862 research outputs found
Consequences of Supergravity with Gauged Symmetry
The structure of gauged R supergravity Lagrangians is reviewed, and we
consider models with a hidden sector plus light fields of the MSSM. A simple
potential for the hidden sector is presented which has a global minimum with
zero cosmological constant and spontaneously broken SUSY and R-symmetry. The
vector multiplet acquires a Planck scale mass through the Higgs
mechanism, and it decouples at low energy. Due to very interesting
cancellations, the D-terms also drop out at low energy. Thus no
direct effects of the gauging of R-symmetry remain in the low energy effective
Lagrangian, and this result is model independent, requiring only that
R-symmetry be broken at the Planck scale and , where is the
auxiliary field of the vector multiplet. The low energy theory is
fairly conventional with soft SUSY breaking terms for the MSSM fields. As a
remnant of the gauging of R-symmetry, it also contains light fields, some
required to cancel R-anomalies and others from the hidden sector.Comment: 36 pages, plain LaTeX, all macros included, no figure
A hypothesis for a novel role of RIN1-the modulation of telomerase function by the MAPK signaling pathway
Cancerous cells display abnormalities in the signal transduction pathways responsible for responding to extracellular growth factors, or mitogens. Mutations that alter proteins involved in these types of pathways can lead to inappropriate or unregulated cell growth, and therefore predispose the cell to become malignant. The critical role of the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway in transducing growth signals to the interior of the cell and subsequently stimulating cell growth and proliferation is underscored by the fact that roughly one quarter of all human tumors contain mutant forms of Ras proteins. A particular focus on the signaling and membrane trafficking adaptor protein known as Ras interference 1 (RIN1) will reveal how this protein can potentially play a significant role in the development of the cancerous phenotype in certain cell types. Of equal interest is the possible connection between the Ras/MAPK pathway, and subsequent expression and enzymatic activity of telomerase-a key enzyme known to be overexpressed in roughly 85% of all cancers. RIN1 is a 783 amino acid (84 kDa) cytosolic protein that is involved in key steps of growth factor receptor-mediated endocytosis and can potentially moderate signaling through the MAPK pathways. RIN1, with its unique ability to compete directly with Raf for activation by Ras, could potentially influence signaling through more than one of the MAPK pathways. If so, RIN1 may then be able to exert a precise and selective effect on the downstream signal(s) of a MAPK target such as telomerase
SUSY darkmatter at the LHC - 7 TeV
We have analysed the early LHC signatures of the minimal supergravity
(mSUGRA) model. Our emphasis is on the 7 - run corresponding to an
integrated luminosity of although we have also discussed
briefly the prospects at LHC-10 . We focus on the parameter space yielding
relatively light squark and gluinos consistent with the darkmatter relic
density data and the LEP bounds on the lightest Higgs scalar mass. This
parameter space is only allowed for non-vanishing trilinear soft breaking term
. A significant region of the parameter space with large to moderate
negative values of consistent with the stability of the scalar potential
and relic density production via neutralino annihilation and/or neutralino -
stau coannihilation yields observable signal via the jets + missing transverse
energy channel. The one lepton + jets + missing energy signal is also viable
over a smaller but non-trivial parameter space. The ratio of the size of the
two signals - free from theoretical uncertainties - may distinguish between
different relic density generating mechanisms. With efficient -tagging
facilities at 7 the discriminating power may increase significantly. We
also comment on other dark matter relic density allowed mSUGRA scenarios and
variants there of in the context of LHC-7 .Comment: Brief comments on signals at 7 TeV in the Higgs funnel region of
mSUGRA, models with non universal scalar and gaugino masses have been added.
Accepted for publication in PR
Inhibitory effect of Clitoria ternatea flower petal extract on fructose-induced protein glycation and oxidation-dependent damages to albumin in vitro
Background: The accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in body tissue has been implicated in the progression of age-related diseases. Inhibition of AGE formation is the imperative approach for alleviating diabetic complications. Clitoria ternatea extract (CTE) has been demonstrated to possess anti-diabetic activity. However, there is no scientific evidence supporting its anti-glycation activity. The objective of this study was to determine the inhibitory effect of CTE on fructose-induced formation of AGEs and protein oxidation. Antioxidant activity of CTE was also assessed by various methods. Methods: The aqueous extract of CTE (0.25-1.00 mg/ml) was measured for the content of total phenolic compounds, flavonoid, and anthocyanin by Folin-Ciocalteu assay, AlCl3 colorimetric method, and pH differential method, respectively. The various concentrations of CTE were incubated with BSA and fructose at 37 degrees C for 28 days. The formation of fluorescent AGEs, the level of fructosamine, protein carbonyl content, and thiol group were measured. The in vitro antioxidant activity was measured by the 1,1-diphenyl 2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity, trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), hydroxyl radical scavenging activity (HRSA), superoxide radical scavenging activity (SRSA), and ferrous ion chelating power (FICP). Results: The results demonstrated that the content of total phenolics, flavonoids and total anthocyanins in CTE was 53 +/- 0.34 mg gallic acid equivalents/g dried extract, 11.2 +/- 0.33 mg catechin equivalents/g dried extract, and 1.46 +/- 0.04 mg cyanidin-3-glucoside equivalents/g dried extract, respectively. Moreover, CTE (0.25-1.00 mg/ml) significantly inhibited the formation of AGEs in a concentration-dependent manner. CTE also markedly reduced the levels of fructosamine and the oxidation of protein by decreasing protein carbonyl content and preventing free thiol depletion. In the DPPH radical scavenging activity and SRSA, CTE had the IC50 values of 0.47 +/- 0.01 mg/ml and 0.58 +/- 0.04 mg/ml. Furthermore, the FRAP and TEAC values of CTE were 0.38 +/- 0.01 mmol FeSO4 equivalents/mg dried extract and 0.17 +/- 0.01 mg trolox equivalents/mg dried extract. However, CTE showed weak scavenging activity on hydroxyl radical and a weak antioxidant iron chelator. Conclusions: The results showed that CTE has strong antiglycation and antioxidant properties and might have therapeutic potentials in the prevention of AGE-mediated diabetic complications
Soil organic carbon stocks potentially at risk of decline with organic farming expansion
Funding Information: We thank R. Girault and Y. Behara for help regarding carbon losses in manure management process; D. Angers, E. Ceschia and C. Poeplau for inputs on how to consider cover crops. This work was funded by ADEME, Bordeaux Sciences Agro (Univ. Bordeaux), INRAEâs committee on organic farming (MP MĂ©tabio) and Aberdeen University. M.K. and P.S. acknowledge support from the CIRCASA project, which received funding from the European Unionâs Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement no 774378. Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.Peer reviewedPostprin
Fermion Generations, Masses and Mixing Angles from Extra Dimensions
We discuss a toy model in six dimensions that predicts two fermion
generations, natural mass hierarchy and intergenerational mixing. Matter is
described by vector-like six dimensional fermions, one per each irreducible
standard model representation. Two fermion generations arise from the
compactification mechanism, through orbifold projection. They are localized in
different regions of the compact space by a six dimensional mass term. Flavour
symmetry is broken via Yukawa couplings, with a Higgs vacuum expectation value
not constant in the extra space. A hierarchical spectrum is obtained from order
one dimensionless parameters of the six dimensional theory. The Cabibbo angle
arises from the soft breaking of six dimensional parity symmetry. We also
briefly discuss how the present model could be extended to cover the realistic
case.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures. References added, modified comment on neutrino
masses, published versio
Probing Minimal Supergravity at the CERN LHC for Large
For large values of the minimal supergravity model parameter , the
tau lepton and the bottom quark Yukawa couplings become large, leading to
reduced masses of -sleptons and -squarks relative to their first and
second generation counterparts, and to enhanced decays of charginos and
neutralinos to -leptons and -quarks. We evaluate the reach of the CERN
LHC collider for supersymmetry in the mSUGRA model parameter space. We
find that values of GeV can be probed with just 10
fb of integrated luminosity for values as high as 45, so
that mSUGRA cannot escape the scrutiny of LHC experiments by virtue of having a
large value of . We also perform a case study of an mSUGRA model at
where \tz_2\to \tau\ttau_1 and \tw_1\to \ttau_1\nu_\tau
with branching fraction. In this case, at least within our
simplistic study, we show that a di-tau mass edge, which determines the value
of m_{\tz_2}-m_{\tz_1}, can still be reconstructed. This information can be
used as a starting point for reconstructing SUSY cascade decays on an
event-by-event basis, and can provide a strong constraint in determining the
underlying model parameters. Finally, we show that for large there
can be an observable excess of leptons, and argue that signals
might serve to provide new information about the underlying model framework.Comment: 22 page REVTEX file including 8 figure
Artificial intelligence for the artificial kidney: Pointers to the future of a personalized hemodialysis therapy
Current dialysis devices are not able to react when unexpected changes occur during dialysis treatment, or to learn about experience for therapy personalization. Furthermore, great efforts are dedicated to develop miniaturized artificial kidneys to achieve a continuous and personalized dialysis therapy, in order to improve patientâs quality of life. These
innovative dialysis devices will require a real-time monitoring of equipment alarms, dialysis parameters and patient-related data to ensure patient safety and to allow instantaneous changes of the dialysis prescription for assessment of their adequacy. The analysis and evaluation of the resulting large-scale data sets enters the realm of Big Data and will require real-time predictive models. These may come from the fields of Machine Learning and Computational Intelligence, both included in Artificial Intelligence, a branch of engineering involved with the creation of devices that simulate intelligent behavior. The incorporation of Artificial Intelligence should provide a fully new approach to data analysis, enabling future advances in personalized dialysis therapies. With the purpose to learn about the present and potential future impact on medicine from experts in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, a scientific meeting was organized in the Hospital of Bellvitge (Barcelona, Spain). As an outcome of that meeting, the aim of this review is to investigate Artificial Intelligence experiences on dialysis, with a focus on potential barriers, challenges and prospects for future applications of these technologies.Postprint (author's final draft
Clitoria ternatea Flower Petal Extract Inhibits Adipogenesis and Lipid Accumulation in 3T3-L1 Preadipocytes by Downregulating Adipogenic Gene Expression
Clitoria ternatea (commonly known as blue pea) flower petal extract (CTE) is used as a natural colorant in a variety of foods and beverages. The objective of study was to determine the inhibitory effect of CTE on adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. The phytochemical profiles of CTE were analyzed by liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Anti-adipogenesis effect of CTE was measured by using Oil Red O staining, intracellular triglyceride assay, quantitative real-time PCR and western blot analysis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Cell cycle studies were performed by flow cytometry. Lipolysis experiments were performed using a colorimetric assay kit. In early stages, CTE demonstrated anti-adipogenic effects through inhibition of proliferation and cell cycle retardation by suppressing expression of phospho-Akt and phospho-ERK1/2 signaling pathway. The results also showed that CTE inhibited the late stage of differentiation through diminishing expression of adipogenic transcription factors including PPARγ and C/EBPα. The inhibitory action was subsequently attenuated in downregulation of fatty acid synthase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase, causing the reduction of TG accumulation. In addition, CTE also enhanced catecholamine-induced lipolysis in adipocytes. These results suggest that CTE effectively attenuates adipogenesis by controlling cell cycle progression and downregulating adipogenic gene expression
Use of two autochthonous bacteriocinogenic strains as starter cultures in the production of salchichĂłnes, a type of Spanish fermented sausages
In this work, two autochthonous LAB strains (Lactiplantibacillus paraplantarum BPF2 and Pediococcus acidilactici ST6), isolated from spontaneously fermented sausages produced in Spain, were tested to produce Spanish fermented sausages (salchichĂłn) in pilot plants, due to their promising technological and anti-listerial activity. These products were compared with a sample obtained with a commercial starter (RAP) and a spontaneously fermented control sample. Physico-chemical parameters, microbial counts, metagenomic analysis, biogenic amines content and organoleptic profile of the obtained samples were studied to assess the performances of the native starters. In fact, traditional and artisanal products obtained through spontaneous fermentations can represent an important biodiversity reservoir of strains to be exploited as new potential starter cultures, to improve the safety, quality and local differentiation of traditional products. The data underlined that ST6 strain resulted in a final lower percentage if compared with the other LAB used as starter cultures. The use of starters reduced the BA concentration observed in the sausages obtained with spontaneous fermentation and the BPF2 and ST6 strains were able to decrease the level of products rancidity. Moreover, a challenge test against L. monocytogenes were performed. The data confirmed the effectiveness in the inhibition of L. monocytogenes by the two bacteriocinogenic strains tested, with respect to RAP and control samples, highlighting their ability to produce bacteriocins in real food systems. This work demonstrated the promising application in meat industry of these autochthonous strains as starter cultures to improve sensory differentiation and recognizability of typical fermented sausages
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