2,173 research outputs found
Schistosome and liver fluke derived catechol-estrogens and helminth associated cancers
Infection with helminth parasites remains a persistent public health problem in developing countries. Three of these pathogens, the liver flukes Clonorchis sinensis, Opisthorchis viverrini and the blood fluke Schistosoma haematobium, are of particular concern due to their classification as Group 1 carcinogens: infection with these worms is carcinogenic. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) approaches, we identified steroid hormone like (e.g., oxysterol-like, catechol estrogen quinone-like, etc.) metabolites and related DNA-adducts, apparently of parasite origin, in developmental stages including eggs of S. haematobium, in urine of people with urogenital schistosomiasis, and in the adult stage of O. viverrini. Since these kinds of sterol derivatives are metabolized to active quinones that can modify DNA, which in other contexts can lead to breast and other cancers, helminth parasite associated sterols might induce tumor-like phenotypes in the target cells susceptible to helminth parasite associated cancers, i.e., urothelial cells of the bladder in the case of urogenital schistosomiasis and the bile duct epithelia or cholangiocytes, in the case of O. viverrini and C. sinensis. Indeed we postulate that helminth induced cancers originate from parasite estrogen-host epithelial/urothelial cell chromosomal DNA adducts, and here we review recent findings that support this conjecture.José M. Correia da Costa, Maria J. Gouveia, Mónica C.
Botelho, Lúcio L. Santos, and Júlio H. Santos thank FCT for
Pest- OE/AGR/UI0211/2011 and Strategic Project UI211-2011-
2013, Clínica Sagrada Esperança and Hospital Américo Boavida,
Luanda, Angola. Nuno Vale thanks to Fundação para a Ciência
e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER (European Union) for
funding through project grants CONCREEQ/275/QUI and PEstC/QUI/UI0081/2011.
Nuno Vale also thanks FCT for Post-Doc
grant SFRH/BPD/48345/2008. The research findings reviewed
here were supported by award R01CA155297 (Paul J. Brindley,
Gabriel Rinaldi, Banchob Sripa) from the National Cancer Institute,
NIH and P50 P50AI098639 (Banchob Sripa, Paul J. Brindley)
from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,
NIH
Function Approximation Using Probabilistic Fuzzy Systems
We consider function approximation by fuzzy systems. Fuzzy systems are typically used for approximating deterministic functions, in which the stochastic uncertainty is ignored. We propose probabilistic fuzzy systems i
Energy Conditions in Modified Gravity with Non-minimal Coupling to Matter
In this paper we study a model of modified gravity with non-minimal coupling
between a general function of the Gauss-Bonnet invariant, , and matter
Lagrangian from the point of view of the energy conditions. Such model has been
introduced in Ref. [21] for description of early inflation and late-time cosmic
acceleration. We present the suitable energy conditions for the above mentioned
model and then, we use the estimated values of the Hubble, deceleration and
jerk parameters to apply the obtained energy conditions to the specific class
of modified Gauss-Bonnet models.Comment: 12 pages, no figur, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and
Space Scienc
On the Number of Facets of Three-Dimensional Dirichlet Stereohedra III: Full Cubic Groups
We are interested in the maximum possible number of facets that Dirichlet
stereohedra for three-dimensional crystallographic groups can have. The problem
for non-cubic groups was studied in previous papers by D. Bochis and the second
author (Discrete Comput. Geom. 25:3 (2001), 419-444, and Beitr. Algebra Geom.,
47:1 (2006), 89-120). This paper deals with ''full'' cubic groups, while
''quarter'' cubic groups are left for a subsequent paper. Here, ''full'' and
''quarter'' refers to the recent classification of three-dimensional
crystallographic groups by Conway, Delgado-Friedrichs, Huson and Thurston
(math.MG/9911185, Beitr. Algebra Geom. 42.2 (2001), 475-507).
Our main result in this paper is that Dirichlet stereohedra for any of the 27
full groups cannot have more than 25 facets. We also find stereohedra with 17
facets for one of these groups.Comment: 28 pages, 12 figures. Changes from v1: apart of some editing (mostly
at the end of the introduction) and addition of references, an appendix has
been added, which analyzes the case where the base point does not have
trivial stabilize
Thermodynamics of charged and rotating black strings
We study thermodynamics of cylindrically symmetric black holes. Uncharged as
well as charged and rotating objects have been discussed. We derive surface
gravity and hence the Hawking temperature and entropy for all these cases. We
correct some results in the literature and present new ones. It is seen that
thermodynamically these black configurations behave differently from
spherically symmetric objects
Inflationary models inducing non-Gaussian metric fluctuations
We construct explicit models of multi-field inflation in which the primordial
metric fluctuations do not necessarily obey Gaussian statistics. These models
are realizations of mechanisms in which non-Gaussianity is first generated by a
light scalar field and then transferred into curvature fluctuations. The
probability distribution functions of the metric perturbation at the end of
inflation are computed. This provides a guideline for designing strategies to
search for non-Gaussian signals in future CMB and large scale structure
surveys.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure
Measuring the elements of the optical density matrix
Most methods for experimentally reconstructing the quantum state of light
involve determining a quasiprobability distribution such as the Wigner
function. In this paper we present a scheme for measuring individual density
matrix elements in the photon number state representation. Remarkably, the
scheme is simple, involving two beam splitters and a reference field in a
coherent state.Comment: 6 pages and 1 figur
Photoionization of ultracold and Bose-Einstein condensed Rb atoms
Photoionization of a cold atomic sample offers intriguing possibilities to
observe collective effects at extremely low temperatures. Irradiation of a
rubidium condensate and of cold rubidium atoms within a magneto-optical trap
with laser pulses ionizing through 1-photon and 2-photon absorption processes
has been performed. Losses and modifications in the density profile of the
remaining trapped cold cloud or the remaining condensate sample have been
examined as function of the ionizing laser parameters. Ionization
cross-sections were measured for atoms in a MOT, while in magnetic traps losses
larger than those expected for ionization process were measured.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
The PKC, HOG and Ca2+ signalling pathways co-ordinately regulate chitin synthesis in Candida albicans
Open Access via PMC2649417Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Modified f(G) gravity models with curvature-matter coupling
A modified f(G) gravity model with coupling between matter and geometry is
proposed, which is described by the product of the Lagrange density of the
matter and an arbitrary function of the Gauss-Bonnet term. The field equations
and the equations of motion corresponding to this model show the
non-conservation of the energy-momentum tensor, the presence of an extra-force
acting on test particles and the non-geodesic motion. Moreover, the energy
conditions and the stability criterion at de Sitter point in the modified f(G)
gravity models with curvature-matter coupling are derived, which can degenerate
to the well-known energy conditions in general relativity. Furthermore, in
order to get some insight on the meaning of these energy conditions, we apply
them to the specific models of f(G) gravity and the corresponding constraints
on the models are given. In addition, the conditions and the candidate for
late-time cosmic accelerated expansion in the modified f(G) gravity are studied
by means of conditions of power-law expansion and the equation of state of
matter less than -1/ 3 .Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
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