A remark on the asymptotic form of BPS multi-dyon solutions and their conserved charges

We evaluate the gauge invariant, dynamically conserved charges, recently obtained from the integral form of the Yang-Mills equations, for the BPS multi-dyon solutions of a Yang-Mills-Higgs theory associated to any compact semi-simple gauge group G. Those charges are shown to correspond to the eigenvalues of the next-to-leading term of the asymptotic form of the Higgs field at spatial infinity, and so coinciding with the usual topological charges of those solutions. Such results show that many of the topological charges considered in the literature are in fact dynamical charges, which conservation follows from the global properties of classical Yang-Mills theories encoded into their integral dynamical equations. The conservation of those charges can not be obtained from the differential form of Yang-Mills equations.Comment: Version to be published in JHEP, Journal of High Energy Physics (19 pages, no figures, some examples added

Mimicking the mammalian plasma membrane: An overview of lipid membrane models for biophysical studies

Cell membranes are very complex biological systems including a large variety of lipids and proteins. Therefore, they are difficult to extract and directly investigate with biophysical methods. For many decades, the characterization of simpler biomimetic lipid membranes, which contain only a few lipid species, provided important physico-chemical information on the most abundant lipid species in cell membranes. These studies described physical and chemical properties that are most likely similar to those of real cell membranes. Indeed, biomimetic lipid membranes can be easily prepared in the lab and are compatible with multiple biophysical techniques. Lipid phase transitions, the bilayer structure, the impact of cholesterol on the structure and dynamics of lipid bilayers, and the selective recognition of target lipids by proteins, peptides, and drugs are all examples of the detailed information about cell membranes obtained by the investigation of biomimetic lipid membranes. This review focuses specifically on the advances that were achieved during the last decade in the field of biomimetic lipid membranes mimicking the mammalian plasma membrane. In particular, we provide a description of the most common types of lipid membrane models used for biophysical characterization, i.e., lipid membranes in solution and on surfaces, as well as recent examples of their applications for the investigation of protein-lipid and drug-lipid interactions. Altogether, promising directions for future developments of biomimetic lipid membranes are the further implementation of natural lipid mixtures for the development of more biologically relevant lipid membranes, as well as the development of sample preparation protocols that enable the incorporation of membrane proteins in the biomimetic lipid membranes

The integral equations of Yang-Mills and its gauge invariant conserved charges

Despite the fact that the integral form of the equations of classical electrodynamics is well known, the same is not true for non-abelian gauge theories. The aim of the present paper is threefold. First, we present the integral form of the classical Yang-Mills equations in the presence of sources, and then use it to solve the long standing problem of constructing conserved charges, for any field configuration, which are invariant under general gauge transformations and not only under transformations that go to a constant at spatial infinity. The construction is based on concepts in loop spaces and on a generalization of the non-abelian Stokes theorem for two-form connections. The third goal of the paper is to present the integral form of the self dual Yangs-Mills equations, and calculate the conserved charges associated to them. The charges are explicitly evaluated for the cases of monopoles, dyons, instantons and merons, and we show that in many cases those charges must be quantized. Our results are important in the understanding of global properties of non-abelian gauge theories.Comment: Version to appear in Physical Review D (46 pages, 3 figures, 1 table

Marker identification and classification of cancer types using gene expression data and SIMCA

Objectives. High-throughput technologies are radically boosting the understanding of living systems, thus creating enormous opportunities to elucidate the biological processes of cells in different physiological states. In particular, the application of DNA microarrays to monitor expression profiles from tumor cells is improving cancer analysis to levels that classical methods have been unable to reach. However, molecular diagnostics based on expression profiling requires addressing computational issues as the overwhelming number of variables and the complex, multi-class nature of tumor samples. Thus, the objective of the present research has been the development of a computational procedure for feature extraction and classification of gene expression data.Methods. The Soft Independent Modeling of Class Analogy (SIMCA) approach has been implemented in a data mining scheme, which allows the identification of those genes that are most likely to confer robust and accurate classification of samples from multiple tumor types.Results: The proposed method has been tested on two different microarray data sets, namely Golub's analysis of acute human leukemia [1] and the small round blue cell tumors study presented by Khan et al. [2]. The identified features represent a rational and dimensionally reduced base for understanding the biology of diseases, defining targets of therapeutic intervention, and developing diagnostic tools for classification of pathological states.Conclusions: The analysis of the SIMCA model residuals allows the identification of specific phenotype markers. At the some time, the class analogy approach provides the assignment to multiple classes, such as different pathological conditions or tissue samples, for previously unseen instances

Impact of displacement demand reliability for seismic vulnerability assessment at an urban scale

This paper addresses seismic vulnerability assessment at an urban scale by focusing on the displacement demand determination for building damage prediction. The study is based on the comparison of urban seismic damage distributions obtained by the displacement demand computed using non-linear time-history analysis (NLTHA) with three simplified methods. These methods include the N2 method, the Lin & Miranda proposal and an optimized version of the N2 method. Comparing the different damage distributions from the three simplified methods with the one obtained by time-history analysis helps understanding the reliability of displacement demand determination. The study is carried out on Sion and Martigny, two typical Swiss cities. For the case of Sion, results clearly show that using N2 method may lead to significant overestimation of damage grade distribution. The use of Lin & Miranda method and optimized version of N2 improves the damage prediction in both cases. For the other studied case of Martigny, N2 method and Lin & Miranda proposal are not accurate. The optimized version of N2 method provides stable and reliable results

Sorção, degradação e lixiviação dos herbicidas tebuthiuron e diuron em colunas de Solo.

Leaching potentials of three acidic herbicides were assessed for three different Brazilian soils, by means of the multi-layered AFi model. Values of AFi were also calculated for each herbicide using a modified model (AFi*), where sorption coefficient (Kd) values are pH-dependent. The pH-dependent Kd values estimated for all three herbicides were always higher than pH-independent Kd values calculated using average Koc data. The pHdependent Kd values for the three herbicides evidenced a large variation from layer to layer following changes in OC and pH for the different soil depths. When OC decreases, Kd tends to decrease; on the other hand, lowering pH tends to increase Kd. For all three soils, OC and pH exhibit an overall decrease with depth. Despite differences between the pH-independent Kd and the pH-dependent Kd values, the AFi values for 2,4-D, calculated by the original multilayered-soil model and by the modified model (AFi*), were similarly low for all three soils, mostly due to the short half-life of 2,4-D. The pH-dependent AFi values for flumetsulam were always much lower than values calculated by the original multi-layered model. Therefore, the pH-independent model appears to overestimate leaching potential of flumetsulam. The AFi values for sulfentrazone calculated by the original and the modified models were similarly high for all three soils, despite the differences in Kd values. The long half-life of sulfentrazone mostly contributed to the similar high values of AFi for the three different soils. Overall AFi values showed large differences for sulfentrazone when calculated by the original and by the modified model (AFi*), owing to its high AF value for each layer. Thus, the original AFi model would seem to markedly overestimate the leaching potential for sulfentrazone, as well as for flumetsulam for these soil conditions

Monitoramento do risco ambiental de agrotóxicos: princípios e recomendações.

Uso de Agrotóxicos no Brasil. Princípios do Monitoramento de Risco Ambiental. Exposição Ambiental aos Agrotóxicos. Efeitos Ambientais dos Agrotóxicos. Plano de Monitoramento do Risco Ambiental. Procedimentos de Amostragem. Indicadores de Risco Ambiental. Recomendações Técnicas para Monitoramento do Risco Ambiental.bitstream/CNPMA/5810/1/documentos_42.pd

Movimento do herbicida tebutiuron em dois solos representativos das áreas de recarga do Aqüífero Guarani.

O movimento do herbicida tebutiuron foi analisado em um Latossolo Vermelho Distrófico psamítico (LVdq) e um Neossolo Quartzarênico Órtico típico (RQo), representativos das áreas de recarga do aqüífero Guarani no Brasil, tendo como fatores influenciadores, a condutividade hidráulica (K), o teor de carbono orgânico (CO) e o teor de argila (TAr). O presente estudo foi realizado em colunas de solos indeformados, com aplicação do produto comercial contendo o herbicida em discussão. Esses parâmetros evidenciam certa influência na movimentação vertical do herbicida tebutiuron, particularmente no RQo, uma vez que esse herbicida é quimicamente neutro. Observou-se, por exemplo, uma diferença significativa entre os valores K dos dois solos, sendo superior no RQo. Além de uma relação inversa entre teores de CO e de TAr e os valores de K dos dois solos, indicando serem aqueles parâmetros inibidores do deslocamento do tebutiuron no perfil do solo. Os resultados aqui obtidos neste trabalho visam subsidiar estudos de avaliação de risco ambiental, sobretudo água subterrânea, a partir de áreas de recarga de aqüíferos naturalmente frágeis, com ênfase para o aqüífero Guarani