On the location of critical point for the Poisson equation in plane

AbstractThe location of the unique critical point of Δu=−1 is investigated by conformal mapping method in complex variables. It is found that if the domain is given by r=1+ϵp(θ), the critical point coincides with the center of mass up to the order of ϵ. However, the two do not exactly match in general as shown by simple examples

Apoptotic properties of polysaccharide isolated from fruiting bodies of medicinal mushroom Fomes fomentarius in human lung carcinoma cell line

AbstractMushrooms are known to complement chemotherapy and radiation therapy by countering the side effects of cancer. Recently, there has been great interest in isolation of novel bioactive compounds from mushrooms due to their numerous health beneficial effects. Chemically water-extractable polysaccharide (MFKF-AP1β), with a molecular weight of 12kDa, was isolated from fruiting bodies of mushroom Fomes fomentarius. In this research, we investigated the anti-tumor effects of MFKF-AP1β on human lung carcinoma A549 cells. Results showed that MFKF-AP1β markedly inhibited A549 cell growth in a dose-dependent manner based on the amount of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) released and morphological alterations. In addition, MFKF-AP1β induced cellular apoptosis by causing single-stranded DNA breakage, as evidenced by apoptosis assay. Furthermore, MFKF-AP1β (25–100μg/ml) significantly induced single-stranded DNA breakage in A549 cells, as shown by comet assay.Taken together, our results demonstrate that MFKF-AP1β has strong anti-tumor effects mediated through induction of apoptosis. Therefore, MFKF-AP1β could be useful in lung chemotherapy

A case of primary aldosteronism combined with acquired nephrogenic diabetes insipidus

AbstractAldosterone-producing adrenal adenoma can induce various clinical manifestations as a result of chronic exposure to aldosterone. We report a rare case of a 37-year-old man who complained of general weakness and polyuria. He was diagnosed with aldosterone-producing adrenal adenoma and nephrogenic diabetes insipidus. Aldosterone enhances the secretion of potassium in the collecting duct, which can lead to hypokalemia. By contrast, nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, which manifests as polyuria and polydipsia, can occur in several clinical conditions such as acquired tubular disease and those attributed to toxins and congenital causes. Among them, hypokalemia can also damage tubular structures in response to vasopressin. The patient’s urine output was >3 L/d and was diluted. Owing to the ineffectiveness of vasopressin, we eventually made a diagnosis of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus. Laparoscopic adrenalectomy and intraoperative kidney biopsy were subsequently performed. The pathologic finding of kidney biopsy revealed a decrease in aquaporin-2 on immunohistochemical stain

Mechanical structure of a spin-1 particle

We investigate the mechanical structure of a spin-1 particle. Introducing three different frameworks, i.e., the three-dimensional (3D) Breit frame, the two-dimensional (2D) Breit frame, and the 2D infinite momentum frame (equivalently the two-dimensional Drell-Yan frame), we scrutinize the 2D and 3D energy-momentum tensor (EMT) distributions in these frames. We first derive the EMT distributions in the 2D Breit frame by performing the Abel transformation. The mass distribution in the 2D Breit frame contains an additional monopole contribution induced geometrically. The pressure distribution in the 2D Breit frame also gets an induced monopole structure. When the Lorentz boost is carried out, the mass distribution in the 2D infinite-momentum frame acquires the induced dipole term. Similarly, we also have the induced dipole contributions to the pressure and shear-force densities. We visualize the 2D mass distributions when the spin-1 particle is polarized along the $x$- and $z$-axes. We observe that the 2D mass distribution in the infinite momentum frame exhibit clearly the induced dipole structure when the spin-1 particle is polarized along the $x$-axis. We also discuss the strong force fields inside a polarized spin-1 particle.Comment: 28 pages and 9 figure

Suppression of vascular endothelial growth factor expression at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels

Gene expression is regulated at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Therefore, in order to achieve a high level of silencing, which includes minimizing any residual expression of a target gene, suppression at both the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels is required. In this study, we describe a new method for highly efficient gene silencing that combines zinc finger protein-mediated transcriptional repression and small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated inhibition of post-transcriptional events. To measure the amount of gene expression under various conditions, we used a luciferase reporter gene that was driven by a variety of promoters, including that of the human vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) gene. We also measured expression of the endogenous VEGF-A gene. Inhibition of gene expression by each of the two individual technologies was effective, but in-depth analyses revealed residual expression of the target gene. The combination of specific zinc finger transcription factors and siRNAs greatly enhanced the silencing of the human VEGF-A gene, not only when cells were grown in the presence of normal amounts of oxygen but also under conditions of hypoxic stimulation. These results suggest that a bi-level approach to the silencing of VEGF-A expression may be clinically beneficial as part of a cancer treatment protocol

Change of Platelet Reactivity to Antiplatelet Therapy after Stenting Procedure for Cerebral Artery Stenosis: VerifyNow Antiplatelet Assay before and after Stenting

PurposeVerifyNow antiplatelet assays were performed before and after stenting for various cerebral artery stenoses to determine the effect of the procedure itself to the function of dual antiplatelets given.Materials and MethodsA total of 30 consecutive patients underwent cerebral arterial stenting procedure were enrolled. The antiplatelet pretreatment regimen was aspirin (100 mg daily) and clopidogrel (300 mg of loading dose followed by 75mg daily). VerifyNow antiplatelet assay performed before and right after stenting. The two test results were compared in terms of aspirin-reaction unit (ARU), P2Y12 reaction units (PRU), baseline (BASE), and percentage inhibition. We evaluated occurrence of any intra-procedural in-stent thrombosis or immediate thromboembolic complication, and ischemic events in 1-month follow-up.ResultsThe median Pre-ARU was 418 (range, 350-586). For clopidogrel the medians of the pre-BASE, PRU, and percent inhibition were 338 (279-454), 256 (56-325), and 27% (0-57%). The medians of the post-ARU, BASE, PRU, and percent inhibition after stenting were 469 (range, 389-573), 378 (288-453), 274 (81-370), and 26% (0-79%). There was a significant increase of ARU (p=0.045), BASE (p=0.026), and PRU (p=0.018) before and after stenting. One immediate thromboembolic event was observed in poor-response group after stenting. There was no in-stent thrombosis and ischemic event in 1-month follow-up.ConclusionWe observed a significant increase of platelet reactivity to dual antiplatelet therapy right after stenting procedure for various cerebral arterial stenoses