211 research outputs found
Description of nuclear systems within the relativistic Hartree-Fock method with zero range self-interactions of the scalar field
An exact method is suggested to treat the nonlinear self-interactions (NLSI)
in the relativistic Hartree-Fock (RHF) approach for nuclear systems. We
consider here the NLSI constructed from the relativistic scalar nucleon
densities and including products of six and eight fermion fields. This type of
NLSI corresponds to the zero range limit of the standard cubic and quartic
self-interactions of the scalar field. The method to treat the NLSI uses the
Fierz transformation, which enables one to express the exchange (Fock)
components in terms of the direct (Hartree) ones. The method is applied to
nuclear matter and finite nuclei. It is shown that, in the RHF formalism, the
NLSI, which are explicitly isovector-independent, generate scalar, vector and
tensor nucleon self-energies strongly density-dependent. This strong isovector
structure of the self-energies is due to the exchange terms of the RHF method.
Calculations are carried out with a parametrization containing five free
parameters. The model allows a description of both types of systems compatible
with experimental data.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures (v2: major quantitative changes
Asymmetric nuclear matter in a Hartree-Fock approach to non-linear QHD
The Equation of State (EOS) for asymmetric nuclear matter is discussed
starting from a phenomenological hadronic field theory of Serot-Walecka type
including exchange terms. In a model with self interactions of the scalar
sigma-meson we show that the Fock terms naturally lead to isospin effects in
the nuclear EOS. These effects are quite large and dominate over the
contribution due to isovector mesons. We obtain a potential symmetry term of
"stiff" type, i.e. increasing with baryon density and an interesting behaviour
of neutron/proton effective masses of relevance for transport properties of
asymmetric dense matter.Comment: 12 pages (LATEX), 3 Postscript figures, revised versio
Asymmetric nuclear matter:the role of the isovector scalar channel
We try to single out some qualitative new effects of the coupling to the
-isovector-scalar meson introduced in a minimal way in a
phenomenological hadronic field theory. Results for the equation of state
() and the phase diagram of asymmetric nuclear matter () are
discussed. We stress the consistency of the -coupling introduction in a
relativistic approach. New contributions to the slope and curvature of the
symmetry energy and the neutron-proton effective mass splitting appear
particularly interesting. A more repulsive for neutron matter at high
baryon densities is expected. Effects on new critical properties of warm ,
mixing of mechanical and chemical instabilities and isospin distillation, are
also presented. The influence is mostly on the {\it isovectorlike}
collective response.
The results are largely analytical and this makes the physical meaning quite
transparent. Implications for nuclear structure properties of drip-line nuclei
and for reaction dynamics with Radioactive Beams are finally pointed out.Comment: 12 pages, 10 Postscript figure
Isospin Physics in Heavy-Ion Collisions at Intermediate Energies
In nuclear collisions induced by stable or radioactive neutron-rich nuclei a
transient state of nuclear matter with an appreciable isospin asymmetry as well
as thermal and compressional excitation can be created. This offers the
possibility to study the properties of nuclear matter in the region between
symmetric nuclear matter and pure neutron matter. In this review, we discuss
recent theoretical studies of the equation of state of isospin-asymmetric
nuclear matter and its relations to the properties of neutron stars and
radioactive nuclei. Chemical and mechanical instabilities as well as the
liquid-gas phase transition in asymmetric nuclear matter are investigated. The
in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross sections at different isospin states are
reviewed as they affect significantly the dynamics of heavy ion collisions
induced by radioactive beams. We then discuss an isospin-dependent transport
model, which includes different mean-field potentials and cross sections for
the proton and neutron, and its application to these reactions. Furthermore, we
review the comparisons between theoretical predictions and available
experimental data. In particular, we discuss the study of nuclear stopping in
terms of isospin equilibration, the dependence of nuclear collective flow and
balance energy on the isospin-dependent nuclear equation of state and cross
sections, the isospin dependence of total nuclear reaction cross sections, and
the role of isospin in preequilibrium nucleon emissions and subthreshold pion
production.Comment: 101 pages with embedded epsf figures, review article for
"International Journal of Modern Physics E: Nuclear Physics". Send request
for a hard copy to 1/author
Expression and subcellular localization of cyclin D1 protein in epithelial ovarian tumour cells
The expression of cyclin D1 protein in tumour sections from 81 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer was analysed using immunohistochemistry. The tumours that overexpressed cyclin D1 in more than 10% of neoplastic cells were considered positive. Thus overexpression of cyclin D1 was observed in 72/81 (89%) of the cases examined. Protein was detected in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm in 24/81 (30%) and localized exclusively in the cytoplasm in 48/81 (59%) of the tumours. Cyclin D1 was overexpressed in both borderline and invasive tumours. There was no association between protein overexpression and tumour stage and differentiation. Furthermore, no correlation between cyclin D1 expression and clinical outcome was observed. However, in tumours overexpressing cyclin D1 (n = 72), the proportion displaying exclusively cytoplasmic localization of protein was higher in those with serous compared with non-serous histology (P = 0.004, odds ratio 4.8, 95% confidence interval 1.4β19.1). Western analysis using a monoclonal antibody to cyclin D1 identified a 36 kDa protein in homogenates from seven tumours displaying cytoplasmic only and one tumour demonstrating both nuclear and cytoplasmic immunostaining. Using restriction fragment length polymorphism polymerase chain reaction and PCR-multiplex analysis, amplification of the cyclin D1 gene (CCNDI) was detected in 1/29 of the tumours demonstrating overexpression of cyclin D1 protein. We conclude that deregulation of CCND1 expression leading to both cytoplasmic and nuclear protein localization is a frequent event in ovarian cancer and occurs mainly in the absence of gene amplification. Β© 1999 Cancer Research Campaig
ARF-BP1 as a potential therapeutic target
In this review, we discuss the recent identification of ARF-BP1 (also known as Mule, UREB1, E3histone, LASU1, and HectH9). ARF-BP1, a HECT domain-containing E3 ubiquitin ligase, interacts with ARF and p53. Its ubiquitin ligase activity is inhibited by ARF. Inactivation of ARF-BP1 stabilised p53 and induced apoptosis. Notably, inactivation of ARF-BP1 also caused cell growth repression in p53-null cells and breast cancer cells with mutant p53. Thus, ARF-BP1 emerges as a novel therapeutic target against cancer regardless of p53 status
Replication of Putative Susceptibility Loci from Genome-Wide Association Studies Associated with Coronary Atherosclerosis in Chinese Han Population
BACKGROUND: Coronary atherosclerosis, the main cause of cardiovascular disease, is a progressive disease. Recent Genome Wide Association Studies (GWASs) discovered several novel loci associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) or its main complication myocardial infarction (MI). In this study, we investigated the associations between previously reported CAD- and MI-associated variants and coronary atherosclerosis in Chinese Han population. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We performed a case-control association study with 2,335 coronary atherosclerosis patients and 1,078 controls undergoing coronary angiography of Chinese Han from China. Fourteen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), located at 1p13.3, 1q41, 2q36.3, 6q25.1, 9p21.3, 10q11.21 and 15q22.33, were genotyped in our sample collection. Six SNPs at 9p21 were associated with coronary atherosclerosis susceptibility (P(trend)<0.05) and rs10757274 showed the most significant association (Pβ=β2.38Γ10(-08), ORβ=β1.34). These associations remained significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons. Rs17465637 at 1q41 (P(trend)β=β6.83Γ10(-03), ORβ=β0.86) also showed significant association with coronary atherosclerosis, but the association was not significant after multiple comparisons. Additionally, rs501120 (Pβ=β8.36Γ10(-03), ORβ=β0.80) at 10q11.21 was associated with coronary atherosclerosis in females, but did not show association in males and all participants. Variants at 1p13.3, 2q36.3, 6q25.1 and 15q22.33 showed no associations with coronary atherosclerosis and main cardiovascular risk factors in our data. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings indicated variants at 9p21 were significantly associated with coronary atherosclerosis in Han Chinese. Variants at 1q41 showed suggestive evidence of association and variants at 10q11.21 showed suggestive evidence of association in females, which warrant further study in a larger sample
Comprehensive analysis of the 9p21 region in neuroblastoma suggests a role for genes mapping to 9p21β23 in the biology of favourable stage 4 tumours
Chromosome 9p21 is frequently deleted in many cancers. Previous reports have indicated that 9p21 LOH is an uncommon finding in neuroblastoma (NB), a tumour of childhood. We have performed an extensive analysis of 9p21 and genes located in this region (cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A β CDKN2A/p16INK4a, CDKN2A/p14ARF, CDKN2B/p15INK4b, MTAP, interferon Ξ± and Ξ² cluster). LOH was detected in 16.4% of 177 NB. The SRO was identified between markers D9S1751 and D9S254, at 9p21β23, a region telomeric to the CDKN2A and MTAP genes. A significantly better overall and progression-free survival was detected in stage 4 patients displaying 9p21β23 LOH. Hemizygous deletion of the region harbouring the CDKN2A and CDKN2B loci was identified in two tumours by means of fluorescent in situ hybridisation and MTAP was present by immunostaining in all but one tumour analysed. The transcriptional profile of tumours with 9p21β23 LOH was compared to that of NB displaying normal 9p21β23 status by means of oligonucleotide microarrays. Four of the 363 probe sets downregulated in tumours with 9p21β23 LOH were encoded by genes mapping to 9p22β24. The only well-characterised transcript among them was nuclear factor I-B3. Our results suggest a role for genes located telomeric of 9p21 in good risk NB
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