The eccentricity in heavy-ion collisions from Color Glass Condensate initial conditions

The eccentricity in coordinate-space at midrapidity of the overlap zone in high-energy heavy-ion collisions predicted by the $k_\perp$-factorization formalism is generically larger than expected from scaling with the number of participants. We provide a simple qualitative explanation of the effect which shows that it is not caused predominantly by edge effects. We also show that it is quite insensitive to ``details'' of the unintegrated gluon distribution functions such as the presence of leading-twist shadowing and of an extended geometric scaling window. The larger eccentricity increases the azimuthal asymmetry of high transverse momentum particles. Finally, we point out that the longitudinal structure of the Color Glass Condensate initial condition for hydrodynamics away from midrapidity is non-trivial but requires understanding of large-$x$ effects.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures; v3: added note regarding Qs2~n_part versus Qs2~T_A, final version to appear in PR

Report from the Expert Panel on the evaluation of the VRZs during the 2018/19 fishing season

In July 2018 ARK (the Association of Responsible Krill harvesting companies) launched a set of voluntary measures, known as ARK’s Commitment, which were proposed to improve the long-term sustainability of the krill fishery. The Commitment was initiated with support from Greenpeace, WWF and The Pew Charitable Trusts as a precautionary action whilst CCAMLR developed spatial management of the krill fishery in Area 48. The Commitment, which took the form of Voluntary Restriction Zones (VRZs), was implemented for the 2018-19 fishing season. The krill fishing fleet associated with ARK agreed to avoid fishing in an area of up to 40 km from penguin colonies in Subarea 48.1 during the penguin breeding season

Inter-Quark Potentials in Baryons and Multi-Quark Systems in QCD

We perform the first studies of various inter-quark potentials in SU(3)$_{\rm c}$ lattice QCD. From the accurate lattice calculation for more than 300 different patterns of three-quark (3Q) systems, we find that the static 3Q potential $V_{\rm 3Q}$ is well described by Y-Ansatz, i.e., the Coulomb plus Y-type linear potential. Quark confinement mechanism in baryons is also investigated in maximally-Abelian projected QCD. We next study the multi-quark potentials $V_{n{\rm Q}}$ ($n$=4,5) in SU(3)$_{\rm c}$ lattice QCD, and find that they are well described by the one-gluon-exchange Coulomb plus multi-Y type linear potential, which supports the flux-tube picture even for the multi-quarks. Finally, we study the heavy-heavy-light quark (QQq) potential both in lattice QCD and in a lattice-QCD-based quark model.Comment: Invited talk at the international Conference on Chiral Symmetry in Hadron and Nuclear Physics (Chiral07) November 13-16, 2007, Osaka University, Japa

Maintenance of glucose-sensitive insulin secretion of cryopreserved human islets with University of Wisconsin solution and ascorbic acid-2 glucoside

Normal human islet cells are an ideal source for pancreas-targeted cell therapies, but the availability of human donor pancreata for islet isolation is severely limited. To effectively utilize such scarce donor organs for cell therapies, it is crucial to develop an excellent isolation, effective cryopreservation, and efficient gene transfer techniques for the transportation of isolated cells. In the present study, we investigate the effect of University of Wisconsin (UW) solution and ascorbic acid-2 glucoside (AA2G) on the cryopreservation of human islets. We also evaluate the gene transfer efficiency of a lentiviral vector expressing the E. coli LacZ gene, Lt-NLS/LacZ, in human islets. Human islets were isolated with a standard digestion method at the University of Alberta. Isolated islets were transported to Japan for 40 h and then subjected to cryopreservation experiments. The following preservation solutions were tested: UW solution with 100 mug/mL of AA2G, UW solution, 100% fetal bovine serum (FBS), and CMRL supplemented with 10% FBS. Following three months of cryopreservation, the islets were thawed and analyzed for viability, glucose-sensitive insulin secretion, proinsulin gene expression profile, and in vivo engraftment. The islets were also subjected to monolayer formation with 804G-cell-line-derived extracellular matrix (ECM), followed by Lt-NLS/LacZ transduction. The viability, morphology, glucose-sensitive insulin secretion, proinsulin gene expression, and monolayer formation efficiency of the thawed cryopreserved islets are significantly better maintained by the use of UW solution. When AA2G (100 mug/mL) is combined with UW, such parameters are further improved. The adequate engraftment of UW + AA2G-cryopreserved human islets is achieved in the liver of nude mice. Efficient Lt-NLS/LacZ transduction is identified in monolayered islets cryopreserved with UW solution with AA2G. The present work demonstrates that the combination of UW solution with AA2G (100 mug/mL) would be a useful cryopreservation means for human islets. Human islets monolayer-cultured with 804G-derived ECM are efficiently transduced with a lentiviral vector Lt-NLS/LacZ

Dynamical Gauge Symmetry Breaking in SU(3)L⊗U(1)XSU(3)_L\otimes U(1)_X Extension of the Standard Model

We study the $SU(3)_L\otimes U(1)_X$ extension of the Standard model with a strong U(1) coupling. We argue that current experiments limit this coupling to be relatively large. The model is dynamically broken to the Standard $SU(2)_L \otimes U(1)$ model at the scale of a few TeV with all the extra gauge bosons and the exotic quarks acquiring masses much larger than the scale of electroweak symmetry breaking. Furthermore we find that the model leads to large dynamical mass of the top quark and hence also breaks the electroweak gauge symmetry. It therefore leads to large dynamical effects within the Standard model and can partially replace the Higgs interactions.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, no figures; revised version predicting realistic mass spectru