3,170 research outputs found
Molecular footprints of the Holocene retreat of dwarf birch in Britain
© 2014 The Authors. Molecular Ecology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
Proforma-based reporting in rectal cancer
The improvements in outcomes associate with the use of preoperative therapy rather than postoperative treatment means that clinical teams are increasingly reliant on imaging to identify high-risk features of disease to determine treatment plans. For many solid tumours, including rectal cancer, validated techniques have emerged in identifying prognostic factors pre-operatively. In the MERCURY study, a standardised scanning technique and the use of reporting proformas enabled consistently accurate assessment and documentation of the prognostic factors. This is now an essential tool to enable our clinical colleagues to make treatment decisions. In this review, we describe the proforma-based reporting tool that enables a systematic approach to the interpretation of the magnetic resonance images, thereby enabling all the clinically relevant features to be adequately assessed. © 2009 International Cancer Imaging Society
A Cervid Vocal Fold Model Suggests Greater Glottal Efficiency in Calling at High Frequencies
Male Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) produce loud and high fundamental frequency bugles during the mating season, in contrast to the male European Red Deer (Cervus elaphus scoticus) who produces loud and low fundamental frequency roaring calls. A critical step in understanding vocal communication is to relate sound complexity to anatomy and physiology in a causal manner. Experimentation at the sound source, often difficult in vivo in mammals, is simulated here by a finite element model of the larynx and a wave propagation model of the vocal tract, both based on the morphology and biomechanics of the elk. The model can produce a wide range of fundamental frequencies. Low fundamental frequencies require low vocal fold strain, but large lung pressure and large glottal flow if sound intensity level is to exceed 70 dB at 10 m distance. A high-frequency bugle requires both large muscular effort (to strain the vocal ligament) and high lung pressure (to overcome phonation threshold pressure), but at least 10 dB more intensity level can be achieved. Glottal efficiency, the ration of radiated sound power to aerodynamic power at the glottis, is higher in elk, suggesting an advantage of high-pitched signaling. This advantage is based on two aspects; first, the lower airflow required for aerodynamic power and, second, an acoustic radiation advantage at higher frequencies. Both signal types are used by the respective males during the mating season and probably serve as honest signals. The two signal types relate differently to physical qualities of the sender. The low-frequency sound (Red Deer call) relates to overall body size via a strong relationship between acoustic parameters and the size of vocal organs and body size. The high-frequency bugle may signal muscular strength and endurance, via a ‘vocalizing at the edge’ mechanism, for which efficiency is critical
A de Sitter Hoedown
Rotating black holes in de Sitter space are known to have interesting limits
where the temperatures of the black hole and cosmological horizon are equal. We
give a complete description of the thermal phase structure of all allowed
rotating black hole configurations. Only one configuration, the rotating Nariai
limit, has the black hole and cosmological horizons both in thermal and
rotational equilibrium, in that both the temperatures and angular velocities of
the two horizons coincide. The thermal evolution of the spacetime is shown to
lead to the pure de Sitter spacetime, which is the most entropic configuration.
We then provide a comprehensive study of the wave equation for a massless
scalar in the rotating Nariai geometry. The absorption cross section at the
black hole horizon is computed and a condition is found for when the scattering
becomes superradiant. The boundary-to-boundary correlators at finite
temperature are computed at future infinity. The quasinormal modes are obtained
in explicit form. Finally, we obtain an expression for the expectation value of
the number of particles produced at future infinity starting from a vacuum
state with no incoming particles at past infinity. Some of our results are used
to provide further evidence for a recent holographic proposal between the
rotating Nariai geometry and a two-dimensional conformal field theory.Comment: 35 + 1 pages, 9 figures; v3: typos correcte
Quantum W-symmetry in AdS_3
It has recently been argued that, classically, massless higher spin theories
in AdS_3 have an enlarged W_N-symmetry as the algebra of asymptotic isometries.
In this note we provide evidence that this symmetry is realised
(perturbatively) in the quantum theory. We perform a one loop computation of
the fluctuations for a massless spin field around a thermal AdS_3
background. The resulting determinants are evaluated using the heat kernel
techniques of arXiv:0911.5085. The answer factorises holomorphically, and the
contributions from the various spin fields organise themselves into vacuum
characters of the W_N symmetry. For the case of the hs(1,1) theory consisting
of an infinite tower of massless higher spin particles, the resulting answer
can be simply expressed in terms of (two copies of) the MacMahon function.Comment: 23 pages; v2: References adde
Holographic renormalization as a canonical transformation
The gauge/string dualities have drawn attention to a class of variational
problems on a boundary at infinity, which are not well defined unless a certain
boundary term is added to the classical action. In the context of supergravity
in asymptotically AdS spaces these problems are systematically addressed by the
method of holographic renormalization. We argue that this class of a priori ill
defined variational problems extends far beyond the realm of holographic
dualities. As we show, exactly the same issues arise in gravity in non
asymptotically AdS spaces, in point particles with certain unbounded from below
potentials, and even fundamental strings in flat or AdS backgrounds. We show
that the variational problem in all such cases can be made well defined by the
following procedure, which is intrinsic to the system in question and does not
rely on the existence of a holographically dual theory: (i) The first step is
the construction of the space of the most general asymptotic solutions of the
classical equations of motion that inherits a well defined symplectic form from
that on phase space. The requirement of a well defined symplectic form is
essential and often leads to a necessary repackaging of the degrees of freedom.
(ii) Once the space of asymptotic solutions has been constructed in terms of
the correct degrees of freedom, then there exists a boundary term that is
obtained as a certain solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation which
simultaneously makes the variational problem well defined and preserves the
symplectic form. This procedure is identical to holographic renormalization in
the case of asymptotically AdS gravity, but it is applicable to any Hamiltonian
system.Comment: 37 pages; v2 minor corrections in section 2, 2 references and a
footnote on Palatini gravity added. Version to appear in JHE
On renormalization group flows and the a-theorem in 6d
We study the extension of the approach to the a-theorem of Komargodski and
Schwimmer to quantum field theories in d=6 spacetime dimensions. The dilaton
effective action is obtained up to 6th order in derivatives. The anomaly flow
a_UV - a_IR is the coefficient of the 6-derivative Euler anomaly term in this
action. It then appears at order p^6 in the low energy limit of n-point
scattering amplitudes of the dilaton for n > 3. The detailed structure with the
correct anomaly coefficient is confirmed by direct calculation in two examples:
(i) the case of explicitly broken conformal symmetry is illustrated by the free
massive scalar field, and (ii) the case of spontaneously broken conformal
symmetry is demonstrated by the (2,0) theory on the Coulomb branch. In the
latter example, the dilaton is a dynamical field so 4-derivative terms in the
action also affect n-point amplitudes at order p^6. The calculation in the
(2,0) theory is done by analyzing an M5-brane probe in AdS_7 x S^4.
Given the confirmation in two distinct models, we attempt to use dispersion
relations to prove that the anomaly flow is positive in general. Unfortunately
the 4-point matrix element of the Euler anomaly is proportional to stu and
vanishes for forward scattering. Thus the optical theorem cannot be applied to
show positivity. Instead the anomaly flow is given by a dispersion sum rule in
which the integrand does not have definite sign. It may be possible to base a
proof of the a-theorem on the analyticity and unitarity properties of the
6-point function, but our preliminary study reveals some difficulties.Comment: 41 pages, 5 figure
General Form of the Color Potential Produced by Color Charges of the Quark
Constant electric charge satisfies the continuity equation where is the current density of the electron.
However, the Yang-Mills color current density of the quark
satisfies the equation which is not a continuity
equation () which implies that a color charge
of the quark is not constant but it is time dependent where
are color indices. In this paper we derive general form of color
potential produced by color charges of the quark. We find that the general form
of the color potential produced by the color charges of the quark at rest is
given by \Phi^a(x) =A_0^a(t,{\bf x}) =\frac{q^b(t-\frac{r}{c})}{r}\[\frac{{\rm
exp}[g\int dr \frac{Q(t-\frac{r}{c})}{r}] -1}{g \int dr
\frac{Q(t-\frac{r}{c})}{r}}\]_{ab} where integration is an indefinite
integration, ~~ , ~~, ~~ is the retarded time, ~~ is the speed
of light, ~~ is the position of the quark at the retarded
time and the repeated color indices (=1,2,...8) are summed. For constant
color charge we reproduce the Coulomb-like potential
which is consistent with the Maxwell theory where
constant electric charge produces the Coulomb potential
.Comment: Final version, two more sections added, 45 pages latex, accepted for
publication in JHE
Spina bifida-predisposing heterozygous mutations in Planar Cell Polarity genes and Zic2 reduce bone mass in young mice
Fractures are a common comorbidity in children with the neural tube defect (NTD) spina bifida. Mutations in the Wnt/planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway contribute to NTDs in humans and mice, but whether this pathway independently determines bone mass is poorly understood. Here, we first confirmed that core Wnt/PCP components are expressed in osteoblasts and osteoclasts in vitro. In vivo, we performed detailed µCT comparisons of bone structure in tibiae from young male mice heterozygous for NTD-associated mutations versus WT littermates. PCP signalling disruption caused by Vangl2 (Vangl2Lp/+) or Celsr1 (Celsr1Crsh/+) mutations significantly reduced trabecular bone mass and distal tibial cortical thickness. NTD-associated mutations in non-PCP transcription factors were also investigated. Pax3 mutation (Pax3Sp2H/+) had minimal effects on bone mass. Zic2 mutation (Zic2Ku/+) significantly altered the position of the tibia/fibula junction and diminished cortical bone in the proximal tibia. Beyond these genes, we bioinformatically documented the known extent of shared genetic networks between NTDs and bone properties. 46 genes involved in neural tube closure are annotated with bone-related ontologies. These findings document shared genetic networks between spina bifida risk and bone structure, including PCP components and Zic2. Genetic variants which predispose to spina bifida may therefore independently diminish bone mass
Tumour-derived alkaline phosphatase regulates tumour growth, epithelial plasticity and disease-free survival in metastatic prostate cancer
BACKGROUND: Recent evidence suggests that bone-related parameters are the main prognostic factors for overall survival in advanced prostate cancer (PCa), with elevated circulating levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) thought to reflect the dysregulated bone formation accompanying distant metastases. We have identified that PCa cells express ALPL, the gene that encodes for tissue nonspecific ALP, and hypothesised that tumour-derived ALPL may contribute to disease progression. METHODS: Functional effects of ALPL inhibition were investigated in metastatic PCa cell lines. ALPL gene expression was analysed from published PCa data sets, and correlated with disease-free survival and metastasis. RESULTS: ALPL expression was increased in PCa cells from metastatic sites. A reduction in tumour-derived ALPL expression or ALP activity increased cell death, mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition and reduced migration. Alkaline phosphatase activity was decreased by the EMT repressor Snail. In men with PCa, tumour-derived ALPL correlated with EMT markers, and high ALPL expression was associated with a significant reduction in disease-free survival. CONCLUSIONS: Our studies reveal the function of tumour-derived ALPL in regulating cell death and epithelial plasticity, and demonstrate a strong association between ALPL expression in PCa cells and metastasis or disease-free survival, thus identifying tumour-derived ALPL as a major contributor to the pathogenesis of PCa progression.British Journal of Cancer advance online publication, 22 December 2016; doi:10.1038/bjc.2016.402 www.bjcancer.com
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