118 research outputs found
Complete Nondiagonal Reflection Matrices of RSOS/SOS and Hard Hexagon Models
In this paper we compute the most general nondiagonal reflection matrices of
the RSOS/SOS models and hard hexagon model using the boundary Yang-Baxter
equations. We find new one-parameter family of reflection matrices for the RSOS
model in addition to the previous result without any parameter. We also find
three classes of reflection matrices for the SOS model, which has one or two
parameters. For the hard hexagon model which can be mapped to RSOS(5) model by
folding four RSOS heights into two, the solutions can be obtained similarly
with a main difference in the boundary unitarity conditions. Due to this, the
reflection matrices can have two free parameters. We show that these extra
terms can be identified with the `decorated' solutions. We also generalize the
hard hexagon model by `folding' the RSOS heights of the general RSOS(p) model
and show that they satisfy the integrability conditions such as the Yang-
Baxter and boundary Yang-Baxter equations. These models can be solved using the
results for the RSOS models.Comment: 18pages,Late
Ranging behaviour of translocated roe deer in a Mediterranean habitat: seasonal and altitudinal influences on home range size and patterns of range use
In this study we investigated the causes of seasonal variation in the home ranges of roe deer reintroduced to the Gardunha Mountains (Portugal). From May 2002 to April 2003, 1 year after the animals had been released, we collected data using radio-tracking techniques for five monitored animals (two males and three females). We found differences in the size of home ranges between seasons, with home ranges larger in summer than winter (minimum convex polygon peeled to 95%: summer 409.64 +/- 98.20 ha, winter 116.20 +/- 17.90 ha). This is contrary to evidence from central and northern Europe, where home ranges are typically larger in winter than summer. Moreover, two of the sampled females and one of the males tended to use higher elevations in summer. Comparisons between Mediterranean populations and those in central and northern Europe showed that Mediterranean populations in the winter easily fulfil their needs within a small area, whereas in the hot dry summer a larger area is needed. Furthermore, individuals prefer a higher, cooler mountainous habitat in summer, which is likely to be a means of avoiding warmer temperatures
Exact S-matrices for supersymmetric sigma models and the Potts model
We study the algebraic formulation of exact factorizable S-matrices for
integrable two-dimensional field theories. We show that different formulations
of the S-matrices for the Potts field theory are essentially equivalent, in the
sense that they can be expressed in the same way as elements of the
Temperley-Lieb algebra, in various representations. This enables us to
construct the S-matrices for certain nonlinear sigma models that are invariant
under the Lie ``supersymmetry'' algebras sl(m+n|n) (m=1,2; n>0), both for the
bulk and for the boundary, simply by using another representation of the same
algebra. These S-matrices represent the perturbation of the conformal theory at
theta=pi by a small change in the topological angle theta. The m=1, n=1 theory
has applications to the spin quantum Hall transition in disordered fermion
systems. We also find S-matrices describing the flow from weak to strong
coupling, both for theta=0 and theta=pi, in certain other supersymmetric sigma
models.Comment: 32 pages, 8 figure
Modeling the innate inflammatory cGAS/STING pathway: sexually dimorphic effects on microglia and cognition in obesity and prediabetes
IntroductionThe prevalence of obesity, prediabetes, and diabetes continues to grow worldwide. These metabolic dysfunctions predispose individuals to neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive impairment, including dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease related dementias (AD/ADRD). The innate inflammatory cGAS/STING pathway plays a pivotal role in metabolic dysfunction and is an emerging target of interest in multiple neurodegenerative diseases, including AD/ADRD. Therefore, our goal was to establish a murine model to specifically target the cGAS/STING pathway to study obesity- and prediabetes-induced cognitive impairment.MethodsWe performed two pilot studies in cGAS knockout (cGAS-/-) male and female mice designed to characterize basic metabolic and inflammatory phenotypes and examine the impact of high-fat diet (HFD) on metabolic, inflammatory, and cognitive parameters.ResultscGAS-/- mice displayed normal metabolic profiles and retained the ability to respond to inflammatory stimuli, as indicated by an increase in plasma inflammatory cytokine production in response to lipopolysaccharide injection. HFD feeding caused expected increases in body weight and decreases in glucose tolerance, although onset was accelerated in females versus males. While HFD did not increase plasma or hippocampal inflammatory cytokine production, it did alter microglial morphology to a state indicative of activation, particularly in female cGAS-/- mice. However, HFD negatively impacted cognitive outcomes in male, but not female animals.DiscussionCollectively, these results suggest that cGAS-/- mice display sexually dimorphic responses to HFD, possibly based on differences in microglial morphology and cognition
MAIA, Fc receptor–like 3, supersedes JUNO as IZUMO1 receptor during human fertilization
Gamete fusion is a critical event of mammalian fertilization. A random one-bead one-compound combinatorial peptide library represented synthetic human egg mimics and identified a previously unidentified ligand as Fc receptor–like 3, named MAIA after the mythological goddess intertwined with JUNO. This immunoglobulin super family receptor was expressed on human oolemma and played a major role during sperm-egg adhesion and fusion. MAIA forms a highly stable interaction with the known IZUMO1/JUNO sperm-egg complex, permitting specific gamete fusion. The complexity of the MAIA isotype may offer a cryptic sexual selection mechanism to avoid genetic incompatibility and achieve favorable fitness outcomes
A genome-wide association study of anorexia nervosa.
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a complex and heritable eating disorder characterized by dangerously low body weight. Neither candidate gene studies nor an initial genome-wide association study (GWAS) have yielded significant and replicated results. We performed a GWAS in 2907 cases with AN from 14 countries (15 sites) and 14 860 ancestrally matched controls as part of the Genetic Consortium for AN (GCAN) and the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium 3 (WTCCC3). Individual association analyses were conducted in each stratum and meta-analyzed across all 15 discovery data sets. Seventy-six (72 independent) single nucleotide polymorphisms were taken forward for in silico (two data sets) or de novo (13 data sets) replication genotyping in 2677 independent AN cases and 8629 European ancestry controls along with 458 AN cases and 421 controls from Japan. The final global meta-analysis across discovery and replication data sets comprised 5551 AN cases and 21 080 controls. AN subtype analyses (1606 AN restricting; 1445 AN binge-purge) were performed. No findings reached genome-wide significance. Two intronic variants were suggestively associated: rs9839776 (P=3.01 × 10(-7)) in SOX2OT and rs17030795 (P=5.84 × 10(-6)) in PPP3CA. Two additional signals were specific to Europeans: rs1523921 (P=5.76 × 10(-)(6)) between CUL3 and FAM124B and rs1886797 (P=8.05 × 10(-)(6)) near SPATA13. Comparing discovery with replication results, 76% of the effects were in the same direction, an observation highly unlikely to be due to chance (P=4 × 10(-6)), strongly suggesting that true findings exist but our sample, the largest yet reported, was underpowered for their detection. The accrual of large genotyped AN case-control samples should be an immediate priority for the field
Effects of nutrition on sexual ornaments and humoral immune responsiveness in adult male pheasants
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A genome-wide association study of anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a complex and heritable eating disorder characterized by dangerously low body weight. Neither candidate gene studies nor an initial genome wide association study (GWAS) have yielded significant and replicated results. We performed a GWAS in 2,907 cases with AN from 14 countries (15 sites) and 14,860 ancestrally matched controls as part of the Genetic Consortium for AN (GCAN) and the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium 3 (WTCCC3). Individual association analyses were conducted in each stratum and meta-analyzed across all 15 discovery datasets. Seventy-six (72 independent) SNPs were taken forward for in silico (two datasets) or de novo (13 datasets) replication genotyping in 2,677 independent AN cases and 8,629 European ancestry controls along with 458 AN cases and 421 controls from Japan. The final global meta-analysis across discovery and replication datasets comprised 5,551 AN cases and 21,080 controls. AN subtype analyses (1,606 AN restricting; 1,445 AN binge-purge) were performed. No findings reached genome-wide significance. Two intronic variants were suggestively associated: rs9839776 (P=3.01×10−7) in SOX2OT and rs17030795 (P=5.84×10−6) in PPP3CA. Two additional signals were specific to Europeans: rs1523921 (P=5.76×10−6) between CUL3 and FAM124B and rs1886797 (P=8.05×10−6) near SPATA13. Comparing discovery to replication results, 76% of the effects were in the same direction, an observation highly unlikely to be due to chance (P= 4×10−6), strongly suggesting that true findings exist but that our sample, the largest yet reported, was underpowered for their detection. The accrual of large genotyped AN case-control samples should be an immediate priority for the field
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