Dipole-interacting Fermionic Dark Matter in positron, antiproton, and gamma-ray channels

Cosmic ray signals from dipole-interacting dark matter annihilation are considered in the positron, antiproton and photon channels. The predicted signals in the positron channel could nicely account for the excess of positron fraction from Fermi LAT, PAMELA, HEAT and AMS-01 experiments for the dark matter mass larger than 100 GeV with a boost (enhancement) factor of 30-80. No excess of antiproton over proton ratio at the experiments also gives a severe restriction for this scenario. With the boost factors, the predicted signals from Galactic halo and signals as mono-energetic gamma-ray lines (monochromatic photons) for the region close to the Galactic center are investigated. The gamma-ray excess of recent tentative analyses based on Fermi LAT data and the potential probe of the monochromatic lines at a planned experiment, AMS-02, are also considered.Comment: Version to be published in PRD(2013), Title changed, text modifie

The first report of Lasioderma Serricorne infestation on dried fish crackers in Malaysia

This paper is the first record of cigarette beetles collected from dried fish crackers (also known as “keropok ikan” in Malay) in Malaysia. The dead cigarette beetles were firstly isolated from a packet of dried fish crackers and were subsequently kept in 70% ethanol. The beetles were then identified as Lasioderma serricorne (Fabricius 1792) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae). They are common pests of stored products such as tobacco, flour, and cocoa beans but there is no record of this beetle infestation on dried fish crackers in Malaysia

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Based Technology Adoption in the Construction Industry: A Cross National Perspective Using the Technology Acceptance Model

The research has chosen the workers in construction-related companies in South Korea and the United Kingdom (UK) as research subjects in order to analyse factors that influence their usage intention of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based technologies. The perceived usefulness had a positive impact (+) on technological satisfaction and usage intention in terms of the commonalities shown by the construction industry workers in both countries, South Korea and the UK, in adopting AI-based technologies. Moreover, the most remarkable differences were personal competence and social influence when choosing AI-based technologies. It was analysed that in the case of South Korea, personal competence had a positive impact (+) on perceived ease of use, whereas the UK had a positive impact (+) on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. This study holds particular significance in the domain of cross-cultural research within the construction industry. It conducts an analysis of the factors influencing the adoption of AI-driven technologies or products, with a specific focus on the cultural differences between two nations: South Korea and the UK, which represent Eastern and Western cultural paradigms, respectively

Bioactive composites for bone tissue engineering

One of the major challenges of bone tissue engineering is the production of a suitable scaffold material. In this review the current composite materials options available are considered covering both the methods of both production and assessing the scaffolds. A range of production routes have been investigated ranging from the use of porogens to produce the porosity through to controlled deposition methods. The testing regimes have included mechanical testing of the materials produced through to in vivo testing of the scaffolds. While the ideal scaffold material has not yet been produced, progress is being made

Evaluation of the Dietary Effect of Hallabong Peel Oil on Growth, Hematological, and Immune Gene Expression in Rock Bream, Oplegnathus fasciatus Challenged with Edwardsiella tarda

In the present study we evaluated the dietary effect of Hallabong peel oil (HPO) on growth, disease resistance, and immune gene expression of rock bream, Oplegnathus fasciatus challenged with Edwardsiella tarda after a 4 week feeding trial with 5 treatments: control-C, probiotic–P, HPO (0.1%), HPO (0.5%), and P+HPO, diets. All fish groups were assessed for growth performance, innate immune parameters, serum biochemical profile, and immune gene expression in head kidney on 2nd, and 4th week, and 1st, 3rd and 7th day post infection with Edwardsiella tarda. Fish fed the HPO enriched diets showed increased growth performance with significantly decreased (P>0.05) mortality compared with the control and probiotic diet groups. The positive effects of HPO enriched diet were also found in all assessed innate immune and biochemical parameters which included increased respiratory burst and lysozyme activity, with significantly increased erythrocyte and leukocytes counts, increased serum protein, decreased glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol level in serum compared with control diet fed fish. Moreover, the probiotic bacterial count in the intestine of fish was enhanced with the HPO diet and the P+HPO diet compared to fish fed the probiotic diet. The head kidney of HPO enriched diet fed fish showed up-regulated expression of inflammatory cytokines genes such as TNFα, IL-1β, and FST, after 4th week of feeding trial which was increased ~2 to 3 times on 1dpi and 3 dpi. These results indicate that limonene rich (91.26%), HPO enriched diets enhance growth and immunity and enhance disease resistance of Oplegnathus fasciatus challenged against E. tarda

Independent and incremental prognostic value of exercise single-photon emission computed tomographic (SPECT) thallium imaging in coronary artery disease

AbstractObjectives. The objective of this study was to examine the independent and incremental prognostic value of exercise singlephoton emission computed tomographic (SPECT) thallium imaging in patients with angiographically defined coronary artery disease.Background. Previous studies showed the importance of exercise thallium-201 in risk stratification. However, most of these studies used planar imaging techniques.Methods. Follow-up data were obtained in 316 medically treated patients with coronary artery disease. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to examine the independent and incremental prognostic values of clinical exercise, thallium and cardiac catheterization data.Results. There were 35 events (cardiac death or nonfatal myocardial infarction) at a mean follow-up time of 28 months. Univariate analysis showed that gender (chi-square = 5.1), exercise work load (chi-square = 3.1), extent of coronary artery disease and left ventricular ejection fraction (chi-square = 14.8) and thallium variables (chi-square = 22.7) were prognostically important. The thallium data provided incremental prognostic value to catheterization data (chi-square = 33.7, p < 0.01). The extent of the perfusion abnormality was the single best predictor of prognosis (chi-square = 14). Patients with a large perfusion abnormality had a worse prognosis than that of patients with a mild or no abnormality (Mantel-Cox statistics = 10.6, p < 0.001).Conclusions. In medically treated patients with coronary artery disease, exercise SPECT thallium imaging provides independent and incremental prognostic information even when catheterization data are available. The extent of the perfusion abnormality is the single most important prognostic predictor

Dirty Black Holes and Hairy Black Holes

An approach based on considerations of the non-classical energy momentum tensor outside the event horizon of a black hole provides additional physical insight into the nature of discrete quantum hair on black holes and its effect on black hole temperature. Our analysis both extends previous work based on the Euclidean action techniques, and corrects an omission in that work. We also raise several issues related to the effects of instantons on black hole thermodynamics and the relation between these effects and results in two dimensional quantum field theory.Comment: 13 pages, Latex, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Surface Passivation of CdSe Quantum Dots in All Inorganic Amorphous Solid by Forming Cd1-xZnx Se Shell

CdSe quantum dots (QDs) doped glasses have been widely investigated for optical filters, LED color converter and other optical emitters. Unlike CdSe QDs in solution, it is difficult to passivate the surface defects of CdSe QDs in glass matrix, which strongly suppress its intrinsic emission. In this study, surface passivation of CdSe quantum dots (QDs) by Cd1-xZnx Se shell in silicate glass was reported. An increase in the Se/Cd ratio can lead to the partial passivation of the surface states and appearance of the intrinsic emission of CdSe QDs. Optimizing the heat-treatment condition promotes the incorporation of Zn into CdSe QDs and results in the quenching of the defect emission. Formation of CdSe/ Cd1-xZnx Se core/graded shell QDs is evidenced by the experimental results of TEM and Raman spectroscopy. Realization of the surface passivation and intrinsic emission of II-VI QDs may facilitate the wide applications of QDs doped all inorganic amorphous materials. ? The Author(s) 2017.114Ysciescopu

Release of Infectious Hepatitis C Virus from Huh7 Cells Occurs via a trans-Golgi Network-to-Endosome Pathway Independent of Very-Low-Density Lipoprotein Secretion

The release of infectious hepatitis C virus (HCV) particles from infected cells remains poorly characterized. We previously demonstrated that virus release is dependent on the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT). Here, we show a critical role of trans-Golgi network (TGN)-endosome trafficking during the assembly, but principally the secretion, of infectious virus. This was demonstrated by both small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated silencing of TGN-associated adaptor proteins and a panel of dominant negative (DN) Rab GTPases involved in TGN-endosome trafficking steps. Importantly, interfering with factors critical for HCV release did not have a concomitant effect on secretion of triglycerides, ApoB, or ApoE, indicating that particles are likely released from Huh7 cells via pathways distinct from that of very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL). Finally, we show that HCV NS2 perturbs TGN architecture, redistributing TGN membranes to closely associate with HCV core protein residing on lipid droplets. These findings support the notion that HCV hijacks TGN-endosome trafficking to facilitate particle assembly and release. Moreover, although essential for assembly and infectivity, the trafficking of mature virions is seemingly independent of host lipoproteins