951 research outputs found
Holography of a Composite Inflaton
We study the time evolution of a brane construction that is holographically
dual to a strongly coupled gauge theory that dynamically breaks a global
symmetry through the generation of an effective composite Higgs vev. The D3/D7
system with a background magnetic field or non-trivial gauge coupling (dilaton)
profile displays the symmetry breaking. We study motion of the D7 brane in the
background of the D3 branes. For small field inflation in the field theory the
effective Higgs vev rolls from zero to the true vacuum value. We study what
phenomenological dilaton profile generates the slow rolling needed, hence
learning how the strongly coupled gauge theory's coupling must run. We note
that evolution of our configuration in the holographic direction, representing
the phyiscs of the strong interactions, can provide additional slowing of the
roll time. Inflation seems to be favoured if the coupling changes by only a
small amount or very gently. We speculate on how such a scenario could be
realized away from N=4 gauge theory, for example, in a walking gauge theory.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures; v2: Added reference
Cranial anatomy and taxonomy of the erythrosuchid archosauriform ‘Vjushkovia triplicostata’ Huene, 1960, from the Early Triassic of European Russia
Erythrosuchidae are a globally distributed and important group of apex predators that occupied Early and Middle Triassic terrestrial ecosystems following the Permo-Triassic mass extinction. The stratigraphically oldest known genus of Erythrosuchidae is Garjainia Ochev, 1958, which is known from the late Early Triassic (late Olenekian) of European Russia and South Africa. Two species of Garjainia have been reported from Russia: the type species, Garjainia prima Ochev, 1958, and ‘Vjushkovia triplicostata’ von Huene, 1960, which has been referred to Garjainia as either congeneric (Garjainiatriplicostata) or conspecific (G. prima). The holotype of G. prima has received relatively extensive study, but little work has been conducted on type or referred material attributed to ‘V. triplicostata’. However, this material includes well-preserved fossils representing all parts of the skeleton and comprises seven individuals. Here, we provide a comprehensive description and review of the cranial anatomy of material attributed to ‘V. triplicostata’, and draw comparisons with G. prima. We conclude that the two Russian taxa are indeed conspecific, and that minor differences between them result from a combination of preservation or intraspecific variation. Our reassessment therefore provides additional information on the cranial anatomy of G. prima. Moreover, we quantify relative head size in erythrosuchids and other early archosauromorphs in an explicit phylogenetic context for the first time. Our results show that erythrosuchids do indeed appear to have disproportionately large skulls, but that this is also true for other early archosauriforms (i.e. proterosuchids), and may reflect the invasion of hypercarnivorous niches by these groups following the Permo-Triassic extinction.© 2019 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited
Chiral phase transitions and quantum critical points of the D3/D7(D5) system with mutually perpendicular E and B fields at finite temperature and density
We study chiral symmetry restoration with increasing temperature and density
in gauge theories subject to mutually perpendicular electric and magnetic
fields using holography. We determine the chiral symmetry breaking phase
structure of the D3/D7 and D3/D5 systems in the temperature-density-electric
field directions. A magnetic field may break the chiral symmetry and an
additional electric field induces Ohm and Hall currents as well as restoring
the chiral symmetry. At zero temperature the D3/D5 system displays a line of
holographic BKT phase transitions in the density-electric field plane, while
the D3/D7 system shows a mean-field phase transition. At intermediate
temperatures, the transitions in the density-electric field plane are of first
order at low density, transforming to second order at critical points as
density rises. At high temperature the transition is only ever first order.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, v2: Added a referenc
Holographic chiral magnetic spiral
We study the ground state of baryonic/axial matter at zero temperature
chiral-symmetry broken phase under a large magnetic field, in the framework of
holographic QCD by Sakai-Sugimoto. Our study is motivated by a recent proposal
of chiral magnetic spiral phase that has been argued to be favored against
previously studied phase of homogeneous distribution of axial/baryonic currents
in terms of meson super-currents dictated by triangle anomalies in QCD. Our
results provide an existence proof of chiral magnetic spiral in strong coupling
regime via holography, at least for large axial chemical potentials, whereas we
don't find the phenomenon in the case of purely baryonic chemical potential.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figure
The Baryonic Phase in Holographic Descriptions of the QCD Phase Diagram
We study holographic models of the QCD temperature-chemical potential phase
diagram based on the D3/D7 system with chiral symmetry breaking. The baryonic
phase may be included through linked D5-D7 systems. In a previous analysis of a
model with a running gauge coupling a baryonic phase was shown to exist to
arbitrarily large chemical potential. Here we explore this phase in a more
generic phenomenological setting with a step function dilaton profile. The
change in dilaton generates a linear confining potential and opposes
the screening effect of temperature. We show that the persistence of the
baryonic phase depends on the step size and that QCD-like phase diagrams can be
described. The baryonic phase's existence is qualitatively linked to the
existence of confinement in Wilson loop computations in the background.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure
The actin-bundling protein fascin is overexpressed in colorectal adenomas and promotes motility in adenoma cells in vitro
Background:
Fascin is overexpressed in many cancers, including colorectal, but its role in the malignant transformation of benign colorectal adenomas is unclear.
Methods:
Immunohistochemical analysis of fascin expression was carried out in resected human colorectal adenoma specimens. The effects of forced overexpression of fascin on adenoma cell motility were also analysed.
Results:
We show fascin overexpression in adenomas increasing with tumour size, histological type, and degree of dysplasia and increased cell motility in adenoma cell lines following fascin transfection.
Conclusion:
These data suggest an important role for fascin in the malignant progression of colorectal tumours
Transgenic Biofortification of the Starchy Staple Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Generates a Novel Sink for Protein
Although calorie dense, the starchy, tuberous roots of cassava provide the lowest sources of dietary protein within the major staple food crops (Manihot esculenta Crantz). (Montagnac JA, Davis CR, Tanumihardjo SA. (2009) Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf 8:181–194). Cassava was genetically modified to express zeolin, a nutritionally balanced storage protein under control of the patatin promoter. Transgenic plants accumulated zeolin within de novo protein bodies localized within the root storage tissues, resulting in total protein levels of 12.5% dry weight within this tissue, a fourfold increase compared to non-transgenic controls. No significant differences were seen for morphological or agronomic characteristics of transgenic and wild type plants in the greenhouse and field trials, but relative to controls, levels of cyanogenic compounds were reduced by up to 55% in both leaf and root tissues of transgenic plants. Data described here represent a proof of concept towards the potential transformation of cassava from a starchy staple, devoid of storage protein, to one capable of supplying inexpensive, plant-based proteins for food, feed and industrial applications
Molecular Structure of Amyloid Fibrils Controls the Relationship between Fibrillar Size and Toxicity
According to the prevailing view, soluble oligomers or small fibrillar fragments are considered to be the most toxic species in prion diseases. To test this hypothesis, two conformationally different amyloid states were produced from the same highly pure recombinant full-length prion protein (rPrP). The cytotoxic potential of intact fibrils and fibrillar fragments generated by sonication from these two states was tested using cultured cells.For one amyloid state, fibril fragmentation was found to enhance its cytotoxic potential, whereas for another amyloid state formed within the same amino acid sequence, the fragmented fibrils were found to be substantially less toxic than the intact fibrils. Consistent with the previous studies, the toxic effects were more pronounced for cell cultures expressing normal isoform of the prion protein (PrP(C)) at high levels confirming that cytotoxicity was in part PrP(C)-dependent. Silencing of PrP(C) expression by small hairpin RNAs designed to silence expression of human PrP(C) (shRNA-PrP(C)) diminished the deleterious effects of the two amyloid states to a different extent, suggesting that the role of PrP(C)-mediated and PrP(C)-independent mechanisms depends on the structure of the aggregates.This work provides a direct illustration that the relationship between an amyloid's physical dimension and its toxic potential is not unidirectional but is controlled by the molecular structure of prion protein (PrP) molecules within aggregated states. Depending on the structure, a decrease in size of amyloid fibrils can either enhance or abolish their cytotoxic effect. Regardless of the molecular structure or size of PrP aggregates, silencing of PrP(C) expression can be exploited to reduce their deleterious effects
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