1,010 research outputs found
Vitamin E and selenium: contrasting and interacting nutritional determinants of host resistance to parasitic and viral infections.
Beneficial effects of trace amounts of dietary Se were first observed in vitamin E-deficient rats so that a strong metabolic interaction between these two micronutrients was apparent since the initial discovery of the nutritional value of Se (Schwarz & Foltz, 1957). Later work showed that Se and vitamin E tended to spare one another's requirement for the prevention of certain nutritional deficiency diseases (e.g. exudative diathesis in chicks, see Thompson & Scott, 1969). However, there were other conditions that appeared to respond specifically to only one of these nutrients (e.g. resorption gestation in rats, see Harris et al. 1958). As our knowledge about Se and vitamin E grew, the complexity of their interactions became clear with some conditions being specific for one or the other nutrient, whereas other syndromes responded equally well to either nutrient (Table 1). Many of the early results could be adequately explained by the antioxidant properties of both these nutrients: Se as a component of the peroxide-destroying enzyme glutathione peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.9) and vitamin E as a lipid-soluble antioxidant (Hoekstra, 1975). More recent work has established metabolic roles for Se that appear to be unrelated to its antioxidant activity (e.g. as a component of iodothyronine 5’-deiodinase (EC 3.8.1.4), see Arthur et al. 1990)
Cosmological Magnetogenesis driven by Radiation Pressure
The origin of large scale cosmological magnetic fields remains a mystery,
despite the continuous efforts devoted to that problem. We present a new model
of magnetic field generation, based on local charge separation provided by an
anisotropic and inhomogeneous radiation pressure. In the cosmological context,
the processes we explore take place at the epoch of the reionisation of the
Universe. Under simple assumptions, we obtain results (i) in terms of the order
of magnitude of the field generated at large scales and (ii) in terms of its
power spectrum. The amplitudes obtained (B ~ 8.10^(-6) micro-Gauss) are
considerably higher than those obtained in usual magnetogenesis models and
provide suitable seeds for amplification by adiabatic collapse and/or dynamo
during structure formation.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure
Stochastic Resonance in Ion Channels Characterized by Information Theory
We identify a unifying measure for stochastic resonance (SR) in voltage
dependent ion channels which comprises periodic (conventional), aperiodic and
nonstationary SR. Within a simplest setting, the gating dynamics is governed by
two-state conductance fluctuations, which switch at random time points between
two values. The corresponding continuous time point process is analyzed by
virtue of information theory. In pursuing this goal we evaluate for our
dynamics the tau-information, the mutual information and the rate of
information gain. As a main result we find an analytical formula for the rate
of information gain that solely involves the probability of the two channel
states and their noise averaged rates. For small voltage signals it simplifies
to a handy expression. Our findings are applied to study SR in a potassium
channel. We find that SR occurs only when the closed state is predominantly
dwelled. Upon increasing the probability for the open channel state the
application of an extra dose of noise monotonically deteriorates the rate of
information gain, i.e., no SR behavior occurs.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Magnetic Fields in the Milky Way
This chapter presents a review of observational studies to determine the
magnetic field in the Milky Way, both in the disk and in the halo, focused on
recent developments and on magnetic fields in the diffuse interstellar medium.
I discuss some terminology which is confusingly or inconsistently used and try
to summarize current status of our knowledge on magnetic field configurations
and strengths in the Milky Way. Although many open questions still exist, more
and more conclusions can be drawn on the large-scale and small-scale components
of the Galactic magnetic field. The chapter is concluded with a brief outlook
to observational projects in the near future.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, to appear in "Magnetic Fields in Diffuse Media",
eds. E.M. de Gouveia Dal Pino and A. Lazaria
The Proton Spin and Flavor Structure in the Chiral Quark Model
After a pedagogical review of the simple constituent quark model and deep
inelastic sum rules, we describe how a quark sea as produced by the emission of
internal Goldstone bosons by the valence quarks can account for the observed
features of proton spin and flavor structures. Some issues concerning the
strange quark content of the nucleon are also discussed.Comment: 59 pages with table of contents, Lecture delivered at the Schladming
Winter School (March 1997), to be published by Springer-Verlag under the
title "Computing Particle Properties" (eds. C. B. Lang and H. Gausterer
Consequences of temperature fluctuations in observables measured in high energy collisions
We review the consequences of intrinsic, nonstatistical temperature
fluctuations as seen in observables measured in high energy collisions. We do
this from the point of view of nonextensive statistics and Tsallis
distributions. Particular attention is paid to multiplicity fluctuations as a
first consequence of temperature fluctuations, to the equivalence of
temperature and volume fluctuations, to the generalized thermodynamic
fluctuations relations allowing us to compare fluctuations observed in
different parts of phase space, and to the problem of the relation between
Tsallis entropy and Tsallis distributions. We also discuss the possible
influence of conservation laws on these distributions and provide some examples
of how one can get them without considering temperature fluctuations.Comment: Revised version of the invited contribution to The European Physical
Journal A (Hadrons and Nuclei) topical issue about 'Relativistic Hydro- and
Thermodynamics in Nuclear Physics' guest eds. Tamas S. Biro, Gergely G.
Barnafoldi and Peter Va
Evaluating the feasibility of a nurse-led self-management support intervention for kidney transplant recipients: a pilot study
Background: To support effective self-management after kidney transplantation, a holistic nurse-led self-management
support intervention was developed using the Intervention Mapping approach. The primary aim was to evaluate the
feasibility, acceptability and fidelity of the intervention for kidney transplant recipients and professionals. The secondary
aim was to explore preliminary effects on outcomes.
Methods: A pilot study was conducted in 2015–2017 to evaluate the intervention. Nurse Practitioners (NP) guided
recipients in assessing 14 life areas using the Self-Management Web. Participants were supported in developing selfregulation skills which can be applied to self-management of the illness. Strategies included goal setting, action planning,
and promotion of motivation and self-efficacy. Adult recipients from an outpatient clinic of a Dutch University Hospital
who underwent their transplant at least 1 month ago, were invited to participate. NPs, nephrologists and recipients were
interviewed to assess feasibility, fidelity and implementation experience. Consultations were videoed and analysed to
assess fidelity. To assess the preliminary effects, the intervention group completed baseline (T0) and follow-up (T1)
questionnaires on self-management behavior, self-efficacy, quality of life and quality of care. A historical control group of
kidney transplant recipients completed the same questionnaires at T1.
Results: Twenty-seven recipients agreed to participate in the intervention group, of which 24 completed the intervention
and 16 completed baseline and follow-up surveys. The control group consisted of 33 recipients. Professionals and
recipients appraised the open, holistic focus of the intervention as a welcome addition to standard care and felt that this
helped to build a relationship of trust. Recipients also felt they became more competent in problem-solving skills. The
within-group analysis showed no significant increase in patients’ self-management skills. The between-groups analysis
showed significantly higher medication adherence among the intervention group (P = 0.03; G = 0.81). The within-groups
analysis showed a significantly higher perceived quality of care (P = 0.02) in the intervention group.
Conclusion: This holistic nurse-led self-management support intervention was found to be feasible and acceptable by
professionals and recipients alike. Thi
Condicionamento, qualidade de sementes e sincronismo do florescimento em campo de produção de sementes do milho híbrido GNZ 2004
A First Search for coincident Gravitational Waves and High Energy Neutrinos using LIGO, Virgo and ANTARES data from 2007
We present the results of the first search for gravitational wave bursts
associated with high energy neutrinos. Together, these messengers could reveal
new, hidden sources that are not observed by conventional photon astronomy,
particularly at high energy. Our search uses neutrinos detected by the
underwater neutrino telescope ANTARES in its 5 line configuration during the
period January - September 2007, which coincided with the fifth and first
science runs of LIGO and Virgo, respectively. The LIGO-Virgo data were analysed
for candidate gravitational-wave signals coincident in time and direction with
the neutrino events. No significant coincident events were observed. We place
limits on the density of joint high energy neutrino - gravitational wave
emission events in the local universe, and compare them with densities of
merger and core-collapse events.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, science summary page at
http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S5LV_ANTARES/index.php. Public access
area to figures, tables at
https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=p120000
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