Scalar Dark Matter and Standard Model with Four Generations

We consider a scalar dark matter model, the SM4+D, consisting of the standard model with four generations (SM4) and a real gauge-singlet scalar called darkon, D, as the weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark-matter (DM) candidate. We explore constraints on the darkon sector of the SM4+D from WIMP DM direct-search experiments, including CDMS II and CoGeNT, and from the decay of a B meson into a kaon plus missing energy. We find that a sizable portion of the darkon parameter space is still compatible with the experimental data. Since the darkon-Higgs interaction may give rise to considerable enhancement of the Higgs invisible decay mode, the existence of the darkon could lead to the weakening or evasion of some of the restrictions on the Higgs mass in the presence of fourth-generation quarks. In addition, it can affect the flavor-changing decays of these new heavy quarks into a lighter quark and the Higgs boson, as the Higgs may subsequently decay invisibly. Therefore we also study these flavor-changing neutral transitions involving the darkon, as well as the corresponding top-quark decay t -> cDD, some of which may be observable at the Tevatron or LHC and thus provide additional tests for the SM4+D.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF DOUBLE KICK IN THE AIR DURING ACTIVE AND PASSIVE ATTACK FOR ELITE TAE-KWON-DO ATHLETES

The purpose of this study is to discuss the reaction time and movement time of the double kick in the air (DKA) of the active and passive attacks for elite tea-kwon-do athletes. The experiment takes six male tae-kwon-do athletes (average age: 20.5 yearold; average height: 174.8cm; average weight: 63kg) who won the national match in the past 2 years as the subjects. A high speed camera (120Hz) was used to shoot their movements, which is quantified by a Silicon Coach at the same time. Based on the experimental result, the DKA can be a long, short, or rapid jumping attack movement, whose vertical displacement is large and the rolling angle of the body in the air is large. Therefore, it is suitable for the combo attack after the active attack in the competition

An Elusive Vector Dark Matter

Even though the sensitivity of direct dark matter search experiments reach the level about $10^{-45}~{\rm cm}^2$, there is no confident signal of dark matter been observed. We point out that, if dark matter is a vector boson, the null result in direct dark matter search experiments may due to the destructive effects in dark-matter-nucleon elastic scattering. We illustrate the scenario using a modified Higgs portal model that includes exotic quarks. The significant cancellation can occur for certain mass gap between heavy quark and dark matter. As a result, the spin-independent dark-matter-nucleon elastic scattering is so suppressed that the future direct search experiments can hardly observe the signal of dark matter.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Automated Quantification of Traffic Particulate Emissions via an Image Analysis Pipeline

Traffic emissions are known to contribute significantly to air pollution around the world, especially in heavily urbanized cities such as Singapore. It has been previously shown that the particulate pollution along major roadways exhibit strong correlation with increased traffic during peak hours, and that reductions in traffic emissions can lead to better health outcomes. However, in many instances, obtaining proper counts of vehicular traffic remains manual and extremely laborious. This then restricts one's ability to carry out longitudinal monitoring for extended periods, for example, when trying to understand the efficacy of intervention measures such as new traffic regulations (e.g. car-pooling) or for computational modelling. Hence, in this study, we propose and implement an integrated machine learning pipeline that utilizes traffic images to obtain vehicular counts that can be easily integrated with other measurements to facilitate various studies. We verify the utility and accuracy of this pipeline on an open-source dataset of traffic images obtained for a location in Singapore and compare the obtained vehicular counts with collocated particulate measurement data obtained over a 2-week period in 2022. The roadside particulate emission is observed to correlate well with obtained vehicular counts with a correlation coefficient of 0.93, indicating that this method can indeed serve as a quick and effective correlate of particulate emissions

Mechanism of action and resistant profile of anti-HIV-1 coumarin derivatives

Dicamphanoyl khellactone (DCK) is a coumarin derivative that can potently inhibit HIV-1 replication. DCK does not inhibit RNA-dependent DNA synthesis. However, an HIV reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitor-resistant strain, HIV-1/RTMDR1, is resistant to DCK. Thus, it is possible that HIV-1 RT is the target of DCK. To test this possibility, DCK-resistant viruses were selected in the presence of DCK. Our results indicate that a single amino acid mutation, E138K in HIV-1 RT, is sufficient to confer DCK resistance. Interestingly, a DCK derivative, 3'R,4'R-Di-O-(-)-camphanoyl-2-ethyl-2',2'-dimethyldihydropyrano[2,3-f]chromo ne (DCP8), is effective against HIV-1/RTMDR1. However, the DCK-escape virus carrying the E138K mutation remains resistant to DCP8. Since DCK did not inhibit the RNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity of HIV-1 RT when using poly-rA or poly-rC as template, we evaluated the effect of DCK on the DNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity of HIV-1 RT. Our results indicate that DCK can inhibit the DNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity of HIV-1 RT. In conclusion, DCK is a unique HIV-1 RT inhibitor that inhibits the DNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity. In contrast, DCK did not significantly affect the RNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity when poly-rA or poly-rC was used as templates. An E138K mutation in the non-nucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRTIs) binding pocket of HIV-1 RT confers resistance to DCK and its chromone derivative, DCP8

Picomolar Dichotomous Activity of Gnidimacrin Against HIV-1

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has offered a promising approach for controlling HIV-1 replication in infected individuals. However, with HARRT, HIV-1 is suppressed rather than eradicated due to persistence of HIV-1 in latent viral reservoirs. Thus, purging the virus from latent reservoirs is an important strategy toward eradicating HIV-1 infection. In this study, we discovered that the daphnane diterpene gnidimacrin, which was previously reported to have potent anti-cancer cell activity, activated HIV-1 replication and killed persistently-infected cells at picomolar concentrations. In addition to its potential to purge HIV-1 from latently infected cells, gnidimacrin potently inhibited a panel of HIV-1 R5 virus infection of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) at an average concentration lower than 10 pM. In contrast, gnidimacrin only partially inhibited HIV-1 ×4 virus infection of PBMCs. The strong anti-HIV-1 R5 virus activity of gnidimacrin was correlated with its effect on down-regulation of the HIV-1 coreceptor CCR5. The anti-R5 virus activity of gnidimacrin was completely abrogated by a selective protein kinase C beta inhibitor enzastaurin, which suggests that protein kinase C beta plays a key role in the potent anti-HIV-1 activity of gnidimacrin in PBMCs. In summary, these results suggest that gnidimacrin could activate latent HIV-1, specifically kill HIV-1 persistently infected cells, and inhibit R5 viruses at picomolar concentrations

Deduced probable HLA-B*40:01:35-associated HLA haplotype (A*24-B*40:01:35-DRB1*11) found in a Taiwanese unrelated hematopoietic bone marrow stem cell donor

AbstractObjectiveHuman leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B*40:01:35 is a low incidence allele in the HLA-B locus. The objective of this study is to report the ethnicity of B*40:01:35 and its deduced probable HLA associated haplotype in a Taiwanese unrelated bone marrow hematopoietic stem cell donor.Materials and methodsA sequence-based typing method was employed to confirm the low incidence allele B*40:01:35. Polymerase chain reaction was performed to amplify exons 2 and 3 of the HLA-A and HLA-B loci and exon 2 of the HLA-DRB1 locus using group-specific primer sets. The amplicons were sequenced using the BigDye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Ready Reaction kit in both directions according to the manufacturer's protocols.ResultsThe DNA sequence of B*40:01:35 is identical to B*40:01:01 in exons 2 and 3, except for residue 324 where C is changed to T (codon 84, TAC→TAT). The nucleotide exchange does not cause amino acid alteration to the protein sequence of B*40:01:01 due to the silent mutation. We deduced the probable HLA haplotype in association with B*40:01:35 in Taiwanese to be A*24-B*40:01:35-DRB1*11.ConclusionInformation on the deduced probable HLA haplotype in association with the low incidence B*40:01:35 allele that we report here is of value for HLA testing laboratories for reference purposes. In addition, it can be used by stem cell transplantation donor search coordinators to determine a strategy for finding compatible donors in unrelated bone marrow donor registries when a patient has this uncommon HLA allele

A LOW-COST METHOD FOR REAL-TIME EVALUATION OF MEDIAN FREQUENCY DURING CYCLIC CONTRACTIONS

The appropriate exercise intensity can be used to improve physical strength as well as to prevent musculoskeletal injuries, and scientific analysis can evaluate the effectiveness of resistance training. The goal of the study was to test a low-cost method for real-time evaluation of median frequency (MDF) during cyclic contractions. Surface electromyography (sEMG) is an objective, non-invasive and pain-free method for assessing and monitoring muscle fatigue in humans performing resistance exercise. In the study, we provided a low-cost method for real-time evaluation of MDF during cyclic contractions. For a well designed program that controls the accumulation of fatigue, local muscle fatigue must be quantified

A STUDY OF THE INFLUENCES OF KNOWLEDGE BOUNDARY SPANNING ON PROJECT PERFORMANCE IN INFORMATION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

Information system development (ISD) is a knowledge intensive process, and a socialize cross-disciplines collaboration that brings up innovations and creates a competitive advantage for the organization. However, different layers of knowledge boundaries (syntactic, semantic, pragmatic) arise with the knowledge diversity of the ISD project and further lowers the project performance and product quality. To solve the problems, we will follow a construct development methodology to empirically identify the critical knowledge boundary spanning (KBS) processes, roles and objects for different layers of knowledge boundary, examine their influences to the effectiveness of corresponding KBS, and further assess the direct and moderating relationships from KBS effectiveness to project performance and product quality through a questionnaire survey. For academic applications, we not only split up the layers of KBS effectiveness and examine their direct and moderating effects to ISD performance but also offer categorized KBS activities under a formal construct development methodology for future studies. For practical implications, we offer a model for ISD team members to refer to for solving their knowledge boundary issues and increase their project performance and product quality