Structure and texture of the quark mass matrix

Starting from a weak basis in which the up (or down) quark matrix is diagonal, we obtain an exact set of equations for the quark mass matrix elements in terms of known observables. We make a numerical analysis of the down (up) quark mass matrix. Using the data available for the quark masses and mixing angles at different energy scales, we found a numerical expression for these matrices. We suggest that it is not possible to have an specific texture from this analysis. We also examine the most general case when the complex phases are introduced in the mass matrix. We find the numerical value for these phases as a function of $\delta$, the CP-violationg phase.Comment: 7 pages, we use the macros of Elsevie

ANALISIS BIAYA PANEN DAN PASCA PANEN CENGKEH DI DESA KAWENG KECAMATAN KAKAS KABUPATEN MINAHASA

This study aims to analyze the cost of harvest and post-harvest cloves. This research was conducted in Kaweng Village Kakas Subdistrict of Minahasa Regency and lasted from July until September 2016. The research method used in this research is survey method. Data collection method in this research is by using primary data and secondary data. Sampling method is by using simple random sampling method. The data analysis used is the data collected tabulated by using cost analysis. The results of this study was that each harvest activity costs vary, it is issued in accordance with the needs of farmers to support harvest and post-harvest activities for 2-3 months during the 1st harvest and post harvest period. The largest average is at the cost of picking of Rp.222.352.500. Each production was influenced by variable costs and fixed costs at one time of production at the price of the cloves present at harvest, where the variable cost amounts to Rp.360.243.500 and fixed costs Rp.1.866.000 in production amount of 8.677 kg with an average price of Rp.106.050 per kg.*jnkd*

inSPOT: The First Online STD Partner Notification System Using Electronic Postcards

Deb Levine and colleagues describe an innovative online e-card service for partner notification, initial evaluation results, and future research needs

Recovering 3D structural properties of galaxies from SDSS-like photometry

Because of the 3D nature of galaxies, an algorithm for constructing spatial density distribution models of galaxies on the basis of galaxy images has many advantages over surface density distribution approximations. We present a method for deriving spatial structure and overall parameters of galaxies from images and estimate its accuracy and derived parameter degeneracies on a sample of idealised model galaxies. The test galaxies consist of a disc-like component and a spheroidal component with varying proportions and properties. Both components are assumed to be axially symmetric and coplanar. We simulate these test galaxies as if observed in the SDSS project through ugriz filters, thus gaining a set of realistically imperfect images of galaxies with known intrinsic properties. These artificial SDSS galaxies were thereafter remodelled by approximating the surface brightness distribution with a 2D projection of a bulge+disc spatial distribution model and the restored parameters were compared to the initial ones. Down to the r-band limiting magnitude 18, errors of the restored integral luminosities and colour indices remain within 0.05 mag and errors of the luminosities of individual components within 0.2 mag. Accuracy of the restored bulge-to-disc ratios (B/D) is within 40% in most cases, and becomes worse for galaxies with low B/D, but the general balance between bulges and discs is not shifted systematically. Assuming that the intrinsic disc axial ratio is < 0.3, the inclination angles can be estimated with errors < 5deg for most of the galaxies with B/D < 2 and with errors < 15deg up to B/D = 6. Errors of the recovered sizes of the galactic components are below 10% in most cases. In general, models of disc components are more accurate than models of spheroidal components for geometrical reasons.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in RA

Functional Genomics Highlights Differential Induction of Antiviral Pathways in the Lungs of SARS-CoV–Infected Macaques

The pathogenesis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is likely mediated by disproportional immune responses and the ability of the virus to circumvent innate immunity. Using functional genomics, we analyzed early host responses to SARS-CoV infection in the lungs of adolescent cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) that show lung pathology similar to that observed in human adults with SARS. Analysis of gene signatures revealed induction of a strong innate immune response characterized by the stimulation of various cytokine and chemokine genes, including interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and IP-10, which corresponds to the host response seen in acute respiratory distress syndrome. As opposed to many in vitro experiments, SARS-CoV induced a wide range of type I interferons (IFNs) and nuclear translocation of phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 in the lungs of macaques. Using immunohistochemistry, we revealed that these antiviral signaling pathways were differentially regulated in distinctive subsets of cells. Our studies emphasize that the induction of early IFN signaling may be critical to confer protection against SARS-CoV infection and highlight the strength of combining functional genomics with immunohistochemistry to further unravel the pathogenesis of SARS

A Review of Discounting Natural Resources

With increasing population and global economic growth, the pressure on natural resources becomes more intense. Water is a prime example of increasing demand among many users, including environmental priorities. A typical approach for increasing water availability is to look to conservation and/or alternative technological developments for water supply. These strategies involve issues with investment, recurring costs, and a temporal evaluation. Capital budgeting methodology of discounting future streams of costs and benefits to estimate a present value is well established. Applying capital budgeting techniques to water management strategies is an effective method to account for and compare alternative annual water saving levels and expected useful lives. This methodology includes ‘normalizing’ such flows by calculating the respective alternative projects’ net present values and associated annuity equivalents using a discount rate. The issue of “appropriate discount” rate is not the point of this paper, but rather, if dollars are discounted, what are the perspectives on discounting future water savings to a present value. The issue does not lend itself to a consensus, but rather, provides interesting implications, particularly when prioritizing alternative projects. Presented herein are attitudes across resource specialists with arguments related to what to include in a discount rate, private sector versus public sector, and the impact of also discounting physical units such as water on the priority of alternative projects. A case study of three alternative water conservation projects and how the ranking is impacted by alternative assumptions in financial and physical water discounting is presented.This research was supported in part by the Rio Grande Basin Initiative, which is administered by the Texas Water Resources Institute of Texas A&M AgriLife of the Texas A&M University System with funds provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture – National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA–NIFA

Compensated right ventricular function of the onset of pulmonary hypertension in a rat model depends on chamber remodeling and contractile augmentation.

Right-ventricular function is a good indicator of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) prognosis; however, how the right ventricle (RV) adapts to the pressure overload is not well understood. Here, we aimed at characterizing the time course of RV early remodeling and discriminate the contribution of ventricular geometric remodeling and intrinsic changes in myocardial mechanical properties in a monocrotaline (MCT) animal model. In a longitudinal study of PAH, ventricular morphology and function were assessed weekly during the first four weeks after MCT exposure. Using invasive measurements of RV pressure and volume, heart performance was evaluated at end of systole and diastole to quantify contractility (end-systolic elastance) and chamber stiffness (end-diastolic elastance). To distinguish between morphological and intrinsic mechanisms, a computational model of the RV was developed and used to determine the level of prediction when accounting for wall masses and unloaded volume measurements changes. By four weeks, mean pulmonary arterial pressure and elastance rose significantly. RV pressures rose significantly after the second week accompanied by significant RV hypertrophy, but RV stroke volume and cardiac output were maintained. The model analysis suggested that, after two weeks, this compensation was only possible due to a significant increase in the intrinsic inotropy of RV myocardium. We conclude that this MCT-PAH rat is a model of RV compensation during the first month after treatment, where geometric remodeling on EDPVR and increased myocardial contractility on ESPVR are the major mechanisms by which stroke volume is preserved in the setting of elevated pulmonary arterial pressure. The mediators of this compensation might themselves promote longer-term adverse remodeling and decompensation in this animal model

Terahertz emission from the intrinsic Josephson junctions of high-symmetry thermally-managed Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ microstrip antennas

We show for high-symmetry disk, square, or equilateral triangular thin microstrip antennas of any composition respectively obeying C∞v, C4v, and C3v point group symmetries, that the transverse magnetic electromagnetic cavity mode wave functions are restricted in form to those that are one-dimensional representations of those point groups. Plots of the common nodal points of the ten lowest-energy non-radiating two-dimensional representations of each of these three symmetries are presented. For comparison with symmetry-broken disk intrinsic Josephson junction microstrip antennas constructed from the highly anisotropic layered superconductor Bi2 Sr2 CaCu2 O8+δ (BSCCO), we present plots of the ten lowest frequency orthonormal wave functions and of their emission power angular distributions. These results are compared with previous results for square and equilateral triangular thin microstrip antennas

Graph Regionalization with Clustering and Partitioning: an Application for Daily Commuting Flows in Albania

The paper presents an original application of the recently proposed spatial data mining method named GraphRECAP on daily commuting flows using 2011 Albanian census data. Its aim is to identify several clusters of Albanian municipalities/communes; propose a classification of the Albanian territory based on daily commuting flows among municipalities/communes. Starting from 373 local units, we first applied a spatial clustering technique without imposing any constraining strategy. Based on the input variables, we obtained 16 clusters. In the second step of our analysis, we impose a set of constraining parameters to identify intermediate areas between the local level (municipality/commune) and the national one. We have defined 12 derived regions (same number as the actual Albanian prefectures but with different geographies). These derived regions are quite different from the traditional ones in terms of both geographical dimensions and boundarie