One proposed mechanism by which alum enhances an immune response is by its ability to induce an inflammatory response that results in the release of uric acid from necrotic cells. Uric acid is thought to be a mediator in enhancing the immune response. The aim of this study was to investigate the immunopotentiating effect of uric acid. Groups of BALB/c mice were injected intraperitoneally with o...

Cu–Zn/γ–Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by the impregnation method. Catalytic activity was evaluated for N2O decomposition in a fixed bed reactor. The fresh and used catalysts were characterized by several techniques such as BET surface area, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The Cu–Zn/γ–Al2O3 catalysts exhibit high activity and stability for N2O decomposition in mi...

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is an enzyme key regulator in folate metabolism. Deficiencies in MTHFR result in increased levels of homocysteine, which leads to reduced levels of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM). In the brain, SAM donates methyl groups to catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), which is involved in neurotransmitter analysis. Using the MTHFR-deficient mouse model the purpose...

The effect of oleic, linoleic and γ-linolenic acids on ROS production by 3T3 Swiss and Rat 1 fibroblasts was investigated. Using lucigenin-amplified chemiluminescence, a dose-dependent increase in extracellular superoxide levels was observed during the treatment of fibroblasts with oleic, linoleic and γ-linolenic acids. ROS production was dependent on the addition of β-NADH or NADPH to the medi...

In recent years, the number of patients suffering from diabetes mellitus has been increasing worldwide. In particular, type 2 diabetes mellitus, a lifestyle-related disease, is recognized as a serious disease with various complications. Many types of pharmaceutics or specific health foods have been used for the management of diabetes mellitus. At the same time, the relationship between diabetes...

We study a variable exponent model for image restoration in the case that the exponent attains the critical value one. We prove existence and Γ-convergence. The results answer an open question by Li, Li and Pi [Variable exponent functionals in image restoration, Appl. Math. Comput. 216 (2010), no. 3, 870–882].

Received (Day Month Year) Communicated by (xxxxxxxxxx) Let Ω be an open bounded set of R 3 and let W and V be two non-negative continuous functions vanishing at α, β and α ′ , β ′ , respectively. We analyze the asymptotic behavior as ε → 0, in terms of Γ-convergence, of the following functional Fε(u) := ε p−2 Z Ω |Du| p dx + 1 ε p−2 p−1 Z Ω W (u)dx + 1 ε Z ∂Ω V (T u)dH 2 (p > 2), where u is a s...

We study the stability of a sequence of integral functionals on divergence-free matrix valued fields following the direct methods of Γ-convergence. We prove that the Γ-limit is an integral functional on divergence-free matrix valued fields. Moreover, we show that the Γlimit is also stable under volume constraint and various type of boundary conditions.

We provide an approximation result in the sense of Γ-convergence for energies of the form ˆ Ω Q1(e(u)) dx+ aH(Ju) + b ˆ Ju Q 1/2 0 ([u] νu) dH n−1, where Ω ⊂ Rn is a bounded open set with Lipschitz boundary, Q0 and Q1 are coercive quadratic forms on Mn×n sym , a, b are positive constants, and u runs in the space of fields SBD2(Ω) , i.e., it’s a special field with bounded deformation such that i...

The energy of a Von Kármán circular plate is described by a nonlocal nonconvex one-dimensional functional depending on the thickness ε. Here we perform the asymptotic analysis via Γ-convergence as the parameter ε goes to zero.