bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Transition of young adults with phenylketonuria from pediatric to adult care
Authors: Mütze Ulrike , Roth Annika , Weigel Johannes F. W. , Beblo Skadi , Baerwald Christoph G. , Bührdel Peter , Kiess Wieland
Published: February 2011

Background

Transition from pediatric to adult health care is a particularly vulnerable period for patients with inborn metabolic diseases. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the current transition situation of patients with phenylketonuria (PKU) in Leipzig, Germany, by analysis of the medical care, metabolic control, patients’ satisfaction, socio‐economic and psychosocial status, in order to identify areas of weakness and potential improvement.

Methods

Patients who had been transferred from pediatric to adult medical care between 2005 and 2008 were identified. An interview was performed using a questionnaire. Pediatric case notes and the present physician's case notes were analyzed retrospectively. Socio‐demographic data were compared to data derived from the annual statistics of the city of Leipzig, Germany in 2008.

Results

seventy two transferred patients were identified and included in the study, 48 patients responded to the questionnaire, the data of 24 non‐responders were analysed retrospectively. About 90% of the responding patients with PKU were satisfied with the current transition situation. However, they agreed to several suggestions of improvement. Most specifically an interdisciplinary appointment before the definite transfer to the adult clinics was asked for. At the time of transition, most of the patients were in good metabolic control according to current treatment guidelines (median dried blood phenylalanine concentration 853 μmol/l before versus 690 μmol/l after transition). Of the interviewed patients 92% were still on a low phenylalanine diet in combination with the intake of a phenylalanine free amino acid mixture. Of the interviewees 77% carried a secondary school certificate or a secondary modern school qualification, but only 19% had achieved senior high school diploma (controls 38.2%). Marital status was comparable with the population of Leipzig. However, fewer patients with PKU had children (15% versus 37%).

Conclusion

Transition of patients with PKU from pediatric to adult care seems to be successful in Leipzig. Patients were mostly satisfied with the transition situation. Still, some suggestions for improvements appeared to be desirable. During transition medical care and metabolic control were stable. However, with regard to psychosocial and socioeconomic data differences to the control population were detected.
Dietary n‐3 Fatty Acid Deficiency in Mice Enhances Anxiety Induced by Chronic Mild Stress
Authors: Harauma Akiko , Moriguchi Toru
Published: February 2011

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), is the major polyunsaturated fatty acid in the brain and is important for both the structure and the function of the nervous system. Mice were fed either an n‐3 fatty acid deficient (n‐3 Def) or adequate (n‐3 Adq) diet for two generations. The mice were housed under two conditions, as a group or in isolation and the major point of the study was to determine whether n‐3 fatty acid deficiency would enhance isolation‐induced anxiety. Isolation stress was assessed using the novelty suppressed feeding paradigm (NSF) after a 3‐week period and the test lasted a maximal duration of 10 min. The number of successful mice consuming food pellets within 5 min in the n‐3 Def diet group was low in both housing conditions (group housing, 33% and isolated, 30%), but was 92% in the group housed and 50% in the isolated group when fed the n‐3 Adq diet. In the subsequent 5 min period, the isolated housing group consuming the n‐3 Adq diet increased up to 79% and the group housed animals fed the n‐3 Def diet increased to 67%. However, those that consumed the n‐3 deficient diet combined with isolation stress exhibited no increase. These results suggested that the n‐3 deficient mice had increased anxiety that was enhanced by the chronic mild stress of social isolation.
Improved Methods for the Fatty Acid Analysis of Blood Lipid Classes
Authors: Ichihara Ken'ichi , Yoneda Kumiko , Takahashi Ayuko , Hoshino Noriko , Matsuda Motoyoshi
Published: February 2011

Two improved methods have been developed for preparation of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) from major O‐ester lipid classes in blood, i.e., cholesterol ester, triacylglycerol, and glycerophospholipids. The methods involve simple operations, and use neither harmful solvents such as chloroform or benzene nor highly reactive volatile reagents such as acetyl chloride. The FAME synthesis reaction proceeds under mild temperature conditions. The methods include (1) extraction of lipids from 0.2 ml of blood with 0.2 ml of tert‐butyl methyl ether and 0.1 ml of methanol, (2) separation of the total lipids into lipid classes using a solid‐phase extraction column or thin‐layer chromatography, and (3) methanolysis of each lipid class at room temperature or at 45 °C. In all the operations, solvent concentration is performed only once prior to gas–liquid chromatography (GC). No noticeable differences in composition determined by GC have been found between FAME prepared by the present methods and those prepared by a conventional method involving lipid extraction with chloroform/methanol. The mild reaction and simplified procedures of the present methods enabled safe and reproducible analysis of the fatty acid compositions of the major ester‐lipid classes in blood.
Investigating Some Physicochemical Properties and Fatty Acid Composition of Native Black Mulberry (Morus nigra L.) Seed Oil
Authors: Gecgel Umit , Velioglu Serap Durakli , Velioglu Hasan Murat
Published: February 2011

The physicochemical properties of seed and seed oil obtained from the native black mulberry (Morus nigra L.) were investigated in 2008 and 2009. The results showed that the seed consisted of 27.5–33% crude oil, 20.2–22.5% crude protein, 3.5–6% ash, 42.4–46.6% carbohydrate and 112.2–152.0 mg total phenolics/100 g. Twenty different fatty acids were determined, with the percentages varying from 0.02% myristic acid (C14:0) to 78.7% linoleic acid (C18:2). According to the GC analysis of fatty acid methyl esters, linoleic acid (C18:2), followed by palmitic acid (C16:0), oleic acid (C18:1) and stearic acid (C18:0) were the major fatty acids, which together comprised approximately 97% of the total identified fatty acids. High C18:2 content (average 73.7%) proved that the black mulberry seed oil is a good source of the essential fatty acid, linoleic acid. Linolenic acid (C18:3) was also found in a relatively lower amount (0.3–0.5%). The α‐tocopherol content was found to be between 0.17 and 0.20 mg in 100 g seed oil. The main sterols in the mulberry seed oil were β‐sitosterol, Δ5‐avenasterol, Δ5, 23‐stigmastadienol, clerosterol, sitosterol and Δ5, 24‐stigmastadienol. The present study stated that the native black mulberry seed oil can be used as a nutritional dietary substance and has great usage potential.
Relational and social‐cognitive correlates of early adolescents’ forgiveness of parents
Authors: Christensen Katherine J. , Padilla‐Walker Laura M. , Busby Dean M. , Hardy Sam A. , Day Randal D.
Published: February 2011

This study examined how mother and father–child relationship quality and marital forgiveness were related to early adolescents’ forgiveness of mothers and fathers. Adolescents’ social‐cognitive skills (empathy and emotional regulation) and parents’ forgiveness of child were examined as mediators. Mother, father, and child self‐reported questionnaires and observational data were taken from Time 1 and Time 3 (two years later) of the Flourishing Families Project, and included 334 two‐parent families with an early adolescent (M age at Time 1 = 11.24; 51% male; 76% Caucasian). Using path analyses via structure equation modeling, mother–child relationship quality and adolescents’ own social‐cognitive skills were salient correlates of adolescents’ forgiveness toward parents. The unique contributions of mothers and fathers, differences by reporter, and the importance of studying forgiveness within the parent–child relationship are discussed.
Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Diagnostic Interview for Depressive Personality
Authors: Irastorza L.J. , Rojano P. , Gonzalez-Salvador T. , Cotobal J. , Leira M. , Rojas C. , Rubio G. , Rodríguez-Rieiro C. , Bellon J.M. , Alvarez M. , Rodríguez C. , Arango C.
Published: February 2011

The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Spanish-language version of the Diagnostic Interview for Depressive Personality (DIDP). The DIDP was administered to 328 consecutive outpatients and the test–retest and inter-rater reliability were assessed. Factor analysis was used in search of factors capable of explaining the scale and a cutoff point was established. The DIDP scales showed adequate Cronbach'sαvalues and acceptable test–retest and inter-rater reliability coefficients. Convergent and discriminant validity were explored, the latter with respect to avoidant and borderline personality disorders. The results of the factor analysis were consistent with the four-factor structure of the DIDP scales. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed the area under the curve to be 0.848. We found 30 to be a good cutoff point, with a sensitivity of 74.5% and a specificity of 78.5%. The DIDP proved to be a reliable and valid instrument for assessing depressive personality disorder, at least among our outpatients. The psychometric properties of the DIDP support its clinical usefulness in assessing depressive personality.
Perceived negative attitude of others predicts transition to psychosis in patients at risk of psychosis
Authors: Salokangas R.K.R. , Patterson P. , Heinimaa M. , Svirskis T. , From T. , Vaskelainen L. , Klosterkötter J. , Ruhrmann S. , von Reventlow H.G. , Juckel G. , Linszen D. , Dingemans P. , Birchwood M. ,   the EPOS Group
Published: February 2011

Aim

Our previous study (Salokangas et al., 2009) suggested that the subjective experience of negative attitude of others (NAO) towards oneself is an early indicator of psychotic development. The aim of this prospective follow-up study was to test this hypothesis.

Methods

A total of 55 young psychiatric outpatients assessed as being at current risk of psychosis (CROP) were followed for up to 60 months and rates of transition to psychosis (TTP) identified. CROP was assessed employing the Bonn Scale for assessment of basic symptoms (Schultze-Lutter and Klosterkötter, 2002) and the Structured Interview for prodromal symptoms (Miller et al., 2002). TTP was defined by a psychotic episode lasting for more than one week. Associations between NAO at baseline and TTP were analyzed by a Cox regression survival analysis.

Results

Eight (14.5%) TTP were identified: four (57.1%) within seven NAO patients and four (8.7%) within forty-six non-NAO patients. In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, NAO at baseline significantly (P = 0.007) predicted TTP.

Conclusion

The prospective follow-up results support our hypothesis that subjective experience of NAO is an early indicator of psychotic in development.
Use of psychiatric inpatient services by heavy users: Findings from a national survey in Italy
Authors: Morlino M. , Calento A. , Schiavone V. , Santone G. , Picardi A. , de Girolamo G. ,   for the PROGRES-Acute group
Published: February 2011

Purpose

To analyze factors associated with a patient's probability of being a Heavy User (HU) of inpatient psychiatric services and to compare the HU inpatient population with Non-Heavy Users (NHUs).

Patients and methods

The survey was conducted among inpatients enrolled in the PROGRES-Acute-project, an Italian nationwide survey of public and private inpatient facilities. Patients with three or more admissions over the last 12 months were considered HUs, and patients who had undergone one or two admissions during the same period made up the NHU group.

Results

Four hundred and thirty-five (40.5%) were HUs, and 640 (59.5%) NHUs. HUs were younger, more frequently unmarried, unemployed, receiving a disability-pension, and either homeless or living in a residential facility. HUs were more likely to have experienced conflicts with their partners or family members during the week prior to admission. A logistic regression analysis revealed that age, age at first admission, number of life-time admissions, and having been the victim of violence were the most important predictive factors for the HU phenomenon.

Conclusion

Our study suggests that specific attention should be given to patients’ family context, due to its crucial role in daily informal care and in the triggering of events leading to rehospitalization.
Variation in use of coercive measures in psychiatric hospitals
Authors: Lay B. , Nordt C. , Rössler W.
Published: February 2011

Purpose

The use of coercive measures in psychiatry is still poorly understood. Most empirical research has been limited to compulsory admission and to risk factors on an individual patient level. This study addresses three coercive measures and the role of predictive factors at both patient and institutional levels.

Methods

Using the central psychiatric register that covers all psychiatric hospitals in Canton Zurich (1.3 million people), Switzerland, we traced all inpatients in 2007 aged 18–70 (n = 9698). We used GEE models to analyse variation in rates between psychiatric hospitals.

Results

Overall, we found quotas of 24.8% involuntary admissions, 6.4% seclusion/restraint and 4.2% coerced medication. Results suggest that the kind and severity of mental illness are the most important risk factors for being subjected to any form of coercion. Variation across the six psychiatric hospitals was high, even after accounting for risk factors on the patient level suggesting that centre effects are an important source of variability. However, effects of the hospital characteristics ‘size of the hospital’, ‘length of inpatient stay’, and ‘work load of the nursing staff’ were only weak (‘bed occupancy rate’ was not statistically significant).

Conclusion

The significant variation in use of coercive measures across psychiatric hospitals needs further study.
Advertising: Stimulant or Suppressant of Online Word of Mouth?
Authors: Feng Jie , Papatla Purushottam
Published: February 2011

Word of mouth by consumers is attracting increased attention from marketing scholars because of findings that it can affect brand perceptions and sales. There is limited empirical research, however, on the stimulants of consumer word of mouth. An assumption in the literature has been that increased advertising can also stimulate consumer word of mouth and, hence, complement the effects of advertising. We present arguments for why increased advertising may be associated with reductions in online word of mouth. We empirically test this possibility on online word of mouth in the auto industry. Our results suggest that increased advertising can, indeed, be associated with reductions in online consumer word of mouth.
Prognostic value of TNM stage and tumor necrosis for renal cell carcinoma
Authors: Chang Ying‐Hsu , Chuang Cheng‐Keng , Pang See‐Tong , Wu Chun‐Te , Chuang Kun‐Lung , Chuang Heng‐Chang , Liao Shuen‐Kuei
Published: February 2011

Our objective was to assess the value of tumor necrosis and other factors for predicting the outcome of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Our study comprised 328 RCC patients who were surgically treated at this hospital between 2001 and 2006. The five‐year survival data was analyzed using a Kaplan‐Meier statistical analysis. The prognostic factors were evaluated with a univariate analysis using a log‐rank test and multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazards regression method. The mean follow‐up period for these patients was 46.5 months (median 45.2 months). The univariate analysis revealed that age, tumor stage, TNM stage, grade, tumor necrosis, and histological type were statistically significant prognostic factors. The multivariate analysis showed that the TNM stage and tumor necrosis were the most important predictive factors in the patients' overall survival. In the TNM stage with and without tumor necrosis, the five‐year overall survival rates in stages I + II were 80.5% and 89.2%, respectively (p = 0.115), where as the five‐year survival rates in stages III + IV were 32.7% and 84.0%, respectively (p < 0.001). Collectively, our present data revealed that tumor necrosis was an important predictive factor for survival in advanced stage RCC. In conclusion, both the TNM stage and tumor necrosis provided the most important prognostic factors of survival in RCC. Tumor necrosis proved to be a poor prognostic factor in advanced RCCs.
Vetting the Advocacy Agenda: Network Centrality and the Paradox of Weapons Norms
Authors: Carpenter R. Charli
Published: February 2011

While a number of significant campaigns since the early 1990s have resulted in bans of particular weapons, at least as many equivalent systems have gone unscrutinized and uncondemned by transnational campaigners. How can this variation be explained? Focusing on the issue area of arms control advocacy, this article argues that an important influence on the advocacy agenda within transnational networks is the decision-making process not of norm entrepreneurs nor of states but of highly connected organizations within a given network. The argument is illustrated through a comparison between existing norms against landmines and blinding laser weapons, and the absence of serious current consideration of such norms against depleted uranium and autonomous weapons. Thus, the process of organizational issue selection within nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and international organizations (IOs) most central to particular advocacy networks, rather than the existence of transnational networks around an issue per se, should be a closer focus of attention for scholars interested in norm creation in world politics.
Flow field around a vibrating cantilever: coherent structure eduction by continuous wavelet transform and proper orthogonal decomposition
Authors: KIM Y.-H. , CIERPKA C. , WERELEY S. T.
Published: February 2011

The velocity field around a vibrating cantilever plate was experimentally investigated using phase-locked particle image velocimetry. Experiments were performed at Reynolds numbers of Reh = 101, 126 and 146 based on the tip amplitude and the speed of the cantilever. The averaged vector fields indicate a pseudo-jet flow, which is dominated by vortical structures. These vortical structures are identified and characterized using the continuous wavelet transform. Three-dimensional flow features are also clearly revealed by this technique. Furthermore, proper orthogonal decomposition was used to investigate regions of vortex production and breakdown. The results show clearly that the investigation of phase-averaged data hides several key flow features. Careful data post-processing is therefore necessary to investigate the flow around the vibrating cantilever and similar highly transient periodic flows.
PROFESSOR OWEN MARTIN PHILLIPS 30 December 1930–12 October 2010
Authors: Turner Stewart
Published: February 2011

Owen Phillips grew up in Sydney, Australia, and following a distinguished record at a State high school and in the final NSW school examinations, he enrolled in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney in 1948. In the third year, he transferred to the Faculty of Science to do more advanced courses in Mathematics and Physics (with the idea of going back to Engineering after one year and qualifying for a Science degree on the way). Owen did so well, however, that he went on to do a fourth year in Mathematics and graduated with First Class Honours.
Increased blastocyst formation of cloned porcine embryos produced with donor cells pre-treated with Xenopus egg extract and/or digitonin
Authors: Liu Ying , Østrup Olga , Li Juan , Vajta Gábor , Lin Lin , Kragh Peter M. , Purup Stig , Hyttel Poul , Callesen Henrik
Published: February 2011

Pre-treating donor cells before somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT, ‘cloning’) may improve the efficiency of the technology. The aim of this study was to evaluate the early development of cloned embryos produced with porcine fibroblasts pre-treated with a permeabilizing agent and extract from Xenopus laevis eggs. In Experiment 1, fetal fibroblasts were permeabilized by digitonin, incubated in egg extract and, after re-sealing of cell membranes, cultured for 3 or 5 days before use as donor cells in handmade cloning (HMC). Controls were produced by HMC with non-treated donor cells. The blastocyst rate for reconstructed embryos increased significantly when digitonin-permeabilized, extract-treated cells were used after 5 days of culture after re-sealing. In Experiment 2, fetal and adult fibroblasts were treated with digitonin alone before re-sealing the cell membranes, then cultured for 3 or 5 days and used as donor cells in HMC. Treatment with digitonin alone increased the blastocyst rate, but only when fetal, and not adult fibroblasts, were used as donor cells, and only after 3 days of culture. In conclusion, we find a time window for increased efficiency of porcine SCNT using donor cells after pre-treatment with permeabilization/re-sealing and Xenopus egg extract. Interestingly, we observe a similar increase in cloning efficiency by permeabilization/re-sealing of donor cells without extract treatment that seems to depend on choice of donor cell type. Thus, pre-treatment of donor cells using permeabilizing treatment followed by re-sealing and in vitro culture for few days could be a simple way to improve the efficiency of porcine cloning.
Post-thaw culture in presence of insulin-like growth factor I improves the quality of cattle cryopreserved embryos
Authors: Makarevich Alexander V. , Kubovičová Elena , Hegedušová Zdena , Pivko Juraj , Louda František
Published: February 2011

The goal of this study was to examine the effect of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I; added during post-thaw culture (48 h)) on the preimplantation viability and quality of cryopreserved bovine in vivo recovered embryos. The morula stage embryos, non-surgically recovered from superovulated dairy cows of Czech Fleckvieh cattle breed, had previously been cryopreserved by a slow freezing technique and stored in liquid nitrogen since 1989–1990. Following thawing, the embryos were cultured for 48 h either alone (no IGF-I) or in the presence of IGF-I (10 or 100 ng/ml); non-cultured embryos served as a control. Thereafter, the embryos were analyzed for cleavage to the blastocyst stage, apoptosis (TUNEL), embryo cell number and quality of actin cytoskeleton. Following post-thaw culture 41% of embryos developed to advanced blastocysts. IGF-I increased this per cent and, at a higher dose, essentially reduced the per cent of degenerated embryos. In cultured embryos, IGF-I at both doses elevated the cell number compared with non-cultured embryos. However, in comparison with embryos cultured without IGF-I, only the higher IGF-I dose resulted in elevating the embryo cell number. The TUNEL index was significantly lowered by IGF-I treatment. Thawed embryos were mostly of the grade III actin type and fewer (12%) had grade II actin, whilst no grade I actin embryos were noted. The addition of IGF-I resulted in the appearance of grade I actin embryos (8.33 and 6.9% for 10 and 100 ng/ml, respectively). These observations indicate that the addition of IGF-I during post-thaw culture can improve the quality of bovine cryopreserved embryos.
Linking reduced deforestation and a global carbon market: implications for clean energy technology and policy flexibility
Authors: BOSETTI VALENTINA , LUBOWSKI RUBEN , GOLUB ALEXANDER , MARKANDYA ANIL
Published: February 2011

This study uses a global climate-energy-economy model to investigate potential implications of linking credits from reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries to a global carbon market, focusing on reducing emissions from deforestation (RED) and effects on energy technology innovation. Integrating RED into a global carbon market lowers the estimated total costs of a policy to achieve 535 ppmv of CO2-equivalent concentrations in 2100 by up to 25 per cent. Alternatively, a global RED program could enable additional reductions of about 20 ppmv by 2100 with no added costs compared with an energy-sector-only policy. The results indicate that market linkage of RED induces modest reductions in clean energy innovation overall but slightly enhances development of particular technologies, including carbon capture and storage. We also find that RED in combination with credit banking encourages greater mitigation in the near term, enhancing flexibility to potentially tighten emission targets at lower cost in response to future information.
Institutional change and economic development: concepts, theory and political economy
Authors: DUTT AMITAVA KRISHNA
Published: February 2011

This article complements Ha-Joon Chang's critique, entitled ‘Institutions and Economic Development: Theory, Policy and History’, of the ‘dominant discourse’ on institutions and economic development which takes the view that getting the institutions right (by strengthening private property rights and market freedoms) is a prerequisite for development. It does so by commenting on the concepts of economic development and institutions, discussing the theory of how institutional change affects development, and examining the possibility and desirability of such institutional change as a prerequisite of development.
Alcohol Pathophysiology
Authors: Tomberg Claude
Published: February 2011

There is no specialized alcohol addiction area in the brain; rather, alcohol acts on a wide range of excitatory and inhibitory nervous networks to modulate neurotransmitters actions by binding with and altering the function of specific proteins. With no hemato-encephalic barrier for alcohol, its actions are strongly related to the amount of intake. Heavy alcohol intake is associated with both structural and functional changes in the central nervous system with long-term neuronal adaptive changes contributing to the phenomena of tolerance and withdrawal. The effects of alcohol on the function of neuronal networks are heterogeneous. Because ethanol affects neural activity in some brain sites but is without effect in others, its actions are analyzed in terms of integrated connectivities in the functional circuitry of neuronal networks, which are of particular interest because of the cognitive interactions discussed in the manuscripts contributing to this review. Recent molecular data are reviewed as a support for the other contributions dealing with cognitive disturbances related to alcohol acute and addicted consumption.
Cognitive Event-Related Potentials and Alcoholism
Authors: Campanella Salvatore , Noël Xavier , Tomberg Claude
Published: February 2011

The discipline of neuropsychiatry tries to bridge the gap between neurology and psychiatry in order to gain insight into the biological bases of psychiatric disorders. A principal tool is electrophysiological assessments, as, for instance, event-related potentials (ERPs). In this paper, we will review the current main findings concerning the status of cognitive ERPs in a specific psychiatric disease, i.e., chronic alcoholism. First, delayed P300 latency and reduced P300 amplitude are a common and robust finding in chronic alcoholics. Our aim will be to insert this empirical finding into the growing knowledge of molecular actions of alcohol and genetic patterns of alcohol dependence together with a more precise identification of alcohol-influenced neuronal and psychopathological processes. We will show how this may help us to reach a better understanding of this pathology. Second, an important set of data also pointed out that earlier ERP components, such as the N100, the mismatch negativity (MMN), the P100, and the N170, were also affected by chronic consumption of alcohol. Therefore, as the entire information-processing system seemed to be altered, these results deserved to be discussed, at least concerning their main clinical implications. Finally, although long term consequences of alcohol abuse have been extensively described, little is known about the detrimental effect on neural and cognitive processes of massive alcohol intake over a short period of time (e.g., binge drinking). Recent data on this new and challenging issue will be outlined.
The Acute Effect of Alcohol on Various Memory Processes
Authors: Molnár Márk , Boha Roland , Czigler Balázs , Gaál Zsófia Anna
Published: February 2011

This review surveys relevant and recent data of the pertinent literature regarding the acute effect of alcohol on various kinds of memory processes with special emphasis on working memory. The characteristics of different types of long-term memory (LTM) and short-term memory (STM) processes are summarized with an attempt to relate these to various structures in the brain. LTM is typically impaired by chronic alcohol intake but according to some data a single dose of ethanol may have long lasting effects if administered at a critically important age. The most commonly seen deleterious acute effect of alcohol to STM appears following large doses of ethanol in conditions of “binge drinking” causing the “blackout” phenomenon. However, with the application of various techniques and well-structured behavioral paradigms it is possible to detect, albeit occasionally, subtle changes of cognitive processes even as a result of a low dose of alcohol. These data may be important for the consideration of legal consequences of low-dose ethanol intake in conditions such as driving, etc.
From vaccine practice to vaccine science: the contribution of human immunology to the prevention of infectious disease
Authors: Mortellaro Alessandra , Ricciardi‐Castagnoli Paola
Published: February 2011

Over the past 50 years, the practice of vaccination has reached the important goal of reducing many of the diseases that afflicted humanity in past centuries. A better understanding of immunological mechanisms underlying the induction of immune protection and the advent of new technology led to improved vaccine preparations based on purified microbial antigens and new adjuvants able to boost both humoral and cellular immune responses. Despite these tremendous advances, much remains to be done. The emergence of new pathogens, the spread of strains resistant to antibiotics and the enormous increase in latent infections are urgently demanding more and more effective vaccines. Understanding the immunological mechanisms that mediate resistance against infections would certainly provide valuable information for the design of new candidate vaccines.
Assessment of the ΔSCF density functional theory approach for electronic excitations in organic dyes
Authors: Kowalczyk Tim , Yost Shane R. , Voorhis Troy Van
Published: February 2011

This paper assesses the accuracy of the ΔSCF method for computing low-lying HOMO→LUMO transitions in organic dye molecules. For a test set of vertical excitation energies of 16 chromophores, surprisingly similar accuracy is observed for time-dependent density functional theory and for ΔSCF density functional theory. In light of this performance, we reconsider the ad hoc ΔSCF prescription and demonstrate that it formally obtains the exact stationary density within the adiabatic approximation, partially justifying its use. The relative merits and future prospects of ΔSCF for simulating individual excited states are discussed.
Topological similarities in electrical and hydrological drainage networks
Authors: Soni Vishal H. , Ketisch Pia M. , Rodríguez Juan D. , Shpunt Alexander , Hübler Alfred W.
Published: February 2011

Under an electric field, spherical conducting particles in a dielectric liquid assemble into a dendritic tree in order to dissipate charge. Several topological measures characterize such networks, including degree distributions, Strahler numbers, and total external pathlengths. Here, scaling laws relating these measures to the number of nodes in the system are presented and shown to match diffusion limited aggregation (DLA) structures. Experimental bifurcation and stream-length ratios in this easily reproducible laboratory experiment are found to agree with DLA simulations and Horton’s laws for river networks. Certain scaling relations in transportation networks are known to originate from general features of networks. Here we find the experimental structures share properties with hydrological drainage networks.
Self-consistent equations governing the dynamics of nonequilibrium colloidal systems
Authors: Zhao Shuang-Liang , Wu Jianzhong
Published: February 2011

A self-consistent theoretical procedure is proposed to derive the governing equations for the dynamic properties of nonequilibrium colloidal systems within the framework of the probability theory. Unlike alternative methods in the literature, the self-consistent procedure completely decouples dynamic variables from thermodynamic functions introduced for equilibrium systems. The intrinsic characteristics of a nonequilibrium system is described by the one-body temporal- and spatial-dependent dynamic variables, including the particle density profile, the local momentum, the kinetic energy or dynamic temperature, and by various forms of the two-body position and momentum correlation functions. Within appropriate constraints related to the initial/boundary conditions of a nonequilibrium system, the governing equations for the time evolution of these dynamic functions are obtained by maximizing the information entropy, i.e., the time-evolution equations for the dynamic variables correspond to a probability distribution in the reduced phase space that best represents the known information. It is shown that the dynamic equations are in parallel to and fully consistent with the statistical description of equilibrium systems. With certain assumptions, the self-consistent procedure can be reduced to various conventional theories of nonequilibrium processes.
Adaptive temperature-accelerated dynamics
Authors: Shim Yunsic , Amar Jacques G.
Published: February 2011

We present three adaptive methods for optimizing the high temperature Thigh on-the-fly in temperature-accelerated dynamics (TAD) simulations. In all three methods, the high temperature is adjusted periodically in order to maximize the performance. While in the first two methods the adjustment depends on the number of observed events, the third method depends on the minimum activation barrier observed so far and requires an a priori knowledge of the optimal high temperature $T^{\rm {opt}}_{\rm {high}}(E_a)$T high opt (Ea) as a function of the activation barrier Ea for each accepted event. In order to determine the functional form of $T^{\rm {opt}}_{\rm {high}}(E_a)$T high opt (Ea), we have carried out extensive simulations of submonolayer annealing on the (100) surface for a variety of metals (Ag, Cu, Ni, Pd, and Au). While the results for all five metals are different, when they are scaled with the melting temperature Tm, we find that they all lie on a single scaling curve. Similar results have also been obtained for (111) surfaces although in this case the scaling function is slightly different. In order to test the performance of all three methods, we have also carried out adaptive TAD simulations of Ag/Ag(100) annealing and growth at T = 80 K and compared with fixed high-temperature TAD simulations for different values of Thigh. We find that the performance of all three adaptive methods is typically as good as or better than that obtained in fixed high-temperature TAD simulations carried out using the effective optimal fixed high temperature. In addition, we find that the final high temperatures obtained in our adaptive TAD simulations are very close to our results for $T^{\rm {opt}}_{\rm {high}}(E_a)$T high opt (Ea). The applicability of the adaptive methods to a variety of TAD simulations is also briefly discussed.
The effect of interelement dipole coupling in patterned ultrathin single crystal Fe square arrays
Authors: Sun Li , Wong Pingkwanj , Zhang Wen , Zou Xiao , Luo Linqiang , Zhai Ya , Wu Jing , Xu Yongbing , Zhai Hongru
Published: February 2011

The correlation between the magnetic properties and the interelement separation in patterned arrays of ultrathin single crystal Fe films of 12 monolayers (ML) grown on GaAs(100) has been studied. The critical condition to form single domain remanent states in the square elements was found to be 10 μm in size and 20 μm for the interelement separation. The coercivity was also found to increase with the increasing interelement separation in the patterned arrays. These results are attributed to the competition between the large in-plane uniaxial anisotropy, the demagnetizing field, and interelement dipole coupling as determined semiqualitatively by the ferromagnetic resonance measurements.
Amplified spontaneous emission from core and shell transitions in CdSe/CdS nanorods fabricated by seeded growth
Authors: Krahne Roman , Zavelani-Rossi Margherita , Lupo Maria Grazia , Manna Liberato , Lanzani Guglielmo
Published: February 2011

We studied the optical properties of core-shell CdSe/CdS nanorods with various lengths and core diameters that were fabricated by wet chemical synthesis using the seeded growth method. We investigated the optical emission from thin films consisting of dense nanorod arrays, where we observed amplified spontaneous emission from states related either to the CdSe core or to the CdS shell depending on the nanorod’s length. The optical gain of the nanorods was studied by transient absorption experiments and we found optical gain for the core and shell states of short rods, whereas for long rods, the optical gain of the core was quenched by defect states and we observed optical gain solely from the states of the shell material.
Dynamic (hyper)polarizabilities of the ozone molecule: Coupled cluster calculations including vibrational corrections
Authors: Naves Emílio S. , Castro Marcos A. , Fonseca Tertius L.
Published: February 2011

In this work, we present results for dynamical (hyper)polarizabilities of the ozone molecule with inclusion of vibrational corrections. Electronic contributions for dynamic properties were computed analytically at the single and double coupled cluster level through response theories for the frequencies 0, 0.0239, 0.0428, and 0.0656 hartree. In the static limit, the electronic contributions were also computed at the single and double coupled cluster with perturbative correction of connected triple excitations level by means of the finite-field method. It was found that the inclusion of connected triple excitations is important, especially for a reliable description of the hyperpolarizabilities. Vibrational corrections were calculated by means of the perturbation theoretical method. The zero-point vibrational average correction was found to be relevant only for the linear polarizability, representing approximately 8% of the corresponding electronic contribution. Results also showed that the pure vibrational correction is relevant for the dc-Pockels effect, dc-second harmonic generation, intensity dependent refractive index, and dc-Kerr effect nonlinear optical processes. The double-harmonic approximation is in general suitable to compute this correction, the anharmonicity being small for the dc-Kerr effect and negligible for the other processes.
Freezing of Lennard-Jones-type fluids
Authors: Khrapak Sergey A. , Chaudhuri Manis , Morfill Gregor E.
Published: February 2011

We put forward an approximate method to locate the fluid–solid (freezing) phase transition in systems of classical particles interacting via a wide range of Lennard-Jones-type potentials. This method is based on the constancy of the properly normalized second derivative of the interaction potential (freezing indicator) along the freezing curve. As demonstrated recently it yields remarkably good agreement with previous numerical simulation studies of the conventional 12-6 Lennard-Jones (LJ) fluid [S. A. Khrapak, M. Chaudhuri, G. E. Morfill, Phys. Rev. B 134, 052101 (2010)]. In this paper, we test this approach using a wide range of the LJ-type potentials, including LJ n–6 and exp–6 models, and find that it remains sufficiently accurate and reliable in reproducing the corresponding freezing curves, down to the triple-point temperatures. One of the possible application of the method—estimation of the freezing conditions in complex (dusty) plasmas with “tunable” interactions—is briefly discussed.
Dynamics of two coupled vortices in a spin valve nanopillar excited by spin transfer torque
Authors: Locatelli N. , Naletov V. V. , Grollier J. , de Loubens G. , Cros V. , Deranlot C. , Ulysse C. , Faini G. , Klein O. , Fert A.
Published: February 2011

We investigate the dynamics of two coupled vortices driven by spin transfer. We are able to independently control with current and perpendicular field and to detect the respective chiralities and polarities of the two vortices. For current densities above J=5.7×107 A/cm2, a highly coherent signal (linewidth down to 46 kHz) can be observed, with a strong dependence on the relative polarities of the vortices. It demonstrates the interest of using coupled dynamics in order to increase the coherence of the microwave signal. Emissions exhibit a linear frequency evolution with perpendicular field, with coherence conserved even at zero magnetic field.
Electroluminescence from amorphous-SiNx:H/SiO2 multilayers using lateral carrier injection
Authors: Kamyab L. , Rusli  , Yu M. B. , Ding L. , Lo G.-Q.
Published: February 2011

We report the observation of photoluminescence and electroluminescence from amorphous-SiNx:H/SiO2 multilayer structures. An effective method of current injection has been implemented for electrical excitation of these structures whereby the electric field is applied parallel to the plane of the multilayers. Compared to conventional electrical injection with current flowing normal to the plane of multilayers, this method has greatly improved the current density. Such structures are promising candidate as Si based light source for Si optoelectronics technology.
Metabolic cross-talk allows labeling of O-linked β-
N
-acetylglucosamine-modified proteins via the
N
-acetylgalactosamine salvage pathway
Authors: Boyce Michael , Carrico Isaac S. , Ganguli Anjali S. , Yu Seok-Ho , Hangauer Matthew J. , Hubbard Sarah C. , Kohler Jennifer J. , Bertozzi Carolyn R.
Published: February 2011

Hundreds of mammalian nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins are reversibly glycosylated by O-linked β-
N
-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) to regulate their function, localization, and stability. Despite its broad functional significance, the dynamic and posttranslational nature of O-GlcNAc signaling makes it challenging to study using traditional molecular and cell biological techniques alone. Here, we report that metabolic cross-talk between the
N
-acetylgalactosamine salvage and O-GlcNAcylation pathways can be exploited for the tagging and identification of O-GlcNAcylated proteins. We found that
N
-azidoacetylgalactosamine (GalNAz) is converted by endogenous mammalian biosynthetic enzymes to UDP-GalNAz and then epimerized to UDP-
N
-azidoacetylglucosamine (GlcNAz). O-GlcNAc transferase accepts UDP-GlcNAz as a nucleotide-sugar donor, appending an azidosugar onto its native substrates, which can then be detected by covalent labeling using azide-reactive chemical probes. In a proof-of-principle proteomics experiment, we used metabolic GalNAz labeling of human cells and a bioorthogonal chemical probe to affinity-purify and identify numerous O-GlcNAcylated proteins. Our work provides a blueprint for a wide variety of future chemical approaches to identify, visualize, and characterize dynamic O-GlcNAc signaling.
Deletion of the ubiquitin ligase Nedd4L in lung epithelia causes cystic fibrosis-like disease
Authors: Kimura Toshihiro , Kawabe Hiroshi , Jiang Chong , Zhang Wenbo , Xiang Yun-Yan , Lu Chen , Salter Michael W. , Brose Nils , Lu Wei-Yang , Rotin Daniela
Published: February 2011

Cystic fibrosis is caused by impaired ion transport due to mutated cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, accompanied by elevated activity of the amiloride-sensitive epithelial Na
+
channel (ENaC). Here we show that knockout of the ubiquitin ligase Nedd4L (Nedd4-2) specifically in lung epithelia (surfactant protein C-expressing type II and Clara cells) causes cystic fibrosis-like lung disease, with airway mucus obstruction, goblet cell hyperplasia, massive inflammation, fibrosis, and death by three weeks of age. These effects of Nedd4L loss are likely caused by enhanced ENaC function, as reflected by increased ENaC protein levels, increased lung dryness at birth, amiloride-sensitive dehydration of lung explants, and elevated ENaC currents in primary alveolar type II cells analyzed by patch clamp recordings. Moreover, the lung defects were rescued with administration of amiloride into the lungs of young knockout pups via nasal instillation. Our results therefore suggest that the ubiquitin ligase Nedd4L can suppress the onset of cystic fibrosis symptoms by inhibiting ENaC in lung epithelia.
Skint-1 is a highly specific, unique selecting component for epidermal T cells
Authors: Barbee Susannah D. , Woodward Martin J. , Turchinovich Gleb , Mention Jean-Jacques , Lewis Julia M. , Boyden Lynn M. , Lifton Richard P. , Tigelaar Robert , Hayday Adrian C.
Published: February 2011

αβ T-cell repertoire selection is mediated by peptide–MHC complexes presented by thymic epithelial or myeloid cells, and by lipid–CD1 complexes expressed by thymocytes. γδ T-cell repertoire selection, by contrast, is largely unresolved. Mice mutant for
Skint-1
, a unique Ig superfamily gene, do not develop canonical Vγ5Vδ1
+
dendritic epidermal T cells. This study shows that transgenic
Skint-1
, across a broad range of expression levels, precisely and selectively determines the Vγ5Vδ1
+
dendritic epidermal T-cell compartment.
Skint-1
is expressed by medullary thymic epithelial cells, and unlike lipid–CD1 complexes, must be expressed by stromal cells to function efficiently. Its unusual transmembrane–cytoplasmic regions severely limit cell surface expression, yet increasing this or, conversely, retaining Skint1 intracellularly markedly compromises function. Each Skint1 domain appears nonredundant, including a unique decamer specifying IgV-domain processing. This investigation of
Skint-1
biology points to complex events underpinning the positive selection of an intraepithelial γδ repertoire.
Structural dependence of HET-s amyloid fibril infectivity assessed by cryoelectron microscopy
Authors: Mizuno Naoko , Baxa Ulrich , Steven Alasdair C.
Published: February 2011

HET-s is a prion protein of the fungus
Podospora anserina
which, in the prion state, is active in a self/nonself recognition process called heterokaryon incompatibility. Its prionogenic properties reside in the C-terminal “prion domain.” The HET-s prion domain polymerizes in vitro into amyloid fibrils whose properties depend on the pH of assembly; above pH 3, infectious singlet fibrils are produced, and below pH 3, noninfectious triplet fibrils. To investigate the correlation between structure and infectivity, we performed cryo-EM analyses. Singlet fibrils have a helical pitch of approximately 410 Å and a left-handed twist. Triplet fibrils have three protofibrils whose lateral dimensions (36 × 25 
Å
) and axial packing (one subunit per 9.4 Å) match those of singlets but differ in their supercoiling. At 8.5-Å resolution, the cross-section of the singlet fibril reconstruction is largely consistent with that of a β-solenoid model previously determined by solid-state NMR. Reconstructions of the triplet fibrils show three protofibrils coiling around a common axis and packed less tightly at pH 3 than at pH 2, eventually peeling off. Taken together with the earlier observation that fragmentation of triplet fibrils by sonication does not increase infectivity, these observations suggest a novel mechanism for self-propagation, whereby daughter fibrils nucleate on the lateral surface of singlet fibrils. In triplets, this surface is occluded, blocking nucleation and thereby explaining their lack of infectivity.