Box traps on an atom chip for one-dimensional quantum gases

We present the implementation of tailored trapping potentials for ultracold gases on an atom chip. We realize highly elongated traps with box-like confinement along the long, axial direction combined with conventional harmonic confinement along the two radial directions. The design, fabrication and characterization of the atom chip and the box traps is described. We load ultracold ($\lesssim1 \mu$K) clouds of $^{87}$Rb in a box trap, and demonstrate Bose-gas focusing as a means to characterize these atomic clouds in arbitrarily shaped potentials. Our results show that box-like axial potentials on atom chips are very promising for studies of one-dimensional quantum gases.Comment: 9 pages 4 figure

Yang-Yang thermodynamics on an atom chip

We investigate the behavior of a weakly interacting nearly one-dimensional (1D) trapped Bose gas at finite temperature. We perform in situ measurements of spatial density profiles and show that they are very well described by a model based on exact solutions obtained using the Yang-Yang thermodynamic formalism, in a regime where other, approximate theoretical approaches fail. We use Bose-gas focusing [Shvarchuck etal., Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 270404 (2002)] to probe the axial momentum distribution of the gas, and find good agreement with the in situ results.Comment: extended introduction and conclusions, and minor changes throughout; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

CsA, FK506, corticosteroids and rapamycin inhibit TNFα production by cultured PTEC

CsA, FK506, corticosteroids and rapamycin inhibit TNFα production by PTEC. In this study we investigated the effect of immunosuppressive drugs on the interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1α) enhanced tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) production by proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTEC). Under basal conditions cultured PTEC produce between 0 to 390 pg/ml/105 cells of TNFα. Upon stimulation with IL-1α an enhancement of TNFα production was seen in each cell line tested, ranging from 230 to 2424 pg/ml/105 cells. The presence of cyclosporin A (CsA) during stimulation with IL-1α inhibited the enhanced TNFα production in a dose dependent fashion, with a maximal inhibition of 90% at a concentration of 250 ng/ml. Inhibition was at the level of mRNA as could be demonstrated by Northern blot analysis. FK506, corticosteroids and rapamycin also inhibited TNFa production in a dose dependent fashion, although not as effectively as CsA. Two corticosteroids were tested for their inhibitory effect on TNFa production. It was found that dexamethasone at a concentration of 10 ng/ml inhibited TNFα production for almost 40%. A 100-fold higher concentration of hydrocortisone was necessary to yield similar inhibition. The effect of rapamycin on the IL-1α enhanced TNFα production differed from the effect of CsA. While CsA induced a maximal inhibition of 90%, rapamycin only induced a maximal inhibition of 37%, and even less inhibition at higher concentrations of the drug. The presence of the various drugs was essential for their inhibitory effect, because removal of the drug from the PTEC by washing immediately resulted in loss of inhibition. Combinations of CsA and FK506 or rapamycin were not additive. However, combinations of rapamycin and FK506 were antagonistic when low concentrations of rapamycin and FK506 were used. Low concentrations of rapamycin with high concentrations of FK506 were synergistic. Since TNFα is likely to be an important mediator in renal allograft rejection, these data suggest that the beneficial effect of immunosuppressive drugs after renal transplantation may partly be due to the effect on TNFα production by renal parenchymal cells

Thermoluminescence of zircon: a kinetic model

The mineral zircon, ZrSiO4, belongs to a class of promising materials for geochronometry by means of thermoluminescence (TL) dating. The development of a reliable and reproducible method for TL dating with zircon requires detailed knowledge of the processes taking place during exposure to ionizing radiation, long-term storage, annealing at moderate temperatures and heating at a constant rate (TL measurements). To understand these processes one needs a kinetic model of TL. This paper is devoted to the construction of such amodel. The goal is to study the qualitative behaviour of the system and to determine the parameters and processes controlling TL phenomena of zircon. The model considers the following processes: (i) Filling of electron and hole traps at the excitation stage as a function of the dose rate and the dose for both (low dose rate) natural and (high dose rate) laboratory irradiation. (ii) Time dependence of TL fading in samples irradiated under laboratory conditions. (iii) Short time annealing at a given temperature. (iv) Heating of the irradiated sample to simulate TL experiments both after laboratory and natural irradiation. The input parameters of the model, such as the types and concentrations of the TL centres and the energy distributions of the hole and electron traps, were obtained by analysing the experimental data on fading of the TL-emission spectra of samples from different geological locations. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) data were used to establish the nature of the TL centres. Glow curves and 3D TL emission spectra are simulated and compared with the experimental data on time-dependent TL fading. The saturation and annealing behaviour of filled trap concentrations has been considered in the framework of the proposed kinetic model and comparedwith the EPR data associated with the rare-earth ions Tb3+ and Dy3+, which play a crucial role as hole traps and recombination centres. Inaddition, the behaviour of some of the SiOmn− centres has been compared with simulation results.

Dimeric and polymeric IgA, but not monomeric IgA, enhance the production of IL-6 by human renal mesangial cells

Depositions of IgA in the renal glomerular mesangial area are a hallmark of IgA nephropathy, and are thought to be crucial for the onset of inflammation processes in IgA nephropathy. In this report we show that human mesangial cells (MC) in vitro bind IgA and that binding of IgA enhances the production of IL-6 by MC. Furthermore we show that the size of IgA is crucial in its capability to enhance IL-6 production. Monomeric IgA does not affect basic IL-6 production, whereas dimeric and polymeric IgA enhance IL-6 production up to 3- to 9-fold respectively. Additional studies demonstrate that enhanced IL-6 production by MC is not accompanied by increased proliferation of human mesangial cells, a finding which is distinct from that found with rat mesangial cells. Taken together, these fmdings suggest that deposition of dimeric and polymeric IgA in the mesangial area of human kidneys in IgA nephropathy may amplify local inflammation

The political dimension: added value for cross-cultural analysis:Nozawa and Smits, two CEO's and their public statements

Work-related cultural differences, which were familiarized by scholars such as Hall and Hofstede, offer important concepts to help us understand various forms of cooperation and communication. However, the predominant focus of cultural analysis on collectivistic harmony prevents us from gaining an understanding of strategy and conflict. In an attempt to grasp how conflicts are handled, a political analysis can provide new insights. This is illustrated by a comparative study of two CEOs who gave public statements concerning management failure: Shouhei Nozawa of Yamaichi and Paul Smits of KPN. Their statements were strikingly different in several ways, but the classical insights of cross-cultural analysis can only partly explain the differences. This is where political analysis comes in, focusing on interest relationships, responsibilities and virtues, tactics and strategy

Is personality a determinant of patient satisfaction with hospital care?

Objective. We investigated to what extent personality is associated with patient satisfaction with hospital care. A sizeable association with personality would render patient satisfaction invalid as an indicator of hospital care quality. Design. Overall satisfaction and satisfaction with aspects of care were regressed on the Big Five dimensions of personality, controlled for patient characteristics as possible explanatory variables of observed associations. Participants. A total of 237 recently discharged inpatients aged 18-84 years (M = 50, SD = 17 years), 57% female, who were hospitalized for an average of 8 days. Instruments. The Satisfaction with Hospital Care Questionnaire addressing 12 aspects of care ranging from admission procedures to discharge and aftercare and the Five-Factor Personality Inventory assessing a person's standing on Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional stability, and Autonomy. Results. Agreeableness significantly predicted patient satisfaction in about half of the scales. After controlling for shared variance with age and educational level, the unique contribution of Agreeableness shrank to a maximum of 3-5% explained variance. When one outlier was dropped from the analysis, the contribution of Agreeableness was no longer statistically significant. Conclusion. Patient satisfaction seems only marginally associated with personality, at least at the level of the broad Big Five dimension

Humoral immune response to influenza vaccination in patients with primary immunoglobulin A nephropathy. An analysis of isotype distribution and size of the influenza-specific antibodies.

Primary IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is characterized by mesangial deposits of IgA1, increased serum IgA1 levels, and circulating immune complexes containing predominantly IgA1. It has previously been found that patients with IgAN have a higher than normal IgA response to vaccination, but the IgA subclasses have not been studied. To investigate whether the IgA hyperresponsiveness is limited to the subclass IgA1, which is involved in the pathogenesis of IgAN, we compared the immune responses of 18 patients with 22 healthy controls after intramuscular vaccination with inactivated influenza virus. Antibody titers were significantly higher (P less than 0.0001) for the IgA1 subclass in patients versus controls, but not for the other isotypes. A substantial portion of the IgA and IgA1 antiinfluenza immune response comprised polymers in both patients and controls. There was no preferential response of polymers in patients. Patients produced significantly more monomeric IgA1 antibodies than controls. These results show that patients with IgAN have a hyperresponsiveness limited to the subclass IgA1 and mainly expressed by an excess of monomers