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Recent advances in vasoactive intestinal peptide physiology and pathophysiology: focus on the gastrointestinal system.
Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), a gut peptide hormone originally reported as a vasodilator in 1970, has multiple physiological and pathological effects on development, growth, and the control of neuronal, epithelial, and endocrine cell functions that in turn regulate ion secretion, nutrient absorption, gut motility, glycemic control, carcinogenesis, immune responses, and circadian rhythms. Genetic ablation of this peptide and its receptors in mice also provides new insights into the contribution of VIP towards physiological signaling and the pathogenesis of related diseases. Here, we discuss the impact of VIP on gastrointestinal function and diseases based on recent findings, also providing insight into its possible therapeutic application to diabetes, autoimmune diseases and cancer
Pressure-tuned First-order Phase Transition and Accompanying Resistivity Anomaly in CeZn_{1-\delta}Sb_{2}
The Kondo lattice system CeZn_{0.66}Sb_{2} is studied by the electrical
resistivity and ac magnetic susceptibility measurements at several pressures.
At P=0 kbar, ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic transitions appear at 3.6 and
0.8 K, respectively. The electrical resistivity at T_N dramatically changes
from the Fisher-Langer type (ferromagnetic like) to the Suzaki-Mori type near
17 kbar, i.e., from a positive divergence to a negative divergence in the
temperature derivative of the resistivity. The pressure-induced SM type
anomaly, which shows thermal hysteresis, is easily suppressed by small magnetic
field (1.9 kOe for 19.8 kbar), indicating a weakly first-order nature of the
transition. By subtracting a low-pressure data set, we directly compare the
resistivity anomaly with the SM theory without any assumption on backgrounds,
where the negative divergence in d\rho/dT is ascribed to enhanced critical
fluctuations in the presence of superzone gaps.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; journal-ref adde
Balance Functions, Correlations, Charge Fluctuations and Interferometry
Connections between charge balance functions, charge fluctuations and
correlations are presented. It is shown that charge fluctuations can be
directly expressed in terms of a balance functions under certain assumptions.
The distortion of charge balance functions due to experimental acceptance is
discussed and the effects of identical boson interference is illustrated with a
simple model.Comment: 1 eps figure included. 5 pages in revtex
Lafutidine, a Protective H2 Receptor Antagonist, Enhances Mucosal Defense in Rat Esophagus
Luminal acid or CO2 induces a hyperemic response in the esophagus, via activation of acid sensors on capsaicin-sensitive afferent nerves (CSAN). Since disruption of the hyperemic response to luminal CO2 acidifies the interstitium of the esophageal mucosa, the hyperemic response may maintain interstitial pH (pHint). We hypothesized that acid-related hyperemia maintains pHint, preventing acid-induced injury in the esophageal mucosa.
We examined the effects of capsaicin (Cap) or lafutidine (Laf), a mucosal protective H2 antagonist, on the regulation of pHint and blood flow in rat esophagus using ratiometric microimaging and laser-Doppler measurements of the lower esophageal mucosa of living rats. The esophagus was topically superfused with pH 7.0 buffer, or a pH 1.0 or pH 1.0Â +Â pepsin (1Â mg/ml) solution with or without Laf.
Cap (30 or 100 ”M) or Laf (0.1 or 1 mM) dose-dependently increased blood flow, accompanied by increased pHint. The pH 1.0 solution increased blood flow without pHint change, whereas Laf (1 mM) increased blood flow and pHint during acid exposure. The effects of Laf were abolished by ablation of CSAN. Perfusion of the acidified pepsin solution gradually decreased pHint, inhibited by Laf perfusion.
Activation of CSAN by Laf with or without acid, accompanied by hyperemia, increased pHint, preventing acidified pepsin-induced interstitial acidification. Stimulation of the capsaicin pathway with compounds such as Laf enhances mucosal protection from acid-related injury in the upper gastrointestinal tract
Yang--Mills sphalerons in all even spacetime dimensions , : =3,4
The classical solutions to higher dimensional Yang--Mills (YM) systems, which
are integral parts of higher dimensional Einstein--YM (EYM) systems, are
studied. These are the gravity decoupling limits of the fully gravitating EYM
solutions. In odd spacetime dimensions, depending on the choice of gauge group,
these are either topologically stable or unstable. Both cases are analysed, the
latter numerically only. In even spacetime dimensions they are always unstable,
describing saddle points of the energy, and can be described as {\it
sphalerons}. This instability is analysed by constructing the noncontractible
loops and calculating the Chern--Simons (CS) charges, and also perturbatively
by numerically constructing the negative modes. This study is restricted to the
simplest YM system in spacetime dimensions , which is amply
illustrative of the generic case.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures ; comments added, to appear in J. Phys.
Fermion sea along the sphaleron barrier
In this revised version we have improved the treatment of the top and bottom
quark mass. This leads to slight changes of the numerical results, especially
of those presented in Fig.4. The discussion of the numerical procedure and
accuracy has been extended.Comment: 39 pages (LaTex) plus 5 figures (uuencoded postscript files);
RUB-TPII-62/93, to appear in Phys.Rev.
Hanbury-Brown--Twiss Analysis in a Solvable Model
The analysis of meson correlations by Hanbury-Brown--Twiss interferometry is
tested with a simple model of meson production by resonance decay. We derive
conditions which should be satisfied in order to relate the measured momentum
correlation to the classical source size. The Bose correlation effects are
apparent in both the ratio of meson pairs to singles and in the ratio of like
to unlike pairs. With our parameter values, we find that the single particle
distribution is too distorted by the correlation to allow a straightforward
analysis using pair correlation normalized by the singles rates. An analysis
comparing symmetrized to unsymmetrized pairs is more robust, but nonclassical
off-shell effects are important at realistic temperatures.Comment: 21 pages + 9 figures (tarred etc. using uufiles, submitted
separately), REVTeX 3.0, preprint number: DOE/ER/40561-112/INT93-00-3
Chiral Symmetry Breaking with the Curtis-Pennington Vertex
We study chiral symmetry breaking in quenched QED, using a vertex Ansatz
recently proposed by Curtis and Pennington. Bifurcation analysis is employed to
establish the existence of a critical coupling and to estimate its value. The
main results are in qualitative agreement with the ladder approximation, the
numerical changes being minor.Comment: 19 pages, LaTe
Quantum Fluctuations around the Electroweak Sphaleron
We present an analysis of the quantum fluctuations around the electroweak
sphaleron and calculate the associated determinant which gives the 1--loop
correction to the sphaleron transition rate. The calculation differs in various
technical aspects from a previous analysis by Carson et al. so that it can be
considered as independent. The numerical results differ also -- by several
orders of magnitude -- from those of this previous analysis; we find that the
sphaleron transition rate is much less suppressed than found previously.Comment: DO-TH-93/19 39 pages, 5 figures (available on request as Postscript
files or via Fax or mail), LaTeX, no macros neede
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