From E_8 to F via T

We argue that T-duality and F-theory appear automatically in the E_8 gauge bundle perspective of M-theory. The 11-dimensional supergravity four-form determines an E_8 bundle. If we compactify on a two-torus, this data specifies an LLE_8 bundle where LG is a centrally-extended loopgroup of G. If one of the circles of the torus is smaller than sqrt(alpha') then it is also smaller than a nontrivial circle S in the LLE_8 fiber and so a dimensional reduction on the total space of the bundle is not valid. We conjecture that S is the circle on which the T-dual type IIB theory is compactified, with the aforementioned torus playing the role of the F-theory torus. As tests we reproduce the T-dualities between NS5-branes and KK-monopoles, as well as D6 and D7-branes where we find the desired F-theory monodromy. Using Hull's proposal for massive IIA, this realization of T-duality allows us to confirm that the Romans mass is the central extension of our LE_8. In addition this construction immediately reproduces the conjectured formula for global topology change from T-duality with H-flux.Comment: 25 pages, 4 eps figure

Camera calibration in sport event scenarios

The main goal of this paper is the design of a novel and robust methodology for calibrating cameras from a single image in sport scenarios, such as a soccer field, or a basketball or tennis court. In these sport scenarios, the only references we use to calibrate the camera are the lines and circles delimiting the different regions. The first problem we address is the extraction of image primitives, including the challenging problems of shaded regions and lens distortion. From these primitives, we automatically recognise the location of the sport court in the scene by estimating the homography which matches the actual court with its projection onto the image. This is achieved even when only a few primitives are available. Finally, from this homography, we recover the camera calibration parameters. In particular, we estimate the focal length as well as the position and orientation in the 3D space. We present some experiments on models and real courts which illustrate the accuracy of the proposed methodology

Cord blood Lin(-)CD45(-) embryonic-like stem cells are a heterogeneous population that lack self-renewal capacity.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Human umbilical cord blood (hUCB) has been proposed to contain not only haematopoietic stem cells, but also a rare pluripotent embryonic-like stem cell (ELSc) population that is negative for hematopoietic markers (Lin(-)CD45(-)) and expresses markers typical of pluripotent cells. The aim of this work was to isolate, characterise and expand this ELSc fraction from hUCB, as it may provide a valuable cell source for regenerative medicine applications. We found that we could indeed isolate a Lin(-)CD45(-) population of small cells (3-10 µm diameter) with a high nucleus to cytoplasm ratio that expressed the stem cell markers CD34 and CXCR4. However, in contrast to some previous reports, this fraction was not positive for CD133. Furthermore, although these cells expressed transcripts typical of pluripotent cells, such as SOX2, OCT3/4, and NANOG, they were not able to proliferate in any of the culture media known to support stem cell growth that we tested. Further analysis of the Lin(-)CD45(-) population by flow cytometry showed the presence of a Lin(-)CD45(-)Nestin(+) population that were also positive for CD34 (20%) but negative for CXCR4. These data suggest that the Lin(-)CD45(-) stem cell fraction present in the cord blood represents a small heterogeneous population with phenotypic characteristics of stem cells, including a Lin(-)CD45(-)Nestin(+) population not previously described. This study also suggests that heterogeneity within the Lin(-)CD45(-) cell fraction is the likely explanation for differences in the hUCB cell populations described by different groups that were isolated using different methods. These populations have been widely called "embryonic-like stem cell" on the basis of their phenotypical similarity to embryonic stem cells. However, the fact they do not seem to be able to self-renew casts some doubt on their identity, and warns against defining them as "embryonic-like stem cell" at this stage.Anthony Nolan and the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity for financial support. Cesar Alvarez-Gonzalez is a fellowship from Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACyT) and Instituto Jaliscience de la Juventud (IJJ); Mexico

Euclid Space Mission: building the sky survey

The Euclid space mission proposes to survey 15000 square degrees of the extragalactic sky during 6 years, with a step-and-stare technique. The scheduling of observation sequences is driven by the primary scientific objectives, spacecraft constraints, calibration requirements and physical properties of the sky. We present the current reference implementation of the Euclid survey and on-going work on survey optimization.Comment: to appear in Proceedings IAU Symposium No. 306, "Statistical Challenges in 21st Century Cosmology", A.F. Heavens, J.-L. Starck & A. Krone-Martins, ed

Wind-induced Cross-Strait Sea Level Variability in the Strait of Gibraltar using Coastal Altimetry and In-Situ Measurements

In this work, we retracked altimeter waveforms of ESA satellites. ERS2 RA and Envisat RA2 from descending track 0360 over the eastern side of the Strait of Gibraltar using the Adaptive Leading Edge Subwaveform ALES retracker

Certaines protéines de la famille Dok sont recrutées aux phagosomes et clivées par la protéase GP63 lors d'une infection par Leishmania major

La famille des protéines adaptatrices Dok comprend 7 membres dont 3, Dok-1, Dok-2 et Dok-3, sont exprimés par les macrophages et agissent comme régulateur négatif des voies de signalisation en réponse à certaines cytokines, facteurs de croissance, et lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Nous avons évalué le rôle des ces trois protéines lors de la phagocytose dépendante de récepteurs de type Fc et suite à l'infection de cellules avec des promastigotes du parasite Leishmania major. Ce pathogène cause la leishmaniose cutanée et est reconnu pour sa capacité à modifier les voies de signalisation cellulaires et les fonctions des cellules de l'hôte. En utilisant des macrophages dérivés de la moelle osseuse (BMMs) de souris déficientes en Dok-1 et Dok-2, nous avons démontré que la phagocytose de billes opsonisées avec des IgG, ainsi que l'entrée et la survie du parasite, ne sont pas affectées par l'absence de ces protéines. De plus, l'absence de Dok-1/Dok-2 n'a eu aucun effet sur l'activation des kinases ERK1/2 et PKB (Akt). Nous avons évalué le recrutement de ces protéines au phagosome. Dok-1, Dok-2 et Dok-3 sont recrutés aux phagosomes contenant des billes de latex, et y restent associés lors de la maturation de ces vésicules. Par contre, lors d'une infection avec L. major, Dok-1 est absente des phagosomes contenant le parasite. De manière remarquable, lors d'une infection avec des parasites déficients en GP63, une métalloprotéine associée à la pathogenèse du parasite, Dok-1 est recrutée aux phagosomes contenant les parasites. Des analyses biochimiques ont montré que Dok-1, Dok-2 et Dok-3 sont clivées en présence de GP63. Finalement, lors d'une infection de macrophages préalablement activés à l'interferon gamma, avec des promastigotes de L. major de type sauvage ou déficient en GP63, la production d'oxide nitrique et de facteur de nécrose tumoral (TNF) est réduite en absence de Dok-1/Dok-2. Nos résultats suggèrent que les protéines Dok contribuent à la régulation de la réponse des macrophages suite à une infection avec L. major

On fermionic tilde conjugation rules and thermal bosonization. Hot and cold thermofields

A generalization of Ojima tilde conjugation rules is suggested, which reveals the coherent state properties of thermal vacuum state and is useful for the thermofield bosonization. The notion of hot and cold thermofields is introduced to distinguish different thermofield representations giving the correct normal form of thermofield solution for finite temperature Thirring model with correct renormalization and anticommutation properties.Comment: 13 page