1,521 research outputs found
Introgression of Brown Norway \u3cem\u3eCYP4A\u3c/em\u3e Genes onto the Dahl Salt-Sensitive Background Restores Vascular Function in SS-5\u3csup\u3eBN\u3c/sup\u3e Consomic Rats
The present study tested the hypothesis that the Dahl SS (salt-sensitive) rat has vascular dysfunction due, in part, to the up-regulation of the CYP4A/20-HETE (cytochrome P450 ω-hydroxylase 4A)/20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid) system. To assess the role of vascular 20-HETE, SS rats were compared with SS-5BN consomic rats, carrying CYP4A alleles on chromosome 5 from the normotensive BN (Brown Norway) introgressed on to the SS genetic background. Cerebral arteries from SS-5BN rats had less CYP4A protein than arteries from SS rats fed either NS (normal-salt, 0.4% NaCl) or HS (high-salt, 4.0% NaCl) diet. ACh (acetylcholine)-induced dilation of MCAs (middle cerebral arteries) from SS and SS-5BN rats was present in SS-5BN rats fed on either an NS or HS diet, but absent in SS rats. In SS rats fed on either diet, ACh-induced dilation was restored by acute treatment with the CYP4A inhibitor DDMS (N-methyl-sulfonyl-12,12-dibromododec-11-enamide) or the 20-HETE antagonist 20-HEDE [20-hydroxyeicosa-6(Z),15(Z)-dienoic acid]. The restored response to ACh in DDMS-treated SS rats was inhibited by L-NAME (NGnitro-L-arginine methyl ester) and unaffected by indomethacin or MS-PPOH [N-methylsulfonyl-6-(2-propargyloxyphenyl)hexanamide]. Vascular relaxation responses to the NO donor C5FeN6Na2O were intact in both SS and SS-5BN rats and unaffected by the acute addition of DDMS, indicating that the vascular dysfunction of the SS rat is due to a reduced bioavailability of NO instead of failure of the VSMCs (vascular smooth muscle cells) to respond to the vasodilator. Superoxide levels in cerebral arteries of SS-5BN rats [evaluated semi-quantitatively by DHE (dihydroethidium) fluorescence] were lower than those in the arteries of SS rats. These findings indicate that SS rats have an up-regulation of the CYP4A/20-HETE pathway resulting in elevated ROS (reactive oxygen species) and reduced NO bioavailability causing vascular dysfunction
Role of Vascular Reactive Oxygen Species in Regulating Cytochrome P450-4A Enzyme Expression in Dahl Salt-Sensitive Rats
Objective
The potential contribution of CYP4A enzymes to endothelial dysfunction in Dahl salt-sensitive rats was determined by comparison to SS-5BN consomic rats having chromosome 5 carrying CYP4A alleles from the BN rat introgressed into the SS genetic background. Methods
The following experiments were performed in cerebral arteries from HS-fed SS and SS-5BN rats ± the SOD inhibitor DETC and/or the superoxide scavenger Tempol: (i) endothelial function was determined via video microscopy ± acute addition of the CYP4A inhibitor DDMS or Tempol; (ii) vascular oxidative stress was assessed with DHE fluorescence ± acute addition of DDMS, l-NAME, or PEG-SOD; and (iii) CYP4A protein levels were compared by western blotting. Results
In DETC-treated SS-5BN and HS-fed SS rats, (i) DDMS or Tempol ameliorated vascular dysfunction, (ii) DDMS reduced vascular oxidative stress to control levels, (iii) chronic Tempol treatment reduced vascular CYP4A protein expression, and (iv) combined treatment with Tempol and l-NAME prevented the reduction in CYP4A protein expression in MCA of HS-fed SS rats. Conclusion
The CYP4A pathway plays a role in vascular dysfunction in SS rats and there appears to be a direct role of reduced NO availability due to salt-induced oxidant stress in upregulating CYP4A enzyme expression
The Electron-Phonon Interaction in the Presence of Strong Correlations
We investigate the effect of strong electron-electron repulsion on the
electron-phonon interaction from a Fermi-liquid point of view: the strong
interaction is responsible for vertex corrections, which are strongly dependent
on the ratio. These corrections generically lead to a strong
suppression of the effective coupling between quasiparticles mediated by a
single phonon exchange in the limit. However, such effect
is not present when . Analyzing the Landau stability
criterion, we show that a sizable electron-phonon interaction can push the
system towards a phase-separation instability. A detailed analysis is then
carried out using a slave-boson approach for the infinite-U three-band Hubbard
model. In the presence of a coupling between the local hole density and a
dispersionless optical phonon, we explicitly confirm the strong dependence of
the hole-phonon coupling on the transferred momentum versus frequency ratio. We
also find that the exchange of phonons leads to an unstable phase with negative
compressibility already at small values of the bare hole-phonon coupling. Close
to the unstable region, we detect Cooper instabilities both in s- and d-wave
channels supporting a possible connection between phase separation and
superconductivity in strongly correlated systems.Comment: LateX 3.14, 04.11.1994 Preprint no.101
Hydrodynamic interaction in quasi-two-dimensional suspensions
Confinement between two parallel surfaces is found, theoretically and
experimentally, to drastically affect the hydrodynamic interaction between
colloid particles, changing the sign of the coupling, its decay with distance
and its concentration dependence. In particular, we show that three-body
effects do not modify the coupling at large distances as would be expected from
hydrodynamic screening.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
Correlated particle dynamics in concentrated quasi-two-dimensional suspensions
We investigate theoretically and experimentally how the hydrodynamically
correlated lateral motion of particles in a suspension confined between two
surfaces is affected by the suspension concentration. Despite the long range of
the correlations (decaying as 1/r^2 with the inter-particle distance r), the
concentration effect is present only at short inter-particle distances for
which the static pair correlation is nonuniform. This is in sharp contrast with
the effect of hydrodynamic screening present in unconfined suspensions, where
increasing the concentration changes the prefactor of the large-distance
correlation.Comment: 13 page
Remarks on Screening in a Gauge-Invariant Formalism
In this paper we display a direct and physically attractive derivation of the
screening contribution to the interaction potential in the Chiral Schwinger
model and generalized Maxwell-Chern-Simons gauge theory. It is shown that these
results emerge naturally when a correct separation between gauge-invariant and
gauge degrees of freedom is made. Explicit expressions for gauge-invariant
fields are found.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure, to appear in PR
Inverting the Supersymmetric Standard Model Spectrum: from Physical to Lagrangian Ino Parameters
We examine the possibility of recovering the supersymmetric (and soft
supersymmetry breaking) Lagrangian parameters as direct {\em analytical}
expressions of appropriate physical masses, for the unconstrained (but CP and
R-parity conserving) minimal supersymmetric standard model. We concentrate
mainly on the algebraically non-trivial "inversion" for the ino parameters, and
obtain, for given values of , simple analytical expressions for the
, and parameters in terms of three arbitrary input physical
masses, namely either two chargino and one neutralino masses, or alternatively
one chargino and two neutralino masses. We illustrate and discuss in detail the
possible occurrence of ambiguities in this reconstruction. The dependence of
the resulting ino Lagrangian parameters upon physical masses is illustrated,
and some simple generic behaviour uncovered in this way. We finally briefly
sketch generalizing such an inversion to the full set of MSSM Lagrangian
parameters.Comment: Latex, 28 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, some typos corrected, one
paragraph extended in section 4.2. Version to appear in Phys. Rev.
Polaron Formation in the Three-Band Peierls-Hubbard Model for Cuprate Superconductors
Exact diagonalization calculations show a continuous transition from
delocalized to small polaron behavior as a function of intersite
electron-lattice coupling. A transition, found previously at Hartree-Fock level
[Yonemitsu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 69}, 965 (1992)], between a magnetic
and a non magnetic state does not subsist when fluctuations are included. Local
phonon modes become softer close to the polaron and by comparison with optical
measurements of doped cuprates we conclude that they are close to the
transition region between polaronic and non-polaronic behavior. The barrier to
adiabatically move a hole vanishes in that region suggesting large mobilities.Comment: 7 pages + 3 poscript figures, Revtex 3.0, MSC-199
Polaronic optical absorption in electron-doped and hole-doped cuprates
Polaronic features similar to those previously observed in the photoinduced
spectra of cuprates have been detected in the reflectivity spectra of
chemically doped parent compounds of high-critical-temperature superconductors,
both -type and -type. In NdCuO these features, whose
intensities depend both on doping and temperature, include local vibrational
modes in the far infrared and a broad band centered at 1000 cm.
The latter band is produced by the overtones of two (or three) local modes and
is well described in terms of a small-polaron model, with a binding energy of
about 500 cm. Most of the above infrared features are shown to survive
in the metallic phase of NdCeCu0, BiSrCuO, and
YBaCuO, where they appear as extra-Drude peaks. The occurrence
of polarons is attributed to local modes strongly coupled to carriers, as shown
by a comparison with tunneling results.Comment: File latex, 31 p., submitted to Physical Review B. Figures may be
faxed upon reques
How much time does a tunneling particle spend in the barrier region?
The question in the title may be answered by considering the outcome of a
``weak measurement'' in the sense of Aharonov et al. Various properties of the
resulting time are discussed, including its close relation to the Larmor times.
It is a universal description of a broad class of measurement interactions, and
its physical implications are unambiguous.Comment: 5 pages; no figure
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