BACKGROUND Although a large number of studies have investigated possible relationships among serum levels of vitamin D or cytokines with disease progress and prognosis, similar studies on self-reported symptoms are still controversial. The overall objective of this study was to look into the association between serum levels of vitamin D or cytokines with self-reported symptoms related to muscul...

Steady-state and time-resolved techniques were employed to study the excited-state proton-transfer (ESPT) rate of two newly synthesized 8-hydroxy-1,3,6-pyrenetrisulfonate (pyranine, HPTS) derived photoacids in three protic solvents, water, methanol and ethanol. The ESPT rate constant k(PT) of tris(1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropan-2-yl)-8-hydroxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonate, 1a, whose pK(a)* ~ -4, in w...

We investigate with femtosecond mid-infrared spectroscopy the vibrational-mode characteristics of the electronic states involved in the excited-state dynamics of pyranine (HPTS) that ultimately lead to efficient proton (deuteron) transfer in H2O (D2O). We also study the methoxy derivative of pyranine (MPTS), which is similar in electronic structure but does not have the photoacidity property. W...

We present single-molecule confocal microscopy studies of orientational distributions for luminophores isolated in potassium hydrogen phthalate (KAP) crystals. The incorporation of dye molecules that bear no size or shape similarity to the host ions is observed, demonstrating that single-molecule studies on mixed crystals need not be restricted to isomorphous host/guest pairs. Violamine R is or...

The present paper examines the effect of government consumption expenditures on economic growth in D-8 countries during the period of 1988 to 2010 using the panel data method. Iran, Turkey, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan and Malaysia are the countries that have been researched in this study. Fixed effect method is used for the model estimation that has been acquired from Lizard...

In the context of D-dimensional Euclidean gravity, we define the natural generalisation to D-dimensions of the self-dual Yang-Mills equations, as duality conditions on the curvature 2-form of a Rie-mannian manifold. Solutions to these self-duality equations are provided by manifolds of SU (2), SU (3), G 2 and Spin(7) holonomy. The equations in eight dimensions are a master set for those in lowe...

In the context of D-dimensional Euclidean gravity, we define the natural generalisation to D-dimensions of the self-dual Yang-Mills equations, as duality conditions on the curvature 2-form of a Rie-mannian manifold. Solutions to these self-duality equations are provided by manifolds of SU (2), SU (3), G 2 and Spin(7) holonomy. The equations in eight dimensions are a master set for those in lowe...

The purpose of this paper is to review R&D requirements for magnets to be used in a post-ITER fusion machine that would have a nuclear mission. The state of the art of magnets is presented, followed by potential magnet options in the near (< 10 years) and middle term (> 10 years), followed by a description of the different components and system integration issues. The characteristics of an R&D ...

Borislav Dechev Bojanov was born in Shemshevo, a little village just outside the beautiful central Bulgarian city of Veliko Tarnovo, of which he was so fond. Borislav took his first degree at Sofia University. He then went to Wroclaw, Poland, where he did a Master’s Thesis under the supervision of Professor Stefan Paszkowski. He returned to the Department of Mathematics of Sofia University in 1...