9,265 research outputs found
Fluctuations of conserved charges at finite temperature from lattice QCD
We present the full results of the Wuppertal-Budapest lattice QCD
collaboration on flavor diagonal and non-diagonal quark number susceptibilities
with 2+1 staggered quark flavors, in a temperature range between 125 and 400
MeV. The light and strange quark masses are set to their physical values.
Lattices with Nt=6, 8, 10, 12, 16 are used. We perform a continuum
extrapolation of all observables under study. A Symanzik improved gauge and a
stout-link improved staggered fermion action is utilized. All results are
compared to the Hadron Resonance Gas model predictions: good agreement is found
in the temperature region below the transition.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures in Jhep styl
Lentiviral Vector Delivery of Human Interleukin-7 (hIL-7) to Human Immune System (HIS) Mice Expands T Lymphocyte Populations
Genetically modified mice carrying engrafted human tissues provide useful models to study human cell biology in physiologically relevant contexts. However, there remain several obstacles limiting the compatibility of human cells within their mouse hosts. Among these is inadequate cross-reactvitiy between certain mouse cytokines and human cellular receptors, depriving the graft of important survival and growth signals. To circumvent this problem, we utilized a lentivirus-based delivery system to express physiologically relevant levels of human interleukin-7 (hIL-7) in Rag2-/-γc-/- mice following a single intravenous injection. hIL-7 promoted homeostatic proliferation of both adoptively transferred and endogenously generated T-cells in Rag2-/-γc-/- Human Immune System (HIS) mice. Interestingly, we found that hIL-7 increased T lymphocyte numbers in the spleens of HIV infected HIS mice without affecting viral load. Taken together, our study unveils a versatile approach to deliver human cytokines to HIS mice, to both improve engraftment and determine the impact of cytokines on human diseases
Critical Micronutrients in Pregnancy, Lactation, and Infancy: Considerations on Vitamin D, Folic Acid, and Iron, and Priorities for Future Research
The Early Nutrition Academy and the European Commission-funded EURRECA Network of Excellence jointly sponsored a scientific workshop on critical micronutrients in pregnancy, lactation, and infancy. Current knowledge and unresolved questions on the supply of vitamin D, folic acid, and iron for pregnant women, lactating women, and infants, and their health effects were discussed. The question was addressed of whether, and under which circumstances, supplementation with these micronutrients in addition to usual dietary intakes is advisable. The workshop participants concluded that public health strategies for improving supplementation with these micronutrients in pregnancy, lactation, and infancy are required. Further research priorities should focus on adequately powered human intervention trials to obtain a stronger evidence base for the amounts of vitamin D, folic acid, and iron that have optimal effects on health. The conclusions of the workshop should help to inform the scientific community as well as public health policy strategies. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base
Intercomparison of the northern hemisphere winter mid-latitude atmospheric variability of the IPCC models
We compare, for the overlapping time frame 1962-2000, the estimate of the
northern hemisphere (NH) mid-latitude winter atmospheric variability within the
XX century simulations of 17 global climate models (GCMs) included in the
IPCC-4AR with the NCEP and ECMWF reanalyses. We compute the Hayashi spectra of
the 500hPa geopotential height fields and introduce an integral measure of the
variability observed in the NH on different spectral sub-domains. Only two
high-resolution GCMs have a good agreement with reanalyses. Large biases, in
most cases larger than 20%, are found between the wave climatologies of most
GCMs and the reanalyses, with a relative span of around 50%. The travelling
baroclinic waves are usually overestimated, while the planetary waves are
usually underestimated, in agreement with previous studies performed on global
weather forecasting models. When comparing the results of various versions of
similar GCMs, it is clear that in some cases the vertical resolution of the
atmosphere and, somewhat unexpectedly, of the adopted ocean model seem to be
critical in determining the agreement with the reanalyses. The GCMs ensemble is
biased with respect to the reanalyses but is comparable to the best 5 GCMs.
This study suggests serious caveats with respect to the ability of most of the
presently available GCMs in representing the statistics of the global scale
atmospheric dynamics of the present climate and, a fortiori, in the perspective
of modelling climate change.Comment: 39 pages, 8 figures, 2 table
SL(2,R) Chern-Simons, Liouville, and Gauge Theory on Duality Walls
We propose an equivalence of the partition functions of two different 3d
gauge theories. On one side of the correspondence we consider the partition
function of 3d SL(2,R) Chern-Simons theory on a 3-manifold, obtained as a
punctured Riemann surface times an interval. On the other side we have a
partition function of a 3d N=2 superconformal field theory on S^3, which is
realized as a duality domain wall in a 4d gauge theory on S^4. We sketch the
proof of this conjecture using connections with quantum Liouville theory and
quantum Teichmuller theory, and study in detail the example of the
once-punctured torus. Motivated by these results we advocate a direct
Chern-Simons interpretation of the ingredients of (a generalization of) the
Alday-Gaiotto-Tachikawa relation. We also comment on M5-brane realizations as
well as on possible generalizations of our proposals.Comment: 53+1 pages, 14 figures; v2: typos corrected, references adde
Blow-up profile of rotating 2D focusing Bose gases
We consider the Gross-Pitaevskii equation describing an attractive Bose gas
trapped to a quasi 2D layer by means of a purely harmonic potential, and which
rotates at a fixed speed of rotation . First we study the behavior of
the ground state when the coupling constant approaches , the critical
strength of the cubic nonlinearity for the focusing nonlinear Schr{\"o}dinger
equation. We prove that blow-up always happens at the center of the trap, with
the blow-up profile given by the Gagliardo-Nirenberg solution. In particular,
the blow-up scenario is independent of , to leading order. This
generalizes results obtained by Guo and Seiringer (Lett. Math. Phys., 2014,
vol. 104, p. 141--156) in the non-rotating case. In a second part we consider
the many-particle Hamiltonian for bosons, interacting with a potential
rescaled in the mean-field manner w\int\_{\mathbb{R}^2} w(x) dx = 1\beta < 1/2a\_N \to a\_*N \to \infty$
Quantization of Integrable Systems and a 2d/4d Duality
We present a new duality between the F-terms of supersymmetric field theories
defined in two- and four-dimensions respectively. The duality relates N=2
supersymmetric gauge theories in four dimensions, deformed by an
Omega-background in one plane, to N=(2,2) gauged linear sigma-models in two
dimensions. On the four dimensional side, our main example is N=2 SQCD with
gauge group SU(L) and 2L fundamental flavours. Using ideas of Nekrasov and
Shatashvili, we argue that the Coulomb branch of this theory provides a
quantization of the classical Heisenberg SL(2) spin chain. Agreement with the
standard quantization via the Algebraic Bethe Ansatz implies the existence of
an isomorphism between the chiral ring of the 4d theory and that of a certain
two-dimensional theory. The latter can be understood as the worldvolume theory
on a surface operator/vortex string probing the Higgs branch of the same 4d
theory. We check the proposed duality by explicit calculation at low orders in
the instanton expansion. One striking consequence is that the Seiberg-Witten
solution of the 4d theory is captured by a one-loop computation in two
dimensions. The duality also has interesting connections with the AGT
conjecture, matrix models and topological string theory where it corresponds to
a refined version of the geometric transition.Comment: 51 pages, 7 figures. Additional comments, minor improvements and
references adde
Theory of Multidimensional Solitons
We review a number of topics germane to higher-dimensional solitons in
Bose-Einstein condensates. For dark solitons, we discuss dark band and planar
solitons; ring dark solitons and spherical shell solitons; solitary waves in
restricted geometries; vortex rings and rarefaction pulses; and multi-component
Bose-Einstein condensates. For bright solitons, we discuss instability,
stability, and metastability; bright soliton engineering, including pulsed atom
lasers; solitons in a thermal bath; soliton-soliton interactions; and bright
ring solitons and quantum vortices. A thorough reference list is included.Comment: review paper, to appear as Chapter 5a in "Emergent Nonlinear
Phenomena in Bose-Einstein Condensates: Theory and Experiment," edited by P.
G. Kevrekidis, D. J. Frantzeskakis, and R. Carretero-Gonzalez
(Springer-Verlag
Serratamolide is a hemolytic factor produced by Serratia marcescens
Serratia marcescens is a common contaminant of contact lens cases and lenses. Hemolytic factors of S. marcescens contribute to the virulence of this opportunistic bacterial pathogen. We took advantage of an observed hyper-hemolytic phenotype of crp mutants to investigate mechanisms of hemolysis. A genetic screen revealed that swrW is necessary for the hyper-hemolysis phenotype of crp mutants. The swrW gene is required for biosynthesis of the biosurfactant serratamolide, previously shown to be a broad-spectrum antibiotic and to contribute to swarming motility. Multicopy expression of swrW or mutation of the hexS transcription factor gene, a known inhibitor of swrW expression, led to an increase in hemolysis. Surfactant zones and expression from an swrW-transcriptional reporter were elevated in a crp mutant compared to the wild type. Purified serratamolide was hemolytic to sheep and murine red blood cells and cytotoxic to human airway and corneal limbal epithelial cells in vitro. The swrW gene was found in the majority of contact lens isolates tested. Genetic and biochemical analysis implicate the biosurfactant serratamolide as a hemolysin. This novel hemolysin may contribute to irritation and infections associated with contact lens use. © 2012 Shanks et al
Strained graphene structures: from valleytronics to pressure sensing
Due to its strong bonds graphene can stretch up to 25% of its original size
without breaking. Furthermore, mechanical deformations lead to the generation
of pseudo-magnetic fields (PMF) that can exceed 300 T. The generated PMF has
opposite direction for electrons originating from different valleys. We show
that valley-polarized currents can be generated by local straining of
multi-terminal graphene devices. The pseudo-magnetic field created by a
Gaussian-like deformation allows electrons from only one valley to transmit and
a current of electrons from a single valley is generated at the opposite side
of the locally strained region. Furthermore, applying a pressure difference
between the two sides of a graphene membrane causes it to bend/bulge resulting
in a resistance change. We find that the resistance changes linearly with
pressure for bubbles of small radius while the response becomes non-linear for
bubbles that stretch almost to the edges of the sample. This is explained as
due to the strong interference of propagating electronic modes inside the
bubble. Our calculations show that high gauge factors can be obtained in this
way which makes graphene a good candidate for pressure sensing.Comment: to appear in proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Worksho
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