Probing doubly charged Higgs in e+e−e^+ e^- Colliders in 3-3-1 Model

The SU(3)_L\otimesU(1)_N electroweak model predicts new Higgs bosons beyond the one of the standard model. In this work we investigate the signature and production of doubly charged Higgs bosons in the $e^-e^+$ International Linear Collider and in the CERN Linear Collider. We compute the branching ratios for the doubly charged gauge bosons of the model.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figure

Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate (EGCG) Suppresses Pancreatic Cancer Cell Growth, Invasion, and Migration partly through the Inhibition of Akt Pathway and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition: Enhanced Efficacy when Combined with Gemcitabine.

Most pancreatic cancers are usually diagnosed at an advanced stage when they have already metastasized. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a major polyphenolic constituent of green tea, has been shown to reduce pancreatic cancer growth, but its effect on metastasis remains elusive. This study evaluated the capacity of EGCG to inhibit pancreatic cancer cell migration and invasion and the underlying mechanisms. EGCG reduced pancreatic cancer cell growth, migration, and invasion in vitro and in vivo. EGCG prevented "Cadherin switch" and decreased the expression level of TCF8/ZEB1, β-Catenin, and Vimentin. Mechanistically, EGCG inhibited the Akt pathway in a time-dependent manner, by suppressing IGFR phosphorylation and inducing Akt degradation. Co-treatment with catalase or N-Acetyl-L-cysteine did not abrogate EGCG's effect on the Akt pathway or cell growth. Moreover, EGCG synergized with gemcitabine to suppress pancreatic cancer cell growth, migration, and invasion, through modulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers and inhibiting Akt pathway. In summary, EGCG may prove beneficial to improve gemcitabine sensitivity in inhibiting pancreatic cancer cell migration and invasion, to some extent through the inhibition of Akt pathway and epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Applying knowledge management strategies to economic development in sub-Saharan Africa

Sustainability looks to achieve best outcomes for human and natural environments both now and in the indefinite future. It relates to the continuity of economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human society, as well as the non-human environment. This paper examines economic development as one aspect of sustainability, with a focus on knowledge management as an economic development strategy. Using Grey’s categories of knowledge management, the authors address sustainable economic development in the context of sub-Saharan Africa. Production capability is no longer completely dependent on capital and equipment; information and knowledge assets are increasingly important. In this information economy, success comes from harnessing the information and knowledge of a community. Such “indigenous knowledge,” local and often tacit, exists in every community, every region and every country. This knowledge is useful in identifying new entrepreneurial opportunities, as well as for sustaining and advancing local businesses. Sub-Saharan Africa provides an excellent case study. No other region of the world is in more dire need of development. The 700 million people in this area face tremendous challenges, including the world’s highest incidence of HIV/AIDS, deep poverty, unemployment, political instability, and a host of related problems. Key factors for using knowledge management as an economic development strategy in the region will include ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) literacy; uncovering and developing local intellectual assets; capturing tacit knowledge; internal and external knowledge sharing; and managing political, social and technological barriers. Other specific recommendations include promoting ICT literacy through training programs; leveraging internet and email technologies for community building; investing financial resources in R & D; and developing metrics for outcome assessment.Keywords: Knowledge management, economic development, sub-Saharan Africa

Data mining with neural networks and support vector machines using the R/rminer tool

We present rminer, our open source library for the R tool that facilitates the use of data mining (DM) algorithms, such as neural Networks (NNs) and support vector machines (SVMs), in classification and regression tasks. Tutorial examples with real-world problems (i.e. satellite image analysis and prediction of car prices) were used to demonstrate the rminer capabilities and NN/SVM advantages. Additional experiments were also held to test the rminer predictive capabilities, revealing competitive performances.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - PTDC/EIA/64541/200

Fock quantization of a scalar field with time dependent mass on the three-sphere: unitarity and uniqueness

We study the Fock description of a quantum free field on the three-sphere with a mass that depends explicitly on time, also interpretable as an explicitly time dependent quadratic potential. We show that, under quite mild restrictions on the time dependence of the mass, the specific Fock representation of the canonical commutation relations which is naturally associated with a massless free field provides a unitary dynamics even when the time varying mass is present. Moreover, we demonstrate that this Fock representation is the only acceptable one, up to unitary equivalence, if the vacuum has to be SO(4)-invariant (i.e., invariant under the symmetries of the field equation) and the dynamics is required to be unitary. In particular, the analysis and uniqueness of the quantization can be applied to the treatment of cosmological perturbations around Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetimes with the spatial topology of the three-sphere, like e.g. for gravitational waves (tensor perturbations). In addition, we analyze the extension of our results to free fields with a time dependent mass defined on other compact spatial manifolds. We prove the uniqueness of the Fock representation in the case of a two-sphere as well, and discuss the case of a three-torus.Comment: 30 page

Fractional Calculus: Historical Notes Apuntes Históricos del Cálculo Fraccionario

En este trabajo, presentamos algunos apuntes históricos del cálculo fraccionario Local, y destacamos algunas propiedades y aplicaciones de estas nuevas herramientas matemicasIn this paper, we present some historical notes to Generalized Calculus, sometimes called Local Fractional Calculus, and highlight some properties and applications of these new mathematical tool

Laboratory Evaluation Of HMA Mixes Manufactured With Pg64-28nv And Pg64-28pm Polymer-modified Asphalt Binders

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures manufactured with PG64-28PM to those manufactured with PG64-28NV. Additionally, a mechanistic-empirical analysis was conducted to evaluate the impact of the two polymer-modified HMA mixtures on predicted pavement performance

Uniqueness of the Fock quantization of fields with unitary dynamics in nonstationary spacetimes

The Fock quantization of fields propagating in cosmological spacetimes is not uniquely determined because of several reasons. Apart from the ambiguity in the choice of the quantum representation of the canonical commutation relations, there also exists certain freedom in the choice of field: one can scale it arbitrarily absorbing background functions, which are spatially homogeneous but depend on time. Each nontrivial scaling turns out into a different dynamics and, in general, into an inequivalent quantum field theory. In this work we analyze this freedom at the quantum level for a scalar field in a nonstationary, homogeneous spacetime whose spatial sections have $S^3$ topology. A scaling of the configuration variable is introduced as part of a linear, time dependent canonical transformation in phase space. In this context, we prove in full detail a uniqueness result about the Fock quantization requiring that the dynamics be unitary and the spatial symmetries of the field equations have a natural unitary implementation. The main conclusion is that, with those requirements, only one particular canonical transformation is allowed, and thus only one choice of field-momentum pair (up to irrelevant constant scalings). This complements another previous uniqueness result for scalar fields with a time varying mass on $S^3$, which selects a specific equivalence class of Fock representations of the canonical commutation relations under the conditions of a unitary evolution and the invariance of the vacuum under the background symmetries. In total, the combination of these two different statements of uniqueness picks up a unique Fock quantization for the system. We also extend our proof of uniqueness to other compact topologies and spacetime dimensions.Comment: 12 page

Decoherence times of universal two-qubit gates in the presence of broad-band noise

The controlled generation of entangled states of two quantum bits is a fundamental step toward the implementation of a quantum information processor. In nano-devices this operation is counteracted by the solid-state environment, characterized by a broadband and non-monotonic power spectrum, often 1/f at low frequencies. For single-qubit gates, incoherent processes due to fluctuations acting on different time scales result in peculiar short- and long-time behavior. Markovian noise gives rise to exponential decay with relaxation and decoherence times, T1 and T2, simply related to the symmetry of the qubit-environment coupling Hamiltonian. Noise with the 1/f power spectrum at low frequencies is instead responsible for defocusing processes and algebraic short-time behavior. In this paper, we identify the relevant decoherence times of an entangling operation due to the different decoherence channels originating from solid-state noise. Entanglement is quantified by concurrence, which we evaluate in an analytic form employing a multi-stage approach. The 'optimal' operating conditions of reduced sensitivity to noise sources are identified. We apply this analysis to a superconducting \sqrt{i-SWAP} gate for experimental noise spectra.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figure

On the Schroedinger Representation for a Scalar Field on Curved Spacetime

It is generally known that linear (free) field theories are one of the few QFT that are exactly soluble. In the Schroedinger functional description of a scalar field on flat Minkowski spacetime and for flat embeddings, it is known that the usual Fock representation is described by a Gaussian measure. In this paper, arbitrary globally hyperbolic space-times and embeddings of the Cauchy surface are considered. The classical structures relevant for quantization are used for constructing the Schroedinger representation in the general case. It is shown that in this case, the measure is also Gaussian. Possible implications for the program of canonical quantization of midisuperspace models are pointed out.Comment: 11 pages, Revtex, no figure