The Coester Line in Relativistic Mean Field Nuclear Matter

The Walecka model contains essentially two parameters that are associated with the Lorentz scalar (S) and vector (V) interactions. These parameters are related to a two-body interaction consisting of S and V, imposing the condition that the two-body binding energy is fixed. We have obtained a set of different values for the nuclear matter binding energies at equilibrium densities. We investigated the existence of a linear correlation between $B_N$ and $\rho_0$, claimed to be universal for nonrelativistic systems and usually known as the Coester line, and found an approximate linear correlation only if $V?S$ remains constant. It is shown that the relativistic content of the model, which is related to the strength of $V?S$, is responsible for the shift of the Coester line to the empirical region of nuclear matter saturation.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Exploiting Resolution-based Representations for MaxSAT Solving

Most recent MaxSAT algorithms rely on a succession of calls to a SAT solver in order to find an optimal solution. In particular, several algorithms take advantage of the ability of SAT solvers to identify unsatisfiable subformulas. Usually, these MaxSAT algorithms perform better when small unsatisfiable subformulas are found early. However, this is not the case in many problem instances, since the whole formula is given to the SAT solver in each call. In this paper, we propose to partition the MaxSAT formula using a resolution-based graph representation. Partitions are then iteratively joined by using a proximity measure extracted from the graph representation of the formula. The algorithm ends when only one partition remains and the optimal solution is found. Experimental results show that this new approach further enhances a state of the art MaxSAT solver to optimally solve a larger set of industrial problem instances

Differential mesenteric fat deposition in bovines fed on silage or concentrate is independent of glycerol membrane permeability

© The Animal Consortium 2011In the meat industry, the manipulation of fat deposition in cattle is of pivotal importance to improve production efficiency, carcass composition and ultimately meat quality. There is an increasing interest in the identification of key factors and molecular mechanisms responsible for the development of specific fat depots. This study aimed at elucidating the influence of breed and diet on adipose tissue membrane permeability and fluidity and their interplay on fat deposition in bovines. Two Portuguese autochthonous breeds, Alentejana and Barrosã, recognized as late- and early-maturing breeds, respectively, were chosen to examine the effects of breed and diet on fat deposition and on adipose membrane composition and permeability. Twenty-four male bovines from these breeds were fed on silage-based or concentrate-based diets for 11 months. Animals were slaughtered to determine their live slaughter and hot carcass weights, as well as weights of subcutaneous and visceral adipose depots. Mesenteric fat depots were excised and used to isolate adipocyte membrane vesicles where cholesterol content, fatty acid profile as well as permeability and fluidity were determined. Total accumulation of neither subcutaneous nor visceral fat was influenced by breed. In contrast, mesenteric and omental fat depots weights were higher in concentrate-fed bulls relative to silage-fed animals. Membrane fluidity and permeability to water and glycerol in mesenteric adipose tissue were found to be independent of breed and diet. Moreover, the deposition of cholesterol and unsaturated fatty acids, which may influence membrane properties, were unchanged among experimental groups. Adipose membrane lipids from the mesenteric fat depot of ruminants were rich in saturated fatty acids, and unaffected by polyunsaturated fatty acids dietary levels. Our results provide evidence against the involvement of cellular membrane permeability to glycerol on fat accumulation in mesenteric fat tissue of concentrate-fed bovines, which is consistent with the unchanged membrane lipid profile found among experimental groups.This study was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through grant PTDC/CVT/2006/66114 and individual fellowships to Ana P. Martins (SFRH/BD/2009/65046), Ana S. H. Costa (SFRH/BD/2009/61068) and Susana V. Martins (SFRH/BPD/2009/63019). Paula A. Lopes is a researcher from the program ‘‘Ciência 2008’’ from FC

Conjugated linoleic acid reduces permeability and fluidity of adipose plasma membranes from obese Zucker rats

NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. July 2010; 398 (2): 199-204.Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a dietary fatty acid frequently used as a body fat reducing agent whose effects upon cell membranes and cellular function remain unknown. Obese Zucker rats were fed atherogenic diets containing saturated fats of vegetable or animal origin with or without 1% CLA, as a mixture of cis(c)9,trans(t)11 and t10,c12 isomers. Plasma membrane vesicles obtained from visceral adi- pose tissue were used to assess the effectiveness of dietary fat and CLA membrane incorporation and its outcome on fluidity and permeability to water and glycerol. A significant decrease in adipose membrane fluidity was correlated with the changes observed in permeability, which seem to be caused by the incor- poration of the t10,c12 CLA isomer into membrane phospholipids. These results indicate that CLA supple- mentation in obese Zucker rats fed saturated and cholesterol rich diets reduces the fluidity and permeability of adipose membranes, therefore not supporting CLA as a body fat reducing agent through membrane fluidification in obese fat consumers

Desmoid Tumours in Familial Adenomatous Polyposis: Review of 17 Patients from a Portuguese Tertiary Center

INTRODUCTION: Desmoid Tumours (DT) are benign tumours with an estimated incidence of 2-4 per million per year. Between 7-16% of them are associated with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP) and are mostly parietal or intra-abdominal. They are a challenge in relation to their unpredictable natural course, associated complications and difficult treatment. AIM: The aim of the present study was to review the occurrence, management and follow-up of DT on FAP patients treated consecutively at a tertiary care center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of clinical data from patients treated consecutively between 1993 and 2014. Patients' data was gathered from clinical records. Data collection included the following variables: demographic data, genotype, FAP phenotype, data on FAP related surgery, DT diagnosis, location, size and number, DT treatment, patients' status and follow-up data. RESULTS: The study population consisted of 17 patients from 9 families; with a mean age of 41 years, mostly women (59%) and most with a mutation either on codon 232 or 554. Most tumours had an intra-abdominal component (59%) with a mean size of 5cm. Fifteen patients were first treated with pharmacotherapy (Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) and Tamoxifen). Five patients (29%) underwent surgery, 4 of them for complications of intra-abdominal tumours and 1 patient for abdominal wall tumours. Two patients underwent chemotherapy in relation to aggressive intra-abdominal disease. The mean follow-up time since diagnosis of DT was 123 months. Overall, 2 patients had remission, 11 patients had regression or stabilized disease, and 2 patients had progression. One patient died due to surgical complications. CONCLUSION: Diagnosis of DT is based on clinical symptoms, without the need for screening, although imaging plays an important role once diagnosis is suspected. The treatment approach is conservative on most patients, leaving surgery for DT related complications. The follow-up of patients with DT is also based on clinical symptoms.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Clustering Properties of Dynamical Dark Energy Models

We provide a generic but physically clear discussion of the clustering properties of dark energy models. We explicitly show that in quintessence-type models the dark energy fluctuations, on scales smaller than the Hubble radius, are of the order of the perturbations to the Newtonian gravitational potential, hence necessarily small on cosmological scales. Moreover, comparable fluctuations are associated with different gauge choices. We also demonstrate that the often used homogeneous approximation is unrealistic, and that the so-called dark energy mutation is a trivial artifact of an effective, single fluid description. Finally, we discuss the particular case where the dark energy fluid is coupled to dark matter.Comment: 5 page

Resonance induced by repulsive interactions in a model of globally-coupled bistable systems

We show the existence of a competition-induced resonance effect for a generic globally coupled bistable system. In particular, we demonstrate that the response of the macroscopic variable to an external signal is optimal for a particular proportion of repulsive links. Furthermore, we show that a resonance also occurs for other system parameters, like the coupling strength and the number of elements. We relate this resonance to the appearance of a multistable region, and we predict the location of the resonance peaks, by a simple spectral analysis of the Laplacian matrix