355 research outputs found
Classical theta constants vs. lattice theta series, and super string partition functions
Recently, various possible expressions for the vacuum-to-vacuum superstring
amplitudes has been proposed at genus . To compare the different
proposals, here we will present a careful analysis of the comparison between
the two main technical tools adopted to realize the proposals: the classical
theta constants and the lattice theta series. We compute the relevant Fourier
coefficients in order to relate the two spaces. We will prove the equivalence
up to genus 4. In genus five we will show that the solutions are equivalent
modulo the Schottky form and coincide if we impose the vanishing of the
cosmological constant.Comment: 21 page
Fragmentation pathways of nanofractal structures on surface
We present a detailed systematical theoretical analysis of the post-growth
processes occurring in nanofractals grown on surface. For this study we
developed a method which accounts for the internal dynamics of particles in a
fractal. We demonstrate that particle diffusion and detachment controls the
shape of the emerging stable islands on surface. We consider different
scenarios of fractal post-growth relaxation and analyze the time evolution of
the island's morphology. The results of our calculations are compared with
available experimental observations, and experiments in which the post-growth
relaxation of deposited nanostructures can be probed are suggested.Comment: 34 pages, 11 figure
Feline aminopeptidase N is not a functional receptor for avian infectious bronchitis virus
BACKGROUND: Coronaviruses are an important cause of infectious diseases in humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and have the continued potential for emergence from animal species. A major factor in the host range of a coronavirus is its receptor utilization on host cells. In many cases, coronavirus-receptor interactions are well understood. However, a notable exception is the receptor utilization by group 3 coronaviruses, including avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV). Feline aminopeptidase N (fAPN) serves as a functional receptor for most group 1 coronaviruses including feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV), canine coronavirus, transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), and human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E). A recent report has also suggested a role for fAPN during IBV entry (Miguel B, Pharr GT, Wang C: The role of feline aminopeptidase N as a receptor for infectious bronchitis virus. Brief review. Arch Virol 2002, 147:2047–2056. RESULTS: Here we show that, whereas both transient transfection and constitutive expression of fAPN on BHK-21 cells can rescue FIPV and TGEV infection in non-permissive BHK cells, fAPN expression does not rescue infection by the prototype IBV strain Mass41. To account for the previous suggestion that fAPN could serve as an IBV receptor, we show that feline cells can be infected with the prototype strain of IBV (Mass 41), but with low susceptibility compared to primary chick kidney cells. We also show that BHK-21 cells are slightly susceptible to certain IBV strains, including Ark99, Ark_DPI, CA99, and Iowa97 (<0.01% efficiency), but this level of infection is not increased by fAPN expression. CONCLUSION: We conclude that fAPN is not a functional receptor for IBV, the identity of which is currently under investigation
Evidence for Transmission of Bluetongue Virus Serotype 26 through Direct Contact
The aim of this study was to assess the mechanisms of transmission of bluetongue virus serotype 26 (BTV-26) in goats. A previous study, which investigated the pathogenicity and infection kinetics of BTV-26 in goats, unexpectedly revealed that one control goat may have been infected through a direct contact transmission route. To investigate the transmission mechanisms of BTV-26 in more detail an experimental infection study was carried out in which three goats were infected with BTV-26, three goats were kept uninfected, but were housed in direct contact with the infected goats, and an additional four goats were kept in indirect contact separated from infected goats by metal gates. This barrier allowed the goats to have occasional face-to-face contact in the same airspace, but feeding, watering, sampling and environmental cleaning was carried out separately. The three experimentally infected goats did not show clinical signs of BTV, however high levels of viral RNA were detected and virus was isolated from their blood. At 21 dpi viral RNA was detected in, and virus was isolated from the blood of the three direct contact goats, which also seroconverted. The four indirect barrier contact goats remained uninfected throughout the duration of the experiment. In order to assess replication in a laboratory model species of Culicoides biting midge, more than 300 Culicoides sonorensis were fed a BTV-26 spiked blood meal and incubated for 7 days. The dissemination of BTV-26 in individual C. sonorensis was inferred from the quantity of virus RNA and indicated that none of the insects processed at day 7 possessed transmissible infections. This study shows that BTV-26 is easily transmitted through direct contact transmission between goats, and the strain does not seem to replicate in C. sonorensis midges using standard incubation conditions
Extending the Belavin-Knizhnik "wonderful formula" by the characterization of the Jacobian
A long-standing question in string theory is to find the explicit expression
of the bosonic measure, a crucial issue also in determining the superstring
measure. Such a measure was known up to genus three. Belavin and Knizhnik
conjectured an expression for genus four which has been proved in the framework
of the recently introduced vector-valued Teichmueller modular forms. It turns
out that for g>3 the bosonic measure is expressed in terms of such forms. In
particular, the genus four Belavin-Knizhnik "wonderful formula" has a
remarkable extension to arbitrary genus whose structure is deeply related to
the characterization of the Jacobian locus. Furthermore, it turns out that the
bosonic string measure has an elegant geometrical interpretation as generating
the quadrics in P^{g-1} characterizing the Riemann surface. All this leads to
identify forms on the Siegel upper half-space that, if certain conditions
related to the characterization of the Jacobian are satisfied, express the
bosonic measure as a multiresidue in the Siegel upper half-space. We also
suggest that it may exist a super analog on the super Siegel half-space.Comment: 15 pages. Typos corrected, refs. and comments adde
Superstring scattering amplitudes in higher genus
In this paper we continue the program pioneered by D'Hoker and Phong, and
recently advanced by Cacciatori, Dalla Piazza, and van Geemen, of finding the
chiral superstring measure by constructing modular forms satisfying certain
factorization constraints. We give new expressions for their proposed ans\"atze
in genera 2 and 3, respectively, which admit a straightforward generalization.
We then propose an ansatz in genus 4 and verify that it satisfies the
factorization constraints and gives a vanishing cosmological constant. We
further conjecture a possible formula for the superstring amplitudes in any
genus, subject to the condition that certain modular forms admit holomorphic
roots.Comment: Minor changes; final version to appear in Comm. Math. Phy
Towards the fabrication of phosphorus qubits for a silicon quantum computer
The quest to build a quantum computer has been inspired by the recognition of
the formidable computational power such a device could offer. In particular
silicon-based proposals, using the nuclear or electron spin of dopants as
qubits, are attractive due to the long spin relaxation times involved, their
scalability, and the ease of integration with existing silicon technology.
Fabrication of such devices however requires atomic scale manipulation - an
immense technological challenge. We demonstrate that it is possible to
fabricate an atomically-precise linear array of single phosphorus bearing
molecules on a silicon surface with the required dimensions for the fabrication
of a silicon-based quantum computer. We also discuss strategies for the
encapsulation of these phosphorus atoms by subsequent silicon crystal growth.Comment: To Appear in Phys. Rev. B Rapid Comm. 5 pages, 5 color figure
Vacuum annealing phenomena in ultrathin TiDy/Pd bi-layer films evaporated on Si(100) as studied by TEM and XPS
Using a combination of TEM and XPS, we made an analysis of the complex high-temperature annealing effect on ultrathin titanium deuteride (TiDy) films evaporated on a Si(100) substrate and covered by an ultrathin palladium layer. Both the preparation and annealing of the TiDy/Pd bi-layer films were performed in situ under UHV conditions. It was found that the surface and bulk morphology of the bi-layer film as well as that of the Si substrate material undergo a microstructural and chemical conversion after annealing and annealing-induced deuterium evolution from the TiDy phase. Energy-filtered TEM (EFTEM) mapping of cross-section images and argon ion sputter depth profiling XPS analysis revealed both a broad intermixing between the Ti and Pd layers and an extensive inter-diffusion of Si from the substrate into the film bulk area. Segregation of Ti at the Pd top layer surface was found to occur by means of angle-resolved XPS (ARXPS) and the EFTEM analyses. Selected area diffraction (SAD) and XPS provided evidence for the formation of a new PdTi2 bimetallic phase within the top region of the annealed film. Moreover, these techniques allowed to detect the initial stages of TiSi phase formation within the film–substrate interlayer
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