Quenched twisted mass QCD at small quark masses and in large volume

As a test of quenched lattice twisted mass QCD, we compute the non-perturbatively O($a$) improved pseudoscalar and vector meson masses and the pseudoscalar decay constant down to $M_{\rm PS}/M_{\rm V} = 0.467(13)$ at $\beta=6$ in large volume. We check the absence of exceptional configurations and -- by further data at $\beta=6.2$ -- the size of scaling violations. The CPU time cost for reaching a given accuracy is close to that with ordinary Wilson quarks at $M_{\rm PS}/M_{\rm V} \simeq 0.6$ and grows smoothly as $M_{\rm PS}/M_{\rm V}$ decreases.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Nucl. Phys. B (Proc. Suppl.

Ancient literary conceptions of eastern scythian ethnography from the 7th to the 2nd Century B.C.

The Scythians were an idea. The ancient Iranian-speaking nomads of Eurasia (from the Carpathian mountains in the west to the Tien Shan in the east) left no written texts of their own. They left instead a trail through the records of the sedentary societies with which they came into contact. These records are numerous, but scattered. The perspectives they offer range from Urartian, Assyrian and Babylonian, to Ionian, mainland Greek, Persian, Bosporan, Alexandrian, Seleukid, Baktrian, Parthian and Chinese. The forms in which records are extant range from maritime and overland itineraries, military surveys, geographies, histories, and treatises on natural science, medicine, philosophy and politics, to poems, romances, titulary epigrams, historical inscriptions, letters and prayers. It is through these diverse records that the ethnographic history of ancient Eurasia is to be approached. As the ethnography of the Maeotis-Caucasus region and Central Asia are often closely linked by literary tradition and historical circumstances, the primary concern of the present work has been taken to be those records of most relevance to the ethnography of the nomads dwelling between the Don and Crimean Bosporos in the west and the Tien Shan and Pamir mountains in the east, nomads who might for convenience be called 'Eastern Scythians'. This work will not concern itself with those sources dealing with the so called 'Royal Scythians' of the Ukraine, Dobrudja and Crimea (e.g. most of Herodotos' Book IV). Western and Soviet scholars may be characterised as adopting fundamentally different approaches to the study of these nomads' ethnographic history. The western scholars favour philological investigation, migration theories, and a perspective from the periphery, while the Soviet scholars favour archaeological investigation, theories of indigenous ethnogenesis, and the periodisation of nomad social, economic and cultural change. Western scholars rarely stop to reflect upon either their own methodology or that of the Soviets, while Soviet scholars often reflect upon their own methodology and criticise that of the Western scholars. More significant, however, than these methodological differences are the methodological similarities. Common to nearly all modem scholars writing in the field of Scythian studies, Western and Soviet, archaeologist, philologists and historians, are two tendencies..

Phenotypic heterogeneity of peripheral monocytes in healthy dogs

Monocytes are key cells of the innate immune system. Their phenotypic and functional roles have been investigated in humans, mice and other animals, such as the rat, pig and cow. To date, detailed phenotypic analysis of monocytes has not been undertaken in dogs. Two important surface markers in human monocytes are CD14 and MHC class II (MHC II). By flow cytometry, we demonstrated that canine monocytes can be subdivided into three separate populations: CD14posMHC IIneg, CD14posMHC IIpos and CD14negMHC IIpos. Both light and transmission electron microscopy confirmed the monocytic identity of all three populations. The CD14posMHC IIneg population could be distinguished on an ultrastructural level by their smaller size, the presence of more numerous, larger granules, and more pseudopodia than both of the other populations

2,6-Diiodo-4-nitrophenol, 2,6-diiodo-4-nitrophenyl acetate and 2,6-diiodo-4-nitroanisole: interplay of hydrogen bonds, iodo-nitro interactions and aromatic [pi]-[pi]-stacking interactions to give supramolecular structures in one, two and three dimensions

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Diagnosis of anaplastic large-cell lymphoma in a dog using CD30 immunohistochemistry

Anaplastic large-cell lymphoma or null-cell lymphoma is a clinical entity reported in people, classified according to the unique appearance of large pleomorphic cells that express CD30. Null-cell lymphoma has also been described in dogs when neither CD3 nor CD79α is expressed by the tumor. We describe a case of lymphoma in the dog in which neoplastic cells did not express routine B- or T-lymphocyte markers on flow cytometry or immunohistochemistry; however, cells immunohistochemically labeled for CD30. The dog in our case died 5 mo after initial presentation, confirming a poor prognosis. Identification of further similar cases in dogs would provide additional prognostic information for this subset of lymphomas. CD30 may also serve as a potential therapeutic target in anaplastic large-cell lymphomas

The impact of superphosphate and surface-applied lime on the profitability and sustainability of wool production on the tablelands of NSW

Soil acidification is one of the major forms of soil degradation in higher rainfall areas of the tablelands of NSW. A grazing experiment was conducted near Sutton, NSW, to assess the effect of various rates of superphosphate, lime, sewage ash and stocking rates on wool production and sustainability between 1999 and 2008. The results from the discounted cash flow analysis show that the net present value of the treatment without lime, the lower rate of superphosphate and the lowest stocking rate returned the highest net present value of $266.30/ha. Raising the application of superphosphate from 125kg/ha every two to three years to 250kg/ha every year on un-limed and limed soil reduced the net present value by$278.70/ha and $249.30/ha, respectively. The addition of lime at the rate of 4t/ha on un-limed soil at the low superphosphate level reduced the net present value by about$234.60/ha. The net present value fell by $205.24/ha when the level of superphosphate rate increased to 250kg/ha every year. The net present value decreased as the level of stocking rate increased. We conclude that wool producers will be unlikely to use lime to ameliorate acid soil, even though production will not be sustainable, unless there are more favourable input and commodity prices in the market and government intervention.economic, acid soil, lime, superphosphate, sewage ash, stocking rate, policy,

(2E)-N-(3,5-Dibromo-4-methoxy­phen­yl)-2-(hydroxy­imino)acetamide

The title compound, C9H8Br2N2O3, is planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.030 Å) with the exception of the terminal methyl group which lies out of the plane [1.219 (3) Å]. The conformation about the C=N double bond [1.268 (3) Å] is E. An intra­molecular N—H⋯N hydrogen bond occurs. Linear supra­molecular chains along the b axis mediated by O—H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter­actions feature in the crystal structure. These chains are also stabilized by weak C—H⋯N contacts

Cutoff-effects in the spectrum of dynamical Wilson fermions

We investigate the low-lying eigenvalues of the improved Wilson-Dirac operator in the Schroedinger functional with two dynamical quark flavors. At a lattice spacing of approximately 0.1 fm we find more very small eigenvalues than in the quenched case. These cause problems with HMC-type algorithms and in the evaluation of fermionic correlation functions. Through a simulation at a finer lattice spacing we are able to establish their nature as cutoff-effectsComment: Lattice2004(machines), 3 pages, 3 figures, talk by R.

Serum anti-Müllerian hormone concentrations before and after treatment of an ovarian granulosa cell tumour in a cat

Case summary A 15-year-old female cat was presented for investigation of progressive behavioural changes, polyuria, polydipsia and periuria. An ovarian granulosa cell tumour was identified and the cat underwent therapeutic ovariohysterectomy (OHE). The cat’s clinical signs resolved, but 6 months later it was diagnosed as having an anaplastic astrocytoma and was euthanased. Serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentration prior to OHE was increased vs a control group of entire and neutered female cats. Following OHE, serum AMH concentration decreased to <1% of the original value. Relevance and novel information Serum AMH measurement may represent a novel diagnostic and monitoring tool for functional ovarian neoplasms in cats

Polyglutamine-expanded androgen receptor interferes with TFEB to elicit autophagy defects in SBMA.

Macroautophagy (hereafter autophagy) is a key pathway in neurodegeneration. Despite protective actions, autophagy may contribute to neuron demise when dysregulated. Here we consider X-linked spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA), a repeat disorder caused by polyglutamine-expanded androgen receptor (polyQ-AR). We found that polyQ-AR reduced long-term protein turnover and impaired autophagic flux in motor neuron-like cells. Ultrastructural analysis of SBMA mice revealed a block in autophagy pathway progression. We examined the transcriptional regulation of autophagy and observed a functionally significant physical interaction between transcription factor EB (TFEB) and AR. Normal AR promoted, but polyQ-AR interfered with, TFEB transactivation. To evaluate physiological relevance, we reprogrammed patient fibroblasts to induced pluripotent stem cells and then to neuronal precursor cells (NPCs). We compared multiple SBMA NPC lines and documented the metabolic and autophagic flux defects that could be rescued by TFEB. Our results indicate that polyQ-AR diminishes TFEB function to impair autophagy and promote SBMA pathogenesis