501 research outputs found
Current Perspective on the Location and Function of Gamma- Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) and its Metabolic Partners in the Kidney.
Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is an inhibitory neurotransmitter located in the mammalian central nervous system, which binds to GABAA and GABAB receptors to mediate its neurological effects. In addition to its role in the CNS, an increasing number of publications have suggested that GABA might also play a role in the regulation of renal function. All three enzymes associated with GABA metabolism; glutamic acid decarboxylase, GABA ?-oxoglutarate transaminase (GABA-T) and succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (SSADH) have been localised to the kidney providing the necessary machinery for localised GABA synthesis and metabolism. Moreover GABA receptors have been localised to both tubular and vascular structures in the kidney, and GABA is excreted in urine (~3 ?M) in humans. Despite the collective evidence describing the presence of a GABA system in the kidney, the precise function of such a system requires further clarification. Here we provide an overview of the current renal GABA literature and provide novel data that indicates GABA can act at contractile pericyte cells located along vasa recta capillaries in the renal medulla to potentially regulate medullary blood flow
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Molecular parameters of post impact cooling in the Boltysh impact structure
Impact events have the potential to generate a number of long-term sources of heat that can lead to the initiation of hydrothermal systems when the impact occurs on a water- or ice-rich target. Such hydrothermal systems have been postulated as promising locations to search for evidence of past biological processes on Mars due to the prevalence of impact cratering as a surface process in Mars’s early history. In this study, we have used molecular parameters of the thermal maturity of organic matter combined with palynology and carbon isotope stratigraphy to study the post impact thermal history of crater fill sediments from the Boltysh crater, Ukraine
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INFLUENCE OF STEEL ALLOY COMPOSITION ON THE PROCESS ROBUSTNESS OF AS-BUILT HARDNESS IN LASER-DIRECTED ENERGY DEPOSITION
To ensure consistent quality of additively manufactured parts, it is advantageous to identify
alloys which can meet performance criteria while being robust to process variations. Toward such
an end, this work studied the effect of steel alloy composition on the process robustness of as-built
hardness in laser-directed energy deposition (L-DED). In-situ blending of ultra-high-strength lowalloy steel (UHSLA) and pure iron powders produced 10 alloys containing 10-100% UHSLA by
mass. Thin-wall samples were deposited, and the hardness sensitivity of each alloy was evaluated
with respect to laser power and interlayer delay time. The sensitivity peaked at 40-50% UHSLA,
corresponding to phase fluctuations between lath martensite and upper bainite depending on the
cooling rate. Lower (10-20%) or higher (70-100%) alloy contents transformed primarily to ferrite
or martensite, respectively, with auto-tempering of martensite at lower cooling rates. By avoiding
martensite/bainite fluctuations, the robustness was improved.Mechanical Engineerin
Constrained dogleg methods for nonlinear systems with simple bounds
We focus on the numerical solution of medium scale bound-constrained systems of nonlinear equations. In this context, we consider an affine-scaling trust region approach that allows a great flexibility in choosing the scaling matrix used to handle the bounds. The method is based on a dogleg procedure tailored for constrained problems and so, it is named Constrained Dogleg method. It generates only strictly feasible iterates. Global and locally fast convergence is ensured under standard assumptions. The method has been implemented in the Matlab solver CoDoSol that supports several diagonal scalings in both spherical and elliptical trust region frameworks. We give a brief account of CoDoSol and report on the computational experience performed on a number of representative test problem
Bottom-Tau Unification in SUSY SU(5) GUT and Constraints from b to s gamma and Muon g-2
An analysis is made on bottom-tau Yukawa unification in supersymmetric (SUSY)
SU(5) grand unified theory (GUT) in the framework of minimal supergravity, in
which the parameter space is restricted by some experimental constraints
including Br(b to s gamma) and muon g-2. The bottom-tau unification can be
accommodated to the measured branching ratio Br(b to s gamma) if superparticle
masses are relatively heavy and higgsino mass parameter \mu is negative. On the
other hand, if we take the latest muon g-2 data to require positive SUSY
contributions, then wrong-sign threshold corrections at SUSY scale upset the
Yukawa unification with more than 20 percent discrepancy. It has to be
compensated by superheavy threshold corrections around the GUT scale, which
constrains models of flavor in SUSY GUT. A pattern of the superparticle masses
preferred by the three requirements is also commented.Comment: 21pages, 6figure
Neutralino Dark Matter, b-tau Yukawa Unification and Non-Universal Sfermion Masses
We study the implications of minimal non-Universal Boundary Conditions in the
sfermion Soft SUSY Breaking (SSB) masses of mSUGRA. We impose asymptotic b-tau
Yukawa coupling Unification and we resort to a parameterization of the
deviation from Universality in the SSB motivated by the multiplet structure of
SU(5) GUT. A set of cosmo-phenomenological constraints, including the recent
results from WMAP, determines the allowed parameter space of the models under
consideration. We highlight a new coannihilation corridor where
neutralino-sbottom and neutralino-tau sneutrino-stau coannihilations
significantly contribute to the reduction of the neutralino relic density.Comment: 38 pages, 27 Figures, Latex; Version accepted for publication in PR
Nonlinear Integer Programming
Research efforts of the past fifty years have led to a development of linear
integer programming as a mature discipline of mathematical optimization. Such a
level of maturity has not been reached when one considers nonlinear systems
subject to integrality requirements for the variables. This chapter is
dedicated to this topic.
The primary goal is a study of a simple version of general nonlinear integer
problems, where all constraints are still linear. Our focus is on the
computational complexity of the problem, which varies significantly with the
type of nonlinear objective function in combination with the underlying
combinatorial structure. Numerous boundary cases of complexity emerge, which
sometimes surprisingly lead even to polynomial time algorithms.
We also cover recent successful approaches for more general classes of
problems. Though no positive theoretical efficiency results are available, nor
are they likely to ever be available, these seem to be the currently most
successful and interesting approaches for solving practical problems.
It is our belief that the study of algorithms motivated by theoretical
considerations and those motivated by our desire to solve practical instances
should and do inform one another. So it is with this viewpoint that we present
the subject, and it is in this direction that we hope to spark further
research.Comment: 57 pages. To appear in: M. J\"unger, T. Liebling, D. Naddef, G.
Nemhauser, W. Pulleyblank, G. Reinelt, G. Rinaldi, and L. Wolsey (eds.), 50
Years of Integer Programming 1958--2008: The Early Years and State-of-the-Art
Surveys, Springer-Verlag, 2009, ISBN 354068274
The PHENIX Experiment at RHIC
The physics emphases of the PHENIX collaboration and the design and current
status of the PHENIX detector are discussed. The plan of the collaboration for
making the most effective use of the available luminosity in the first years of
RHIC operation is also presented.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. Further details of the PHENIX physics program
available at http://www.rhic.bnl.gov/phenix
Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV
A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The
analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC
from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an
integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross
section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected
exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the
standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The
analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model
Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The
largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is
observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance
of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local
significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is
estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of
this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
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