The Ameliorate Effect of Endomorphin 1 on the Mice Nephrotoxicity Induced by Cadmium

AbstractTo wonder whether endomorphin 1(EM1), the antioxidative peptide, can protect against the renal toxicology of cadmium (Cd), which probably related to the oxidative injury.MethodsIn vivo assays have been designed and performed, such as the measurement of oxidative damage parameters and the index of antioxidative system.ResultData from our study demonstrated the effect of EM1 could ameliorate the increased concentration of lipid peroxidation products and protein carboxylatio and increase the content of antioxidative system, the antioxidant capacity of EM1 probably relate to its structure.ConclusionOur study first demonstrated the nephrotoxicity induced by Cd can be suppressed by the treatment of EM1

Structure-activity Study of Endomorphins Analogs with C- terminal Substitution

AbstractAims: To further wonder the influence of C-terminal residues on the pharmacological4 activities.Methods: The in vitro and in vivo opioid activities of C-terminal substitution analogs [L-Tic] EM1 and [L-Tic] EM2 were investigated using radioligand binding assay, guinea pig ileum (GPI) assay, mouse vas deferens (MVD) assay, systemic arterial pressure (SAP) assay and tail-flick test.Results: Our data showed that the analogs produced a higher δ-opioid affinity but low colon-opioid affinity, dose-dependent but reduced analgesic activities and cardiovascular effect comparing with those of EMs. Moreover, these effects induced by the analogs can be inhibited by naloxone, indicating an opioid mechanism.Conclusion: These results provided suggestive evidences that the substitution of C-terminal residue may play an important role in the regulation of opioid affinities and pharmacological activities

Quasinormal modes of a regular black hole with sub-Planckian curvature

This paper explores the properties of the quasinormal modes (QNMs) of a regular black hole(BH) characterized by a Minkowski core and sub-Planckian curvature. When focusing on a special case, this regular BH exhibits identical large-scale behavior with the Hayward BH and some loop quantum gravity corrected (LQG-corrected) BH. A notable characteristic of the QNMs in this regular BH is the pronounced outburst of overtones when compared to the Schwarzschild BH (SS-BH). This outburst can be attributed to the deviation from the SS-BH in the near-horizon geometry region due to the quantum gravity effect. Furthermore, we compare the QNM properties of the regular BH with those of the Hayward BH and the LQG-corrected BH. A similar phenomenon of overtone outburst is observed in the modes of the overtone. As a conclusion, the QNMs may be a powerful tool for detecting the quantum gravity effect and distinguishing different BH models

Quasinormal modes of quantum-corrected black holes

In this paper, we investigate the quasinormal mode (QNM) spectra for scalar perturbation over a quantum-corrected black hole (BH). The fundamental modes of this quantum-corrected BH exhibit two key properties. Firstly, there is a non-monotonic behavior concerning the quantum-corrected parameter for zero multipole number. Secondly, the quantum gravity effects result in slower decay modes. For higher overtones, a significant deviation becomes evident between the quasinormal frequencies (QNFs) of the quantum-corrected and Schwarzschild BHs. The intervention of quantum gravity corrections induces a significant outburst of overtones. This outburst of these overtones can be attributed to the distinctions near the event horizons between the Schwarzschild and quantum-corrected BHs. Therefore, overtones can serve as a means to probe physical phenomena or disparities in the vicinity of the event horizon.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figure

Properties of charge transport in a novel holographic quantum phase transition model

We study the properties of charge transport in a novel holographic QPT (quantum phase transition) model, which has two different metallic phases: the normal metallic phase and the novel metallic one. We numerically work out the scaling behaviors of DC (direct current) resistivity at low temperatures in both different metallic phases. The numerical results are solidly in agreement with the analytical ones determined by the near horizon geometry. Then, we mainly explore the properties of the low-frequency AC (alternating current) conductivity. A remarkable characteristic is that the normal metallic phase is a coherent system with vanishing intrinsic conductivity $\sigma_Q$, which is independent of the strength of the momentum dissipation. This result is in contrast with the common belief that with the strength of the momentum dissipation increasing, the system changes from a coherent phase to an incoherent one. But the novel metallic phase is an incoherent system with non-vanishing $\sigma_Q$. Away from the QCP (quantum critical point), $\sigma_Q$ increases, which indicates that the incoherent behavior becomes stronger.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure

Nanostructured Indium Tin Oxides and Other Transparent Conducting Oxides: Characteristics and Applications in the THz Frequency Range

Transparent conductors are essential for optoelectronic components operating in the far-infrared or terahertz (THz) frequency range. Indium tin oxide (ITO), extensively used in the visible, is semi-transparent in the far-infrared frequency range. Other types of bulk transparent conducting oxides (TCOs), such as aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) and aluminum and ytterbium-doped zinc oxide (AYZO), have not yet been explored for THz applications. Recently, biomimic nanomaterials have been shown to exhibit exotic optical properties, e.g., broadband, omnidirectional antireflective properties. Indeed, nanostructured ITO was found to exhibit the above desirable characteristics. In this chapter, we describe the fabrication and characterization of several TCOs, including ITO nanomaterials and several types of bulk TCO thin films, e.g., AZO and AYZO. Performance of THz phase shifters with ITO nanomaterials as transparent electrodes and liquid crystals for functionalities is presented

Diagnosing quantum phase transition via holographic entanglement entropy at finite temperature

We investigate the behavior of the holographic entanglement entropy (HEE) in proximity to the quantum critical points (QCPs) of the metal-insulator transition (MIT) in the Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton-axions (EMDA) model. Due to the fact that the ground state entropy density of the EMDA model is vanishing for insulating phase, but non-vanishing for the metallic phase, we used to expect that it is the HEE itself that characterizes the QCPs. This expectation is validated for certain case, however, we make a noteworthy observation: for a specific scenario, it is not the HEE itself but rather the second-order derivative of HEE with respect to the lattice wave number that effectively characterizes the quantum phase transition (QPT). This distinction arises due to the influence of thermal effects. These findings present novel insights into the interplay between HEE and QPTs in the context of the MIT, and have significant implications for studying QPT at finite temperatures.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

Autophagy in Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Autophagy (macroautophagy) is a degradative process that involves the sequestration of cytosolic material including organelles into double membrane vesicles termed autophagosomes for delivery to the lysosome. Autophagy is essential for preimplantation development of mouse embryos and cavitation of embryoid bodies. The precise roles of autophagy during early human embryonic development, remain however largely uncharacterized. Since human embryonic stem cells constitute a unique model system to study early human embryogenesis we investigated the occurrence of autophagy in human embryonic stem cells. We have, using lentiviral transduction, established multiple human embryonic stem cell lines that stably express GFP-LC3, a fluorescent marker for the autophagosome. Each cell line displays both a normal karyotype and pluripotency as indicated by the presence of cell types representative of the three germlayers in derived teratomas. GFP expression and labelling of autophagosomes is retained after differentiation. Baseline levels of autophagy detected in cultured undifferentiated hESC were increased or decreased in the presence of rapamycin and wortmannin, respectively. Interestingly, autophagy was upregulated in hESCs induced to undergo differentiation by treatment with type I TGF-beta receptor inhibitor SB431542 or removal of MEF secreted maintenance factors. In conclusion we have established hESCs capable of reporting macroautophagy and identify a novel link between autophagy and early differentiation events in hESC

Dynamics of tachyon field in spatially curved FRW universe

The dynamics of a tachyon field plus a barotropic fluid is investigated in spatially curved FRW universe. We perform a phase-plane analysis and obtain scaling solutions accompanying with a discussion on their stability. Furthermore, we construct the form of scalar potential which may give rise to stable solutions for spatially open and closed universe separately.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures, version to be published in PL