CP violating supersymmetric contributions to the electroweak ρ\rho parameter

Effects of CP violation on the supersymmetric electroweak correction to the $\rho$ parameter are investigated. To avoid the EDM constraints, we require that arg$(\mu)<10^{-2}$ and the non-universal trilinear couplings $A_f=(0,0,A_0)$ and also assume that gluinos are heavier than 400 GeV. The CP phase $\phi_t=$ arg($A_0$) leads to large enhancement of the relative mass splittings between $\tilde{t}_2$ and $\tilde{b}_L(\tilde{t}_1)$, which in turn reduces the one-loop contribution of the stop and sbottom to $\Delta \rho$. For small $\tan \beta$, such a CP violating effect is prominent. We also study how much the two-loop gluon and gluino contributions are affected by the CP phase. Possible contributions to the $\rho$ parameter arising from the Higgs sector with CP violation are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, Revtex, 4 eps figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. D (Rapid Comm.

Heterologous expression of a tannic acid-inducible laccase3 of Cryphonectria parasitica in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A tannic acid-inducible and mycoviral-regulated laccase3 (<it>lac</it>3) from the chestnut blight fungus <it>Cryphonectria parasitica </it>has recently been identified, but further characterization was hampered because of the precipitation of protein products by tannic acid supplementation. The present study investigated the heterologous expression of the functional laccase3 using a yeast <it>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Laccase activity in the culture broth of transformants measured using a laccase-specific substrate suggested that the <it>lac</it>3 gene was successfully expressed and the corresponding protein product secreted into the culture media. In addition, activity staining and Western blot analysis of a native gel revealed that the enzyme activity co-existed with the protein product specific to anti-laccase3 antibody, confirming that the cloned <it>lac</it>3 gene is responsible for the laccase activity. When transformants were grown on plates containing tannic acid-supplemented media, brown coloration was observed around transformed cells, indicating the oxidation of tannic acid. However, the enzymatic activity was measurable only in the selective ura^-media and was negligible in nonselective nutrient-rich culture conditions. This was in part because of the increased plasmid instability in the nonselective media. Moreover, the protein product of <it>lac</it>3 appears to be sensitive to the cultured nonselective nutrient-rich broth, because a rapid decline in enzymatic activity was observed when the cultured broth of ura^-media was mixed with that of nonselective nutrient-rich broth. In addition, constitutive expression of the <it>lac</it>3 gene resulted in a reduced cell number of the <it>lac</it>3 transformants compared to that of vector-only transformed control. However, the presence of recombinant vector without <it>lac</it>3 induction did not affect the growth of transformants.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results suggest that expression of the <it>lac</it>3 gene has an inhibitory effect on the growth of transformed <it>S. cerevisiae </it>and that the controlled expression of <it>lac</it>3 is appropriate for the possible application of recombinant yeast to the treatment of phenolic compounds.</p

Investigation of reliability of the cutoff probe by a comparison with Thomson scattering in high density processing plasmas

A “cutoff probe” uses microwaves to measure the electron density in a plasma. It is particularly attractive because it is easy to fabricate and use, its measurement is immune to surface contamination by dielectric materials, and it has a straightforward analysis to measure electron density in real time. In this work, we experimentally investigate the accuracy of the cutoff probe through a detailed comparison with Thomson scattering in a low temperature, high density processing plasma. The result shows that the electron density measured by the cutoff probe is lower than that by Thomson scattering and that the discrepancy of the two results becomes smaller as the gap between the two tips increases and/or the neutral gas pressure decreases. The underestimated electron density found by the cutoff probe can be explained by the influence of the probe holder, which becomes important as the pressure increases and the gap gets closer

Cellular energy stress induces AMPK-mediated regulation of YAP and the Hippo pathway.

YAP (Yes-associated protein) is a transcription co-activator in the Hippo tumour suppressor pathway and controls cell growth, tissue homeostasis and organ size. YAP is inhibited by the kinase Lats, which phosphorylates YAP to induce its cytoplasmic localization and proteasomal degradation. YAP induces gene expression by binding to the TEAD family transcription factors. Dysregulation of the Hippo-YAP pathway is frequently observed in human cancers. Here we show that cellular energy stress induces YAP phosphorylation, in part due to AMPK-dependent Lats activation, thereby inhibiting YAP activity. Moreover, AMPK directly phosphorylates YAP Ser 94, a residue essential for the interaction with TEAD, thus disrupting the YAP-TEAD interaction. AMPK-induced YAP inhibition can suppress oncogenic transformation of Lats-null cells with high YAP activity. Our study establishes a molecular mechanism and functional significance of AMPK in linking cellular energy status to the Hippo-YAP pathway

Resonance of Domain Wall in a Ferromagnetic Nanostrip: Relation Between Distortion and Velocity

The resonance of the magnetic domain wall under the applied field amplifies its velocity compared to the one-dimensional model. To quantify the amplification, we define the distortion variation rate of the domain wall that can represent how fast and severely the wall shape is variated. Introducing that rate gives a way to bring the resonance into the one-dimensional domain wall dynamics model. We obtain the dissipated energy and domain wall velocity amplification by calculating the distortion variation rate. The relationship between velocity and distortion variation rate agrees well with micromagnetic simulation.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Total Reflection and Negative Refraction of Dipole-Exchange Spin Waves at Magnetic Interfaces: Micromagnetic Modeling Study

We demonstrated that dipole-exchange spin waves traveling in geometrically restricted magnetic thin films satisfy the same laws of reflection and refraction as light waves. Moreover, we found for the first time novel wave behaviors of dipole-exchange spin waves such as total reflection and negative refraction. The total reflection in laterally inhomogeneous thin films composed of two different magnetic materials is associated with the forbidden modes of refracted dipole-exchange spin waves. The negative refraction occurs at a 90 degree domain-wall magnetic interface that is introduced by a cubic magnetic anisotropy in the media, through the anisotropic dispersion of dipole-exchange spin waves.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure