Review on possible gravitational anomalies

This is an updated introductory review of 2 possible gravitational anomalies that has attracted part of the Scientific community: the Allais effect that occur during solar eclipses, and the Pioneer 10 spacecraft anomaly, experimented also by Pioneer 11 and Ulysses spacecrafts. It seems that, to date, no satisfactory conventional explanation exist to these phenomena, and this suggests that possible new physics will be needed to account for them. The main purpose of this review is to announce 3 other new measurements that will be carried on during the 2005 solar eclipses in Panama and Colombia (Apr. 8) and in Portugal (Oct.15).Comment: Published in 'Journal of Physics: Conferences Series of the American Institute of Physics'. Contribution for the VI Mexican School on Gravitation and Mathematical Physics "Approaches to Quantum Gravity" (Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Nov. 21-27, 2004). Updates to this information will be posted in http://www.lsc-group.phys.uwm.edu/~xavier.amador/anomalies.htm

Presencia en Cuba de la especie marina invasora Unomia stolonifera (Gohar, 1938) (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea). Acciones para su control y eliminación

Se señala la presencia en Cuba de la especie marina invasora Unomia stolonifera, introducida en Venezuela, de donde debe haber llegado a Cuba y que representa un peligro para los arrecifes coralinos de Cuba y del resto del Mar Caribe. Se describen las acciones realizadas para su erradicación.Los muestreos contaron con el apoyo financiero y logístico brindado por Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) y de la Fundación Antonio Núñez Jiménez de la Naturaleza y el Hombre (FANJ). Ninguno de los autores de este trabajo ha recibido ningún tipo de financiamiento para realizar la investigación

Flowing Between Fermionic Fixed Points

We study holographic Wilsonian renormalization group flows for bulk spinor fields in AdS. We use this to compute the all-loop beta function for fermionic double trace operators in the dual conformal field theory.Comment: 21 pages. V2: Acknowledgement added; v3: Typo correcte

Strong subadditivity and the covariant holographic entanglement entropy formula

Headrick and Takayanagi showed that the Ryu-Takayanagi holographic entanglement entropy formula generally obeys the strong subadditivity (SSA) inequality, a fundamental property of entropy. However, the Ryu-Takayanagi formula only applies when the bulk spacetime is static. It is not known whether the covariant generalization proposed by Hubeny, Rangamani, and Takayanagi (HRT) also obeys SSA. We investigate this question in three-dimensional AdS-Vaidya spacetimes, finding that SSA is obeyed as long as the bulk spacetime satisfies the null energy condition. This provides strong support for the validity of the HRT formula.Comment: 38 page

Via Hexagons to Squares in Ferrofluids: Experiments on Hysteretic Surface Transformations under Variation of the Normal Magnetic Field

We report on different surface patterns on magnetic liquids following the Rosensweig instability. We compare the bifurcation from the flat surface to a hexagonal array of spikes with the transition to squares at higher fields. From a radioscopic mapping of the surface topography we extract amplitudes and wavelengths. For the hexagon--square transition, which is complex because of coexisting domains, we tailor a set of order parameters like peak--to--peak distance, circularity, angular correlation function and pattern specific amplitudes from Fourier space. These measures enable us to quantify the smooth hysteretic transition. Voronoi diagrams indicate a pinning of the domains. Thus the smoothness of the transition is roughness on a small scale.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figure

The effect of cigarette smoke exposure on the development of inflammation in lungs, gut and joints of TNFΔARE mice

The inflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha is a central mediator in many immune-mediated diseases, such as Crohn's disease (CD), spondyloarthritis (SpA) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Epidemiologic studies have shown that cigarette smoking (CS) is a prominent common risk factor in these TNF-dependent diseases. We exposed TNF Delta ARE mice; in which a systemic TNF-alpha overexpression leads to the development of inflammation; to 2 or 4 weeks of air or CS. We investigated the effect of deregulated TNF expression on CS-induced pulmonary inflammation and the effect of CS exposure on the initiation and progression of gut and joint inflammation. Upon 2 weeks of CS exposure, inflammation in lungs of TNF Delta ARE mice was significantly aggravated. However, upon 4 weeks of CS-exposure, this aggravation was no longer observed. TNF Delta ARE mice have no increases in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and a diminished neutrophil response in the lungs after 4 weeks of CS exposure. In the gut and joints of TNF Delta ARE mice, 2 or 4 weeks of CS exposure did not modulate the development of inflammation. In conclusion, CS exposure does not modulate gut and joint inflammation in TNF Delta ARE mice. The lung responses towards CS in TNF Delta ARE mice however depend on the duration of CS exposure

Linear broadening of the confining string in Yang-Mills theory at low temperature

The logarithmic broadening predicted by the systematic low-energy effective field theory for the confining string has recently been verified in numerical simulations of (2+1)-d SU(2) lattice Yang-Mills theory at zero temperature. The same effective theory predicts linear broadening of the string at low non-zero temperature. In this paper, we verify this prediction by comparison with very precise Monte Carlo data. The comparison involves no additional adjustable parameters, because the low-energy constants of the effective theory have already been fixed at zero temperature. It yields very good agreement between the underlying Yang-Mills theory and the effective string theory.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. Version published in JHEP; improved figures 1 and

Determinant and Weyl anomaly of Dirac operator: a holographic derivation

We present a holographic formula relating functional determinants: the fermion determinant in the one-loop effective action of bulk spinors in an asymptotically locally AdS background, and the determinant of the two-point function of the dual operator at the conformal boundary. The formula originates from AdS/CFT heuristics that map a quantum contribution in the bulk partition function to a subleading large-N contribution in the boundary partition function. We use this holographic picture to address questions in spectral theory and conformal geometry. As an instance, we compute the type-A Weyl anomaly and the determinant of the iterated Dirac operator on round spheres, express the latter in terms of Barnes' multiple gamma function and gain insight into a conjecture by B\"ar and Schopka.Comment: 11 pages; new comments and references added, typos correcte

Towards symmetry driven and nature inspired UV filter design

In plants, sinapate esters offer crucial protection from the deleterious effects of ultraviolet radiation exposure. These esters are a promising foundation for designing UV filters, particularly for the UVA region (400 – 315 nm), where adequate photoprotection is currently lacking. Whilst sinapate esters are highly photostable due to a cis-trans (and vice versa) photoisomerization, the cis-isomer can display increased genotoxicity; an alarming concern for current cinnamate ester-based human sunscreens. To eliminate this potentiality, here we synthesize a sinapate ester with equivalent cis- and trans-isomers. We investigate its photostability through innovative ultrafast spectroscopy on a skin mimic, thus modelling the as close to true environment of sunscreen formulas. These studies are complemented by assessing endocrine disruption activity and antioxidant potential. We contest, from our results, that symmetrically functionalized sinapate esters may show exceptional promise as nature-inspired UV filters in next generation sunscreen formulations

Towards the integration and development of a cross-European research network and infrastructure:the DEterminants of DIet and Physical ACtivity (DEDIPAC) Knowledge Hub

To address major societal challenges and enhance cooperation in research across Europe, the European Commission has initiated and facilitated ‘joint programming’. Joint programming is a process by which Member States engage in defining, developing and implementing a common strategic research agenda, based on a shared vision of how to address major societal challenges that no Member State is capable of resolving independently. Setting up a Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) should also contribute to avoiding unnecessary overlap and repetition of research, and enable and enhance the development and use of standardised research methods, procedures and data management. The Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity (DEDIPAC) Knowledge Hub (KH) is the first act of the European JPI ‘A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life’. The objective of DEDIPAC is to contribute to improving understanding of the determinants of dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours. DEDIPAC KH is a multi-disciplinary consortium of 46 consortia and organisations supported by joint programming grants from 12 countries across Europe. The work is divided into three thematic areas: (I) assessment and harmonisation of methods for future research, surveillance and monitoring, and for evaluation of interventions and policies; (II) determinants of dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours across the life course and in vulnerable groups; and (III) evaluation and benchmarking of public health and policy interventions aimed at improving dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours. In the first three years, DEDIPAC KH will organise, develop, share and harmonise expertise, methods, measures, data and other infrastructure. This should further European research and improve the broad multi-disciplinary approach needed to study the interactions between multilevel determinants in influencing dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours. Insights will be translated into more effective interventions and policies for the promotion of healthier behaviours and more effective monitoring and evaluation of the impacts of such intervention