Dualities and Phases of 3D N=1 SQCD

We study gauge theories with N=1 supersymmetry in 2+1 dimensions. We start by calculating the 1-loop effective superpotential for matter in an arbitrary representation. We then restrict ourselves to gauge theories with fundamental matter. Using the 1-loop superpotential, we find a universal form for the phase diagrams of many such gauge theories, which is proven to persist to all orders in perturbation theory using a symmetry argument. This allows us to conjecture new dualities for N=1 gauge theories with fundamental matter. We also show that these dualities are related to results in N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories, which provides further evidence for them.Comment: 45 pages, 7 figure

Good News, Bad News: A Sentiment Analysis of the 2016 Election Russian Facebook Ads

You are viewing a publication from UT Affiliates that was in the Good Systems Network Digest in May 2020.Office of the VP for Researc

Establishing Initial Content Validity, Interrater Reliability, and Intra-rater Reliability of the Revised Visual Activity Sort for At-Risk Adolescents and Young Adults

Background: The purpose of this study was to establish the content validity and inter- and intra-rater reliability of the revised Visual Activity Sort, which is a card sorting assessment designed specifically for at-risk adolescents and young adults. Method: Six content experts were selected and asked to rate the relevancy of each of the 121 Visual Activity Sort cards. Two trained raters participated in the establishment of inter- and intra-rater reliability with 30 high school students attending a charter school for at-risk adolescents and young adults in a socioeconomically disadvantaged urban area. Results: Based on the content experts’ ratings, a final summary content validity index of 74 maintained cards was established as high (CVI = 0.91, p \u3c 0.05). Both inter- and intra-rater reliability were found to be high with ICCs of 0.83 and 0.84 (p \u3c .000), respectively. Conclusion: Raters and authors recommended the addition of five cards addressing social media and internet safety, setting and maintaining healthy boundaries, managing social media and internet use and addiction, and navigating government agencies. These cards will be added and examined by content experts in a future study

The Properties of Type Ia Supernova Host Galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We investigate the properties and environments of Type Ia Supernova (SN Ia) host galaxies in the Stripe 82 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey centered on the celestial equator. Host galaxies are defined as the galaxy nearest to the supernova (SN) in terms of angular distance whose velocity difference from the SN is less than 1000 km s^{-1}. Eighty seven SN Ia host galaxies are selected from the SDSS Main galaxy sample with the apparent r-band magnitude m_r < 17.77, and compared with the SDSS Main galaxies. The SN Ia rates for early and late-type galaxies are 0.81 +- 0.19 SN (100yr)^{-1} and 0.99 +- 0.21 SN (100yr)^{-1}, respectively. We find that the host galaxies have a color distribution consistent with that of the Main galaxies, regardless of their morphology. However, host galaxies are on average brighter than the Main galaxies by ~ 0.3 mag over the range of -18.3 > M_r > -21.3. But the brighter ends of their luminosity distributions are similar. The distribution of the distance to the nearest neighbor galaxy shows that SNe Ia are more likely to occur in isolated galaxies without close neighbors. We also find that the SN Ia host galaxies are preferentially located in a region close to massive galaxy clusters compared to the Main galaxies.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication on Ap

Lower Levels of Glutathione (GSH) in the Brains of Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Patients Measured by 1H Magnetic Resonance Chemical Shift Imaging at 3 T

BACKGROUND: Disability levels for patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) often worsen despite a stable MRI T2 lesion burden. The presence of oxidative stress in the absence of measurable inflammation could help explain this phenomenon. In this study, the assessment of an in vivo marker of oxidative stress, cerebral glutathione (GSH), using magnetic resonance chemical shift imaging (CSI) is described, and GSH levels were compared in patients with SPMS and healthy controls. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether GSH, a key antioxidant in the brain, is lower in the SPMS patients compared to matched controls. METHODS: Seventeen patients with SPMS (Expanded Disability Status Scale = 4.0–7.0; length of MS diagnosis = 19.4±7 years) and 17 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were studied. GSH levels were measured in the fronto-parietal regions of the brain using a specially designed magnetic resonance spectroscopy technique, CSI of GSH, at 3T. RESULTS: The levels of GSH were lower for SPMS patients than for controls, the largest reduction (18.5%) being in the frontal region (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: The lower GSH levels in these patients indicate the presence of oxidative stress in SPMS. This process could be at least partially responsible for ongoing functional decline in SPMS

Identification of correlated genetic variants jointly associated with rheumatoid arthritis using ridge regression

Abstract Using the North American Rheumatoid Arthritis Consortium genome-wide association dataset, we applied ridged, multiple least-squares regression to identify genetic variants with apparent unique contributions to variation of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP), a newly identified clinical risk factor for development of rheumatoid arthritis. Within a 2.7-Mbp region on chromosome 6 around the well studied HLA-DRB1 locus, ridge regression identified a single-nucleotide polymorphism that was associated with anti-CCP variation when including the additive effects of other single-nucleotide polymorphisms in a multivariable analysis, but that showed only a weak direct association with anti-CCP. This suggests that multivariable methods can be used to identify potentially relevant genetic variants in regions of interest that would be difficult to detect based on direct associations.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117369/1/12919_2009_Article_2814.pd

4-aminopyridyl-based lead compounds targeting CYP51 prevent spontaneous parasite relapse in a chronic model and improve cardiac pathology in an acute model of Trypanosoma cruzi infection.

BackgroundChagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is the leading cause of heart failure in Latin America. The clinical treatment of Chagas disease is limited to two 60 year-old drugs, nifurtimox and benznidazole, that have variable efficacy against different strains of the parasite and may lead to severe side effects. CYP51 is an enzyme in the sterol biosynthesis pathway that has been exploited for the development of therapeutics for fungal and parasitic infections. In a target-based drug discovery program guided by x-ray crystallography, we identified the 4-aminopyridyl-based series of CYP51 inhibitors as being efficacious versus T.cruzi in vitro; two of the most potent leads, 9 and 12, have now been evaluated for toxicity and efficacy in mice.Methodology/principal findingsBoth acute and chronic animal models infected with wild type or transgenic T. cruzi strains were evaluated. There was no evidence of toxicity in the 28-day dosing study of uninfected animals, as judged by the monitoring of multiple serum and histological parameters. In two acute models of Chagas disease, 9 and 12 drastically reduced parasitemia, increased survival of mice, and prevented liver and heart injury. None of the compounds produced long term sterile cure. In the less severe acute model using the transgenic CL-Brenner strain of T.cruzi, parasitemia relapsed upon drug withdrawal. In the chronic model, parasitemia fell to a background level and, as evidenced by the bioluminescence detection of T. cruzi expressing the red-shifted luciferase marker, mice remained negative for 4 weeks after drug withdrawal. Two immunosuppression cycles with cyclophosphamide were required to re-activate the parasites. Although no sterile cure was achieved, the suppression of parasitemia in acutely infected mice resulted in drastically reduced inflammation in the heart.Conclusions/significanceThe positive outcomes achieved in the absence of sterile cure suggest that the target product profile in anti-Chagasic drug discovery should be revised in favor of safe re-administration of the medication during the lifespan of a Chagas disease patient. A medication that reduces parasite burden may halt or slow progression of cardiomyopathy and therefore improve both life expectancy and quality of life

Phenol-Catalyzed Discharge in the Aprotic Lithium-Oxygen Battery

Discharge in the lithium‐O2 battery is known to occur either by a solution mechanism, which enables high capacity and rates, or a surface mechanism, which passivates the electrode surface and limits performance. The development of strategies to promote solution‐phase discharge in stable electrolyte solutions is a central challenge for development of the lithium‐O2 battery. Here we show that the introduction of the protic additive phenol to ethers can promote a solution‐phase discharge mechanism. Phenol acts as a phase‐transfer catalyst, dissolving the product Li2O2, avoiding electrode passivation and forming large particles of Li2O2 product—vital requirements for high performance. As a result, we demonstrate capacities of over 9 mAh cm−2areal, which is a 35‐fold increase in capacity compared to without phenol. We show that the critical requirement is the strength of the conjugate base such that an equilibrium exists between protonation of the base and protonation of Li2O2

Iron deposition is independent of cellular inflammation in a cerebral model of multiple sclerosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Perivenular inflammation is a common early pathological feature in multiple sclerosis (MS). A recent hypothesis stated that CNS inflammation is induced by perivenular iron deposits that occur in response to altered blood flow in MS subjects. In order to evaluate this hypothesis, an animal model was developed, called cerebral experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (cEAE), which presents with CNS perivascular iron deposits. This model was used to investigate the relationship of iron deposition to inflammation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In order to generate cEAE, mice were given an encephalitogen injection followed by a stereotactic intracerebral injection of TNF-α and IFN-γ. Control animals received encephalitogen followed by an intracerebral injection of saline, or no encephalitogen plus an intracerebral injection of saline or cytokines. Laser Doppler was used to measure cerebral blood flow. MRI and iron histochemistry were used to localize iron deposits. Additional histological procedures were used to localize inflammatory cell infiltrates, microgliosis and astrogliosis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Doppler analysis revealed that cEAE mice had a reduction in cerebral blood flow compared to controls. MRI revealed T2 hypointense areas in cEAE animals that spatially correlated with iron deposition around vessels and at some sites of inflammation as detected by iron histochemistry. Vessels with associated iron deposits were distributed across both hemispheres. Mice with cEAE had more iron-labeled vessels compared to controls, but these vessels were not commonly associated with inflammatory cell infiltrates. Some iron-laden vessels had associated microgliosis that was above the background microglial response, and iron deposits were observed within reactive microglia. Vessels with associated astrogliosis were more commonly observed without colocalization of iron deposits.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The findings indicate that iron deposition around vessels can occur independently of inflammation providing evidence against the hypothesis that iron deposits account for inflammatory cell infiltrates observed in MS.</p