Steered molecular dynamics simulations on the binding of the appendant structure and helix-β2 in domain-swapped human cystatin C dimer

We have performed steered molecular dynamics (SMD) simulations to investigate the dissociation process between the appendant structure (AS) and helix-β2 in human cystatin C dimer. Energy change during SMD showed that electrostatic interactions, including hydrogen bonds and salt bridges, were the dominant interactions to stabilize the two parts of the dimer. Furthermore, our data indicated that residues, Asn35, Asp40, Ser44, Lys75, and Arg93 play significant roles in the formation of these electrostatic interactions. Docking studies suggested that the interactions between AS and β2-helix were formed following domain swapping and were responsible for stabilizing the structure of the domain-swapped dimer

Cosmological Constraints on the Sign-Changeable Interactions

Recently, Cai and Su [Phys. Rev. D {\bf 81}, 103514 (2010)] found that the sign of interaction $Q$ in the dark sector changed in the approximate redshift range of 0.45\,\lsim\, z\,\lsim\, 0.9, by using a model-independent method to deal with the observational data. In fact, this result raises a remarkable problem, since most of the familiar interactions cannot change their signs in the whole cosmic history. Motivated by the work of Cai and Su, we have proposed a new type of interaction in a previous work [H. Wei, Nucl. Phys. B {\bf 845}, 381 (2011)]. The key ingredient is the deceleration parameter $q$ in the interaction $Q$, and hence the interaction $Q$ can change its sign when our universe changes from deceleration ($q>0$) to acceleration ($q<0$). In the present work, we consider the cosmological constraints on this new type of sign-changeable interactions, by using the latest observational data. We find that the cosmological constraints on the model parameters are fairly tight. In particular, the key parameter $\beta$ can be constrained to a narrow range.Comment: 15 pages, 1 table, 8 figures, revtex4; v2: published versio

Effects of dark sectors' mutual interaction on the growth of structures

We present a general formalism to study the growth of dark matter perturbations when dark energy perturbations and interactions between dark sectors are present. We show that dynamical stability of the growth of structure depends on the type of coupling between dark sectors. By taking the appropriate coupling to ensure the stable growth of structure, we observe that the effect of the dark sectors' interaction overwhelms that of dark energy perturbation on the growth function of dark matter perturbation. Due to the influence of the interaction, the growth index can differ from the value without interaction by an amount within the observational sensibility, which provides a possibility to disclose the interaction between dark sectors through future observations on the growth of large structure.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, revised version, to appear in JCA

The superstring Hagedorn temperature in a pp-wave background

The thermodynamics of type IIB superstring theory in the maximally supersymmetric plane wave background is studied. We compute the thermodynamic partition function for non-interacting strings exactly and the result differs slightly from previous computations. We clarify some of the issues related to the Hagedorn temperature in the limits of small and large constant RR 5-form. We study the thermodynamic behavior of strings in the case of $AdS_3 \times S^3 \times T^4$ geometries in the presence of NS-NS and RR 3-form backgrounds. We also comment on the relationship of string thermodynamics and the thermodynamic behavior of the sector of Yang-Mills theory which is the holographic dual of the string theory.Comment: 22 pages, JHEP style, minor misprints corrected, some comments adde

On Charged Black Holes in Anti-de Sitter Space

We study the region inside the event horizon of charged black holes in five dimensional asymptotically anti-de Sitter space, using as a probe two-sided correlators which are dominated by spacelike geodesics penetrating the horizon. The spacetimes we investigate include the Reissner-Nordstrom black hole and perturbations thereof. The perturbed spacetimes can be found exactly, enabling us to perform a local scan of the region between the inner and outer horizons. Surprisingly, the two-sided correlators we calculate seem to be geometrically protected from the instability of the inner horizon.Comment: 1+37 pages, 20 ps and eps figures, LaTeX. References added and changes made to section

Confront Holographic QCD with Regge Trajectories of vectors and axial-vectors

We derive the general 5-dimension metric structure of the $Dp-Dq$ system in type II superstring theory, and demonstrate the physical meaning of the parameters characterizing the 5-dimension metric structure of the \textit{holographic} QCD model by relating them to the parameters describing Regge trajectories. By matching the spectra of vector mesons $\rho_1$ with deformed $Dp-Dq$ soft-wall model, we find that the spectra of vector mesons $\rho_1$ can be described very well in the soft-wall $D3-Dq$ model, i.e, $AdS_5$ soft-wall model. We then investigate how well the $AdS_5$ soft-wall model can describe the Regge trajectory of axial-vector mesons $a_1$. We find that the constant component of the 5-dimension mass square of axial-vector mesons plays an efficient role to realize the chiral symmetry breaking in the vacuum, and a small negative $z^4$ correction in the 5-dimension mass square is helpful to realize the chiral symmetry restoration in high excitation states.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure and 3 tables, one section adde

Barriers for progress in salt reduction in the general population. An international study

Salt reduction is important for reducing hypertension and the risk of cardiovascular events, nevertheless worldwide salt intakes are above recommendations. Consequently strategies to reduce intake are required, however these require an understanding of salt intake behaviours to be effective. As limited information is available on this, an international study was conducted to derive knowledge on salt intake and associated behaviours in the general population. An online cohort was recruited consisting of a representative sample from Germany, Austria, United States of America, Hungary, India, China, South Africa, and Brazil (n=6987; aged 18-65. years; age and gender stratified). Participants completed a comprehensive web-based questionnaire on salt intake and associated behaviours. While salt reduction was seen to be healthy and important, over one third of participants were not interested in salt reduction and the majority were unaware of recommendations. Salt intake was largely underestimated and people were unaware of the main dietary sources of salt. Participants saw themselves as mainly responsible for their salt intake, but also acknowledged the roles of others. Additionally, they wanted to learn more about why salt was bad for health and what the main sources in the diet were. As such, strategies to reduce salt intake must raise interest in engaging in salt reduction through improving understanding of intake levels and dietary sources of salt. Moreover, while some aspects of salt reduction can be globally implemented, local tailoring is required to match level of interest in salt reduction. These findings provide unique insights into issues surrounding salt reduction and should be used to develop effective salt reduction strategies and/or policies. © 2013 The Authors

Quark and pion condensation in a chromomagnetic background field

The general features of quark and pion condensation in dense quark matter with flavor asymmetry have been considered at finite temperature in the presence of a chromomagnetic background field modelling the gluon condensate. In particular, pion condensation in the case of a constant abelian chromomagnetic field and zero temperature has been studied both analytically and numerically. Under the influence of the chromomagnetic background field the effective potential of the system is found to have a global minimum for a finite pion condensate even for small values of the effective quark coupling constant. In the strong field limit, an effective dimensional reduction has been found to take place.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure

How does the electromagnetic field couple to gravity, in particular to metric, nonmetricity, torsion, and curvature?

The coupling of the electromagnetic field to gravity is an age-old problem. Presently, there is a resurgence of interest in it, mainly for two reasons: (i) Experimental investigations are under way with ever increasing precision, be it in the laboratory or by observing outer space. (ii) One desires to test out alternatives to Einstein's gravitational theory, in particular those of a gauge-theoretical nature, like Einstein-Cartan theory or metric-affine gravity. A clean discussion requires a reflection on the foundations of electrodynamics. If one bases electrodynamics on the conservation laws of electric charge and magnetic flux, one finds Maxwell's equations expressed in terms of the excitation H=(D,H) and the field strength F=(E,B) without any intervention of the metric or the linear connection of spacetime. In other words, there is still no coupling to gravity. Only the constitutive law H= functional(F) mediates such a coupling. We discuss the different ways of how metric, nonmetricity, torsion, and curvature can come into play here. Along the way, we touch on non-local laws (Mashhoon), non-linear ones (Born-Infeld, Heisenberg-Euler, Plebanski), linear ones, including the Abelian axion (Ni), and find a method for deriving the metric from linear electrodynamics (Toupin, Schoenberg). Finally, we discuss possible non-minimal coupling schemes.Comment: Latex2e, 26 pages. Contribution to "Testing Relativistic Gravity in Space: Gyroscopes, Clocks, Interferometers ...", Proceedings of the 220th Heraeus-Seminar, 22 - 27 August 1999 in Bad Honnef, C. Laemmerzahl et al. (eds.). Springer, Berlin (2000) to be published (Revised version uses Springer Latex macros; Sec. 6 substantially rewritten; appendices removed; the list of references updated