Self-Dual Supersymmetric Dirac-Born-Infeld Action

We present a self-dual N=1 supersymmetric Dirac-Born-Infeld action in three dimensions. This action is based on the supersymmetric generalized self-duality in odd dimensions developed originally by Townsend, Pilch and van Nieuwenhuizen. Even though such a self-duality had been supposed to be very difficult to generalize to a supersymmetrically interacting system, we show that Dirac-Born-Infeld action is actually compatible with supersymmetry and self-duality in three-dimensions. The interactions can be further generalized to arbitrary (non)polynomial interactions. As a by-product, we also show that a third-rank field strength leads to a more natural formulation of self-duality in 3D. We also show an interesting role played by the third-rank field strength leading to a supersymmetry breaking, in addition to accommodating a Chern-Simons form.Comment: 12 pages, no figure

Nonlinear electrodynamics and CMB polarization

Recently WMAP and BOOMERanG experiments have set stringent constraints on the polarization angle of photons propagating in an expanding universe: $\Delta \alpha = (-2.4 \pm 1.9)^\circ$. The polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB) is reviewed in the context of nonlinear electrodynamics (NLED). We compute the polarization angle of photons propagating in a cosmological background with planar symmetry. For this purpose, we use the Pagels-Tomboulis (PT) Lagrangian density describing NLED, which has the form $L\sim (X/\Lambda^4)^{\delta - 1}\; X$, where $X=1/4 F_{\alpha\beta} F^{\alpha \beta}$, and $\delta$ the parameter featuring the non-Maxwellian character of the PT nonlinear description of the electromagnetic interaction. After looking at the polarization components in the plane orthogonal to the ($x$)-direction of propagation of the CMB photons, the polarization angle is defined in terms of the eccentricity of the universe, a geometrical property whose evolution on cosmic time (from the last scattering surface to the present) is constrained by the strength of magnetic fields over extragalactic distances.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, minor changes, references adde

The Vinylguaiacol/Indole or VGI ( Veggie ) Ratio: Assessing Relative Contributions of Terrestrial and Aquatic Organic Matter to Sediments

In studies of the organic matter (OM) fraction of marine, estuarine, fluvial, or lacustrine sediments, one of the most fundamental distinctions to be made is that between terrestrial and aquatic OM. To supplement the parameters commonly used for this purpose (e.g., C/N and stable isotope ratios), we proposed the Vinylguaiacol/Indole or VGI ( Veggie ) ratio, defined as [vinylguaiacol / (indole + vinylguaiacol)] using data produced by analytical pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of dried, homogenized sediment samples [1]. The ratio employs the peak areas of these two compounds on the mass chromatograms of their molecular ions (m/z 150 and 117, respectively). Major pyrolysis products of terrestrial plant lignin include a variety of methoxyphenols, notably 4-vinylguaiacol. In contrast, aquatic algae and bacteria characteristically produce distinctive organonitrogen compounds upon pyrolysis, particularly indole, derived from the amino acid tryptophan. The end member VGI ratio value of 1.00 is nearly obtained for reference land plant matter, such as maple wood (Fig. 1d). The end member value of 0.00 is obtained for cultured microbes, including Escherichia coli (Fig. 1a). Vinylguaiacol and indole are commonly detected in Recent sediment pyrolysates. We hypothesized that their relative quantities therein should be proportional to the contributions of land plant and aquatic OM, respectively [1]. While soil microbes in terrestrial OM would lead to a diminution of VGI values, stable isotope and C/N ratios would likely be similarly perturbed. Systematic variations in VGI ratio values are observed among estuarine sediments from southern New York and New England (USA). Samples taken from Spartina peat marshes at the mouths of major rivers entering Long Island Sound have high (\u3e 0.8) VGI ratio values. Jamaica Bay (New York), behind an Atlantic barrier island and with marsh islands and multiple urbanized tidal creeks, displays a very wide VGI range (Fig. 1b,c), affected by proximity to stands of marsh vegetation, bathymetry, and sediment grain size. Sediments from New Haven (Connecticut) harbour show a diminution in VGI values from 0.66 at the mouth of a river in the innermost harbour to 0.08 at the harbour entrance over a distance of only 4 km, as terrestrial influences wane moving towards open water. In Long Island Sound, deep water sediments show a strong predominance of aquatic OM (VGI about 0.05), while nearshore sediments collected close to the mouths of rivers have a greater terrestrial OM component (VGI of 0.15 to 0.23). The results demonstrate a precipitous decrease in the relative amounts of unaltered land plant OM in the offshore direction, but also that a minor fraction persists in deeper water environments. [1] Micic et al., 2010, Org. Geochem. 41:971-974

The Vinylguaiacol/Indole or VGI ( Veggie ) Ratio: A Novel Molecular Parameter to Evaluate the Relative Contributions of Terrestrial and Aquatic Organic Matter to Sediments.

The organic matter (OM) fraction of estuarine sediments is often distinctive and thus diagnostically useful in determinations of sedimentary provenance. Among the most fundamental distinctions to be made is that between terrestrial and aquatic OM. To supplement the parameters commonly used for this purpose (e.g., C/N and stable isotope ratios), we proposed the Vinylguaiacol/Indole or VGI ( Veggie ) ratio, defined as [vinylguaiacol / (indole + vinylguaiacol)] using data produced by analytical pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of dried, homogenized sediment samples. The ratio employs the peak areas of these two compounds on the mass chromatograms of their molecular ions (m/z 150 and 117). Major pyrolysis products of terrestrial plant lignin include a variety of methoxyphenols, notably 4-vinylguaiacol. In contrast, aquatic algae and bacteria characteristically produce distinctive organonitrogen compounds upon pyrolysis, particularly indole, derived from the amino acid tryptophan. The end member VGI ratio value of 1.00 is obtained for reference land plant matter, including the marsh plants Phragmites and Spartina, as well as maple and pine wood. The end member value of 0.00 is obtained for cultured microbes, including Escherichia coli and the cyanobacterium Anacystis. Vinylguaiacol and indole are commonly detected in Recent sediment pyrolyzates. We hypothesized that their relative quantities therein should be proportional to the relative contributions of land plant and microbial OM, respectively. Samples taken from Spartina peat marshes at the mouths of major rivers (Housatonic and Connecticut) entering Long Island Sound, wetlands behind the barrier island at Cape May (NJ), and a Phragmites-dominated tidal marsh along the Hackensack River (NJ) have high (\u3e 0.8) VGI ratio values. Sediments collected within the Newark Bay (NJ) estuary from the lower Passaic and Hackensack Rivers and the Arthur Kill show mixed terrestrial and aquatic OM signatures (VGI from 0.3 to 0.7, generally increasing upstream). Jamaica Bay (NY), behind an Atlantic barrier island and with marsh islands and multiple urbanized tidal creeks, displays a very wide VGI range, affected by proximity to stands of marsh vegetation, bathymetry, and sediment grain size. Sediments from New Haven (CT) harbor show a diminution in VGI values from 0.66 at the mouth of the Quinnipiac River to 0.08 at the entrance to the harbor over a distance of only 4 km, as terrestrial influences wane moving towards open water. Deep water Long Island Sound sediments show a strong predominance of aquatic OM (VGI about 0.05), while nearshore sediments collected 2 km from the mouth of the Housatonic River and in embayments near the Connecticut and Thames River mouths have a greater terrestrial OM component (VGI of 0.15 to 0.23). The results demonstrate a precipitous decrease in the relative amounts of unaltered land plant OM in the offshore direction, but also that a minor fraction persists in deeper water environments

Modular Composition of Gene Transcription Networks

Predicting the dynamic behavior of a large network from that of the composing modules is a central problem in systems and synthetic biology. Yet, this predictive ability is still largely missing because modules display context-dependent behavior. One cause of context-dependence is retroactivity, a phenomenon similar to loading that influences in non-trivial ways the dynamic performance of a module upon connection to other modules. Here, we establish an analysis framework for gene transcription networks that explicitly accounts for retroactivity. Specifically, a module's key properties are encoded by three retroactivity matrices: internal, scaling, and mixing retroactivity. All of them have a physical interpretation and can be computed from macroscopic parameters (dissociation constants and promoter concentrations) and from the modules' topology. The internal retroactivity quantifies the effect of intramodular connections on an isolated module's dynamics. The scaling and mixing retroactivity establish how intermodular connections change the dynamics of connected modules. Based on these matrices and on the dynamics of modules in isolation, we can accurately predict how loading will affect the behavior of an arbitrary interconnection of modules. We illustrate implications of internal, scaling, and mixing retroactivity on the performance of recurrent network motifs, including negative autoregulation, combinatorial regulation, two-gene clocks, the toggle switch, and the single-input motif. We further provide a quantitative metric that determines how robust the dynamic behavior of a module is to interconnection with other modules. This metric can be employed both to evaluate the extent of modularity of natural networks and to establish concrete design guidelines to minimize retroactivity between modules in synthetic systems.United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-12-1-0129

Variation of the fine structure constant in QSO spectra from coherent dark matter oscillations

We consider the problem of the evolution of the fine structure coefficient alpha under the assumption that the scalar field coupling to the Maxwell term satisfies the condition mt>>1 for coherent dark matter oscillations. In this case we find that the coupling scale f in the leading order coupling -(phi/4f)F^2 affects the cosmological evolution of alpha according to ln(alpha/alpha_0) xi(m_{Pl}/f)ln(tanh(t/2 tau)/tanh(t_0/2 tau)). A fit to the QSO observations by Murphy et al. yields f/xi= 2.12^{+0.58}_{-0.37} 10^5m_{Pl}. Here m_{Pl} is the reduced Planck mass, and xi^2=rho_phi/rho_m parametrizes the contribution of phi to the matter density in the universe.Comment: 6 pages, accepted for publication in the MNRA

Worldwide trends in diabetes since 1980: a pooled analysis of 751 population-based studies with 4.4 million participants

BACKGROUND: One of the global targets for non-communicable diseases is to halt, by 2025, the rise in the age-standardised adult prevalence of diabetes at its 2010 levels. We aimed to estimate worldwide trends in diabetes, how likely it is for countries to achieve the global target, and how changes in prevalence, together with population growth and ageing, are affecting the number of adults with diabetes. METHODS: We pooled data from population-based studies that had collected data on diabetes through measurement of its biomarkers. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in diabetes prevalence—defined as fasting plasma glucose of 7·0 mmol/L or higher, or history of diagnosis with diabetes, or use of insulin or oral hypoglycaemic drugs—in 200 countries and territories in 21 regions, by sex and from 1980 to 2014. We also calculated the posterior probability of meeting the global diabetes target if post-2000 trends continue. FINDINGS: We used data from 751 studies including 4 372 000 adults from 146 of the 200 countries we make estimates for. Global age-standardised diabetes prevalence increased from 4·3% (95% credible interval 2·4–7·0) in 1980 to 9·0% (7·2–11·1) in 2014 in men, and from 5·0% (2·9–7·9) to 7·9% (6·4–9·7) in women. The number of adults with diabetes in the world increased from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014 (28·5% due to the rise in prevalence, 39·7% due to population growth and ageing, and 31·8% due to interaction of these two factors). Age-standardised adult diabetes prevalence in 2014 was lowest in northwestern Europe, and highest in Polynesia and Micronesia, at nearly 25%, followed by Melanesia and the Middle East and north Africa. Between 1980 and 2014 there was little change in age-standardised diabetes prevalence in adult women in continental western Europe, although crude prevalence rose because of ageing of the population. By contrast, age-standardised adult prevalence rose by 15 percentage points in men and women in Polynesia and Micronesia. In 2014, American Samoa had the highest national prevalence of diabetes (>30% in both sexes), with age-standardised adult prevalence also higher than 25% in some other islands in Polynesia and Micronesia. If post-2000 trends continue, the probability of meeting the global target of halting the rise in the prevalence of diabetes by 2025 at the 2010 level worldwide is lower than 1% for men and is 1% for women. Only nine countries for men and 29 countries for women, mostly in western Europe, have a 50% or higher probability of meeting the global target. INTERPRETATION: Since 1980, age-standardised diabetes prevalence in adults has increased, or at best remained unchanged, in every country. Together with population growth and ageing, this rise has led to a near quadrupling of the number of adults with diabetes worldwide. The burden of diabetes, both in terms of prevalence and number of adults affected, has increased faster in low-income and middle-income countries than in high-income countries. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of phosphorodiamidate prodrugs of antiviral and anticancer nucleosides

We herein report the application of the phosphorodiamidate phosphate prodrug approach to a series of thirteen nucleoside analogs with antiviral or anticancer activity. Twenty-five symmetrical phosphorodiamidates were synthesized, bearing esterified l-Alanine (and in one case d-Alanine) in the prodrug moiety, each as single stereoisomer. The presence of an achiral phosphorus represents a potential advantage over the phosphoramidate ProTide approach, where diastereoisomeric mixtures are routinely obtained, and different biological profiles may be expected from the diastereoisomers. Optimization of the synthetic pathway allowed us to identify two general methods depending on the particular nucleoside analogs. All the compounds were biologically evaluated in antiviral and anticancer assays and several showed improvement of activity compared to their parent nucleosides, as in the case of ddA, d4T, abacavir and acyclovir against HIV-1 and/or HIV-2. The biological results were supported by metabolism studies with carboxypeptidase Y monitored by 31P NMR to investigate their bioactivation. This work further validates the phosphorodiamidate approach as a monophosphate prodrug motif with broad application in the antiviral and anticancer fields

Dietary Essential Amino Acids Affect the Reproduction of the Keystone Herbivore Daphnia pulex

Recent studies have indicated that nitrogen availability can be an important determinant of primary production in freshwater lakes and that herbivore growth can be limited by low dietary nitrogen availability. Furthermore, a lack of specific essential nitrogenous biochemicals (such as essential amino acids) might be another important constraint on the fitness of consumers. This might be of particular importance for cladoceran zooplankton, which can switch between two alternative reproductive strategies – the production of subitaneously developing and resting eggs. Here, we hypothesize that both the somatic growth and the type of reproduction of the aquatic keystone herbivore Daphnia is limited by the availability of specific essential amino acids in the diet. In laboratory experiments, we investigated this hypothesis by feeding a high quality phytoplankton organism (Cryptomonas) and a green alga of moderate nutritional quality (Chlamydomonas) to a clone of Daphnia pulex with and without the addition of essential amino acids. The somatic growth of D. pulex differed between the algae of different nutritional quality, but not dependent on the addition of dissolved amino acids. However, in reproduction experiments, where moderate crowding conditions at saturating food quantities were applied, addition of the essential amino acids arginine and histidine (but not lysine and threonine) increased the total number and the developmental stage of subitaneous eggs. While D. pulex did not produce resting eggs on Cryptomonas, relatively high numbers of resting eggs were released on Chlamydomonas. When arginine and histidine were added to the green algal diet, the production of resting eggs was effectively suppressed. This demonstrates the high, but previously overlooked importance of single essential amino acids for the reproductive strategy of the aquatic keystone herbivore Daphnia