Robust approach to thermal resummation : Standard Model meets a singlet

Perturbation theory alone fails to describe thermodynamics of the electroweak phase transition. We review a technique combining perturbative and non-perturbative methods to overcome this challenge. Accordingly, the principal theme is a tutorial of high-temperature dimensional reduction. We present an explicit derivation with a real singlet scalar and compute the thermal effective potential at two-loop order. In particular, we detail the dimensional reduction for a real-singlet extended Standard Model. The resulting effective theory will impact future non-perturbative studies based on lattice simulations as well as purely perturbative investigations.Peer reviewe

A novel acetyl xylan esterase enabling complete deacetylation of substituted xylans

Background: Acetylated 4-O-(methyl) glucuronoxylan (GX) is the main hemicellulose in deciduous hardwood, and comprises a beta-(1 -> 4)-linked xylopyranosyl (Xylp) backbone substituted by both acetyl groups and alpha-(1 -> 2)-linked 4-O-methylglucopyranosyluronic acid (MeGlcpA). Whereas enzymes that target singly acetylated Xylp or doubly 2,3-O-acetyl-Xylp have been well characterized, those targeting (2-O-MeGlcpA) 3-O-acetyl-Xylp structures in glucuronoxylan have remained elusive. Results: An unclassified carbohydrate esterase (FjoAcXE) was identified as a protein of unknown function from a polysaccharide utilization locus (PUL) otherwise comprising carbohydrate-active enzyme families known to target xylan. FjoAcXE was shown to efficiently release acetyl groups from internal (2-O-MeGlcpA) 3-O-acetyl-Xylp structures, an activity that has been sought after but lacking in known carbohydrate esterases. FjoAcXE action boosted the activity of alpha-glucuronidases from families GH67 and GH115 by five and nine times, respectively. Moreover, FjoAcXE activity was not only restricted to GX, but also deacetylated (3-O-Araf)2-O-acetyl-Xylp of feruloylated xylooligomers, confirming the broad substrate range of this new carbohydrate esterase. Conclusion: This study reports the discovery and characterization of the novel carbohydrate esterase, FjoAcXE. In addition to cleaving singly acetylated Xylp, and doubly 2,3-O-acetyl-Xylp, FjoAcXE efficiently cleaves internal 3-O-acetyl-Xylp linkages in (2-O-MeGlcpA)3-O-acetyl-Xylp residues along with densely substituted and branched xylooligomers; activities that until now were missing from the arsenal of enzymes required for xylan conversion.Peer reviewe

Joint Nordic prospective study on human herpesvirus 8 and multiple myeloma risk

An association between human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8) and multiple myeloma (MM) has been reported, though most studies have not confirmed such association. To follow-up on a previous prospective seroepidemiological study, where HHV8 tended to associate with MM risk, we linked five large serum banks in the Nordic countries with the Nordic cancer registries and 329 prospectively occurring cases of MM were identified, together with 1631 control subjects matched by age and gender. The HHV8 seroprevalences among cases and controls were similar (12 and 15%, respectively) and HHV8 seropositivity did not associate with the risk of MM, neither when considering positivity for lytic antibodies (relative risk (RR)=0.8, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.5–1.1) nor for latent antibodies (RR=0.6, 95% CI=0.1–2.7). Similar risks were seen when analysis was restricted to case–control sets with at least 2 years lag before diagnosis (RR=0.8, 95% CI=0.5–1.2 and RR=0.9, 95% CI=0.1–4.2). In conclusion, the data indicate that HHV8 infection is not associated with MM

Films from Glyoxal-Crosslinked Spruce Galactoglucomannans Plasticized with Sorbitol

Films were prepared from a renewable and biodegradable forest biorefinery product, spruce O-acetyl-galactoglucomannans (GGMs), crosslinked with glyoxal. For the first time, cohesive and self-standing films were obtained from GGM without the addition of polyol plasticizer. In addition, glyoxal-crosslinked films were prepared using sorbitol at 10, 20, 30, and 40% (wt.-% of GGM). Glyoxal clearly strengthened the GGM matrix, as detected by tensile testing and dynamic mechanical analysis. The elongation at break of films slightly increased, and Young's modulus decreased with increasing sorbitol content. Interestingly, the tensile strength of films was constant with the increased plasticizer content. The effect of sorbitol on water sorption and water vapor permeability (WVP) depended on relative humidity (RH). At low RH, the addition of sorbitol significantly decreased the WVP of films. The glyoxal-crosslinked GGM films containing 20% sorbitol exhibited the lowest oxygen permeability (OP) and WVP of the studied films and showed satisfactory mechanical performance

Extendable blocking probe in reverse transcription for analysis of RNA variants with superior selectivity

Peer reviewe

Geospatial data analysis in Russia’s geoweb

The chapter examines the role of geospatial data in Russia’s online ecosystem. Facilitated by the rise of geographic information systems and user-generated content, the distribution of geospatial data has blurred the line between physical spaces and their virtual representations. The chapter discusses different sources of these data available for Digital Russian Studies (e.g., social data and crowdsourced databases) together with the novel techniques for extracting geolocation from various data formats (e.g., textual documents and images). It also scrutinizes different ways of using these data, varying from mapping the spatial distribution of social and political phenomena to investigating the use of geotag data for cultural practices’ digitization to exploring the use of geoweb for narrating individual and collective identities online

Fungal enzyme sets for plant polysaccharide degradation

Enzymatic degradation of plant polysaccharides has many industrial applications, such as within the paper, food, and feed industry and for sustainable production of fuels and chemicals. Cellulose, hemicelluloses, and pectins are the main components of plant cell wall polysaccharides. These polysaccharides are often tightly packed, contain many different sugar residues, and are branched with a diversity of structures. To enable efficient degradation of these polysaccharides, fungi produce an extensive set of carbohydrate-active enzymes. The variety of the enzyme set differs between fungi and often corresponds to the requirements of its habitat. Carbohydrate-active enzymes can be organized in different families based on the amino acid sequence of the structurally related catalytic modules. Fungal enzymes involved in plant polysaccharide degradation are assigned to at least 35 glycoside hydrolase families, three carbohydrate esterase families and six polysaccharide lyase families. This mini-review will discuss the enzymes needed for complete degradation of plant polysaccharides and will give an overview of the latest developments concerning fungal carbohydrate-active enzymes and their corresponding families