Interleukin-6 and procalcitonin in children with sepsis and septic shock

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Comparison between procalcitonin and C-reactive protein for early diagnosis of children with sepsis or septic shock

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Dimorphism, thermal tolerance, virulence and Heat shock protein 70 transcription in different isolates of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis

The mycelia-to-yeast (M-Y) transition, thermal tolerance and virulence profiles were evaluated for nine isolates of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, including samples from two of the three recently discovered cryptic species, as well as their relation to the partial sequence and transcription of the hsp70 gene. The isolates Bt84 and T10 (from PS2 species) took more time to convert to yeast form and presented elongated yeast cells at 36 degrees C. Arthroconidia production was also observed during the M-Y transition for some isolates. Our data confirm that the hsp70 transcription may be associated with thermal tolerance, but this does not seem to be directly related to high virulence profiles. The partial sequencing of this gene allowed the separation of our isolates into two clusters that correspond to the two sympatric cryptic species occurring in an area hyperendemic for PCM (Botucatu, SP, Brazil).

Indigofera suffruticosa Mill as new source of healing agent: Involvement of prostaglandin and mucus and heat shock proteins

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Gastroprotective mechanisms of Citrus lemon (Rutaceae) essential oil and its majority compounds limonene and beta-pinene: Involvement of heat-shock protein-70, vasoactive intestinal peptide, glutathione, sulfhydryl compounds, nitric oxide and prostaglandin E-2

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Involvement of Glutathione, Sulfhydryl Compounds, Nitric Oxide, Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide, and Heat-Shock Protein-70 in the Gastroprotective Mechanism of Croton cajucara Benth. (Euphorbiaceae) Essential Oil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

In situ localization of heat-shock proteins and cell death labelling in the salivary gland of acaricide-treated honeybee larvae

The effects of the acaricides, rotenone and oxalic acid (OA) on salivary glands of honeybee larvae were evaluated. Immunohistochemical methods were used to detect cell death and heat-shock protein (HSP70 and 90) localizations. Heat-shock proteins (HSP70 and 90) were localized in the cytoplasm and/or the nuclei of secretory gland cells, both under stress and in normal conditions. In rotenone-treated larvae, there were no changes in the normal level of cell death and also there were no morphological alterations in the secretory cells. In the larvae treated with oxalic acid, the salivary gland showed varying degrees of morphological cellular alteration and an increase in the cell death level. The present data suggest that stress-induced HSP70 might have an antiapoptotic effect while the stress-induced HSP90 might have a chaperone function in the larval salivary glands.

Mean-field model for Josephson oscillation in a Bose-Einstein condensate on an one-dimensional optical trap

Using the axially-symmetric time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation we study the phase coherence in a repulsive Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) trapped by a harmonic and an one-dimensional optical lattice potential to describe the experiment by Cataliotti et al. on atomic Josephson oscillation [Science 293, 843 (2001)]. The phase coherence is maintained after the BEC is set into oscillation by a small displacement of the magnetic trap along the optical lattice. The phase coherence in the presence of oscillating neutral current across an array of Josephson junctions manifests in an interference pattern formed upon free expansion of the BEC. The numerical response of the system to a large displacement of the magnetic trap is a classical transition from a coherent superfluid to an insulator regime and a subsequent destruction of the interference pattern in agreement With the more recent experiment by Cataliotti et al. [New J. Phys. 5, 71 (2003)].

Dissipationless shock waves in Bose-Einstein condensates with repulsive interaction between atoms

We consider formation of dissipationless shock waves in Bose-Einstein condensates with repulsive interaction between atoms. It is shown that for big enough initial inhomogeneity of density, interplay of nonlinear and dispersion effects leads to wave breaking phenomenon followed by generation of a train of dark solitons. Analytical theory is confirmed by numerical simulations.

Resonance in Bose-Einstein condensate oscillation from a periodic variation in scattering length

Using the explicit numerical solution of the axially symmetric Gross-Pitaevskii equation, we study the oscillation of the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) induced by a periodic variation in the atomic scattering length a. When the frequency of oscillation of a is an even multiple of the radial or axial trap frequency, respectively, the radial or axial oscillation of the condensate exhibits resonance with a novel feature. In this nonlinear problem without damping, at resonance in the steady state the amplitude of oscillation passes through a maximum and minimum. Such a growth and decay cycle of the amplitude may keep on repeating. Similar behaviour is also observed in a rotating BEC.

Josephson oscillation and induced collapse in an attractive Bose-Einstein condensate

Using the axially symmetric time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation we study the Josephson oscillation of an attractive Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a one-dimensional periodic optical-lattice potential. We find that the Josephson frequency is virtually independent of the number of atoms in the BEC and of the interatomic interaction (attractive or repulsive). We study the dependence of the Josephson frequency on the laser wave length and the strength of the optical-lattice potential. For a fixed laser wave length (795 nm), the Josephson frequency decreases with increasing strength as found in the experiment of Cataliotti [Science 293, 843 (2001)]. For a fixed strength, the Josephson frequency remains essentially unchanged for a reasonable variation of laser wave length around 800 nm. However, the Josephson oscillation is disrupted with the increase of laser wave length beyond 2000 nm leading to a collapse of a sufficiently attractive BEC. These features of a Josephson oscillation can be tested experimentally with present setups.

Parameter degeneracies in neutrino oscillation measurement of leptonic CP and T violation

The measurement of the mixing angle theta(13), sign of Deltam(13)(2), and the CP or T violating phase delta is fraught with ambiguities in neutrino oscillation. In this paper we give an analytic treatment of the paramater degeneracies associated with measuring the nu(mu)-->nu(e) probability and its CP and/or T conjugates. For CP violation, we give explicit solutions to allow us to obtain the regions where there exist twofold and fourfold degeneracies. We calculate the fractional differences, (Deltatheta/(θ) over bar), between the allowed solutions which may be used to compare with the expected sensitivities of the experiments. For T violation we show that there is always a complete degeneracy between solutions with positive and negative Deltam(13)(2) which arises due to a symmetry and cannot be removed by observing one neutrino oscillation probability and its T conjugate. Thus there is always a fourfold parameter degeneracy apart from exceptional points. Explicit solutions are also given and the fractional differences are computed. The biprobability CP/T trajectory diagrams are extensively used to illuminate the nature of the degeneracies.

Complementarity of eastern and western hemisphere long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments

We present a general formalism for extracting information on the fundamental parameters associated with neutrino masses and mixings from two or more long baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. This formalism is then applied to the current most likely experiments using neutrino beams from the Japan Hadron Facility (JHF) and Fermilab's NuMI beamline. Different combinations of muon neutrino or muon anti-neutrino running are considered. The type of neutrino mass hierarchy is extracted using the effects of matter on neutrino propogation. Contrary to naive expectation, we find that both beams using neutrinos is more suitable for determining the hierarchy provided that the neutrino energy divided by baseline (E/L) for NuMI is smaller than or equal to that of JHF, whereas to determine the small mixing angle, theta(13), and the CP or T violating phase delta, one neutrino and the other anti-neutrino are most suitable. We make extensive use of bi-probability diagrams for both understanding and extracting the physics involved in such comparisons.

Method for determination of vertical bar U(e)3 vertical bar in neutrino oscillation appearance experiments

We point out that determination of the MNS matrix element \U-e3\ = s(13) in long-baseline nu(mu) --> nu(e) neutrino oscillation experiments suffers from large intrinsic uncertainty due to the unknown CP violating phase delta and sign of Deltam(13)(2). We propose a new strategy for accurate determination of theta(13); tune the beam energy at the oscillation maximum and do the measurement both in neutrino and antineutrino channels. We show that it automatically resolves the problem of parameter ambiguities which involves delta, theta(13), and the sign of Deltam(13)(2). (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.