemia and Pressure Ulcer Formation Predicts Greater Propensity to Ulcerate in Subjects with Spinal Cord Injury

Pressure ulcers are costly and life-threatening complications for people with spinal cord injury (SCI). People with SCI also exhibit differential blood flow properties in non-ulcerated skin. We hypothesized that a computer simulation of the pressure ulcer formation process, informed by data regarding skin blood flow and reactive hyperemia in response to pressure, could provide insights into the pathogenesis and effective treatment of post-SCI pressure ulcers. Agent-Based Models (ABM) are useful in settings such as pressure ulcers, in which spatial realism is important. Ordinary Differential Equation-based (ODE) models are useful when modeling physiological phenomena such as reactive hyperemia. Accordingly, we constructed a hybrid model that combines ODEs related to blood flow along with an ABM of skin injury, inflammation, and ulcer formation. The relationship between pressure and the course of ulcer formation, as well as several other important characteristic patterns of pressure ulcer formation, was demonstrated in this model. The ODE portion of this model was calibrated to data related to blood flow following experimental pressure responses in non-injured human subjects or to data from people with SCI. This model predicted a higher propensity to form ulcers in response to pressure in people with SCI vs. non-injured control subjects, and thus may serve as novel diagnostic platform for post-SCI ulcer formation. © 2013 Solovyev et al

Clinical Application of Computer-Aided Diagnostic System for Harmonious Introduction of Complementary Dialysis Therapy

In chronic peritoneal dialysis (PD) therapy, peritoneal permeability is gradually enhanced over the duration of the therapeutic course, leading to a grave decline in the therapeutic efficiency. In recent years, a novel therapy (CD therapy), which integrates PD therapy with hemodialysis therapy, is being applied to end-stage PD patients to complement the decline of therapeutic efficiency caused by the grave degeneration of the peritoneal tissue. To realize a harmonious introduction of the CD therapy, this study developed a useful index (KAu/c), which evaluates both therapeutic efficiency and degeneration of peritoneal tissue. Using a mathematical model and KAu/c, we were able to validate the therapeutic efficiency in the PD patients, and, in one case, propose a better prescription for the patient by employing the CD therapy. The clinical implementation of this methodology is indispensable with regard to expanding the therapeutic monitoring system for renal replacement therapy

Charge Transport in Manganites: Hopping Conduction, the Anomalous Hall Effect and Universal Scaling

The low-temperature Hall resistivity \rho_{xy} of La_{2/3}A_{1/3}MnO_3 single crystals (where A stands for Ca, Pb and Ca, or Sr) can be separated into Ordinary and Anomalous contributions, giving rise to Ordinary and Anomalous Hall effects, respectively. However, no such decomposition is possible near the Curie temperature which, in these systems, is close to metal-to-insulator transition. Rather, for all of these compounds and to a good approximation, the \rho_{xy} data at various temperatures and magnetic fields collapse (up to an overall scale), on to a single function of the reduced magnetization m=M/M_{sat}, the extremum of this function lying at m~0.4. A new mechanism for the Anomalous Hall Effect in the inelastic hopping regime, which reproduces these scaling curves, is identified. This mechanism, which is an extension of Holstein's model for the Ordinary Hall effect in the hopping regime, arises from the combined effects of the double-exchange-induced quantal phase in triads of Mn ions and spin-orbit interactions. We identify processes that lead to the Anomalous Hall Effect for localized carriers and, along the way, analyze issues of quantum interference in the presence of phonon-assisted hopping. Our results suggest that, near the ferromagnet-to-paramagnet transition, it is appropriate to describe transport in manganites in terms of carrier hopping between states that are localized due to combined effect of magnetic and non-magnetic disorder. We attribute the qualitative variations in resistivity characteristics across manganite compounds to the differing strengths of their carrier self-trapping, and conclude that both disorder-induced localization and self-trapping effects are important for transport.Comment: 29 pages, 20 figure