MEF2 is an in vivo immune-metabolic switch

Infections disturb metabolic homeostasis in many contexts, but the underlying connections are not completely understood. To address this, we use paired genetic and computational screens in Drosophila to identify transcriptional regulators of immunity and pathology and their associated target genes and physiologies. We show that Mef2 is required in the fat body for anabolic function and the immune response. Using genetic and biochemical approaches, we find that MEF2 is phosphorylated at a conserved site in healthy flies and promotes expression of lipogenic and glycogenic enzymes. Upon infection, this phosphorylation is lost, and the activity of MEF2 changes—MEF2 now associates with the TATA binding protein to bind a distinct TATA box sequence and promote antimicrobial peptide expression. The loss of phosphorylated MEF2 contributes to loss of anabolic enzyme expression in Gram-negative bacterial infection. MEF2 is thus a critical transcriptional switch in the adult fat body between metabolism and immunity

Wide Angle Polarization Analysis with Neutron Spin Filters

AbstractWe report substantial improvements in a compact wide angle neutron spin filter system that was recently employed on the Multi- Axis Crystal Spectrometer at the Center for Neutron Research at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. The apparatus consists of a cylindrical 3He polarizer cell and wide-angle 3He analyzer cells, a vertical solenoid to provide a uniform magnetic field, and a shielded radio-frequency solenoid for the polarizer cell. Nuclear magnetic resonance is employed to reverse the polarization in the polarizer cell and monitor the 3He polarization in all cells. The first experiment using this apparatus was carried out with cylindrical analyzer cells with limited angular coverage due to low polarizations in fused quartz cells. We present results for aluminosilicate glass analyzer cells that cover 110 ∘ and have long relaxation times (100h to 400h). Using two 100W diode bars spectrally narrowed with chirped volume Bragg gratings, we have obtained 65% - 80% 3He polarization in these cells. The 3He polarization has been measured by neutron transmission and electron paramagnetic resonance. Additional progress includes an improved holding field solenoid and decreased spin-flip losses

Transfer learning for galaxy morphology from one survey to another

© 2018 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.Deep Learning (DL) algorithms for morphological classification of galaxies have proven very successful, mimicking (or even improving) visual classifications. However, these algorithms rely on large training samples of labelled galaxies (typically thousands of them). A key question for using DL classifications in future Big Data surveys is how much of the knowledge acquired from an existing survey can be exported to a new dataset, i.e. if the features learned by the machines are meaningful for different data. We test the performance of DL models, trained with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data, on Dark Energy survey (DES) using images for a sample of $\sim$5000 galaxies with a similar redshift distribution to SDSS. Applying the models directly to DES data provides a reasonable global accuracy ($\sim$ 90%), but small completeness and purity values. A fast domain adaptation step, consisting in a further training with a small DES sample of galaxies ($\sim$500-300), is enough for obtaining an accuracy > 95% and a significant improvement in the completeness and purity values. This demonstrates that, once trained with a particular dataset, machines can quickly adapt to new instrument characteristics (e.g., PSF, seeing, depth), reducing by almost one order of magnitude the necessary training sample for morphological classification. Redshift evolution effects or significant depth differences are not taken into account in this study.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Light-cone QCD Sum Rules for the Λ\Lambda Baryon Electromagnetic Form Factors and its magnetic moment

We present the light-cone QCD sum rules up to twist 6 for the electromagnetic form factors of the $\Lambda$ baryon. To estimate the magnetic moment of the baryon, the magnetic form factor is fitted by the dipole formula. The numerical value of our estimation is $\mu_\Lambda=-(0.64\pm0.04)\mu_N$, which is in accordance with the experimental data and the existing theoretical results. We find that it is twist 4 but not the leading twist distribution amplitudes that dominate the results.Comment: 13 page, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Euro. Phys. J.

Longitudinal double-spin asymmetry and cross section for inclusive neutral pion production at midrapidity in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV

We report a measurement of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry A_LL and the differential cross section for inclusive Pi0 production at midrapidity in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV. The cross section was measured over a transverse momentum range of 1 < p_T < 17 GeV/c and found to be in good agreement with a next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculation. The longitudinal double-spin asymmetry was measured in the range of 3.7 < p_T < 11 GeV/c and excludes a maximal positive gluon polarization in the proton. The mean transverse momentum fraction of Pi0's in their parent jets was found to be around 0.7 for electromagnetically triggered events.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (RC

High pTp_{T} non-photonic electron production in pp+pp collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 200 GeV

We present the measurement of non-photonic electron production at high transverse momentum ($p_T >$ 2.5 GeV/$c$) in $p$ + $p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV using data recorded during 2005 and 2008 by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The measured cross-sections from the two runs are consistent with each other despite a large difference in photonic background levels due to different detector configurations. We compare the measured non-photonic electron cross-sections with previously published RHIC data and pQCD calculations. Using the relative contributions of B and D mesons to non-photonic electrons, we determine the integrated cross sections of electrons ($\frac{e^++e^-}{2}$) at 3 GeV/$c < p_T <~$10 GeV/$c$ from bottom and charm meson decays to be ${d\sigma_{(B\to e)+(B\to D \to e)} \over dy_e}|_{y_e=0}$ = 4.0$\pm0.5$({\rm stat.})$\pm1.1$({\rm syst.}) nb and ${d\sigma_{D\to e} \over dy_e}|_{y_e=0}$ = 6.2$\pm0.7$({\rm stat.})$\pm1.5$({\rm syst.}) nb, respectively.Comment: 17 pages, 17 figure

Evolution of the differential transverse momentum correlation function with centrality in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV

We present first measurements of the evolution of the differential transverse momentum correlation function, {\it C}, with collision centrality in Au+Au interactions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV. {\it C} exhibits a strong dependence on collision centrality that is qualitatively similar to that of number correlations previously reported. We use the observed longitudinal broadening of the near-side peak of {\it C} with increasing centrality to estimate the ratio of the shear viscosity to entropy density, $\eta/s$, of the matter formed in central Au+Au interactions. We obtain an upper limit estimate of $\eta/s$ that suggests that the produced medium has a small viscosity per unit entropy.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, STAR paper published in Phys. Lett.

Longitudinal scaling property of the charge balance function in Au + Au collisions at 200 GeV

We present measurements of the charge balance function, from the charged particles, for diverse pseudorapidity and transverse momentum ranges in Au + Au collisions at 200 GeV using the STAR detector at RHIC. We observe that the balance function is boost-invariant within the pseudorapidity coverage [-1.3, 1.3]. The balance function properly scaled by the width of the observed pseudorapidity window does not depend on the position or size of the pseudorapidity window. This scaling property also holds for particles in different transverse momentum ranges. In addition, we find that the width of the balance function decreases monotonically with increasing transverse momentum for all centrality classes.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure