Fermionic T-duality in the pp-wave limit

AdS5 X S5 and its pp-wave limit are self-dual under transformations involving eight fermionic T-dualities, a property which accounts for symmetries seen in scattering amplitudes in N=4 super-Yang-Mills. Despite strong evidence for similar symmetries in the amplitudes of three-dimensional N=6 ABJM theory, a corresponding self-duality in the dual geometry AdS4 X CP3 currently eludes us. Here, working with the type IIA pp-wave limit of AdS4 X CP3 preserving twenty four supercharges, we show that the pp-wave is self-dual with respect to eight commuting fermionic T-dualities and not the six expected. In addition, we show the same symmetry can be found in a superposition pp-wave and a generic pp-wave with twenty and sixteen unbroken supersymmetries respectively, strongly suggesting that self-duality under fermionic T-duality may be a symmetry of all pp-waves.Comment: 21 pages, typos fixe

Increased RPA1 gene dosage affects genomic stability potentially contributing to 17p13.3 duplication syndrome

A novel microduplication syndrome involving various-sized contiguous duplications in 17p13.3 has recently been described, suggesting that increased copy number of genes in 17p13.3, particularly PAFAH1B1, is associated with clinical features including facial dysmorphism, developmental delay, and autism spectrum disorder. We have previously shown that patient-derived cell lines from individuals with haploinsufficiency of RPA1, a gene within 17p13.3, exhibit an impaired ATR-dependent DNA damage response (DDR). Here, we show that cell lines from patients with duplications specifically incorporating RPA1 exhibit a different although characteristic spectrum of DDR defects including abnormal S phase distribution, attenuated DNA double strand break (DSB)-induced RAD51 chromatin retention, elevated genomic instability, and increased sensitivity to DNA damaging agents. Using controlled conditional over-expression of RPA1 in a human model cell system, we also see attenuated DSB-induced RAD51 chromatin retention. Furthermore, we find that transient over-expression of RPA1 can impact on homologous recombination (HR) pathways following DSB formation, favouring engagement in aberrant forms of recombination and repair. Our data identifies unanticipated defects in the DDR associated with duplications in 17p13.3 in humans involving modest RPA1 over-expression

Associations between fruit and vegetable intake, leisure-time physical activity, sitting time and self-rated health among older adults : cross-sectional data from the WELL study

BackgroundLifestyle behaviours, such as healthy diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, are key elements of healthy ageing and important modifiable risk factors in the prevention of chronic diseases. Little is known about the relationship between these behaviours in older adults. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake, leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and sitting time (ST), and their association with self-rated health in older adults.MethodsThis cross-sectional study comprised 3,644 older adults (48% men) aged 55-65 years, who participated in the Wellbeing, Eating and Exercise for a Long Life ("WELL") study. Respondents completed a postal survey about their health and their eating and physical activity behaviours in 2010 (38% response rate). Spearman\u27s coefficient (rho) was used to evaluate the relationship between F&V intake, LTPA and ST. Their individual and shared associations with self-rated health were examined using ordinal logistic regression models, stratified by sex and adjusted for confounders (BMI, smoking, long-term illness and socio-demographic characteristics).ResultsThe correlations between F&V intake, LTPA and ST were low. F&V intake and LTPA were positively associated with self-rated health. Each additional serving of F&V or MET-hour of LTPA were associated with approximately 10% higher likelihood of reporting health as good or better among women and men. The association between ST and self-rated health was not significant in the multivariate analysis. A significant interaction was found (ST*F&V intake). The effect of F&V intake on self-rated health increased with increasing ST in women, whereas the effect decreased with increasing ST in men.ConclusionThis study contributes to the scarce literature related to lifestyle behaviours and their association with health indicators among older adults. The findings suggest that a modest increase in F&V intake, or LTPA could have a marked effect on the health of older adults. Further research is needed to fully understand the correlates and determinants of lifestyle behaviours, particularly sitting time, in this age group

Strings in AdS_4 x CP^3: finite size spectrum vs. Bethe Ansatz

We compute the first curvature corrections to the spectrum of light-cone gauge type IIA string theory that arise in the expansion of $AdS_4\times \mathbb{CP}^3$ about a plane-wave limit. The resulting spectrum is shown to match precisely, both in magnitude and degeneration that of the corresponding solutions of the all-loop Gromov--Vieira Bethe Ansatz. The one-loop dispersion relation correction is calculated for all the single oscillator states of the theory, with the level matching condition lifted. It is shown to have all logarithmic divergences cancelled and to leave only a finite exponentially suppressed contribution, as shown earlier for light bosons. We argue that there is no ambiguity in the choice of the regularization for the self-energy sum, since the regularization applied is the only one preserving unitarity. Interaction matrices in the full degenerate two-oscillator sector are calculated and the spectrum of all two light magnon oscillators is completely determined. The same finite-size corrections, at the order 1/J, where $J$ is the length of the chain, in the two-magnon sector are calculated from the all loop Bethe Ansatz. The corrections obtained by the two completely different methods coincide up to the fourth order in $\lambda' =\lambda/J^2$. We conjecture that the equivalence extends to all orders in $\lambda$ and to higher orders in 1/J.Comment: 32 pages. Published version; journal reference adde

The Role of Innate APOBEC3G and Adaptive AID Immune Responses in HLA-HIV/SIV Immunized SHIV Infected Macaques

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Phospholipase C-β4 Is Essential for the Progression of the Normal Sleep Sequence and Ultradian Body Temperature Rhythms in Mice

BACKGROUND: THE SLEEP SEQUENCE: i) non-REM sleep, ii) REM sleep, and iii) wakefulness, is stable and widely preserved in mammals, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. It has been shown that this sequence is disrupted by sudden REM sleep onset during active wakefulness (i.e., narcolepsy) in orexin-deficient mutant animals. Phospholipase C (PLC) mediates the signaling of numerous metabotropic receptors, including orexin receptors. Among the several PLC subtypes, the beta4 subtype is uniquely localized in the geniculate nucleus of thalamus which is hypothesized to have a critical role in the transition and maintenance of sleep stages. In fact, we have reported irregular theta wave frequency during REM sleep in PLC-beta4-deficient mutant (PLC-beta4-/-) mice. Daily behavioral phenotypes and metabotropic receptors involved have not been analyzed in detail in PLC-beta4-/- mice, however. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Therefore, we analyzed 24-h sleep electroencephalogram in PLC-beta4-/- mice. PLC-beta4-/- mice exhibited normal non-REM sleep both during the day and nighttime. PLC-beta4-/- mice, however, exhibited increased REM sleep during the night, their active period. Also, their sleep was fragmented with unusual wake-to-REM sleep transitions, both during the day and nighttime. In addition, PLC-beta4-/- mice reduced ultradian body temperature rhythms and elevated body temperatures during the daytime, but had normal homeothermal response to acute shifts in ambient temperatures (22 degrees C-4 degrees C). Within the most likely brain areas to produce these behavioral phenotypes, we found that, not orexin, but group-1 metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR)-mediated Ca(2+) mobilization was significantly reduced in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd) of PLC-beta4-/- mice. Voltage clamp recordings revealed that group-1 mGluR-mediated currents in LGNd relay neurons (inward in wild-type mice) were outward in PLC-beta4-/- mice. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These lines of evidence indicate that impaired LGNd relay, possibly mediated via group-1 mGluR, may underlie irregular sleep sequences and ultradian body temperature rhythms in PLC-beta4-/- mice

Equilibrium configurations of two charged masses in General Relativity

An asymptotically flat static solution of Einstein-Maxwell equations which describes the field of two non-extreme Reissner - Nordstr\"om sources in equilibrium is presented. It is expressed in terms of physical parameters of the sources (their masses, charges and separating distance). Very simple analytical forms were found for the solution as well as for the equilibrium condition which guarantees the absence of any struts on the symmetry axis. This condition shows that the equilibrium is not possible for two black holes or for two naked singularities. However, in the case when one of the sources is a black hole and another one is a naked singularity, the equilibrium is possible at some distance separating the sources. It is interesting that for appropriately chosen parameters even a Schwarzschild black hole together with a naked singularity can be "suspended" freely in the superposition of their fields.Comment: 4 pages; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Features of Idebenone and Related Short-Chain Quinones that Rescue ATP Levels under Conditions of Impaired Mitochondrial Complex I

Short-chain quinones have been investigated as therapeutic molecules due to their ability to modulate cellular redox reactions, mitochondrial electron transfer and oxidative stress, which are pathologically altered in many mitochondrial and neuromuscular disorders. Recently, we and others described that certain short-chain quinones are able to bypass a deficiency in complex I by shuttling electrons directly from the cytoplasm to complex III of the mitochondrial respiratory chain to produce ATP. Although this energy rescue activity is highly interesting for the therapy of disorders associated with complex I dysfunction, no structure-activity-relationship has been reported for short-chain quinones so far. Using a panel of 70 quinones, we observed that the capacity for this cellular energy rescue as well as their effect on lipid peroxidation was influenced more by the physicochemical properties (in particular logD) of the whole molecule than the quinone moiety itself. Thus, the observed correlations allow us to explain the differential biological activities and therapeutic potential of short-chain quinones for the therapy of disorders associated with mitochondrial complex I dysfunction and/or oxidative stress

The Chromatin Remodelling Factor dATRX Is Involved in Heterochromatin Formation

Despite extensive study of heterochromatin, relatively little is known about the mechanisms by which such a structure forms. We show that the Drosophila homologue of the human α-thalassemia and mental retardation X-linked protein (dATRX), is important in the formation or maintenance of heterochromatin through modification of position effect variegation. We further show that there are two isoforms of the dATRX protein, the longer of which interacts directly with heterochromatin protein 1 (dHP-1) through a CxVxL motif both in vitro and in vivo. These two proteins co-localise at heterochromatin in a manner dependent on this motif. Consistent with this observation, the long isoform of the dATRX protein localises primarily to the heterochromatin at the chromocentre on salivary gland polytene chromosomes, whereas the short isoform binds to many sites along the chromosome arms. We suggest that the establishment of a regular nucleosomal organisation may be common to heterochromatin and transcriptionally repressed chromatin in other locations, and may require the action of ATP dependent chromatin remodelling factors