On the equivariant Tamagawa number conjecture in tame CM-extensions, II

We use the notion of non-commutative Fitting invariants to give a reformulation of the equivariant Iwasawa main conjecture (EIMC) attached to an extension F=K of totally real fields with Galois group G, where K is a global number field and G is a p-adic Lie group of dimension 1 for an odd prime p. We attach to each finite Galois CM-extension L=K with Galois group G a module SKu(L=K) over the center of the group ring ZG which coincides with the Sinnott-Kurihara ideal if G is abelian. We state a conjecture on the integrality of SKu(L=K) which follows from the equivariant Tamagawa number conjecture (ETNC) in many cases, and is a theorem for abelian G. Assuming the validity of the EIMC and the vanishing of the Iwasawa μ-invariant, we compute Fitting invariants of certain Iwasawa modules, and we show that this implies the minus part of the ETNC at p for an infinite class of (non-abelian) Galois CM-extensions of number fields which are at most tamely ramified above p, provided that (an appropriate p-part of) the integrality conjecture holds

Gap analysis of nickel bioaccessibility and bioavailability in different food matrices and its impact on the nickel exposure assessment

The metal nickel is well known to cause nickel allergy in sensitive humans by prolonged dermal contact to materials releasing (high) amounts of nickel. Oral nickel exposure via water and food intake is of potential concern. Nickel is essential to plants and animals and can be naturally found in food products or contamination may occur across the agro-food chain. This gap analysis is an evaluation of nickel as a potential food safety hazard causing a risk for human health. In the first step, the available data regarding the occurrence of nickel and its contamination in food and drinks have been collected through literature review. Subsequently, a discussion is held on the potential risks associated with this contamination. Elevated nickel concentrations were mostly found in plant-based foods, e.g. legumes and nuts in which nickel of natural origin is expected. However, it was observed that dedicated and systematic screening of foodstuffs for the presence of nickel is currently still lacking. In a next step, published studies on exposure of humans to nickel via foods and drinks were critically evaluated. Not including bioaccessibility and/or bioavailability of the metal may lead to an overestimation of the exposure of the body to nickel via food and drinks. This overestimation may be problematic when the measured nickel level in foods is high and bioaccessibility and/or bioavailability of nickel in these products is low. Therefore, this paper analyzes the outcomes of the existing dietary intake and bioaccessibility/bioavailability studies conducted for nickel. Besides, the available gaps in nickel bioaccessibility and/or bioavailability studies have been clarified in this paper. The reported bioaccessibility and bioavailability percentages for different food and drinks were found to vary between < LOD and 83% and between 0 and 30% respectively. This indicates that of the total nickel contained in the foodstuffs only a fraction can be absorbed by the intestinal epithelium cells. This paper provides a unique critical overview on nickel in the human diet starting from factors affecting its occurrence in food until its absorption by the body

Inhomogeneous phases in the Nambu-Jona-Lasino and quark-meson model

We discuss inhomogeneous ground states of the Nambu-Jona-Lasino (NJL) and quark-meson (QM) model within mean-field approximation and their possible existence in the respective phase diagrams. For this purpose we focus on lower dimensional modulations and point out that known solutions in the 2+1 and 1+1 dimensional (chiral) Gross-Neveu (GN) model can be lifted to the to the 3+1 dimensional NJL model. This is worked out in detail for one-dimensional modulations and numerical results for the phase diagrams are presented. Focus is put on the critical point and on vanishing temperatures. As an interesting result the first order transition line in the phase diagram of homogeneous phases gets replaced by an inhomogeneous phase which is bordered by two second order transition lines.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figure