Non-Standard Neutrino Propagation and Pion Decay

Motivated by the findings of the OPERA experiment, we discuss the hypothesis that neutrino propagation does not obey Einstein special relativity. Under a minimal set of modifications of the standard model Lagrangian, we consider the implications of non standard neutrino propagation on the description of neutrino interactions and, specifically, on the pion decay processes. We show that all the different dispersion relations which have been proposed so far to explain OPERA results, imply huge departures from the standard expectations. The decay channel $\pi^+ \to e^+ \nu_{\rm e}$ becomes significantly larger than in the standard scenario, and may even dominate over $\pi^+ \to \mu^+ \nu_{\rm \mu}$. Moreover, the spectral distribution of neutrinos produced in the decay processes and the probability that a pion decays in flight in neutrinos show large deviations from the standard results.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, version accepted in JHE

UDP-glucose 4, 6-dehydratase Activity Plays an Important Role in Maintaining Cell Wall Integrity and Virulence of Candida albicans

Candida albicans, a human fungal pathogen, undergoes morphogenetic changes that are associated with virulence. We report here that GAL102 in C. albicans encodes a homolog of dTDP-glucose 4,6-dehydratase, an enzyme that affects cell wall properties as well as virulence of many pathogenic bacteria. We found that GAL102 deletion leads to greater sensitivity to antifungal drugs and cell wall destabilizing agents like Calcofluor white and Congo red. The mutant also formed biofilms consisting mainly of hyphal cells that show less turgor. The NMR analysis of cell wall mannans of gal102 deletion strain revealed that a major constituent of mannan is missing and the phosphomannan component known to affect virulence is greatly reduced. We also observed that there was a substantial reduction in the expression of genes involved in biofilm formation but increase in the expression of genes encoding glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins in the mutant. These, along with altered mannosylation of cell wall proteins together might be responsible for multiple phenotypes displayed by the mutant. Finally, the mutant was unable to grow in the presence of resident peritoneal macrophages and elicited a weak pro-inflammatory cytokine response in vitro. Similarly, this mutant elicited a poor serum pro-inflammatory cytokine response as judged by IFNγ and TNFα levels and showed reduced virulence in a mouse model of systemic candidiasis. Importantly, an Ala substitution for a conserved Lys residue in the active site motif YXXXK, that abrogates the enzyme activity also showed reduced virulence and increased filamentation similar to the gal102 deletion strain. Since inactivating the enzyme encoded by GAL102 makes the cells sensitive to antifungal drugs and reduces its virulence, it can serve as a potential drug target in combination therapies for C. albicans and related pathogens

Enterprise Support Systems: An International Perspective

Enterprise Support Systems: An International Perspective focuses on the issues surrounding enterprise support systems, giving a comprehensive understanding of how they influence enterprise creation and growth in various nations. Against the background of a globalized economy, this collection covers issues pertaining to countries at diverse stages of enterprise development and offers valuable insights into the support needed at these stages. The chapters in this compilation present a comprehensive theoretical perspective on the formative and the facilitative environments of enterprise creation and development, emphasizing the two-way role of learning and education systems in bringing out a change within these systems. They deal with a range of issues that form the core of enterprise support systems, such as availability of finance, sociocultural environment, personality dimensions, education systems, enterprise clusters and technology cluster

Dynamics of Entrepreneurship in Egypt: Assessing the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. Can Entrepreneurship Contribute to the Economic Development in Egypt?

The January 25th revolution in Egypt has inspired a spirit of motivation for youth to take matters into their hands and create their destiny. In less than 6 years the Egyptian Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (EE) managed to draw regional and global attention in terms of business support, funding, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and research. Tech-savvy and multi-lingual youth are the Egyptian EE\u2019s largest strength, and more constituents are joining the EE every hour. Despite the fact that more support services and stakeholders are emerging to promote entrepreneurship in Egypt, scattered efforts, uncoordinated initiatives, fragile legal framework and low-quality education do not seem to move the nascent ecosystem into a growth stage. Using a rigorous analysis, we conclude that the Egyptian EE is still at birth stage and most of its constituents are mostly fledgling organizations. The legal framework is inefficient. The market lacks genuine ideas and mentors. Venture capitalists still lack expertise, scientific research is not authoritative. Innovation infrastructure is underdeveloped, most of the patents are registered offshore, IP protection is practically inexistent. More worryingly the country is unable to retain its most qualified talents who immigrate to more robust innovation environments. To date, entrepreneurship in Egypt is unable to create sustainable employment or impact national economic growth. However, there is a significant opportunity for improvement. In this chapter we assess the Egyptian EE, then present a set of recommendations for policy makers and investors