2,422 research outputs found
Optical Astronomy in Post-Apartheid South Africa: 1994 to 2004
The progress of optical astronomy in post-apartheid South Africa is
discussed. Particular emphasis is given to the socio-political climate which
embraced the idea of a 10-m class telescope as a flagship project that would
lead to widespread development in science, technology and education - not only
in South Africa, but across the subcontinent.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, to appear in: Organizations and Strategies in
Astronomy, Vol. 5 (Ed.) A. Heck, Kluwer Acad. Pub
Developmental allometry and paediatric malaria
WHO estimates that 80% of mortality due to malaria occurs among infants and young children. Though it has long been established that malaria disproportionately affects children under age five, our understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms for this distribution remains incomplete. Many studies use age as an indicator of exposure, but age may affect malaria burden independently of previous exposure. Not only does the severity of malaria infection change with age, but the clinical manifestation of disease does as well: younger children are more likely to suffer severe anaemia, while older children are more likely to develop cerebral malaria. Intensity of transmission and acquired immunity are important determinants of this age variation, but age differences remain consistent over varying transmission levels. Thus, age differences in clinical presentation may involve inherent age-related factors as well as still-undiscovered facets of acquired immunity, perhaps including the rates at which relevant aspects of immunity are acquired. The concept of "allometry" - the relative growth of a part in relation to that of an entire organism or to a standard - has not previously been applied in the context of malaria infection. However, because malaria affects a number of organs and cells, including the liver, red blood cells, white blood cells, and spleen, which may intrinsically develop at rates partly independent of each other and of a child's overall size, developmental allometry may influence the course and consequences of malaria infection. Here, scattered items of evidence have been collected from a variety of disciplines, aiming to suggest possible research paths for investigating exposure-independent age differences affecting clinical outcomes of malaria infection
SUSY dark matter(s)
We review here the status of different dark matter candidates in the context
of supersymmetric models, in particular the neutralino as a realization of the
WIMP-mechanism and the gravitino. We give a summary of the recent bounds in
direct and indirect detection and also of the LHC searches relevant for the
dark matter question. We discuss also the implications of the Higgs discovery
for the supersymmetric dark matter models and give the prospects for the future
years.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure
Cosmic Ray Processes in Galactic Ecosystems
Galaxy evolution is an important topic, and our physical understanding must be complete to establish a correct picture. This includes a thorough treatment of feedback. The effects of thermalâmechanical and radiative feedback have been widely considered; however, cosmic rays (CRs) are also powerful energy carriers in galactic ecosystems. Resolving the capability of CRs to operate as a feedback agent is therefore essential to advance our understanding of the processes regulating galaxies. The effects of CRs are yet to be fully understood, and their complex multi-channel feedback mechanisms operating across the hierarchy of galaxy structures pose a significant technical challenge. This review examines the role of CRs in galaxies, from the scale of molecular clouds to the circumgalactic medium. An overview of their interaction processes, their implications for galaxy evolution, and their observable signatures is provided and their capability to modify the thermal and hydrodynamic configuration of galactic ecosystems is discussed. We present recent advancements in our understanding of CR processes and interpretation of their signatures, and highlight where technical challenges and unresolved questions persist. We discuss how these may be addressed with upcoming opportunities
Fyn Kinase regulates GluN2B subunit-dominant NMDA receptors in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons
NMDA receptor (NMDAR)-mediated fast excitatory neurotransmission is implicated in a broad range of physiological and pathological processes in the mammalian central nervous system. The function and regulation of NMDARs have been extensively studied in neurons from rodents and other non-human species, and in recombinant expression systems. Here, we investigated human NMDARs in situ by using neurons produced by directed differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The resultant cells showed electrophysiological characteristics demonstrating that they are bona fide neurons. In particular, human iPSC-derived neurons expressed functional ligand-gated ion channels, including NMDARs, AMPA receptors, GABAA receptors, as well as glycine receptors. Pharmacological and electrophysiological properties of NMDAR-mediated currents indicated that these were dominated by receptors containing GluN2B subunits. The NMDAR currents were suppressed by genistein, a broad-spectrum tyrosine kinase inhibitor. The NMDAR currents were also inhibited by a Fyn-interfering peptide, Fyn(39-57), but not a Src-interfering peptide, Src(40-58). Together, these findings are the first evidence that tyrosine phosphorylation regulates the function of NMDARs in human iPSC-derived neurons. Our findings provide a basis for utilizing human iPSC-derived neurons in screening for drugs targeting NMDARs in neurological disorders
The gravitino coupling to broken gauge theories applied to the MSSM
We consider gravitino couplings in theories with broken gauge symmetries. In
particular, we compute the single gravitino production cross section in W+ W-
fusion processes. Despite recent claims to the contrary, we show that this
process is always subdominant to gluon fusion processes in the high energy
limit. The full calculation is performed numerically; however, we give analytic
expressions for the cross section in the supersymmetric and electroweak limits.
We also confirm these results with the use of the effective theory of goldstino
interactions.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figure
Setting limits on Effective Field Theories: the case of Dark Matter
The usage of Effective Field Theories (EFT) for LHC new physics searches is
receiving increasing attention. It is thus important to clarify all the aspects
related with the applicability of the EFT formalism in the LHC environment,
where the large available energy can produce reactions that overcome the
maximal range of validity, i.e. the cutoff, of the theory. We show that this
does forbid to set rigorous limits on the EFT parameter space through a
modified version of the ordinary binned likelihood hypothesis test, which we
design and validate. Our limit-setting strategy can be carried on in its
full-fledged form by the LHC experimental collaborations, or performed
externally to the collaborations, through the Simplified Likelihood approach,
by relying on certain approximations. We apply it to the recent CMS mono-jet
analysis and derive limits on a Dark Matter (DM) EFT model. DM is selected as a
case study because the limited reach on the DM production EFT Wilson
coefficient and the structure of the theory suggests that the cutoff might be
dangerously low, well within the LHC reach. However our strategy can also be
applied to EFT's parametrising the indirect effects of heavy new physics in the
Electroweak and Higgs sectors
TEMPRANILLO is a regulator of juvenility in plants
Many plants are incapable of flowering in inductive daylengths during the early juvenile vegetative phase (JVP). Arabidopsis mutants with reduced expression of TEMPRANILLO (TEM), a repressor of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) had a shorter JVP than wild-type plants. Reciprocal changes in mRNA expression of TEM and FT were observed in both Arabidopsis and antirrhinum, which correlated with the length of the JVP. FT expression was induced just prior to the end of the JVP and levels of TEM1 mRNA declined rapidly at the time when FT mRNA levels were shown to increase. TEM orthologs were isolated from antirrhinum (AmTEM) and olive (OeTEM) and were expressed most highly during their juvenile phase. AmTEM functionally complemented AtTEM1 in the tem1 mutant and over-expression of AmTEM prolonged the JVP through repression of FT and CONSTANS (CO). We propose that TEM may have a general role in regulating JVP in herbaceous and woody species
Corrigendum: Determinants of Non-paid Task Division in Gay-, Lesbian-, and Heterosexual-Parent Families With Infants Conceived Using Artificial Reproductive Techniques.
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00914.]
Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modelling after subcutaneous, intravenous and buccal administration of a high-concentration formulation of buprenorphine in conscious cats
The aim of this study was to describe the joint pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic model and evaluate thermal antinociception of a high-concentration formulation of buprenorphine (Simbadolâą) in cats
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