The preparation, identification and properties of chlorophyll derivatives

In the investigation of 10-hydroxy chlorophylls a and b novel techniques included modification of chromatography and the use of fully-deuterated compounds isolated from fully-deuterated autotropic algae to determine the molecular structure of the chlorophylls

Brain GABA and Glutamate Concentrations Following Chronic Gabapentin Administration: A Convenience Sample Studied During Early Abstinence From Alcohol.

Gabapentin (GBP), a GABA analog that may also affect glutamate (Glu) production, can normalize GABA and Glu tone during early abstinence from alcohol, effectively treating withdrawal symptoms and facilitating recovery. Using in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we tested the degree to which daily GBP alters regional brain GABA and Glu levels in short-term abstinent alcohol-dependent individuals. Regional metabolite levels were compared between 13 recently abstinent alcohol-dependent individuals who had received daily GBP for at least 1 week (GBP+) and 25 matched alcohol-dependent individuals who had not received GBP (GBP-). Magnetic resonance spectra from up to five different brain regions were analyzed to yield absolute GABA and Glu concentrations. GABA and Glu concentrations in the parieto-occipital cortex were not different between GBP- and GBP+. Glu levels in anterior cingulate cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and basal ganglia did not differ between GBP- and GBP+. However, in a subgroup of individuals matched on age, sex, and abstinence duration, GBP+ had markedly lower Glu in the frontal white matter (WM) than GBP-, comparable to concentrations found in light/non-drinking controls. Furthermore, lower frontal WM Glu in GBP+ correlated with a higher daily GBP dose. Daily GBP treatment at an average of 1,600 mg/day for at least 1 week was not associated with altered cortical GABA and Glu concentrations during short-term abstinence from alcohol, but with lower Glu in frontal WM. GBP for the treatment of alcohol dependence may work through reducing Glu in WM rather than increasing cortical GABA

Molecular orientational dynamics of the endohedral fullerene Sc3_{3}N@C80_{80} as probed by 13^{13}C and 45^{45}Sc NMR

We measure 13C and 45Sc NMR lineshapes and spin-lattice relaxation times (T1) to probe the orientational dynamics of the endohedral metallofullerene Sc3N@C80. The measurements show an activated behavior for molecular reorientations over the full temperature range with a similar behavior for the temperature dependence of the 13C and 45Sc data. Combined with spectral data from Magic Angle Spinning (MAS) NMR, the measurements can be interpreted to mean the motion of the encapsulated Sc3N molecule is independent of that of the C80 cage, although this requires the similar temperature dependence of the 13C and 45Sc spin-lattice relaxation times to be coincidental. For the Sc3N to be fixed to the C80 cage, one must overcome the symmetry breaking effect this has on the Sc3N@C80 system since this would result in more than the observed two 13C lines.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Identifying Retweetable Tweets with a Personalized Global Classifier

In this paper we present a method to identify tweets that a user may find interesting enough to retweet. The method is based on a global, but personalized classifier, which is trained on data from several users, represented in terms of user-specific features. Thus, the method is trained on a sufficient volume of data, while also being able to make personalized decisions, i.e., the same post received by two different users may lead to different classification decisions. Experimenting with a collection of approx.\ 130K tweets received by 122 journalists, we train a logistic regression classifier, using a wide variety of features: the content of each tweet, its novelty, its text similarity to tweets previously posted or retweeted by the recipient or sender of the tweet, the network influence of the author and sender, and their past interactions. Our system obtains F1 approx. 0.9 using only 10 features and 5K training instances.Comment: This is a long paper version of the extended abstract titled "A Personalized Global Filter To Predict Retweets", of the same authors, which was published in the 25th ACM UMAP conference in Bratislava, Slovakia, in July 201

Numerical cancellation of photon quadratic divergence in the study of the Schwinger-Dyson equations in Strong Coupling QED

The behaviour of the photon renormalization function in strong coupling QED has been recently studied by Kondo, Mino and Nakatani. We find that the sharp decrease in its behaviour at intermediate photon momenta is an artefact of the method used to remove the quadratic divergence in the vacuum polarization. We discuss how this can be avoided in numerical studies of the Schwinger-Dyson equations.Comment: 9 pages, Latex, 5 figures. Complete postscript file available from: ftp://cpt1.dur.ac.uk/pub/preprints/dtp94/dtp94100/dtp94100.p

Human activity was a major driver of the mid-Holocene vegetation change in southern Cumbria: Implications for the elm decline in the British Isles

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.The dramatic decline in elm (Ulmus) across a large swathe of north-west Europe in the mid-Holocene has been ascribed to a number of possible factors, including climate change, human activity and/or pathogens. A major limitation for identifying the underlying cause(s) has been the limited number of high-resolution records with robust geochronological frameworks. Here, we report a multiproxy study of an upland (Blea Tarn) and lowland (Urswick Tarn) landscape in southern Cumbria (British Isles) to reconstruct vegetation change across the elm decline in an area with a rich and well-dated archaeological record to disentangle different possible controls. Here we find a two-stage decline in Ulmus taking place between 6350–6150 and 6050–5850 cal a BP, with the second phase coinciding with an intensification of human activity. The scale of the decline and associated human impact is more abrupt in the upland landscape. We consider it likely that a combination of human impact and disease drove the Ulmus decline within southern Cumbria.This work was funded by a studentship for MJG from the University of Exeter and Sir John Fisher Foundation. Additional funding for 14C dating was from the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society (Clare Fell Bursary to MJG), and the Australian Research Council (FL100100195)

A systematic review and meta-analysis of school and cognitive function domains of health-related quality of life measures for children and young adults with congenital heart disease

\ua9 2023 The Authors. Birth Defects Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.Background: Research on cognitive and school functioning domains of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for children and adolescents with congenital heart disease (CHD) presents inconsistencies. Objectives: To summarize and synthesize data on school and cognitive function domains of HRQOL for children and young people (CYP) with CHD. Methods: Five electronic databases MEDLINE, Scopus, PsycINFO, EMBASE, ERI, and citations were systematically searched. We included original-research articles reporting the cognitive and school function domains of HRQOL for children and young people with CHD (child and parent reports included). Both fixed and random-effects meta-analyses were performed to estimate pooled mean test scores for cognitive and school function. A total of 34 studies met our inclusion criteria and were synthesized narratively, 17 studies were included in formal meta-analyses. Results: Self-reported cognitive function was lower for children and young people with CHD than healthy controls (SMD −0.28 (−0.42, −0.15)). Parental reports demonstrated similar results to self-reports (SMD −0.54 (−0.91, −0.18)). School function was lower in children and young people with CHD compared with healthy controls in self-reported (SMD −0.30 (−0.48, −0.13)) and parent reported HRQOL (SMD −0.49 (0.64, −0.36)). Self-reported school function domain scores were lower for young (<8 years) (SMD −0.65 (−1.32, 0.03)) and older children (8–18 years) (SMD −0.25 (−0.47, −0.03)) with CHD than their peers. Similarly, parents reported lower school function domain scores for young (<8 years) (SMD −0.68 (−1.29, −0.07)) and older (8–18 years) (SMD −0.46 (−068, −0.25)) children with CHD than typically developing peers. Conclusion: Children born with CHD may experience lower cognitive and school function HRQOL scores than healthy controls (self and proxy-report). This is consistent with a subgroup meta-analysis of young (<8 years) and older (8 years old or more) children with CHD reporting lower school function scores compared to controls

String Theory and Water Waves

We uncover a remarkable role that an infinite hierarchy of non-linear differential equations plays in organizing and connecting certain {hat c}<1 string theories non-perturbatively. We are able to embed the type 0A and 0B (A,A) minimal string theories into this single framework. The string theories arise as special limits of a rich system of equations underpinned by an integrable system known as the dispersive water wave hierarchy. We observe that there are several other string-like limits of the system, and conjecture that some of them are type IIA and IIB (A,D) minimal string backgrounds. We explain how these and several string-like special points arise and are connected. In some cases, the framework endows the theories with a non-perturbative definition for the first time. Notably, we discover that the Painleve IV equation plays a key role in organizing the string theory physics, joining its siblings, Painleve I and II, whose roles have previously been identified in this minimal string context.Comment: 49 pages, 4 figure

Interpretation of Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance Spectra in Doped La2_2CuO4_4

The nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) spectrum of strontium doped La$_2$CuO$_4$ surprisingly resembles the NQR spectrum of La$_2$CuO$_4$ doped with excess oxygen, both spectra being dominated by a main peak and one principal satellite peak at similar frequencies. Using first-principles cluster calculations this is investigated here by calculating the electric field gradient (EFG) at the central copper site of the cluster after replacing a lanthanum atom in the cluster with a strontium atom or adding an interstitial oxygen to the cluster. In each case the EFG was increased by approximately 10 % leading unexpectedly to the explanation that the NQR spectra are only accidentally similar and the origins are quite different. Additionally the widths of the peaks in the NQR spectra are explained by the different EFG of copper centres remote from the impurity. A model, based on holes moving rapidly across the planar oxygen atoms, is proposed to explain the observed increase in frequency of both the main and satellite peaks in the NQR spectrum as the doping concentration is increased