65 research outputs found
Cosmic acceleration from modified gravity with Palatini formalism
We study new FRW type cosmological models of modified gravity treated on the
background of Palatini approach. These models are generalization of Einstein
gravity by the presence of a scalar field non-minimally coupled to the
curvature. The models employ Starobinsky's term in the Lagrangian and dust
matter. Therefore, as a by-product, an exhausted cosmological analysis of
general relativity amended by quadratic term is presented. We investigate
dynamics of our models, confront them with the currently available
astrophysical data as well as against LCDM model. We have used the dynamical
system methods in order to investigate dynamics of the models. It reveals the
presence of a final sudden singularity. Fitting free parameters we have
demonstrated by statistical analysis that this class of models is in a very
good agreement with the data (including CMB measurements) as well as with the
standard LCDM model predictions. One has to use statefinder diagnostic in order
to discriminate among them. Therefore Bayesian methods of model selection have
been employed in order to indicate preferred model. Only in the light of CMB
data the concordance model remains invincible.Comment: 32 pages, jcappub style, 28 figures, final improved version, to be
published in JCA
Prostaglandin E2 affects differently the release of inflammatory mediators from resident macrophages by LPS and muramyl tripeptides.
LPS and MTP-PE (liposome-encapsulated N-acetyl-muramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutaminyl-L-alanine-2-:[1',2'dipalmitoyl -sni-glycero-3-(hydroxy-phosphoryl-oxyl)] etylamide) induce in liver macrophages a synthesis and release of TNF-alpha, nitric oxide and prostanoids. Both agents induce an expression of mRNA's encoding TNF-alpha, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, and of corresponding proteins. LPS and MTP-PE induce a rapid activation of the extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) isoenzymes-1 and -2. Inhibition of map kinase isoenzymes leads to a decreased release of TNF-alpha, nitric oxide and prostaglandin (PG) E2 after both agents. The transcription factors NF-kappaB and AP-1 are strongly activated by LPS within 30 minutes. MTP-PE induces a weak activation of both transcription factors only after 5 hours. Inhibition of NF-kappaB inhibits the LPS- but not the MTP-PE-induced release of TNF-alpha, nitric oxide and PGE2. PGE2 release after LPS is higher than after MTP-PE. Exogenously added PGE2 inhibits the activation of map kinase and TNF-alpha release by LPS, but not by MTP-PE. Release of nitric oxide after LPS and MTP-PE is enhanced after prior addition of PGE2. PGD2 is without any effect. MTP-PE, but not LPS, induces a cytotoxicity of Kupffer cells against P815 tumor target cells. The MTP-PE-induced cytotoxicity is reduced by TNF-alpha neutralizing antibodies, indicating the involvement of TNF-alpha. Thus our results suggest that the different potencies of LPS and MTP-PE as immunomodulators probably result from different actions on Kupffer cells, resulting in differences in the amounts and kinetics of released TNF-alpha and PGE2, and that PGE2 plays an important regulatory role in the action of LPS, but not in the actions of MTP-PE
Observational hints on the Big Bounce
In this paper we study possible observational consequences of the bouncing
cosmology. We consider a model where a phase of inflation is preceded by a
cosmic bounce. While we consider in this paper only that the bounce is due to
loop quantum gravity, most of the results presented here can be applied for
different bouncing cosmologies. We concentrate on the scenario where the scalar
field, as the result of contraction of the universe, is driven from the bottom
of the potential well. The field is amplified, and finally the phase of the
standard slow-roll inflation is realized. Such an evolution modifies the
standard inflationary spectrum of perturbations by the additional oscillations
and damping on the large scales. We extract the parameters of the model from
the observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation. In particular,
the value of inflaton mass is equal to GeV. In
our considerations we base on the seven years of observations made by the WMAP
satellite. We propose the new observational consistency check for the phase of
slow-roll inflation. We investigate the conditions which have to be fulfilled
to make the observations of the Big Bounce effects possible. We translate them
to the requirements on the parameters of the model and then put the
observational constraints on the model. Based on assumption usually made in
loop quantum cosmology, the Barbero-Immirzi parameter was shown to be
constrained by from the cosmological observations. We have
compared the Big Bounce model with the standard Big Bang scenario and showed
that the present observational data is not informative enough to distinguish
these models.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figures, JHEP3.cl
Density growth in Kantowski-Sachs cosmologies with cosmological constant
In this work the growth of density perturbations in Kantowski-Sachs
cosmologies with a positive cosmological constant is studied, using the 1+3 and
1+1+2 covariant formalisms. For each wave number we obtain a closed system for
scalars formed from quantities that are zero on the background and hence are
gauge-invariant. The solutions to this system are then analyzed both
analytically and numerically. In particular the effects of anisotropy and the
behaviour close to a bounce in the cosmic scale factor are considered. We find
that typically the density gradient in the bouncing directions experiences a
local maximum at or slightly after the bounce.Comment: 33 pages, 17 picture
A protein functional leap: how a single mutation reverses the function of the transcription regulator TetR
Today's proteome is the result of innumerous gene duplication, mutagenesis, drift and selection processes. Whereas random mutagenesis introduces predominantly only gradual changes in protein function, a case can be made that an abrupt switch in function caused by single amino acid substitutions will not only considerably further evolution but might constitute a prerequisite for the appearance of novel functionalities for which no promiscuous protein intermediates can be envisaged. Recently, tetracycline repressor (TetR) variants were identified in which binding of tetracycline triggers the repressor to associate with and not to dissociate from the operator DNA as in wild-type TetR. We investigated the origin of this activity reversal by limited proteolysis, CD spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. We show that the TetR mutant Leu17Gly switches its function via a disorder–order mechanism that differs completely from the allosteric mechanism of wild-type TetR. Our study emphasizes how single point mutations can engender unexpected leaps in protein function thus enabling the appearance of new functionalities in proteins without the need for promiscuous intermediates
AIC, BIC, Bayesian evidence against the interacting dark energy model
Recent astronomical observations have indicated that the Universe is in the
phase of accelerated expansion. While there are many cosmological models which
try to explain this phenomenon, we focus on the interacting CDM model
where the interaction between the dark energy and dark matter sectors takes
place. This model is compared to its simpler alternative---the CDM
model. To choose between these models the likelihood ratio test was applied as
well as the model comparison methods (employing Occam's principle): the Akaike
information criterion (AIC), the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) and the
Bayesian evidence. Using the current astronomical data: SNIa (Union2.1),
, BAO, Alcock--Paczynski test and CMB we evaluated both models. The
analyses based on the AIC indicated that there is less support for the
interacting CDM model when compared to the CDM model, while
those based on the BIC indicated that there is the strong evidence against it
in favor the CDM model. Given the weak or almost none support for the
interacting CDM model and bearing in mind Occam's razor we are
inclined to reject this model.Comment: LaTeX svjour3, 12 pages, 3 figure
Forward modeling of collective Thomson scattering for Wendelstein 7-X plasmas: Electrostatic approximation
In this paper, we present a method for numerical computation of collective Thomson scattering (CTS). We developed a forward model, eCTS, in the electrostatic approximation and benchmarked it against a full electromagnetic model. Differences between the electrostatic and the electromagnetic models are discussed. The sensitivity of the results to the ion temperature and the plasma composition is demonstrated. We integrated the model into the Bayesian data analysis framework Minerva and used it for the analysis of noisy synthetic data sets produced by a full electromagnetic model. It is shown that eCTS can be used for the inference of the bulk ion temperature. The model has been used to infer the bulk ion temperature from the first CTS measurements on Wendelstein 7-X
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