1,432 research outputs found
Instabilities in a Mean-field dynamics of Asymmetric Nuclear Matter
We discuss the features of instabilities in asymmetric nuclear matter, in
particular the relation between the nature of fluctuations, the types of
instabilities and the properties of the interaction. We show a chemical
instability appears as an instability against isoscalar-like fluctuations. Then
starting from phenomenological hadronic field theory (QHD), including exchange
terms, we discuss the symmetry energy and the relation to the dynamical
response inside the spinodal region.Comment: 8 pages, 5 Postscript figures, talk at Cortona 2000 Conference, Oct.
17 - Oct. 20, Italy, World Scientific (in press
Influence of vector interactions on the hadron-quark/gluon phase transition
The hadron-quark/gluon phase transition is studied in the two-phase model. As
a further study of our previous work, both the isoscalar and isovector vector
interactions are included in the Polyakov loop modified Nambu--Jona-Lasinio
model (PNJL) for the quark phase. The relevance of the exchange (Fock) terms is
stressed and suitably accounted for. The calculation shows that the isovector
vector interaction delays the phase transition to higher densities and the
range of the mixed phase correspondingly shrinks. Meanwhile the asymmetry
parameter of quark matter in the mixed phase decreases with the strengthening
of this interaction channel. This leads to some possible observation signals
being weakened, although still present. We show that these can be rather
general effects of a repulsion in the quark phase due to the symmetry energy.
This is also confirmed by a simpler calculation with the MIT--Bag model.
However, the asymmetry parameter of quark matter is slightly enhanced with the
inclusion of the isoscalar vector interaction, but the phase transition will be
moved to higher densities. The largest uncertainty on the phase transition lies
in the undetermined coupling constants of the vector interactions. In this
respect new data on the mixed phase obtained from Heavy Ion Collisions at
Intermediate Energies appear very important.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.
Pharmacological management of COVID-19 patients with ARDS (CARDS): A narrative review
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is highly infectious. It has been highlighted that if not expertly and individually managed with consideration of the vasocentric features, a COVID-19 patient with an acute respiratory distress syndrome (CARDS) may eventually develop multiorgan failure. Unfortunately, there is still no definite drug for CARDS that is capable of reducing either short-term or long-term mortality and no specific treatments for COVID-19 exist right now. In this narrative review, based on a selective literature search in EMBASE, MEDLINE, Scopus, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Google Scholar and ClinicalTrials.gov, we have examined the emerging evidence on the possible treatment of CARDS. Although numerous pharmacologic therapies to improve clinical outcomes in CARDS have been studied also in clinical trials, none have shown efficacy and there is great uncertainty about their effectiveness. There is still no recommendation for the therapeutic use of any specific agent to treat CARDS because no drugs are validated to have significant efficacy in clinical treatment of COVID-19 patients in large-scale trials. However, there exist a number of drugs that may be useful at least in some patients. The real challenge now is to link the right patient to the right treatment
Active Rules for Runtime Adaptivity Management
The trend over the last years clearly shows that modern Web
development is evolving from traditional, HTML-based Web sites to fullfledged, complex Web applications, also equipped with active and/or adaptive application features. While this evolution unavoidably implies higher development costs and times, such implications are contrasted by the dynamics of the modern Web, which demands for even faster application development and evolution cycles.
In this paper we address the above problem by focusing on the case of adaptive Web applications. We illustrate an ECA rule-based approach, intended to facilitate the management and evolution of adaptive application features. For this purpose, we stress the importance of decoupling the active logic (i.e. the adaptivity rules) from the execution of the actual application by means of a decoupled rule engine that is able to capture events and to autonomously enact adaptivity actions
Relativistic Approach to Superfluidity in Nuclear Matter
Pairing correlations in symmetric nuclear matter are studied within a
relativistic mean-field approximation based on a field theory of nucleons
coupled to neutral ( and ) and to charged () mesons.
The Hartree-Fock and the pairing fields are calculated in a self-consistent
way. The energy gap is the result of a strong cancellation between the scalar
and vector components of the pairing field. We find that the pair amplitude
vanishes beyond a certain value of momentum of the paired nucleons. This fact
determines an effective cutoff in the gap equation. The value of this cutoff
gives an energy gap in agreement with the estimates of non relativistic
calculations.Comment: 21 pages, REVTEX, 8 ps-figures, to appear in Phys.Rev.C. e-mail:
[email protected]
Cholinergic suppression: A postsynaptic mechanism of long-term associative learning
Food avoidance learning in the mollusc Pleurobranchaea entails reduction in the responsiveness of key brain interneurons in the feeding neural circuitry, the paracerebral feeding command interneurons (PCNs), to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (AcCho). Food stimuli applied to the oral veil of an untrained animal depolarize the PCNs and induce the feeding motor program (FMP). Atropine (a muscarinic cholinergic antagonist) reversibly blocks the food-induced depolarization of the PCNs, implicating AcCho as the neurotransmitter mediating food detection. AcCho applied directly to PCN somata depolarizes them, indicating that the PCN soma membrane contains AcCho receptors and induces the FMP in the isolated central nervous system preparation. The AcCho response of the PCNs is mediated by muscariniclike receptors, since comparable depolarization is induced by muscarinic agonists (acetyl-ß -methylcholine, oxotremorine, pilocarpine), but not nicotine, and blocked by muscarinic antagonists (atropine, trifluoperazine). The nicotinic antagonist hexamethonium, however, blocked the AcCho response in four of six cases. When specimens are trained to suppress feeding behavior using a conventional food-avoidance learning paradigm (conditionally paired food and shock), AcCho applied to PCNs in the same concentration as in untrained animals causes little or no depolarization and does not initiate the FMP. Increasing the concentration of AcCho 10-100 times, however, induces weak PCN depolarization in trained specimens, indicating that learning diminishes but does not fully abolish AcCho responsiveness of the PCNs. This study proposes a cellular mechanism of long-term associative learning -- namely, postsynaptic modulation of neurotransmitter responsiveness in central neurons that could apply also to mammalian species
Use of human airway smooth muscle in vitro and ex vivo to investigate drugs for the treatment of chronic obstructive respiratory disorders
Isolated airway smooth muscle has been extensively investigated since 1840 to understand the pharmacology of airway diseases. There has often been poor predictability from murine experiments to drugs evaluated in patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the use of isolated human airways represents a sensible strategy to optimise the development of innovative molecules for the treatment of respiratory diseases. This review aims to provide updated evidence on the current uses of isolated human airways in validated in vitro methods to investigate drugs in development for the treatment of chronic obstructive respiratory disorders. This review also provides historical notes on the pioneering pharmacological research on isolated human airway tissues, the key differences between human and animal airways, as well as the pivotal differences between human medium bronchi and small airways. Experiments carried out with isolated human bronchial tissues in vitro and ex vivo replicate many of the main anatomical, pathophysiological, mechanical and immunological characteristics of patients with asthma or COPD. In vitro models of asthma and COPD using isolated human airways can provide information that is directly translatable into humans with obstructive lung diseases. Regardless of the technique used to investigate drugs for the treatment of chronic obstructive respiratory disorders (i.e., isolated organ bath systems, videomicroscopy and wire myography), the most limiting factors to produce high-quality and repeatable data remain closely tied to the manual skills of the researcher conducting experiments and the availability of suitable tissue
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