Antioxidant activity and contents of total phenolic compounds and anthocyanins according to grain colour in several varieties of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench

Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench contains various phenolic compounds such as anthocyanin. Eleven sorghum accessions were classified into five groups by grain colour and their antioxidant activities were measured as well as the contents of total phenolic compounds (TPC) and anthocyanins in sorghum grains. The grain colour was related to TPC content, but not to monomelic anthocyanin content. Moreover, the overall patterns of antioxidant activity levels in 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) or 2,2′-Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) assay were similar to those of the TPC content. Correlations between TPC and anthocyanin contents were statistically significant and positive (P < 0.05). TPC content showed also a strong positive correlation to DPPH and ABTS antioxidant activities. The results provide the basic data for breeding of sorghum varieties containing large amounts of antioxidants

Quantum phase transitions in superconducting arrays under external magnetic fields

We study the zero-temperature phase transitions of two-dimensional superconducting arrays with both the self- and the junction capacitances in the presence of external magnetic fields. We consider two kinds of excitations from the Mott insulating phase: charge-dipole excitations and single-charge excitations, and apply the second-order perturbation theory to find their energies. The resulting phase boundaries are found to depend strongly on the magnetic frustration, which measures the commensurate-incommensurate effects. Comparison of the obtained values with those in recent experiment suggests the possibility that the superconductor-insulator transition observed in experiment may not be of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless type. The system is also transformed to a classical three-dimensional XY model with the magnetic field in the time-direction; this allows the analogy to bulk superconductors, revealing the nature of the phase transitions.Comment: 9 pages including 7 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Thermodynamic Potential for Superfluid 3He in Aerogel

We present a free energy functional for superfluid 3He in the presence of homogeneously distributed impurity disorder which extends the Ginzburg-Landau free energy functional to all temperatures. We use the new free energy functional to calculate the thermodynamic potential, entropy, heat capacity and density of states for the B-phase of superfluid 3He in homogeneous, isotropic aerogel.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Efficacy and safety of Botulinum toxinA for improving esthetics in facial complex: A systematic review

Aim: To evaluate efficacy and safety of Botulinum toxinA for improving esthetics in the facial complex and correlating them to the dosage and side effects through a systematic review. Methods: A literature search was performed using PubMed, Medline, Web of Sciences, and Scopus databases. Quality of studies was appraised through the GRADE system. This review follows the ‘Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols’ (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement. Efficacy was analyzed through improvement rate and effect sizes. Graphical comparison of efficacy and ocular adverse effects (adverse effects around the eye) at various anatomical locations was made by calculating the average improvement rate and adverse events. Results: Twenty-five studies were included in this systematic review after application of the inclusion criteria. Moderate to severe cases in glabellar, lateral canthal, and forehead regions showed higher improvement rates between 20U to 50U, with an effect lasting up to 120 days. Gender and age seemed to have a direct effect on efficacy. Headaches were the most common adverse effect, followed by injection site bruising; all adverse effects resolved within 3-4 days. Conclusions: Treatment with Botulinum toxinA to enhance esthetics of facial complex is efficient and safe at all recommended dosages. Presence of complexing proteins influenced the efficacy of BoNT-A. undesirable muscular adverse effects around the eyes were more predominant when treating the glabellar region. There was no correlation found between the BoNT-A dosage and side effects, however, an increase in dosage did not always lead to an increase in efficacy

Exact Calculation of the Vortex-Antivortex Interaction Energy in the Anisotropic 3D XY-model

We have developed an exact method to calculate the vortex-antivortex interaction energy in the anisotropic 3D-XY model. For this calculation, dual transformation which is already known for the 2D XY-model was extended. We found an explicit form of this interaction energy as a function of the anisotropic ratio and the separation $r$ between the vortex and antivortex located on the same layer. The form of interaction energy is $\ln r$ at the small $r$ limi t but is proportional to $r$ at the opposite limit. This form of interaction energ y is consistent with the upper bound calculation using the variational method by Cataudella and Minnhagen.Comment: REVTeX 12 pages, In print for publication in Phys. Rev.

Spin Analysis of Supersymmetric Particles

The spin of supersymmetric particles can be determined at $e^+e^-$ colliders unambiguously. This is demonstrated for a characteristic set of non-colored supersymmetric particles -- smuons, selectrons, and charginos/neutralinos. The analysis is based on the threshold behavior of the excitation curves for pair production in $e^+e^-$ collisions, the angular distribution in the production process and decay angular distributions. In the first step we present the observables in the helicity formalism for the supersymmetric particles. Subsequently we confront the results with corresponding analyses of Kaluza-Klein particles in theories of universal extra space dimensions which behave distinctly different from supersymmetric theories. It is shown in the third step that a set of observables can be designed which signal the spin of supersymmetric particles unambiguously without any model assumptions. Finally in the fourth step it is demonstrated that the determination of the spin of supersymmetric particles can be performed experimentally in practice at an $e^+e^-$ collider.Comment: 39 pages, 14 figure

Lattice effects on the current-voltage characteristics of superconducting arrays

The lattice effects on the current-voltage characteristics of two-dimensional arrays of resistively shunted Josephson junctions are investigated. The lattice potential energies due to the discrete lattice structure are calculated for several geometries and directions of current injection. We compare the energy barrier for vortex-pair unbinding with the lattice pinning potential, which shows that lattice effects are negligible in the low-current limit as well as in the high-current limit. At intermediate currents, on the other hand, the lattice potential becomes comparable to the barrier height and the lattice effects may be observed in the current-voltage characteristics.Comment: 5 pages including 5 figures in two columns, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Holography for fermions

The holographic interpretation is a useful tool to describe 5D field theories in a 4D language. In particular it allows one to relate 5D AdS theories with 4D CFTs. We elaborate on the 5D/4D dictionary for the case of fermions in AdS$_5$ with boundaries. This dictionary is quite useful to address phenomenological issues in a very simple manner, as we show by giving some examples.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures; v2: minor corrections, references adde

Boundary Effects on Dynamic Behavior of Josephson-Junction Arrays

The boundary effects on the current-voltage characteristics in two-dimensional arrays of resistively shunted Josephson junctions are examined. In particular, we consider both the conventional boundary conditions (CBC) and the fluctuating twist boundary conditions (FTBC), and make comparison of the obtained results. It is observed that the CBC, which have been widely adopted in existing simulations, may give a problem in scaling, arising from rather large boundary effects; the FTBC in general turn out to be effective in reducing the finite-size effects, yielding results with good scaling behavior. To resolve the discrepancy between the two boundary conditions, we propose that the proper scaling in the CBC should be performed with the boundary data discarded: This is shown to give results which indeed scale well and are the same as those from the FTBC.Comment: RevTex, Final version to appear in Phys. Rev.