Hawking Radiation for Non-minimally Coupled Matter from Generalized 2D Black Hole Models

It is well known that spherically symmetric reduction of General Relativity (SSG) leads to non-minimally coupled scalar matter. We generalize (and correct) recent results to Hawking radiation for a class of dilaton models which share with the Schwarzschild black hole non-minimal coupling of scalar fields and the basic global structure. An inherent ambiguity of such models (if they differ from SSG) is discussed. However, for SSG we obtain the rather disquieting result of a negative Hawking flux at infinity, if the usual recipe for such calculations is applied.Comment: 8 page

Comment on: ``Trace anomaly of dilaton coupled scalars in two dimensions''

The trace anomaly for nonminimally coupled scalars in spherically reduced gravity obtained by Bousso and Hawking (hep-th/9705236) is incorrect. We explain the reasons for the deviations from our correct (published) result which is supported by several other recent papers.Comment: 2 page

Differential contractile response of critically ill patients to neuromuscular electrical stimulation

BACKGROUND: Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has been investigated as a preventative measure for intensive care unit-acquired weakness. Trial results remain contradictory and therefore inconclusive. As it has been shown that NMES does not necessarily lead to a contractile response, our aim was to characterise the response of critically ill patients to NMES and investigate potential outcome benefits of an adequate contractile response. METHODS: This is a sub-analysis of a randomised controlled trial investigating early muscle activating measures together with protocol-based physiotherapy in patients with a SOFA score ≥ 9 within the first 72 h after admission. Included patients received protocol-based physiotherapy twice daily for 20 min and NMES once daily for 20 min, bilaterally on eight muscle groups. Electrical current was increased up to 70 mA or until a contraction was detected visually or on palpation. Muscle strength was measured by a blinded assessor at the first adequate awakening and ICU discharge. RESULTS: One thousand eight hundred twenty-four neuromuscular electrical stimulations in 21 patients starting on day 3.0 (2.0/6.0) after ICU admission were included in this sub-analysis. Contractile response decreased from 64.4% on day 1 to 25.0% on day 7 with a significantly lower response rate in the lower extremities and proximal muscle groups. The electrical current required to elicit a contraction did not change over time (day 1, 50.2 [31.3/58.8] mA; day 7, 45.3 [38.0/57.5] mA). The electrical current necessary for a contractile response was higher in the lower extremities. At the first awakening, patients presented with significant weakness (3.2 [2.5/3.8] MRC score). When dividing the cohort into responders and non-responders (> 50% vs. ≤ 50% contractile response), we observed a significantly higher SOFA score in non-responders. The electrical current necessary for a muscle contraction in responders was significantly lower (38.0 [32.8/42.9] vs. 54.7 [51.3/56.0] mA, p < 0.001). Muscle strength showed higher values in the upper extremities of responders at ICU discharge (4.4 [4.1/4.6] vs. 3.3 [2.8/3.8] MRC score, p = 0.036). CONCLUSION: Patients show a differential contractile response to NMES, which appears to be dependent on the severity of illness and also relevant for potential outcome benefits. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN ISRCTN19392591 , registered 17 February 201

Trisubstituted pyrazolopyrimidines as novel angiogenesis inhibitors.

Current inhibitors of angiogenesis comprise either therapeutic antibodies (e.g. bevacicumab binding to VEGF-A) or small molecular inhibitors of receptor tyrosin kinases like e.g. sunitinib, which inhibits PDGFR and VEGFR. We have recently identified cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) as novel alternative and pharmacologically accessible target in the context of angiogenesis. In the present work we demonstrate that trisubstituted pyrazolo[4,3-d]pyrimidines constitute a novel class of compounds which potently inhibit angiogenesis. All seven tested compounds inhibited endothelial cell proliferation with IC(50) values between 1 and 18 µM. Interestingly, this seems not to be due to cytotoxicity, since none of them showed acute cytotoxic effects on endothelial cells at a concentration of 10 µM,. The three most potent compounds (LGR1404, LGR1406 and LGR1407) also inhibited cell migration (by 27, 51 and 31%, resp.), chemotaxis (by 50, 70 and 60% in accumulative distance, resp.), and tube formation (by 25, 60 and 30% of total tube length, resp.) at the non-toxic concentration of 10 µM. Furthermore, angiogenesis was reduced in vivo in the CAM assay by these three compounds. A kinase selectivity profiling revealed that the compounds prevalently inhibit Cdk2, Cdk5 and Cdk9. The phenotype of the migrating cells (reduced formation of lamellipodia, loss of Rac-1 translocation to the membrane) resembles the previously described effects of silencing of Cdk5 in endothelial cells. We conclude that especially LGR1406 and LGR1407 are highly attractive anti-angiogenic compounds, whose effects seem to largely depend on their Cdk5 inhibiting properties

Wormholes in String Theory

A wormhole is constructed by cutting and joining two spacetimes satisfying the low energy string equations with a dilaton field. In spacetimes described by the "string metric" the dilaton energy-momentum tensor need not satisfy the weak or dominant energy conditions. In the cases considered here the dilaton field violates these energy conditions and is the source of the exotic matter required to maintain the wormhole. There is also a surface stress-energy, that must be produced by additional matter, where the spacetimes are joined. It is shown that wormholes can be constructed for which this additional matter satisfies the weak and dominant energy conditions, so that it could be a form of "normal" matter. Charged dilaton wormholes with a coupling between the dilaton and the electromagnetic field that is more general than in string theory are also briefly discussed.Comment: 9 pages, LaTex, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Diversidade de abelhas (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) em mata de araucária em Santa Catarina

Visando conhecer a apifauna existente em floresta ombrófila mista, realizou-se estudo em duas áreas de mata de araucária em Mafra (SC), de setembro de 2016 a agosto de 2017. Foi amostrado um total de 1.304 indivíduos de 56 táxons, 32 gêneros e cinco subfamílias. Índices de diversidade e equabilidade foram calculados. As plantas visitadas somam 48 espécies de 16 famílias. Asteraceae foi visitada com mais frequência (41,7% dos táxons). Abelhas dos táxons Meliponini, Ceratinini e Halictinae foram prevalentes. A sequência de predominância de subfamílias quanto à diversidade (Apinae seguida de Halictinae) seguiu o padrão transicional entre porções subtropicais e temperadas da região neotropical, com pequeno número de espécies abundantes e alta proporção de singletons, assim como variação sazonal. Apis mellifera correspondeu, em abundância, a 36,34%. A variação dos índices revelou diferença entre as duas áreas em relação à abundância, dominância e riqueza das espécies, evidenciando influência da antropização e sucessão ecológica. A diversidade e a abundância de abelhas estão diminuídas em comparação a estudos anteriores em ambientes próximos ou similares

Secretion of Streptomyces mobaraensis pro-transglutaminase by coryneform bacteria

We previously reported on the secretion of Streptomyces mobaraensis transglutaminase by Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13869 (formerly classified as Brevibacterium lactofermentum). In the present work, we investigated whether any other coryneform bacteria showed higher productivity than C. glutamicum ATCC13869. We found that most coryneform species secreted pro-transglutaminase efficiently. Moreover, we confirmed that Corynebacterium ammoniagenes ATCC6872 produced about 2.5 g/l pro-transglutaminase over a 71-h period in a jar fermentor. Our findings suggest that some other coryneform bacteria, especially C. ammoniagenes ATCC6872, are potential hosts for industrial scale protein production