We consider a two-dimensional atomic mass spring system and show that in the small displacement regime the corresponding discrete energies can be related to a continuum Griffith energy functional in the sense of Γ-convergence. We also analyze the continuum problem for a rectangular bar under tensile boundary conditions and find that depending on the boundary loading the minimizers are either ho...

We prove the stability of a large class of unilateral minimality properties which arise naturally in the theory of crack propagation proposed by Francfort and Marigo in [22]. Then we give an application to the quasistatic evolution of cracks in composite materials.

We give results for the Γ-limit of a scaled elastic energy of a film as the thickness h > 0 converges to zero. The elastic energy density models materials with multiple phases or variants and is thus non-convex. The model includes an interfacial energy that allows sharp interfaces between the phases and variants and is proportional to the total variation of the deformation gradient.

BACKGROUND The cytokine and drug interferon-γ enhances superoxide anion production by the antimicrobicidal Nox2 enzyme of neutrophils. Because mature neutrophils have a short lifespan, we hypothesized that the effects of interferon-γ on these cells might be mediated by its prolonged exposure to differentiating neutrophil precursors in the bone marrow rather than its brief exposure to mature cir...

Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease caused by one of four serotypes of Dengue virus (DENV-1-4). Severe dengue infection in humans is characterized by thrombocytopenia, increased vascular permeability, hemorrhage and shock. However, there is little information about host response to DENV infection. Here, mechanisms accounting for IFN-γ production and effector function during dengue disease were i...

atopic dermatitis (ad) is a heterogeneous disease with regard to clinical phenotype and natural history. we investigated t cell subtypes and cytokine responses in peripheral blood and skin lesions of ad patients with various sensitivities. immunological studies were performed in 27 subjects: 9 house dust mite (hdm)-sensitized; 6 subjects with sensitizations other than hdm; 7 non-allergic ad pat...

Inflammation and renin-angiotensin system activity in the brain contribute to hypertension through effects on fluid intake, vasopressin release, and sympathetic nerve activity. We recently reported that activation of brain peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ in heart failure rats reduced inflammation and renin-angiotensin system activity in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucle...

Background: Microtubules (MT) are important components of cell cytoskeleton and play key roles in cell motility mitosis and meiosis. They are also the targets of several anticancer agents which indicating their importance in maintaining cell viability. Microtubular reorganization contributing to apoptotic morphology occurs in normal and neoplastic cells undergoing apoptosis induced by cytotoxic...