283 research outputs found
Local and global spontaneous calcium events regulate neurite outgrowth and onset of GABAergic phenotype during neural precursor differentiation
Neural stem cells can generate in vitro progenitors of the three main cell lineages found in the CNS. The signaling pathways underlying the acquisition of differentiated phenotypes in these cells are poorly understood. Here we tested the hypothesis that Ca2+ signaling controls differentiation of neural precursors. We found low-frequency global and local Ca2+ transients occurring predominantly during early stages of differentiation. Spontaneous Ca2+ signals in individual precursors were not synchronized with Ca2+ transients in surrounding cells. Experimentally induced changes in the frequency of local Ca2+signals and global Ca2+ rises correlated positively with neurite outgrowth and the onset of GABAergic neurotransmitter phenotype, respectively. NMDA receptor activity was critical for alterations in neuronal morphology but not for the timing of the acquisition of the neurotransmitter phenotype. Thus, spontaneous Ca2+ signals are an intrinsic property of differentiating neurosphere-derived precursors. Their frequency may specify neuronal morphology and acquisition of neurotransmitter phenotype
CPsuperH2.3: an Updated Tool for Phenomenology in the MSSM with Explicit CP Violation
We describe the Fortran code CPsuperH2.3, which incorporates the following
updates compared with its predecessor CPsuperH2.0. It implements improved
calculations of the Higgs-boson masses and mixing including stau contributions
and finite threshold effects on the tau-lepton Yukawa coupling. It incorporates
the LEP limits on the processes e^+ e^- to H_i Z, H_i H_j and the CMS limits on
H_i to tau^+ tau^- obtained from 4.6/fb of data at a centre-of-mass energy of 7
TeV. It also includes the decay mode H_i to Z gamma and the Schiff-moment
contributions to the electric dipole moments of Mercury and Radium225, with
several calculational options for the case of Mercury. These additions make
CPsuperH2.3 a suitable tool for analyzing possible CP-violating effects in the
MSSM in the era of the LHC and a new generation of EDM experimentsComment: 31 pages, 10 eps figures, 7 tables; H to Z gamma and SM BRs included;
To appear in CPC; Typos in Eq.(A.2) corrected;The program may be obtained
from http://www.hep.man.ac.uk/u/jslee/CPsuperH.html, or by contacting the
first author at [email protected]; A comment added after Eq.(15) and a typo in
Eq.(A.4) correcte
Fluoropyrimidine sensitivity of human MCF-7 breast cancer cells stably transfected with human uridinehosphorylase
The relationship between uridine phosphorylase (UP) expression level in cancer cells and the tumour sensitivity to fluoropyrimidines is unclear. In this study, we found that UP overexpression by gene transfer, and the subsequent efficient metabolic activation of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) by the ribonucleotide pathway, does not increase the fluoropyrimidine sensitivity of MCF-7 human cancer cells. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co
Electroweak corrections to Higgs-strahlung off W/Z bosons at the Tevatron and the LHC with HAWK
The associate production of Higgs bosons with W or Z bosons, known as
Higgs-strahlung, is an important search channel for Higgs bosons at the hadron
colliders Tevatron and LHC for low Higgs-boson masses. We refine a previous
calculation of next-to-leading-order electroweak corrections (and recalculate
the QCD corrections) upon including the leptonic decay of the W/Z bosons,
thereby keeping the fully differential information of the 2-lepton + Higgs
final state. The gauge invariance of the W/Z-resonance treatment is ensured by
the use of the complex-mass scheme. The electroweak corrections, which are at
the level of -(5-10)% for total cross sections, further increase in size with
increasing transverse momenta p_T in differential cross sections. For instance,
for p_T,H >~ 200GeV, which is the interesting range at the LHC, the electroweak
corrections to WH production reach about -14% for M_H = 120GeV. The described
corrections are implemented in the HAWK Monte Carlo program, which was
initially designed for the vector-boson-fusion channel, and are discussed for
various distributions in the production channels pp / p \bar p -> H + l nu_l /
l^-l^+ / nu_l \bar nu_l + X.Comment: 22 p
In vitro and in vivo reversal of resistance to 5-fluorouracil in colorectal cancer cells with a novel stealth double-liposomal formulation
Drug resistance is a major cause of treatment failure in cancer chemotherapy, including that with the extensively prescribed antimetabolite, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). In this study, we tried to reverse 5-FU resistance by using a double-punch strategy: combining 5-FU with a biochemical modulator to improve its tumoural activation and encapsulating both these agents in one same stealth liposome. Experiments carried out in the highly resistant, canonical SW620 human colorectal model showed a up to 80% sensitisation to 5-FU when these cells were treated with our liposomal formulation. Results with this formulation demonstrated 30% higher tumoural drug uptake, better activation with increased active metabolites including critical-5-fluoro-2-deoxyuridine-5-monophosphate, superior inhibition (98%) of tumour thymidylate synthase, and subsequently, higher induction of both early and late apoptosis. Drug monitoring showed that higher and sustained exposure was achieved in rats treated with liposomal formulation. When examined in a xenograft animal model, our dual-agent liposomal formulation caused a 74% reduction in tumour size with a mean doubling in survival time, whereas standard 5-FU failed to exhibit significant antiproliferative activity as well as to increase the lifespan of tumour-bearing mice. Taken collectively, our data suggest that resistance to 5-FU can be overcome through a better control of its intratumoural activation and the use of an encapsulated formulation
Higgs Physics: Theory
I review the theoretical aspects of the physics of Higgs bosons, focusing on
the elements that are relevant for the production and detection at present
hadron colliders. After briefly summarizing the basics of electroweak symmetry
breaking in the Standard Model, I discuss Higgs production at the LHC and at
the Tevatron, with some focus on the main production mechanism, the gluon-gluon
fusion process, and summarize the main Higgs decay modes and the experimental
detection channels. I then briefly survey the case of the minimal
supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model. In a last section, I review the
prospects for determining the fundamental properties of the Higgs particles
once they have been experimentally observed.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures. Talk given at the XXV International Symposium
on Lepton Photon Interactions at High Energies (Lepton Photon 11), 22-27
August 2011, Mumbai, Indi
Properties of 125 GeV Higgs boson in non-decoupling MSSM scenarios
Tantalizing hints of the Higgs boson of mass around 125 GeV have been
reported at the LHC. We explore the MSSM parameter space in which the 125 GeV
state is identified as the heavier of the CP even Higgs bosons, and study two
scenarios where the two photon production rate can be significantly larger than
the standard model (SM). In one scenario, is
enhanced by a light stau contribution, while the () rate
stays around the SM rate. In the other scenario, is
suppressed and not only the but also the
() rates should be enhanced. The rate can be
significantly larger or smaller than the SM rate in both scenarios. Other
common features of the scenarios include top quark decays into charged Higgs
boson, single and pair production of all Higgs bosons in collisions at
GeV.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, accepted version for publication in JHE
On Coordinate Transformations in Planar Noncommutative Theories
We consider planar noncommutative theories such that the coordinates verify a
space-dependent commutation relation. We show that, in some special cases, new
coordinates may be introduced that have a constant commutator, and as a
consequence the construction of Field Theory models may be carried out by an
application of the standard Moyal approach in terms of the new coordinates. We
apply these ideas to the concrete example of a noncommutative plane with a
curved interface. We also show how to extend this method to more general
situations.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figure. references adde
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