1,919 research outputs found
Quantum teardrops
Algebras of functions on quantum weighted projective spaces are introduced,
and the structure of quantum weighted projective lines or quantum teardrops are
described in detail. In particular the presentation of the coordinate algebra
of the quantum teardrop in terms of generators and relations and classification
of irreducible *-representations are derived. The algebras are then analysed
from the point of view of Hopf-Galois theory or the theory of quantum principal
bundles. Fredholm modules and associated traces are constructed. C*-algebras of
continuous functions on quantum weighted projective lines are described and
their K-groups computed.Comment: 18 page
Antibody responses to Mycoplasma pneumoniae: protecting against and triggering disease
_Mycoplasma pneumoniae_ (_Mp_) is a major bacterial cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children and is even becoming a more important pathogen since the introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. In light of the global increase in antibiotic resistance of _Mp_, the main goal is to clarify the pathogenesis of this infection to better understand the need and efficacy of antimicrobial treatment for this CAP and to develop diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for _Mp_-associated disease. Vaccination may be a promising alternative to antibiotics. However, to develop optimal approaches to vaccination against _Mp_ it is critical to understand the immune mechanisms that may contribute to protection and/or immunopathology. The main objective of this thesis was to determine the role of antibodies to _Mp_ in respiratory tract carriage, pulmonary infection, and extrapulmonary nervous system disease (encephalitis and Guillain-Barré syndrome), where an antibody-mediated pathogenesis has been suggested.
We demonstrated in this thesis that the infection-induced _Mp_-specific antibody response is essential to clear pulmonary _Mp_ infection, but has a limited effect on _Mp_ carriage in the URT. Our data indicate that the humoral response to _Mp_ derived glycolipids is redundant for pulmonary clearance of _Mp_. The hypothesis that the _Mp_-induced IgG response against the major myelin glycolipid galactocerebroside (GalC) response turns autoimmune is not only of importance to understand _Mp_-associated immune-mediated diseases as encephalitis and Guillain-Barré syndrome, but also to construct _Mp_-targeting vaccines, as based on these findings such vaccines may include _Mp_-derived protein antigens rather than lipids thereby avoiding the induction of potential autoimmune anti-glycolipid antibodies.
Overall, the results in this thesis pave the way for improved d
Playing a quantum game with a corrupted source
The quantum advantage arising in a simplified multi-player quantum game, is
found to be a disadvantage when the game's qubit-source is corrupted by a noisy
"demon". Above a critical value of the corruption-rate, or noise-level, the
coherent quantum effects impede the players to such an extent that the optimal
choice of game changes from quantum to classical.Comment: This version will appear in PRA (Rapid Comm.
A dedicated haem lyase is required for the maturation of a novel bacterial cytochrome c with unconventional covalent haem binding
In bacterial c-type cytochromes, the haem cofactor is covalently attached via two cysteine residues organized in a haem c-binding motif. Here, a novel octa-haem c protein, MccA, is described that contains only seven conventional haem c-binding motifs (CXXCH), in addition to several single cysteine residues and a conserved CH signature. Mass spectrometric analysis of purified MccA from Wolinella succinogenes suggests that two of the single cysteine residues are actually part of an unprecedented CX15CH sequence involved in haem c binding. Spectroscopic characterization of MccA identified an unusual high-potential haem c with a red-shifted absorption maximum, not unlike that of certain eukaryotic cytochromes c that exceptionally bind haem via only one thioether bridge. A haem lyase gene was found to be specifically required for the maturation of MccA in W. succinogenes. Equivalent haem lyase-encoding genes belonging to either the bacterial cytochrome c biogenesis system I or II are present in the vicinity of every known mccA gene suggesting a dedicated cytochrome c maturation pathway. The results necessitate reconsideration of computer-based prediction of putative haem c-binding motifs in bacterial proteomes
Debye screening in strongly coupled N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills plasma
Using the AdS/CFT correspondence, we examine the behavior of correlators of
Polyakov loops and other operators in N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory at
non-zero temperature. The implications for Debye screening in this strongly
coupled non-Abelian plasma, and comparisons with available results for thermal
QCD, are discussed.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, significantly expanded discussion of Polyakov
loop correlator and static quark-antiquark potentia
Vibrational Properties of Nanoscale Materials: From Nanoparticles to Nanocrystalline Materials
The vibrational density of states (VDOS) of nanoclusters and nanocrystalline
materials are derived from molecular-dynamics simulations using empirical
tight-binding potentials. The results show that the VDOS inside nanoclusters
can be understood as that of the corresponding bulk system compressed by the
capillary pressure. At the surface of the nanoparticles the VDOS exhibits a
strong enhancement at low energies and shows structures similar to that found
near flat crystalline surfaces. For the nanocrystalline materials an increased
VDOS is found at high and low phonon energies, in agreement with experimental
findings. The individual VDOS contributions from the grain centers, grain
boundaries, and internal surfaces show that, in the nanocrystalline materials,
the VDOS enhancements are mainly caused by the grain-boundary contributions and
that surface atoms play only a minor role. Although capillary pressures are
also present inside the grains of nanocrystalline materials, their effect on
the VDOS is different than in the cluster case which is probably due to the
inter-grain coupling of the modes via the grain-boundaries.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Infection with and carriage of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in children
"Atypical" pneumonia was described as a distinct and mild form of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) already before Mycoplasma pneumoniae had been discovered and recognized as its cause. M. pneumoniae is detected in CAP patients most frequently among school-aged children from 5 to 15 years of age, with a decline after adolescence and tapering off in adulthood. Detection rates by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or serology in children with CAP admitted to the hospital amount 4-39%. Although the infection is generally mild and self-limiting, patients of every age can develo
C/EBPβ regulates homeostatic and oncogenic gastric cell proliferation
Cancer of the stomach is among the leading causes of death from cancer worldwide. The transcription factor C/EBPβ is frequently overexpressed in gastric cancer and associated with the suppression of the differentiation marker TFF1. We show that the murine C/EBP{beta} knockout stomach displays unbalanced homeostasis and reduced cell proliferation and that tumorigenesis of human gastric cancer xenograft is inhibited by knockdown of C/EBPβ. Cross-species comparison of gene expression profiles between C/EBPβ-deficient murine stomach and human gastric cancer revealed a subset of tumors with a C/EBPβ signature. Within this signature, the RUNX1t1 tumor suppressor transcript was down-regulated in 38% of gastric tumor samples. The RUNX1t1 promoter was frequently hypermethylated and ectopic expression of RUNX1t1 in gastric cancer cells inhibited proliferation and enhanced TFF1 expression. These data suggest that the tumor suppressor activity of both RUNX1t1 and TFF1 are mechanistically connected to C/EBPβ and that cross-regulation between C/EBPβ-RUNX1t1-TFF1 plays an important role in gastric carcinogenesis
Chiral-symmetry restoration in the linear sigma model at nonzero temperature and baryon density
We study the chiral phase transition in the linear sigma model with 2 quark
flavors and colors. One-loop calculations predict a first-order phase
transition at both and . We also discuss the phase diagram
and make a comparison with a thermal parametrization of existing heavy-ion
experimental data.Comment: 12 pages, 6 ps-figures, LaTe
Mycoplasma pneumoniae–Specific IFN-γ–producing CD41 Effector-memory T cells correlate with pulmonary disease
- …