160 research outputs found
Changes of digestive enzymes activity in common carp (Cyprinus carpio) during larval ontogeny
This study was aimed to gain knowledge on the ontogeny of digestive enzymes in common carp larvae at the governmental Warm Water Fish Aquaculture Center of Shahid Rajaee in Sari, Mazandaran, Iran. The ontogenetic development of pancreatic (trypsin, chymotrypsin, lipase and α-amylase) and intestinal (alkaline phosphatase and aminopeptidase-N) enzymes were assessed in common carp larvae from first feeding (3 days post hatching) to 33 days post hatching (dph). The larvae started to feed on rotifers at day 3 to day 7. Feeding on a commercial diet was started from day-8 onwards. Specific trypsin and chymotrypsin activities feed with rotifer were 0.011 U/mg protein and 0.003 U/mg protein at day 7, respectively; then the specific activities feed with dry food reached a maximum level at 33 dph (0.028 U/mg protein and 0.028 U/mg protein, respectively) (P<0.05) compared to live prey. The elevated alkaline proteases activity can be related to adaptation of larvae to digest protein content in the food. Specific lipase activity was 0.0006 U/mg protein at 7 dph; then the activity feed with dry food reached a maximum level at 15 dph (0.0011 U/mg protein) (P<0.05) compared to live prey. Specific α-amylase activity feed with rotifer was 85.86 U/mg protein on the 7 dph; consequently, its specific activity reached a maximum level at 15 dph (128.77 U/mg protein) (P<0.05). Specific alkaline phosphatase and aminopeptidase N activities feed with rotifer were 6 U/mg protein and 0.0106 U/mg protein at day 7, respectively; then the specific activities feed with dry food reached a maximum level at 33 dph (28.66 U/mg protein and 0.58 U/mg protein, respectively) (P<0.05) compared to live prey
About Gravitomagnetism
The gravitomagnetic field is the force exerted by a moving body on the basis
of the intriguing interplay between geometry and dynamics which is the analog
to the magnetic field of a moving charged body in electromagnetism. The
existence of such a field has been demonstrated based on special relativity
approach and also by special relativity plus the gravitational time dilation
for two different cases, a moving infinite line and a uniformly moving point
mass, respectively. We treat these two approaches when the applied cases are
switched while appropriate key points are employed. Thus, we demonstrate that
the strength of the resulted gravitomagnetic field in the latter approach is
twice the former. Then, we also discuss the full linearized general relativity
and show that it should give the same strength for gravitomagnetic field as the
latter approach. Hence, through an exact analogy with the electrodynamic
equations, we present an argument in order to indicate the best definition
amongst those considered in this issue in the literature. Finally, we
investigate the gravitomagnetic effects and consequences of different
definitions on the geodesic equation including the second order approximation
terms.Comment: 16 pages, a few amendments have been performed and a new section has
been adde
Quantum mechanics and geodesic deviation in the brane world
We investigate the induced geodesic deviation equations in the brane world
models, in which all the matter forces except gravity are confined on the
3-brane. Also, the Newtonian limit of induced geodesic deviation equation is
studied. We show that in the first Randall-Sundrum model the Bohr-Sommerfeld
quantization rule is as a result of consistency between the geodesic and
geodesic deviation equations. This indicates that the path of test particle is
made up of integral multiples of a fundamental Compton-type unit of length
.Comment: 5 pages, no figure
On Higher Order Gravities, Their Analogy to GR, and Dimensional Dependent Version of Duff's Trace Anomaly Relation
An almost brief, though lengthy, review introduction about the long history
of higher order gravities and their applications, as employed in the
literature, is provided. We review the analogous procedure between higher order
gravities and GR, as described in our previous works, in order to highlight its
important achievements. Amongst which are presentation of an easy
classification of higher order Lagrangians and its employment as a
\emph{criteria} in order to distinguish correct metric theories of gravity. For
example, it does not permit the inclusion of only one of the second order
Lagrangians in \emph{isolation}. But, it does allow the inclusion of the
cosmological term. We also discuss on the compatibility of our procedure and
the Mach idea. We derive a dimensional dependent version of Duff's trace
anomaly relation, which in \emph{four}-dimension is the same as the usual Duff
relation. The Lanczos Lagrangian satisfies this new constraint in \emph{any}
dimension. The square of the Weyl tensor identically satisfies it independent
of dimension, however, this Lagrangian satisfies the previous relation only in
three and four dimensions.Comment: 30 pages, added reference
Horizon Problem Remediation via Deformed Phase Space
We investigate the effects of a special kind of dynamical deformation between
the momenta of the scalar field of the Brans-Dicke theory and the scale factor
of the FRW metric. This special choice of deformation includes linearly a
deformation parameter. We trace the deformation footprints in the cosmological
equations of motion when the BD coupling parameter goes to infinity. One class
of the solutions gives a constant scale factor in the late time that confirms
the previous result obtained via another approach in the literature. This
effect can be interpreted as a quantum gravity footprint in the coarse grained
explanation. The another class of the solutions removes the big bang
singularity, and the accelerating expansion region has an infinite temporal
range which overcomes the horizon problem. After this epoch, there is a
graceful exiting by which the universe enters in the radiation dominated era.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, to appear in GER
Chameleonic Generalized Brans--Dicke model and late-time acceleration
In this paper we consider Chameleonic Generalized Brans--Dicke Cosmology in
the framework of FRW universes. The bouncing solution and phantom crossing is
investigated for the model. Two independent cosmological tests: Cosmological
Redshift Drift (CRD) and distance modulus are applied to test the model with
the observation.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures, to be published in Astrophys. Space Sci. (2011
FRW Cosmology From Five Dimensional Vacuum Brans-Dicke Theory
We follow approach of induced matter theory for 5D vacuum BD, introduce
induced matter and potential in 4D hypersurfaces, and employ generalized FRW
type solution. We confine ourselves to scalar field and scale factors be
functions of the time. This makes the induced potential, by its definition,
vanishes. When the scale factor of fifth dimension and scalar field are not
constants, 5D eqs for any geometry admit a power law relation between scalar
field and scale factor of fifth dimension. Hence the procedure exhibits that 5D
vacuum FRW like eqs are equivalent, in general, to corresponding 4D vacuum ones
with the same spatial scale factor but new scalar field and coupling constant.
We show that 5D vacuum FRW like eqs or its equivalent 4D vacuum ones admit
accelerated solutions. For constant scalar field, eqs reduce to usual FRW eqs
with typical radiation dominated universe. For this situation we obtain
dynamics of scale factors for any geometry without any priori assumption. For
nonconstant scalar fields and spatially flat geometries, solutions are found to
be power law and exponential ones. We also employ weak energy condition for
induced matter, that allows negative/positive pressures. All types of solutions
fulfill WEC in different ranges. The power law solutions with negative/positive
pressures admit both decelerating and accelerating ones. Some solutions accept
shrinking extra dimension. By considering nonghost scalar fields and recent
observational measurements, solutions are more restricted. We illustrate that
accelerating power law solutions, which satisfy WEC and have nonghost fields,
are compatible with recent observations in ranges -4/3 < \omega </- -1.3151 and
1.5208 </- n < 1.9583 for dependence of fifth dimension scale factor with usual
scale factor. These ranges also fulfill condition nonghost fields in the
equivalent 4D vacuum BD eqs.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures, 11 table
Naked Singularity Formation In f(R) Gravity
We study the gravitational collapse of a star with barotropic equation of
state in the context of theories of gravity.
Utilizing the metric formalism, we rewrite the field equations as those of
Brans-Dicke theory with vanishing coupling parameter. By choosing the
functionality of Ricci scalar as , we
show that for an appropriate initial value of the energy density, if
and satisfy certain conditions, the resulting singularity would be naked,
violating the cosmic censorship conjecture. These conditions are the ratio of
the mass function to the area radius of the collapsing ball, negativity of the
effective pressure, and the time behavior of the Kretschmann scalar. Also, as
long as parameter obeys certain conditions, the satisfaction of the
weak energy condition is guaranteed by the collapsing configuration.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, to appear in GR
Omega-3 fatty acid supplements improve the cardiovascular risk profile of subjects with metabolic syndrome, including markers of inflammation and auto-immunity
OBJECTIVE
Fish-oil contains high concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids that have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties. We have evaluated the effects of purified omega-3 fatty acid supplements on several anthropometric and biochemical parameters, including heat shock protein (Hsp) 27 antibody titres in subjects with metabolic syndrome.
METHODS
Subjects (n = 120) with metabolic syndrome (mean age of 52.9 +/- 11.9 years) were randomly allocated to one of two groups: sixty subjects were given 1 gram of fish oil as a single capsule, containing 180 mg eicosapentaenoic acid and 120 mg docosahexaenoic acid daily for 6 months. Control subjects did not receive any supplementation over the same period.
RESULTS
The study was completed by 47 subjects in the intervention group and 42 subjects in the control group. Treatment with omega 3 supplements was associated with a significant fall in body weight (P < 0.05), systolic blood pressures (P < 0.05), serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol (P < 0.05), and total cholesterol (P < 0.05), triglycerides (P < 0.05), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (P < 0.01), and Hsp27 antibody titres (P < 0.05). No significant changes were observed in the control group.
CONCLUSION
It appears that omega 3 improves the cardiovascular risk profile of subjects with metabolic syndrome, having effects on weight, systolic blood pressure, lipid profile and markers of inflammation and autoimmunit
Pulmonary complications in primary hypogammaglobulinemia: a survey by high resolution CT scan
Background. Primary hypogammaglobulinemia disorders are a group of heterogeneous immunodeficiency syndromes with an increased susceptibility to pulmonary complications. Methods. The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent of lung abnormalities in primary hypogammaglobulinaemic patients by high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan and pulmonary function test (PFT). HRCT and PFT were performed in 22 Iranian patients with primary hypogammaglobulinemia. Results. Pathological bronchial findings were observed in thirteen patients: three patients showed only peribronchial thickening and the remaining ten patients suffered from both bronchiectasis and peribronchial wall thickening. Mild type of bronchiectasis and peribronchial wall thickening were the most common type, predominantly observed in the right middle and both right and left lower lobe segments of lungs. Although bullae were not found, emphysema, air-trapping, and collapse/consolidation were observed in two patients. Bronchial involvement was mostly limited to 1 up to 5 bronchopulmonary segments; only one HRCT indicated bronchial involvement in more than nine bronchopulmonary segments. Pathological bronchial findings mostly observed in the proximal bronchi; meanwhile the involvement of the distal bronchi was less common. Decreasing FEV1 and FVC were observed in 65% and 55% of patients, respectively. There was a significant correlation between the HRCT score and the predicted values by PFT. The delay of diagnosis in patients with bronchiectasis was significantly higher than those without bronchiectasis. Conclusions. It seems that the majority of hypogammaglobulinaemic patients suffer from the mild type of bronchiectasis, which is mostly observed in the proximal bronchi of the lower lobe segments. The delay of diagnosis plays an important role in the occurrence of this complication in these patients
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