N-alkylamides : from plant to brain

Background: Plant N-alkylamides (NAAs) are bio-active compounds with a broad functional spectrum. In order to reach their pharmacodynamic targets, they have to overcome several barriers of the body in the absorption phase. The permeability kinetics of spilanthol (a diene NAA) and pellitorine (a triene NAA) across these barriers (i.e. skin, oral/gut mucosa, blood-brain barrier) were investigated. Methods: The skin and oral mucosa permeability were investigated using human skin and pig mucosa in an ex vivo in vitro Franz diffusion cell set-up. The gut absorption characteristics were examined using the in vitro Caco-2 cell monolayer test system. The initial blood-brain barrier transport kinetics were investigated in an in vivo mice model using multiple time regression and efflux experiments. Quantification of both NAAs was conducted using HPLC-UV and bio-analytical UPLC-MS methods. Results: We demonstrated that spilanthol and pellitorine are able to penetrate the skin after topical administration. It is likely that spilanthol and pellitorine can pass the endothelial gut as they easily pass the Caco-2 cells in the monolayer model. It has been shown that spilanthol also crosses the oral mucosa as well as the blood-brain barrier. Conclusion: It was demonstrated that NAAs pass various physiological barriers i.e. the skin, oral and gut mucosa, and after having reached the systemic circulation, also the blood-brain barrier. As such, NAAs are cosmenutriceuticals which can be active in the brain

On the Space-Time Uncertainty Principle and Holography

In this note further evidence is collected in support of the claim that the space-time uncertainty principle implies holography, both within the context of Matrix Theory and the framework of the proposed duality between certain conformal field theories and M-theory/string theory on AdS backgrounds.Comment: 15 pages, plain Te

MQCD, ('Barely') G_2 Manifolds and (Orientifold of) a Compact Calabi-Yau

We begin with a discussion on two apparently disconnected topics - one related to nonperturbative superpotential generated from wrapping an M2-brane around a supersymmetric three cycle embedded in a G_2-manifold evaluated by the path-integral inside a path-integral approach of [1], and the other centered around the compact Calabi-Yau CY_3(3,243) expressed as a blow-up of a degree-24 Fermat hypersurface in WCP^4[1,1,2,8,12]. For the former, we compare the results with the ones of Witten on heterotic world-sheet instantons [2]. The subtopics covered in the latter include an N=1 triality between Heterotic, M- and F-theories, evaluation of RP^2-instanton superpotential, Picard-Fuchs equation for the mirror Landau-Ginsburg model corresponding to CY_3(3,243), D=11 supergravity corresponding to M-theory compactified on a `barely' G_2 manifold involving CY_3(3,243) and a conjecture related to the action of antiholomorphic involution on period integrals. We then show an indirect connection between the two topics by showing a connection between each one of the two and Witten's MQCD [3]. As an aside, we show that in the limit of vanishing "\zeta", a complex constant that appears in the Riemann surfaces relevant to definining the boundary conditions for the domain wall in MQCD, the infinite series of [4] used to represent a suitable embedding of a supersymmetric 3-cycle in a G_2-mannifold, can be summed.Comment: 37 pages, LaTex; PARTLY based on talks given at ``Seventh Workshop on QCD" [session on "Strings, Branes and (De-)Construction"], Jan 6-10, 2003, La Cittadelle, Villefranche-sur-Mer, France; Fourth Workshop on ``Gauge Fields and Strings", Feb 25-Mar 1, 2003, Jena, Germany; ``XII Oporto Meeting on Geometry, Topology and Strings", July 17-20, 2003, Oporto, Portugal; "SQS03" - International Workshop on "Supersymmetries and Quantum Symmetries', July 24-29, 2003, JINR, Dubna, Russia; poster presented at ``XIV International Congress on Mathematical Physics", July 28-Aug 2, 2003, Lisbon, Portuga

Non commutative geometry and super Yang-Mills theory

We aim to connect the non commutative geometry ``quotient space'' viewpoint with the standard super Yang Mills theory approach in the spirit of Connes-Douglas-Schwartz and Douglas-Hull description of application of noncommutative geometry to matrix theory. This will result in a relation between the parameters of a rational foliation of the torus and the dimension of the group U(N). Namely, we will be provided with a prescription which allows to study a noncommutative geometry with rational parameter p/N by means of a U(N) gauge theory on a torus of size \Sigma / N with the boundary conditions given by a system with p units of magnetic flux. The transition to irrational parameter can be obtained by letting N and p tend to infinity with fixed ratio. The precise meaning of the limiting process will presumably allow better clarification.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, two .gif files of (hand sketched) figures; a misprint corrected and some references adde

Supersymmetry of Noncompact MQCD-like Membrane Instantons and Heat Kernel Asymptotics

We perform a heat kernel asymptotics analysis of the nonperturbative superpotential obtained from wrapping of an M2-brane around a supersymmetric noncompact three-fold embedded in a (noncompact) G_2-manifold as obtained in [1], the three-fold being the one relevant to domain walls in Witten's MQCD [2], in the limit of small "zeta", a complex constant that appears in the Riemann surfaces relevant to defining the boundary conditions for the domain wall in MQCD. The MQCD-like configuration is interpretable, for small but non-zero zeta as a noncompact/"large" open membrane instanton, and for vanishing zeta, as the type IIA D0-brane (for vanishing M-theory cicle radius). We find that the eta-function Seeley de-Witt coefficients vanish, and we get a perfect match between the zeta-function Seeley de-Witt coefficients (up to terms quadratic in zeta) between the Dirac-type operator and one of the two Laplace-type operators figuring in the superpotential. This is an extremely strong signature of residual supersymmetry for the nonperturbative configurations in M-theory considered in this work.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX; v3: several clarifying remarks added, to appear in JHE

Associative nil-algebras over finite fields

The nilpotency degree of a relatively free finitely generated associative algebra with the identity $x^n=0$ is studied over finite fields.Comment: 12 page

D-instantons, Strings and M-theory

The R^4 terms in the effective action for M-theory compactified on a two-torus are motivated by combining one-loop results in type II superstring theories with the Sl(2,Z) duality symmetry. The conjectured expression reproduces precisely the tree-level and one-loop R^4 terms in the effective action of the type II string theories compactified on a circle, together with the expected infinite sum of instanton corrections. This conjecture implies that the R^4 terms in ten-dimensional string type II theories receive no perturbative corrections beyond one loop and there are also no non-perturbative corrections in the ten-dimensional IIA theory. Furthermore, the eleven-dimensional M-theory limit exists, in which there is an R^4 term that originates entirely from the one-loop contribution in the type IIA theory and is related by supersymmetry to the eleven-form C^{(3)}R^4. The generalization to compactification on T^3 as well as implications for non-renormalization theorems in D-string and D-particle interactions are briefly discussed.Comment: harvmac (b) 17 pages. v4: Some formulae corrected. Dimensions corrected for eleven-dimensional expression