7,966 research outputs found
Unveiling interactions between DNA and cytotoxic 2-arylpiperidinyl-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives: A combined electrochemical and computational study
Indexación: Scopus.Three 2-arylpiperidinyl-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives were synthesized and evaluated in vitro to determine their cytotoxicity on cancer and normal cell lines. In order to establish their possible action mechanism, the electrochemical behaviour of these quinones was examined using cyclic voltammetry (CV) as technique by using a three-electrode setup: a glassy carbon, Ag/AgCl (in 3 M KCl), and platinum wire as working, reference, and counter electrodes, respectively. Kinetic studies were done to determine the control of the reduction reaction and the number of transferred electrons in the process. Furthermore, the addition of dsDNA to the quinone solutions allowed for the observation of an interaction between each quinone and dsDNA as the current-peaks became lower in presence of dsDNA. Otherwise, motivated to support the aforementioned results, electronic structure calculations at the TPSS-D3/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory were carried out in order to find the most favourable noncovalently bonded complexes between quinones and DNA. Noncovalent complexes formed between DNA and 2-arylpiperidinyl-1,4-naphthoquinones and stabilized by π-stacking interactions along with the well-known hydrogen-bonded complexes were found, with the former being more stable than the latter. These results suggest that the intercalation of these quinone derivatives in DNA is the most likely action mechanism. © 2018 King Saud Universityhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878535218300893?via%3Dihu
On the Naturalness of Higgs Inflation
We critically examine the recent claim that the Standard Model Higgs boson
could drive inflation in agreement with observations if has a strong coupling to the Ricci curvature scalar. We
first show that the effective theory approach upon which that claim is based
ceases to be valid beyond a cutoff scale , where is the
reduced Planck mass. We then argue that knowing the Higgs potential profile for
the field values relevant for inflation () requires knowledge of the ultraviolet completion of the SM beyond
. In absence of such microscopic theory, the extrapolation of the pure
SM potential beyond is unwarranted and the scenario is akin to other
ad-hoc inflaton potentials afflicted with significant fine-tuning. The
appealing naturalness of this minimal proposal is therefore lost.Comment: 9 pages. Replaced with published version, plus a footnote clarifying
the use of power counting estimate
Mid-infrared imaging- and spectro-polarimetric subarcsecond observations of NGC 1068
We present sub-arcsecond 7.513 m imaging- and spectro-polarimetric
observations of NGC 1068 using CanariCam on the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio
CANARIAS. At all wavelengths, we find:
(1) A 90 60 pc extended polarized feature in the northern ionization
cone, with a uniform 44 polarization angle. Its polarization
arises from dust and gas emission in the ionization cone, heated by the active
nucleus and jet, and further extinguished by aligned dust grains in the host
galaxy. The polarization spectrum of the jet-molecular cloud interaction at
24 pc from the core is highly polarized, and does not show a silicate
feature, suggesting that the dust grains are different from those in the
interstellar medium.
(2) A southern polarized feature at 9.6 pc from the core. Its
polarization arises from a dust emission component extinguished by a large
concentration of dust in the galaxy disc. We cannot distinguish between dust
emission from magnetically aligned dust grains directly heated by the jet close
to the core, and aligned dust grains in the dusty obscuring material
surrounding the central engine. Silicate-like grains reproduce the polarized
dust emission in this feature, suggesting different dust compositions in both
ionization cones.
(3) An upper limit of polarization degree of 0.3 per cent in the core. Based
on our polarization model, the expected polarization of the obscuring dusty
material is 0.1 per cent in the 813 m wavelength range. This
low polarization may be arising from the passage of radiation through aligned
dust grains in the shielded edges of the clumps.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication at MNRA
Resummation Methods at Finite Temperature: The Tadpole Way
We examine several resummation methods for computing higher order corrections
to the finite temperature effective potential, in the context of a scalar
theory. We show by explicit calculation to four loops that dressing
the propagator, not the vertex, of the one-loop tadpole correctly counts
``daisy'' and ``super-daisy'' diagrams.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, CALT-68-1858, HUTP-93-A011, EFI-93-2
Pair distribution function and structure factor of spherical particles
The availability of neutron spallation-source instruments that provide total
scattering powder diffraction has led to an increased application of real-space
structure analysis using the pair distribution function. Currently, the
analytical treatment of finite size effects within pair distribution refinement
procedures is limited. To that end, an envelope function is derived which
transforms the pair distribution function of an infinite solid into that of a
spherical particle with the same crystal structure. Distributions of particle
sizes are then considered, and the associated envelope function is used to
predict the particle size distribution of an experimental sample of gold
nanoparticles from its pair distribution function alone. Finally, complementing
the wealth of existing diffraction analysis, the peak broadening for the
structure factor of spherical particles, expressed as a convolution derived
from the envelope functions, is calculated exactly for all particle size
distributions considered, and peak maxima, offsets, and asymmetries are
discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Particle spectrum in the modified NMSSM in the strong Yukawa coupling limit
A theoretical analysis of solutions of renormalisation group equations in the
MSSM corresponding to the quasi-fixed point conditions shows that the mass of
the lightest Higgs boson in this case does not exceed . It
means that a substantial part of the parameter space of the MSSM is practically
excluded by existing experimental data from LEP II. In the NMSSM the upper
bound on the lightest Higgs boson mass reaches its maximum in the strong Yukawa
coupling regime, when Yukawa constants are considerably larger the gauge ones
on the Grand Unification scale. In this paper a particle spectrum in a simple
modification of NMSSM which leads to a self-consistent solution in the
considered region of the parameter space is studied. This model allows one to
get even for comparatively low values of . For an analysis of the Higgs boson spectrum and neutralino spectrum a
method for diagonalisation of mass matrices proposed formerly is used. The mass
of the lightest Higgs boson in this model does not exceed .Comment: 34 pages, 5 figures included, LaTeX 2
Poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) for removing chromium (VI) through polymer-enhanced ultrafiltration technique
This work is focused on the removal of Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solution using polymer-enhanced ultrafiltration (PEUF) techniques with water-soluble poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate), PDMAEMA, used as sorbent. The polymer was prepared by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization at different reaction times, characterized by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR). The sorption of Cr(VI) was studied by PEUF as a function of pH, the polymer:Cr(VI) molar ratio, and the presence of interfering ions. The PEUF-enrichment mode was used to saturate the polymer and further determine the release of Cr(VI) and regeneration of the polymer using sorption-desorption process. The RAFT polymerization showed a yield in the range 46% to 79% (determined by 1H NMR) for polymers with molecular weight (Mn) between 28 and 195 kg mol−1. The polydispersity estimated by SEC was between 1.1 and 1.8. The capacity of PDMAEMA as sorbent of Cr(VI), by the PEUF technique showed an efficient removal of Cr(VI) (100%, 25 mg L−1 in the feed) at pH 4 using polymer:Cr molar ratio of 40:1. The presence of interfering ions does not significantly decrease the retention capacity of PDMAEMA. Finally the results indicated that PDMAEMA can release Cr(VI) and be regenerated.Peer reviewe
Two-loop effective potential for a general renormalizable theory and softly broken supersymmetry
I compute the two-loop effective potential in the Landau gauge for a general
renormalizable field theory in four dimensions. Results are presented for the
\bar{MS} renormalization scheme based on dimensional regularization, and for
the \bar{DR} and \bar{DR}' schemes based on regularization by dimensional
reduction. The last of these is appropriate for models with softly broken
supersymmetry, such as the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. I find the
parameter redefinition which relates the \bar{DR} and \bar{DR}' schemes at
two-loop order. I also discuss the renormalization group invariance of the
two-loop effective potential, and compute the anomalous dimensions for scalars
and the beta function for the vacuum energy at two-loop order in softly broken
supersymmetry. Several illustrative examples and consistency checks are
included.Comment: 38 pages. Typos in equations (3.5), (3.11), and (6.3) are fixed.
Explicit claim of renormalization group invariance in the general case of
softly-broken supersymmetry is added. Additional discussion of cases of
multiple simple or U(1) groups. Equations in Appendix B rewritten in a more
useful for
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