Sterile neutrinos with eV masses in cosmology -- how disfavoured exactly?

We study cosmological models that contain sterile neutrinos with eV-range masses as suggested by reactor and short-baseline oscillation data. We confront these models with both precision cosmological data (probing the CMB decoupling epoch) and light-element abundances (probing the BBN epoch). In the minimal LambdaCDM model, such sterile neutrinos are strongly disfavoured by current data because they contribute too much hot dark matter. However, if the cosmological framework is extended to include also additional relativistic degrees of freedom -- beyond the three standard neutrinos and the putative sterile neutrinos, then the hot dark matter constraint on the sterile states is considerably relaxed. A further improvement is achieved by allowing a dark energy equation of state parameter w<-1. While BBN strongly disfavours extra radiation beyond the assumed eV-mass sterile neutrino, this constraint can be circumvented by a small nu_e degeneracy. Any model containing eV-mass sterile neutrinos implies also strong modifications of other cosmological parameters. Notably, the inferred cold dark matter density can shift up by 20 to 75% relative to the standard LambdaCDM value.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, v2: minor changes, matches version accepted for publication in JCA

MicroRNA-129-5p is regulated by choline availability and controls EGF receptor synthesis and neurogenesis in the cerebral cortex

Choline availability modulates neurogenesis and cerebral cortex development through the regulation of neural progenitor cell (NPC) proliferative and differentiation capacity. In this study, we demonstrated that cortical NPC self-renewal is controlled by choline via the expression of a microRNA (miR-129-5p), whose role in the developing brain has not been examined, and which, in turn, inhibits synthesis of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) protein. Specifically, we found that low choline (LC) availability led to the upregulation of miR-129-5p expression in cortical NPCs in vitro and in vivo, causing the downregulation of EGFR and thereby disrupting NPC self-renewal and cortical neurogenesis. Furthermore, in response to LC availability, methylation potential (the S-adenosylmethionine:S-adenosylhomocysteine ratio) in the developing brain was reduced. Restoring methylation potential in LC cortical NPCs led to the re-establishment of normal miR-129-5p expression. We concluded that inhibiting miR-129-5p function and restoring EGFR protein levels in vivo is sufficient to reverse LC-induced defects in cortical NPC self-renewal. For the first time, to our knowledge, we have identified the molecular links that explain how a change in the availability of the diet metabolite choline impacts the essential cellular processes underlying brain development

Universal procedure to cure future singularities of dark energy models

A systematic search for different viable models of the dark energy universe, all of which give rise to finite-time, future singularities, is undertaken, with the purpose to try to find a solution to this common problem. After some work, a universal procedure to cure all future singularities is developed and carefully tested with the help of explicit examples corresponding to each one of the four different types of possible singularities, as classified in the literature. The cases of a fluid with an equation of state which depends on some parameter, of modified gravity non-minimally coupled to a matter Lagrangian, of non-local gravity, and of isotropic turbulence in a dark fluid universe theory are investigated in detail

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Holographic Dark Energy Model and Scalar-Tensor Theories

We study the holographic dark energy model in a generalized scalar tensor theory. In a universe filled with cold dark matter and dark energy, the effect of potential of the scalar field is investigated in the equation of state parameter. We show that for a various types of potentials, the equation of state parameter is negative and transition from deceleration to acceleration expansion of the universe is possible.Comment: 11 pages, no figure. To appear in General Relativity and Gravitatio

Protecting the primordial baryon asymmetry in the seesaw model compatible with WMAP and KamLAND

We require that the primordial baryon asymmetry is not washed out in the seesaw model compatible with the recent results of WMAP and the neutrino oscillation experiments including the first results of KamLAND. We find that only the case of the normal neutrino mass hierarchy with an approximate $L_{e}$-symmetry satisfies the requirement. We further derive, depending on the signs of neutrino mass eigenvalues, three types of neutrino mass matrixes, where the values of each element are rather precisely fixed.Comment: 21pages; added reference

Event Shape/Energy Flow Correlations

We introduce a set of correlations between energy flow and event shapes that are sensitive to the flow of color at short distances in jet events. These correlations are formulated for a general set of event shapes, which includes jet broadening and thrust as special cases. We illustrate the method for electron-positron annihilation dijet events, and calculate the correlation at leading logarithm in the energy flow and at next-to-leading-logarithm in the event shape.Comment: 43 pages, eight eps figures; minor changes, references adde

Cancer-associated mutations of the adenosine A2A receptor have diverse influences on ligand binding and receptor functions

The adenosine A(2A) receptor (A(2A)AR) is a class A G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). It is an immune checkpoint in the tumor micro-environment and has become an emerging target for cancer treatment. In this study, we aimed to explore the effects of cancer-patient-derived A(2A)AR mutations on ligand binding and receptor functions. The wild-type A(2A)AR and 15 mutants identified by Genomic Data Commons (GDC) in human cancers were expressed in HEK293T cells. Firstly, we found that the binding affinity for agonist NECA was decreased in six mutants but increased for the V275A mutant. Mutations A165V and A265V decreased the binding affinity for antagonist ZM241385. Secondly, we found that the potency of NECA (EC50) in an impedance-based cell-morphology assay was mostly correlated with the binding affinity for the different mutants. Moreover, S132L and H278N were found to shift the A(2A)AR towards the inactive state. Importantly, we found that ZM241385 could not inhibit the activation of V275A and P285L stimulated by NECA. Taken together, the cancer-associated mutations of A(2A)AR modulated ligand binding and receptor functions. This study provides fundamental insights into the structure-activity relationship of the A(2A)AR and provides insights for A(2A)AR-related personalized treatment in cancer.Toxicolog

Dark Energy and Neutrino CPT Violation

In this paper we study the dynamical CPT violation in the neutrino sector induced by the dark energy of the Universe. Specifically we consider a dark energy model where the dark energy scalar derivatively interacts with the right-handed neutrinos. This type of derivative coupling leads to a cosmological CPT violation during the evolution of the background field of the dark energy. We calculate the induced CPT violation of left-handed neutrinos and find the CPT violation produced in this way is consistent with the present experimental limit and sensitive to the future neutrino oscillation experiments, such as the neutrino factory.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. Typos corrected and references added. To be published in EPJ