Molecular cloning, expression analysis and assignment of the porcine tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 10 gene (TNFSF10) to SSC13q34 -> q36 by fluorescence in situ hybridization and radiation hybrid mapping

We have cloned the complete coding region of the porcine TNFSF10 gene. The porcine TNFSF10 cDNA has an ORF of 870 nucleotides and shares 85 % identity with human TNFSF10, and 75% and 72% identity with rat and mouse Tnfsf10 coding sequences, respectively. The deduced porcine TNFSF10 protein consists of 289 amino acids with the calculated molecular mass of 33.5 kDa and a predicted pI of 8.15. The amino acid sequence similarities correspond to 86, 72 and 70% when compared with human, rat and mouse sequences, respectively. Nor-them blot analysis detected TNFSF10-specific transcripts (similar to 1.7 kb) in various organs of a 10-week-old pig, suggesting ubiquitous expression. Real-time RT-PCR studies of various organs from fetal (days 73 and 98) and postnatal stages (two weeks, eight months) demonstrated developmental and tissue-specific regulation of TNFSF10 mRNA abundance. The chromosomal location of the porcine TNFSF10 gene was determined by FISH of a specific BAC clone to metaphase chromosomes. This TNFSF10 BAC clone has been assigned to SSC13q34 -> q36. Additionally, the localization of the TNFSF10 gene was verified by RH mapping on the porcine IMpRH panel. Copyright (c) 2005S. KargerAG, Basel

Non-simply-laced Lie algebras via F theory strings

In order to describe the appearance in F theory of the non--simply--laced Lie algebras, we use the representation of symmetry enhancements by means of string junctions. After an introduction to the techniques used to describe symmetry enhancement, that is algebraic geometry, BPS states analysis and string junctions, we concentrate on the latter. We give an explicit description of the folding of D_{2n} to B_n of the folding of E_6 to F_4 and that of D_4 to G_2 in terms of junctions and Jordan strings. We also discuss the case of C_n, but we are unable in this case to provide a string interpretation.Comment: 24 pages, 3 figure

HERWIG 6.4 Release Note

A new release of the Monte Carlo program HERWIG (version 6.4) is now available. The main new features are: spin correlations between the production and decay of heavy fermions, i.e. top quarks, tau leptons and SUSY particles; polarization effects in SUSY production processes in lepton-lepton collisions; an interface to TAUOLA for tau decays; MSSM Higgs processes in lepton-lepton collisions

Study of the decays B->D_s1(2536)+ anti-D(*)

We report a study of the decays B -> D_s1(2536)+ anti-D(*), where anti-D(*) is anti-D0, D- or D*-, using a sample of 657 x 10^6 B anti-B pairs collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. The branching fractions of the decays B+ -> D_s1(2536)+ anti-D0, B0 -> D_s1(2536)+ D- and B0 -> D_s1(2536)+ D*- multiplied by that of D_s1(2536)+ -> (D*0K+ + D*+K0) are found to be (3.97+-0.85+-0.56) x 10^-4, (2.75+-0.62+-0.36) x 10^-4 and (5.01+-1.21+-0.70) x 10^-4, respectively.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figues, submitted to PRD (RC

Evidence for B- -> tau- nu_bar with a Semileptonic Tagging Method

We present a measurement of the decay B- -> tau- nu_bar using a data sample containing 657 million BB_bar pairs collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. A sample of BB_bar pairs are tagged by reconstructing one B meson decaying semileptonically. We detect the B- -> tau- nu_bar candidate in the recoil. We obtain a signal with a significance of 3.6 standard deviations including systematic uncertainties, and measure the branching fraction to be Br(B- -> tau- nu_bar) = [1.54+0.38-0.37(stat)+0.29-0.31(syst)]*10^-4. This result confirms the evidence for B- -> tau- nu_bar obtained in a previous Belle measurement that used a hadronic B tagging method.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, corrected references, to appear in PRD-R

Nel positively regulates the genesis of retinal ganglion cells by promoting their differentiation and survival during development

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Brane Tilings and Specular Duality

We study a new duality which pairs 4d N=1 supersymmetric quiver gauge theories. They are represented by brane tilings and are worldvolume theories of D3 branes at Calabi-Yau 3-fold singularities. The new duality identifies theories which have the same combined mesonic and baryonic moduli space, otherwise called the master space. We obtain the associated Hilbert series which encodes both the generators and defining relations of the moduli space. We illustrate our findings with a set of brane tilings that have reflexive toric diagrams.Comment: 42 pages, 16 figures, 5 table

Ward-based Goal-Directed Fluid Therapy (GDFT) in Acute Pancreatitis (GAP) trial: study protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial

IntroductionAcute pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease of the pancreas with high risk of developing multiorgan failure and death. There are no effective pharmacological interventions used in current clinical practice. Maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance is the mainstay of supportive management. Goal-directed fluid therapy (GDFT) has been shown to decrease morbidity and mortality in surgical conditions with systemic inflammatory response. There is currently no randomised controlled trial (RCT) investigating the role of GDFT based on cardiac output parameters in patients with acute pancreatitis in the ward setting. A feasibility trial was designed to determine patient and clinician support for recruitment into an RCT of ward-based GDFT in acute pancreatitis, adherence to a GDFT protocol, safety, participant withdrawal, and to determine appropriate endpoints for a subsequent larger trial to evaluate efficacy.Methods and analysisThe GDFT in Acute Pancreatitis trial is a prospective two-centre feasibility RCT. Eligible adults admitted with new onset of acute pancreatitis will be enrolled and randomised into ward-based GDFT (n=25) or standard fluid therapy (n=25) within 6 hours from the diagnosis and continuing for the following 48 hours. Cardiac output parameters will be monitored with a non-invasive device (Cheetah NICOM; Cheetah Medical). The intervention group will consist of a protocolised GDFT approach consisting of stroke volume optimisation with crystalloid fluid boluses, while the control group will receive standard care fluid therapy as advised by the clinical team. The primary endpoint is feasibility. Secondary endpoints will include safety of the intervention, complications, mortality, admission to intensive care unit, cost and quality of life.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval was granted by the London Central Research Ethics Committee (17/LO/1235, project ID: 221872). The results of this trial will be presented to international conference with interest in general surgery and acute care and published in a peer-reviewed journal.Trial registration numberISRCTN36077283.</jats:sec

Soft branes in supersymmetry-breaking backgrounds

We revisit the analysis of effective field theories resulting from non-supersymmetric perturbations to supersymmetric flux compactifications of the type-IIB superstring with an eye towards those resulting from the backreaction of a small number of anti-D3-branes. Independently of the background, we show that the low-energy Lagrangian describing the fluctuations of a stack of probe D3-branes exhibits soft supersymmetry breaking, despite perturbations to marginal operators that were not fully considered in some previous treatments. We take this as an indication that the breaking of supersymmetry by anti-D3-branes or other sources may be spontaneous rather than explicit. In support of this, we consider the action of an anti-D3-brane probing an otherwise supersymmetric configuration and identify a candidate for the corresponding goldstino.Comment: 36+5 pages. References added, minor typos correcte