Analytical Study of Non-Universality of the Soft Terms in the MSSM

We obtain general analytical forms for the solutions of the one-loop renormalization group equations in the top/bottom/$\tau$ sector of the MSSM. These solutions are valid for any value of $\tan \beta$ as well as any non-universal initial conditions for the soft SUSY breaking parameters and non-unification of the Yukawa couplings. We establish analytically a generic screening effect of non-universality, in the vicinity of the infrared quasi fixed point, which allows to determine sector-wise a hierarchy of sensitivity to initial conditions. We give also various numerical illustrations of this effect away from the quasi fixed point and assess the sensitivity of the Higgs and sfermion spectra to the non-universality of the various soft breaking sectors. As a by-product, a typical anomaly-mediated non-universality of the gaugino sector would have marginal influence on the scalar spectrum.Comment: Latex, 18 pages, 3 figure

The dynamics of Abell 2634

We have amassed a large sample of velocity data for the cluster of galaxies Abell 2634 which contains the wide-angle tail (WAT) radio source 3C 465. Robust indicators of location and scale and their confidence intervals are used to determine if the cD galaxy, containing the WAT, has a significant peculiar motion. We find a cD peculiar radial velocity of 219 plus or minus 98 km s(exp -1). Further dynamical analyses, including substructure and normality tests, suggest that A 2634 is an unrelaxed cluster whose radio source structure may be bent by the turbulent gas of a recent cluster-subcluster merger

The Nondeterministic Waiting Time Algorithm: A Review

We present briefly the Nondeterministic Waiting Time algorithm. Our technique for the simulation of biochemical reaction networks has the ability to mimic the Gillespie Algorithm for some networks and solutions to ordinary differential equations for other networks, depending on the rules of the system, the kinetic rates and numbers of molecules. We provide a full description of the algorithm as well as specifics on its implementation. Some results for two well-known models are reported. We have used the algorithm to explore Fas-mediated apoptosis models in cancerous and HIV-1 infected T cells

Microdemographic Determinants of Population Recovery Among the Northern \u3cem\u3eAche\u3c/em\u3e

A pattern of population crash and rapid recovery is a common feature of the pacification and settlement experience of the Indigenous Peoples of tropical South America. In spite of the obvious importance of these events to the demographic and anthropological sciences as a whole, as well as their significant practical implications, little is known about the microdemographic determinants of these paired phenomena. Utilizing methods of asymptotic and stochastic demographic analysis, we reconstruct the microdemographic drivers of this history among one Indigenous population: the Northern Ache of Eastern Paraguay. We then explore the implications of these relationships for understanding the overall demographic turnaround being observed within similar groups as well as for the future trajectory of the Northern Ache in particular

Alginate Oligosaccharides modify hyphal infiltration of Candida albicans in an in vitro model of invasive Human Candidosis

AIMS: A novel alginate oligomer (OligoG CF-5/20) has been shown to potentiate antifungal therapy against a range of fungal pathogens. The current study assessed the effect of this oligomer on in vitro virulence factor expression and epithelial invasion by Candida species. METHODS AND RESULTS: Plate substrate assays and epithelial models were used to assess Candida albicans (CCUG 39343 and ATCC 90028) invasion, in conjunction with confocal laser scanning microscopy and histochemistry. Expression of candidal virulence factors was determined biochemically and by quantitative PCR (qPCR). Changes in surface charge of C. albicans following OligoG treatment were analysed using electrophoretic light scattering. OligoG induced marked alterations in hyphal formation in the substrate assays and reduced invasion in the epithelial model (P 0·05), qPCR demonstrated a reduction in phospholipase B (PLB2) and SAPs (SAP4 and SAP6) expression. CONCLUSION: OligoG CF-5/20 reduced in vitro virulence factor expression and invasion by C. albicans. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: These results, and the previously described potentiation of antifungal activity, define a potential therapeutic opportunity in the treatment of invasive candidal infections

Infrared Fixed Point Structure in Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with Baryon and Lepton Number Violation

We study in detail the renomalization group evolution of Yukawa couplings and soft supersymmetry breaking trilinear couplings in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with baryon and lepton number violation. We obtain the exact solutions of these equations in a closed form, and then depict the infrared fixed point structure of the third generation Yukawa couplings and the highest generation baryon and lepton number violating couplings. Approximate analytical solutions for these Yukawa couplings and baryon and lepton number violating couplings, and the soft supersymmetry breaking couplings are obtained in terms of their initial values at the unification scale. We then numerically study the infrared fixed surfaces of the model, and illustrate the approach to the fixed points.Comment: 16 pages REVTeX, figures embedded as epsfigs, replaced with version to appear in Physical Review D, minor typographical errors eliminated and references reordered, figures correcte

FAR‐sighted conservation

Abstract Conservation targets that reference historical expectations, such as maintaining specified areas of intact ecosystems, restoring degraded ones or maintaining the historic distributions of species, may not be realistic in the context of ongoing environmental change, whereas targets that aspire to accommodate the complex realities of the human‐altered and changing world tend to be too vague to implement. Using the first three recently proposed Convention on Biological Diversity post‐2020 global biodiversity Action Targets as context, we suggest a policy framework that evaluates how we might shift from an emphasis on resisting sometimes inevitable change to the development of positive directions of change for people and biodiversity. Our Anthropocene approach builds on the fact that all ecosystems have already been shaped by interactions with people and that ongoing change is inevitable. We outline a Facilitate–Accept–Resist (FAR) framework for all levels of conservation decision‐making and actions, ranging from overall conservation strategies (planning, setting targets, monitoring change, selecting indicators) to the conservation of places (sites, ecosystems, landscapes) and species, and to the provision of ecosystem services and human well‐being. For each potential decision, the approach evaluates whether, for whom and how one might facilitate, accept or resist particular changes. We highlight the value of inclusive engagement in the process to ensure that benefits from biodiversity are equitably shared. The CBD Action targets reflect tensions between maintaining historic states of nature and the Anthropocene reality of integrating people with nature and accepting change. The challenge is to operationalize the inclusivity, integration and change elements of the targets whilst not ‘abandoning’ locations that many conservationists consider to be key places for wildlife. The FAR framework represents a way to operationalize decision‐making in the face of this tension, so that the facilitation and acceptance of positive biodiversity change is adopted at least as frequently as change is resisted

Sfermion masses in Nelson-Strassler type of models: SUSY standard models coupled with SCFTs

We study soft SUSY breaking parameters in the Nelson-Strassler type of models: SUSY standard models coupled with SCFTs. In this type of models, soft SUSY breaking parameters including sfermion masses can be suppressed around the decoupling scale of SCFTs. We clarify the condition to derive exponential suppression of sfermion masses within the framework of pure SCFTs. Such behavior is favorable for degeneracy of sfermion masses. However, the realistic sfermion masses are not quite degenerate due to the gauge couplings and the gaugino masses in the SM sector. We show the sfermion mass spectrum obtained in such models. The aspect of suppression for the soft SUSY breaking parameters is also demonstrated in an explicit model. We also give a mechanism generating the $\mu$-term of the Electro-Weak scale by a singlet field coupled with the SCFT.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, LaTeX file; corrected typos and references adde

Prolonged and tunable residence time using reversible covalent kinase inhibitors.

Drugs with prolonged on-target residence times often show superior efficacy, yet general strategies for optimizing drug-target residence time are lacking. Here we made progress toward this elusive goal by targeting a noncatalytic cysteine in Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) with reversible covalent inhibitors. Using an inverted orientation of the cysteine-reactive cyanoacrylamide electrophile, we identified potent and selective BTK inhibitors that demonstrated biochemical residence times spanning from minutes to 7 d. An inverted cyanoacrylamide with prolonged residence time in vivo remained bound to BTK for more than 18 h after clearance from the circulation. The inverted cyanoacrylamide strategy was further used to discover fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) kinase inhibitors with residence times of several days, demonstrating the generalizability of the approach. Targeting of noncatalytic cysteines with inverted cyanoacrylamides may serve as a broadly applicable platform that facilitates 'residence time by design', the ability to modulate and improve the duration of target engagement in vivo

Disrupting the one-loop renormalization group invariant M/alpha in supersymmetry

It is well known that in low energy supersymmetry the ratio of the gaugino mass to the gauge coupling squared, M/alpha, is renormalization group invariant to one-loop. We present a systematic analysis of the corrections to this ratio, including standard two-loop corrections from gauge and Yukawa couplings, corrections due to an additional U(1)' gaugino, threshold corrections, superoblique corrections, corrections due to extra matter, GUT and Planck scale corrections, and ``corrections'' from messenger sectors with supersymmetry breaking communicated via gauge-mediation. We show that many of these effects induce corrections at the level of a few to tens of percent, but some could give much larger corrections, drastically disrupting the renormalization group extrapolation of the ratio to higher scales. Our analysis is essentially model-independent, and therefore can be used to determine the ambiguities in extrapolating the ratio in any given model between the weak scale and higher scales.Comment: 43 pages, LaTeX, uses epsf.sty, axodraw.sty, 12 eps figures. Minor typos corrected. To appear in Nucl. Phys.