1,005 research outputs found
Stroke in the young
CITATION: De Villiers, R. V. P., February, E. & De Villiers, M. L. 2003. Stroke in the young. South African Medical Journal, 93(11):836-837.The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.za[No abstract available]Publisher’s versio
Rigidly Rotating Strings in Stationary Spacetimes
In this paper we study the motion of a rigidly rotating Nambu-Goto test
string in a stationary axisymmetric background spacetime. As special examples
we consider the rigid rotation of strings in flat spacetime, where explicit
analytic solutions can be obtained, and in the Kerr spacetime where we find an
interesting new family of test string solutions. We present a detailed
classification of these solutions in the Kerr background.Comment: 19 pages, Latex, 9 figures, revised for publication in Classical and
Quantum Gravit
Oscillatory fracture path in thin elastic sheet
We report a novel mode of oscillatory crack propagation when a cutting tip is
driven through a thin brittle polymer film. The phenomenon is so robust that it
can easily be reproduced at hand (using CD packaging material for example).
Careful experiments show that the amplitude and wavelength of the oscillatory
crack path scale lineraly with the width of the cutting tip over a wide range
of lenghtscales but are independant of the width of thje sheet and the cutting
speed. A simple geometric model is presented, which provides a simple but
thorough interpretation of the oscillations.Comment: 6 pages, submitted to Comptes Rendus Academie des Sciences. Movies
available at http://www.lmm.jussieu.fr/platefractur
Lipopolysaccharide-induced liver apoptosis is increased in interleukin-10 knockout mice
AbstractAlthough IL-10 down-regulates pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion by hepatic Kupffer cells, the mechanisms underlying its hepatoprotective effects are not fully clear. This study tested the hypothesis that IL-10 protects the liver against pro-inflammatory cytokines by counteracting their pro-apoptotic effects. Wild type and IL-10 knockout mice were treated with bacterial lipopolysaccharide and sacrificed 1, 4, 8, and 12 h later. Plasma ALT activity was measured as a marker of liver injury. Liver pathology and TUNEL response were assessed by histology. Plasma levels and whole liver mRNA levels were measured for TNF-α, IL-1β, TGF-β1, IL-10, and their respective receptors. Hepatic mRNA levels were measured for several pro-apoptotic adaptors/regulators, including FasL, Fas receptor, FADD, TRADD, Bad, Bak, Bax, and Bcl-XS, and anti-apoptotic regulators, including Bcl-w, Bcl-XL, Bcl-2, and Bfl-1. Caspase-3 activity in the liver was determined as well as immunohistochemistry for IL-1RII, TGF-βRII and Fas receptor. At all time points the livers from IL-10 knockout mice displayed a significantly increased number of apoptotic nuclei compared to wild type mice. Changes in plasma cytokine levels and their liver mRNA levels were consistent with suppression by IL-10 of pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion. In addition, pro-inflammatory cytokine receptor mRNA levels (TNF-α, TGF-β, and IL-1β) were markedly up-regulated by LPS at all time points in IL-10 knockout mice as compared to wild type mice. Expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokine receptor IL-1RII was similarly increased as shown by immunostaining. The mRNA levels of a typical pro-apoptotic cytokine, TRAIL, were increased and LPS also up-regulated the mRNA expression of other apoptotic factors to a larger extent in IL-10 knockout mice than in their wild type counterparts, suggestive of an IL-10 anti-apoptotic effect. In the livers of knockout mice, markedly increased caspase-3 activity was already evident at the 1-h time point following LPS administration, while in the wild type animals this increase was delayed. Immunostaining also indicated that LPS increased hepatic expression of the pro-apoptotic receptors Fas and TGF-βRII in IL-10 knockout mice. The data presented in this study show that: (i) IL-10 modulates not only the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, but also the receptors of these cytokines, and ii) IL-10 protects the liver against LPS-induced injury at least in part by counteracting pro-inflammatory cytokine-induced liver apoptosis
Interaction of a brane with a moving bulk black hole
We study the interaction of an n-dimensional topological defect (n-brane)
described by the Nambu-Goto action with a higher-dimensional Schwarzschild
black hole moving in the bulk spacetime. We derive the general form of the
perturbation equations for an n-brane in the weak field approximation and solve
them analytically in the most interesting cases. We specially analyze
applications to brane world models. We calculate the induced geometry on the
brane generated by a moving black hole. From the point of view of a brane
observer, this geometry can be obtained by solving (n+1)-dimensional Einstein's
equations with a non-vanishing right hand side. We calculate the effective
stress-energy tensor corresponding to this `shadow-matter'. We explicitly show
that there exist regions on the brane where a brane observer sees an apparent
violation of energy conditions. We also study the deflection of light
propagating in the region of influence of this `shadow matter'.Comment: version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Thick domain walls around a black hole
We discuss the gravitationally interacting system of a thick domain wall and
a black hole. We numerically solve the scalar field equation in the
Schwarzschild spacetime and obtain a sequence of static axi-symmetric solutions
representing thick domain walls. We find that, for the walls near the horizon,
the Nambu--Goto approximation is no longer valid.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, one reference adde
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