Mass and width of unstable molecular state in quantum field theory

Applying resonance theory in the framework of relativistic quantum field theory, we investigate the temporal evolution of molecular state composed of two vector mesons as determined by the total Hamiltonian. Then exotic meson resonance $X(3915)$ is considered as a mixed state of two unstable molecular states $D^{*0}\bar{D}^{*0}$ and $D^{*+}D^{*-}$, and the corrected mass and width for resonance $X(3915)$ are calculated. In this actual calculation, we minutely show how to obtain the corrections for resonance and to exhibit the key features of dispersion relation in a new Feynman diagram. The numerical results are consistent with the experimental values

Laying Bare: Agamben, Chandler, and The Responsibility to Protect

This paper demonstrates the hidden similarities between Raymond Chandler’s prototypical noir The Big Sleep, and the United Nations Responsibility to Protect (R2P) document. By taking up the work of philosopher Giorgio Agamben, this paper shows that the bare life produces the form of protection embodied by Philip Marlowe in Chandler’s novel and by the United Nations Security Council in R2P. Agamben’s theorizing of the extra-legal status of the sovereign pertains to both texts, in which the protector exists outside of the law. Philip Marlowe, tasked with preventing the distribution of pornographic images, commits breaking-and-entering, withholding evidence, and murder. Analogously, R2P advocates for the Security Council’s ability to trespass laws that safeguard national sovereignty in order to prevent “bare” atrocities against human life. As Agamben demonstrates, the extra-legal position of the protector is made possible by “stripping bare” human life. This paper also gestures towards limitations of Agamben’s thought by indicating, through a comparison of these two texts, that bare life produces states of exception as the object of protection rather than punishment

The emerging oilseed crop Sesamum indicum enters the “Omics” era

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is one of the oldest oilseed crops widely grown in Africa and Asia for its high-quality nutritional seeds. It is well adapted to harsh environments and constitutes an alternative cash crop for smallholders in developing countries. Despite its economic and nutritional importance, sesame is considered as an orphan crop because it has received very little attention from science. As a consequence, it lags behind the other major oil crops as far as genetic improvement is concerned. In recent years, the scenario has considerably changed with the decoding of the sesame nuclear genome leading to the development of various genomic resources including molecular markers, comprehensive genetic maps, high-quality transcriptome assemblies, web-based functional databases and diverse daft genome sequences. The availability of these tools in association with the discovery of candidate genes and quantitative trait locis for key agronomic traits including high oil content and quality, waterlogging and drought tolerance, disease resistance, cytoplasmic male sterility, high yield, pave the way to the development of some new strategies for sesame genetic improvement. As a result, sesame has graduated from an “orphan crop” to a “genomic resource-rich crop.” With the limited research teams working on sesame worldwide, more synergic efforts are needed to integrate these resources in sesame breeding for productivity upsurge, ensuring food security and improved livelihood in developing countries. This review retraces the evolution of sesame research by highlighting the recent advances in the “Omics” area and also critically discusses the future prospects for a further genetic improvement and a better expansion of this crop. (Résumé d'auteur

Caplak, Tidak Hanya Membuat Gatal

CAPLAK, TIDAK HANYA MEMBUAT GATA

A Comparison of Molecular Biology Mechanism of Shewanella putrefaciens between Fresh and Terrestrial Sewage Wastewater

Municipal and industrial wastewater is often discharged into the environment without appropriate treatment, especially in developing countries. As a result, many rivers and oceans are contaminated. It is urgent to control and administer treatments to these contaminated rivers and oceans. However, most mechanisms of bacterial colonization in contaminated rivers and oceans were unknown, especially in sewage outlets. We found Shewanella putrefaciens to be the primary bacteria in the terrestrial sewage wastewater outlets around Ningbo City, China. Therefore, in this study, we applied a combination of differential proteomics, metabolomics, and real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR techniques to identify bacteria intracellular metabolites. We found S. putrefaciens had 12 different proteins differentially expressed in freshwater culture than when grown in wastewater, referring to the formation of biological membranes (Omp35, OmpW), energy metabolism (SOD, deoxyribose-phosphate pyrophosphokinase), fatty acid metabolism (beta-ketoacyl synthase), secondary metabolism, TCA cycle, lysine degradation (2-oxoglutarate reductase), and propionic acid metabolism (succinyl coenzyme A synthetase). The sequences of these 12 differentially expressed proteins were aligned with sequences downloaded from NCBI. There are also 27 differentially concentrated metabolites detected by NMR, including alcohols (ethanol, isopropanol), amines (dimethylamine, ethanolamine), amino acids (alanine, leucine), amine compounds (bilinerurine), nucleic acid compounds (nucleosides, inosines), organic acids (formate, acetate). Formate and ethanolamine show significant difference between the two environments and are possibly involved in energy metabolism, glycerophospholipid and ether lipids metabolism to provide energy supply and material basis for engraftment in sewage. Because understanding S. putrefaciens’s biological mechanism of colonization (protein, gene express and metabolites) in terrestrial sewage outlets is so important to administering and improving contaminated river and to predicting and steering performance, we delved into the biological mechanism that sheds light on the effect of environmental conditions on metabolic pathways

Insight into the AP2/ERF transcription factor superfamily in sesame and expression profiling of DREB subfamily under drought stress

Background. Sesame is an important oilseed crop mainly grown in inclement areas with high temperatures and frequent drought. Thus, drought constitutes one of the major constraints of its production. The AP2/ERF is a large family of transcription factors known to play significant roles in various plant processes including biotic and abiotic stress responses. Despite their importance, little is known about sesame AP2/ERF genes. This constitutes a limitation for drought-tolerance candidate genes discovery and breeding for tolerance to water deficit. Results. One hundred thirty-two AP2/ERF genes were identified in the sesame genome. Based on the number of domains, conserved motifs, genes structure and phylogenetic analysis including 5 relatives species, they were classified into 24 AP2, 41 DREB, 61 ERF, 4 RAV and 2 Soloist. The number of sesame AP2/ERF genes was relatively few compared to that of other relatives, probably due to gene loss in ERF and DREB subfamilies during evolutionary process. In general, the AP2/ERF genes were expressed differently in different tissues but exhibited the highest expression levels in the root. Mostly all DREB genes were responsive to drought stress. Regulation by drought is not specific to one DREB group but depends on the genes and the group A6 and A1 appeared to be more actively expressed to cope with drought. Conclusions. This study provides insights into the classification, evolution and basic functional analysis of AP2/ERF genes in sesame which revealed their putative involvement in multiple tissue-/developmental stages. Out of 20 genes which were significantly up- /down-regulated under drought stress, the gene AP2si16 may be considered as potential candidate gene for further functional validation as well for utilization in sesame improvement programs for drought stress tolerance. (Résumé d'auteur

Enhanced bioremediation of aged polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil using immobilized microbial consortia combined with strengthening remediation strategies

Microbial biodegradation is considered as one of the most effective strategies for the remediation of soil contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). To improve the degradation efficiency of PAHs, PAH-degrading consortia combined with strengthening remediation strategies was used in this study. The PAH biodegrading performance of seven bacterial consortia constructed by different ratios of Mycobacterium gilvum MI, Mycobacterium sp. ZL7 and Rhodococcus rhodochrous Q3 was evaluated in an aqueous system containing phenanthrene, pyrene, benzo[a]pyrene and benzo[b]fluoranthene. Bacterial consortium H6 (Q3:ZL7:MI = 1:2:2) performed a high degrading efficiency of 59% in 8 days. The H6 was subsequently screened to explore its potential ability and performance to degrade aged PAHs in soils from a coking plant and the effects of strengthening strategies on the aged PAH degradation, including the addition of glucose or sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) individually or as a mixture along immobilization of the inoculant on biochar. The highest degradation efficiencies, which were 15% and 60% for low-molecular-weight (LMW) PAHs and high-molecular-weight (HMW) PAHs, respectively, were observed in the treatment using immobilized microbial consortium H6 combined with the addition of glucose and SDBS after 24 days incubation. This study provides new insights and guidance for future remediation of aged PAH contaminated soils

Neoantigen-based cancer vaccination using chimeric RNA-loaded dendritic cell-derived extracellular vesicles

Cancer vaccines critically rely on the availability of targetable immunogenic cancer-specific neoepitopes. However, mutation-based immunogenic neoantigens are rare or even non-existent in subgroups of cancer types. To address this issue, we exploited a cancer-specific aberrant transcription-induced chimeric RNA, designated A-Pas chiRNA, as a possible source of clinically relevant and targetable neoantigens. A-Pas chiRNA encodes a recently discovered cancer-specific chimeric protein that comprises full-length astrotactin-2 (ASTN2) C-terminally fused in-frame to the antisense sequence of the 18th intron of pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPPA). We used extracellular vesicles (EVs) from A-Pas chiRNA-transfected dendritic cells (DCs) to produce the cell-free anticancer vaccine DEXA-P . Treatment of immunocompetent cancer-bearing mice with DEXA-P inhibited tumour growth and prolonged animal survival. In summary, we demonstrate for the first time that cancer-specific transcription-induced chimeric RNAs can be exploited to produce a cell-free cancer vaccine that induces potent CD8+ T cell-mediated anticancer immunity. Our novel approach may be particularly useful for developing cancer vaccines to treat malignancies with low mutational burden or without mutation-based antigens. Moreover, this cell-free anticancer vaccine approach may offer several practical advantages over cell-based vaccines, such as ease of scalability and genetic modifiability as well as enhanced shelf life