A Completely Invariant SUSY Transform of Supersymmetric QED

We study the SUSY breaking of the covariant gauge-fixing term in SUSY QED and observe that this corresponds to a breaking of the Lorentz gauge condition by SUSY. Reasoning by analogy with SUSY's violation of the Wess-Zumino gauge, we argue that the SUSY transformation, already modified to preserve Wess-Zumino gauge, should be further modified by another gauge transformation which restores the Lorentz gauge condition. We derive this modification and use the resulting transformation to derive a Ward identitiy relating the photon and photino propagators without using ghost fields. Our transformation also fulfills the SUSY algebra, modulo terms that vanish in Lorentz gauge

Nanometer-Resolved Collective Micromeniscus Oscillations through Optical Diffraction

We study the dynamics of periodic arrays of micrometer-sized liquid-gas menisci formed at superhydrophobic surfaces immersed into water. By measuring the intensity of optical diffraction peaks in real time we are able to resolve nanometer scale oscillations of the menisci with sub-microsecond time resolution. Upon driving the system with an ultrasound field at variable frequency we observe a pronounced resonance at a few hundred kHz, depending on the exact geometry. Modeling the system using the unsteady Stokes equation, we find that this low resonance frequency is caused by a collective mode of the acoustically coupled oscillating menisci.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Spacetime Noncommutativity in Models with Warped Extradimensions

We construct consistent noncommutative (NC) deformations of the Randall-Sundrum spacetime that solve the NC Einstein equations with a non-trivial Poisson tensor depending on the fifth coordinate. In a class of these deformations where the Poisson tensor is exponentially localized on one of the branes (the NC-brane), we study the effects on bulk particles in terms of Lorentz-violating operators induced by NC-brane interactions. We sketch two models in which massive bulk particles mediate NC effects to an almost-commutative SM-brane, such that observables at high energy colliders are enhanced with respect to low energy and astrophysical observables.Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX, pdf figures included, to appear in JHE

Excitatory and inhibitory projections in parallel pathways from the inferior colliculus to the auditory thalamus

Individual subdivisions of the medial geniculate body (MG) receive a majority of their ascending inputs from 1 or 2 subdivisions of the inferior colliculus (IC). This establishes parallel pathways that provide a model for understanding auditory projections from the IC through the MG and on to auditory cortex. A striking discovery about the tectothalamic circuit was identification of a substantial GABAergic component. Whether GABAergic projections match the parallel pathway organization has not been examined. We asked whether the parallel pathway concept is reflected in guinea pig tectothalamic pathways and to what degree GABAergic cells contribute to each pathway. We deposited retrograde tracers into individual MG subdivisions (ventral, MGv; medial, MGm; dorsal, MGd; suprageniculate, MGsg) to label tectothalamic cells and used immunochemistry to identify GABAergic cells. The MGv receives most of its IC input (~75%) from the IC central nucleus (ICc); MGd and MGsg receive most of their input (~70%) from IC dorsal cortex (ICd); and MGm receives substantial input from both ICc (~40%) and IC lateral cortex (~40%). Each MG subdivision receives additional input (up to 32%) from non-dominant IC subdivisions, suggesting cross-talk between the pathways. The proportion of GABAergic cells in each pathway depended on the MG subdivision. GABAergic cells formed ~20% of IC inputs to MGv or MGm, ~11% of inputs to MGd, and 4% of inputs to MGsg. Thus, non-GABAergic (i.e., glutamatergic) cells are most numerous in each pathway with GABAergic cells contributing to different extents. Despite smaller numbers of GABAergic cells, their distributions across IC subdivisions mimicked the parallel pathways. Projections outside the dominant pathways suggest opportunities for excitatory and inhibitory crosstalk. The results demonstrate parallel tectothalamic pathways in guinea pigs and suggest numerous opportunities for excitatory and inhibitory interactions within and between pathways

Cavitation induced by explosion in a model of ideal fluid

We discuss the problem of an explosion in the cubic-quintic superfluid model, in relation to some experimental observations. We show numerically that an explosion in such a model might induce a cavitation bubble for large enough energy. This gives a consistent view for rebound bubbles in superfluid and we indentify the loss of energy between the successive rebounds as radiated waves. We compute self-similar solution of the explosion for the early stage, when no bubbles have been nucleated. The solution also gives the wave number of the excitations emitted through the shock wave.Comment: 21 pages,13 figures, other comment

D0−Dˉ0D^0 - \bar D^0 Mixing in the Presence of Isosinglet Quarks

We analyse $\Delta C=2$ transitions in the framework of a minimal extension of the Standard Model where either a $Q=2/3$ or a $Q=-1/3$ isosinglet quark is added to the standard quark spectrum. In the case of a $Q=2/3$ isosinglet quark, it is shown that there is a significant region of parameter space where $D^0 - \bar D^0$ mixing is sufficiently enhanced to be observed at the next round of experiments. On the contrary, in the case of a $Q=-1/3$ isosinglet quark, it is pointed out that obtaining a substancial enhancement of $D^0 - \bar D^0$ mixing, while complying with the experimental constraints on rare kaon decays, requires a contrived choice of parameters.Comment: 10 pages plus four figures. The figures are not included but are available upon reques

Male sexual dysfunction and infertility associated with neurological disorders

Normal sexual and reproductive functions depend largely on neurological mechanisms. Neurological defects in men can cause infertility through erectile dysfunction, ejaculatory dysfunction and semen abnormalities. Among the major conditions contributing to these symptoms are pelvic and retroperitoneal surgery, diabetes, congenital spinal abnormalities, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury. Erectile dysfunction can be managed by an increasingly invasive range of treatments including medications, injection therapy and the surgical insertion of a penile implant. Retrograde ejaculation is managed by medications to reverse the condition in mild cases and in bladder harvest of semen after ejaculation in more severe cases. Anejaculation might also be managed by medication in mild cases while assisted ejaculatory techniques including penile vibratory stimulation and electroejaculation are used in more severe cases. If these measures fail, surgical sperm retrieval can be attempted. Ejaculation with penile vibratory stimulation can be done by some spinal cord injured men and their partners at home, followed by in-home insemination if circumstances and sperm quality are adequate. The other options always require assisted reproductive techniques including intrauterine insemination or in vitro fertilization with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection. The method of choice depends largely on the number of motile sperm in the ejaculate

Excess wing in glass-forming glycerol and LiCl-glycerol mixtures detected by neutron scattering

The relaxational dynamics in glass-forming glycerol and glycerol mixed with LiCl is in-vestigated using different neutron scattering techniques. The performed neutron spin-echo experiments, which extend up to relatively long relaxation-time scales of the order of 10 ns, should allow for the detection of contributions from the so-called excess wing. This phenomenon, whose microscopic origin is controversially discussed, arises in a variety of glass formers and, until now, was almost exclusively investigated by dielectric spectros-copy and light scattering. Here we show that the relaxational process causing the excess wing also can be detected by neutron scattering, which directly couples to density fluctua-tions.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Far-Ultraviolet Color Gradients in Early-Type Galaxies

We discuss far-UV (1500 A) surface photometry and FUV-B color profiles for 8 E/S0 galaxies from images taken with the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope, primarily during the Astro-2 mission. In three cases, the FUV radial profiles are more consistent with an exponential than a de Vaucouleurs function, but there is no other evidence for the presence of a disk or of young, massive stars. In all cases except M32 the FUV-B color becomes redder at larger radii. There is a wide range of internal radial FUV-B color gradients. However, we find no correlation between the FUV-B color gradients and internal metallicity gradients based on Mg absorption features. We conclude that metallicity is not the sole parameter controlling the "UV upturn component" in old populations.Comment: 11 pages; tar.gz file includes LaTeX text file, 3 PostScript figures. Paper to be published in ApJ Letter