165 research outputs found
Sustainability of multi-field inflation and bound on string scale
We study the effects of the interaction terms between the inflaton fields on
the inflationary dynamics in multi-field models. With power law type potential
and interactions, the total number of e-folds may get considerably reduced and
can lead to unacceptably short period of inflation. Also we point out that this
can place a bound on the characteristic scale of the underlying theory such as
string theory. Using a simple multi-field chaotic inflation model from string
theory, the string scale is constrained to be larger than the scale of grand
unified theory.Comment: (v1) 9 pages, 1 figure;(v2) 10 pages, references added; (v3) 15
pages, 4 figures, more discussions about parameters and observable
quantities, references added, to appear in Modern Physics Letters
Non-linear corrections to inflationary power spectrum
We study non-linear contributions to the power spectrum of the curvature
perturbation on super-horizon scales, produced during slow-roll inflation
driven by a canonical single scalar field. We find that on large scales the
linear power spectrum completely dominates and leading non-linear corrections
remain totally negligible, indicating that we can safely rely on linear
perturbation theory to study inflationary power spectrum. We also briefly
comment on the infrared and ultraviolet behaviour of the non-linear
corrections.Comment: (v1) 14 pages, 2 figures; (v2) references added and discussions
expanded, including a new version of Figure 2, to appear in Journal of
Cosmology and Astroparticle Physic
A covariant approach to general field space metric in multi-field inflation
We present a covariant formalism for general multi-field system which enables
us to obtain higher order action of cosmological perturbations easily and
systematically. The effects of the field space geometry, described by the
Riemann curvature tensor of the field space, are naturally incorporated. We
explicitly calculate up to the cubic order action which is necessary to
estimate non-Gaussianity and present those geometric terms which have not yet
known before.Comment: (v1) 18 pages, 1 figure; (v2) references added, typos corrected, to
appear in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics; (v3) typos in (54),
(62) and (64) correcte
Multiple scalar particle decay and perturbation generation
We study the evolution of the universe which contains a multiple number of
non-relativistic scalar fields decaying into both radiation and pressureless
matter. We present a powerful analytic formalism to calculate the matter and
radiation curvature perturbations, and find that our analytic estimates agree
with full numerical results within an error of less than one percent. Also we
discuss the isocurvature perturbation between matter and radiation components,
which may be detected by near future cosmological observations, and point out
that it crucially depends on the branching ratio of the decay rate of the
scalar fields and that it is hard to make any model independent predictions.Comment: (v1) 22 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables; (v2) JHEP3 style, 24 pages,
references added and typos corrected, to appear in JCA
Conformal invariance of curvature perturbation
We show that in the single component situation all perturbation variables in
the comoving gauge are conformally invariant to all perturbation orders.
Generally we identify a special time slicing, the uniform-conformal
transformation slicing, where all perturbations are again conformally invariant
to all perturbation orders. We apply this result to the delta N formalism, and
show its conformal invariance.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figur
Patterns of Tobacco-Use Behavior Among Chinese Smokers with Medical Conditions
Understanding the characteristics of Chinese American smokers with medical conditions and factors associated with their tobacco-use behaviors will guide effective cessation programs. In 2008, the authors described socio-demographic profiles of Chinese smokers with medical conditions treated during the period 2002–2006, documented their tobacco-use behaviors (i.e., average daily cigarette use, nicotine dependence, and number of past-year quit attempts), and drew comparisons between subjects recruited from hospitals (IP) and ambulatory settings (OP). Compared to OP, IP were significantly older, less educated, less acculturated, and more likely to be retired. Of the two groups, IP had poorer disease profiles, smoked less (4.4 vs. 11.9 cigarettes per day), and had lower nicotine-addiction scores (5.5 vs. 6.7). There was no difference between groups in past-year quit attempts. After adjustments, the data revealed that being employed and OP was associated with higher average daily cigarette use; IP were less nicotine dependent than OP; and for both groups, years of smoking was negatively associated with past-year quit attempts. Our study suggests that, more than acculturation level, health status influences the Chinese smoker’s level of cigarette use and nicotine addiction. Given the severity of their disease profiles, IP should be aggressively targeted for intervention, as they are more likely to be light smokers and to be less nicotine dependent than OP. Future tobacco treatment studies should pay attention to health status among smokers in health-care settings in order to provide a more accurate assessment of treatment needs and of barriers to successful smoking cessation
Outcomes of resection for colorectal cancer hepatic metastases stratified by evolving eras of treatment
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background and purpose</p> <p>The outcomes and management of colorectal cancer (CRC) hepatic metastasis have undergone many evolutionary changes. In this study, we aimed to analyze the outcomes of patients with CRC hepatic metastasis in terms of the era of treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a retrospective review of 279 patients who underwent liver resection (LR) for CRC hepatic metastases. The prognoses of patients treated pre-2003 (era 1) and post-2003 (era 2) were examined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the patients included in the study, 210 (75.3%) had CRC recurrence after LR. There was a significant difference in the ratio of CRC recurrence between the 2 eras (82.0% in era 1 <it>vs</it>. 69.5% in era 2; <it>p </it>= 0.008). Analysis of recurrence-free and overall survival rates also showed that the patient outcome was significantly better in the post-2003 era than in the pre-2003 era. Further analysis showed that a significantly higher percentage of patients in era 2 had received modern chemotherapeutic regimens including irinotecan and oxaliplatin, while patients in era 1 were mainly administered fluorouracil and leucovorin for adjuvant chemotherapy. Among patients with CRC recurrence, a significant ratio of those in era 2 underwent surgical resection for recurrent lesions, and these patients had a better survival curve than did patients without resection (34.1% <it>vs</it>. 2.2% for 5-year survival; <it>p </it>< 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The incidence of CRC recurrence after LR for hepatic metastasis remains very high. However, the management and outcomes of patients with CRC hepatic metastasis have greatly improved with time, suggesting that the current use of aggressive multimodality treatments including surgical resection combined with modern chemotherapeutic regimens effectively prolongs the life expectancy of these patients.</p
Combinatorial Computational Approaches to Identify Tetracycline Derivatives as Flavivirus Inhibitors
Limited structural information of drug targets, cellular toxicity possessed by lead compounds, and large amounts of potential leads are the major issues facing the design-oriented approach of discovering new leads. In an attempt to tackle these issues, we have developed a process of virtual screening based on the observation that conformational rearrangements of the dengue virus envelope protein are essential for the mediation of viral entry into host cells via membrane fusion. Screening was based solely on the structural information of the Dengue virus envelope protein and was focused on a target site that is presumably important for the conformational rearrangements necessary for viral entry. To circumvent the issue of lead compound toxicity, we performed screening based on molecular docking using structural databases of medical compounds. To enhance the identification of hits, we further categorized and selected candidates according to their novel structural characteristics. Finally, the selected candidates were subjected to a biological validation assay to assess inhibition of Dengue virus propagation in mammalian host cells using a plaque formation assay. Among the 10 compounds examined, rolitetracycline and doxycycline significantly inhibited plaque formation, demonstrating their inhibitory effect on dengue virus propagation. Both compounds were tetracycline derivatives with IC(50)s estimated to be 67.1 µM and 55.6 µM, respectively. Their docked conformations displayed common hydrophobic interactions with critical residues that affected membrane fusion during viral entry. These interactions will therefore position the tetracyclic ring moieties of both inhibitors to bind firmly to the target and, subsequently, disrupt conformational rearrangement and block viral entry. This process can be applied to other drug targets in which conformational rearrangement is critical to function
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