On the Flux Vacua in F-theory Compactifications

We study moduli stabilization of the F-theory compactified on an elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau fourfold. Our setup is based on the mirror symmetry framework including brane deformations. The complex structure moduli dependence of the resulting 4D N=1 effective theory is determined by the associated fourfold period integrals. By turning on appropriate G-fluxes, we explicitly demonstrate that all the complex structure moduli fields can be stabilized around the large complex structure point of the F-theory fourfold.Comment: 5 pages, v2: published versio

NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF MAGNETIC BRUSH FORMATION PHENOMENA

We have developed models capable of describing magnetic brush formation phenomena. In particular, we investigate the effects of physical parameters (applied magnetic field, etc.) on the correlations and the structure. Three models are presented, which point out different aspects of the brush growth process

Recent increase of genetic diversity in Plasmodium vivax population in the Republic of Korea

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The reemergence of <it>Plasmodium vivax </it>in South Korea since 1993 represents a serious public health concern. Despite the importance in understanding genetic diversity for control strategies, however, studies remain inconclusive with the general premise that due to low rate of malaria transmission, there is generally low genetic diversity with very few strains involved. In this study, the genetic diversity and population structure of <it>P. vivax </it>in South Korea were explored by analysing microsatellite polymorphism.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sequences for 13 microsatellite loci distributed across the twelve chromosomes of <it>P. vivax </it>were obtained from 58 South Korean isolates collected during two sampling periods, namely 1997-2000 and 2007. The sequences were used for the analysis of expected heterozygosity and multilocus genotype diversity. Population structure was evaluated using STRUCTURE version 2.3.2. Linkage disequilibrium was also analysed to investigate the extent of outbreeding in the <it>P. vivax </it>population.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean expected heterozygosity significantly increased from 0.382 in 1997-2000 to 0.545 in 2007 (<it>P </it>< 0.05). The number of multilocus genotypes was 7 and 27; and genotype diversity was statistically significant (<it>P </it>< 0.01) at 0.661 and 0.995 in 1997-2000 and 2007, respectively. Analysis by STRUCTURE showed a more complex population structure in 2007 than in 1997-2000. Linkage disequilibrium between 13 microsatellites, although significant in both time points, was notably lower in 2007.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The present microsatellite analysis clearly showed recent increase of genetic diversity and recent relaxation of the strong population structure observed in 1997-2000. These results suggest that multiple genotypes not present previously recently migrated into South Korea, accompanied by substantial outbreeding between different genotypes.</p

Apicoplast phylogeny reveals the position of Plasmodium vivax basal to the Asian primate malaria parasite clade

The malaria parasite species, Plasmodium vivax infects not only humans, but also African apes. Human specific P. vivax has evolved from a single ancestor that originated from a parasite of African apes. Although previous studies have proposed phylogenetic trees positioning P. vivax (the common ancestor of human and African ape P. vivax) within the assemblages of Asian primate parasites, its position has not yet been robustly confirmed. We determined nearly complete apicoplast genome sequences from seven Asian primate parasites, Plasmodium cynomolgi (strains Ceylonensis and Berok), P. knowlesi P. fragile, P. fieldi, P. simiovale, P. hylobati, P. inui, and an African primate parasite, P. gonderi, that infects African guenon. Phylogenetic relationships of the Plasmodium species were analyzed using newly and previously determined apicoplast genome sequences. Multigene maximum likelihood analysis of 30 protein coding genes did not position P. vivax within the Asian primate parasite clade but positioned it basal to the clade, after the branching of an African guenon parasite, P. gonderi. The result does not contradict with the emerging notion that P. vivax phylogenetically originated from Africa. The result is also supported by phylogenetic analyses performed using massive nuclear genome data of seven primate Plasmodium species

Emerging technologies and their impact on regulatory science

There is an evolution and increasing need for the utilization of emerging cellular, molecular and in silico technologies and novel approaches for safety assessment of food, drugs, and personal care products. Convergence of these emerging technologies is also enabling rapid advances and approaches that may impact regulatory decisions and approvals. Although the development of emerging technologies may allow rapid advances in regulatory decision making, there is concern that these new technologies have not been thoroughly evaluated to determine if they are ready for regulatory application, singularly or in combinations. The magnitude of these combined technical advances may outpace the ability to assess fit for purpose and to allow routine application of these new methods for regulatory purposes. There is a need to develop strategies to evaluate the new technologies to determine which ones are ready for regulatory use. The opportunity to apply these potentially faster, more accurate, and cost-effective approaches remains an important goal to facilitate their incorporation into regulatory use. However, without a clear strategy to evaluate emerging technologies rapidly and appropriately, the value of these efforts may go unrecognized or may take longer. It is important for the regulatory science field to keep up with the research in these technically advanced areas and to understand the science behind these new approaches. The regulatory field must understand the critical quality attributes of these novel approaches and learn from each other's experience so that workforces can be trained to prepare for emerging global regulatory challenges. Moreover, it is essential that the regulatory community must work with the technology developers to harness collective capabilities towards developing a strategy for evaluation of these new and novel assessment tools

Nationwide surveillance of bacterial respiratory pathogens conducted by the surveillance committee of Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, and the Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010: General view of the pathogens\u27 antibacterial susceptibility

The nationwide surveillance on antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial respiratory pathogens from patients in Japan, was conducted by Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases and Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010.The isolates were collected from clinical specimens obtained from well-diagnosed adult patients with respiratory tract infections during the period from January and April 2010 by three societies. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted at the central reference laboratory according to the method recommended by Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institutes using maximum 45 antibacterial agents.Susceptibility testing was evaluable with 954 strains (206 Staphylococcus aureus, 189 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 4 Streptococcus pyogenes, 182 Haemophilus influenzae, 74 Moraxella catarrhalis, 139 Klebsiella pneumoniae and 160 Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Ratio of methicillin-resistant S.aureus was as high as 50.5%, and those of penicillin-intermediate and -resistant S.pneumoniae were 1.1% and 0.0%, respectively. Among H.influenzae, 17.6% of them were found to be β-lactamase-non-producing ampicillin (ABPC)-intermediately resistant, 33.5% to be β-lactamase-non-producing ABPC-resistant and 11.0% to be β-lactamase-producing ABPC-resistant strains. Extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing K.pneumoniae and multi-drug resistant P.aeruginosa with metallo β-lactamase were 2.9% and 0.6%, respectively.Continuous national surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility of respiratory pathogens is crucial in order to monitor changing patterns of susceptibility and to be able to update treatment recommendations on a regular basis

Analysis of magnetic shielding effect of layered shields based on homogenization

This paper describes a nonlinear analysis of magnetic field based on homogenization. The analysis of a magnetic field is time-consuming when the problem includes magnetic substance with fine structure. Simplification of the fine structure by homogenization makes it possible to analyze them efficiently. The authors have introduced a homogenization method to estimate effective permeability of magnetic composite structure for a static field. This method can be applied not only for linear problems but also nonlinear ones. In this paper, the magnetic shielding effect of layered nonlinear material is analyzed by using the homogenization method, and the applicability of this method is discusse