The European Space Analogue Rock Collection (ESAR) at the OSUC-Orleans for in situ planetary missions

International audienceThe ESAR is a collection of well-characterised planetary analogue rocks and minerals that can be used for testing in situ instrumentation for planetary exploration. An online database of all relevant structural, compositional and geotechnics information is also available to the instrument teams and to aid data interpretation during missions

SU(2) WZW Theory at Higher Genera

We compute, by free field techniques, the scalar product of the SU(2) Chern-Simons states on genus > 1 surfaces. The result is a finite-dimensional integral over positions of ``screening charges'' and one complex modular parameter. It uses an effective description of the CS states closely related to the one worked out by Bertram. The scalar product formula allows to express the higher genus partition functions of the WZW conformal field theory by finite-dimensional integrals. It should provide the hermitian metric preserved by the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov-Bernard connection describing the variations of the CS states under the change of the complex structure of the surface.Comment: 44 pages, IHES/P/94/10, Latex fil

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase family member 14 (PARP14) is a novel effector of the JNK2-dependent pro-survival signal in multiple myeloma

Copyright @ 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below.Regulation of cell survival is a key part of the pathogenesis of multiple myeloma (MM). Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling has been implicated in MM pathogenesis, but its function is unclear. To elucidate the role of JNK in MM, we evaluated the specific functions of the two major JNK proteins, JNK1 and JNK2. We show here that JNK2 is constitutively activated in a panel of MM cell lines and primary tumors. Using loss-of-function studies, we demonstrate that JNK2 is required for the survival of myeloma cells and constitutively suppresses JNK1-mediated apoptosis by affecting expression of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)14, a key regulator of B-cell survival. Strikingly, we found that PARP14 is highly expressed in myeloma plasma cells and associated with disease progression and poor survival. Overexpression of PARP14 completely rescued myeloma cells from apoptosis induced by JNK2 knockdown, indicating that PARP14 is critically involved in JNK2-dependent survival. Mechanistically, PARP14 was found to promote the survival of myeloma cells by binding and inhibiting JNK1. Moreover, inhibition of PARP14 enhances the sensitization of MM cells to anti-myeloma agents. Our findings reveal a novel regulatory pathway in myeloma cells through which JNK2 signals cell survival via PARP14, and identify PARP14 as a potential therapeutic target in myeloma.Kay Kendall Leukemia Fund, NIH, Cancer Research UK, Italian Association for Cancer Research and the Foundation for Liver Research

On Charge-3 Cyclic Monopoles

We determine the spectral curve of charge 3 BPS su(2) monopoles with C_3 cyclic symmetry. The symmetry means that the genus 4 spectral curve covers a (Toda) spectral curve of genus 2. A well adapted homology basis is presented enabling the theta functions and monopole data of the genus 4 curve to be given in terms of genus 2 data. The Richelot correspondence, a generalization of the arithmetic mean, is used to solve for this genus 2 curve. Results of other approaches are compared.Comment: 34 pages, 16 figures. Revision: Abstract added and a few small change

Bounded version vectors

Version vectors play a central role in update tracking under optimistic distributed systems, allowing the detection of obsolete or inconsistent versions of replicated data. Version vectors do not have a bounded representation; they are based on integer counters that grow indefinitely as updates occur. Existing approaches to this problem are scarce; the mechanisms proposed are either unbounded or operate only under specific settings. This paper examines version vectors as a mechanism for data causality tracking and clarifies their role with respect to vector clocks. Then, it introduces bounded stamps and proves them to be a correct alternative to integer counters in version vectors. The resulting mechanism, bounded version vectors, represents the first bounded solution to data causality tracking between replicas subject to local updates and pairwise symmetrical synchronization.FCT project POSI/ICHS/44304/2002, FCT under grant BSAB/390/2003

Stability conditions and positivity of invariants of fibrations

We study three methods that prove the positivity of a natural numerical invariant associated to $1-$parameter families of polarized varieties. All these methods involve different stability conditions. In dimension 2 we prove that there is a natural connection between them, related to a yet another stability condition, the linear stability. Finally we make some speculations and prove new results in higher dimension.Comment: Final version, to appear in the Springer volume dedicated to Klaus Hulek on the occasion of his 60-th birthda

Conformal field theory approach to gapless 1D fermion systems and application to the edge excitations of nu = 1/(2p+1) quantum Hall sequences

We present a comprehensive study of the effective Conformal Field Theory (CFT) describing the low energy excitations of a gas of spinless interacting fermions on a circle in the gapless regime (Luttinger liquid). Functional techniques and modular transformation properties are used to compute all correlation functions in a finite size and at finite temperature. Forward scattering disorder is treated exactly. Laughlin experiments on charge transport in a Quantum Hall Fluid on a cylinder are reviewed within this CFT framework. Edge excitations above a given bulk excitation are described by a twisted version of the Luttinger effective theory. Luttinger CFTs corresponding to the nu =1/(2p+1) filling fractions appear to be rational CFTs (RCFT). Generators of the extended symmetry algebra are identified as edge fermions creators and annihilators, thus giving a physical meaning to the RCFT point of view on edge excitations of these sequences.Comment: 69 pages, 1 figure, LaTeX2e + amstex and graphicx packages needed, fullpage.sty used (not compulsory

Robustness in Interaction Systems

We treat the effect of absence/failure of ports or components on properties of component-based systems. We do so in the framework of interaction systems, a formalism for component-based systems that strictly separates the issues of local behavior and interaction, for which ideas to establish properties of systems where developed. We propose to adapt these ideas to analyze how the properties behave under absence or failure of certain components or merely some ports of components. We demonstrate our approach for the properties local and global deadlock-freedom as well as liveness and local progress

Caregivers’ perceived emotional and feeding responsiveness toward preschool children: Associations and paths of influence

Although there is a large body of research connecting emotion to eating behaviors, little is known about the role of caregivers’ responses to children’s emotions in the context of child feeding. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relation between caregivers’ emotional responsiveness and feeding responsiveness. The mothers of 137 children between 2 and 6 years of age reported on their responses to children’s negative emotions using the Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale and on their feeding practices using the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire. The results showed that mothers’ supportive emotion responses (e.g., problem-focused, emotion-focused, and expressive encouragement reactions) tend to be positively associated with responsive feeding practices (e.g., encouraging, modelling, and teaching healthy food-related behaviors). Instead, mothers’ unsupportive responses (e.g., distress, punitive and minimization reactions) tend to be positively associated with nonresponsive feeding practices (e.g., food as reward or to regulate emotions, and pressure to eat) and negatively associated with responsive feeding practices. Our results suggest that emotional and feeding responsiveness may be intertwined and that differences in parent’s emotional responsiveness may translate into differences in their feeding styles, setting the stage for parents’ use of positive vs. negative feeding practices.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio