Freedom in Nature

The paper starts with the proposal that the cause of the apparent insolubility of the free-will problem are several popular but strongly metaphysical notions and hypotheses. To reduce the metaphysics, some ideas are borrowed from physics. A concept of event causality is discussed. The importance of Hume's Principle of Causality is stressed and his Principle of Causation is weakened. The key concept of the paper, the so-called relative freedom, is also suggested by physics. It is a kind of freedom that can be observed everywhere in nature. Turning to biology, incomplete knowledge is defined for all organisms. They cope with the problem by Popper's trial and error processes. One source of their success is the relative freedom of choice from the basic option ranges: mutations, motions and neural connections. Finally, the conjecture is adopted that communicability can be used as a criterion of consciousness and free will is defined as a conscious version of relative freedom. The resulting notion is logically self-consistent and it describes an observable phenomenon that agrees with our experience.Comment: Changes: Improved formulation, three references added; 22 pages, no figure. Comments are welcom

Constraints On Radiative Neutrino Mass Models From Oscillation Data

The three neutrino Zee model and its extension including three active and one sterile species are studied in the light of new neutrino oscillation data. We obtain analytical relations for the mixing angle in solar oscillations in terms of neutrino mass squared differences. For the four neutrino case, we obtain the result $\mathsf{sin^2 2 \theta_\odot \approx 1 - [ (\Delta m^2_{Atm})^2/(4 \Delta m^2_{LSND} \Delta m^2_\odot) ]^2}$, which can accommodate both the large and small mixing scenarios. We show that within this framework, while both the SMA-MSW and the LMA-MSW solutions can easily be accommodated, it would be difficult to reconcile the LOW-QVO solutions. We also comment on the active-sterile admixture within phenomenologically viable textures.Comment: The paper has been substantially rewritten, especially in Section IV, though the basic results are unchanged. Some new references and an appendix have been adde

Local Hidden Variables Underpinning of Entanglement and Teleportation

Entangled states whose Wigner functions are non-negative may be viewed as being accounted for by local hidden variables (LHV). Recently, there were studies of Bell's inequality violation (BIQV) for such states in conjunction with the well known theorem of Bell that precludes BIQV for theories that have LHV underpinning. We extend these studies to teleportation which is also based on entanglement. We investigate if, to what extent, and under what conditions may teleportation be accounted for via LHV theory. Our study allows us to expose the role of various quantum requirements. These are, e.g., the uncertainty relation among non-commuting operators, and the no-cloning theorem which forces the complete elimination of the teleported state at its initial port.Comment: 24 pages, 1 figure, accepted Found. Phy

Different expressions of trypsin and chymotrypsin in relation to growth in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.)

The expressions of trypsin and chymotrypsin in the pyloric caeca of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) were studied in three experiments. Two internal (trypsin phenotypes, life stages) and three common external factors (starvation, feeding, temperatures) influencing growth rates were varied. Growth was stimulated by increased temperature and higher feeding rate, and it was depressed during starvation. The interaction between trypsin phenotype and start-feeding temperature affected specific activity of trypsin, but not of chymotrypsin. Trypsin specific activity and the activity ratio of trypsin to chymotrypsin (T/C ratio) increased when growth was promoted. Chymotrypsin specific activity, on the other hand, increased when there was a reduction in growth rate whereas fish with higher growth had higher chymotrypsin specific activity resulting in lower T/C ratio value. During a rapid growth phase, trypsin specific activity did not correlate with chymotrypsin specific activity. On the other hand, a relationship between specific activities of trypsin and chymotrypsin could be observed when growth declined, such as during food deprivation. Trypsin is the sensitive key protease under conditions favouring growth and genetically and environmentally affected, while chymotrypsin plays a major role when growth is limited or depressed. Trypsin specific activity and the T/C ratio value are shown to be important factors in the digestion process affecting growth rate, and could be applicable as indicators for growth studies of fish in captive cultures and in the wild, especially when food consumption rate cannot be measured

A new fit to solar neutrino data in models with large extra dimensions

String inspired models with millimeter scale extra dimensions provide a natural way to understand an ultralight sterile neutrino needed for a simultaneous explanation of the solar, atmospheric and LSND neutrino oscillation results. The sterile neutrino is the bulk neutrino ($\nu_B$) postulated to exist in these models, and it becomes ultralight in theories that prevent the appearance of its direct mass terms. Its Kaluza-Klein (KK) states then add new oscillation channels for the electron neutrino emitted from the solar core. We show that successive MSW transitions of solar $\nu_e$ to the lower lying KK modes of $\nu_B$ in conjunction with vacuum oscillations between the $\nu_e$ and the zero mode of $\nu_B$ provide a new way to fit the solar neutrino data. Using just the average rates from the three types of solar experiments, we predict the Super-Kamiokande spectrum with 73\% probability, but dips characteristic of the 0.06 mm extra dimension should be seen in the SNO spectrum. We discuss both intermediate and low string scale models where the desired phenomenology can emerge naturally.Comment: 20 pages, contains updated SuperK results and reference

Assessing inter-beach differences in semi-terrestrial arthropod assemblages on Maltese pocket sandy beaches (Central Mediterranean)

The distinctiveness of macrofaunal assemblages on different sandy beaches in the Maltese Islands was previously suggested by different single-season studies. A multi-seasonal sampling programme using pitfall trapping was implemented on four Maltese beaches to test the occurrence of this phenomenon. A total of 29,302 individuals belonging to 191 species were collected over a 2-year period, during which the beaches were sampled once per calendar season. A total of 77 species were recorded from single Maltese beaches only, of which nine were psammophiles. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analyses of pitfall trap species-abundance data resulted in a weak separation pattern, with samples grouping mainly in terms of beach and island rather than in terms of season or year of sampling, No physical variable could conclusively explain these patterns. It is concluded that although operating on Maltese beaches, macrofaunal assemblage distinctiveness is weaker than originally thought and can be attributed to the presence/absence or abundance of just a few psammophilic species. It is postulated that this phenomenon may be related to the ‘pocket beach’ nature of Maltese beaches, where headlands on either side of the beach to a large extent prevent the occurrence of longshore currents, resulting in semi-isolation of the populations of psammophilic species. A large number of single-beach records reported in this study highlight the high degree of beta diversity and spatial heterogeneity of Maltese beaches, and the conservation importance of the individual beach macrofaunal assemblages.peer-reviewe

Status of four-neutrino mass schemes: a global and unified approach to current neutrino oscillation data

We present a unified global analysis of neutrino oscillation data within the framework of the four-neutrino mass schemes (3+1) and (2+2). We include all data from solar and atmospheric neutrino experiments, as well as information from short-baseline experiments including LSND. If we combine only solar and atmospheric neutrino data, (3+1) schemes are clearly preferred, whereas short-baseline data in combination with atmospheric data prefers (2+2) models. When combining all data in a global analysis the (3+1) mass scheme gives a slightly better fit than the (2+2) case, though all four-neutrino schemes are presently acceptable. The LSND result disfavors the three-active neutrino scenario with only $\Delta m^2_{sol}$ and $\Delta m^2_{atm}$ at 99.9% CL with respect to the four-neutrino best fit model. We perform a detailed analysis of the goodness of fit to identify which sub-set of the data is in disagreement with the best fit solution in a given mass scheme.Comment: 32 pages, 8 Figures included, REVTeX4.Improved discussion in sec. XI, references added, version accepted by Phys. Rev.

Functional Annotation of ESR1 Gene Fusions in Estrogen Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer

RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) detects estrogen receptor alpha gene (ESR1) fusion transcripts in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer, but their role in disease pathogenesis remains unclear. We examined multiple ESR1 fusions and found that two, both identified in advanced endocrine treatment-resistant disease, encoded stable and functional fusion proteins. In both examples, ESR1-e6>YAP1 and ESR1-e6>PCDH11X, ESR1 exons 1–6 were fused in frame to C-terminal sequences from the partner gene. Functional properties include estrogen-independent growth, constitutive expression of ER target genes, and anti-estrogen resistance. Both fusions activate a metastasis-associated transcriptional program, induce cellular motility, and promote the development of lung metastasis. ESR1-e6>YAP1- and ESR1-e6>PCDH11X-induced growth remained sensitive to a CDK4/6 inhibitor, and a patient-derived xenograft (PDX) naturally expressing the ESR1-e6>YAP1 fusion was also responsive. Transcriptionally active ESR1 fusions therefore trigger both endocrine therapy resistance and metastatic progression, explaining the association with fatal disease progression, although CDK4/6 inhibitor treatment is predicted to be effective. Lei et al. show that transcriptionally active estrogen receptor gene (ESR1) fusions identified from late-stage, treatment-refractory estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer drive pan-endocrine therapy resistance and metastatic progression. Growth of breast tumors driven by ESR1 fusions at primary and metastatic sties can be suppressed with a CDK4/6 inhibitor