308 research outputs found
Abert’s Squirrel Management in Support of Endangered Mount Graham Red Squirrel Recovery in Arizona
Recovery of the endangered Mount Graham red squirrel (MGRS) will likely be long and challenging. Its limited habitat, isolation to Pinaleño Mountain range, and demographic characteristics restrict its ability to rebound quickly from threats that impact both the squirrel and its habitat. Currently, threats to the MGRS include habitat degradation and loss through high-severity wildfire, fire suppression activities, insect outbreaks, climate change, and human development, and predation, as well as competition with Abert’s squirrels. The most recent wildfire in 2017 impacted over 48,000 acres of already reduced habitat. A critical first step is to protect and manage the remaining population of the MGRS and its habitat. Management includes but is not limited to maintaining and improving the spruce-fir and mixed conifer biomes, while balancing the need to reduce risk of catastrophic wildfire with the needs of the squirrel. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services is conducting an Abert’s Squirrel Removal Project at the request of the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), in collaboration with a team of Mount Graham red squirrel experts and managers, to reduce the number of Abert’s squirrels in historical MGRS habitat throughout the Pinaleño Mountains to assist in meeting the needs of the USFWS’ 2011 MGRS draft recovery plan. Abert’s squirrel removals are conducted monthly to minimize competition with MGRS
Baryon Spectra and AdS/CFT Correspondence
We provide a detailed map between wrapped D3-branes in Anti-de Sitter (AdS)
backgrounds and dibaryon operators in the corresponding conformal field theory
(CFT). The effective five dimensional action governing the dynamics of AdS
space contains a gauge field that mediates interactions between
objects possessing R-charge. We show that the charge of these wrapped
D3-branes as measured by the gauge field matches the R-charge of the dibaryons
expected from field theory considerations. We are able, through a careful probe
brane calculation in an background, to understand the
exact relation between the mass of the wrapped D3-brane and the dimension of
the corresponding dibaryon. We also make some steps toward matching the
counting of dibaryon operators in the CFT with the ground states of a
supersymmetric quantum mechanical system whose target space is the moduli space
of D-branes. Finally, we discuss BPS excitations of the D3-brane and compare
them with higher dimension operators in the CFT.Comment: 24 pages, typos correcte
Matrix Models for Supersymmetric Chern-Simons Theories with an ADE Classification
We consider N=3 supersymmetric Chern-Simons (CS) theories that contain
product U(N) gauge groups and bifundamental matter fields. Using the matrix
model of Kapustin, Willett and Yaakov, we examine the Euclidean partition
function of these theories on an S^3 in the large N limit. We show that the
only such CS theories for which the long range forces between the eigenvalues
cancel have quivers which are in one-to-one correspondence with the simply
laced affine Dynkin diagrams. As the A_n series was studied in detail before,
in this paper we compute the partition function for the D_4 quiver. The D_4
example gives further evidence for a conjecture that the saddle point
eigenvalue distribution is determined by the distribution of gauge invariant
chiral operators. We also see that the partition function is invariant under a
generalized Seiberg duality for CS theories.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures; v2 refs added; v3 conventions in figure 3
altered, version to appear in JHE
From Necklace Quivers to the F-theorem, Operator Counting, and T(U(N))
The matrix model of Kapustin, Willett, and Yaakov is a powerful tool for
exploring the properties of strongly interacting superconformal Chern-Simons
theories in 2+1 dimensions. In this paper, we use this matrix model to study
necklace quiver gauge theories with {\cal N}=3 supersymmetry and U(N)^d gauge
groups in the limit of large N. In its simplest application, the matrix model
computes the free energy of the gauge theory on S^3. The conjectured F-theorem
states that this quantity should decrease under renormalization group flow. We
show that for a simple class of such flows, the F-theorem holds for our
necklace theories. We also provide a relationship between matrix model
eigenvalue distributions and numbers of chiral operators that we conjecture
holds more generally. Through the AdS/CFT correspondence, there is therefore a
natural dual geometric interpretation of the matrix model saddle point in terms
of volumes of 7-d tri-Sasaki Einstein spaces and some of their 5-d
submanifolds. As a final bonus, our analysis gives us the partition function of
the T(U(N)) theory on S^3.Comment: 3 figures, 41 pages; v2 minor improvements, refs adde
Brane Tilings and Exceptional Collections
Both brane tilings and exceptional collections are useful tools for
describing the low energy gauge theory on a stack of D3-branes probing a
Calabi-Yau singularity. We provide a dictionary that translates between these
two heretofore unconnected languages. Given a brane tiling, we compute an
exceptional collection of line bundles associated to the base of the
non-compact Calabi-Yau threefold. Given an exceptional collection, we derive
the periodic quiver of the gauge theory which is the graph theoretic dual of
the brane tiling. Our results give new insight to the construction of quiver
theories and their relation to geometry.Comment: 46 pages, 37 figures, JHEP3; v2: reference added, figure 13 correcte
The ABCDEF's of Matrix Models for Supersymmetric Chern-Simons Theories
We consider N = 3 supersymmetric Chern-Simons gauge theories with product
unitary and orthosymplectic groups and bifundamental and fundamental fields. We
study the partition functions on an S^3 by using the Kapustin-Willett-Yaakov
matrix model. The saddlepoint equations in a large N limit lead to a constraint
that the long range forces between the eigenvalues must cancel; the resulting
quiver theories are of affine Dynkin type. We introduce a folding/unfolding
trick which lets us, at the level of the large N matrix model, (i) map quivers
with orthosymplectic groups to those with unitary groups, and (ii) obtain
non-simply laced quivers from the corresponding simply laced quivers using a
Z_2 outer automorphism. The brane configurations of the quivers are described
in string theory and the folding/unfolding is interpreted as the
addition/subtraction of orientifold and orbifold planes. We also relate the
U(N) quiver theories to the affine ADE quiver matrix models with a
Stieltjes-Wigert type potential, and derive the generalized Seiberg duality in
2 + 1 dimensions from Seiberg duality in 3 + 1 dimensions.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figure
Molecular Pathways Underlying Adaptive Repair of the Injured Kidney: Novel Donation After Cardiac Death and Acute Kidney Injury Platforms
International audienceObjective: To test the hypothesis that gene expression profiling in peripheral blood from patients who have undergone kidney transplantation (KT) will provide mechanistic insights regarding graft repair and regeneration.Background: Renal grafts obtained from living donors (LD) typically function immediately, whereas organs from donation after cardiac death (DCD) or acute kidney injury (AKI) donors may experience delayed function with eventual recovery. Thus, recipients of LD, DCD, and AKI kidneys were studied to provide a more complete understanding of the molecular basis for renal recovery.Methods: Peripheral blood was collected from LD and DCD/AKI recipients before transplant and throughout the first 30 days thereafter. Total RNA was isolated and assayed on whole genome microarrays.Results: Comparison of longitudinal gene expression between LD and AKI/DCD revealed 2 clusters, representing 141 differentially expressed transcripts. A subset of 11 transcripts was found to be differentially expressed in AKI/DCD versus LD. In all recipients, the most robust gene expression changes were observed in the first day after transplantation. After day 1, gene expression profiles differed depending upon the source of the graft. In patients receiving LD grafts, the expression of most genes did not remain markedly elevated beyond the first day post-KT. In the AKI/DCD groups, elevations in gene expression were maintained for at least 5 days post-KT. In all recipients, the pattern of coordinate gene overexpression subsided by 28 to 30 days.Conclusions: Gene expression in peripheral blood of AKI/DCD recipients offers a novel platform to understand the potential mechanisms and timing of kidney repair and regeneration after transplantation
Vitamin D Supplementation to Prevent Acute Respiratory Tract Infections: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Of Individual Participant Data
OBJECTIVES To assess the overall effect of vitamin D supplementation on risk of acute respiratory tract infection, and to identify factors modifying this effect. DESIGN Systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data (IPD) from randomised controlled trials. DATA SOURCES Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trials Number registry from inception to December 2015. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR STUDY SELECTION Randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trials of supplementation with vitamin D3 or vitamin D2 of any duration were eligible for inclusion if they had been approved by a research ethics committee and if data on incidence of acute respiratory tract infection were collected prospectively and prespecified as an efficacy outcome. RESULTS 25 eligible randomised controlled trials (total 11 321 participants, aged 0 to 95 years) were identified. IPD were obtained for 10 933 (96.6%) participants. Vitamin D supplementation reduced the risk of acute respiratory tract infection among all participants (adjusted odds ratio 0.88, 95% confidence interval 0.81 to 0.96; P for heterogeneity \u3c0.001). In subgroup analysis, protective effects were seen in those receiving daily or weekly vitamin D without additional bolus doses (adjusted odds ratio 0.81, 0.72 to 0.91) but not in those receiving one or more bolus doses (adjusted odds ratio 0.97, 0.86 to 1.10; P for interaction=0.05). Among those receiving daily or weekly vitamin D, protective effects were stronger in those with baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels \u3c25 nmol/L (adjusted odds ratio 0.30, 0.17 to 0.53) than in those with baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels ≥25 nmol/L (adjusted odds ratio 0.75, 0.60 to 0.95; P for interaction=0.006). Vitamin D did not influence the proportion of participants experiencing at least one serious adverse event (adjusted odds ratio 0.98, 0.80 to 1.20, P=0.83). The body of evidence contributing to these analyses was assessed as being of high quality. CONCLUSIONS Vitamin D supplementation was safe and it protected against acute respiratory tract infection overall. Patients who were very vitamin D deficient and those not receiving bolus doses experienced the most benefit
Quality of life and neck pain in nurses
Objectives: To investigate the association between neck pain and psychological stress in nurses. Material and Methods: Nurses from the Avon Orthopaedic Centre completed 2 questionnaires: the Short Form-36 (SF-36) and 1 exploring neck pain and associated psychological stress. Results: Thirty four nurses entered the study (68% response). Twelve (35.3%) had current neck pain, 13 (38.2%) reported neck pain within the past year and 9 (26.5%) had no neck pain. Subjects with current neck pain had significantly lower mental health (47.1 vs. 70.4; p = 0.002), physical health (60.8 vs. 76.8; p = 0.010) and overall SF-36 scores (56.8 vs. 74.9; p = 0.003). Five (41.7%) subjects with current neck pain and 5 (38.5%) subjects with neck pain in the previous year attributed it to psychological stress. Conclusions: Over 1/3 of nurses have symptomatic neck pain and significantly lower mental and physical health scores. Managing psychological stress may reduce neck pain, leading to improved quality of life for nurses, financial benefits for the NHS, and improved patient care
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