6,528 research outputs found
Inactivation of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) 1 alpha induces obesity-associated metabolic disorders through brown adipose tissue dysfunction
published_or_final_versionThe 14th Medical Research Conference, Hong Kong, 10 January 2009. In Hong Kong Medical Journal, 2009, v. 15, suppl. 1, p. 40, article no. 6
Hot embossing for fabrication of a microfluidic 3D cell culture
Clinically relevant studies of cell function in vitro require a physiologically-representative microenvironment possessing aspects such as a 3D extracellular matrix (ECM) and controlled biochemical and biophysical parameters. A polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic system with a 3D collagen gel has previously served for analysis of factors inducing different responses of cells in a 3D microenvironment under controlled biochemical and biophysical parameters. In the present study, applying the known commercially-viable manufacturing methods to a cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) material resulted in a microfluidic device with enhanced 3D gel capabilities, controlled surface properties, and improved potential to serve high-volume applications. Hot embossing and roller lamination molded and sealed the microfluidic device. A combination of oxygen plasma and thermal treatments enhanced the sealing, ensured proper placement of the 3D gel, and created controlled and stable surface properties within the device. Culture of cells in the new device indicated no adverse effects of the COC material or processing as compared to previous PDMS devices. The results demonstrate a methodology to transition microfludic devices for 3D cell culture from scientific research to high-volume applications with broad clinical impact.National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (award R21CA140096)Charles Stark Draper Laboratory (IR&D Grant
Tumor-associated Tenascin-C isoforms promote breast cancer cell invasion and growth by MMP-dependent and independent mechanisms
Goldstini
Supersymmetric phenomenology has been largely bound to the hypothesis that
supersymmetry breaking originates from a single source. In this paper, we relax
this underlying assumption and consider a multiplicity of sectors which
independently break supersymmetry, thus yielding a corresponding multiplicity
of goldstini. While one linear combination of goldstini is eaten via the
super-Higgs mechanism, the orthogonal combinations remain in the spectrum as
physical degrees of freedom. Interestingly, supergravity effects induce a
universal tree-level mass for the goldstini which is exactly twice the
gravitino mass. Since visible sector fields can couple dominantly to the
goldstini rather than the gravitino, this framework allows for substantial
departures from conventional supersymmetric phenomenology. In fact, this even
occurs when a conventional mediation scheme is augmented by additional
supersymmetry breaking sectors which are fully sequestered. We discuss a number
of striking collider signatures, including various novel decay modes for the
lightest observable-sector supersymmetric particle, gravitinoless
gauge-mediated spectra, and events with multiple displaced vertices. We also
describe goldstini cosmology and the possibility of goldstini dark matter.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures; references adde
Bino Dark Matter and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis in the Constrained E6SSM with Massless Inert Singlinos
We discuss a new variant of the E6 inspired supersymmetric standard model
(E6SSM) in which the two inert singlinos are exactly massless and the dark
matter candidate has a dominant bino component. A successful relic density is
achieved via a novel mechanism in which the bino scatters inelastically into
heavier inert Higgsinos during the time of thermal freeze-out. The two massless
inert singlinos contribute to the effective number of neutrino species at the
time of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, where the precise contribution depends on the
mass of the Z' which keeps them in equilibrium. For example for mZ' > 1300 GeV
we find Neff \approx 3.2, where the smallness of the additional contribution is
due to entropy dilution. We study a few benchmark points in the constrained
E6SSM with massless inert singlinos to illustrate this new scenario.Comment: 24 pages, revised for publication in JHE
Z' signals in polarised top-antitop final states
We study the sensitivity of top-antitop samples produced at all energy stages
of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to the nature of an underlying Z' boson, in
presence of full tree level standard model (SM) background effects and relative
interferences. We concentrate on differential mass spectra as well as both
spatial and spin asymmetries thereby demonstrating that exploiting combinations
of these observables will enable one to distinguish between sequential Z's and
those pertaining to Left-Right symmetric models as well as E6 inspired ones,
assuming realistic final state reconstruction efficiencies and error estimates.Comment: 21 pages, 6 colour figures, 10 table
Altered cortical brain activity in end stage liver disease assessed by multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy: associations with delirium
Transactivation of EGFR by LPS induces COX-2 expression in enterocytes
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the leading cause of gastrointestinal morbidity and mortality in preterm infants. NEC is characterized by an exaggerated inflammatory response to bacterial flora leading to bowel necrosis. Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) mediates inflammation through TLR4 activation and is a key molecule in the pathogenesis of NEC. However, LPS also induces cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), which promotes intestinal barrier restitution through stimulation of intestinal cell survival, proliferation, and migration. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation prevents experimental NEC and may play a critical role in LPS-stimulated COX-2 production. We hypothesized that EGFR is required for LPS induction of COX-2 expression. Our data show that inhibiting EGFR kinase activity blocks LPS-induced COX-2 expression in small intestinal epithelial cells. LPS induction of COX-2 requires Src-family kinase signaling while LPS transactivation of EGFR requires matrix metalloprotease (MMP) activity. EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors block LPS stimulation of mitogen-activated protein kinase ERK, suggesting an important role of the MAPK/ERK pathway in EGFR-mediated COX-2 expression. LPS stimulates proliferation of IEC-6 cells, but this stimulation is inhibited with either the EGFR kinase inhibitor AG1478, or the selective COX-2 inhibitor Celecoxib. Taken together, these data show that EGFR plays an important role in LPS-induction of COX-2 expression in enterocytes, which may be one mechanism for EGF in inhibition of NEC
Kinematic Edges with Flavor Oscillation and Non-Zero Widths
Kinematic edges in cascade decays provide a probe of the masses of new
particles. In some new physics scenarios the decay chain involves intermediate
particles of different flavors that can mix and oscillate. We discuss the
implication of such oscillation, and in particular its interplay with the
non-zero widths of the particles. We derive explicit formulae for differential
decay rates involving both non-zero widths and oscillation, and show that in
the case where the mass difference between the intermediate particle is of the
order of their widths, both oscillation and width effects are important. An
examination of the physical observables contained in these differential decay
rates is provided. We calculate differential decay rates for cases in which the
intermediate particles are either scalars or fermions.Comment: 28 pages, 6 figure
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