1,486 research outputs found
Pronounced genetic structure and low genetic diversity in European red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) populations
Conservation Genetics August 2015, Volume 16, Issue 4, pp 1011â1012 Erratum to: Pronounced genetic structure and low genetic diversity in European red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) populations Erratum to: Conserv Genet (2012) 13:1213â1230 DOI 10.1007/s10592-012-0366-6 In the original publication, Tables 3 and 6 were published with incorrect estimates of population heterozygosities. All other diversity statistics were correct as originally presented. Updated versions of Tables 3 and 6 with corrected heterozygosity estimates confirmed using Arlequin 3.5 (Excoffier and Lischer 2010) as in DĂĄvila et al. (2014) are provided in this erratum. Discrepancies were minor for populations on the British Isles. The correct estimates for Spain are slightly larger than those reported for La Palma by DĂĄvila et al. (2014), but this does not necessarily affect their interpretation that choughs on La Palma may have originated from multiple migration events. The original conclusion that chough populations on the British Isles have low genetic diversity compared to continental European populations remains and is now, in fact, strengthened.Peer reviewedPostprin
Fock quantization of a scalar field with time dependent mass on the three-sphere: unitarity and uniqueness
We study the Fock description of a quantum free field on the three-sphere
with a mass that depends explicitly on time, also interpretable as an
explicitly time dependent quadratic potential. We show that, under quite mild
restrictions on the time dependence of the mass, the specific Fock
representation of the canonical commutation relations which is naturally
associated with a massless free field provides a unitary dynamics even when the
time varying mass is present. Moreover, we demonstrate that this Fock
representation is the only acceptable one, up to unitary equivalence, if the
vacuum has to be SO(4)-invariant (i.e., invariant under the symmetries of the
field equation) and the dynamics is required to be unitary. In particular, the
analysis and uniqueness of the quantization can be applied to the treatment of
cosmological perturbations around Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetimes with
the spatial topology of the three-sphere, like e.g. for gravitational waves
(tensor perturbations). In addition, we analyze the extension of our results to
free fields with a time dependent mass defined on other compact spatial
manifolds. We prove the uniqueness of the Fock representation in the case of a
two-sphere as well, and discuss the case of a three-torus.Comment: 30 page
Hitting Time of Quantum Walks with Perturbation
The hitting time is the required minimum time for a Markov chain-based walk
(classical or quantum) to reach a target state in the state space. We
investigate the effect of the perturbation on the hitting time of a quantum
walk. We obtain an upper bound for the perturbed quantum walk hitting time by
applying Szegedy's work and the perturbation bounds with Weyl's perturbation
theorem on classical matrix. Based on the definition of quantum hitting time
given in MNRS algorithm, we further compute the delayed perturbed hitting time
(DPHT) and delayed perturbed quantum hitting time (DPQHT). We show that the
upper bound for DPQHT is actually greater than the difference between the
square root of the upper bound for a perturbed random walk and the square root
of the lower bound for a random walk.Comment: 9 page
Effective tumor immunotherapy: start the engine, release the brakes, step on the gas pedal,...and get ready to face autoimmunity
Cellular immune responses can destroy cancer cells, achieving the cure of experimental malignancies. An expanding wealth of knowledge on the molecular basis of how to prime and amplify a T cell response has fueled a number of strategies successful at treating established tumors (rather than merely preventing tumor grafting). The most efficacious approaches operate at different stages, including: 1) priming the immune response using tumor antigen-expressing dendritic cells or tumor cells transfected with genes that render them immunogenic, 2) sustaining and amplifying immunity using agonistic monoclonal antibodies against costimulatory molecules or immune-potentiating cytokines, and 3) eliminating mechanisms that self-regulate the strength of the immune response, such as inhibitory receptors or regulatory T cells. A rational combination of such approaches holds great hope for cumulative and synergistic effects, but there is also evidence that they can open the flood-gates for unwanted inflammatory reactions. The next decade can be envisioned as the time when the first reproducibly efficacious combination regimes for cancer immunotherapy will become available and widely used in the clinic, as clinicians learn the best strategies and try to harness their potentially damaging effects
Lagrangian Variational Framework for Boundary Value Problems
A boundary value problem is commonly associated with constraints imposed on a
system at its boundary. We advance here an alternative point of view treating
the system as interacting "boundary" and "interior" subsystems. This view is
implemented through a Lagrangian framework that allows to account for (i) a
variety of forces including dissipative acting at the boundary; (ii) a
multitude of features of interactions between the boundary and the interior
fields when the boundary fields may differ from the boundary limit of the
interior fields; (iii) detailed pictures of the energy distribution and its
flow; (iv) linear and nonlinear effects. We provide a number of elucidating
examples of the structured boundary and its interactions with the system
interior. We also show that the proposed approach covers the well known
boundary value problems.Comment: 41 pages, 3 figure
Nitric oxide-inhibited chloride transport in cortical thick ascending limbs is reversed by 8-iso-prostaglandin-F2α
Background: Salt reabsorption in the cortical thick ascending limb (cTAL) is regulated by opposing effects. Thus, while nitric oxide (NO) inhibits sodium chloride (NaCl) reabsorption, 8-iso-prostaglandin-F2α (8-iso-PGF2α) stimulates it. Their interaction, however, has not been evaluated in the cTAL. Because 8-iso-PGF2α has considerable stability while NO is a free radical with a short half-life, we hypothesized that, in the cTAL, the inhibition of NaCl absorption will be reversed by 8-iso-PGF2α.
Methods: Chloride absorption (JCl) was measured in isolated perfused cTALs. We also evaluated whether activation of protein kinase A (PKA) is required for this interaction. Since cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) is a major messenger for the 8-iso-PGF2α signaling cascade, and NO inhibits JCl by decreasing cAMP bioavailability, we measured 8-iso-PGF2α-stimulated cAMP in the presence of sodium nitroprusside (SNP).
Results: Basal JCl was 274 ± 85 pmol/min/mm. The NO donor, SNP (10-6 M), decreased JCl by 41% (333.5 ± 35.2 pmol/min/mm vs. 195.9 ± 26.1 pmol/min/mm), while 8-iso-PGF2α (100 ΌM) increased JCl to 315 ± 46 pmol/min/mm (p \u3c 0.01), reversing the effects of the NO donor. While SNP inhibited JCl, 8-iso-PGF2α failed to increase JCl in the presence of H89. Basal cAMP was 56.3 ± 13.1 fmol/min/mm, that in the presence of the NO donor was 57.8 ± 6.1 fmol/min/mm, and that with 8-iso-PGF2α increased it to 92.1 ± 2.9 fmol/min/mm (n = 10, p \u3c 0.04).
Conclusion: We concluded that 1) NO-induced inhibition of JCl in the cTAL can be reversed by 8-iso-PGF2α, 2) 8-iso-PGF2α and NO interaction requires PKA to control JCl in this nephron segment, and 3) in the presence of NO, 8-iso-PGF2α continues to stimulate JCl because NO cannot reverse 8-iso-PGF2α-stimulated cAMP level
Avian oncogenesis induced by lymphoproliferative disease virus: a neglected or emerging retroviral pathogen?
Lymphoproliferative disease virus (LPDV) is an exogenous oncogenic retrovirus that induces lymphoid tumors in some galliform species of birds. Historically, outbreaks of LPDV have been reported from Europe and Israel. Although the virus has previously never been detected in North America, herein we describe the widespread distribution, genetic diversity, pathogenesis, and evolution of LPDV in the United States. Characterization of the provirus genome of the index LPDV case from North America demonstrated an 88% nucleotide identity to the Israeli prototype strain. Although phylogenetic analysis indicated that the majority of viruses fell into a single North American lineage, a small subset of viruses from South Carolina were most closely related to the Israeli prototype. These results suggest that LPDV was transferred between continents to initiate outbreaks of disease. However, the direction (New World to Old World or vice versa), mechanism, and time frame of the transcontinental spread currently remain unknown
Improved parameters for extrasolar transiting planets
We present refined values for the physical parameters of transiting
exoplanets, based on a self-consistent and uniform analysis of transit light
curves and the observable properties of the host stars. Previously it has been
difficult to interpret the ensemble properties of transiting exoplanets,
because of the widely different methodologies that have been applied in
individual cases. Furthermore, previous studies often ignored an important
constraint on the mean stellar density that can be derived directly from the
light curve. The main contributions of this work are 1) a critical compilation
and error assessment of all reported values for the effective temperature and
metallicity of the host stars; 2) the application of a consistent methodology
and treatment of errors in modeling the transit light curves; and 3) more
accurate estimates of the stellar mass and radius based on stellar evolution
models, incorporating the photometric constraint on the stellar density. We use
our results to revisit some previously proposed patterns and correlations
within the ensemble. We confirm the mass-period correlation, and we find
evidence for a new pattern within the scatter about this correlation: planets
around metal-poor stars are more massive than those around metal-rich stars at
a given orbital period. Likewise, we confirm the proposed dichotomy of planets
according to their Safronov number, and we find evidence that the systems with
small Safronov numbers are more metal-rich on average. Finally, we confirm the
trend that led to the suggestion that higher-metallicity stars harbor planets
with a greater heavy-element content.Comment: To appear in The Astrophysical Journal. 23 pages in emulateapj
format, including figures and tables. Figures 7, 8, and 9 are low resolution;
higher resolution versions will be available from the journal when published.
Acknowledgement added, and minor changes made to TrES-3 and TrES-4 in the
Appendi
Quasi-particle behavior of composite fermions in the half-filled Landau level
We calculate the effect of infrared fluctuations of the Chern-Simons gauge
field on the single-particle Green's function of composite fermions in the
half-filled Landau level via higher-dimensional bosonization on a curved Fermi
surface. We find that composite fermions remain well-defined quasi-particles,
with an effective mass given by the mean-field value, but with anomalously
large damping and a spectral function that contains considerable weight away
from the quasi-particle peak.Comment: reference added; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let
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