Growth and haemolytic activity of pathogenic Vibrio species in egg-fried-rice with different egg ratios

Growth and haemolytic activity of several pathogenic Vibrio species were compared in egg-fried-rice with different egg ratios. Egg-fried-rice preparations with rice-to-egg ratios of 4:1, 1:1, and 1:4 were inoculated with either Vibrio parahaemolyticus, V. cholerae, V. vulnificus, or V. alginolyticus and incubated for 24 h. Cell number, thermostable direct haemolysin (TDH) activity, and total haemolytic activity were determined. The cell number and total haemolytic activity increased in all Vibrio strains after 24 h, and these were most marked in egg-fried-rice with the highest egg content (1:4 (rice:egg) ratio; P<0.05). V. alginolyticus exhibited the maximal growth and V. parahaemolyticus the highest haemolytic activity, but only V. parahaemolyticus ATCC 33847, V. alginolyticus CAMT 21162, and V. alginolyticus HY 91101 showed TDH activity. Results suggest that lowering egg content in egg-fried-rice could reduce growth and virulence of Vibrio pathogens

Bose-Einstein condensation in multilayers

The critical BEC temperature $T_{c}$ of a non interacting boson gas in a layered structure like those of cuprate superconductors is shown to have a minimum $T_{c,m}$, at a characteristic separation between planes $a_{m}$. It is shown that for $a<a_{m}$, $T_{c}$ increases monotonically back up to the ideal Bose gas $T_{0}$ suggesting that a reduction in the separation between planes, as happens when one increases the pressure in a cuprate, leads to an increase in the critical temperature. For finite plane separation and penetrability the specific heat as a function of temperature shows two novel crests connected by a ridge in addition to the well-known BEC peak at $T_{c}$ associated with the 3D behavior of the gas. For completely impenetrable planes the model reduces to many disconnected infinite slabs for which just one hump survives becoming a peak only when the slab widths are infinite.Comment: Four pages, four figure

A Two-Step Quantum Direct Communication Protocol Using Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Pair Block

A protocol for quantum secure direct communication using blocks of EPR pairs is proposed. A set of ordered $N$ EPR pairs is used as a data block for sending secret message directly. The ordered $N$ EPR set is divided into two particle sequences, a checking sequence and a message-coding sequence. After transmitting the checking sequence, the two parties of communication check eavesdropping by measuring a fraction of particles randomly chosen, with random choice of two sets of measuring bases. After insuring the security of the quantum channel, the sender, Alice encodes the secret message directly on the message-coding sequence and send them to Bob. By combining the checking and message-coding sequences together, Bob is able to read out the encoded messages directly. The scheme is secure because an eavesdropper cannot get both sequences simultaneously. We also discuss issues in a noisy channel.Comment: 8 pages and 2 figures. To appear in Phys Rev

Incipient Separation in Shock Wave Boundary Layer Interactions as Induced by Sharp Fin

The incipient separation induced by the shock wave turbulent boundary layer interaction at the sharp fin is the subject of present study. Existing theories for the prediction of incipient separation, such as those put forward by McCabe (1966) and Dou and Deng (1992), can have thus far only predicting the direction of surface streamline and tend to over-predict the incipient separation condition based on the Stanbrook's criterion. In this paper, the incipient separation is firstly predicted with Dou and Deng (1992)'s theory and then compared with Lu and Settles (1990)' experimental data. The physical mechanism of the incipient separation as induced by the shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interactions at sharp fin is explained via the surface flow pattern analysis. Furthermore, the reason for the observed discrepancy between the predicted and experimental incipient separation conditions is clarified. It is found that when the wall limiting streamlines behind the shock wave becomes\ aligning with one ray from the virtual origin as the strength of shock wave increases, the incipient separation line is formed at which the wall limiting streamline becomes perpendicular to the local pressure gradient. The formation of this incipient separation line is the beginning of the separation process. The effects of Reynolds number and the Mach number on incipient separation are also discussed. Finally, a correlation for the correction of the incipient separation angle as predicted by the theory is also given.Comment: 34 pages; 9 figure

PRDM3 attenuates pancreatitis and pancreatic tumorigenesis by regulating inflammatory response

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is associated with metaplastic changes in the pancreas but the transcriptional program underlying these changes is incompletely understood. The zinc finger transcription factor, PRDM3, is lowly expressed in normal pancreatic acini and its expression increases during tumorigenesis. Although PRDM3 promotes proliferation and migration of PDAC cell lines, the role of PRDM3 during tumor initiation from pancreatic acinar cells in vivo is unclear. In this study, we showed that high levels of PRDM3 expression in human pancreas was associated with pancreatitis, and well-differentiated but not poorly differentiated carcinoma. We examined PRDM3 function in pancreatic acinar cells during tumor formation and pancreatitis by inactivating Prdm3 using a conditional allele (Ptf1a(CreER);Prdm3(flox/flox) mice) in the context of oncogenic Kras expression and supraphysiological cerulein injections, respectively. In Prdm3-deficient mice, Kras(G12D)-driven preneoplastic lesions were more abundant and progressed to high-grade precancerous lesions more rapidly. This is consistent with our observations that low levels of PRDM3 in human PDAC was correlated significantly with poorer survival in patient. Moreover, loss of Prdm3 in acinar cells elevated exocrine injury, enhanced immune cell activation and infiltration, and greatly increased acinar-to-ductal cell reprogramming upon cerulein-induced pancreatitis. Whole transcriptome analyses of Prdm3 knockout acini revealed that pathways involved in inflammatory response and Hif-1 signaling were significantly upregulated in Prdm3-depleted acinar cells. Taken together, our results suggest that Prdm3 favors the maintenance of acinar cell homeostasis through modulation of their response to inflammation and oncogenic Kras activation, and thus plays a previously unexpected suppressive role during PDAC initiation

Boson-fermion stars: exploring different configurations

We use the flexibility of the concept of a fermion-boson star to explore different configurations, ranging from objects of atomic size and masses of the order $10^{18}$ g, up to objects of galactic masses and gigantic halos around a smaller core, with possible interesting applications to astrophysics and cosmology, particularly in the context of dark matter.Comment: 8 pages. Minor changes, new reference added and a few typos correcte

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters

Reducing heterotic M-theory to five dimensional supergravity on a manifold with boundary

This paper constructs the reduction of heterotic $M$-theory in eleven dimensions to a supergravity model on a manifold with boundary in five dimensions using a Calabi-Yau three-fold. New results are presented for the boundary terms in the action and for the boundary conditions on the bulk fields. Some general features of dualisation on a manifold with boundary are used to explain the origin of some topological terms in the action. The effect of gaugino condensation on the fermion boundary conditions leads to a `twist' in the chirality of the gravitino which can provide an uplifting mechanism in the vacuum energy to cancel the cosmological constant after moduli stabilisation.Comment: 16 pages, RevTe