284 research outputs found
Nanoliposomal Nitroglycerin Exerts Potent Anti-Inflammatory Effects.
Nitroglycerin (NTG) markedly enhances nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability. However, its ability to mimic the anti-inflammatory properties of NO remains unknown. Here, we examined whether NTG can suppress endothelial cell (EC) activation during inflammation and developed NTG nanoformulation to simultaneously amplify its anti-inflammatory effects and ameliorate adverse effects associated with high-dose NTG administration. Our findings reveal that NTG significantly inhibits human U937 cell adhesion to NO-deficient human microvascular ECs in vitro through an increase in endothelial NO and decrease in endothelial ICAM-1 clustering, as determined by NO analyzer, microfluorimetry, and immunofluorescence staining. Nanoliposomal NTG (NTG-NL) was formulated by encapsulating NTG within unilamellar lipid vesicles (DPhPC, POPC, Cholesterol, DHPE-Texas Red at molar ratio of 6:2:2:0.2) that were ~155ânm in diameter and readily uptaken by ECs, as determined by dynamic light scattering and quantitative fluorescence microscopy, respectively. More importantly, NTG-NL produced a 70-fold increase in NTG therapeutic efficacy when compared with free NTG while preventing excessive mitochondrial superoxide production associated with high NTG doses. Thus, these findings, which are the first to reveal the superior therapeutic effects of an NTG nanoformulation, provide the rationale for their detailed investigation for potentially superior vascular normalization therapies
The Hamiltonian BRST quantization of a noncommutative nonabelian gauge theory and its Seiberg-Witten map
We consider the Hamiltonian BRST quantization of a noncommutative non abelian
gauge theory. The Seiberg-Witten map of all phase-space variables, including
multipliers, ghosts and their momenta, is given in first order in the
noncommutative parameter . We show that there exists a complete
consistence between the gauge structures of the original and of the mapped
theories, derived in a canonical way, once we appropriately choose the map
solutions.Comment: 10 pages, Latex. Address adde
BRST Quantization of Noncommutative Gauge Theories
In this paper, the BRST symmetry transformation is presented for the
noncommutative U(N) gauge theory. The nilpotency of the charge associated to
this symmetry is then proved. As a consequence for the space-like
non-commutativity parameter, the Hilbert space of physical states is determined
by the cohomology space of the BRST operator as in the commutative case.
Further, the unitarity of the S-matrix elements projected onto the subspace of
physical states is deduced.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, no figures, one reference added, to appear in Phys.
Rev.
Noncommutative Topological Half-flat Gravity
We formulate a noncommutative description of topological half-flat gravity in
four dimensions. BRST symmetry of this topological gravity is deformed through
a twisting of the usual BRST quantization of noncommutative gauge theories.
Finally it is argued that resulting moduli space of instantons is characterized
by the solutions of a noncommutative version of the Plebanski's heavenly
equation.Comment: 12+1 pages, revtex4, no figure
Development of an Anthropomorphic Phantom of the Axillary Region for Microwave Imaging Assessment
We produced an anatomically and dielectrically realistic phantom of the axillary region to enable the experimental assessment of Axillary Lymph Node (ALN) imaging using microwave imaging technology. We segmented a thoracic Computed Tomography (CT) scan and created a computer-aided designed file containing the anatomical configuration of the axillary region. The phantom comprises five 3D-printed parts representing the main tissues of interest of the axillary region for the purpose of microwave imaging: fat, muscle, bone, ALNs, and lung. The phantom allows the experimental assessment of multiple anatomical configurations, by including ALNs of different size, shape, and number in several locations. Except for the bone mimicking organ, which is made of solid conductive polymer, we 3D-printed cavities to represent the fat, muscle, ALN, and lung and filled them with appropriate tissue-mimicking liquids. Existing studies about complex permittivity of ALNs have reported limitations. To address these, we measured the complex permittivity of both human and animal lymph nodes using the standard open-ended coaxial-probe technique, over the 0.5 GHz-8.5 GHz frequency band, thus extending current knowledge on dielectric properties of ALNs. Lastly, we numerically evaluated the effect of the polymer which constitutes the cavities of the phantom and compared it to the realistic axillary region. The results showed a maximum difference of 7 dB at 4 GHz in the electric field magnitude coupled to the tissues and a maximum of 10 dB difference in the ALN response. Our results showed that the phantom is a good representation of the axillary region and a viable tool for pre-clinical assessment of microwave imaging technology.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
An analysis of material consumption culture in the Muslim world
In this paper, we examine the notion of material consumption culture in Islamic societies. We differentiate between institutionalised religion and religion as culture. We contest the Orientalist portrayal of Islam as a fanatic ideology opposed to Western Modernityâs features of secularism, individualism, and pluralism. With reference to the Qurâanic text, we discuss that such qualities are embedded with Islam. We do not interpret the Qurâan from a theological perspective; rather, we seek to demonstrate the possibilities of its multiple interpretations. We argue that, in their everyday life consumption practices, Muslims (re)interpret religious guidelines in different ways and refer to Islam, as a transcendental set of guidelines, to make better sense of their cultural practices in different ways. We summarise our discussion by highlighting the importance of analysing the culture of consumption from the lens of insiders and offer directions for future research
Effective superpotentials for compact D5-brane Calabi-Yau geometries
For compact Calabi-Yau geometries with D5-branes we study N=1 effective
superpotentials depending on both open- and closed-string fields. We develop
methods to derive the open/closed Picard-Fuchs differential equations, which
control D5-brane deformations as well as complex structure deformations of the
compact Calabi-Yau space. Their solutions encode the flat open/closed
coordinates and the effective superpotential. For two explicit examples of
compact D5-brane Calabi-Yau hypersurface geometries we apply our techniques and
express the calculated superpotentials in terms of flat open/closed
coordinates. By evaluating these superpotentials at their critical points we
reproduce the domain wall tensions that have recently appeared in the
literature. Finally we extract orbifold disk invariants from the
superpotentials, which, up to overall numerical normalizations, correspond to
orbifold disk Gromov-Witten invariants in the mirror geometry.Comment: 55 pages; v2: references added, typos correcte
Accidental Inflation in String Theory
We show that inflation in type IIB string theory driven by the volume modulus
can be realized in the context of the racetrack-based Kallosh-Linde model (KL)
of moduli stabilization. Inflation here arises through the volume modulus
slow-rolling down from a flat hill-top or inflection point of the scalar
potential. This situation can be quite generic in the landscape, where by
uplifting one of the two adjacent minima one can turn the barrier either to a
flat saddle point or to an inflection point supporting eternal inflation. The
resulting spectral index is tunable in the range of 0.93 < n_s < 1, and there
is only negligible production of primordial gravitational waves r < 10^{-6}.
The flatness of the potential in this scenario requires fine-tuning, which may
be justified taking into account the exponential reward by volume factors
preferring the regions of the universe with the maximal amount of slow-roll
inflation. This consideration leads to a tentative prediction of the spectral
index or depending on whether the
potential has a symmetry phi -> - phi or not.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, LaTeX, uses RevTex
SUGRA chaotic inflation and moduli stabilisation
Chaotic inflation predicts a large gravitational wave signal which can be
tested by the upcoming Planck satellite. We discuss a SUGRA implementation of
chaotic inflation in the presence of moduli fields, and find that inflation
does not work with a generic KKLT moduli stabilisation potential. A viable
model can be constructed with a fine-tuned moduli sector, but only for a very
specific choice of Kahler potential. Our analysis also shows that inflation
models satisfying \partial_{i} W_{\rm inf}=0 for all inflation sector fields
\phi_i can be combined successfully with a fine-tuned moduli sector.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, refs adde
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