The current problems of the minimal SO(10) GUT and their solutions

This talk consists of two parts. In part I we review how the minimal renormalizable supersymmetric SO(10) model, an SO(10) framework with only one 10 and one 126 Higgs multiplets in the Yukawa sector, is attractive because of its highly predictive power. Indeed it not only gives a consistent predictions on neutrino oscillation data but also gives reasonable and interesting values for leptogenesis, LFV, muon g-2, neutrinoless double beta decay etc. However, this model suffers from problems related to running of gauge couplings. The gauge coupling unification may be spoiled due to the presence of Higgs multiplets much lighter than the grand unification (GUT) scale. In addition, the gauge couplings blow up around the GUT scale because of the presence of Higgs multiplets of large representations. In part II we consider the minimal SO(10) model in the warped extra dimension and show a possibility to solve these problems.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, Talk given at the International Workshop on Neutrino Masses and Mixings Toward Unified Understanding of Quarks and Lepton Mass Matrices, held at University of Shizuoka on December 17-19, 200

Discharge Patterns of Single Fibers in the Cat's Auditory Nerve

Discharge patterns of single fibers in cat auditory nerve in response to controlled acoustic stimul

Strongly coupled phase transition in ferroelectric/correlated electron oxide heterostructures

We fabricated ultrathin ferroelectric/correlated electron oxide heterostructures composed of the ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 and the correlated electron oxide (CEO) La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 on SrTiO3 substrates by pulsed laser epitaxy. The hole accumulation in the ultrathin CEO layer was substantially modified by heterostructuring with the ferroelectric layer, resulting in an insulator-metal transition. In particular, our thickness dependent study showed that drastic changes in transport and magnetic properties were strongly coupled to the modulation of charge carriers by ferroelectric field effect, which was confined to the vicinity of the interface. Thus, our results provide crucial evidence that strong ferroelectric field effect control can be achieved in ultrathin (10 nm) heterostructures, yielding at least a 100,000-fold change in resistivity

EUS-guided portal pressure gradient measurement with a simple novel device: a human pilot study.

Background and aimsPortal hypertension is a serious adverse event of liver cirrhosis. Recently, we developed a simple novel technique for EUS-guided portal pressure gradient (PPG) measurement (PPGM). Our animal studies showed excellent correlation between EUS-PPGM and interventional radiology-acquired PPGM. In this video we demonstrate the results of the first human pilot study of EUS-PPGM in patients with liver disease.MethodsEUS-PPGM was performed by experienced endosonographers using a linear echoendoscope, a 25-gauge FNA needle, and a novel compact manometer. The portal vein and hepatic vein (or inferior vena cava) were targeted by use of a transgastric or transduodenal approach. Feasibility was defined as successful PPGM in each patient. Safety was based on adverse events captured in a postprocedural interview.ResultsTwenty-eight patients underwent EUS-PPGM with 100% technical success and no adverse events. PPG ranged from 1.5 to 19 mm Hg and had excellent correlation with clinical parameters of portal hypertension, including the presence of varices (P = .0002), PH gastropathy (P = .007), and thrombocytopenia (P = .036).ConclusionThis novel technique of EUS-PPGM using a 25-gauge needle and compact manometer is feasible and appears safe. Given the availability of EUS and the simplicity of the manometry setup, EUS-guided PPG may represent a promising breakthrough for procuring indispensable information in the management of patients with liver disease

Zone Diagrams in Euclidean Spaces and in Other Normed Spaces

Zone diagram is a variation on the classical concept of a Voronoi diagram. Given n sites in a metric space that compete for territory, the zone diagram is an equilibrium state in the competition. Formally it is defined as a fixed point of a certain "dominance" map. Asano, Matousek, and Tokuyama proved the existence and uniqueness of a zone diagram for point sites in Euclidean plane, and Reem and Reich showed existence for two arbitrary sites in an arbitrary metric space. We establish existence and uniqueness for n disjoint compact sites in a Euclidean space of arbitrary (finite) dimension, and more generally, in a finite-dimensional normed space with a smooth and rotund norm. The proof is considerably simpler than that of Asano et al. We also provide an example of non-uniqueness for a norm that is rotund but not smooth. Finally, we prove existence and uniqueness for two point sites in the plane with a smooth (but not necessarily rotund) norm.Comment: Title page + 16 pages, 20 figure

Mineral, Fatty Acid and Dietary Fiber Compositions in Several Indonesian Seaweeds

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui distribusi dan profil kandungan nutrient dan non-nutrien (mineral, asam lemak dan serat) pada sembilan jenis rumput laut dan beberapa kelas (alga hijau, coklat dan merah). Kandungan mineral didominasi oleh kalsium, potassium, dan sodium. Asam palmitic adalah asam lemak utama yang ditemukan pada semua contoh rumput laut, diikuti oleh asam stearic, asamoleic, dan asam linolenic. Konsentrasi asam eicosapentaenoic tertinggi ditemukan pada jenis alga merah Kappaphycus alvarezii (8,09%), sedangkan alga merah Sargassum polycystum mengandung asam arachidonic tertinggi (14,43%). Kisaran kandungan serat total, serat terlarut dan serat tidak terlarut pada contoh alga yang dianalisa berturut-turut adalah 14.7 - 69.3, 14.3 - 64.1 dan 0.4 - 10.7 (g/100 g berat kering). Alga merah jenis K. alvarezii memiliki kandungan serat total dan serat terlarut tertinggi, sedangkan alga yang mengandung serat tidak terlarut tertinggi adalah jenis alga hijau Ulva reticulate