Sensitization of spinal cord nociceptive neurons with a conjugate of substance P and cholera toxin

Background  

Several investigators have coupled toxins to neuropeptides for the purpose of lesioning specific neurons in the central nervous system. By producing deficits in function these toxin conjugates have yielded valuable information about the role of these cells. In an effort to specifically stimulate cells rather than kill them we have conjugated the neuropeptide substance P to the catalytic subunit of cholera toxin (SP-CTA). This conjugate should be taken up selectively by neurokinin receptor expressing neurons resulting in enhanced adenylate cyclase activity and neuronal firing.     

Homogenization of magneto-electro-elastic multilaminated materials

In this work, based on the periodic unfolding homogenizationtechnique, the limiting equations modelling the behaviour ofthree-dimensional magneto-electro-elastic periodic structuresare rigorously established. The local problems and the correspondinghomogenized coefficients of the elastic, dielectric, magneticpermittivity, piezoelectric, piezomagnetic and magneto-electric(ME) tensors are explicitly described. The homogenization modelis exemplified for laminated composites and a unified generalformula for all effective properties of periodic multilaminatedmagneto-electro-elastic composites is obtained. This formulais applied to investigate the global behaviour for the importantcase of transversely isotropic constituents and any finite numberof layers in each periodic cell. Examples that provide theoreticalevidence of the presence of both a product property and theME effect are given.     

On continuation of inviscid vortex patches

This investigation concerns solutions of the steady-state Euler equations in two dimensions featuring finite area regions with constant vorticity embedded in a potential flow. Using elementary methods of the functional analysis we derive precise conditions under which such solutions can be uniquely continued with respect to their parameters, valid also in the presence of the Kutta condition concerning a fixed separation point. Our approach is based on the Implicit Function Theorem and perturbation equations derived using shape-differentiation methods. These theoretical results are illustrated with careful numerical computations carried out using the Steklov–Poincaré method which show the existence of a global manifold of solutions connecting the point vortex and the Prandtl–Batchelor solution, each of which satisfies the Kutta condition.     

On Time Asymmetry and History in an Everett Quantum World

It is usually held that the standard collapse model of a quantum measurement process grounds a kind of fundamental time asymmetry. The question whether and how it should be possible to reconstruct uniquely one's own history in an Everett no-collapse interpretation of quantum theory is investigated. A particular approach to the Everett interpretation, due to John S. Bell, is considered, according to which one of the chief claims of the Everett quantum theory is precisely that it allows us to do without the notion of history.     

The effect of N-tetradecyl-N,N-dimethylamine oxide micelles on the kinetics of the electron transfer reaction of Ce(IV) with substituted malonic acids

The kinetics of the oxidation of malonic acid and (its substituted compounds, methyl-, ethyl-, butyl- and benzyl-malonic acid) by ceric ions has been studied at 20.0 °C in the absence and the presence of the surfactant N-tetradecyl-N,N-dimethylamine oxide (C₁₄DMAO). The addition of increasing amounts of C₁₄DMAO influences the rate of the redox process to an extent that significantly depends on the hydrophobicity of the reducing species. The reactivity data together with the estimated binding constants and the standard transfer free energies of the malonic acids from water to the micelles suggest that the malonic acid is confined to the aqueous pseudo-phase while for the other solutes the binding occurs in the palisade layer of micelles.     

Universality in two‐dimensional enhancement percolation

We consider a type of dependent percolation introduced in 2 , where it is shown that certain “enhancements” of independent (Bernoulli) percolation, called essential, make the percolation critical probability strictly smaller. In this study we first prove that, for two‐dimensional enhancements with a natural monotonicity property, being essential is also a necessary condition to shift the critical point. We then show that (some) critical exponents and the scaling limit of crossing probabilities of a two‐dimensional percolation process are unchanged if the process is subjected to a monotonic enhancement that is not essential. This proves a form of universality for all dependent percolation models obtained via a monotonic enhancement (of Bernoulli percolation) that does not shift the critical point. For the case of site percolation on the triangular lattice, we also prove a stronger form of universality by showing that the full scaling limit 12 , 13 is not affected by any monotonic enhancement that does not shift the critical point. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2008     

Potential,value, and coalition formation

In this paper, a simple probabilistic model of coalition formation provides a unified interpretation for several extensions of the Shapley value. Weighted Shapley values, semivalues, weak (weighted or not) semivalues, and the Shapley value itself appear as variations of this model. Moreover, some notions that have been introduced in the search of alternatives to Shapley’s seminal characterization, as ‘balanced contributions’ and the ‘potential’ are reinterpreted from this point of view. Natural relationships of these conditions with some mentioned families of ‘values’ are shown. These reinterpretations strongly suggest that these conditions are more naturally interpreted in terms of coalition formation than in terms of the classical notion of ‘value.’      

Spectrum Slicing for Multiple Access Channels with Heterogeneous Services

Wireless mobile networks from the fifth generation (5G) and beyond serve as platforms for flexible support of heterogeneous traffic types with diverse performance requirements. In particular, the broadband services aim for the traditional rate optimization, while the time-sensitive services aim for the optimization of latency and reliability, and some novel metrics such as Age of Information (AoI). In such settings, the key question is the one of spectrum slicing: how these services share the same chunk of available spectrum while meeting the heterogeneous requirements. In this work we investigated the two canonical frameworks for spectrum sharing, Orthogonal Multiple Access (OMA) and Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA), in a simple, but insightful setup with a single time-slotted shared frequency channel, involving one broadband user, aiming to maximize throughput and using packet-level coding to protect its transmissions from noise and interference, and several intermittent users, aiming to either to improve their latency-reliability performance or to minimize their AoI. We analytically assessed the performances of Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and ALOHA-based schemes in both OMA and NOMA frameworks by deriving their Pareto regions and the corresponding optimal values of their parameters. Our results show that NOMA can outperform traditional OMA in latency-reliability oriented systems in most conditions, but OMA performs slightly better in age-oriented systems.     

Determination of surface ζ‐potential and isoelectric point of carbon surfaces using tracer particle suspensions

Carbon materials are widely used in a range of applications from biomaterials to sensing and electronics. Many of these applications rely on the ability to control carbon/water interfacial properties, in particular, surface charge density. This work reports a study of the electrokinetic properties of amorphous carbon thin films as a function of pH and surface chemistry. Surface ζ‐potential (SZP) and isoelectric point were determined using the tracer particle method. Initially, the use of sulfonated and amine‐terminated latex bead suspensions as tracer particles for the determination of SZP of reference polymer surfaces was validated. The tracer particle method was then applied to the determination of SZP and isoelectric point of macroscopic carbon surfaces with different surface chemistry. Highly graphitic and sp³‐rich hydrogenated carbon surfaces were found to display negative SZP, as expected for hydrophobic surfaces. The isoelectric point of the most highly graphitic surface was found to be pH_iso = 3.7. Surface oxidation of these films resulted in a decrease of SZP at all pH values and in a downshift of pH_iso to values lower than 1.5, consistently with the presence of surface acidic groups arising from oxidation. Results indicate that the specific choice of acid/base chemistry for the tracer particles does not significantly affect either SZP or pH_iso determinations. These results show that the tracer particle method in combination with widely available latex beads as tracers can be applied for the determination of carbon SZP as a function of pH. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.