On the absence of BPS preonic solutions in IIA and IIB supergravities

We consider the present absence of 31 out of 32 supersymmetric solutions in supergravity i.e., of solutions describing BPS preons. A recent result indicates that (bosonic) BPS preonic solutions do not exist in type IIB supergravity. We reconsider this analysis by using the G-frame method, extend it to the IIA supergravity case, and show that there are no (bosonic) preonic solutions for type IIA either. For the classical D=11 supergravity no conclusion can be drawn yet, although the negative IIA results permit establishing the conditions that preonic solutions would have to satisfy. For supergravities with `stringy' corrections, the existence of BPS preonic solutions remains fully open.Comment: plain latex, 12 pages Minor misprints corrected. Published in JHEP 09 (2006) 00

Unlocking the in vitroanti- inflammatory and antidiabetic potential of Polygonum maritimum

Context: Several Polygonum species (Polygonaceae) are used in traditional medicine in Asia, Europe and Africa to treat inflammation and diabetes. Objective: Evaluate the in vitro antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic potential of methanol and dichloromethane extracts of leaves and roots of the halophyte Polygonum maritimum L. Material and methods: Antioxidant activity was determined (up to 1mg/mL) as radical-scavenging activity (RSA) of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS), copper (CCA) and iron (ICA) chelating activities and iron reducing power (FRAP). NO production was measured in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages for 24 h at concentrations up to 100 mu g/mL and antidiabetic potential was assessed by alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase inhibition (up to 10 g/mL) assays. The phytochemical composition of the extracts was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results: The methanol leaf extract had the highest activity against DPPH center dot (IC50 = 26 mu g/mL) and ABTS1(+)center dot (IC50 = 140 mu g FRAP (IC50 = 48 mu g/mL) and CCA (IC50 = 770 mu g/mL). Only the dichloromethane leaf extract (LDCM) showed anti-inflammatory activity (IC50 = 48 mu g/mL). The methanol root (IC50 = 19 mu g/mL) and leaf (IC50 = 29 mu g/mL) extracts strongly inhibited baker's yeast alpha-glucosidase, but LDCM had higher rat's alpha-glucosidase inhibition (IC50 = 2527 mu g/mL) than acarbose (IC50 = 4638 mu g/mL). GC-MS analysis identified beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, 1-octacosanol and linolenic acid as possible molecules responsible for the observed bioactivities. Conclusions: Our findings suggest P. maritimum as a source of high-value health promoting commodities for alleviating symptoms associated with oxidative and inflammatory diseases, including diabetes.XtremeBio project - Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [PTDC/MAR-EST/4346/2012]; Portuguese National Budget; FCT [CCMAR/Multi/04326/ 2013, IF/00049/2012, SFRH/BPD/86071/2012, UID/Multi/00612/2013

Vanishing Preons in the Fifth Dimension

We examine supersymmetric solutions of N=2, D=5 gauged supergravity coupled to an arbitrary number of abelian vector multiplets using the spinorial geometry method. By making use of methods developed in hep-th/0606049 to analyse preons in type IIB supergravity, we show that there are no solutions preserving exactly 3/4 of the supersymmetry.Comment: 19 pages, latex. Reference added, and further modification to the introductio

Electric field effects on magnetotransport properties of multiferroic Py/YMnO3/Pt heterostructures

We report on the exchange bias between antiferromagnetic and ferroelectric hexagonal YMnO3 epitaxial thin films sandwiched between a metallic electrode (Pt) and a soft ferromagnetic layer (Py). Anisotropic magnetoresistance measurements are performed to monitor the presence of an exchange bias field. When the heteroestructure is biased by an electric field, it turns out that the exchange bias field is suppressed. We discuss the dependence of the observed effect on the amplitude and polarity of the electric field. Particular attention is devoted to the role of current leakage across the ferroelectric layer.Comment: Accepted for publication in Philosophical Magazine Letters (Special issue on multiferroics

Systematics of M-theory spinorial geometry

We reduce the classification of all supersymmetric backgrounds in eleven dimensions to the evaluation of the supercovariant derivative and of an integrability condition, which contains the field equations, on six types of spinors. We determine the expression of the supercovariant derivative on all six types of spinors and give in each case the field equations that do not arise as the integrability conditions of Killing spinor equations. The Killing spinor equations of a background become a linear system for the fluxes, geometry and spacetime derivatives of the functions that determine the spinors. The solution of the linear system expresses the fluxes in terms of the geometry and specifies the restrictions on the geometry of spacetime for all supersymmetric backgrounds. We also show that the minimum number of field equations that is needed for a supersymmetric configuration to be a solution of eleven-dimensional supergravity can be found by solving a linear system. The linear systems of the Killing spinor equations and their integrability conditions are given in both a timelike and a null spinor basis. We illustrate the construction with examples.Comment: 46 pages. v2: systematics of a null spinor basis is included in section

The AMIGA sample of isolated galaxies. V. Quantification of the isolation

The AMIGA project aims to build a well defined and statistically significant reference sample of isolated galaxies in order to estimate the environmental effects on the formation and evolution of galaxies. The goal of this paper is to provide a measure of the environment of the isolated galaxies in the AMIGA sample, quantifying the influence of the candidate neighbours identified in our previous work and their potential effects on the evolution of the primary galaxies. Here we provide a quantification of the isolation degree of the galaxies in this sample. Our starting sample is the Catalogue of Isolated Galaxies (CIG). We used two parameters to estimate the influence exerted by the neighbour galaxies on the CIG galaxy: the local number density of neighbour galaxies and the tidal strength affecting the CIG galaxy. We show that both parameters together provide a comprehensive picture of the environment. For comparison, those parameters have also been derived for galaxies in denser environments such as triplets, groups and clusters. The CIG galaxies show a continuous spectrum of isolation, as quantified by the two parameters, from very isolated to interacting. The fraction of CIG galaxies whose properties are expected to be influenced by the environment is however low (159 out of 950 galaxies). The isolated parameters derived for the comparsion samples gave higher values than for the CIG and we found clear differences for the average values of the 4 samples considered, proving the sensitivity of these parameters. The environment of the galaxies in the CIG has been characterised, using two complementary parameters quantifying the isolation degree, the local number density of the neighbour galaxies and the tidal forces affecting the isolated galaxies. (Abridged)Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, proposed for acceptance A&