Absorption spectrum in the wings of the potassium second resonance doublet broadened by helium

We have measured the reduced absorption coefficients occurring in the wings of the potassium 4S-5P doublet lines at 404.414 nm and at 404.720 nm broadened by helium gas at pressures of several hundred Torr. At the experimental temperature of 900 K, we have detected a shoulder-like broadening feature on the blue wing of the doublet which is relatively flat between 401.8 nm and 402.8 nm and which drops off rapidly for shorter wavelengths, corresponding to absorption from the X doublet Sigma+ state to the C doublet Sigma+ state of the K-He quasimolecule. The accurate measurements of the line profiles in the present work will sharply constrain future calculations of potential energy surfaces and transition dipole moments correlating to the asymptotes He-K(5p), He-K(5s), and He-K(3d).Comment: 2 figure

Genetic structure of Tribolium castaneum populations in mills

We investigated the genetic diversity and differentiation among nine populations of Tribolium castaneum using eight polymorphic loci, including microsatellites and other insertion-deletion polymorphisms (=”indels”). Samples were collected in food processing/storage facilities located in Kansas, Nebraska, California, Louisiana, Florida and Puerto Rico. Standard population genetic analysis was applied, and an assignment test was used to assign individuals to their genetic population. All loci were polymorphic across populations, with the number of alleles per locus-population combination varying from three to fourteen. Among 72 locus-by-population combinations, 31 deviated significantly from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, which was associated with a deficiency in heterozygosity. Tribolium castaneum populations show some level of genetic structuring. Genetic differentiation between populations, using FST estimates, was significant, with FST varying from 0.018 to 0.149. AMOVA indicated that 8.32% of the variation in allele frequency resulted from comparisons among populations. Genetic distance was not significantly correlated with geographic distance. Correct assignment to the genetic population was possible in only 56% of all individuals. Together, these results revealed that geographically distinct populations of T. castaneum had low to moderate levels of genetic differentiation that was not correlated with geographic distance, and the genotypic profile of the individuals did not provide enough information for fingerprinting them with their source population. Keywords: Tribolium castaneum, Population genetics, Genetic structure, FST, Genetic fingerprintin

Hundred photon microwave ionization of Rydberg atoms in a static electric field

We present analytical and numerical results for the microwave excitation of nonhydrogenic atoms in a static electric field when up to 1000 photons are required to ionize an atom. For small microwave fields, dynamical localization in photon number leads to exponentially small ionization while above quantum delocalization border ionization goes in a diffusive way. For alkali atoms in a static field the ionization border is much lower than in hydrogen due to internal chaos.Comment: revtex, 4 pages, 5 figure

Gravity duals of supersymmetric gauge theories on three-manifolds

We study gravity duals to a broad class of N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories defined on a general class of three-manifold geometries. The gravity backgrounds are based on Euclidean self-dual solutions to four-dimensional gauged supergravity. As well as constructing new examples, we prove in general that for solutions defined on the four-ball the gravitational free energy depends only on the supersymmetric Killing vector, finding a simple closed formula when the solution has U(1) x U(1) symmetry. Our result agrees with the large N limit of the free energy of the dual gauge theory, computed using localization. This constitutes an exact check of the gauge/gravity correspondence for a very broad class of gauge theories with a large N limit, defined on a general class of background three-manifold geometries.Comment: 74 pages, 2 figures; v2: minor change

Circulating MicroRNAs Are Not Eliminated by Hemodialysis

BACKGROUND: Circulating microRNAs are stably detectable in serum/plasma and other body fluids. In patients with acute kidney injury on dialysis therapy changes of miRNA patterns had been detected. It remains unclear if and how the dialysis procedure itself affects circulating microRNA level. METHODS: We quantified miR-21 and miR-210 by quantitative RT-PCR in plasma of patients with acute kidney injury requiring dialysis and measured pre- and post-dialyser miRNA levels as well as their amount in the collected spent dialysate. Single treatments using the following filters were studied: F60 S (1.3 m(2), Molecular Weight Cut Off (MWCO): 30 kDa, n = 8), AV 1000 S (1.8 m(2), MWCO: 30 kDa, n = 6) and EMiC 2 (1.8 m(2), MWCO: 40 kDa, n = 6). RESULTS: Circulating levels of miR-21 or -210 do not differ between pre- and post-dialyzer blood samples independently of the used filter surface and pore size: miR-21: F60S: p = 0.35, AV 1000 S p = 1.0, EMiC2 p = 1.0; miR-210: F60S: p = 0.91, AV 1000 S p = 0.09, EMiC2 p = 0.31. Correspondingly, only traces of both miRNAs could be found in the collected spent dialysate and ultrafiltrate. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with acute kidney injury circulating microRNAs are not removed by dialysis. As only traces of miR-21 and -210 are detected in dialysate and ultrafiltrate, microRNAs in the circulation are likely to be transported by larger structures such as proteins and/or microvesicles. As miRNAs are not affected by dialysis they might be more robust biomarkers of acute kidney injury

Holographic renormalization and supersymmetry

Holographic renormalization is a systematic procedure for regulating divergences in observables in asymptotically locally AdS spacetimes. For dual boundary field theories which are supersymmetric it is natural to ask whether this defines a supersymmetric renormalization scheme. Recent results in localization have brought this question into sharp focus: rigid supersymmetry on a curved boundary requires specific geometric structures, and general arguments imply that BPS observables, such as the partition function, are invariant under certain deformations of these structures. One can then ask if the dual holographic observables are similarly invariant. We study this question in minimal N = 2 gauged supergravity in four and five dimensions. In four dimensions we show that holographic renormalization precisely reproduces the expected field theory results. In five dimensions we find that no choice of standard holographic counterterms is compatible with supersymmetry, which leads us to introduce novel finite boundary terms. For a class of solutions satisfying certain topological assumptions we provide some independent tests of these new boundary terms, in particular showing that they reproduce the expected VEVs of conserved charges.Comment: 70 pages; corrected typo

Control of primary productivity and the significance of photosynthetic bacteria in a meromictic kettle lake.

During 1986 planktonic primary production and controlling factors were investigated in a small (A0 = 11.8 · 103 m2, Zmax = 11.5 m) meromictic kettle lake (Mittlerer Buchensee). Annual phytoplankton productivity was estimated to ca 120 gC · m–2 · a–1 (1,42 tC · lake–1 · a–1). The marked thermal stratification of the lake led to irregular vertical distributions of chlorophylla concentrations (Chla) and, to a minor extent, of photosynthesis (Az). Between the depths of 0 to 6 m low Chla concentrations (< 7 mg · m–3) and comparatively high background light attenuation (kw = 0,525 m–1, 77% of total attenuation due to gelbstoff and abioseston) was found. As a consequence, light absorption by algae was low (mean value 17,4%) and self-shading was absent. Because of the small seasonal variation of Chla concentrations, no significant correlation between Chla and areal photosynthesis (A) was observed. Only in early summer (June–July) biomass appears to influence the vertical distribution of photosynthesis on a bigger scale. Around 8 m depth, low-light adapted algae and phototrophic bacteria formed dense layers. Due to low ambient irradiances, the contribution of these organisms to total primary productivity was small. Primary production and incident irradiance were significantly correlated with each other (r2 = 0.68). Although the maximum assimilation number (Popt) showed a clear dependence upon water temperature (Q10 = 2.31), the latter was of minor importance to areal photosynthesis

Transcriptome Profiling of the Intoxication Response of Tenebrio molitor Larvae to Bacillus thuringiensis Cry3Aa Protoxin

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crystal (Cry) proteins are effective against a select number of insect pests, but improvements are needed to increase efficacy and decrease time to mortality for coleopteran pests. To gain insight into the Bt intoxication process in Coleoptera, we performed RNA-Seq on cDNA generated from the guts of Tenebrio molitor larvae that consumed either a control diet or a diet containing Cry3Aa protoxin. Approximately 134,090 and 124,287 sequence reads from the control and Cry3Aa-treated groups were assembled into 1,318 and 1,140 contigs, respectively. Enrichment analyses indicated that functions associated with mitochondrial respiration, signalling, maintenance of cell structure, membrane integrity, protein recycling/synthesis, and glycosyl hydrolases were significantly increased in Cry3Aa-treated larvae, whereas functions associated with many metabolic processes were reduced, especially glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle, and fatty acid synthesis. Microarray analysis was used to evaluate temporal changes in gene expression after 6, 12 or 24 h of Cry3Aa exposure. Overall, microarray analysis indicated that transcripts related to allergens, chitin-binding proteins, glycosyl hydrolases, and tubulins were induced, and those related to immunity and metabolism were repressed in Cry3Aa-intoxicated larvae. The 24 h microarray data validated most of the RNA-Seq data. Of the three intoxication intervals, larvae demonstrated more differential expression of transcripts after 12 h exposure to Cry3Aa. Gene expression examined by three different methods in control vs. Cry3Aa-treated larvae at the 24 h time point indicated that transcripts encoding proteins with chitin-binding domain 3 were the most differentially expressed in Cry3Aa-intoxicated larvae. Overall, the data suggest that T. molitor larvae mount a complex response to Cry3Aa during the initial 24 h of intoxication. Data from this study represent the largest genetic sequence dataset for T. molitor to date. Furthermore, the methods in this study are useful for comparative analyses in organisms lacking a sequenced genome

Meaning and Dialogue Coherence: A Proof-theoretic Investigation

This paper presents a novel proof-theoretic account of dialogue coherence. It focuses on an abstract class of cooperative information-oriented dialogues and describes how their structure can be accounted for in terms of a multi-agent hybrid inference system that combines natural deduction with information transfer and observation. We show how certain dialogue structures arise out of the interplay between the inferential roles of logical connectives (i.e., sentence semantics), a rule for transferring information between agents, and a rule for information flow between agents and their environment. The order of explanation is opposite in direction to that adopted in game-theoretic semantics, where sentence semantics (or a notion of valid inference) is derived from winning dialogue strategies. That approach and the current one may, however, be reconcilable, since we focus on cooperative dialogue, whereas the game-theoretic tradition concentrates on adversarial dialogue