Supramolecular modification of ABC triblock terpolymers in confinement assembly

The self-assembly of AB diblock copolymers in three-dimensional (3D) soft confinement of nanoemulsions has recently become an attractive bottom up route to prepare colloids with controlled inner morphologies. In that regard, ABC triblock terpolymers show a more complex morphological behavior and could thus give access to extensive libraries of multicompartment microparticles. However, knowledge about their self-assembly in confinement is very limited thus far. Here, we investigated the confinement assembly of polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine)-block-poly(tert-butyl methacrylate) (PS-b-P4VP-b-PT or SVT) triblock terpolymers in nanoemulsion droplets. Depending on the block weight fractions, we found spherical microparticles with concentric lamella–sphere (ls) morphology, i.e., PS/PT lamella intercalated with P4VP spheres, or unusual conic microparticles with concentric lamella–cylinder (lc) morphology. We further described how these morphologies can be modified through supramolecular additives, such as hydrogen bond (HB) and halogen bond (XB) donors. We bound donors to the 4VP units and analyzed changes in the morphology depending on the binding strength and the length of the alkyl tail. The interaction with the weaker donors resulted in an increase in volume of the P4VP domains, which depends upon the molar fraction of the added donor. For donors with a high tendency of intermolecular packing, a visible change in the morphology was observed. This ultimately caused a shape change in the microparticle. Knowledge about how to control inner morphologies of multicompartment microparticles could lead to novel carbon supports for catalysis, nanoparticles with unprecedented topologies, and potentially, reversible shape changes by light actuation

Lorentz invariance of entanglement classes in multipartite systems

We analyze multipartite entanglement in systems of spin-1/2 particles from a relativistic perspective. General conditions which have to be met for any classification of multipartite entanglement to be Lorentz invariant are derived, which contributes to a physical understanding of entanglement classification. We show that quantum information in a relativistic setting requires the partition of the Hilbert space into particles to be taken seriously. Furthermore, we study exemplary cases and show how the spin and momentum entanglement transforms relativistically in a multipartite setting.Comment: v2: 5 pages, 4 figures, minor changes to main body, journal references update

A simplex of bound entangled multipartite qubit states

We construct a simplex for multipartite qubit states of even number n of qubits, which has the same geometry concerning separability, mixedness, kind of entanglement, amount of entanglement and nonlocality as the bipartite qubit states. We derive the entanglement of the class of states which can be described by only three real parameters with the help of a multipartite measure for all discrete systems. We prove that the bounds on this measure are optimal for the whole class of states and that it reveals that the states possess only n-partite entanglement and not e.g. bipartite entanglement. We then show that this n-partite entanglement can be increased by stochastic local operations and classical communication to the purest maximal entangled states. However, pure n-partite entanglement cannot be distilled, consequently all entangled states in the simplex are n-partite bound entangled. We study also Bell inequalities and find the same geometry as for bipartite qubits. Moreover, we show how the (hidden) nonlocality for all n-partite bound entangled states can be revealed.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures; 2nd version changed considerably and a detailed derivation of the multipartite measure is include

Dissecting early regulatory relationships in the lamprey neural crest gene network

The neural crest, a multipotent embryonic cell type, originates at the border between neural and nonneural ectoderm. After neural tube closure, these cells undergo an epithelial–mesenchymal transition, migrate to precise, often distant locations, and differentiate into diverse derivatives. Analyses of expression and function of signaling and transcription factors in higher vertebrates has led to the proposal that a neural crest gene regulatory network (NC-GRN) orchestrates neural crest formation. Here, we interrogate the NC-GRN in the lamprey, taking advantage of its slow development and basal phylogenetic position to resolve early inductive events, 1 regulatory step at the time. To establish regulatory relationships at the neural plate border, we assess relative expression of 6 neural crest network genes and effects of individually perturbing each on the remaining 5. The results refine an upstream portion of the NC-GRN and reveal unexpected order and linkages therein; e.g., lamprey AP-2 appears to function early as a neural plate border rather than a neural crest specifier and in a pathway linked to MsxA but independent of ZicA. These findings provide an ancestral framework for performing comparative tests in higher vertebrates in which network linkages may be more difficult to resolve because of their rapid development

Experience in Clincal Judgment: Do we get Better or Worse?

We sought to the test the robustness of a past meta-analysis (Spengler et al., 2009) covering literature from 1970 to 1996 finding a small effect of d = .12 for the relation between clinical and educational experience and the accuracy of clinical decisions and judgments. Culling more recent literature from 1997 to 2010 assessing the decision made by 6,685 clinicians we found nearly the same reliable effect of d = .16 (CI = .05 to .26). These combined findings suggest that counseling and other psychologists do not improve much in their decision-making regardless of more education or clinical experience. Ridley (2009) called these earlier findings sobering and challenged the field of counseling psychology to act. Implications for clinical judgment research, training and practice are addressed

Experience in Clincal Judgment: Do we get Better or Worse?

We sought to the test the robustness of a past meta-analysis (Spengler et al., 2009) covering literature from 1970 to 1996 finding a small effect of d = .12 for the relation between clinical and educational experience and the accuracy of clinical decisions and judgments. Culling more recent literature from 1997 to 2010 assessing the decision made by 6,685 clinicians we found nearly the same reliable effect of d = .16 (CI = .05 to .26). These combined findings suggest that counseling and other psychologists do not improve much in their decision-making regardless of more education or clinical experience. Ridley (2009) called these earlier findings sobering and challenged the field of counseling psychology to act. Implications for clinical judgment research, training and practice are addressed

Retreatment with interferon-alpha and ribavirin in primary interferon-alpha non-responders with chronic hepatitis C

Background/Aims: Combination therapy with interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) plus ribavirin is more efficacious than IFN-alpha monotherapy in previously untreated patients with chronic hepatitis C and patients with IFN-alpha relapse. Only limited data are available in IFN-alpha non-responders. In a multicenter trial we therefore evaluated the efficacy of combination therapy in IFN-alpha-resistant chronic hepatitis C. Methods: Eighty-two patients (mean age 46.8 years, 54 males, 28 females) with chronic hepatitis C were treated with IFN-alpha-2a (3 x 6 MIU/week) and ribavirin (14 mg/kg daily) for 12 weeks. Thereafter, treatment was continued only in virological responders (undetectable serum HCV RNA at week 12) with an IFN-alpha dose of 3 x 3 MIU/week and without ribavirin for a further 9 months. The primary study endpoint was an undetectable HCV RNA by RT-PCR at the end of the 24-week follow-up period. Results: After 12 weeks of combination therapy, an initial virological response was observed in 29 of 82 (35.4%) patients. Due to a high breakthrough rate after IFN-a dose reduction and ribavirin discontinuation, an end-of-treatment response was only achieved in 12 of 82 (14.6%) patients. After the follow-up period, a sustained virological response was observed in 8 of 82 (9.8%) patients. Infection with HCV genotype 3 was the only pretreatment parameter, which could predict a sustained response (HCV-1, 5%; HCV-3, 57.1%; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Despite a high initial response rate of 35.4%, sustained viral clearance was achieved only in 9.8% of the retreated primary IFN-alpha non-responders. Higher IFN-alpha induction and maintenance dose, as well as prolonged ribavirin treatment may possibly increase the virological response rates in non-responders, particularly in those infected by HCV-1

Evidence for the prepattern/cooption model of vertebrate jaw evolution

The appearance of jaws was a turning point in vertebrate evolution because it allowed primitive vertebrates to capture and process large, motile prey. The vertebrate jaw consists of separate dorsal and ventral skeletal elements connected by a joint. How this structure evolved from the unjointed gill bar of a jawless ancestor is an unresolved question in vertebrate evolution. To understand the developmental bases of this evolutionary transition, we examined the expression of 12 genes involved in vertebrate pharyngeal patterning in the modern jawless fish lamprey. We find nested expression of Dlx genes, as well as combinatorial expression of Msx, Hand and Gsc genes along the dorso-ventral (DV) axis of the lamprey pharynx, indicating gnathostome-type pharyngeal patterning evolved before the appearance of the jaw. In addition, we find that Bapx and Gdf5/6/7, key regulators of joint formation in gnathostomes, are not expressed in the lamprey first arch, whereas Barx, which is absent from the intermediate first arch in gnathostomes, marks this domain in lamprey. Taken together, these data support a new scenario for jaw evolution in which incorporation of Bapx and Gdf5/6/7 into a preexisting DV patterning program drove the evolution of the jaw by altering the identity of intermediate first-arch chondrocytes. We present this “Pre-pattern/Cooption” model as an alternative to current models linking the evolution of the jaw to the de novo appearance of sophisticated pharyngeal DV patterning