Can presepsin uniformly respond to various pathogens? - an in vitro assay of new sepsis marker.

Background: Presepsin (soluble CD14 subtype) is a novel biomarker of sepsis used for early diagnosis. Originally, CD14 is known as the pattern recognition receptor for the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/LBP complexes, and the diagnostic value of this molecule for gram-positive bacteria, which contain less amount of LPS, is uncertain. To confirm its effectiveness in the diagnosis of bacteremia caused by gram positive bacteria, and to evaluate the interspecies difference of presepsin production against various bacterial strains, we conducted an in vitro assay to evaluate presepsin levels in response to five Gram negative and four Gram positive bacteria.

Origin of the phase separation into B2 and L2 ordered phases in X-Al-Ti (X: Fe, Co, and Ni) alloys based on the first-principles cluster variation method.

The phase separation behaviors from a single B2 ordered phase into two separate B2 and L2 ordered phases in X-Al-Ti (X: Fe, Co, and Ni) alloys are analyzed utilizing the cluster variation method (CVM), based on interaction energies derived from electronic band structure calculations. A cubic approximation of the CVM is adopted for XAl Ti ([Formula: see text]) alloys limiting the interchange between Al and Ti atoms on the [Formula: see text]- and [Formula: see text]-sublattices of an L2 ordered structure with X atoms fixed on the [Formula: see text]-sublattice. The phase stabilities of the B2 and L2 structures are examined, and phase diagrams at the pseudo-binary section, XAl-XTi, are determined.

Sharp Phase Field Method.

Phase field modeling offers an extremely general framework to predict microstructural evolutions in complex systems. However, its computational implementation requires a discretization scheme with a grid spacing small enough to preserve the continuous character of the theory. We present here a new formulation, which is intrinsically discrete, in which the interfaces are resolved with essentially one grid point with no pinning on the grid and an accurate rotational invariance, improving drastically the numerical capabilities of the method.

Ternary eutectic dendrites: Pattern formation and scaling properties.

Extending previous work [Pusztai et al., Phys. Rev.