A Note on Tachyons in the D3+D3ˉD3+{\bar {D3}} System

The periodic bounce of Born-Infeld theory of $D3$-branes is derived, and the BPS limit of infinite period is discussed as an example of tachyon condensation. The explicit bounce solution to the Born--Infeld action is interpreted as an unstable fundamental string stretched between the brane and its antibrane.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. v2: minor changes, acknowledgement added; v3: explanations and references added. Final version to appear in Mod. Phys. Lett.

The Relation between Birth Weight and Insulin Resistance in Korean Adolescents

Low birth weight is associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in adults. The fetal programming hypothesis has shown that insulin resistance and its associated metabolic disturbances result from a poor gestational environment, for which low birth weight is a surrogate. An at-home questionnaire survey was performed on 660 middle school students (12-15 years) in Seoul, Korea, and 152 cases were randomly selected based on their birth weight. Subjects were divided into three groups according to birth weight. We recorded their birth weight and measured their current anthropometric data, blood pressure, lipid profile, HOMA-IR, and HOMA-β, and compared these parameters among the groups. The relation of birth weight to physiological characteristics in adolescence was examined. Systolic blood pressure, lipid profiles, and fasting plasma glucose, HOMA-β were not significantly different among the groups, but diastolic blood pressure was lower in the third tertile. Insulin, C-peptide, and HOMA-IR were higher in the lower birth weight tertile. After adjustment for confounding factors, birth weight was inversely related to diastolic blood pressure, insulin, C-peptide, and HOMA-IR. We conclude that low birth weight may predict the risk of the insulin resistance and its progression over age, and that adequate gestational nutrition is therefore necessary to prevent low birth weight

Duality Symmetry in Momentum Frame

Siegel's action is generalized to the D=2(p+1) (p even) dimensional space-time. The investigation of self-duality of chiral p-forms is extended to the momentum frame, using Siegel's action of chiral bosons in two space-time dimensions and its generalization in higher dimensions as examples. The whole procedure of investigation is realized in the momentum space which relates to the configuration space through the Fourier transformation of fields. These actions correspond to non-local Lagrangians in the momentum frame. The self-duality of them with respect to dualization of chiral fields is uncovered. The relationship between two self-dual tensors in momentum space, whose similar form appears in configuration space, plays an important role in the calculation, that is, its application realizes solving algebraically an integral equation.Comment: 11 pages, no figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Carpomitra costata

Marine algae have valuable health and dietary benefits. The present study aimed to investigate whether an ethanol extract of Carpomitra costata (CCE) could inhibit the inflammatory response to LPS. CCE attenuated the production of proinflammatory mediators, such as prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and nitric oxide (NO), by inhibiting inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages. CCE also inhibited the expression of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6. CCE suppressed the LPS-induced DNA-binding activity of (NF-κB) and activator protein-1 (AP-1). In addition, CCE attenuated the LPS-stimulated phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase (JNK) and phosphatidylinositol 3′-kinase/Akt (PI3K/Akt). Functional aspects of the JNK and Akt signaling pathways were analyzed using specific inhibitors, which attenuated the LPS-induced production of proinflammatory cytokines, and NO and PGE2 expression by suppressing AP-1 and NF-κB activity. In particular, the AP-1 signaling pathway is not involved in the production of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β. These results suggested that CCE might exert its anti-inflammatory action by downregulating transcriptional factors (NF-κB and AP-1) through JNK and Akt signaling pathways. The current study suggested that CCE might be a valuable candidate for the treatment of inflammatory disorders

Constructing Doubly Self-Dual Chiral p-Form Actions in D=2(p+1) Spacetime Dimensions

A Siegel-type chiral p-form action is proposed in D=2(p+1) spacetime dimensions. The approach we adopt is to realize the symmetric second-rank Lagrange-multiplier field, introduced in Siegel's action, in terms of a normalized multiplication of two (q+1)-form fields with q indices of each field contracted in the even p case, or of two pairs of (q+1)-form fields with q indices of each pair of fields contracted in the odd p case, where the (q+1)-form fields are of external derivatives of one auxiliary q-form field for the former, or a pair of auxiliary q-form fields for the latter. Using this action, it is straightforward to deduce the recently constructed PST action for q equal to zero. It is found that the Siegel-type chiral p-form action with a fixed p (even or odd) is doubly self-dual in D=2(p+1) spacetime dimensions when the auxiliary field(s) is/are also chosen to be of p-form. This result includes PST's as a special case where only the chiral 0-form action is doubly self-dual in D=2 dimensions.Comment: 13 pages, no figure

The Prognostic Significance of Multiple Station N2 in Patients with Surgically Resected Stage IIIA N2 Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Mediastinal (N2) lymph node involvement is heterogenous with huge variation in the extent and grouped together under stage IIIA. However, they showed a different survival even in the same stage. We tried to determine the prognostic implication of the multiple station N2 lymph node metastasis in stage IIIA N2 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The survival of stage IIIA N2 was analyzed according to the number of N2 station and their survival was compared with that of stage IIIB. In stage IIIA N2 NSCLC, multivariate analysis indicated that multiple station N2 was one of the independent prognostic factors for poor survival. The 5-yr survival of multiple station N2 IIIA (20.4%) was lower than that of single station N2 IIIA (33.8%) significantly (p=0.016). but when it was compared with that of stage IIIB (15.5%), there was no difference. Therefore, we suggest that multiple station N2 should be considered similar to stage IIIB disease with regard to predicting survival and accordingly should receive a new position in the TNM staging system

An Intelligent Lightning Warning System Based on Electromagnetic Field and Neural Network

Prediction of lightning occurrence has significant relevance for reducing potential damage to electric installations, buildings, and humans. However, the existing lightning warning system (LWS) operates using the threshold method and has low prediction accuracy. In this paper, an intelligent LWS based on an electromagnetic field and the artificial neural network was developed for improving lightning prediction accuracy. An electric field mill sensor and a pair of loop antennas were designed to detect the real-time electric field and the magnetic field induced by lightning, respectively. The change rate of electric field, temperature, and humidity acquired 2 min before lightning strikes, were used for developing the neural network using the back propagation algorithm. After observing and predicting lightning strikes over six months, it was verified that the proposed LWS had a prediction accuracy of 93.9%

Cloud-Based Software Architecture for Fully Automated Point-of-Care Molecular Diagnostic Device

This paper proposes a cloud-based software architecture for fully automated point-of-care molecular diagnostic devices. The target system operates a cartridge consisting of an extraction body for DNA extraction and a PCR chip for amplification and fluorescence detection. To facilitate control and monitoring via the cloud, a socket server was employed for fundamental molecular diagnostic functions such as DNA extraction, amplification, and fluorescence detection. The user interface for experimental control and monitoring was constructed with the RESTful application programming interface, allowing access from the terminal device, edge, and cloud. Furthermore, it can also be accessed through any web-based user interface on smart computing devices such as smart phones or tablets. An emulator with the proposed software architecture was fabricated to validate successful operation