Gauge Theory of Elementary Particle Physics

The aim of this book is to provide student and researcher with a practical introduction to some of the principal ideas in gauge theories and their applications to elementary particle physics. Elementary particle physics has made remarkable progress. We have a comprehensive theory of particle interactions. One can argue that it gives a complete and correct description of all non-gravitational physics. This theory is based on the principle of gauge symmetry. Strong, weak, and electromagnetic interactions are all gauge interactions. A knowledge of gauge theory is essential for anyone interested in modern high energy physics. Regardless of the ultimate correctness of every detail of this theory, it is the framework within which new theoretical and experimental advances will be interpreted in the foreseeable future

Gauge Theory of Elementary Particle Physics

The aim of this book is to provide student and researcher with a practical introduction to some of the principal ideas in gauge theories and their applications to elementary particle physics. Elementary particle physics has made remarkable progress. We have a comprehensive theory of particle interactions. One can argue that it gives a complete and correct description of all non-gravitational physics. This theory is based on the principle of gauge symmetry. Strong, weak, and electromagnetic interactions are all gauge interactions. A knowledge of gauge theory is essential for anyone interested in modern high energy physics. Regardless of the ultimate correctness of every detail of this theory, it is the framework within which new theoretical and experimental advances will be interpreted in the foreseeable future

Mitochondrial redox signaling by p66Shc is involved in regulating androgenic growth stimulation of human prostate cancer cells.

p66Shc is shown to negatively regulate the life span in mice through reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Recent reports, however, revealed that p66Shc protein level is significantly elevated in several human cancer tissues and growth-stimulated carcinoma cells, suggesting a mitogenic and carcinogenic role for p66Shc. In this communication, we demonstrate for the first time that p66Shc mediates androgenic growth signals in androgen-sensitive human prostate cancer cells through mitochondrial ROS production. Growth stimulation of prostate cancer cells with 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is accompanied by increased p66Shc level and ROS production, which is abolished by antioxidant treatments. However, antioxidant treatments do not affect the transcriptional activity of androgen receptor (AR) as observed by its inability to block DHT-induced prostate-specific antigen expression, an AR-dependent correlate of prostate cancer progression. Elevated expression of p66Shc by cDNA transfection increases the basal cell proliferation and, thus, reduces additional DHT-induced cell proliferation. Furthermore, DHT increases the translocation of p66Shc into mitochondria and its interaction with cytochrome c. Conversely, both redox-negative p66Shc mutant (W134F), which is deficient in cytochrome c interaction, and p66Shc small interfering RNA decrease DHT-induced cell proliferation. These results collectively reveal a novel role for p66Shc-ROS pathway in androgen-induced prostate cancer cell proliferation and, thus, may play a role in early prostate carcinogenesis

Vertical Displacement due to Ocean Tidal Loading Around Taiwan Based on GPS Observations

Ocean tidal loading (OTL) is an important factor in GPS positioning, especially along the vertical direction. OTL influences the precision of GPS positioning and produces height variations of up to 12 cm. In this study, daily GPS data obtained from 27 GPS tracking stations around Taiwan were collected, and four OTL models were applied to relative static GPS positions derived from these data. The GPS data were obtained from 8 - 14 August 2006 (summer) and 1 - 30 January 2007 (winter). The software Bernese 5.0 was utilized for data processing

Segregation analysis of apolipoprotein A1 levels in families of adolescents: A community-based study in Taiwan

BACKGROUND: Apolipoprotein (Apo) A1 is a protective factor for cardiovascular events. This study aimed to perform complex segregation analyses of Apo A1 levels in families of adolescents systematically ascertained from the junior high school students in a rural community. Both siblings and parents of the adolescent probands were recruited for the study. Apo A1 concentrations were measured by turbidimetric immunoassay methods. After adjustment for gender, age, body mass index, smoking and drinking status, residual values of Apo A1 were subjected to subsequent analyses. RESULTS: Significant mother-father and parent-offspring correlations were found. Commingling analyses indicated that a four-component distribution model was needed to account for the Apo A1 variation. Segregation analysis using regressive models revealed that the best-fit model of Apo A1 was a model of environmental effect plus familial correlation (heritability = 23.9%), in which a significant mother-father correlation existed. Models containing major gene effect could be rejected. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that variations of Apo A1 levels in the normal range, especially during adolescence, are likely to be influenced by multiple factors without significant contribution from major genes

Total white blood cell count or neutrophil count predict ischemic stroke events among adult Taiwanese: report from a community-based cohort study

BACKGROUND: Evidence about whether white blood cell (WBC) or its subtypes can act as a biomarker to predict the ischemic stroke events in the general population is scanty, particularly in Asian populations. The aim of this study is to establish the predictive ability of total WBC count or subtypes for long-term ischemic stroke events in the cohort population in Taiwan. METHODS: The Chin-Shan Community Cohort Study began from 1990 to 2007 by recruiting 1782 men and 1814 women of Chinese ethnicity. Following a total of 3416 participants free from ischemic stroke events at baseline for a median of 15.9 years; we documented 187 new incident cases. RESULTS: The multivariate relative risk for the comparison of the participants in the fifth and first WBC count quintiles was 1.67 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02–2.73; P for trend=0.03), and the corresponding relative risk for neutrophil count was 1.93 (95% CI, 1.13–3.29; P for trend=0.02). The discriminative ability by WBC and neutrophil counts were similar (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.600 for adding WBC, 0.610 for adding neutrophils, 0.595 for traditional risk factor model). In addition, the net reclassification improvement (NRI) values between the neutrophil and white blood cell count models were not significant (NRI, =-2.60%, P=0.35), indicating the similar discrimination performance for both WBC and neutrophil counts. CONCLUSIONS: WBC and neutrophil count had a similar ability to predict the long-term ischemic stroke events among Taiwanese

Ventricular divergence correlates with epicardial wavebreaks and predicts ventricular arrhythmia in isolated rabbit hearts during therapeutic hypothermia

INTRODUCTION: High beat-to-beat morphological variation (divergence) on the ventricular electrogram during programmed ventricular stimulation (PVS) is associated with increased risk of ventricular fibrillation (VF), with unclear mechanisms. We hypothesized that ventricular divergence is associated with epicardial wavebreaks during PVS, and that it predicts VF occurrence. METHOD AND RESULTS: Langendorff-perfused rabbit hearts (n = 10) underwent 30-min therapeutic hypothermia (TH, 30°C), followed by a 20-min treatment with rotigaptide (300 nM), a gap junction modifier. VF inducibility was tested using burst ventricular pacing at the shortest pacing cycle length achieving 1:1 ventricular capture. Pseudo-ECG (p-ECG) and epicardial activation maps were simultaneously recorded for divergence and wavebreaks analysis, respectively. A total of 112 optical and p-ECG recordings (62 at TH, 50 at TH treated with rotigaptide) were analyzed. Adding rotigaptide reduced ventricular divergence, from 0.13±0.10 at TH to 0.09±0.07 (p = 0.018). Similarly, rotigaptide reduced the number of epicardial wavebreaks, from 0.59±0.73 at TH to 0.30±0.49 (p = 0.036). VF inducibility decreased, from 48±31% at TH to 22±32% after rotigaptide infusion (p = 0.032). Linear regression models showed that ventricular divergence correlated with epicardial wavebreaks during TH (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Ventricular divergence correlated with, and might be predictive of epicardial wavebreaks during PVS at TH. Rotigaptide decreased both the ventricular divergence and epicardial wavebreaks, and reduced the probability of pacing-induced VF during TH