U(1)_R mediation from the flux compactification in six dimensions

We consider a supersymmetric completion of codimension-two branes with nonzero tension in a 6D gauged supergravity. As a consequence, we obtain the football solution with 4D Minkowski space as a new supersymmetric background that preserves 4D N=1 SUSY. In the presence of brane multiplets, we derive the 4D effective supergravity action for the football background and show that the remaining modulus can be stabilized by a bulk non-perturbative correction with brane uplifting potentials at a zero vacuum energy. We find that the U(1)_R mediation can be a dominant source of SUSY breaking for a brane scalar with nonzero R charge.Comment: 3 pages, no figures, to appear in the proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Supersymmetry and the Unification of Fundamental Interactions (SUSY-2008), Seoul, Korea, 16-21 June, 200

A decision support approach to designing the inland logistics network in China

With the unprecedented growth of international trade, a growing number of multinational firms have coped with logistical challenges of shipping products to and from unfamiliar territories in many countries. These logistical challenges include the cross-border transportation of products originated from inland port to another inland port isolated from major waterways. In particular, the lack of access to major waterways would not only constrain the intermodal transportation option, but also make door-to-door, containerized delivery services nearly impossible. Such a limited option would eventually lead to increased transportation costs and transit time, and thereby offset low-cost global sourcing advantages. To aid multinational firms in addressing the problem of determining the optimal supply chain link between inland origin and destinations ports, this article proposes a shortest-path model based decision support system. The usefulness of the proposed model-based decision support system was validated by its application to a real problem encountered by a multinational firm that would like to strengthen its foothold in the Chinese market

The avian-specific small heat shock protein HSP25 is a constitutive protector against environmental stresses during blastoderm dormancy

ArticleScientific Reports. 6: 36704 (2016).journal articl

Helicobacter pylori Infection and Halitosis – Evidence, Hypothesis, and Korean Red Ginseng to Mitigate Its Effect

Halitosis is a common and ignored condition, but in some, it is a disease-associated health problem, suggestive of overt disease conditions and hasaffected about 25–30% of world’s population, bothering nonmedical social disturbance in many people. Although two kinds, pseudohalitosis and halitophobia, are also concerned, genuine halitosis originated from the oral cavity, such as gingivitis, caries, and poor oral hygiene, in 80% and the remaining 20% are extraoral sources of halitosis, which should not be ignored because of stigmata suggestive of overt tissue dysfunctions, for instance, poor nutrition and hygiene, alcohol abuse, smoking, and systemic illness such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, liver cirrhosis, diabetes mellitus, and chronic renal diseases. In this chapter, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)–associated halitosis as one of the extragastric manifestations is introduced. Since diagnostics of halitosis includes subjective methods (examiner’s sense of smell) and objective methods (instrumental analysis), under the hypothesis of a possible relationship between H. pylori infection and objective halitosis, the real levels of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) in the breath showed significant correlation between VSC levels and the degree of H. pylori–associated erosive gastritis as well as gastric cancer. These findings are further validated through either measuring H2S level in gastric juices of H. pylori–infected gastritis or checking the expressions of cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE) and cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS) responsible for H2S generation in biopsied stomach. The eradication of H. pylori significantly ameliorated halitosis, accompanied with significant reductions in gastric H2S levels (p<0.01). Korean red ginseng was very effective in either reducing H. pylori–associated H2S or alleviating halitosis in patients with H. pylori–associated chronic atrophic gastritis. Conclusively, H. pylori infection demonstrates to have an important relationship with the development of halitosis, and its eradication could possibly promote the improvement of this condition

Design of the VISTA-ITL Test Facility for an Integral Type Reactor of SMART and a Post-Test Simulation of a SBLOCA Test

To validate the performance and safety of an integral type reactor of SMART, a thermal-hydraulic integral effect test facility, VISTA-ITL, is introduced with a discussion of its scientific design characteristics. The VISTA-ITL was used extensively to assess the safety and performance of the SMART design, especially for its passive safety system such as a passive residual heat removal system, and to validate various thermal-hydraulic analysis codes. The VISTA-ITL program includes several tests on the SBLOCA, CLOF, and PRHRS performances to support a verification of the SMART design and contribute to the SMART design licensing by providing proper test data for validating the system analysis codes. A typical scenario of SBLOCA was analyzed using the MARS-KS code to assess the thermal-hydraulic similarity between the SMART design and the VISTA-ITL facility, and a posttest simulation on a SBLOCA test for the shutdown cooling system line break has been performed with the MARS-KS code to assess its simulation capability for the SBLOCA scenario of the SMART design. The SBLOCA scenario in the SMART design was well reproduced using the VISTA-ITL facility, and the measured thermal-hydraulic data were properly simulated with the MARS-KS code

Calsyntenins Function as Synaptogenic Adhesion Molecules in Concert with Neurexins

SummaryMultiple synaptic adhesion molecules govern synapse formation. Here, we propose calsyntenin-3/alcadein-β as a synapse organizer that specifically induces presynaptic differentiation in heterologous synapse-formation assays. Calsyntenin-3 (CST-3) is highly expressed during various postnatal periods of mouse brain development. The simultaneous knockdown of all three CSTs, but not CST-3 alone, decreases inhibitory, but not excitatory, synapse densities in cultured hippocampal neurons. Moreover, the knockdown of CSTs specifically reduces inhibitory synaptic transmission in vitro and in vivo. Remarkably, the loss of CSTs induces a concomitant decrease in neuron soma size in a non-cell-autonomous manner. Furthermore, α-neurexins (α-Nrxs) are components of a CST-3 complex involved in CST-3-mediated presynaptic differentiation. However, CST-3 does not directly bind to Nrxs. Viewed together, these data suggest that the three CSTs redundantly regulate inhibitory synapse formation, inhibitory synapse function, and neuron development in concert with Nrxs