Automatic Calculation of supersymmetric Renormalization Group Equations and Self Energies

SARAH is a Mathematica package for studying supersymmetric models. It calculates for a given model the masses, tadpole equations and all vertices at tree-level. Those information can be used by \SARAH to write model files for CalcHep/CompHep or FeynArts/FormCalc. In addition, the second version of SARAH can derive the renormalization group equations for the gauge couplings, parameters of the superpotential and soft-breaking parameters at one and two-loop level. Furthermore, it calculates the one-loop self energies and the one-loop corrections to the tadpoles. SARAH can handle all N=1 SUSY models whose gauge sector is a direct product of SU(N) and U(1) gauge groups. The particle content of the model can be an arbitrary number of chiral superfields transforming as any irreducible representation with respect to the gauge groups. To implement a new model, the user has just to define the gauge sector, the particle, the superpotential and the field rotations to mass eigenstates.Comment: 32 pages, some typoes corrected, matches published versio

Cytogenetic Effects of Vitavax Fungicide on \u3cem\u3eSecale cereale\u3c/em\u3e on \u3cem\u3eAllium cepa\u3c/em\u3e

The effects of Vitavax fungicide (2,3-dihydro-5-carboxanilido-6-methyl-1,4-oxathiin) on meiotic chromosomes of rye (Secale cereale) and mitotic chromosomes of onion (Allium cepa) and rye were observed. The principal aberrations recorded in pollen mother cells of rye were: 1-4 univalents at metaphase I; sticky bridges at telophase I; and micronuclei and misshapen nuclei at the quartet stage. The principal aberrations recorded in root tip mitoses in onion and rye were: chromosome fragmentation, disintegration, clumping, aggregation and inhibition of mitosis. All meiotic phases were significantly affected by 1,000, 5,000,10,000, 33,300, 66,600 ppm Vitavax at the 48, 72, and 96 hour application periods. Heavy application rates (10,000 ppm or more, 96 hours) induced disintegration of pollen mother cells. Spikes grown from seeds treated at recommended field rate (33,300 ppm) and double the field rate (66,600 ppm) showed no significant deviation in chromosomal behavior from controls. Mitotic cells of onion and rye showed aggregation of chromosomes and inhibition of mitosis at 12 hours, 10,000 ppm, while clumping, fragmentation and disintegration occurred in onion at 48 hours, 66,600 ppm. Paraffin sections of root tip meristems treated for 48 hours with 10,000 ppm Vitavax disclosed irregularly shaped nuclei and mitoticinhibition in onion and marked splitting of tissues and cell collapse in primary meristems of rye

Biochemical evaluation of germplasm regeneration methods for cucumber, Cucumis sativus L.

During the 1980s, the North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station replaced open-pollinated samples of Cucumis sativus with samples regenerated by cage pollination. Enzyme polymorphisms, detected by horizontal starch gel electrophoresis, were evaluated to document genetic changes in 157 Cucumis accessions resulting from changes in seed-regeneration methods. Analysis of levels of sample homozygosity indicates that cage-pollinated samples are significantly more homozygous than the open-pollinated samples they replaced, but the two groups of samples differ little in overall allelic composition. The frequency of rare alleles also has not changed significantly, although three alleles were found in cage-pollinated samples that were not noted in their older counterparts. The results of this study may not be interpreted as conclusive support for the use of cage pollination for regeneration of Cucumis germplasm collections. But the comparison of within-accession levels of homozygosity suggests that the genetic integrity of individual accessions is maintained better with cage pollination than with less-controlled regeneration methods. Only a genetic comparison of original seed samples with regenerated samples can conclusively document the effectiveness of any regeneration system

A New Synthetic Amphidiploid in Cucumis from a C. sativus x C. hystrix F1 Interspecific Hybrid

CT. A synthetic amphidiploid was developed through organogenesis in tissue culturefrom an interspecific F1hybrid betweenCucumis sativus L. andC. hystrix Chakr. The resultsfrom flow cytometry indicated that, on average, 7.3% of the regenerants with unique morphology were chromosome-doubled F1hybrids. The 2C DNA content of the original F1hybrid was1.17 pg, and the 4C DNA content was 2.35 pg. Frequency of chromosome doubling between thetwo genotypes used in this study varied considerably

Two-loop RGEs with Dirac gaugino masses

The set of renormalisation group equations to two loop order for general supersymmetric theories broken by soft and supersoft operators is completed. As an example, the explicit expressions for the RGEs in a Dirac gaugino extension of the (N)MSSM are presented.Comment: 10 pages + 24 pages of RGEs in appendix; no figure

A precision study of the fine tuning in the DiracNMSSM

Recently the DiracNMSSM has been proposed as a possible solution to reduce the fine tuning in supersymmetry. We determine the degree of fine tuning needed in the DiracNMSSM with and without non-universal gaugino masses and compare it with the fine tuning in the GNMSSM. To apply reasonable cuts on the allowed parameter regions we perform a precise calculation of the Higgs mass. In addition, we include the limits from direct SUSY searches and dark matter abundance. We find that both models are comparable in terms of fine tuning, with the minimal fine tuning in the GNMSSM slightly smaller.Comment: 20 pages + appendices, 10 figure

Development and Testing of Cool-Season Grass Species, Varieties and Hybrids for Biomass Feedstock Production in Western North America

Breeding of native cool-season grasses has the potential to improve forage production and expand the range of bioenergy feedstocks throughout western North America. Basin wildrye (Leymus cinereus) and creeping wildrye (Leymus triticoides) rank among the tallest and most rhizomatous grasses of this region, respectively. The objectives of this study were to develop interspecific creeping wildrye (CWR) × basin wildrye (BWR) hybrids and evaluate their biomass yield relative to tetraploid ‘Trailhead’, octoploid ‘Magnar’ and interploidy-hybrid ‘Continental’ BWR cultivars in comparison with other perennial grasses across diverse single-harvest dryland range sites and a two-harvest irrigated production system. Two half-sib hybrid populations were produced by harvesting seed from the tetraploid self-incompatible Acc:641.T CWR genet, which was clonally propagated by rhizomes into isolated hybridization blocks with two tetraploid BWR pollen parents: Acc:636 and ‘Trailhead’. Full-sib hybrid seed was also produced from a controlled cross of tetraploid ‘Rio’ CWR and ‘Trailhead’ BWR plants. In space-planted range plots, the ‘Rio’ CWR × ‘Trailhead’ BWR and Acc:641.T CWR × Acc:636 BWR hybrids displayed high-parent heterosis with 75% and 36% yield advantages, respectively, but the Acc:641.T CWR × ‘Trailhead’ BWR hybrid yielded significantly less than its BWR high-parent in this evaluation. Half-sib CWR × BWR hybrids of Acc:636 and ‘Trailhead’ both yielded as good as or better than available BWR cultivars, with yields similar to switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), in the irrigated sward plots. These results elucidate opportunity to harness genetic variation among native grass species for the development of forage and bioenergy feedstocks in western North America

LHC and lepton flavour violation phenomenology of a left-right extension of the MSSM

We study the phenomenology of a supersymmetric left-right model, assuming minimal supergravity boundary conditions. Both left-right and (B-L) symmetries are broken at an energy scale close to, but significantly below the GUT scale. Neutrino data is explained via a seesaw mechanism. We calculate the RGEs for superpotential and soft parameters complete at 2-loop order. At low energies lepton flavour violation (LFV) and small, but potentially measurable mass splittings in the charged scalar lepton sector appear, due to the RGE running. Different from the supersymmetric 'pure seesaw' models, both, LFV and slepton mass splittings, occur not only in the left- but also in the right slepton sector. Especially, ratios of LFV slepton decays, such as Br(${\tilde\tau}_R \to \mu \chi^0_1$)/Br(${\tilde\tau}_L \to \mu \chi^0_1$) are sensitive to the ratio of (B-L) and left-right symmetry breaking scales. Also the model predicts a polarization asymmetry of the outgoing positrons in the decay $\mu^+ \to e^+ \gamma$, A ~ [0,1], which differs from the pure seesaw 'prediction' A=1$. Observation of any of these signals allows to distinguish this model from any of the three standard, pure (mSugra) seesaw setups.Comment: 43 pages, 17 figure

A consensus linkage map for molecular markers and Quantitative Trait Loci associated with economically important traits in melon (Cucumis melo L.)

Background A number of molecular marker linkage maps have been developed for melon (Cucumis melo L.) over the last two decades. However, these maps were constructed using different marker sets, thus, making comparative analysis among maps difficult. In order to solve this problem, a consensus genetic map in melon was constructed using primarily highly transferable anchor markers that have broad potential use for mapping, synteny, and comparative quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis, increasing breeding effectiveness and efficiency via marker-assisted selection (MAS). Results Under the framework of the International Cucurbit Genomics Initiative (ICuGI, http://www.icugi.org webcite), an integrated genetic map has been constructed by merging data from eight independent mapping experiments using a genetically diverse array of parental lines. The consensus map spans 1150 cM across the 12 melon linkage groups and is composed of 1592 markers (640 SSRs, 330 SNPs, 252 AFLPs, 239 RFLPs, 89 RAPDs, 15 IMAs, 16 indels and 11 morphological traits) with a mean marker density of 0.72 cM/marker. One hundred and ninety-six of these markers (157 SSRs, 32 SNPs, 6 indels and 1 RAPD) were newly developed, mapped or provided by industry representatives as released markers, including 27 SNPs and 5 indels from genes involved in the organic acid metabolism and transport, and 58 EST-SSRs. Additionally, 85 of 822 SSR markers contributed by Syngenta Seeds were included in the integrated map. In addition, 370 QTL controlling 62 traits from 18 previously reported mapping experiments using genetically diverse parental genotypes were also integrated into the consensus map. Some QTL associated with economically important traits detected in separate studies mapped to similar genomic positions. For example, independently identified QTL controlling fruit shape were mapped on similar genomic positions, suggesting that such QTL are possibly responsible for the phenotypic variability observed for this trait in a broad array of melon germplasm. Conclusions Even though relatively unsaturated genetic maps in a diverse set of melon market types have been published, the integrated saturated map presented herein should be considered the initial reference map for melon. Most of the mapped markers contained in the reference map are polymorphic in diverse collection of germplasm, and thus are potentially transferrable to a broad array of genetic experimentation (e.g., integration of physical and genetic maps, colinearity analysis, map-based gene cloning, epistasis dissection, and marker-assisted selection).This work was supported in part by SNC Laboratoire ASL, Ruiter Seeds B.V., Enza Zaden B.V., Gautier Semences S.A., Nunhems B.V., Rijk Zwaan B.V., Sakata Seed Inc, Semillas Fito S. A., Seminis Vegetable Seeds Inc, Syngenta Seeds B. V., Takii and Company Ltd, Vilmorin & Cie S. A., and Zeraim Gedera Ltd (all of them as part of the support to the ICuGI); the grants AGL2009-12698-C02-02 from the Spanish "Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion" to AJM. NK lab was supported in part by Research Grant Award No. IS-4223-09C from BARD, the United States - Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund, and in part by Israel Science Foundation Grant No. 38606, De Ruiter Seeds, Enza Zaden, Keygene, Rijk Zwaan, Sakata Seed Corporation, Semillas Fito, Syngenta Seeds and Vilmorin Clause & Cie. AD was supported by a JAE-Doc contract from "Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas" (CSIC-Spain). MF was supported by a postdoctoral contract from CRAG. The research carried out at YX's laboratory was supported by Chinese funds (Grant No. 2008-Z42(3), 5100001, 2010AA101907).Díaz Bermúdez, A.; Fergany, M.; Formisano, G.; Ziarsolo, P.; Blanca Postigo, JM.; Fei, Z.; Staub, JE.... (2011). A consensus linkage map for molecular markers and Quantitative Trait Loci associated with economically important traits in melon. BMC Plant Biology. 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2229-11-111S1

Evasion of anti-growth signaling: a key step in tumorigenesis and potential target for treatment and prophylaxis by natural compounds

The evasion of anti-growth signaling is an important characteristic of cancer cells. In order to continue to proliferate, cancer cells must somehow uncouple themselves from the many signals that exist to slow down cell growth. Here, we define the anti-growth signaling process, and review several important pathways involved in growth signaling: p53, phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), retinoblastoma protein (Rb), Hippo, growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), AT-rich interactive domain 1A (ARID1A), Notch, insulin-like growth factor (IGF), and Krüppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) pathways. Aberrations in these processes in cancer cells involve mutations and thus the suppression of genes that prevent growth, as well as mutation and activation of genes involved in driving cell growth. Using these pathways as examples, we prioritize molecular targets that might be leveraged to promote anti-growth signaling in cancer cells. Interestingly, naturally-occurring phytochemicals found in human diets (either singly or as mixtures) may promote anti-growth signaling, and do so without the potentially adverse effects associated with synthetic chemicals. We review examples of naturally-occurring phytochemicals that may be applied to prevent cancer by antagonizing growth signaling, and propose one phytochemical for each pathway. These are: epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) for the Rb pathway, luteolin for p53, curcumin for PTEN, porphyrins for Hippo, genistein for GDF15, resveratrol for ARID1A, withaferin A for Notch and diguelin for the IGF1-receptor pathway. The coordination of anti-growth signaling and natural compound studies will provide insight into the future application of these compounds in the clinical setting