Photometric and spectroscopic variations of the Be star HD 112999

Be objects are stars of B spectral type showing lines of the Balmer series in emission. The presence of these lines is attributed to the existence of an extended envelope, disk type, around them. Some stars are observed in both the Be and normal B-type spectroscopic states and they are known as transient Be stars. In this paper we show the analysis carried out on a new possible transient Be star, labelled HD 112999, using spectroscopic optical observations and photometric data.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in IBV

Targeted Chemotherapy with Metal Complexes

Classical chemotherapeutics, such as cisplatin and its analogues, have been highly successful in the clinic, yet improvements can certainly be made, given the significant side effects associated with the killing of healthy cells. Recent advances in the field of chemotherapy include the development of targeted anticancer agents, compounds that are directed towards a specific biomarker of cancer, with the hopes that such targeted therapies might have reduced side effects given their greater selectivity. Here we discuss several transition metal complexes that are tailored towards various biomolecules associated with cancer. Most notably, the success of rhodium metalloinsertors, which specifically bind to nucleic acid base mismatches in DNA, highlight the enormous potential of this exciting new strategy

Electronic States of Graphene Grain Boundaries

We introduce a model for amorphous grain boundaries in graphene, and find that stable structures can exist along the boundary that are responsible for local density of states enhancements both at zero and finite (~0.5 eV) energies. Such zero energy peaks in particular were identified in STS measurements [J. \v{C}ervenka, M. I. Katsnelson, and C. F. J. Flipse, Nature Physics 5, 840 (2009)], but are not present in the simplest pentagon-heptagon dislocation array model [O. V. Yazyev and S. G. Louie, Physical Review B 81, 195420 (2010)]. We consider the low energy continuum theory of arrays of dislocations in graphene and show that it predicts localized zero energy states. Since the continuum theory is based on an idealized lattice scale physics it is a priori not literally applicable. However, we identify stable dislocation cores, different from the pentagon-heptagon pairs, that do carry zero energy states. These might be responsible for the enhanced magnetism seen experimentally at graphite grain boundaries.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Determination of Manganese as the Green Sulphide. 1

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Properties of pedestrians walking in line: Stepping behavior

In human crowds, interactions among individuals give rise to a variety of self-organized collective motions that help the group to effectively solve the problem of coordination. However, it is still not known exactly how humans adjust their behavior locally, nor what are the direct consequences on the emergent organization. One of the underlying mechanisms of adjusting individual motions is the stepping dynamics. In this paper, we present first quantitative analysis on the stepping behavior in a one-dimensional pedestrian flow studied under controlled laboratory conditions. We find that the step length is proportional to the velocity of the pedestrian, and is directly related to the space available in front of him, while the variations of the step duration are much smaller. This is in contrast with locomotion studies performed on isolated pedestrians and shows that the local density has a direct influence on the stepping characteristics. Furthermore, we study the phenomena of synchronization -walking in lockstep- and show its dependence on flow densities. We show that the synchronization of steps is particularly important at high densities, which has direct impact on the studies of optimizing pedestrians flow in congested situations. However, small synchronization and antisynchronization effects are found also at very low densities, for which no steric constraints exist between successive pedestrians, showing the natural tendency to synchronize according to perceived visual signals.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Cell-Selective Biological Activity of Rhodium Metalloinsertors Correlates with Subcellular Localization

Deficiencies in the mismatch repair (MMR) pathway are associated with several types of cancers, as well as resistance to commonly used chemotherapeutics. Rhodium metalloinsertors have been found to bind DNA mismatches with high affinity and specificity in vitro, and also exhibit cell-selective cytotoxicity, targeting MMR-deficient cells over MMR-proficient cells. Ten distinct metalloinsertors with varying lipophilicities have been synthesized and their mismatch binding affinities and biological activities determined. Although DNA photocleavage experiments demonstrate that their binding affinities are quite similar, their cell-selective antiproliferative and cytotoxic activities vary significantly. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) experiments have uncovered a relationship between the subcellular distribution of these metalloinsertors and their biological activities. Specifically, we find that all of our metalloinsertors localize in the nucleus at sufficient concentrations for binding to DNA mismatches. However, the metalloinsertors with high rhodium localization in the mitochondria show toxicity that is not selective for MMR-deficient cells, whereas metalloinsertors with less mitochondrial rhodium show activity that is highly selective for MMR-deficient versus proficient cells. This work supports the notion that specific targeting of the metalloinsertors to nuclear DNA gives rise to their cell-selective cytotoxic and antiproliferative activities. The selectivity in cellular targeting depends upon binding to mismatches in genomic DNA

On Information Theory, Spectral Geometry and Quantum Gravity

We show that there exists a deep link between the two disciplines of information theory and spectral geometry. This allows us to obtain new results on a well known quantum gravity motivated natural ultraviolet cutoff which describes an upper bound on the spatial density of information. Concretely, we show that, together with an infrared cutoff, this natural ultraviolet cutoff beautifully reduces the path integral of quantum field theory on curved space to a finite number of ordinary integrations. We then show, in particular, that the subsequent removal of the infrared cutoff is safe.Comment: 4 page

Enhanced cardiovascular pressor reactivity to norepinephrine in mild renal parenchymal disease

Enhanced cardiovascular pressor reactivity to norepinephrine in mild renal parenchymal disease. The cardiovascular pressor responsiveness to infused norepinephrine (NE) or angiotensin II (AII) as related to endogenous plasma NE or renin levels was assessed in 20 patients with mild parenchymal kidney disease (plasma creatinine 2.20 ± 0.58 mg/dl, ± SEM) and in 20 normal subjects approximately matched for sex and age. The two groups did not differ significantly in mean body weight, heart rate, blood volume, plasma electrolytes, exchangeable or urinary sodium, plasma aldosterone, epinephrine and renin levels, or AII threshold or pressor doses. Basal (including pre-infusion) plasma NE levels, the relationship between plasma NE measured during NE infusion and the corresponding NE infusion rate, as well as the total plasma clearance of NE (5.0 ± 0.8 vs. 5.5 ± 0.5 liter/min) also did not differ significantly between the two groups. In contrast, the threshold or pressor doses of infused NE decreased significantly in the patients with kidney disease (94 ± 11 vs. 134 ± 14 ng/kg/min and 21 ± 3 vs. 40 ± 7 ng/ kg/min; P < 0.05). Moreover, based on analysis of covariance, the individual pressor doses as related to basal plasma NE levels were distributed differently (P < 0.01) between the patients and normal subjects. These findings suggest that the kinetics of plasma NE are unaltered largely in early stage kidney disease. However, such patients tend to develop an exaggerated pressor responsiveness to NE in the presence of normal plasma NE levels. This disturbance may favor the development of hypertension.Stimulation de la réactivité pressive cardiovasculaire à la noradrénaline dans les néphropathies modérées. La réponse pressive cardiovasculaire après perfusion de noradrénaline (NE) ou d'angiotensine II (AII) en fonction des concentrations endogènes de NE ou de rénine plasmatiques a été étudiée chez 20 malades ayant une maladie rénale parenchymateuse modérée (créatininémie 2,20 ± 0,58 (± SEM) mg/dl) et chez 20 sujets normaux d'âge et de sexe voisins. Les deux groupes ne différaient pas significativement par le poids corporel moyen, le rythme cardiaque, le volume sanguin, les électrolytes plasmatiques, le sodium échangeable ou urinaire, l'aldostérone plasmatique, les niveaux d'adrénaline et de rénine, ou les doses seuils ou pressives d'All. Les concentrations plasmatiques de NE basales (y compris les valeurs avant perfusion), la relation entre la NE plasmatique mesurée pendant la perfusion de NE et la vitesse de perfusion de NE correspondante, ainsi que la clearance plasmatique totale de NE (5,0 ± 0,8 contre 5,5 ± 0,5 1/ mn) ne différaient également pas entre les deux groupes. A l'inverse, les doses seuils ou pressives de NE perfusées étaient significativement diminuées chez les malades ayant une néphropathie (94 ± 11 contre 134 ± 14 ng/kg/mn et 21 ± 3 contre 40 ± 7 ng/kg/mn; P < 0,05). En outre, par analyse de covariance, les doses pressives individuelles en fonction des concentrations plasmatiques basales de NE étaient distribuées différemment (P < 0,01) entre les malades et les sujets normaux. Ces résultats suggèrent que la cinétique de la NE plasmatique est en grande partie inchangée au cours des néphropathies au stade initial. Cependant les malades tendent à développer une réponse pressive exagérée à la NE en présence de concentrations plasmatiques de NE normales. Cette anomalie pourrait favoriser le développement d'une hypertension

Just a 'romantic idea'? A theory-based interview study on medication review implementation with pharmacy owners.

Recent legal changes in Germany entitle patients on multiple medications to receive a medication review (MR). However, the provision of MRs is not mandatory and pharmacy owners decide whether to implement this service in their pharmacies. The aim of this study was to determine pharmacy owners' attitudes towards MRs, explore their experiences with MR implementation and examine their perceptions of barriers and facilitators towards implementation of MRs in community pharmacies. Pharmacy owners were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews. Purposive sampling was used with selection criteria being MR-implementation stage, and geographical location of the pharmacy. The topic guide was based on a systematic review and the Framework for Implementation of Services in Pharmacy (FISpH). Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and coded directly against the FISpH. Twenty-one pharmacy owners were interviewed. Despite participants' consistent positive attitude towards MRs, most believed that providing MRs on an economically viable basis would be challenging. Several practical suggestions emerged which would enable community pharmacies a smoother implementation of MRs. Suggestions included employing ‘change facilitators', who visit and support implementing pharmacies; national awareness campaigns targeting patients and health professionals; reducing bureaucracy; continuing professional development; involving technicians in some MR-tasks; and offering an additional incentive to lower the initial implementation threshold. This research identified numerous factors that are likely to increase owners' and managers' support to the idea of MRs. This may be of interest to any country planning implementation of MRs

Facilitating implementation of medication reviews in the community pharmacy setting: an application of the implementation research logic model.

Previous research has identified both determinants and potential strategies to facilitate implementation of medication reviews (MR). A conceptual model which links determinants, strategies to support implementation and mechanisms of change to execute implementation, with projected outcomes is helpful to plan the approach and facilitate MR-implementation. The aim of this research was to apply the Implementation Research Logic Model (ILRM) for the implementation of medication reviews in the German community pharmacy setting, and thus illustrate the links between determinants, strategies, and implementation outcomes. The resulting map is meant to inform and facilitate MR-implementation. The IRLM was populated with determinants (barriers and facilitators structured using the Framework for Implementation of Services in Pharmacy, FISpH), proposed strategies (according to the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change, ERIC) and mechanisms of change which were identified in an interview study with 21 German pharmacy owners. The research team linked these with 8 implementation outcomes derived from Proctor: acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, cost, feasibility, fidelity, penetration, sustainability. Twenty strategies from the interview study were mapped against 32 determinants. All strategies were hypothesised to impact on one or several of the 8 implementation outcomes. Depending on pharmacies' implementation stage (exploration, preparation, implementation, and sustainment) the importance of strategies was expected to vary. Strategies such as educational meetings and learning collaboratives can increase perceived appropriateness and boost adoption of MRs which is particularly important for pharmacies in the early exploration stage. Strategies such as receiving support from external implementation advisors as well as recruiting and training internal implementation leaders were deemed particularly important for pharmacies at the preparation stage to strengthen feasibility and fidelity. In later stages (implementation and sustainment) pharmacies were thought to benefit from provision of clinical feedback, obtaining and using patient feedback and re-examining implementation to achieve high fidelity, penetration, and sustainability of MR-provision. Some strategies such as fixed payment and stable delivery contracts were deemed pre-requisites for implementation irrespective of the stage the pharmacy was at. The application of the Implementation Research Logic Model illustrated the relations between determinants, strategies, mechanisms, and implementation outcomes. Future research is needed to ascertain that strategies work as planned and achieve the projected implementation outcomes