Testing gravitational parity violation with coincident gravitational waves and short gamma-ray bursts

Gravitational parity violation is a possibility motivated by particle physics, string theory and loop quantum gravity. One effect of it is amplitude birefringence of gravitational waves, whereby left and right circularly-polarized waves propagate at the same speed but with different amplitude evolution. Here we propose a test of this effect through coincident observations of gravitational waves and short gamma-ray bursts from binary mergers involving neutron stars. Such gravitational waves are highly left or right circularly-polarized due to the geometry of the merger. Using localization information from the gamma-ray burst, ground-based gravitational wave detectors can measure the distance to the source with reasonable accuracy. An electromagnetic determination of the redshift from an afterglow or host galaxy yields an independent measure of this distance. Gravitational parity violation would manifest itself as a discrepancy between these two distance measurements. We exemplify such a test by considering one specific effective theory that leads to such gravitational parity-violation, Chern-Simons gravity. We show that the advanced LIGO-Virgo network and all-sky gamma-ray telescopes can be sensitive to the propagating sector of Chern-Simons gravitational parity violation to a level roughly two orders of magnitude better than current stationary constraints from the LAGEOS satellites.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

The first total synthesis of (+)-mucosin

The first total synthesis of (+)-mucosin has been completed allowing assignment of the absolute stereochemistry of the natural product. A zirconium induced co-cyclisation was utilised to install the correct stereochemistry of the four contiguous stereocentres around the unusual bicyclo[4.3.0]nonene core

Late lessons from early warnings: science, precaution, innovation

Chapter from collection of essays published by European Environment Agency, 2013. Available online at http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/late-lessons-2Many decades of research have shown that when released to the environment, a group of hormones known as oestrogens, both synthetic and naturally occurring, can have serious impacts on wildlife. This includes the development of intersex characteristics in male fish, which diminishes fertility and fecundity. Although often sublethal, such impacts may be permanent and irreversible. This chapter describes the scientific evidence and regulatory debates concerning one of these oestrogens, ethinyloestradiol (EE2), an active ingredient in the birth control pill. First developed in 1938, it is released to the aquatic environment via wastewater treatment plants. Although it is now clear that wildlife species are exposed to and impacted by a cocktail of endocrine disrupting chemicals, there is also reasonable scientific certainty that EE2 plays a significant role, and at vanishingly low levels in the environment. In 2004 the Environment Agency of England and Wales accepted this, judging the evidence sufficient to warrant consideration of risk management. In 2012, nearly 75 years after its synthesis, the European Commission proposed to regulate EE2 as a EU-wide 'priority substance' under the Water Framework Directive (the primary legislation for protecting and conserving European water bodies). This proposal was subsequently amended, delaying any decision on a regulatory 'environmental quality standard' until at least 2016. This is in part because control of EE2 will come at a significant price. Complying with proposed regulatory limits in the environment means removing very low (part per trillion) levels of EE2 from wastewater effluents at considerable expense. Is this a price we are willing to pay? Or will the price of precautionary action be simply too high — a pill too bitter to swallow? To what extent is society, which has enjoyed decades of flexible fertility and will also ultimately pay for the control and management of its unintended consequences, involved in this decision? And what could this mean for the many thousands of other pharmaceuticals that ubiquitously infiltrate our environment and which could have sublethal effects on aquatic animals at similarly low levels?European Environment Agenc

Governance of new product development and perceptions of responsible innovation in the financial sector: insights from an ethnographic case study

types: ArticleThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Responsible Innovation on 24 Feb 2014, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/23299460.2014.882552We describe an ethnographic study within a global asset management company aimed at understanding the process and governance of new product development and perceptions of responsible innovation. We observed innovation to be incremental, with a clearly - structured stage gating model of governance involving numerous internal and external actors that was framed by regulation and co-ordinated by a small product development team. Responsible innovation was framed largely in terms of considering client needs when innovating and the understanding of operational, legal, regulatory and reputational risks. Staff perceived the company as having an inherently cautious culture, where the probability of bringing something destructive to market was perceived as being low. We conclude that the observed stage gating architecture offers considerable scope as a mechanism for systematic embedding of more broadly framed, emerging concepts of responsible innovation

Prostate transglutaminase (TGase-4) induces epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in prostate cancer cells

More men die with prostate cancer (PCa) than from it. However, once PCa is no longer organ-confined, it is associated with significant mortality. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is one mechanism facilitating progression in cancer. Our studies of transglutaminase-4 TGase-4, a member of the TGase family, expressed in the prostate gland, have implicated it in the regulation of the invasive properties of PCa. The present study investigated the role of TGase-4 on EMT of PCa cells. Materials and Methods: A panel of PCa cell lines: CA-HPV-10, PZ-HPV-7, PC-3 and DU-145 were used. An anti- TGase-4 transgene was constructed to eliminate the expression of TGase-4 in CA-HPV-10 (positive for TGase-4). An expression construct for human TGase-4 was used to transfect PCa cells negative for TGase-4. The pattern of E-cadherin, N-cadherin and vimentin in these cells were evaluated using immunofluorescent staining. Cell motility was assessed using scratch wounding and ekectric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) assays. Results: Treatment of PZ-HPV-7 and CA-HPV- 10 cells with rhTGase-4 resulted in a significant increase in cell migration (1,407.9 Ω±6.4 Ω vs. 1,691.2 Ω±8.3 Ω in non-treated and rhTGase-4 treated cells, respectively, p<0.01). Cells strongly expressing E-cadherin showed substantial changes of E-cadherin staining in that, after treatment with TGase-4, the intercellular staining of E-cadherin was diminished. Concomitantly, there was acquisition of N-cadherin in TGase- 4-treated cells. Elimination of TGase-4 from CA-HPV-10 cells significantly decreased cell motility (128.1 Ω±107.4 Ω vs. 31.7 Ω±26.2 Ω, in CA-HPV-10 control and CA-HPV-10/TGase-4 knockout cells). Knocking- out TGase-4 from CA-HPV-10 cells also resulted in substantial loss of N-cadherin in the cells. Conclusion: TGase-4 resulted in loss of E-cadherin/acquisition of N-cadherin and cell migration indicating it is a keen regulator of EMT in prostate epithelia-derived cancer cells. In concert with its other properties involved in disease progression, the present observations suggest TGase-4 as a prospective marker of disease progression

How Should Justice Policy Treat Young Offenders?

The justice system in the United States has long recognized that juvenile offenders are not the same as adults, and has tried to incorporate those differences into law and policy. But only in recent decades have behavioral scientists and neuroscientists, along with policymakers, looked rigorously at developmental differences, seeking answers to two overarching questions: Are young offenders, purely by virtue of their immaturity, different from older individuals who commit crimes? And, if they are, how should justice policy take this into account? A growing body of research on adolescent development now confirms that teenagers are indeed inherently different from adults, not only in their behaviors, but also (and of course relatedly) in the ways their brains function. These findings have influenced a series of Supreme Court decisions relating to the treatment of adolescents, and have led legislators and other policymakers across the country to adopt a range of developmentally informed justice policies. New research is showing distinct changes in the brains of young adults, ages 18 to 21, suggesting that they too may be immature in ways that are relevant to justice policy. This knowledge brief from the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Law and Neuroscience considers the implications of this new research

Quantifying geological uncertainty in metamorphic phase equilibria modelling; a Monte Carlo assessment and implications for tectonic interpretations

Pseudosection modelling is rapidly becoming an essential part of a petrologist’s toolkit and often forms the basis of interpreting the tectonothermal evolution of a rock sample, outcrop, or geological region. Of the several factors that can affect the accuracy and precision of such calculated phase diagrams, “geological” uncertainty related to natural petrographic variation at the hand sample- and/or thin section-scale is rarely considered. Such uncertainty influences the sample’s bulk composition, which is the primary control on its equilibrium phase relationships and thus the interpreted pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions of formation. Two case study examples—a garnet–cordierite granofels and a garnet–staurolite–kyanite schist—are used to compare the relative importance that geological uncertainty has on bulk compositions determined via (1) X-ray fluorescence (XRF) or (2) point counting techniques. We show that only minor mineralogical variation at the thin-section scale propagates through the phase equilibria modelling procedure and affects the absolute P–T conditions at which key assemblages are stable. Absolute displacements of equilibria can approach ±1 kbar for only a moderate degree of modal proportion uncertainty, thus being essentially similar to the magnitudes reported for analytical uncertainties in conventional thermobarometry. Bulk compositions determined from multiple thin sections of a heterogeneous garnet–staurolite–kyanite schist show a wide range in major-element oxides, owing to notable variation in mineral proportions. Pseudosections constructed for individual point count-derived bulks accurately reproduce this variability on a case-by-case basis, though averaged proportions do not correlate with those calculated at equivalent peak P–T conditions for a whole-rock XRF-derived bulk composition. The main discrepancies relate to varying proportions of matrix phases (primarily mica) relative to porphyroblasts (primarily staurolite and kyanite), indicating that point counting preserves small-scale petrographic features that are otherwise averaged out in XRF analysis of a larger sample. Careful consideration of the size of the equilibration volume, the constituents that comprise the effective bulk composition, and the best technique to employ for its determination based on rock type and petrographic character, offer the best chance to produce trustworthy data from pseudosection analysis.RMP acknowledges a NERC postgraduate grant (reference number NE/H524781/1) for funding analytical work performed at the University of Oxford, UK

Quantifying Downstream, Vertical and Lateral Variation in Fluvial Deposits : Implications From the Huesca Distributive Fluvial System

Acknowledgments Author Ben Martin thanks the University of Glasgow for providing funding for this project through the ‘Stressed Environments’ scholarship fund. The SAFARI consortium (https://safaridb.com/home) are thanked for providing virtual outcrop models that have been analyzed within this paper. Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their thorough and constructive comments on this paper.Peer reviewedPublisher PD