Improvement of the hot QCD pressure by the minimal sensitivity criterion

The principles of minimal sensitivity (PMS) criterion is applied to the perturbative free energy density, or pressure, of hot QCD, which include the $\sim g_s^6 \ln g_s$ and part of the $\sim g_s^6$ terms. Applications are made separately to the short- and long-distance parts of the pressure. Comparison with the lattice results, at low temperatures, shows that the resultant `` optimal'' approximants are substantially improved when compared to the $\bar{MS}$ results. In particular, for the realistic case of three quark flavors, the `` optimal'' approximants are comparable with the lattice results.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, LaTe

Ferromagnetism of two-flavor quark matter in chiral and/or color-superconducting phases at zero and finite temperatures

We study the phase structure of the unpolarized and polarized two-flavor quark matters at zero and finite temperatures within the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model. We focus on the region, which includes the coexisting phase of quark-antiquark and diquark condensates. Generalizing the NJL model so as to describe the polarized quark matter, we compute the thermodynamic potential as a function of the quark chemical potential ($\mu$), the temperature ($T$), and the polarization parameter. The result heavily depends on the ratio $G_D / G_S$, where $G_S$ is the quark-antiquark coupling constant and $G_D$ is the diquark coupling constant. We find that, for small $G_D / G_S$, the "ferromagnetic" phase is energetically favored over the "paramagnetic" phase. On the other hand, for large $G_D / G_S$, there appears the window in the ($\mu, T$)-plane, in which the "paramagnetic" phase is favored.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figure

Human stem cells and articular cartilage regeneration.

The regeneration of articular cartilage damaged due to trauma and posttraumatic osteoarthritis is an unmet medical need. Current approaches to regeneration and tissue engineering of articular cartilage include the use of chondrocytes, stem cells, scaffolds and signals, including morphogens and growth factors. Stem cells, as a source of cells for articular cartilage regeneration, are a critical factor for articular cartilage regeneration. This is because articular cartilage tissue has a low cell turnover and does not heal spontaneously. Adult stem cells have been isolated from various tissues, such as bone marrow, adipose, synovial tissue, muscle and periosteum. Signals of the transforming growth factor beta superfamily play critical roles in chondrogenesis. However, adult stem cells derived from various tissues tend to differ in their chondrogenic potential. Pluripotent stem cells have unlimited proliferative capacity compared to adult stem cells. Chondrogenesis from embryonic stem (ES) cells has been studied for more than a decade. However, establishment of ES cells requires embryos and leads to ethical issues for clinical applications. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are generated by cellular reprogramming of adult cells by transcription factors. Although iPS cells have chondrogenic potential, optimization, generation and differentiation toward articular chondrocytes are currently under intense investigation

A shared mechanism of muscle wasting in cancer and Huntington's disease.

Skeletal muscle loss and dysfunction in aging and chronic diseases is one of the major causes of mortality in patients, and is relevant for a wide variety of diseases such as neurodegeneration and cancer. Muscle loss is accompanied by changes in gene expression and metabolism that lead to contractile impairment and likely affect whole-body metabolism and function. The changes may be caused by inactivity, inflammation, age-related factors or unbalanced nutrition. Although links with skeletal muscle loss have been found in diseases with disparate aetiologies, for example both in Huntingtons disease (HD) and cancer cachexia, the outcome is a similar impairment and mortality. This short commentary aims to summarize recent achievements in the identification of common mechanisms leading to the skeletal muscle wasting syndrome seen in diseases as different as cancer and HD. The latter is the most common hereditary neurodegenerative disorder and muscle wasting is an important component of its pathology. In addition, possible therapeutic strategies for anti-cachectic treatment will be also discussed in the light of their translation into possible therapeutic approaches for HD

Numerical study of quantum percolation

We study the density of states and the optical conductivity of the classical double-exchange model on a site percolated cluster.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, submitted to SCES 200

Cancellation of energy-divergences and renormalizability in Coulomb gauge QCD within the Lagrangian formalism

In Coulomb gauge QCD in the Lagrangian formalism, energy divergences arise in individual diagrams. We give a proof on cancellation of these divergences to all orders of perturbation theory without obstructing the algebraic renormalizability of the theory.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure