Ameliorative effect of omega-3 in carbon tetrachloride toxicity

Omega-3 is a polyunsaturated fatty acid known to have immunomodulatory functions. In the present study, ameliorative potential of omega-3 in experimental carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) toxicity was investigated. Total of 40 adult male Wistar albino rats were allocated into five groups and were subcutaneously given once every two days for 6 weeks the followings: Group 1 (Control): 0.5 ml/kg serum physiologic, Group 2 (Omega): 0.5 g/kg omega-3, Group 3 (Vehicle): 0.5 ml/kg pure olive oil, Group 4 (CCl4): 0.5 ml/kg CCl4, Group 5 (CCl4 + Omega): 0.5 ml/kg CCl4 plus 0.5 g/kg omega-3. At the end of the treatments, blood samples were collected and necropsy was performed for collection of liver tissues. Serum AST, ALT, GGT, TAC, TOC, triglyceride, and visfatin levels were detected. Liver morphology and immunoreactivities against TGF-α, TGF-β, PPAR-α, and PPAR-γ were assessed. Serum AST, ALT, GGT, and TOC levels significantly increased while TAC level decreased in CCl4 given animals as compared to the control group. No significant changes were observed in triglyceride and visfatin levels. Immunohistochemical staining revealed increased TGF-α and TGF-β expressions and decreased PPAR-α and PPAR-γ expressions in liver of CCl4 given animals. Omega-3 supplementation has prominent effects in correcting the biochemical and immunohistochemical parameters studied as well as the tissue morphology. The results of the investigation indicated that omega-3 has ameliorative effects on the oxidative tissue degeneration and inflammatory processes induced by CCl4 treatment in rat

The Semileptonic BB to K1(1270,1400)K_1(1270,1400) Decays in QCD Sum Rules

We analyze the semileptonic rare decays of $B$ meson to $K_{1} (1270)$ and $K_{1} (1400)$ axial vector mesons. The $B\to K_{1} (1270,1400) \ell^+ \ell^-$ decays are significant flavor changing neutral current decays of the $B$ meson. These decays are sensitive to the new physics beyond SM, since these processes are forbidden at tree level at SM. These decays occurring at the quark level via $b\to s \ell^+ \ell^-$ transition, also provide new opportunities for calculating the CKM matrix elements $V_{bt}$ and $V_{ts}$. In this study, the transition form factors of the $B\to K_{1} (1270,1400) \ell^+ \ell^-$ decays are calculated using three-point QCD sum rules approach. The resulting form factors are used to estimate the branching fractions of these decays.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, version to appear in JP

Structural finite element analysis of stiffened and honeycomb panels of the RASAT satellite

This paper describes the structural analysis carried out on the main stiffened and honeycomb panels of the RASAT satellite. The analysis here supports the design process and aims to ensure that the panels survive structural qualification testing. This analysis therefore forms part of the overall qualification process. The stiffened and honeycomb panels being considered in this document form the outer box structure of the satellite. These panels consist of the space-facing facet (SFF), solar panels including solar cells and earth facing facet (EFF). All these panels are key parts of the satellite's structure and are critical to mission safety. The separation panel is particularly highly loaded, since it supports the battery pack, reaction wheels, gyro module, magnetorquer rods and sun sensors. The separation panel also supports the solar panel assembly. The solar panels are also of critical importance, their integrity maintaining the required power supply to operate the satellite's electronic systems. As being different from the SFF and EFF, the solar panels are made of aluminum honeycomb panels. The solar panels are particularly sensitive, as they carry arrays of delicate ceramic solar cells together with their wiring. Throughout all loading conditions experienced during the mission, the solar panels must continue to support the solar cells without cell failures or wiring disconnections. The EFF is perhaps the least critical of the stiffened panels but still must support the top of the solar panel assembly and must carry various antennae. The main objective of this study is to assess the strength and vibration response properties of the stiffened and honeycomb panels by conducting static stress and modal analyses. For the case of static loading, the reliability can be estimated with great efficiency, whereas for dynamic loading the performance depends on the considered frequency range. The obtained results are very significant in that, they illustrate the feasibility of a full scale analysis for structural reliability in a design context for large-scale structures. The analyses are conducted by means of the finite element method. For the static case, the SFF and EFF are meshed with hex elements and the honeycomb panels are meshed with solid brick and shell elements. For the calculated gRMS value the static analysis had been conducted in each axis of the panel assembly. For the dynamic case, the same finite element mesh and material properties had been used. In this case, the boundary conditions are applied in such a way to determine the mode shapes and the resonance frequencies. Furthermore, the stress values had been determined with respect to the applied static and dynamic loading cases. They had been compared With the allowable stress values of the materials. In this paper the complete finite element analyses procedures are described and the results of the analyses are presented. According to the computed results, some conclusions are drawn in order to guide experimental qualification tests