University of Bath

About: University of Bath is a education organization based out in Bath, Bath and North East Somerset, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 15830 authors who have published 39608 publications receiving 1358769 citations. The organization is also known as: Bath University.

Lipocortin and the mechanism of action of the glucocorticoids

Abstract: Because of a curious division of labour amongst life scientists, the hormones of the adrenal medulla have traditionally been considered the preserve of pharmacologists, whilst those of the adrenal cortex have been studied almost exclusively by endocrinologists or (more recently) by molecular biologists. This state of affairs is especially strange when one considers the importance of steroids and their synthetic congeners in clinical medicine: the glucocorticoids are by far the most potent and effective anti-inflammatory agents we possess and unlike the aspirin-like drugs, they are active against virtually every type of inflammatory disease. Asthma, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis and the arthritides are all susceptible to glucocorticoid therapy indeed it is often the only form of therapy that is effective in such diseases. Because of this unusually wide spectrum of activity these drugs are extensively used with some 15 million prescriptions being issued each year in the U.K. alone. Another feature of the glucocorticoids which should endear them to pharmacologists is that they initiate their biological effects by combining with a soluble receptor, whose structure and function are well understood (indeed it is probably the best characterized of all receptors), for which a complete range of agonists, antagonists and partial agonists is available, and which at the very least could surely teach us a very great deal about the basic biology of drug-receptor interactions. How is it then that the field of glucocorticoid pharmacology has 'fallen into such neglect? The reason, as we shall see, seems to be connected with early ideas about the function of these hormones, and to a certain extent, with misconceptions about the nature of the inflammatory response itself. Whatever the reason however, Sir John Gaddum would surely not have approved. In 1954 he wrote,

Lithium Battery Materials LiMPO4 (M = Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni): Insights into Defect Association, Transport Mechanisms, and Doping Behavior

Abstract: The defect chemistry, doping behavior, and ion migration in olivine-type materials LiMPO4 (M = Mn, Fe, Co, and N) are investigated by atomistic simulation techniques. The most favorable intrinsic defect type is found to be the cation antisite defect, in which Li and M ions exchange positions. Li migration is found to occur preferentially down [010] channels, following a curved trajectory. Defect association or binding energies for pair clusters composed of combinations of lithium vacancies, antisite cations, and small polaron species are investigated. Migration energies for divalent antisite cations on Li sites suggest that such defects would impede Li diffusion in LiMPO4 to varying degrees. Calculation of dopant substitution energies for cations with charges +1 to +5 indicate that supervalent doping (e.g., Ga3+, Ti4+, Nb5+) on either Li or M sites is energetically unfavorable and does not result in a large increase in electronic (small polaron) species.

Self‐Regulation Mechanism for Charged Point Defects in Hybrid Halide Perovskites

Abstract: Hybrid halide perovskites such as methylammonium lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3) exhibit unusually low free-carrier concentrations despite being processed at low-temperatures from solution. We demonstrate, through quantum mechanical calculations, that an origin of this phenomenon is a prevalence of ionic over electronic disorder in stoichiometric materials. Schottky defect formation provides a mechanism to self-regulate the concentration of charge carriers through ionic compensation of charged point defects. The equilibrium charged vacancy concentration is predicted to exceed 0.4% at room temperature. This behavior, which goes against established defect conventions for inorganic semiconductors, has implications for photovoltaic performance.

Multiple-Valued Logic—its Status and its Future

Abstract: Multiple-valued logic, in which the number of discrete logic levels is not confined to two, has been the subject of much research over many years. The practical objective of this work has been to increase the information content of the digital signals in a system to a higher value than that provided by binary operation. In this tutorial/survey paper we will review the historical developments in this field, both in circuit realizations and in methods of handling multiple-valued design data, and consider the present state-of-the-art and future expectations.