90 research outputs found
Effective Lagrangian for strongly coupled domain wall fermions
We derive the effective Lagrangian for mesons in lattice gauge theory with
domain-wall fermions in the strong-coupling and large-N_c limits. We use the
formalism of supergroups to deal with the Pauli-Villars fields, needed to
regulate the contributions of the heavy fermions. We calculate the spectrum of
pseudo-Goldstone bosons and show that domain wall fermions are doubled and
massive in this regime. Since we take the extent and lattice spacing of the
fifth dimension to infinity and zero respectively, our conclusions apply also
to overlap fermions.Comment: 26 pp. RevTeX and 3 figures; corrected error in symmetry breaking
scheme and added comments to discussio
Hamiltonian domain wall fermions at strong coupling
We apply strong-coupling perturbation theory to gauge theories containing
domain-wall fermions in Shamir's surface version. We construct the effective
Hamiltonian for the color-singlet degrees of freedom that constitute the
low-lying spectrum at strong coupling. We show that the effective theory is
identical to that derived from naive, doubled fermions with a mass term, and
hence that domain-wall fermions at strong coupling suffer both doubling and
explicit breaking of chiral symmetry. Since we employ a continuous fifth
dimension whose extent tends to infinity, our result applies to overlap
fermions as well.Comment: Revtex, 21 pp. Some changes in Introduction, dealing with consistency
with previous wor
Choosing a control intervention for a randomised clinical trial
BACKGROUND: Randomised controlled clinical trials are performed to resolve uncertainty concerning comparator interventions. Appropriate acknowledgment of uncertainty enables the concurrent achievement of two goals : the acquisition of valuable scientific knowledge and an optimum treatment choice for the patient-participant. The ethical recruitment of patients requires the presence of clinical equipoise. This involves the appropriate choice of a control intervention, particularly when unapproved drugs or innovative interventions are being evaluated. DISCUSSION: We argue that the choice of a control intervention should be supported by a systematic review of the relevant literature and, where necessary, solicitation of the informed beliefs of clinical experts through formal surveys and publication of the proposed trial's protocol. SUMMARY: When clinical equipoise is present, physicians may confidently propose trial enrollment to their eligible patients as an act of therapeutic beneficence
Pleiotropic effect of the proton pump inhibitor esomeprazole leading to suppression of lung inflammation and fibrosis
Background: The beneficial outcome associated with the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has been reported in retrospective studies. To date, no prospective study has been conducted to confirm these outcomes. In addition, the potential mechanism by which PPIs improve measures of lung function and/or transplant-free survival in IPF has not been elucidated. Methods: Here, we used biochemical, cell biological and preclinical studies to evaluate regulation of markers associated with inflammation and fibrosis. In our in vitro studies, we exposed primary lung fibroblasts, epithelial and endothelial cells to ionizing radiation or bleomycin; stimuli typically used to induce inflammation and fibrosis. In addition, we cultured lung fibroblasts from IPF patients and studied the effect of esomeprazole on collagen release. Our preclinical study tested efficacy of esomeprazole in a rat model of bleomycin-induced lung injury. Furthermore, we performed retrospective analysis of interstitial lung disease (ILD) databases to examine the effect of PPIs on transplant-free survival. Results: The cell culture studies revealed that esomeprazole controls inflammation by suppressing the expression of pro-inflammatory molecules including vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, inducible nitric oxide synthase, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukins (IL-1 beta and IL-6). The antioxidant effect is associated with strong induction of the stress-inducible cytoprotective protein heme oxygenase-1 (HO1) and the antifibrotic effect is associated with potent inhibition of fibroblast proliferation as well as downregulation of profibrotic proteins including receptors for transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta), fibronectin and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Furthermore, esomeprazole showed robust effect in mitigating the inflammatory and fibrotic responses in a murine model of acute lung injury. Finally, retrospective analysis of two ILD databases was performed to assess the effect of PPIs on transplant-free survival in IPF patients. Intriguingly, this data demonstrated that IPF patients on PPIs had prolonged survival over controls (median survival of 3.4 vs 2 years). Conclusions: Overall, these data indicate the possibility that PPIs may have protective function in IPF by directly modulating the disease process and suggest that they may have other clinical utility in the treatment of extra-intestinal diseases characterized by inflammatory and/or fibrotic phases.Stanford School of Medicine [1049528-149- KAVFB]; Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program of the University of California [20FT-0090]; National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [5K01HL118683, P01HL114470]; Houston Methodist Research Institute [25150001]; Stanford SPARK Translational Research ProgramSCI(E)[email protected]
Grégor Mathias, Les sections administratives spécialisées en Algérie : Entre idéal et réalité (1955-1962)
Brower Benjamin. C. GrĂ©gor Mathias, Les sections administratives spĂ©cialisĂ©es en AlgĂ©rie : Entre idĂ©al et rĂ©alitĂ© (1955-1962). In: Revue dâhistoire moderne et contemporaine, tome 47 N°4, Octobre-dĂ©cembre 2000. pp. 878-879
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