5,276 research outputs found
Induction of human inhibitor of apoptosis protein-2 by shear stress in endothelial cells
AbstractTo disclose the anti-atherosclerotic mechanisms of steady laminar shear stress, we analyzed the expression of human inhibitor of apoptosis protein-2 (HIAP-2), whose gene was selected from a cDNA library of sheared endothelial cells (ECs), on ECs. HIAP-2 was dose-independently and time-dependently induced in ECs by shear stress, regulated at the transcriptional level. HIAP-2 expression was also identified in vivo. Shear stress-mediated inhibition of EC apoptosis was associated with the inhibition of caspase-3 activity, suggesting that the shear stress prevents EC apoptosis via negative regulation of caspase-3 by the increment of HIAP-2
A Keck/LRIS Spatially-Resolved Spectroscopic Study of a LINER Galaxy SDSS J091628.05+420818.7
Using spatially-resolved spectra obtained with the Low Resolution Imaging
Spectrometer at the Keck I telescope, we investigate the nature of ionizing
sources and kinematic properties of emission-line gas in a LINER galaxy SDSS
J091628.05+420818.7, which is a nearby (z = 0.0241) and bright (M_r = -20.2)
early-type galaxy. After subtracting stellar absorption features using a
combination of simple stellar population models, we measure the flux,
line-of-sight velocity, and velocity dispersion of four emission lines, i.e.,
H{\alpha}, H{\beta}, [O III] {\lambda}5007, and [N II] {\lambda}6584, to study
radial change of emission-line fluxes and velocities. Compared to the
point-spread-function of the observation, the emission-line region is slightly
extended but comparable to the seeing size. The central concentration of
emission-line gas suggests that ionization is triggered by a nuclear source,
excluding old stellar population as ionizing sources. We find that
emission-line gas is counter-rotating with respect to stellar component and
that the [O III] {\lambda}5007 line is blueshifted compared to other emission
lines, possibly due to an outflow.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures; Accepted for publication in Ap
Design and validation of microfluidic parameters of a microfluidic chip using fluid dynamics
The internal fluidic parameters of microfluidic channels must be analyzed to solve fundamental microfluidic problems, including microscale transport problems involving thermal analysis, chemical reactivity, velocity, pressure drop, etc., for developing good-quality chemical and biological products. Therefore, the characterization and optimization of the interaction of chemical and biological solutions through microfluidic channels are vital for fluid flow design and engineering for quality assurance in microfluidic platforms. As the internal structures and kinetics of microfluidic channels are becoming increasingly complex, experiments involving optimal fluidic and transport designs are challenging to perform with high accuracy. However, highly integrated simulation tools can guide researchers without specialized computational fluid backgrounds to design numerical prototypes of highly integrated devices. In this study, a microfluidic chip with two inlet wells and one outlet well was fabricated from polydimethylsiloxane following which simulations were performed using an ANSYS Fluent tool influenced by computational fluid dynamics at a nearly identical scale. The pressure drop and velocity profiles of the interaction of two pH buffer solutions (pH 4 and 10) through the designed microfluidic chip were qualitatively estimated from experimental data analysis and validated with the simulation results obtained from the CFD-influenced ANSYS Fluent tool
Possible observation of energy level quantization in an intrinsic Josephson junction
Energy level quantization (ELQ) is studied to clarify the macroscopic quantum
dynamics of the d-wave Josephson junction (JJ). The influences of the nodal
quasiparticles of d-wave superconductivity on the damping effect are
numerically evaluated on the basis of a phenomenological model. The
calculation, based on realistic parameters for a Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d (Bi2212)
intrinsic JJ, shows that the observation of ELQ is possible when the sweep rate
of the bias current exceeds 10 A/sec. High-sweep- rate measurements (121A/sec)
performed on a Bi2212 intrinsic JJ result in the appearance of multiple peaks
in the switching current distribution suggesting the realization of ELQ in the
d-wave JJ.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Chaos of Yang-Mills Field in Class A Bianchi Spacetimes
Studying Yang-Mills field and gravitational field in class A Bianchi
spacetimes, we find that chaotic behavior appears in the late phase (the
asymptotic future). In this phase, the Yang-Mills field behaves as that in
Minkowski spacetime, in which we can understand it by a potential picture,
except for the types VIII and IX. At the same time, in the initial phase (near
the initial singularity), we numerically find that the behavior seems to
approach the Kasner solution. However, we show that the Kasner circle is
unstable and the Kasner solution is not an attractor. From an analysis of
stability and numerical simulation, we find a Mixmaster-like behavior in
Bianchi I spacetime. Although this result may provide a counterexample to the
BKL (Belinskii, Khalatnikov and Lifshitz) conjecture, we show that the BKL
conjecture is still valid in Bianchi IX spacetime. We also analyze a
multiplicative effect of two types of chaos, that is, chaos with the Yang-Mills
field and that in vacuum Bianchi IX spacetime. Two types of chaos seem to
coexist in the initial phase. However, the effect due to the Yang-Mills field
is much smaller than that of the curvature term.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
Chaotic dynamics in preheating after inflation
We study chaotic dynamics in preheating after inflation in which an inflaton
is coupled to another scalar field through an interaction
. We first estimate the size of the quasi-homogeneous
field at the beginning of reheating for large-field inflaton potentials
by evaluating the amplitude of the fluctuations on
scales larger than the Hubble radius at the end of inflation. Parametric
excitations of the field during preheating can give rise to chaos
between two dynamical scalar fields. For the quartic potential (,
) chaos actually occurs for in a
linear regime before which the backreaction of created particles becomes
important. This analysis is supported by several different criteria for the
existence of chaos. For the quadratic potential () the signature of chaos
is not found by the time at which the backreaction begins to work, similar to
the case of the quartic potential with .Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, Version to appear in Classical and Quantum
Gravit
Spin triplet superconductivity with line nodes in Sr2RuO4
Several possible odd-parity states are listed up group-theoretically and
examined in light of recent experiments on SrRuO. Those include some of
the -wave pairing states, {\mib d}({\mib k})\propto{\hat{\mib z}}
k_xk_y(k_x + {\rm i}k_y) and {\hat{\mib z}} (k_x^2-k_y^2)(k_x + {\rm i}k_y)
and other {\hat{\mib z}} (k_x + {\rm i}k_y)\cos ck_z ( is the -axis
lattice constant) as most plausible candidates. These are time-reversal
symmetry broken states and have line nodes running either vertically (the
former two) or horizontally (the latter), consistent with experiments.
Characterizations of these states and other possibilities are given.Comment: 4 pages, no figure
Josephson effect test for triplet pairing symmetry
The critical current modulation and the spontaneous flux of the vortex states
in corner Josephson junctions between SrRuO and a conventional s-wave
superconductor are calculated as a function of the crystal orientation, and the
magnetic field. For SrRuO we assume two nodeless p-wave pairing states.
Also we use the nodal -wave states and , and one special p-wave state having line nodes. It is seen that the
critical current depends solely on the topology of the gap.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figure
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