Holographic Equilibration under External Dynamical Electric Field

The holographic equilibration of a far-from-equilibrium strongly coupled gauge theory is investigated. The dynamics of a probe D7-brane in an AdS-Vaidya background is studied in the presence of an external time-dependent electric field. Defining the equilibration times $t_{eq}^c$ and $t_{eq}^j$, at which condensation and current relax to their final equilibrated values, receptively, the smallness of transition time $k_M$ or $k_E$ is enough to observe a universal behaviour for re-scaled equilibration times $k_M k_E (t_{eq}^c)^{-2}$ and $k_M k_E (t_{eq}^j)^{-2}$. Moreover, regardless of the values for $k_M$ and $k_E$, $t_{eq}^c/t_{eq}^j$ also behaves universally for large enough value of the ratio of the final electric field to final temperature. Then a simple discussion of the static case reveals that $t_{eq}^c \leq t_{eq}^j$. For an out-of-equilibrium process, our numerical results show that, apart from the cases for which $k_E$ is small, the static time ordering persists.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figure

Incorporating family function into chronic pain disability: the role of catastrophizing

Background. Observers' responses to pain are recently investigated to more comprehensively explain chronic pain (CP) and disability. However, the role of family context, defined as interference in roles, communication, and problem-solving, and how (i.e., through which mechanisms) these variables contribute to CP related disability have yet to be examined. Objectives. The aim of the present study is to examine family context in relationship to pain catastrophizing, fear of movement, and depression and its role in understanding CP disability. Three different models were examined. Methods. A total sample of 142 patients with musculoskeletal chronic pain was recruited to examine the role of fear of movement, pain intensity, pain catastrophizing, and depression in relationship to family functioning as predictors of disability. Results. Findings indicated that two models showed acceptable fit, but one of them revealed superior fit indices. Results of the model with superior fit indices indicated that family dysfunction may contribute to catastrophic thinking, which, in turn, contributes to patients' disability through increasing fear of movement and depression. Discussion. The current study provides further support for the notion that the impact of emotional and cognitive variables upon CP-related disability can be better understood when we consider the social context of pain patients and family function in particular

Far-from-equilibrium initial conditions probed by a nonlocal observable

Using the gauge/gravity duality, we investigate the evolution of an out-of-equilibrium strongly-coupled plasma from the viewpoint of the two-point function of scalar gauge-invariant operators with large conformal dimension. This system is out of equilibrium due to the presence of anisotropy and/or a massive scalar field. Considering various functions for the initial anisotropy and scalar field, we conclude that the effect of the anisotropy on the evolution of the two-point function is considerably more than the effect of the scalar field. We also show that the ordering of the equilibration time of the one-point function for the non-probe scalar field and the correlation function between two points with a fixed separation can be reversed by changing the initial configuration of the plasma, when the system is out of the equilibrium due to the presence of at least two different sources like our problem. In addition, we find the equilibration time of the two-point function to be linearly increasing with respect to the separation of the two points with a fixed slope, regardless of the initial configuration that we start with. Finally we observe that, for larger separations the geodesic connecting two points on the boundary crosses the event horizon after it has reached its final equilibrium value, meaning that the two-point function can probe behind the event horizon

MicroRNAs in Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Functions and Targets

__Abstract__ All different types of circulating blood cells originate from hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). The pluripotential HSCs have the capacity of self-renewal, which provides the body with a secure backup of HSCs. HSCs can also differentiate into progenitor cells, which can further differentiate to different types of blood cells. This continuous process of blood cell production mainly happens in the bone marrow and is called “hematopoiesis”. At the first step of hematopoiesis two distinct populations of cells are generated: common lymphoid progenitors and common myeloid progenitors. As shown in Figure 1, these common progenitors give rise to a variety of mature blood cells via several processes: thrombopoiesis (to produce thrombocytes), erythropoiesis (to produce erythrocytes), granulopoiesis (to produce basophils, neutrophils and eosinophils), monopoiesis (to produce monocytes and then macrophages and myeloid dendritic cells) and lymphopoiesis (to produce B-cells, T-cells and natural killer cells). During hematopoiesis, the differentiated cells lose their proliferative potential but gain more functionality. This is a crucial process, which keeps the number of circulating blood cells under control. Division and differentiation of hematopoietic cells are controlled by several regulators such as epigenetic modifiers, transcription factors, posttranscriptional modulators, cytokines and growth factors. Disruption in hematopoiesis may lead to a differentiation arrest and excessive growth of immature blood cells, which are called "blasts". Acute leukemia (leukos and haima means white and blood in Greek, respectively) is a disease of uncontrolled high proliferation of the blasts and classified according to the lineage origin of the blasts (lymphoid or myeloid). In addition, leukemia with slow onset and slow progression is called "chronic leukemia"