We study solutions for the Klein–Gordon equation with vector and scalar potentials of the Coulomb types under the influence of noninertial effects in the cosmic string spacetime. We also investigate ...a quantum particle described by the Klein–Gordon oscillator in the background spacetime generated by a cosmic string. An important result obtained is that the noninertial effects restrict the physical region of the spacetime where the particle can be placed. In addition, we show that these potentials can form bound states for the Klein–Gordon equation in this kind of background.
Cocos nucifera (L.) (Arecaceae) is commonly called the "coconut tree" and is the most naturally widespread fruit plant on Earth. Throughout history, humans have used medicinal plants therapeutically, ...and minerals, plants, and animals have traditionally been the main sources of drugs. The constituents of C. nucifera have some biological effects, such as antihelminthic, anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, antioxidant, antifungal, antimicrobial, and antitumor activities. Our objective in the present study was to review the phytochemical profile, pharmacological activities, and toxicology of C. nucifera to guide future preclinical and clinical studies using this plant. This systematic review consisted of searches performed using scientific databases such as Scopus, Science Direct, PubMed, SciVerse, and Scientific Electronic Library Online. Some uses of the plant were partially confirmed by previous studies demonstrating analgesic, antiarthritic, antibacterial, antipyretic, antihelminthic, antidiarrheal, and hypoglycemic activities. In addition, other properties such as antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, cardioprotective, antiseizure, cytotoxicity, hepatoprotective, vasodilation, nephroprotective, and anti-osteoporosis effects were also reported. Because each part of C. nucifera has different constituents, the pharmacological effects of the plant vary according to the part of the plant evaluated.
Depending on the application, electronic systems and devices can be subjected to different radiation environments. According to the type of radiation encountered during operation, electronic ...components are simultaneously vulnerable to cumulative and single event effects. In addition, inelastic interactions of highly energetic particles with high-Z materials generate highly ionizing products. This can lead to catastrophic failures and therefore can have a significant impact on the reliability of electronic devices. For this reason, it is necessary to test electronic devices/systems in representative environments. For this purpose, a mixed field radiation test facility called CHARM has been established at CERN. Its radiation environment is not only representative of particle accelerators, but also of atmospheric, ground level and space applications.
This paper presents SOAP 2.0, a new version of the Spot Oscillation And Planet (SOAP) code that estimates in a simple way the photometric and radial velocity (RV) variations induced by active ...regions. The inhibition of the convective blueshift (CB) inside active regions is considered, as well as the limb brightening effect of plages, a quadratic limb darkening law, and a realistic spot and plage contrast ratio. SOAP 2.0 shows that the activity-induced variation of plages is dominated by the inhibition of the CB effect. For spots, this effect becomes significant only for slow rotators. In addition, in the case of a major active region dominating the activity-induced signal, the ratio between the FWHM and the RV peak-to-peak amplitudes of the cross correlation function can be used to infer the type of active region responsible for the signal for stars with v sin i < or =, slant 8 kms super(-1). A ratio smaller than three implies a spot, while a larger ratio implies a plage. Using the observation of HD 189733, we show that SOAP 2.0 manages to reproduce the activity variation as well as previous simulations when a spot is dominating the activity-induced variation. In addition, SOAP 2.0 also reproduces the activity variation induced by a plage on the slowly rotating star alpha Cen B, which is not possible using previous simulations. Following these results, SOAP 2.0 can be used to estimate the signal induced by spots and plages, but also to correct for it when a major active region is dominating the RV variation.
The statistical validation of transiting exoplanets proved to be an efficient technique to secure the nature of small exoplanet signals which cannot be established by purely spectroscopic means. ...However, the spectroscopic diagnoses are providing us with useful constraints on the presence of blended stellar contaminants. In this paper, we present how a contaminating star affects the measurements of the various spectroscopic diagnoses as a function of the parameters of the target and contaminating stars using the model implemented into the pastis planet-validation software. We find particular cases for which a blend might produce a large radial velocity signal but no bisector variation. It might also produce a bisector variation anticorrelated with the radial velocity one, as in the case of stellar spots. In those cases, the full width at half-maximum variation provides complementary constraints. These results can be used to constrain blend scenarios for transiting planet candidates or radial velocity planets. We review all the spectroscopic diagnoses reported in the literature so far, especially the ones to monitor the line asymmetry. We estimate their uncertainty and compare their sensitivity to blends. Based on that, we recommend the use of BiGauss which is the most sensitive diagnosis to monitor line-profile asymmetry. In this paper, we also investigate the sensitivity of the radial velocities to constrain blend scenarios and develop a formalism to estimate the level of dilution of a blended signal. Finally, we apply our blend model to re-analyse the spectroscopic diagnoses of HD 16702, an unresolved face-on binary which exhibits bisector variations.
Isoniazid (INH) is related to the development of hepatotoxicity in some patients.
To investigate the role of N-acetyl transferase 2 (NAT2) and cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) in the hepatotoxicity of ...patients treated with INH in an Amazonian Brazilian population.
Patients undergoing anti-tuberculosis treatment were investigated. Hepatotoxicity was defined as an increase of more than three times the upper limit of normal in serum alanine aminotransferase levels after treatment. NAT2 genotypes were identified by sequencing, whereas CYP2E1 alleles were detected using polymerase chain reaction based methods.
Of the 270 individuals included in the study, 18 (6.7%) developed drug-related hepatotoxicity. A high association was found between slow acetylators and hepatotoxicity, particularly with regard to allele *5. The adjusted risk of developing hepatotoxicity was significant in individuals carrying two slow acetylation alleles (P = 0.036, OR 3.05, 95%CI 1.07-8.64). In all of the CYP2E1 markers examined, wild homozygous genotypes were more prevalent in subjects with hepatotoxicity than in controls; however, the difference was not statistically significant. Joint evaluation of the genes revealed a high risk of developing hepatotoxicity in slow acetylators with CYP2E1 wild alleles (adjusted OR 4.26; 95%CI 1.47-12.37, P = 0.008).
Large-scale screening for NAT2 and CYP2E1 genotypes can prove useful in predicting the risk of adverse effects.
Context.
LHS 1140 is an M dwarf known to host two transiting planets at orbital periods of 3.77 and 24.7 days. They were detected with HARPS and
Spitzer
. The external planet (LHS 1140 b) is a rocky ...super-Earth that is located in the middle of the habitable zone of this low-mass star. All these properties place this system at the forefront of the habitable exoplanet exploration, and it therefore constitutes a relevant case for further astrobiological studies, including atmospheric observations.
Aims.
We further characterize this system by improving the physical and orbital properties of the known planets, search for additional planetary-mass components in the system, and explore the possibility of co-orbitals.
Methods.
We collected 113 new high-precision radial velocity observations with ESPRESSO over a 1.5-yr time span with an average photon-noise precision of 1.07 m s
−1
. We performed an extensive analysis of the HARPS and ESPRESSO datasets and also analyzed them together with the new TESS photometry. We analyzed the Bayesian evidence of several models with different numbers of planets and orbital configurations.
Results.
We significantly improve our knowledge of the properties of the known planets LHS 1140 b (
P
b
~ 24.7 days) and LHS 1140 c (
P
c
~ 3.77 days). We determine new masses with a precision of 6% for LHS 1140 b (6.48 ± 0.46
M
⊕
) and 9% for LHS 1140 c (
m
c
= 1.78 ± 0.17
M
⊕
). This reduces the uncertainties relative to previously published values by half. Although both planets have Earth-like bulk compositions, the internal structure analysis suggests that LHS 1140 b might be iron-enriched and LHS 1140 c might be a true Earth twin. In both cases, the water content is compatible to a maximum fraction of 10–12% in mass, which is equivalent to a deep ocean layer of 779 ± 650 km for the habitable-zone planet LHS 1140 b. Our results also provide evidence for a new planet candidate in the system (
m
d
= 4.8 ± 1.1
M
⊕
) on a 78.9-day orbital period, which is detected through three independent methods. The analysis also allows us to discard other planets above 0.5
M
⊕
for periods shorter than 10 days and above 2
M
⊕
for periods up to one year. Finally, our co-orbital analysis discards co-orbital planets in the tadpole and horseshoe configurations of LHS 1140 b down to 1
M
⊕
with a 95% confidence level (twice better than with the previous HARPS dataset). Indications for a possible co-orbital signal in LHS 1140 c are detected in both radial velocity (alternatively explained by a high eccentricity) and photometric data (alternatively explained by systematics), however.
Conclusions.
The new precise measurements of the planet properties of the two transiting planets in LHS 1140 as well as the detection of the planet candidate LHS 1140 d make this system a key target for atmospheric studies of rocky worlds at different stellar irradiations.
Context.
Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the Sun. This small, low-mass, mid M dwarf is known to host an Earth-mass exoplanet with an orbital period of 11.2 days within the habitable zone, as ...well as a long-period planet candidate with an orbital period of close to 5 yr.
Aims.
We report on the analysis of a large set of observations taken with the ESPRESSO spectrograph at the VLT aimed at a thorough evaluation of the presence of a third low-mass planetary companion, which started emerging during a previous campaign.
Methods.
Radial velocities (RVs) were calculated using both a cross-correlation function (CCF) and a template matching approach. The RV analysis includes a component to model Proxima’s activity using a Gaussian process (GP). We use the CCF’s full width at half maximum to help constrain the GP, and we study other simultaneous observables as activity indicators in order to assess the nature of any potential RV signals.
Results.
We detect a signal at 5.12 ± 0.04 days with a semi-amplitude of 39 ± 7 cm s
−1
. The analysis of subsets of the ESPRESSO data, the activity indicators, and chromatic RVs suggest that this signal is not caused by stellar variability but instead by a planetary companion with a minimum mass of 0.26 ± 0.05
M
⊕
(about twice the mass of Mars) orbiting at 0.029 au from the star. The orbital eccentricity is well constrained and compatible with a circular orbit.
There is an increased interest in secondary plant metabolites, such as polyphenols and carotenoids, due to their proposed health benefits. Much attention has focused on their bioavailability, a ...prerequisite for further physiological functions. As human studies are time consuming, costly, and restricted by ethical concerns, in vitro models for investigating the effects of digestion on these compounds have been developed and employed to predict their release from the food matrix, bioaccessibility, and assess changes in their profiles prior to absorption. Most typically, models simulate digestion in the oral cavity, the stomach, the small intestine, and, occasionally, the large intestine. A plethora of models have been reported, the choice mostly driven by the type of phytochemical studied, whether the purpose is screening or studying under close physiological conditions, and the availability of the model systems. Unfortunately, the diversity of model conditions has hampered the ability to compare results across different studies. For example, there is substantial variability in the time of digestion, concentrations of salts, enzymes, and bile acids used, pH, the inclusion of various digestion stages; and whether chosen conditions are static (with fixed concentrations of enzymes, bile salts, digesta, and so on) or dynamic (varying concentrations of these constituents). This review presents an overview of models that have been employed to study the digestion of both lipophilic and hydrophilic phytochemicals, comparing digestive conditions in vitro and in vivo and, finally, suggests a set of parameters for static models that resemble physiological conditions.
In this paper we present two different classes of solutions for the Klein–Gordon equation in the presence of a scalar potential under the influence of noninertial effects in the cosmic string ...spacetime. We show that noninertial effects restrict the physical region of the spacetime where the particle can be placed, and furthermore that the energy levels are shifted by these effects. In addition, we show that the presence of a Coulomb-like scalar potential allows the formation of bound states when the Klein–Gordon equation is considered in this kind of spacetime.
PDF
