Gravitomagnetism in the Kerr-Newman-Taub-NUT spacetime

We study the motion of test particles and electromagnetic waves in the Kerr-Newman-Taub-NUT spacetime in order to elucidate some of the effects associated with the gravitomagnetic monopole moment of the source. In particular, we determine in the linear approximation the contribution of this monopole to the gravitational time delay and the rotation of the plane of the polarization of electromagnetic waves. Moreover, we consider "spherical" orbits of uncharged test particles in the Kerr-Taub-NUT spacetime and discuss the modification of the Wilkins orbits due to the presence of the gravitomagnetic monopole.Comment: 12 pages LaTeX iopart style, uses PicTex for 1 Figur

Dairy Intake and Acne Vulgaris:A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 78,529 Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults

A meta-analysis can help inform the debate about the epidemiological evidence on dairy intake and development of acne. A systematic literature search of PubMed from inception to 11 December 2017 was performed to estimate the association of dairy intake and acne in children, adolescents, and young adults in observational studies. We estimated the pooled random effects odds ratio (OR) (95% CI), heterogeneity (I2-statistics, Q-statistics), and publication bias. We included 14 studies (n = 78,529; 23,046 acne-cases/55,483 controls) aged 7–30 years. ORs for acne were 1.25 (95% CI: 1.15–1.36; p = 6.13 × 10−8) for any dairy, 1.22 (1.08–1.38; p = 1.62 × 10−3) for full-fat dairy, 1.28 (1.13–1.44; p = 8.23 × 10−5) for any milk, 1.22 (1.06–1.41; p = 6.66 × 10−3) for whole milk, 1.32 (1.16–1.52; p = 4.33 × 10−5) for low-fat/skim milk, 1.22 (1.00–1.50; p = 5.21 × 10−2) for cheese, and 1.36 (1.05–1.77; p = 2.21 × 10−2) for yogurt compared to no intake. ORs per frequency of any milk intake were 1.24 (0.95–1.62) by 2–6 glasses per week, 1.41 (1.05–1.90) by 1 glass per day, and 1.43 (1.09–1.88) by ≥2 glasses per day compared to intake less than weekly. Adjusted results were attenuated and compared unadjusted. There was publication bias (p = 4.71 × 10−3), and heterogeneity in the meta-analyses were explained by dairy and study characteristics. In conclusion, any dairy, such as milk, yogurt, and cheese, was associated with an increased OR for acne in individuals aged 7–30 years. However, results should be interpreted with caution due to heterogeneity and bias across studies

BVR photometry of the resolved dwarf galaxy Ho IX

We present BVR CCD photometry down to limiting magnitude B=23.5 mag for 232 starlike objects and 11 diffuse objects in a 5.4' x 5.4' field of Ho IX. The galaxy is a gas-rich irregular dwarf galaxy possibly very close to M 81, which makes it especially interesting in the context of the evolution of satellite galaxies and the accretion of dwarf galaxies. Investigations of Ho IX were hampered by relatively large contradictions in the magnitude scale between earlier studies. With our new photometry we resolved these discrepancies. The color magnitude diagram (CMD) of Ho IX is fairly typical of a star-forming dwarf irregular, consistent with earlier results. Distance estimates from our new CMD are consistent with Ho IX being very close to M 81 and therefore being a definite member of the M 81 group, apparently in very close physical proximity to M 81.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, uses aa.cls, A&A in pres

Circular holonomy in the Taub-NUT spacetime

Parallel transport around closed circular orbits in the equatorial plane of the Taub-NUT spacetime is analyzed to reveal the effect of the gravitomagnetic monopole parameter on circular holonomy transformations. Investigating the boost/rotation decomposition of the connection 1-form matrix evaluated along these orbits, one finds a situation that reflects the behavior of the general orthogonally transitive stationary axisymmetric case and indeed along Killing trajectories in general.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX iopart class, no figure

Coral life history and symbiosis: Functional genomic resources for two reef building Caribbean corals, Acropora palmata and Montastraea faveolata

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Scleractinian corals are the foundation of reef ecosystems in tropical marine environments. Their great success is due to interactions with endosymbiotic dinoflagellates (<it>Symbiodinium </it>spp.), with which they are obligately symbiotic. To develop a foundation for studying coral biology and coral symbiosis, we have constructed a set of cDNA libraries and generated and annotated ESTs from two species of corals, <it>Acropora palmata </it>and <it>Montastraea faveolata</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We generated 14,588 (<it>Ap</it>) and 3,854 (<it>Mf</it>) high quality ESTs from five life history/symbiosis stages (spawned eggs, early-stage planula larvae, late-stage planula larvae either infected with symbionts or uninfected, and adult coral). The ESTs assembled into a set of primarily stage-specific clusters, producing 4,980 (<it>Ap</it>), and 1,732 (<it>Mf</it>) unigenes. The egg stage library, relative to the other developmental stages, was enriched in genes functioning in cell division and proliferation, transcription, signal transduction, and regulation of protein function. Fifteen unigenes were identified as candidate symbiosis-related genes as they were expressed in all libraries constructed from the symbiotic stages and were absent from all of the non symbiotic stages. These include several DNA interacting proteins, and one highly expressed unigene (containing 17 cDNAs) with no significant protein-coding region. A significant number of unigenes (25) encode potential pattern recognition receptors (lectins, scavenger receptors, and others), as well as genes that may function in signaling pathways involved in innate immune responses (toll-like signaling, NFkB p105, and MAP kinases). Comparison between the <it>A. palmata </it>and an <it>A. millepora </it>EST dataset identified ferritin as a highly expressed gene in both datasets that appears to be undergoing adaptive evolution. Five unigenes appear to be restricted to the Scleractinia, as they had no homology to any sequences in the nr databases nor to the non-scleractinian cnidarians <it>Nematostella vectensis </it>and <it>Hydra magnipapillata</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Partial sequencing of 5 cDNA libraries each for <it>A. palmata </it>and <it>M. faveolata </it>has produced a rich set of candidate genes (4,980 genes from <it>A. palmata</it>, and 1,732 genes from <it>M. faveolata</it>) that we can use as a starting point for examining the life history and symbiosis of these two species, as well as to further expand the dataset of cnidarian genes for comparative genomics and evolutionary studies.</p