Singing for children and adults with cystic fibrosis

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: To assess the effects of singing as an adjunctive therapy for children and adults with CF on outcomes including the morbidity, respiratory muscles and pulmonary function

Singing for children and adults with bronchiectasis

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: To evaluate the effects of a singing program as an adjunctive therapy on the morbidity, respiratory muscles and pulmonary function of children and adults with bronchiectasis during (a) stable bronchiectasis and (b) an exacerbation of bronchiectasis

Floor plate and motor neuron induction by different concentrations of the amino-terminal cleavage product of sonic hedgehog autoproteolysis

AbstractThe differentiation of floor plate cells and motor neurons can be induced by Sonic hedgehog (SHH), a secreted signaling protein that undergoes autoproteolytic cleavage to generate amino- and carboxy-terminal products. We have found that both floor plate cells and motor neurons are induced by the aminoterminal cleavage product of SHH (SHH-N). The threshold concentration of SHH-N required for motor neuron induction is about 5-fold lower than that required for floor plate induction. Higher concentrations of SHH-N can induce floor plate cells at the expense of motor neuron differentiation. Our results suggest that the induction of floor plate cells and motor neurons by the notochord in vivo is mediated by exposure of neural plate cells to different concentrations of the amino-terminal product of SHH autoproteolytic cleavage

Synthesis and anti-norovirus activity of pyranobenzopyrone compounds

During the last decade, noroviruses have gained media attention as the cause of large scale outbreaks of gastroenteritis on cruise ships, dormitories, nursing homes, etc. Although noroviruses do not multiply in food or water, they can cause large outbreaks because approximately 10–100 virions are sufficient to cause illness in a healthy adult. Recently, it was shown that the activity of acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase-1 (ACAT1) enzyme may be important in norovirus infection. In search of anti-noroviral agents based on the inhibition of ACAT1, we synthesized and evaluated the inhibitory activities of a class of pyranobenzopyrone molecules containing amino, pyridine, substituted quinolines, or 7,8-benzoquinoline nucleus. Three of the sixteen evaluated compounds possess ED[subscript]5[subscript]0 values in the low micrometer range. 2-Quinolylmethyl derivative 3A and 4-quinolylmethyl derivative 4A showed ED[subscript]5[subscript]0 values of 3.4 and 2.4 [mu]M and TD[subscript]5[subscript]0 values of >200 and 96.4 [mu]M, respectively. The identified active compounds are suitable for further modification for the development of anti-norovirus agents

Supersymmetric economical 3-3-1 model

The supersymmetric extension of the economical 3-3-1 model is presented. The constraint equations and the gauge boson identification establish a relation between the vacuum expectation values (VEVs) at the top and bottom elements of the Higgs triplet $\chi$ and its supersymmetric counterpart $\chi^\prime$. Because of this relation, the exact diagonalization of neutral gauge boson sector has been performed. The gauge bosons and their associated Goldstone ones mix in the same way as in non-supersymmetric version. This is also correct in the case of gauginos. The eigenvalues and eigenstates in the Higgs sector are derived. The model contains a heavy neutral Higgs boson with mass equal to those of the neutral non-Hermitian gauge boson $X^0$ and a charged scalar with mass equal to those of the $W$ boson in the standard model, i. e. $m_{\varrho_1} = m_W$. This result is in good agreement with the present estimation: $m_{H^\pm} > 79.3$ GeV, CL= 95 %. We also show that the boson sector and the fermion sector gain masses in the same way as in the non-supersymmetric case.Comment: 33 page

Thin helium film on a glass substrate

We investigate by Monte Carlo simulations the structure, energetics and superfluid properties of thin helium-four films (up to four layers) on a glass substrate, at low temperature. The first adsorbed layer is found to be solid and "inert", i.e., atoms are localized and do not participate to quantum exchanges. Additional layers are liquid, with no clear layer separation above the second one. It is found that a single helium-three impurity resides on the outmost layer, not significantly further away from the substrate than helium-four atoms on the same layer.Comment: Six figures, submitted for publication to the Journal of Low Temperature Physic

Higgs phenomenology of supersymmetric economical 3-3-1 model

We explore the Higgs sector in the supersymmetric economical 3-3-1 model and find new features in this sector. The charged Higgs sector is revised i.e., in difference of the previous work, the exact eigenvalues and states are obtained without any approximation. In this model, there are three Higgs bosons having masses equal to that of the gauge bosons--the W and extra X and Y. There is one scalar boson with mass of 91.4 GeV, which is closed to the $Z$ boson mass and in good agreement with present limit: 89.8 GeV at 95% CL. The condition of eliminating for charged scalar tachyon leads to splitting of VEV at the first symmetry breaking, namely, $w \simeq w^\prime$. The interactions among the standard model gauge bosons and scalar fields in the framework of the supersymmetric economical 3-3-1 model are presented. From these couplings, at some limit, almost scalar Higgs fields can be recognized in accordance with the standard model. The hadronic cross section for production of the bilepton charged Higgs boson at the CERN LHC in the effective vector boson approximation is calculated. Numerical evaluation shows that the cross section can exceed 35.8 fb.Comment: 33 pages, 1 figur

Critical structure factor in Ising systems

We perform a large-scale Monte Carlo simulation of the three-dimensional Ising model on simple cubic lattices of size L^3 with L=128 and 256. We determine the corresponding structure factor (Fourier transform of the two-point function) and compare it with several approximations and with experimental results. We also compute the turbidity as a function of the momentum of the incoming radiation, focusing in particular on the deviations from the Ornstein-Zernicke expression of Puglielli and Ford.Comment: 16 page

Fermions on an Interval: Quark and Lepton Masses without a Higgs

We consider fermions on an extra dimensional interval. We find the boundary conditions at the ends of the interval that are consistent with the variational principle, and explain which ones arise in various physical circumstances. We apply these results to higgsless models of electroweak symmetry breaking, where electroweak symmetry is not broken by a scalar vacuum expectation value, but rather by the boundary conditions of the gauge fields. We show that it is possible to find a set of boundary conditions for bulk fermions that would give a realistic fermion mass spectrum without the presence of a Higgs scalar, and present some sample fermion mass spectra for the standard model quarks and leptons as well as their resonances.Comment: LaTeX, 36 pages, 5 figure