148 research outputs found
Finite temperature calculations for the bulk properties of strange star using a many-body approach
We have considered a hot strange star matter, just after the collapse of a
supernova, as a composition of strange, up and down quarks to calculate the
bulk properties of this system at finite temperature with the density dependent
bag constant. To parameterize the density dependent bag constant, we use our
results for the lowest order constrained variational (LOCV) calculations of
asymmetric nuclear matter. Our calculations for the structure properties of the
strange star at different temperatures indicate that its maximum mass decreases
by increasing the temperature. We have also compared our results with those of
a fixed value of the bag constant. It can be seen that the density dependent
bag constant leads to higher values of the maximum mass and radius for the
strange star.Comment: 21 pages, 2 tables, 12 figures Astrophys. (2011) accepte
Consistency of Lambda-Lambda hypernuclear events
Highlights of Lambda-Lambda emulsion events are briefly reviewed. Given three
accepted events, shell-model predictions based on p-shell Lambda hypernuclear
spectroscopic studies are shown to reproduce the Lambda-Lambda (LL) binding
energies of LL10Be and LL13B in terms of the LL binding energy of LL6He.
Predictions for other species offer judgement on several alternative
assignments of the LL13B KEK-E176 event, and on the assignments LL11Be and
LL12Be suggested recently for the KEK-E373 HIDA event. The predictions of the
shell model, spanning a wide range of A values, are compared with those of
cluster models, where the latter are available.Comment: Based on talk given by Avraham Gal at EXA 2011, Vienna, September
2011; Proceedings version prepared for the journal Hyperfine Interactions;
v2--slight changes, matches published versio
Self-bound dense objects in holographic QCD
We study a self-bound dense object in the hard wall model. We consider a
spherically symmetric dense object which is characterized by its radial density
distribution and non-uniform but spherically symmetric chiral condensate. For
this we analytically solve the partial differential equations in the hard wall
model and read off the radial coordinate dependence of the density and chiral
condensate according to the AdS/CFT correspondence. We then attempt to describe
nucleon density profiles of a few nuclei within our framework and observe that
the confinement scale changes from a free nucleon to a nucleus. We briefly
discuss how to include the effect of higher dimensional operator into our
study. We finally comment on possible extensions of our work.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, figures replaced, minor revision, to appear in
JHE
The Shapes of Flux Domains in the Intermediate State of Type-I Superconductors
In the intermediate state of a thin type-I superconductor magnetic flux
penetrates in a disordered set of highly branched and fingered macroscopic
domains. To understand these shapes, we study in detail a recently proposed
"current-loop" (CL) model that models the intermediate state as a collection of
tense current ribbons flowing along the superconducting-normal interfaces and
subject to the constraint of global flux conservation. The validity of this
model is tested through a detailed reanalysis of Landau's original conformal
mapping treatment of the laminar state, in which the superconductor-normal
interfaces are flared within the slab, and of a closely-related straight-lamina
model. A simplified dynamical model is described that elucidates the nature of
possible shape instabilities of flux stripes and stripe arrays, and numerical
studies of the highly nonlinear regime of those instabilities demonstrate
patterns like those seen experimentally. Of particular interest is the buckling
instability commonly seen in the intermediate state. The free-boundary approach
further allows for a calculation of the elastic properties of the laminar
state, which closely resembles that of smectic liquid crystals. We suggest
several new experiments to explore of flux domain shape instabilities,
including an Eckhaus instability induced by changing the out-of-plane magnetic
field, and an analog of the Helfrich-Hurault instability of smectics induced by
an in-plane field.Comment: 23 pages, 22 bitmapped postscript figures, RevTex 3.0, submitted to
Phys. Rev. B. Higher resolution figures may be obtained by contacting the
author
Nuclear matter to strange matter transition in holographic QCD
We construct a simple holographic QCD model to study nuclear matter to
strange matter transition. The interaction of dense medium and hadrons is taken
care of by imposing the force balancing condition for stable D4/D6/D6
configuration. By considering the intermediate and light flavor branes
interacting with baryon vertex homogeneously distributed along R^3 space and
requesting the energy minimization, we find that there is a well defined
transition density as a function of current quark mass. We also find that as
density goes up very high, intermediate (or heavy) and light quarks populate
equally as expected from the Pauli principle. In this sense, the effect of the
Pauli principle is realized as dynamics of D-branes.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figure
5-Fluorouracil response in a large panel of colorectal cancer cell lines is associated with mismatch repair deficiency
BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer is (CRC) one of the commonest cancers and its therapy is still based on few drugs. Currently, no biological criteria are used to choose the most effective of the established drugs for treatment. METHODS: A panel of 77 CRC cell lines was tested for sensitivity to 5-fluorouracil (5FU) using the SRB assay. The responses were grouped into three categories and correlated with genetic changes in the cell lines. RESULTS: The strongest and most clearcut correlation was between 5-fluorouracil response and replication error status (mismatch repair deficiency). All the other significant correlations (loss of heterozygosity for DCC and mutations in TGFbIIR) are secondary to the association with replication error status. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION: Our findings validate previous analyses based mainly on clinical data, and indicate that replication error status could be a useful guide to 5-fluorouracil-based CRC therapy. Essentially, all previously described correlations with 5FU response are secondary to the association with replication error status
Expression of TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) in keratinocytes mediates apoptotic cell death in allogenic T cells
The objective of the present study was to evaluate the aptitude of TRAIL gene expression for inducing apoptosis in co-cultivated T-cells. This should allow preparing a strategy for the development of a durable, allogenic skin substitute based on the induction of an immune-privileged transplant. In order to counteract the significant potential of rejection in transplanted allogenic keratinocytes, we created a murine keratinocyte cell line which expressed TRAIL through stable gene transfer. The exogenic protein was localized on the cellular surface and was not found in soluble condition as sTRAIL. Contact to TRAIL expressing cells in co-culture induced cell death in sensitive Jurkat-cells, which was further intensified by lymphocyte activation. This cytotoxic effect is due to the induction of apoptosis. We therefore assume that the de-novo expression of TRAIL in keratinocytes can trigger apoptosis in activated lymphocytes and thus prevent the rejection of keratinocytes in allogenic, immune-privileged transplants
Class II MHC Self-Antigen Presentation in Human B and T Lymphocytes
Human CD4[superscript +] T cells process and present functional class II MHC-peptide complexes, but the endogenous peptide repertoire of these non-classical antigen presenting cells remains unknown. We eluted and sequenced HLA-DR-bound self-peptides presented by CD4[superscript +] T cells in order to compare the T cell-derived peptide repertoire to sequences derived from genetically identical B cells. We identified several novel epitopes derived from the T cell-specific proteome, including fragments of CD4 and IL-2. While these data confirm that T cells can present peptides derived from the T-cell specific proteome, the vast majority of peptides sequenced after elution from MHC were derived from the common proteome. From this pool, we identified several identical peptide epitopes in the T and B cell repertoire derived from common endogenous proteins as well as novel endogenous epitopes with promiscuous binding. These findings indicate that the endogenous HLA-DR-bound peptide repertoire, regardless of APC type and across MHC isotype, is largely derived from the same pool of self-protein.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant P01AI039671)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (P01AI045757
Genetic architecture and evolution of the S locus supergene in Primula vulgaris
Darwin’s studies on heterostyly in Primula described two floral morphs, pin and thrum, with reciprocal anther and stigma heights that promote insect-mediated cross-pollination. This key innovation evolved independently in several angiosperm families. Subsequent studies on heterostyly in Primula contributed to the foundation of modern genetic theory and the neo-Darwinian synthesis. The established genetic model for Primula heterostyly involves a diallelic S locus comprising several genes, with rare recombination events that result in self-fertile homostyle flowers with anthers and stigma at the same height. Here we reveal the S locus supergene as a tightly-linked cluster of thrum-specific genes that are absent in pins. We show that thrums are hemizygous not heterozygous for the S locus, which suggests that homostyles do not arise by recombination between S locus haplotypes as previously proposed. Duplication of a floral homeotic gene 51.7 MYA, followed by its neofunctionalisation, created the current S locus assemblage which led to floral heteromorphy in Primula. Our findings provide new insights into the structure, function and evolution of this archetypal supergene
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