Illustrating SUSY breaking effects on various inflation mechanisms

We consider the supersymmetry breaking effects on typical inflation models with different types of K\"ahler potential. The critical size of supersymmetry-breaking scale, above which the flatness of the inflaton potential is spoiled, drastically changes model by model. We present the universal description of such effects in terms of a field-dependent scaling factor by which gravity-mediated supersymmetry breaking terms are suppressed or enhanced, based on the conformal supergravity framework. Such a description would be useful when we estimate them in constructing supersymmetric models of particle cosmology.Comment: 20pages, 3 figures, v2: a reference added, v3: Appendix B adde

Continuous Transition of Defect Configuration in a Deformed Liquid Crystal Film

We investigate energetically favorable configurations of point disclinations in nematic films having a bump geometry. Gradual expansion in the bump width {\Delta} gives rise to a sudden shift in the stable position of the disclinations from the top to the skirt of the bump. The positional shift observed across a threshold {\Delta}th obeys a power law function of |{\Delta}-{\Delta}th|, indicating a new class of continuous phase transition that governs the defect configuration in curved nematic films.Comment: 8pages, 3figure

Production and Peripheral Roles of 5-HTP, a Precursor of Serotonin

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) has been implicated in a variety of physiological and pathological functions. Multiple steps of enzyme reactions enable biosynthesis of 5-HT. The first and rate-limiting step of the reaction is the synthesis of 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan (5-HTP) from L-tryptophan. This step is dictated by an enzyme, tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH). TPH requires 6R-L-erythro-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) as a co-substrate of TPH. 5-HTP has been simply regarded as a precursor of 5-HT and it is believed that the biological significance of 5-HTP is essentially ascribed to the production of 5-HT. However, recent works shed light on the specific functions of 5-HTP in the periphery. In this review article, we focus on the specific roles of exogenous 5-HTP as well as the endogenous 5-HTP in the gut epithelial cells. Since systemic treatment with 5-HTP is applied to patients with lower 5-HT levels, the studies on the specific role of 5-HTP might create an opportunity to explore the effects of exogenously-applied 5-HTP in the gut in man

Therapeutic Implications of PPARγ in Cardiovascular Diseases

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) is the members of the nuclear receptor superfamily as a master transcriptional factor that promotes differentiation of preadipocytes by activating adipose-specific gene expression. Although PPARγ is expressed predominantly in adipose tissue and associated with adipocyte differentiation and glucose homeostasis, PPARγ is also present in a variety of cell types including vascular cells and cardiomyocytes. Activation of PPARγ suppresses production of inflammatory cytokines, and there is accumulating data that PPARγ ligands exert antihypertrophy of cardiomyocytes and anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and antiproliferative effects on vascular wall cells and cardiomyocytes. In addition, activation of PPARγ is implicated in the regulation of endothelial function, proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells, and activation of macrophages. Many studies suggest that PPARγ ligands not only ameliorate insulin sensitivity, but also have pleiotropic effects on the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis, cardiac hypertrophy, ischemic heart, and myocarditis

Validating dark energy models using polarised Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect with large-angle CMB temperature and E-mode polarization anisotropies

The tomography of the polarized Sunyaev-Zeldvich effect due to free electrons of galaxy clusters can be used to constrain the nature of dark energy because CMB quadrupoles at different redshifts as the polarization source are sensitive to the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect. Here we show that the low multipoles of the temperature and E-mode polarization anisotropies from the all-sky CMB can improve the constraint further through the correlation between them and the CMB quadrupoles viewed from the galaxy clusters. Using a Monte-Carlo simulation, we find that low multipoles of the temperature and E-mode polarization anisotropies potentially improve the constraint on the equation of state of dark energy parameter by $\sim 17$ percent