57 research outputs found
Gauge Invariance of the Muonium-Antimuonium Oscillation Time Scale and Limits on Right-Handed Neutrino Masses
The gauge invariance of the muonium-antimuonium () oscillation time
scale is explicitly demonstrated in the Standard Model modified only by the
inclusion of singlet right-handed neutrinos and allowing for general
renormalizable interactions. The see-saw mechanism is exploited resulting in
three light Majorana neutrinos and three heavy Majorana neutrinos with mass
scale . The leading order matrix element contribution to the
oscillation process is computed in gauge and shown to be
independent thereby establishing the gauge invariance to this order.
Present experimental limits resulting from the non-observation of the
oscillation process sets a lower limit on roughly of order 600 GeV.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, Late
Muonium-Antimuonium Oscillations in an extended Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with right-handed neutrinos
The electron and muon number violating muonium-antimuonium oscillation
process in an extended Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model is investigated.
The Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model is modified by the inclusion of three
right-handed neutrino superfields. While the model allows the neutrino mass
terms to mix among the different generations, the sneutrino and slepton mass
terms have only intra-generation lepton number violation but not
inter-generation lepton number mixing. So doing, the muonium-antimuonium
conversion can then be used to constrain those model parameters which avoid
further constraint from the decay bounds. For a wide range of
parameter values, the contributions to the muonium-antimuonium oscillation time
scale are at least two orders of magnitude below the sensivity of current
experiments. However, if the ratio of the two Higgs field VEVs, , is
very small, there is a limited possibility that the contributions are large
enough for the present experimental limit to provide an inequality relating
with the light neutrino mass scale which is generated by
see-saw mechanism. The resultant lower bound on as a function of
is more stringent than the analogous bounds arising from the muon and
electron anomalous magnetic moments as computed using this model.Comment: 29 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, Late
Low-temperature one-step solid-phase synthesis of carbon-encapsulated TiO2 nanocrystals as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries
Hollow carbon spheres as an efficient dopant for enhancing critical current density of MgB2 based tapes
A significant enhancement of Jc and Hirr in MgB2 tapes has been achieved by
the in situ powder-in-tube method utilizing hollow carbon spheres (HCS) as
dopants. At 4.2 K, the transport Jc for the 850C sintered samples reached
3.1x10^4, and 1.4x10^4 A/cm^2 at 10 and 12 T, respectively, and were better
than those of optimal nano-SiC doped tapes. Furthermore, the Hirr for doped
sample was raised up to 16.8 T at 10 K due to the carbon substitution effect.
The results demonstrate that HCS is one of the most promising dopants besides
nano-carbon and SiC for the enhancement of current capacity for MgB2 in high
fields.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure
Myocardial fibrosis in asymptomatic and symptomatic chronic severe primary mitral regurgitation and relationship to tissue characterisation and left ventricular function on cardiovascular magnetic resonance
Background: Myocardial fbrosis occurs in end-stage heart failure secondary to mitral regurgitation (MR), but it is not
known whether this is present before onset of symptoms or myocardial dysfunction. This study aimed to characterise
myocardial fbrosis in chronic severe primary MR on histology, compare this to tissue characterisation on cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging, and investigate associations with symptoms, left ventricular (LV) function, and
exercise capacity.
Methods: Patients with class I or IIa indications for surgery underwent CMR and cardiopulmonary exercise testing. LV
biopsies were taken at surgery and the extent of fbrosis was quantifed on histology using collagen volume fraction
(CVFmean) compared to autopsy controls without cardiac pathology.
Results: 120 consecutive patients (64±13 years; 71% male) were recruited; 105 patients underwent MV repair
while 15 chose conservative management. LV biopsies were obtained in 86 patients (234 biopsy samples in total).
MR patients had more fbrosis compared to 8 autopsy controls (median: 14.6% [interquartile range 7.4–20.3] vs. 3.3%
[2.6–6.1], P<0.001); this diference persisted in the asymptomatic patients (CVFmean 13.6% [6.3–18.8], P<0.001), but
severity of fbrosis was not signifcantly higher in NYHA II-III symptomatic MR (CVFmean 15.7% [9.9–23.1] (P=0.083).
Fibrosis was patchy across biopsy sites (intraclass correlation 0.23, 95% CI 0.08–0.39, P=0.001). No signifcant relationships were identifed between CVFmean and CMR tissue characterisation [native T1, extracellular volume (ECV)
or late gadolinium enhancement] or measures of LV function [LV ejection fraction (LVEF), global longitudinal strain
(GLS)]. Although the range of ECV was small (27.3±3.2%), ECV correlated with multiple measures of LV function (LVEF:
Rho=−0.22, P=0.029, GLS: Rho=0.29, P=0.003), as well as NTproBNP (Rho=0.54, P<0.001) and exercise capacity
(%PredVO2max: R=−0.22, P=0.030). Conclusions: Patients with chronic primary MR have increased fbrosis before the onset of symptoms. Due to the
patchy nature of fbrosis, CMR derived ECV may be a better marker of global myocardial status.
Clinical trial registration Mitral FINDER study; Clinical Trials NCT02355418, Registered 4 February 2015, https://clinicaltr
ials.gov/ct2/show/NCT0235541
Mapping of Nonhomologous End Joining-Mediated Integration Facilitates Genome-Scale Trackable Mutagenesis in Yarrowia lipolytica
Genome-scale mutagenesis, phenotypic screening, and tracking the causal mutations is a powerful approach for genetic analysis. However, classic mutagenesis approaches require extensive effort to identify causal mutations. It is desirable to demonstrate a powerful approach for rapid trackable mutagenesis. Here, we mapped the distribution of nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ)-mediated integration for the first time and demonstrated that it can be used for constructing the genome-scale trackable mutagenesis library in Yarrowia lipolytica. The sequencing of 9.15 x 10(5) insertions showed that NHEJ-mediated integration inserted DNA randomly across the chromosomes, and the transcriptional regulatory regions exhibited integration preference. The insertions were located in both nucleosome-occupancy regions and nucleosome-free regions. Using NHEJ-mediated integration to construct the genome-scale mutagenesis library, the new targets that improved beta-carotene biosynthesis and acetic acid tolerance were identified rapidly. This mutagenesis approach is readily applicable to other organisms with strong NHEJ preference and will contribute to cell factory construction
Highly efficient one-step synthesis of carbon encapsulated nanocrystals by the oxidation of metal π
In silico screening for candidate chassis strains of free fatty acid-producing cyanobacteria
Background: Finding a source from which high-energy-density biofuels can be derived at an industrial scale has become an urgent challenge for renewable energy production. Some microorganisms can produce free fatty acids (FFA) as precursors towards such high-energy-density biofuels. In particular, photosynthetic cyanobacteria are capable of directly converting carbon dioxide into FFA. However, current engineered strains need several rounds of engineering to reach the level of production of FFA to be commercially viable thus new chassis strains that require less engineering are needed. Although more than 120 cyanobacterial genomes are sequenced, the natural potential of these strains for FFA production and excretion has not been systematically estimated. Results: Here we present the FFA SC (FFASC), an in silico screening method that evaluates the potential for FFA production and excretion of cyanobacterial strains based on their proteomes. A literature search allowed for the compilation of 64 proteins, most of which influence FFA production and a few of which affect FFA excretion. The proteins are classified into 49 orthologous groups (OGs) that helped create rules used in the scoring/ranking of algorithms developed to estimate the potential for FFA production and excretion of an organism. Among 125 cyanobacterial strains, FFASC identified 20 candidate chassis strains that rank in their FFA producing and excreting potential above the specifically engineered reference strain, Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002. We further show that the top ranked cyanobacterial strains are unicellular and primarily include Prochlorococcus (order Prochlorales) and marine Synechococcus (order Chroococcales) that cluster phylogenetically. Moreover, two principal categories of enzymes were shown to influence FFA production the most: those ensuring precursor availability for the biosynthesis of lipids, and those involved in handling the oxidative stress associated to FFA synthesis. Conclusion: To our knowledge FFASC is the first in silico method to screen cyanobacteria proteomes for their potential to produce and excrete FFA, as well as the first attempt to parameterize the criteria derived from genetic characteristics that are favorable/non-favorable for this purpose. Thus, FFASC helps focus experimental evaluation only on the most promising cyanobacteria
Increasing accuracy of lake nutrient predictions in thousands of lakes by leveraging water clarity data
Abstract Aquatic scientists require robust, accurate information about nutrient concentrations and indicators of algal biomass in unsampled lakes in order to understand and predict the effects of global climate and land‐use change. Historically, lake and landscape characteristics have been used as predictor variables in regression models to generate nutrient predictions, but often with significant uncertainty. An alternative approach to improve predictions is to leverage the observed relationship between water clarity and nutrients, which is possible because water clarity is more commonly measured than lake nutrients. We used a joint‐nutrient model that conditioned predictions of total phosphorus, nitrogen, and chlorophyll a on observed water clarity. Our results demonstrated substantial reductions (8–27%; median = 23%) in prediction error when conditioning on water clarity. These models will provide new opportunities for predicting nutrient concentrations of unsampled lakes across broad spatial scales with reduced uncertainty
Highly efficient solid-state synthesis of carbon-encapsulated ultrafine MoO2 nanocrystals as high rate lithium-ion battery anode
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