Perfect magnetohydrodynamics as a field theory

We propose the generally covariant action for the theory of a self-coupled complex scalar field and electromagnetism which by virtue of constraints is equivalent, in the regime of long wavelengths, to perfect magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). We recover from it the Euler equation with Lorentz force, and the thermodynamic relations for a prefect fluid. The equation of state of the latter is related to the scalar field's self potential. We introduce 1+3 notation to elucidate the relation between MHD and field variables. In our approach the requirement that the scalar field be single valued leads to the quantization of a certain circulation in steps of $\hbar$; this feature leads, in the classical limit, to the conservation of that circulation. The circulation is identical to that in Oron's generalization of Kelvin's circulation theorem to perfect MHD; we here characterize the new conserved helicity associated with it. We also demonstrate the existence for MHD of two Bernoulli-like theorems for each spacetime symmetry of the flow and geometry; one of these is pertinent to suitably defined potential flow. We exhibit the conserved quantities explicitly in the case that two symmetries are simultaneously present, and give examples. Also in this case we exhibit a new conserved MHD circulation distinct from Oron's, and provide an example.Comment: RevTeX, 16 pages, no figures; clarifications added and typos corrected; version to be published in Phys. Rev.

Dust as a Standard of Space and Time in Canonical Quantum Gravity

The coupling of the metric to an incoherent dust introduces into spacetime a privileged dynamical reference frame and time foliation. The comoving coordinates of the dust particles and the proper time along the dust worldlines become canonical coordinates in the phase space of the system. The Hamiltonian constraint can be resolved with respect to the momentum that is canonically conjugate to the dust time. Imposition of the resolved constraint as an operator restriction on the quantum states yields a functional Schr\"{o}dinger equation. The ensuing Hamiltonian density has an extraordinary feature: it depends only on the geometric variables, not on the dust coordinates or time. This has three important consequences. First, the functional Schr\"{o}dinger equation can be solved by separating the dust time from the geometric variables. Second, the Hamiltonian densities strongly commute and therefore can be simultaneously defined by spectral analysis. Third, the standard constraint system of vacuum gravity is cast into a form in which it generates a true Lie algebra. The particles of dust introduce into space a privileged system of coordinates that allows the supermomentum constraint to be solved explicitly. The Schr\"{o}dinger equation yields a conserved inner product that can be written in terms of either the instantaneous state functionals or the solutions of constraints. Examples of gravitational observables are given, though neither the intrinsic metric nor the extrinsic curvature are observables. Disregarding factor--ordering difficulties, the introduction of dust provides a satisfactory phenomenological approach to the problem of time in canonical quantum gravity.Comment: 56 pages (REVTEX file + 3 postscipt figure files

Forest Cover Changes in Tropical South and Central America from 1990 to 2005 and Related Carbon Emissions and Removals.

This paper outlines the methods and results for monitoring forest change and resulting carbon emissions for the 1990-2000 and 200-2005 periods carried out over tropical Central and South America. To produce our forest change estimates we used a systematic sample of medium resolution satellite data processed to forest change maps covering 1230 sites of 20 km by 20 km, each located at the degree confluence. Biomass data were spatially associated to each individual sample site so that annual carbon emissions could be estimated. For our study area we estimate that forest cover in the study area had fallen from 763 Mha (s.e. 10 Mha) in 1990 to 715 Mha (s.e. 10 Mha) in 2005. During the same period other wooded land (i.e., non-forest woody vegetation) had fallen from 191 Mha (s.e. 5.5 Mha) to 184 Mha (s.e. 5.5 Mha). This equates to an annual gross loss of 3.74 Mha·y−1 of forests (0.50% annually) between 1990 and 2000, rising to 4.40 Mha·y−1 in the early 2000s (0.61% annually), with Brazil accounting for 69% of the total losses. The annual carbon emissions from the combined loss of forests and other wooded land were calculated to be 482 MtC·y−1 (s.e. 29 MtC·y−1) for the 1990s, and 583 MtC·y−1 (s.e. 48 MtC·y−1) for the 2000 to 2005 period. Our maximum estimate of sinks from forest regrowth in tropical South America is 92 MtC·y−1. These estimates of gross emissions correspond well with the national estimates reported by Brazil, however, they are less than half of those reported in a recent study based on the FAO country statistics, highlighting the need for continued research in this area

A comparative study of the hydrogen-bonding patterns and prototropism in solid 2-thiocytosine (potential antileukemic agent) and cytosine, as studied by 1H-14N NQDR and QTAIM/ DFT

A potential antileukemic and anticancer agent, 2-thiocytosine (2-TC), has been studied experimentally in the solid state by 1H-14N NMR-NQR double resonance (NQDR) and theoretically by the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM)/density functional theory (DFT). Eighteen resonance frequencies on 14N were detected at 180 K and assigned to particular nitrogen sites (−NH2, –N=, and –NH–) in 2-thiocytosine. Factors such as the nonequivalence of molecules (connected to the duplication of sites) and possible prototropic tautomerism (capable of modifying the type of site due to proton transfer) were taken into account during frequency assignment. The result of replacing oxygen with sulfur, which leads to changes in the intermolecular interaction pattern and molecular aggregation, is discussed. This study demonstrates the advantages of combining NQDR and DFT to extract detailed information on the H-bonding properties of crystals with complex H-bonding networks. Solid-state properties were found to have a profound impact on the stabilities and reactivities of both compounds

Null dust in canonical gravity

We present the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian framework which incorporates null dust as a source into canonical gravity. Null dust is a generalized Lagrangian system which is described by six Clebsch potentials of its four-velocity Pfaff form. The Dirac--ADM decomposition splits these into three canonical coordinates (the comoving coordinates of the dust) and their conjugate momenta (appropriate projections of four-velocity). Unlike ordinary dust of massive particles, null dust therefore has three rather than four degrees of freedom per space point. These are evolved by a Hamiltonian which is a linear combination of energy and momentum densities of the dust. The energy density is the norm of the momentum density with respect to the spatial metric. The coupling to geometry is achieved by adding these densities to the gravitational super-Hamiltonian and supermomentum. This leads to appropriate Hamiltonian and momentum constraints in the phase space of the system. The constraints can be rewritten in two alternative forms in which they generate a true Lie algebra. The Dirac constraint quantization of the system is formally accomplished by imposing the new constraints as quantum operator restrictions on state functionals. We compare the canonical schemes for null and ordinary dust and emhasize their differences.Comment: 25 pages, REVTEX, no figure

Action functionals for relativistic perfect fluids

Action functionals describing relativistic perfect fluids are presented. Two of these actions apply to fluids whose equations of state are specified by giving the fluid energy density as a function of particle number density and entropy per particle. Other actions apply to fluids whose equations of state are specified in terms of other choices of dependent and independent fluid variables. Particular cases include actions for isentropic fluids and pressureless dust. The canonical Hamiltonian forms of these actions are derived, symmetries and conserved charges are identified, and the boundary value and initial value problems are discussed. As in previous works on perfect fluid actions, the action functionals considered here depend on certain Lagrange multipliers and Lagrangian coordinate fields. Particular attention is paid to the interpretations of these variables and to their relationships to the physical properties of the fluid.Comment: 40 pages, plain Te

Epigenetic control of the ubiquitin carboxyl terminal hydrolase 1 in renal cell carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase 1 (UCHL1) gene involved in the regulation of cellular ubiquitin levels plays an important role in different cellular processes including cell growth and differentiation. Aberrant expression of UCHL1 has been found in a number of human solid tumors including renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In RCC, UCHL1 overexpression is associated with tumor progression and an altered von Hippel Lindau gene expression.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To determine the underlying mechanisms for the heterogeneous UCHL1 expression pattern in RCC the UCHL1 promoter DNA methylation status was determined in 17 RCC cell lines as well as in 32 RCC lesions and corresponding tumor adjacent kidney epithelium using combined bisulfite restriction analysis as well as bisulfite DNA sequencing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>UCHL1 expression was found in all 32 tumor adjacent kidney epithelium samples. However, the lack of or reduced UCHL1 mRNA and/or protein expression was detected in 13/32 RCC biopsies and 7/17 RCC cell lines and due to either a total or partial methylation of the UCHL1 promoter DNA. Upon 2'-deoxy-5-azacytidine treatment an induction of UCHL1 mRNA and protein expression was found in 9/17 RCC cell lines, which was linked to the demethylation degree of the UCHL1 promoter DNA.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Promoter hypermethylation represents a mechanism for the silencing of the UCHL1 gene expression in RCC and supports the concept of an epigenetic control for the expression of UCHL1 during disease progression.</p

Therapeutic limitations in tumor-specific CD8+ memory T cell engraftment

BACKGROUND: Adoptive immunotherapy with cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) represents an alternative approach to treating solid tumors. Ideally, this would confer long-term protection against tumor. We previously demonstrated that in vitro-generated tumor-specific CTL from the ovalbumin (OVA)-specific OT-I T cell receptor transgenic mouse persisted long after adoptive transfer as memory T cells. When recipient mice were challenged with the OVA-expressing E.G7 thymoma, tumor growth was delayed and sometimes prevented. The reasons for therapeutic failures were not clear. METHODS: OT-I CTL were adoptively transferred to C57BL/6 mice 21 – 28 days prior to tumor challenge. At this time, the donor cells had the phenotypical and functional characteristics of memory CD8+ T cells. Recipients which developed tumor despite adoptive immunotherapy were analyzed to evaluate the reason(s) for therapeutic failure. RESULTS: Dose-response studies demonstrated that the degree of tumor protection was directly proportional to the number of OT-I CTL adoptively transferred. At a low dose of OT-I CTL, therapeutic failure was attributed to insufficient numbers of OT-I T cells that persisted in vivo, rather than mechanisms that actively suppressed or anergized the OT-I T cells. In recipients of high numbers of OT-I CTL, the E.G7 tumor that developed was shown to be resistant to fresh OT-I CTL when examined ex vivo. Furthermore, these same tumor cells no longer secreted a detectable level of OVA. In this case, resistance to immunotherapy was secondary to selection of clones of E.G7 that expressed a lower level of tumor antigen. CONCLUSIONS: Memory engraftment with tumor-specific CTL provides long-term protection against tumor. However, there are several limitations to this immunotherapeutic strategy, especially when targeting a single antigen. This study illustrates the importance of administering large numbers of effectors to engraft sufficiently efficacious immunologic memory. It also demonstrates the importance of targeting several antigens when developing vaccine strategies for cancer

Comparison of diurnal variations, gestational age and gender related differences in fetal heart rate (FHR) parameters between appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) fetuses in the home environment

Objective To assess the influence of gender, time of the day and gestational age on fetal heart rate (FHR) parameters between appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) and small-for-gestational age (SGA) fetuses using a portable fetal ECG monitor employed in the home setting. Methods We analysed and compared the antenatal FHR data collected in the home setting on 61 healthy pregnant women with singleton pregnancies from 24 weeks gestation. Of the 61 women, 31 had SGA fetuses (estimated fetal weight below the tenth gestational centile) and 30 were pregnant with AGA fetuses. FHR recordings were collected for up to 20 h. Two 90 min intervals were deliberately chosen retrospectively with respect to signal recording quality, one during day-time and one at night-time for comparison. Results Overall, success rate of the fetal abdominal ECG in the AGA fetuses was 75.7% compared to 48.6% in the SGA group. Based on randomly selected episodes of heart rate traces where recording quality exceeded 80% we were able to show a marginal difference between day and night-time recordings in AGA vs. SGA fetuses beyond 32 weeks of gestation. A selection bias in terms of covering different representation periods of fetal behavioural states cannot be excluded. In contrast to previous studies, we neither controlled maternal diet and activity nor measured maternal blood hormone and heart rate as all mothers were monitored in the home environment. Conclusion Based on clinically unremarkable, but statistically significant differences in the FHR parameters between the AGA and SGA group we suggest that further studies with large sample size are required to assess the clinical value of antenatal fetal ECG monitoring