33,513 research outputs found
Induced Gravity II: Grand Unification
As an illustration of a renormalizable, asymptotically-free model of induced
gravity, we consider an gauge theory interacting with a real scalar
multiplet in the adjoint representation. We show that dimensional transmutation
can occur, spontaneously breaking to while
inducing the Planck mass and a positive cosmological constant, all proportional
to the same scale . All mass ratios are functions of the values of coupling
constants at that scale. Below this scale (at which the Big Bang may occur),
the model takes the usual form of Einstein-Hilbert gravity in de Sitter space
plus calculable corrections. We show that there exist regions of parameter
space in which the breaking results in a local minimum of the effective action,
and a {\bf positive} dilaton from two-loop corrections
associated with the conformal anomaly. Furthermore, unlike the singlet case we
considered previously, some minima lie within the basin of attraction of the
ultraviolet fixed point. Moreover, the asymptotic behavior of the coupling
constants also lie within the range of convergence of the Euclidean path
integral, so there is hope that there will be candidates for sensible vacua.
Although open questions remain concerning unitarity of all such renormalizable
models of gravity, it is not obvious that, in curved backgrounds such as those
considered here, unitarity is violated. In any case, any violation that may
remain will be suppressed by inverse powers of the reduced Planck mass.Comment: 44 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables. v2 has new discussion concerning
stability of SSB plus related appendix. Additional references added. v3 is
version to be published; contains minor revision
Zero modes in de Sitter background
There are five well-known zero modes among the fluctuations of the metric of
de~Sitter (dS) spacetime. For Euclidean signature, they can be associated with
certain spherical harmonics on the sphere, viz., the vector
representation of the global isometry. They appear, for example,
in the perturbative calculation of the on-shell effective action of dS space,
as well as in models containing matter fields. These modes are shown to be
associated with collective modes of corresponding to certain coherent
fluctuations. When dS space is embedded in flat five dimensions they may
be seen as a legacy of translation of the center of the sphere. Rigid
translations of the -sphere on leave the classical action invariant
but are unobservable displacements from the point of view of gravitational
dynamics on Thus, unlike similar moduli, the center of the sphere is not
promoted to a dynamical degree of freedom. As a result, these zero modes do not
signify the possibility of physically realizable fluctuations or flat
directions for the metric of dS space. They are not associated with Killing
vectors on but can be with certain non-isometric, conformal Killing forms
that locally correspond to a rescaling of the volume element
For convenience, we frame our discussion in the context of renormalizable
gravity, but the conclusions apply equally to the corresponding zero modes in
Einstein gravity. We expect that these zero modes will be present to all orders
in perturbation theory. They will occur for Lorentzian signature as well, so
long as the hyperboloid is locally stable, but there remain certain
infrared issues that need to be clarified. We conjecture that they will appear
in any gravitational theory having dS background as a locally stable solution
of the effective action, regardless of whether additional matter is included.Comment: v4, 28pages, no figures; final journal form, minor changes in text
and refs from v
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DNA Methylation Analysis Validates Organoids as a Viable Model for Studying Human Intestinal Aging.
Background & aimsThe epithelia of the intestine and colon turn over rapidly and are maintained by adult stem cells at the base of crypts. Although the small intestine and colon have distinct, well-characterized physiological functions, it remains unclear if there are fundamental regional differences in stem cell behavior or region-dependent degenerative changes during aging. Mesenchyme-free organoids provide useful tools for investigating intestinal stem cell biology in vitro and have started to be used for investigating age-related changes in stem cell function. However, it is unknown whether organoids maintain hallmarks of age in the absence of an aging niche. We tested whether stem cell-enriched organoids preserved the DNA methylation-based aging profiles associated with the tissues and crypts from which they were derived.MethodsTo address this, we used standard human methylation arrays and the human epigenetic clock as a biomarker of age to analyze in vitro-derived, 3-dimensional, stem cell-enriched intestinal organoids.ResultsWe found that human stem cell-enriched organoids maintained segmental differences in methylation patterns and that age, as measured by the epigenetic clock, also was maintained in vitro. Surprisingly, we found that stem cell-enriched organoids derived from the small intestine showed striking epigenetic age reduction relative to organoids derived from colon.ConclusionsOur data validate the use of organoids as a model for studying human intestinal aging and introduce methods that can be used when modeling aging or age-onset diseases in vitro
Exclusive and photoproduction and the low gluon
We study exclusive vector meson photoproduction, with
or , at NLO in collinear factorisation, in order to
examine what may be learnt about the gluon distribution at very low . We
examine the factorisation scale dependence of the predictions. We argue that,
using knowledge of the NLO corrections, terms enhanced by a large
can be reabsorbed in the LO part by a choice of the factorisation scale. (In
these exclusive processes takes the role of Bjorken-.) Then, the scale
dependence coming from the remaining NLO contributions has no
enhancements. As a result, we find that predictions for the amplitude of
production are stable to within about . This will allow
data for the exclusive process at the LHC, particularly
from LHCb, to be included in global parton analyses to constrain the gluon PDF
down to . Moreover, the study of exclusive
photoproduction indicates that the gluon density found in the recent global PDF
analyses is too small at low and low scales.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures. Text significantly improved, references added,
version to be published in J.Phys.
The non-linear transient behavior of second, third and fourth order phase-locked loops
Non-linear transient behavior of second, third, and fourth order phase-locked loop
Kinetic parameters for nutrient enhanced crude oil biodegradation in intertidal marine sediments
Availability of inorganic nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorous, is often a primary control on crude oil hydrocarbon degradation in marine systems. Many studies have empirically determined optimum levels of inorganic N and P for stimulation of hydrocarbon degradation. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of information on fundamental kinetic parameters for nutrient enhanced crude oil biodegradation that can be used to model the fate of crude oil in bioremediation programmes that use inorganic nutrient addition to stimulate oil biodegradation. Here we report fundamental kinetic parameters (Ks and qmax) for nitrate-and phosphate-stimulated crude oil biodegradation under nutrient limited conditions and with respect to crude oil, under conditions where N and P are not limiting. In the marine sediments studied, crude oil degradation was limited by both N and P availability. In sediments treated with 12.5 mg/g of oil but with no addition of N and P, hydrocarbon degradation rates, assessed on the basis of CO2 production, were 1.10 ± 0.03 μmol CO2/g wet sediment/day which were comparable to rates of CO2 production in sediments to which no oil was added (1.05 ± 0.27 μmol CO2/g wet sediment/day). When inorganic nitrogen was added alone maximum rates of CO2 production measured were 4.25 ± 0.91 μmol CO2/g wet sediment/day. However, when the same levels of inorganic nitrogen were added in the presence of 0.5% P w/w of oil (1.6 μmol P/g wet sediment) maximum rates of measured CO2 production increased more than four-fold to 18.40 ± 1.04 μmol CO2/g wet sediment/day. Ks and qmax estimates for inorganic N (in the form of sodium nitrate) when P was not limiting were 1.99 ± 0.86 μmol/g wet sediment and 16.16 ± 1.28 μmol CO2/g wet sediment/day respectively. The corresponding values for P were 63 ± 95 nmol/g wet sediment and 12.05 ± 1.31 μmol CO2/g wet sediment/day. The qmax values with respect to N and P were not significantly different (P < 0.05). When N and P were not limiting Ks and qmax for crude oil were 4.52 ± 1.51 mg oil/g wet sediment and 16.89 ± 1.25 μmol CO2/g wet sediment/day. At concentrations of inorganic N above 45 μmol/g wet sediment inhibition of CO2 production from hydrocarbon degradation was evident. Analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA genes indicated that Alcanivorax spp. were selected in these marine sediments with increasing inorganic nutrient concentration, whereas Cycloclasticus spp. were more prevalent at lower inorganic nutrient concentrations. These data suggest that simple empirical estimates of the proportion of nutrients added relative to crude oil concentrations may not be sufficient to guarantee successful crude oil bioremediation in oxic beach sediments. The data we present also help define the maximum rates and hence timescales required for bioremediation of beach sediments
The influence of alcohol content variation in UK packaged beers on the uncertainty of calculations using the Widmark equation
It is common for forensic practitioners to calculate an individual's likely blood alcohol concentration following the consumption of alcoholic beverage(s) for legal purposes, such as in driving under the influence (DUI) cases. It is important in these cases to be able to give the uncertainty of measurement on any calculated result, for this reason uncertainty data for the variables used for any calculation are required. In order to determine the uncertainty associated with the alcohol concentration of beer in the UK the alcohol concentration (%v/v) of 218 packaged beers (112 with an alcohol concentration of ≤5.5%v/v and 106 with an alcohol concentration of >5.5%v/v) were tested using an industry standard near infra-red (NIR) analyser. The range of labelled beer alcohol by volume (ABV's) tested was 3.4%v/v – 14%v/v. The beers were obtained from a range of outlets throughout the UK over a period of 12 months. The root mean square error (RMSE) was found to be ±0.43%v/v (beers with declared %ABV of ≤5.5%v/v) and ±0.53%v/v (beers with declared %ABV of >5.5%v/v) the RMSE for all beers was ±0.48%v/v. The standard deviation from the declared %ABV is larger than those previously utilised for uncertainty calculations and illustrates the importance of appropriate experimental data for use in the determination of uncertainty in forensic calculations
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