255 research outputs found
Analytic moduli spaces of simple sheaves on families of integral curves
We prove the existence of fine moduli spaces of simple coherent sheaves on
families of irreducible curves. Our proof is based on the existence of a
universal upper bound of the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of such sheaves,
which we provide.Comment: typos corrected, final version, to appear in Mathematischen
Nachrichte
Varieties of vacua in classical supersymmetric gauge theories
We give a simple description of the classical moduli space of vacua for
supersymmetric gauge theories with or without a superpotential. The key
ingredient in our analysis is the observation that the lagrangian is invariant
under the action of the complexified gauge group \Gc. From this point of view
the usual -flatness conditions are an artifact of Wess--Zumino gauge. By
using a gauge that preserves \Gc invariance we show that every constant
matter field configuration that extremizes the superpotential is \Gc
gauge-equivalent (in a sense that we make precise) to a unique classical
vacuum. This result is used to prove that in the absence of a superpotential
the classical moduli space is the algebraic variety described by the set of all
holomorphic gauge-invariant polynomials. When a superpotential is present, we
show that the classical moduli space is a variety defined by imposing
additional relations on the holomorphic polynomials. Many of these points are
already contained in the existing literature. The main contribution of the
present work is that we give a careful and self-contained treatment of limit
points and singularities.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX (uses revtex.sty
The ‘porin-cytochrome’ model for microbe-to-mineral electron transfer
Many species of bacteria can couple anaerobic growth to the respiratory reduction of insoluble minerals containing Fe(III) or Mn(III/IV). It has been suggested that in Shewanella species electrons cross the outer membrane to extracellular substrates via ‘porin–cytochrome’ electron transport modules. The molecular structure of an outer-membrane extracellular-facing deca-haem terminus for such a module has recently been resolved. It is debated how, once outside the cells, electrons are transferred from outer-membrane cytochromes to insoluble electron sinks. This may occur directly or by assemblies of cytochromes, perhaps functioning as ‘nanowires’, or via electron shuttles. Here we review recent work in this field and explore whether it allows for unification of the electron transport mechanisms supporting extracellular mineral respiration in Shewanella that may extend into other genera of Gram-negative bacteria
Ontological arguments from experience: Daniel A. Dombrowski, Iris Murdoch, and the nature of divine reality
Dombrowski and Murdoch offer versions of the ontological argument which aim to avoid two types of objection - those concerned with the nature of the divine, and those concerned with the move from an abstract concept to a mind-independent reality. For both, the nature of the concept of God/Good entails its instantiation, and both supply a supporting argument from experience. It is only Murdoch who successfully negotiates the transition from an abstract concept to the instantiation of that concept, however, and this is achieved by means of an ontological argument from moral experience which, in a reversal of the Kantian doctrine, depends ultimately on a form of the cosmological argument
Marginal and Relevant Deformations of N=4 Field Theories and Non-Commutative Moduli Spaces of Vacua
We study marginal and relevant supersymmetric deformations of the N=4
super-Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions. Our primary innovation is the
interpretation of the moduli spaces of vacua of these theories as
non-commutative spaces. The construction of these spaces relies on the
representation theory of the related quantum algebras, which are obtained from
F-term constraints. These field theories are dual to superstring theories
propagating on deformations of the AdS_5xS^5 geometry. We study D-branes
propagating in these vacua and introduce the appropriate notion of algebraic
geometry for non-commutative spaces. The resulting moduli spaces of D-branes
have several novel features. In particular, they may be interpreted as
symmetric products of non-commutative spaces. We show how mirror symmetry
between these deformed geometries and orbifold theories follows from T-duality.
Many features of the dual closed string theory may be identified within the
non-commutative algebra. In particular, we make progress towards understanding
the K-theory necessary for backgrounds where the Neveu-Schwarz antisymmetric
tensor of the string is turned on, and we shed light on some aspects of
discrete anomalies based on the non-commutative geometry.Comment: 60 pages, 4 figures, JHEP format, amsfonts, amssymb, amsmat
Redox linked flavin sites in extracellular decaheme proteins involved in microbe-mineral electron transfer
Extracellular microbe-mineral electron transfer is a major driving force for the oxidation of organic carbon in many subsurface environments. Extracellular multi-heme cytochromes of the Shewenella genus play a major role in this process but the mechanism of electron exchange at the interface between cytochrome and acceptor is widely debated. The 1.8 Å x-ray crystal structure of the decaheme MtrC revealed a highly conserved CX8C disulfide that, when substituted for AX8A, severely compromised the ability of S. oneidensis to grow under aerobic conditions. Reductive cleavage of the disulfide in the presence of flavin mononucleotide (FMN) resulted in the reversible formation of a stable flavocytochrome. Similar results were also observed with other decaheme cytochromes, OmcA, MtrF and UndA. The data suggest that these decaheme cytochromes can transition between highly reactive flavocytochromes or less reactive cytochromes, and that this transition is controlled by a redox active disulfide that responds to the presence of oxygen
Modelling the impact of decidual senescence on embryo implantation in human endometrial assembloids.
Decidual remodelling of midluteal endometrium leads to a short implantation window after which the uterine mucosa either breaks down or is transformed into a robust matrix that accommodates the placenta throughout pregnancy. To gain insights into the underlying mechanisms, we established and characterized endometrial assembloids, consisting of gland-like organoids and primary stromal cells. Single-cell transcriptomics revealed that decidualized assembloids closely resemble midluteal endometrium, harbouring differentiated and senescent subpopulations in both glands and stroma. We show that acute senescence in glandular epithelium drives secretion of multiple canonical implantation factors, whereas in the stroma it calibrates the emergence of anti-inflammatory decidual cells and pro-inflammatory senescent decidual cells. Pharmacological inhibition of stress responses in pre-decidual cells accelerated decidualization by eliminating the emergence of senescent decidual cells. In co-culture experiments, accelerated decidualization resulted in entrapment of collapsed human blastocysts in a robust, static decidual matrix. By contrast, the presence of senescent decidual cells created a dynamic implantation environment, enabling embryo expansion and attachment, although their persistence led to gradual disintegration of assembloids. Our findings suggest that decidual senescence controls endometrial fate decisions at implantation and highlight how endometrial assembloids may accelerate the discovery of new treatments to prevent reproductive failure
Induction of microRNA resistance and secretion in differentiating human endometrial stromal cells [Letter]
Geometric Transitions, Flops and Non-Kahler Manifolds: I
We construct a duality cycle which provides a complete supergravity
description of geometric transitions in type II theories via a flop in
M-theory. This cycle connects the different supergravity descriptions before
and after the geometric transitions. Our construction reproduces many of the
known phenomena studied earlier in the literature and allows us to describe
some new and interesting aspects in a simple and elegant fashion. A precise
supergravity description of new torsional manifolds that appear on the type IIA
side with branes and fluxes and the corresponding geometric transition are
obtained. A local description of new G_2 manifolds that are circle fibrations
over non-Kahler manifolds is presented.Comment: Harvmac, 79 pages, 1 .eps figure; v4: Text further expanded with
additional results, typos corrected and references adde
The first mitotic division of human embryos is highly error prone
Human beings are made of ~50 trillion cells which arise from serial mitotic divisions of a single cell - the fertilised egg. Remarkably, the early human embryo is often chromosomally abnormal, and many are mosaic, with the karyotype differing from one cell to another. Mosaicism presumably arises from chromosome segregation errors during the early mitotic divisions, although these events have never been visualised in living human embryos. Here, we establish live cell imaging of chromosome segregation using normally fertilised embryos from an egg-share-to-research programme, as well as embryos deselected during fertility treatment. We reveal that the first mitotic division has an extended prometaphase/metaphase and exhibits phenotypes that can cause nondisjunction. These included multipolar chromosome segregations and lagging chromosomes that lead to formation of micronuclei. Analysis of nuclear number and size provides evidence of equivalent phenotypes in 2-cell human embryos that gave rise to live births. Together this shows that errors in the first mitotic division can be tolerated in human embryos and uncovers cell biological events that contribute to preimplantation mosaicism
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