Decoupling Inflation From the String Scale

When Inflation is embedded in a fundamental theory, such as string theory, it typically begins when the Universe is already substantially larger than the fundamental scale [such as the one defined by the string length scale]. This is naturally explained by postulating a pre-inflationary era, during which the size of the Universe grew from the fundamental scale to the initial inflationary scale. The problem then arises of maintaining the [presumed] initial spatial homogeneity throughout this era, so that, when it terminates, Inflation is able to begin in its potential-dominated state. Linde has proposed that a spacetime with compact negatively curved spatial sections can achieve this, by means of chaotic mixing. Such a compactification will however lead to a Casimir energy, which can lead to effects that defeat the purpose unless the coupling to gravity is suppressed. We estimate the value of this coupling required by the proposal, and use it to show that the pre-inflationary spacetime is stable, despite the violation of the Null Energy Condition entailed by the Casimir energy.Comment: 24 pages, 5 eps figures, references added, stylistic changes, version to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Unanticipated Insights into Biomedicine from the Study of Acupuncture

Research into acupuncture has had ripple effects beyond the field of acupuncture. This paper identifies five exemplars to illustrate that there is tangible evidence of the way insights gleaned from acupuncture research have informed biomedical research, practice, or policy. The first exemplar documents how early research into acupuncture analgesia has expanded into neuroimaging research, broadening physiologic understanding and treatment of chronic pain. The second describes how the acupuncture needle has become a tool to enhance biomedical knowledge of connective tissue. The third exemplar, which illustrates use of a modified acupuncture needle as a sham device, focuses on emergent understanding of placebo effects and, in turn, on insights into therapeutic encounters in treatments unrelated to acupuncture. The fourth exemplar documents that two medical devices now in widespread use were inspired by acupuncture: transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulators for pain control and antinausea wrist bands. The final exemplar describes how pragmatic clinical trial designs applied in acupuncture research have informed current general interest in comparative effectiveness research. In conclusion, these exemplars of unanticipated outcomes of acupuncture research comprise an additional rationale for continued support of basic and clinical research evaluating acupuncture and other under-researched therapies

Effects of leucine supplemented diet on intestinal absorption in tumor bearing pregnant rats

BACKGROUND: It is known that amino acid oxidation is increased in tumor-bearing rat muscles and that leucine is an important ketogenic amino acid that provides energy to the skeletal muscle. METHODS: To evaluate the effects of a leucine supplemented diet on the intestinal absorption alterations produced by Walker 256, growing pregnant rats were distributed into six groups. Three pregnant groups received a normal protein diet (18% protein): pregnant (N), tumor-bearing (WN), pair-fed rats (Np). Three other pregnant groups were fed a diet supplemented with 3% leucine (15% protein plus 3% leucine): leucine (L), tumor-bearing (WL) and pair-fed with leucine (Lp). Non pregnant rats (C), which received a normal protein diet, were used as a control group. After 20 days, the animals were submitted to intestinal perfusion to measure leucine, methionine and glucose absorption. RESULTS: Tumor-bearing pregnant rats showed impairment in food intake, body weight gain and muscle protein content, which were less accentuated in WL than in WN rats. These metabolic changes led to reduction in both fetal and tumor development. Leucine absorption slightly increased in WN group. In spite of having a significant decrease in leucine and methionine absorption compared to L, the WL group has shown a higher absorption rate of methionine than WN group, probably due to the ingestion of the leucine supplemented diet inducing this amino acid uptake. Glucose absorption was reduced in both tumor-bearing groups. CONCLUSIONS: Leucine supplementation during pregnancy in tumor-bearing rats promoted high leucine absorption, increasing the availability of the amino acid for neoplasic cells and, mainly, for fetus and host utilization. This may have contributed to the better preservation of body weight gain, food intake and muscle protein observed in the supplemented rats in relation to the non-supplemented ones

Remarks on the Concept of Critique in Habermasian Thought

The main purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of critique in Habermasian thought. Given that the concept of critique is a central theoretical category in the work of the Frankfurt School, it comes as a surprise that little in the way of a systematic account which sheds light on the multifaceted meanings of the concept of critique in Habermas’s oeuvre can be found in the literature. This paper aims to fill this gap by exploring the various meanings that Habermas attributes to the concept of critique in 10 key thematic areas of his writings: (1) the public sphere, (2) knowledge, (3) language, (4) morality, (5) ethics, (6) evolution, (7) legitimation, (8) democracy, (9) religion, and (10) modernity. On the basis of a detailed analysis of Habermas’s multifaceted concerns with the nature and function of critique, the study seeks to demonstrate that the concept of critique can be considered not only as a constitutive element but also as a normative cornerstone of Habermasian thought. The paper draws to a close by reflecting on some of the limitations of Habermas’s conception of critique, arguing that in order to be truly critical in the Habermasian sense we need to turn the subject of critique into an object of critique

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Elemental Analysis in Environmental, Cultural Heritage and Space Applications: A Review of Methods and Results

Analytical applications of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), namely optical emission spectroscopy of laser-induced plasmas, have been constantly growing thanks to its intrinsic conceptual simplicity and versatility. Qualitative and quantitative analysis can be performed by LIBS both by drawing calibration lines and by using calibration-free methods and some of its features, so as fast multi-elemental response, micro-destructiveness, instrumentation portability, have rendered it particularly suitable for analytical applications in the field of environmental science, space exploration and cultural heritage. This review reports and discusses LIBS achievements in these areas and results obtained for soils and aqueous samples, meteorites and terrestrial samples simulating extraterrestrial planets, and cultural heritage samples, including buildings and objects of various kinds

E\ufb00ects of dietary protein and lipid levels and DP DE-1 ratio on growth, feed utilization and hepatosomatic index of juvenile haddock, Melanogrammus aegle\ufb01nus L.

Juvenile haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus L. (initial weight, 13.5 \ub1 0.1 g) were fed practical diets containing digestible protein to digestible energy (DP DE\u207b\ub9) ratios of 25-30 g DP MJ DE\u207b\ub9 as-fed using three protein levels (450, 500 and 550 g kg\u207b\ub9) each at two lipid levels (110 and 160 g kg\u207b\ub9) for 63 days. The results showed mean weight gain and feed conversion ratio were highest for diets containing 28.5 and 30.2 g DP MJ DE\u207b\ub9. DP DE\u207b\ub9 ratio had no significant effect on protein efficiency ratio except at the lowest level (24.7 g DP MJ DE\u207b\ub9) indicating a protein sparing effect of higher lipid when dietary protein is below the requirement. Haddock appears to preferentially use protein as the prime source of DE. DP DE\u207b\ub9 ratio had little effect on apparent digestibility (AD) of protein while AD of lipid was significantly affected. Significant differences in AD of energy and organic matter were found to be inversely related to the carbohydrate level of the diet. DP DE\u207b\ub9 ratios of 28.5 g DP MJ DE\u207b\ub9 or lower resulted in significantly higher hepatosomatic indexes. The highest whole-body nitrogen gains and energy retention efficiencies were achieved at 28.5 and 30.2 g DP MJ DE\u207b\ub9, whereas only slight differences in nitrogen retention efficiencies were observed. The highest levels of energy retained in the form of protein were achieved at 28.5 and 30.2 g DP MJ DE\u207b\ub9. The diet that provided the best growth, feed utilization and digestibility with minimal HSI contained 546 g kg\u207b\ub9 protein (513 g kg\u207b\ub9 DP), 114 g kg\u207b\ub9 lipid, 164 g kg\u207b\ub9 carbohydrate, 17.0 MJ kg DE\u207b\ub9 and a DP DE\u207b\ub9 ratio of 30.2 g DP MJ DE\u207b\ub9.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

E\ufb00ects of dietary protein and lipid levels and DP DE-1 ratio on growth, feed utilization and hepatosomatic index of juvenile haddock, Melanogrammus aegle\ufb01nus L.

Juvenile haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus L. (initial weight, 13.5 \ub1 0.1 g) were fed practical diets containing digestible protein to digestible energy (DP DE\u207b\ub9) ratios of 25-30 g DP MJ DE\u207b\ub9 as-fed using three protein levels (450, 500 and 550 g kg\u207b\ub9) each at two lipid levels (110 and 160 g kg\u207b\ub9) for 63 days. The results showed mean weight gain and feed conversion ratio were highest for diets containing 28.5 and 30.2 g DP MJ DE\u207b\ub9. DP DE\u207b\ub9 ratio had no significant effect on protein efficiency ratio except at the lowest level (24.7 g DP MJ DE\u207b\ub9) indicating a protein sparing effect of higher lipid when dietary protein is below the requirement. Haddock appears to preferentially use protein as the prime source of DE. DP DE\u207b\ub9 ratio had little effect on apparent digestibility (AD) of protein while AD of lipid was significantly affected. Significant differences in AD of energy and organic matter were found to be inversely related to the carbohydrate level of the diet. DP DE\u207b\ub9 ratios of 28.5 g DP MJ DE\u207b\ub9 or lower resulted in significantly higher hepatosomatic indexes. The highest whole-body nitrogen gains and energy retention efficiencies were achieved at 28.5 and 30.2 g DP MJ DE\u207b\ub9, whereas only slight differences in nitrogen retention efficiencies were observed. The highest levels of energy retained in the form of protein were achieved at 28.5 and 30.2 g DP MJ DE\u207b\ub9. The diet that provided the best growth, feed utilization and digestibility with minimal HSI contained 546 g kg\u207b\ub9 protein (513 g kg\u207b\ub9 DP), 114 g kg\u207b\ub9 lipid, 164 g kg\u207b\ub9 carbohydrate, 17.0 MJ kg DE\u207b\ub9 and a DP DE\u207b\ub9 ratio of 30.2 g DP MJ DE\u207b\ub9.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

In vitro pH-Stat protein hydrolysis of feed ingredients for Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua. 1. Development of the method

The method described here involves the extraction and partial purification of an enzyme fraction from the dissected pyloric caeca of commercially farmed Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua (1 kg fish) and the development of a pH-Stat method to predict protein digestibility. The various extraction and partial purification steps successfully concentrated the alkaline serine protease enzymes, trypsin (>. 4-fold) and chymotrypsin (>. 12-fold). It was found that the enzyme fractions produced in the manner described in this study were completely stable for up to 8 months when stored at - 20. °C and at least 10 months when stored - 80. °C after which significant loss of enzyme activity can occur, although the degree of protein hydrolysis (DH) of casein was unaffected after 12 months. It is recommended that enzyme fractions produced in a similar manner should be stored at - 80. °C and used within 8-10 months. The most suitable substrate concentration [S] to use for closed-system in vitro pH-Stat DH assays was established using a standard purified protein source (vitamin-free casein) with four [S] (0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 mg. N/mL protein suspension solution). No significant differences (P > 0.05) were found in the DH values between the [S] tested. The DH curve for casein at a [S] of 0.5. mg. N/mL showed a rapid increase initially before leveling off at maximum DH (26%) which was achieved within a moderate duration of the assay (5-6 h). The closed-system pH-Stat assay with a [S] of 0.5. mg. N/mL and minimum assay duration of 8 h is recommended for further investigation of conventional and novel feed ingredients for gadoid diets