180 research outputs found
Composite excitation of Josephson phase and spin waves in Josephson junctions with ferromagnetic insulator
Coupling of Josephson-phase and spin-waves is theoretically studied in a
superconductor/ferromagnetic insulator/superconductor (S/FI/S) junction.
Electromagnetic (EM) field inside the junction and the Josephson current
coupled with spin-waves in FI are calculated by combining Maxwell and
Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equations. In the S/FI/S junction, it is found that the
current-voltage (I-V) characteristic shows two resonant peaks. Voltages at the
resonant peaks are obtained as a function of the normal modes of EM field,
which indicates a composite excitation of the EM field and spin-waves in the
S/FI/S junction. We also examine another type of junction, in which a
nonmagnetic insulator (I) is located at one of interfaces between S and FI. In
such a S/I/FI/S junction, three resonant peaks appear in the I-V curve, since
the Josephson-phase couples to the EM field in the I layer.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure
Regulation of Inflammatory Gene Expression in PBMCs by Immunostimulatory Botanicals
Many hundreds of botanicals are used in complementary and alternative medicine for therapeutic use as antimicrobials and immune stimulators. While there exists many centuries of anecdotal evidence and few clinical studies on the activity and efficacy of these botanicals, limited scientific evidence exists on the ability of these botanicals to modulate the immune and inflammatory responses. Using botanogenomics (or herbogenomics), this study provides novel insight into inflammatory genes which are induced in peripheral blood mononuclear cells following treatment with immunomodulatory botanical extracts. These results may suggest putative genes involved in the physiological responses thought to occur following administration of these botanical extracts. Using extracts from immunostimulatory herbs (Astragalus membranaceus, Sambucus cerulea, Andrographis paniculata) and an immunosuppressive herb (Urtica dioica), the data presented supports previous cytokine studies on these herbs as well as identifying additional genes which may be involved in immune cell activation and migration and various inflammatory responses, including wound healing, angiogenesis, and blood pressure modulation. Additionally, we report the presence of lipopolysaccharide in medicinally prepared extracts of these herbs which is theorized to be a natural and active component of the immunostimulatory herbal extracts. The data presented provides a more extensive picture on how these herbs may be mediating their biological effects on the immune and inflammatory responses
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