Exact Scattering States of Dirac-Born-Infeld Equation with Constant Background Fields

Exact solutions to the Dirac-Born-Infeld equation, which describes scatterings of localized wave packets in the presence of constant background fields, are derived in this paper.Comment: 18 pages, latex, no figure

Jaundice, occult blood and acute cholecystitis: hemobilia as the initial presentation of acute cholecystitis complicated by a pseudoaneurysm

Identifying the presence of hemobilia can be clinically important since it might change the therapeutic approach to patient management. Here, we report a 56-year-old man with clinical symptoms of acute cholecystitis. Multidetector-row computed tomography of the abdomen showed a ruptured pseudoaneurysm arising from the right hepatic artery. Angiography, with transarterial coil embolization of the pseudoaneurysm, was performed before surgery to reduce the risk of hemostatic complications

Stokes Phenomena and Quantum Integrability in Non-critical String/M Theory

We study Stokes phenomena of the k \times k isomonodromy systems with an arbitrary Poincar\'e index r, especially which correspond to the fractional-superstring (or parafermionic-string) multi-critical points (\hat p,\hat q)=(1,r-1) in the k-cut two-matrix models. Investigation of this system is important for the purpose of figuring out the non-critical version of M theory which was proposed to be the strong-coupling dual of fractional superstring theory as a two-matrix model with an infinite number of cuts. Surprisingly the multi-cut boundary-condition recursion equations have a universal form among the various multi-cut critical points, and this enables us to show explicit solutions of Stokes multipliers in quite wide classes of (k,r). Although these critical points almost break the intrinsic Z_k symmetry of the multi-cut two-matrix models, this feature makes manifest a connection between the multi-cut boundary-condition recursion equations and the structures of quantum integrable systems. In particular, it is uncovered that the Stokes multipliers satisfy multiple Hirota equations (i.e. multiple T-systems). Therefore our result provides a large extension of the ODE/IM correspondence to the general isomonodromy ODE systems endowed with the multi-cut boundary conditions. We also comment about a possibility that N=2 QFT of Cecotti-Vafa would be "topological series" in non-critical M theory equipped with a single quantum integrability.Comment: 43 pages, 3 figures; v2:references and comments added (footnote 24

Potential Therapeutic Role of Hispidulin in Gastric Cancer through Induction of Apoptosis via NAG-1 Signaling

Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignant cancers due to poor prognoses and high mortality rates worldwide. However, an effective chemotherapeutic drug without side effects remains lacking. Saussurea involucrata (SI) Kar. et Kir., also known as snow lotus, grows in mountainous rocky habitats at 2600 m elevation in the Tian Shan and A’er Tai regions of China. The ethyl acetate extract of SI had been shown to inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in various tumor cells. In this study, we demonstrated that Hispidulin, active ingredients in SI, inhibits the growth of AGS gastric cancer cells. After Hispidulin treatment, NAG-1 remained highly expressed, whereas COX-2 expression was downregulated. Flow cytometric analysis indicated that Hispidulin induces G1/S phase arrest and apoptosis in time- and concentration-dependent manners. G1/S arrest correlated with upregulated p21/WAF1 and p16 and downregulated cyclin D1 and cyclin E, independent of p53 pathway. In addition, Hispidulin can elevate Egr-1 expression and ERK1/2 activity, whereas ERK1/2 inhibitor markedly attenuated NAG-1 mediated apoptosis. Taken together, Hispidulin can efficiently activate ERK1/2 signaling followed by NAG-1 constitutive expression and trigger cell cycle arrest as well as apoptosis in cancer cell. It can be a potential compound for combination therapy of gastric cancer in the future

Alternative approach to the optimality of the threshold strategy for spectrally negative Levy processes

Consider the optimal dividend problem for an insurance company whose uncontrolled surplus precess evolves as a spectrally negative Levy process. We assume that dividends are paid to the shareholders according to admissible strategies whose dividend rate is bounded by a constant. The objective is to find a dividend policy so as to maximize the expected discounted value of dividends which are paid to the shareholders until the company is ruined. Kyprianou, Loeffen and Perez [28] have shown that a refraction strategy (also called threshold strategy) forms an optimal strategy under the condition that the Levy measure has a completely monotone density. In this paper, we propose an alternative approach to this optimal problem.Comment: 16 page

Adaption of Seasonal H1N1 Influenza Virus in Mice

The experimental infection of a mouse lung with influenza A virus has proven to be an invaluable model for studying the mechanisms of viral adaptation and virulence. The mouse adaption of human influenza A virus can result in mutations in the HA and other proteins, which is associated with increased virulence in mouse lungs. In this study, a mouse-adapted seasonal H1N1 virus was obtained through serial lung-to-lung passages and had significantly increased virulence and pathogenicity in mice. Genetic analysis indicated that the increased virulence of the mouse-adapted virus was attributed to incremental acquisition of three mutations in the HA protein (T89I, N125T, and D221G). However, the mouse adaption of influenza A virus did not change the specificity and affinity of receptor binding and the pH-dependent membrane fusion of HA, as well as the in vitro replication in MDCK cells. Notably, infection with the mouse adapted virus induced severe lymphopenia and modulated cytokine and chemokine responses in mice. Apparently, mouse adaption of human influenza A virus may change the ability to replicate in mouse lungs, which induces strong immune responses and inflammation in mice. Therefore, our findings may provide new insights into understanding the mechanisms underlying the mouse adaption and pathogenicity of highly virulent influenza viruses

Political and social determinants of life expectancy in less developed countries: a longitudinal study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study aimed to examine the longitudinal contributions of four political and socioeconomic factors to the increase in life expectancy in less developed countries (LDCs) between 1970 and 2004.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We collected 35 years of annual data for 119 LDCs on life expectancy at birth and on four key socioeconomic indicators: economy, measured by log10 gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity; educational environment, measured by the literacy rate of the adult population aged 15 years and over; nutritional status, measured by the proportion of undernourished people in the population; and political regime, measured by the regime score from the Polity IV database. Using linear mixed models, we analyzed the longitudinal effects of these multiple factors on life expectancy at birth with a lag of 0-10 years, adjusting for both time and regional correlations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The LDCs' increases in life expectancy over time were associated with all four factors. Political regime had the least influence on increased life expectancy to begin with, but became significant starting in the 3rd year and continued to increase, while the impact of the other socioeconomic factors began strong but continually decreased over time. The combined effects of these four socioeconomic and political determinants contributed 54.74% - 98.16% of the life expectancy gains throughout the lag periods of 0-10 years.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Though the effect of democratic politics on increasing life expectancy was relatively small in the short term when compared to the effects of the other socioeconomic factors, the long-term impact of democracy should not be underestimated.</p