26 research outputs found
Conformal Affine Toda Soliton and Moduli of IIB Superstring on
In this paper we interpret the hidden symmetry of the moduli space of IIB
superstring on in terms of the chiral embedding in
, which turns to be the conformal affine Toda model.
We review how the position of poles in the Riemann-Hilbert formulation
of dressing transformation and how the value of loop parameters in the
vertex operator of affine algebra determines the moduli space of the soliton
solutions, which describes the moduli space of the Green-Schwarz superstring.
We show also how this affine SU(4) symmetry affinize the conformal symmetry in
the twistor space, and how a soliton string corresponds to a Robinson
congruence with twist and dilation spin coefficients of twistor.Comment: Final version, Misprints corrected, Note adde
Cardiovascular magnetic resonance in pericardial diseases
The pericardium and pericardial diseases in particular have received, in contrast to other topics in the field of cardiology, relatively limited interest. Today, despite improved knowledge of pathophysiology of pericardial diseases and the availability of a wide spectrum of diagnostic tools, the diagnostic challenge remains. Not only the clinical presentation may be atypical, mimicking other cardiac, pulmonary or pleural diseases; in developed countries a shift for instance in the epidemiology of constrictive pericarditis has been noted. Accurate decision making is crucial taking into account the significant morbidity and mortality caused by complicated pericardial diseases, and the potential benefit of therapeutic interventions. Imaging herein has an important role, and cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is definitely one of the most versatile modalities to study the pericardium. It fuses excellent anatomic detail and tissue characterization with accurate evaluation of cardiac function and assessment of the haemodynamic consequences of pericardial constraint on cardiac filling. This review focuses on the current state of knowledge how CMR can be used to study the most common pericardial diseases
Preventing protein adsorption from a range of surfaces using an aqueous fish protein extract
We utilize an aqueous extract of fish proteins (FPs) as a coating for minimizing the adsorption of fibrinogen (Fg) and human serum albumin (HSA). The surfaces include stainless steel (SS), gold (Au), silicon dioxide (SiO 2), and poly(styrene) (PS). The adsorption processes (kinetics and adsorbed mass) are followed by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D). Complementary surface information is provided by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). QCM-D shows no mass increases to any of the FPcoated surfaces upon treating with Fg or HSA. Also, when Fg- or HSA-coated surfaces are exposed to the FPs, a significant increase in adsorbed mass occurs because the FPs are highly surface-active displacing Fg. Additionally, fluorescence microscopy confirms that very little Fg adsorbs to the FP-coated surfaces. We propose that FP coatings prevent protein adsorption by steric stabilization and could be an alternative method for preventing unwanted bioadhesion on medical materials