Electron mass anomalous dimension at O(1/Nf2)O(1/N_f^2) in three-dimensional N=1\mathcal{N}=1 supersymmetric QED

We consider massless three-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=1$ supersymmetric quantum electrodynamics (QED) with $N_f$ flavours of electrons. Within the dimensional reduction scheme, we compute the critical exponents corresponding to both the electron and selectron field and (parity-even) mass anomalous dimensions at the next-to-leading order in the $1/N_f$ expansion and in an arbitrary covariant gauge. The equality of the gauge-invariant mass anomalous dimensions of the electron and the selectron is found to result from a subtle role played by the epsilon-scalars. Our general framework also allows us to compute the critical exponents of pure scalar QED and to recover known results in the case of spinor QED. An application of our results to dynamical (s)electron mass generation is considered. We find evidence that, while dynamical flavor symmetry breaking occurs in spinor QED, both pure scalar QED and supersymmetric QED remain in an interacting conformal phase.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

Flat polymerized membranes at three-loop order

In this conference report, we present a recent field theoretic renormalization group analysis of flat polymerized membranes at three-loop order by the present authors [Phys. Rev. E 105, L012603 (2022)].Comment: (v1) 5 page

Breastfeeding patterns and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

The risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) was investigated in relation to breastfeeding patterns in the Northern California Childhood Leukaemia Study. Data collected by self-administered and in-person questionnaires from biological mothers of leukaemia cases (age 0-14 years) in the period 1995-2002 were matched to birth certificate controls on date of birth, sex, Hispanic ethnic status, and maternal race. Ever compared to never breastfeeding was not associated with risk of ALL at ages 1-14 years (odds ratio=0.99; 95% CI=0.64-1.55) and ages 2-5 years (OR=1.49; 95% CI=0.83-2.65). Various measures of breastfeeding duration compared to absence of breastfeeding also had no significant effect on risk. Complimentary feeding characteristics such as type of milk/formula used and age started eating solid foods among breastfed children were not associated with ALL risk. This study provides no evidence that breastfeeding affects the occurrence of childhood ALL

Clonal and microclonal mutational heterogeneity in high hyperdiploid acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

High hyperdiploidy (HD), the most common cytogenetic subtype of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), is largely curable but significant treatment-related morbidity warrants investigating the biology and identifying novel drug targets. Targeted deep-sequencing of 538 cancer-relevant genes was performed in 57 HD-ALL patients lacking overt KRAS and NRAS hotspot mutations and lacking common B-ALL deletions to enrich for discovery of novel driver genes. One-third of patients harbored damaging mutations in epigenetic regulatory genes, including the putative novel driver DOT1L (n=4). Receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK)/Ras/MAPK signaling pathway mutations were found in two-thirds of patients, including novel mutations in ROS1, which mediates phosphorylation of the PTPN11-encoded protein SHP2. Mutations in FLT3 significantly co-occurred with DOT1L (p=0.04), suggesting functional cooperation in leukemogenesis. We detected an extraordinary level of tumor heterogeneity, with microclonal (mutant allele fraction <0.10) KRAS, NRAS, FLT3, and/or PTPN11 hotspot mutations evident in 31/57 (54.4%) patients. Multiple KRAS and NRAS codon 12 and 13 microclonal mutations significantly co-occurred within tumor samples (p=4.8x10-4), suggesting ongoing formation of and selection for Ras-activating mutations. Future work is required to investigate whether tumor microheterogeneity impacts clinical outcome and to elucidate the functional consequences of epigenetic dysregulation in HD-ALL, potentially leading to novel therapeutic approaches

Contaminação de aflatoxinas em castanha-do-brasil com casca em sistemas extrativista e de plantio.

Diante de problemas de contaminação por aflatoxinas enfrentados na cadeia produtiva da castanha-do-brasil, o objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar o teor de aflatoxinas em castanhas com casca em diferentes etapas dos sistemas de produção: extrativista e de plantio. A produção extrativista consiste na coleta de ouriços recém caídos das árvores e permanecidos no solo por vários dias, empilhamento na floresta, abertura e seleção de castanhas com casca, seguida de armazenamento/secagem sob ventilação durante vários meses. Contudo, no sistema de plantio somente os ouriços com menos de 5 dias no solo são coletados, em seguida são desinfectados com hipoclorito de sódio a 1% e armazenados sob ventilação até abertura e seleção das castanhas com casca. Sessenta amostras de castanha-do-brasil com casca foram coletadas diretamente ou após abertura dos ouriços na região amazônica do Brasil, provenientes da produção extrativista no Acre e do sistema de plantio no Amazonas. As aflatoxinas (B1, B2, G1, G2) foram determinadas por Cromatografia Líquida de Alto Desempenho com detector de fluorescência bem como a atividade de água (aw) nas castanhas descascadas. Nas etapas do sistema extrativista na floresta, dos 33 ouriços coletados, castanhas provenientes de um ouriço com menos de 5 dias de contato com o solo e um ouriço empilhado durante 15 dias apresentaram contaminação por AFB1 inferior a 0,1 µg/kg de matéria fresca (MF). Entretanto o nível de AFB1 variou de 0,6 a 4,4 µg/kg de MF em 3 ouriços com mais de 30 dias em contato com o solo, mais susceptíveis a serem danificados e degradados por condições climáticas e predadores da floresta amazônica. No sistema de plantio, dos 5 ouriços coletados, somente uma amostra proveniente de um ouriço com menos de 5 dias de contato com o solo apresentou contaminação por AFB1, inferior a 0,1 µg/kg de MF. Em armazém ventilado do sistema de plantio, AFB1 foi detectada com teor inferior a 0,1 µg/kg de MF em uma amostra dos 10 ouriços coletados. Todavia no sistema extrativista, os teores de aflatoxinas das castanhas com casca aumentaram e foram superiores ao regulamento europeu (10 µg/kg de MF, UE n°165/2010) ao longo do armazenamento (até 90 dias). A secagem sob ventilação durante o armazenamento não é suficientemente eficaz para atingir rapidamente uma aw inferior a 0,7, evitando o desenvolvimento de fungos aflatoxinogênicos e a produção de aflatoxinas. Resultados sugerem o ouriço como uma barreira de proteção contra estes fungos além de confirmar os estudos anteriores do projeto Safenut que indicam a etapa de secagem sob ventilação e armazenamento das castanhas com casca durante meses no sistema extrativista como etapa crítica na contaminação por aflatoxinas. Portanto, no sistema de plantio, a coleta e o armazenamento após desinfecção com hipoclorito de sódio somente dos ouriços recém caídos das árvores, mesmo por um período de dois meses, permitem evitar a contaminação das castanhas por aflatoxinas

Characterization of Residential Pesticide Use and Chemical Formulations through Self-Report and Household Inventory: The Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study

Background: Home and garden pesticide use has been linked to cancer and other health outcomes in numerous epidemiological studies. Exposure has generally been self-reported, so the assessment is potentially limited by recall bias and lack of information on specific chemicals. Objectives: As part of an integrated assessment of residential pesticide exposure, we identified active ingredients and described patterns of storage and use. Methods: During a home interview of 500 residentially stable households enrolled in the Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study during 2001–2006, trained interviewers inventoried residential pesticide products and queried participants about their storage and use. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency registration numbers, recorded from pesticide product labels, and pesticide chemical codes were matched to public databases to obtain information on active ingredients and chemical class. Poisson regression was used to identify independent predictors of pesticide storage. Analyses were restricted to 259 participating control households. Results: Ninety-five percent (246 of 259) of the control households stored at least one pesticide product (median, 4). Indicators of higher sociodemographic status predicted more products in storage. We identified the most common characteristics: storage areas (garage, 40%; kitchen, 20%), pests treated (ants, 33%; weeds, 20%), pesticide types (insecticides, 46%; herbicides, 24%), chemical classes (pyrethroids, 77%; botanicals, 50%), active ingredients (pyrethrins, 43%) and synergists (piperonyl butoxide, 42%). Products could contain multiple active ingredients. Conclusions: Our data on specific active ingredients and patterns of storage and use will inform future etiologic analyses of residential pesticide exposures from self-reported data, particularly among households with young children

Progress in the Development of Compressible, Multiphase Flow Modeling Capability for Nuclear Reactor Flow Applications

In nuclear reactor safety and optimization there are key issues that rely on in-depth understanding of basic two-phase flow phenomena with heat and mass transfer. Within the context of multiphase flows, two bubble-dynamic phenomena – boiling (heterogeneous) and flashing or cavitation (homogeneous boiling), with bubble collapse, are technologically very important to nuclear reactor systems. The main difference between boiling and flashing is that bubble growth (and collapse) in boiling is inhibited by limitations on the heat transfer at the interface, whereas bubble growth (and collapse) in flashing is limited primarily by inertial effects in the surrounding liquid. The flashing process tends to be far more explosive (and implosive), and is more violent and damaging (at least in the near term) than the bubble dynamics of boiling. However, other problematic phenomena, such as crud deposition, appear to be intimately connecting with the boiling process. In reality, these two processes share many details