1,999 research outputs found
A Pleiotropic Role for the Orphan Nuclear Receptor Small Heterodimer Partner in Lipid Homeostasis and Metabolic Pathways
Nuclear receptors (NRs) comprise one of the most abundant classes of transcriptional regulators of metabolic diseases and have emerged as promising pharmaceutical targets. Small heterodimer partner (SHP; NR0B2) is a unique orphan NR lacking a DNA-binding domain but contains a putative ligand-binding domain. SHP is a transcriptional regulator affecting multiple key biological functions and metabolic processes including cholesterol, bile acid, and fatty acid metabolism, as well as reproductive biology and glucose-energy homeostasis. About half of all mammalian NRs and several transcriptional coregulators can interact with SHP. The SHP-mediated repression of target transcription factors includes at least three mechanisms including direct interference with the C-terminal activation function 2 (AF2) coactivator domains of NRs, recruitment of corepressors, or direct interaction with the surface of NR/transcription factors. Future research must focus on synthetic ligands acting on SHP as a potential therapeutic target in a series of metabolic abnormalities. Current understanding about the pleiotropic role of SHP is examined in this paper, and principal metabolic aspects connected with SHP function will be also discussed
Ezetimibe: Its Novel Effects on the Prevention and the Treatment of Cholesterol Gallstones and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
The cholesterol absorption inhibitor ezetimibe can significantly reduce plasma cholesterol concentrations by inhibiting the Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 protein (NPC1L1), an intestinal sterol influx transporter that can actively facilitate the uptake of cholesterol for intestinal absorption. Unexpectedly, ezetimibe treatment also induces a complete resistance to cholesterol gallstone formation and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in addition to preventing hypercholesterolemia in mice on a Western diet. Because chylomicrons are the vehicles with which the enterocytes transport cholesterol and fatty acids into the body, ezetimibe could prevent these two most prevalent hepatobiliary diseases possibly through the regulation of chylomicron-derived cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism in the liver. It is highly likely that there is an intestinal and hepatic cross-talk through the chylomicron pathway. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms whereby cholesterol and fatty acids are absorbed from the intestine could offer an efficacious novel approach to the prevention and the treatment of cholesterol gallstones and NAFLD
The Role Of Diet In The Pathogenesis Of Cholesterol Gallstones
Cholesterol gallstone disease is a major health problem in Westernized countries and depends on a complex interplay between genetic factors, lifestyle and diet, acting on specific pathogenic mechanisms. Overweigh, obesity, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance and altered cholesterol homeostasis have been linked to increased gallstone occurrence, and several studies point to a number of specific nutrients as risk- or protective factors with respect to gallstone formation in humans, motivating a rising interest in the identification of common and modifiable dietetic factors that put the patients at risk of gallstones or that are able to prevent gallstone formation and growth. In particular, dietary models characterized by increased energy intake with highly refined sugars and sweet foods, high fructose intake, low fiber contents, high fat, consumption of fast food and low vitamin C intake increase the risk of gallstone formation. On the other hand, high intake of monounsaturated fats and fiber, olive oil and fish (ω-3 fatty acids) consumption, vegetable protein intake, fruit, coffee, moderate alcohol consumption and vitamin C supplementation exert a protective role. The effect of some confounding factors (e.g., physical activity) cannot be ruled out, but general recommendations about the multiple beneficial effects of diet on cholesterol gallstones must be kept in mind, in particular in groups at high risk of gallstone formation
Charge-order transition in the extended Hubbard model on a two-leg ladder
We investigate the charge-order transition at zero temperature in a two-leg
Hubbard ladder with additional nearest-neighbor Coulomb repulsion V using the
Density Matrix Renormalization Group technique. We consider electron densities
between quarter and half filling. For quarter filling and U=8t, we find
evidence for a continuous phase transition between a homogeneous state at small
V and a broken-symmetry state with "checkerboard" [wavevector Q=(pi,pi)] charge
order at large V. This transition to a checkerboard charge-ordered state
remains present at all larger fillings, but becomes discontinuous at
sufficiently large filling. We discuss the influence of U/t on the transition
and estimate the position of the tricritical points.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figs, minor changes, accepted for publication in PRB R
Update on neutrino mixing in the early Universe
From the current cosmological observations of CMB and nuclear abundances we
show, with an analytic procedure, that the total effective number of extra
neutrino species . We also describe the possible
signatures of non standard effects that could be revealed in future CMB
observations. This cosmological information is then applied to neutrino mixing
models. Taking into account the recent results from the SNO and SuperKamiokande
experiments, disfavouring pure active to sterile neutrino oscillations, we show
that all 4 neutrino mixing models, both of 2+2 and 3+1 type, lead to a full
thermalization of the sterile neutrino flavor. Moreover such a sterile neutrino
production excludes the possibility of an electron neutrino asymmetry
generation and we conclude that , in
disagreement with the cosmological bound. This result is valid under the
assumption that the initial neutrino asymmetries are small. We suggest the
existence of a second sterile neutrino flavor, with mixing properties such to
generate a large electron neutrino asymmetry, as a possible way out.Comment: 29 pages, 3 figures; to appear on Phys.Rev.D; added discussion (at
page 19) and references; typos correcte
Partial wave analysis of J/psi to p pbar pi0
Using a sample of 58 million events collected with the BESII
detector at the BEPC, more than 100,000 events are
selected, and a detailed partial wave analysis is performed. The branching
fraction is determined to be . A long-sought `missing' , first observed in , is observed in this decay too, with mass and width of
MeV/c and MeV/c,
respectively. Its spin-parity favors . The masses, widths, and
spin-parities of other states are obtained as well.Comment: Add one author nam
Tricritical Behavior in the Extended Hubbard Chains
Phase diagrams of the one-dimensional extended Hubbard model (including
nearest-neighbor interaction ) at half- and quarter-filling are studied by
observing level crossings of excitation spectra using the exact
diagonalization. This method is based on the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid theory
including logarithmic corrections which stem from the renormalization of the
Umklapp- and the backward-scattering effects.
Using this approach, the phase boundaries are determined with high accuracy,
and then the structure of the phase diagram is clarified. At half-filling, the
phase diagram consists of two
Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition lines and one Gaussian
transition line in the charge sector, and one spin-gap transition line.
This structure reflects the U(1) SU(2) symmetry of the electron
system. Near the line, the Gaussian and the spin-gap transitions take
place independently from the weak- to the intermediate-coupling region, but
these two transition lines are coupled in the strong-coupling region. This
result demonstrates existence of a tricritical point and a
bond-charge-density-wave (BCDW) phase between charge- and spin-density-wave
(CDW, SDW) phases. To clarify this mechanism of the transition, we also
investigate effect of a correlated hopping term which plays a role to enlarge
BCDW and bond-spin-density-wave (BSDW) phases. At quarter-filling, a similar
crossover phenomenon also takes place in the large- region involving
spin-gap and BKT-type metal-insulator transitions.Comment: 18 pages(REVTeX), 17 figures(EPS(color)), 3 tables, Detailed paper of
JPSJ 68 (1999) 3123 (cond-mat/9903227), see also cond-mat/000341
CUORE-0 results and prospects for the CUORE experiment
With 741 kg of TeO2 crystals and an excellent energy resolution of 5 keV
(0.2%) at the region of interest, the CUORE (Cryogenic Underground Observatory
for Rare Events) experiment aims at searching for neutrinoless double beta
decay of 130Te with unprecedented sensitivity. Expected to start data taking in
2015, CUORE is currently in an advanced construction phase at LNGS. CUORE
projected neutrinoless double beta decay half-life sensitivity is 1.6E26 y at 1
sigma (9.5E25 y at the 90% confidence level), in five years of live time,
corresponding to an upper limit on the effective Majorana mass in the range
40-100 meV (50-130 meV). Further background rejection with auxiliary bolometric
detectors could improve CUORE sensitivity and competitiveness of bolometric
detectors towards a full analysis of the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy.
CUORE-0 was built to test and demonstrate the performance of the upcoming CUORE
experiment. It consists of a single CUORE tower (52 TeO2 bolometers of 750 g
each, arranged in a 13 floor structure) constructed strictly following CUORE
recipes both for materials and assembly procedures. An experiment its own,
CUORE-0 is expected to reach a sensitivity to the neutrinoless double beta
decay half-life of 130Te around 3E24 y in one year of live time. We present an
update of the data, corresponding to an exposure of 18.1 kg y. An analysis of
the background indicates that the CUORE performance goal is satisfied while the
sensitivity goal is within reach.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of NEUTRINO 2014,
26th International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics, 2-7 June
2014, held at Boston, Massachusetts, US
Status of the CUORE and results from the CUORE-0 neutrinoless double beta decay experiments
CUORE is a 741 kg array of TeO2 bolometers for the search of neutrinoless
double beta decay of 130Te. The detector is being constructed at the Laboratori
Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy, where it will start taking data in 2015. If
the target background of 0.01 counts/keV/kg/y will be reached, in five years of
data taking CUORE will have a 1 sigma half life sensitivity of 10E26 y. CUORE-0
is a smaller experiment constructed to test and demonstrate the performances
expected for CUORE. The detector is a single tower of 52 CUORE-like bolometers
that started taking data in spring 2013. The status and perspectives of CUORE
will be discussed, and the first CUORE-0 data will be presented.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, to be published in the proceedings of ICHEP 2014,
37th International Conference on High Energy Physics, Valencia (Spain) 2-9
July 201
Search for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay of Te with CUORE-0
We report the results of a search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in a
9.8~kgyr exposure of Te using a bolometric detector array,
CUORE-0. The characteristic detector energy resolution and background level in
the region of interest are FWHM and ~counts/(keVkgyr), respectively. The
median 90%~C.L. lower-limit sensitivity of the experiment is and surpasses the sensitivity of previous searches. We find
no evidence for neutrinoless double-beta decay of Te and place a
Bayesian lower bound on the decay half-life, ~ at 90%~C.L. Combining CUORE-0 data with the 19.75~kgyr
exposure of Te from the Cuoricino experiment we obtain at 90%~C.L.~(Bayesian), the most stringent
limit to date on this half-life. Using a range of nuclear matrix element
estimates we interpret this as a limit on the effective Majorana neutrino mass,
-- .Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, updated version as published in PR
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