806 research outputs found
Perinatal Gene Transfer to the Liver
The liver acts as a host to many functions hence raising the possibility that any one may be compromised by a single gene defect.
Inherited or de novo mutations in these genes may result in relatively mild diseases or be so devastating that death within the first
weeks or months of life is inevitable. Some diseases can be managed using conventional medicines whereas others are, as yet, untreatable.
In this review we consider the application of early intervention gene therapy in neonatal and fetal preclinical studies. We appraise
the tools of this technology, including lentivirus, adenovirus and adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based vectors. We highlight the application
of these for a range of diseases including hemophilia, urea cycle disorders such as ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency, organic
acidemias, lysosomal storage diseases including mucopolysaccharidoses, glycogen storage diseases and bile metabolism. We conclude by
assessing the advantages and disadvantages associated with fetal and neonatal liver gene transfer
On duality symmetries of supergravity invariants
The role of duality symmetries in the construction of counterterms for
maximal supergravity theories is discussed in a field-theoretic context from
different points of view. These are: dimensional reduction, the question of
whether appropriate superspace measures exist and information about non-linear
invariants that can be gleaned from linearised ones. The former allows us to
prove that F-term counterterms cannot be E7(7)-invariant in D=4, N=8
supergravity or E6(6)-invariant in D=5 maximal supergravity. This is confirmed
by the two other methods which can also be applied to D=4 theories with fewer
supersymmetries and allow us to prove that N=6 supergravity is finite at three
and four loops and that N=5 supergravity is three-loop finite.Comment: Clarification of arguments and their consistency with higher
dimensional divergences added, e.g. we prove the 5D 4L non-renormalisation
theorem. The 4L N=6 divergence is also ruled out. References adde
Ten-Dimensional Super-Twistors and Super-Yang-Mills
Four-dimensional super-twistors provide a compact covariant description of
on-shell N=4 d=4 super-Yang-Mills. In this paper, ten-dimensional
super-twistors are introduced which similarly provide a compact covariant
description of on-shell d=10 super-Yang-Mills. The super-twistor variables are
Z=(lambda^alpha, mu_alpha, Gamma^m) where lambda^alpha and mu_alpha are
constrained bosonic d=10 spinors and Gamma^m is a constrained fermionic d=10
vector. The Penrose map relates the twistor superfield Phi(Z) with the d=10
super-Yang-Mills vertex operator lambda^alpha A_alpha(x,theta) which appears in
the pure spinor formalism of the superstring, and the cubic super-Yang-Mills
amplitude is proportional to the super-twistor integral \int dZ Phi_1 Phi_2
Phi_3.Comment: 14 pages harvmac, added short clarificatio
Entropy of the self-dual string soliton
We compute the entropy and the corresponding central charge of the self-dual
string soliton in the supergravity regime using the blackfold description of
the fully localized M2-M5 intersection.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, harvma
The Omega Deformation From String and M-Theory
We present a string theory construction of Omega-deformed four-dimensional
gauge theories with generic values of \epsilon_1 and \epsilon_2. Our solution
gives an explicit description of the geometry in the core of Nekrasov and
Witten's realization of the instanton partition function, far from the
asymptotic region of their background. This construction lifts naturally to
M-theory and corresponds to an M5-brane wrapped on a Riemann surface with a
selfdual flux. Via a 9-11 flip, we finally reinterpret the Omega deformation in
terms of non-commutative geometry. Our solution generates all modified
couplings of the \Omega-deformed gauge theory, and also yields a geometric
origin for the quantum spectral curve of the associated quantum integrable
system.Comment: LaTeX, 35 pages, 1 figure. Appendix on couplings of hypermultiplets
in N=4 SYM adde
Off-shell supergravity-matter couplings in three dimensions
We develop the superspace geometry of N-extended conformal supergravity in
three space-time dimensions. General off-shell supergravity-matter couplings
are constructed in the cases N=1,2,3,4.Comment: 73 pages; V5: typos in eqs. (3.4b), (3.17) and (4.24) correcte
The Overall Coefficient of the Two-loop Superstring Amplitude Using Pure Spinors
Using the results recently obtained for computing integrals over
(non-minimal) pure spinor superspace, we compute the coefficient of the
massless two-loop four-point amplitude from first principles. Contrasting with
the mathematical difficulties in the RNS formalism where unknown normalizations
of chiral determinant formulae force the two-loop coefficient to be determined
only indirectly through factorization, the computation in the pure spinor
formalism can be smoothly carried out.Comment: 29 pages, harvmac TeX. v2: add reference
Generalised geometry, eleven dimensions and E11
We construct the non-linear realisation of E11 and its first fundamental
representation in eleven dimensions at low levels. The fields depend on the
usual coordinates of space-time as well as two form and five form coordinates.
We derive the terms in the dynamics that contain the three form and six form
fields and show that when we restricted their field dependence to be only on
the usual space-time we recover the correct self-duality relation. Should this
result generalise to the gravity fields then the non-linear realisation is an
extension of the maximal supergravity theory, as previously conjectured. We
also comment on the connections between the different approaches to generalised
geometry.Comment: 17 pages, Trivial typos corrected in version one and a substantial
note added which gives the equation of motion relating the gravity field to
its dua
Enhancing the African bioethics initiative
BACKGROUND: Medical ethics has existed since the time of Hippocrates. However, formal training in bioethics did not become established until a few decades ago. Bioethics has gained a strong foothold in health sciences in the developed world, especially in Europe and North America. The situation is quite different in many developing countries. In most African countries, bioethics – as established and practiced today in the west- is either non-existent or is rudimentary. DISCUSSION: Though bioethics has come of age in the developed and some developing countries, it is still largely "foreign" to most African countries. In some parts of Africa, some bioethics conferences have been held in the past decade to create research ethics awareness and ensure conformity to international guidelines for research with human participants. This idea has arisen in recognition of the genuine need to develop capacity for reviewing the ethics of research in Africa. It is also a condition required by external sponsors of collaborative research in Africa. The awareness and interest that these conferences have aroused need to be further strengthened and extended beyond research ethics to clinical practice. By and large, bioethics education in schools that train doctors and other health care providers is the hook that anchors both research ethics and clinical ethics. SUMMARY: This communication reviews the current situation of bioethics in Africa as it applies to research ethics workshops and proposes that in spite of the present efforts to integrate ethics into biomedical research in Africa, much still needs to be done to accomplish this. A more comprehensive approach to bioethics with an all-inclusive benefit is to incorporate formal ethics education into health training institutions in Africa
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