Effect of thermal and high-pressure treatments on the antirotaviral activity of human milk fractions

Rotaviral gastroenteritis is associated with high rate of infant mortality and morbidity. Antirotaviral activity has been associated with some glycoproteins, such as immunoglobulins A (IgA), lactoferrin (LF), mucins and lactadherin of human milk. Although holder pasteurization (HoP, 63 degrees C for 30 min) is the treatment currently applied to human milk, it may lead to a decrease of its bioactive properties. The antirotaviral capacity of human milk showed to be mainly associated with the whey fraction, focusing on IgA and LF, with neutralizing values of 100, 100 and 62%, at 1 mg protein/mL, respectively. HoP reduced the antirotaviral activity of human whey, IgA and LF, 30, 98 and 60%, respectively. Interestingly, high temperature-short time (HTST) pasteurization at 75 degrees C for 20 s did not affect the antirotaviral activity of samples, while the highest HHP treatment at 600 MPa for 15 min only reduced the activity of human whey, IgA and LF, 9, 40 and 10%, respectively

Medium-modified evolution of multiparticle production in jets in heavy-ion collisions

The energy evolution of medium-modified average multiplicities and multiplicity fluctuations in quark and gluon jets produced in heavy-ion collisions is investigated from a toy QCD-inspired model. In this model, we use modified splitting functions accounting for medium-enhanced radiation of gluons by a fast parton which propagates through the quark gluon plasma. The leading contribution of the standard production of soft hadrons is found to be enhanced by the factor $\sqrt{N_s}$ while next-to-leading order (NLO) corrections are suppressed by $1/\sqrt{N_s}$, where the nuclear parameter $N_s>1$ accounts for the induced-soft gluons in the hot medium. The role of next-to-next-to-leading order corrections (NNLO) is studied and the large amount of medium-induced soft gluons is found to drastically affect the convergence of the perturbative series. Our results for such global observables are cross-checked and compared with their limits in the vacuum and a new method for solving the second multiplicity correlator evolution equations is proposed.Comment: 21 pages and 8 figures, typo corrections, references adde

Expansion for the solutions of the Bogomolny equations on the torus

We show that the solutions of the Bogomolny equations for the Abelian Higgs model on a two-dimensional torus, can be expanded in powers of a quantity epsilon measuring the departure of the area from the critical area. This allows a precise determination of the shape of the solutions for all magnetic fluxes and arbitrary position of the Higgs field zeroes. The expansion is carried out to 51 orders for a couple of representative cases, including the unit flux case. We analyse the behaviour of the expansion in the limit of large areas, in which case the solutions approach those on the plane. Our results suggest convergence all the way up to infinite area.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, slightly revised version as published in JHE

Subwavelength gratings for sensing and polarization management

Sub-wavelength grating (SWGs) structures are becoming important building blocks in planar waveguide photonic devices [1]. SWG structures have been successfully applied in the design of a range of devices with remarkable performance by using refractive index engineering and dispersion engineering techniques [2]. In this work we explore two new promising applications of these structures, namely in evanescent field waveguide sensing and polarization management. For the evanescent waveguide sensing devices, we show that sub- wavelength patterning of silicon wires can be used to control the delocalization of the waveguide mode and therefore enhance both bulk and surface sensitivities (Fig. 1). We will also discuss the implementation of subwavelength structures in efficient polarization splitter and rotator (PSR) devices [3]. PSR devices based on asymmetrical directional couplers typically exhibit stringent fabrication tolerances. We show that by implementing SWG structures in PSR design both the effective mode index and its derivatives with respect to critical dimensions can be controlled, which significantly improves tolerance to fabrication errors (Fig. 2).Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Multiplicity distributions inside parton cascades developing in a medium

The explanation of the suppression of high-pT hadron yields at RHIC in terms of jet-quenching implies that the multiplicity distributions of particles inside a jet and jet-like particle correlations differ strongly in nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC or at the LHC from those observed at e+e- or hadron colliders. We present a framework for describing the medium-induced modification, which has a direct interpretation in terms of a probabilistic medium-modified parton cascade, and which treats leading and subleading partons on an equal footing. We show that our approach can account for the strong suppression of single inclusive hadron spectra measured in Au-Au collisions at RHIC, and that this implies a characteristic distortion of the single inclusive distribution of soft partons inside the jet. We determine, as a function of the jet energy, to what extent the soft fragments within a jet can be measured above some momentum cut.Comment: 5 pages, 4 eps-figures; talk given at Hot Quarks 2006, Villasimius (Sardinia, Italy), May 15-20, 200

Galaxy-wide radio-induced feedback in a radio-quiet quasar

We report the discovery of a radio-quiet type 2 quasar (SDSS J165315.06+234943.0 nicknamed the ‘Beetle’ at z = 0.103) with unambiguous evidence for active galactic nucleus (AGN) radio-induced feedback acting across a total extension of ∼46 kpc and up to ∼26 kpc from the AGN. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first radio-quiet system where radio-induced feedback has been securely identified at ≫several kpc from the AGN. The morphological, ionization and kinematic properties of the extended ionized gas are correlated with the radio structures. We find along the radio axis (a) enhancement of the optical line emission at the location of the radio hotspots (b) turbulent gas kinematics (FWHM ∼ 380–470 km s−1) across the entire spatial range circumscribed by them (c) ionization minima for the turbulent gas at the location of the hot spots, (d) high temperature Te ≳ 1.9 × 104 K at the NE hotspot. Turbulent gas is also found far from the radio axis, ∼25 kpc in the perpendicular direction. We propose a scenario in which the radio structures have perforated the interstellar medium of the galaxy and escaped into the circumgalactic medium. While advancing, they have interacted with in situ gas modifying its properties. Our results show that jets of modest power can be the dominant feedback mechanism acting across huge volumes in radio-quiet systems, including highly accreting luminous AGNs, where radiative mode feedback may be expected

Mechano-Optical Analysis of Single Cells with Transparent Microcapillary Resonators

The study of biophysical properties of single cells is becoming increasingly relevant in cell biology and pathology. The measurement and tracking of magnitudes such as cell stiffness, morphology, and mass or refractive index have brought otherwise inaccessible knowledge about cell physiology, as well as innovative methods for high-throughput label-free cell classification. In this work, we present hollow resonator devices based on suspended glass microcapillaries for the simultaneous measurement of single-cell buoyant mass and reflectivity with a throughput of 300 cells/minute. In the experimental methodology presented here, both magnitudes are extracted from the devices' response to a single probe, a focused laser beam that enables simultaneous readout of changes in resonance frequency and reflected optical power of the devices as cells flow within them. Through its application to MCF-7 human breast adenocarcinoma cells and MCF-10A nontumorigenic cells, we demonstrate that this mechano-optical technique can successfully discriminate pathological from healthy cells of the same tissue type

Extreme Starbursts in the Local Universe

The "Extreme starbursts in the local universe" workshop was held at the Insituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia in Granada, Spain on 21-25 June 2010. Bearing in mind the advent of a new generation of facilities such as JWST, Herschel, ALMA, eVLA and eMerlin, the aim of the workshop was to bring together observers and theorists to review the latest results. The purpose of the workshop was to address the following issues: what are the main modes of triggering extreme starbursts in the local Universe? How efficiently are stars formed in extreme starbursts? What are the star formation histories of local starburst galaxies? How well do the theoretical simulations model the observations? What can we learn about starbursts in the distant Universe through studies of their local counterparts? How important is the role of extreme starbursts in the hierarchical assembly of galaxies? How are extreme starbursts related to the triggering of AGN in the nuclei of galaxies? Overall, 41 talks and 4 posters with their corresponding 10 minutes short talks were presented during the workshop. In addition, the workshop was designed with emphasis on discussions, and therefore, there were 6 discussion sessions of up to one hour during the workshop. Here is presented a summary of the purposes of the workshop as well as a compilation of the abstracts corresponding to each of the presentations. The summary and conclusions of the workshop along with a description of the future prospects by Sylvain Veilleux can be found in the last section of this document. A photo of the assistants is included.Comment: worksho