BRST approach to Lagrangian formulation for mixed-symmetry fermionic higher-spin fields

We construct a Lagrangian description of irreducible half-integer higher-spin representations of the Poincare group with the corresponding Young tableaux having two rows, on a basis of the BRST approach. Starting with a description of fermionic higher-spin fields in a flat space of any dimension in terms of an auxiliary Fock space, we realize a conversion of the initial operator constraint system (constructed with respect to the relations extracting irreducible Poincare-group representations) into a first-class constraint system. For this purpose, we find auxiliary representations of the constraint subsuperalgebra containing the subsystem of second-class constraints in terms of Verma modules. We propose a universal procedure of constructing gauge-invariant Lagrangians with reducible gauge symmetries describing the dynamics of both massless and massive fermionic fields of any spin. No off-shell constraints for the fields and gauge parameters are used from the very beginning. It is shown that the space of BRST cohomologies with a vanishing ghost number is determined only by the constraints corresponding to an irreducible Poincare-group representation. To illustrate the general construction, we obtain a Lagrangian description of fermionic fields with generalized spin (3/2,1/2) and (3/2,3/2) on a flat background containing the complete set of auxiliary fields and gauge symmetries.Comment: 41 pages, no figures, corrected typos, updated introduction, sections 5, 7.1, 7.2 with examples, conclusion with all basic results unchanged, corrected formulae (3.27), (7.138), (7.140), added dimensional reduction part with formulae (5.34)-(5.48), (7.8)-(7.10), (7.131)-(7.136), (7.143)-(7.164), added Refs. 52, 53, 54, examples for massive fields developed by 2 way

Discussion: "Radial strain behaviors and stress state interpretation of soil under direct simple shear" by X. Kang, Y. Cheng, and L. Ge.

Two methods were used in determining the stress state of simple shear tests in the discussed paper. The authors stated that the second method was proposed by Oda and Konishi, based on the distribution law of contact force (Oda, M. and Konishi, J., “Rotation of Principal Stresses in Granular Material During Simple,” Soils and Foundations., Vol. 14, No. 4, 1974, pp. 39–53.). However, the relation used in the method was found by Roscoe et al. from experimental results (Roscoe, K. H., Bassett, R. H., and Cole, E. R. L., “Principal Axes Observed During Simple Shear of a Sand,” Proceedings of the Geotechnical Conference on Shear Strength Properties of Natural Soils and Rocks, Vol. 1, Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Oslo, 1967, pp. 231–237.). In addition, the determination of the constant k, which used k = 1 − K0, was problematic in the discussed paper. First, the equation could only be deduced after some assumptions were made. Second, the value of k was not a constant if the K0 changed

A Statistical Study on Photospheric Magnetic Nonpotentiality of Active Regions and Its Relationship with Flares during Solar Cycles 22-23

A statistical study is carried out on the photospheric magnetic nonpotentiality in solar active regions and its relationship with associated flares. We select 2173 photospheric vector magnetograms from 1106 active regions observed by the Solar Magnetic Field Telescope at Huairou Solar Observing Station, National Astronomical Observatories of China, in the period of 1988-2008, which covers most of the 22nd and 23rd solar cycles. We have computed the mean planar magnetic shear angle (\bar{\Delta\phi}), mean shear angle of the vector magnetic field (\bar{\Delta\psi}), mean absolute vertical current density (\bar{|J_{z}|}), mean absolute current helicity density (\bar{|h_{c}|}), absolute twist parameter (|\alpha_{av}|), mean free magnetic energy density (\bar{\rho_{free}}), effective distance of the longitudinal magnetic field (d_{E}), and modified effective distance (d_{Em}) of each photospheric vector magnetogram. Parameters \bar{|h_{c}|}, \bar{\rho_{free}}, and d_{Em} show higher correlation with the evolution of the solar cycle. The Pearson linear correlation coefficients between these three parameters and the yearly mean sunspot number are all larger than 0.59. Parameters \bar{\Delta\phi}, \bar{\Delta\psi}, \bar{|J_{z}|}, |\alpha_{av}|, and d_{E} show only weak correlations with the solar cycle, though the nonpotentiality and the complexity of active regions are greater in the activity maximum periods than in the minimum periods. All of the eight parameters show positive correlations with the flare productivity of active regions, and the combination of different nonpotentiality parameters may be effective in predicting the flaring probability of active regions.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in Solar Physic

Characterization of 13 multi-drug resistant Salmonella serovars from different broiler chickens associated with those of human isolates

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Salmonella </it>are frequently isolated from chickens and their products. Prevalent serogroups and serovars of <it>Salmonella </it>as well as their genotypes and antibiograms were determined for cloacal samples from 1595 chickens. To understand the possible serovar and H antigens for transmission between chicken and human, serovars and their H antigens of 164 chicken and 5314 human isolates were compared.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Prevalence of <it>Salmonella </it>differed among chicken lines and ages. Chicken and human isolates belonged mainly to serogroup B, C1, C2-C3, D, and E. 13 serovars and 66 serovars were identified for chicken and human isolates respectively. The common serovars for chicken and human isolates were <it>S</it>. Typhimurium, <it>S</it>. Enteritidis, <it>S</it>. Albany, <it>S</it>. Derby, and <it>S</it>. Anatum and shared common H1 antigens "g complex; i; e,h; and z4,z24" and H2 antigens "1 complex and -". In human isolates, H1 antigen "i" and H2 antigen "-" were common in all serogroups. In chicken, antimicrobial susceptibility differed among serogroups, serovars and three counties. All isolates were susceptible to cefazolin and ceftriaxone, but highly resistant to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, flumequine, streptomycin, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, and tetracycline. Except those isolates of serogroup C1 of Chick group and serogroup G, all isolates were multi-drug resistance. Only <it>S</it>. Kubacha, <it>S</it>. Typhimurium, <it>S</it>. Grampian, and <it>S</it>. Mons were resistant to ciprofloxacin and/or enrofloxacin.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In chicken, prevalent serogroups and serovars were associated with chicken ages, lines and regions; and flouroquinolone-resistant and MDR isolates emerged. H1 antigens "g complex and i" and H2 antigens "1 complex and -" might be important for transmission of <it>Salmonella </it>between chicken and human.</p

Detecting Current Noise with a Josephson Junction in the Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling Regime

We discuss the use of a hysteretic Josephson junction to detect current fluctuations with frequencies below the plasma frequency of the junction. These adiabatic fluctuations are probed by switching measurements observing the noise-affected average rate of macroscopic quantum tunneling of the detector junction out of its zero-voltage state. In a proposed experimental scheme, frequencies of the noise are limited by an on-chip filtering circuit. The third cumulant of current fluctuations at the detector is related to an asymmetry of the switching rates.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures. To appear in Journal of Low Temperature Physics in the proceedings of the ULTI conference organized in Lammi, Finland (2006

Molecular characterization and pathogenicity evaluation of enterovirus G isolated from diarrheic piglets

Published 13 October 2023. OnlinePublFour enterovirus G (EV-G) strains were isolated from diarrheic piglets that were negative for common swine enteric viruses. The spherical enterovirus particles of roughly 30-nm diameter were observed under transmission electron microscopy by using plaque-purified enterovirus. The complete genome sequence analysis revealed that each of four enteroviruses contained a papain-like cysteine protease (PLCP) gene between the 2C and 3A junction regions of the viral genome. This insertion encoded a predicted protease similar to the PLCP of porcine torovirus. The phylogenetic analysis based on complete genome with and without PLCP gene revealed that the four isolated EV-G strains were grouped together with global enterovirus G1-PLCP strains, and more closely related to EV-G/PLCP strains previously detected in China, Japan, and Korea (90.3%–92.2% similarities based on nucleotides). The cell susceptibility test demonstrated that the isolated EV-G could infect and replicate in cell lines from various host species. Furthermore, pathogenicity evaluation showed that the isolated EV-Gs induced mild diarrhea, pyrexia, and reduced body weight in infected piglets. The epidemiological investigation revealed a high prevalence of EV-G in swine herds. Together, our findings demonstrate that the isolated EV-G is pathogenic in piglets and may be advantageous in providing more trustworthy data on the evolution and pathological properties of EV-G.Yassein M. Ibrahim, Wenli Zhang, Xinrong Wang, Gebremeskel Mamu Werid, Lizhi Fu, Haidong Yu, Yue Wan

Use of the Generalized Gradient Approximation in Pseudopotential Calculations of Solids

We present a study of the equilibrium properties of $sp$-bonded solids within the pseudopotential approach, employing recently proposed generalized gradient approximation (GGA) exchange correlation functionals. We analyze the effects of the gradient corrections on the behavior of the pseudopotentials and discuss possible approaches for constructing pseudopotentials self-consistently in the context of gradient corrected functionals. The calculated equilibrium properties of solids using the GGA functionals are compared to the ones obtained through the local density approximation (LDA) and to experimental data. A significant improvement over the LDA results is achieved with the use of the GGA functionals for cohesive energies. For the lattice constant, the same accuracy as in LDA can be obtained when the nonlinear coupling between core and valence electrons introduced by the exchange correlation functionals is properly taken into account. However, GGA functionals give bulk moduli that are too small compared to experiment.Comment: 15 pages, latex, no figure

Curcumin Induces EGFR Degradation in Lung Adenocarcinoma and Modulates p38 Activation in Intestine: The Versatile Adjuvant for Gefitinib Therapy

Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with L858R or exon 19 deletion mutations in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) have good responses to the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), gefitinib. However, patients with wild-type EGFR and acquired mutation in EGFR T790M are resistant to gefitinib treatment. Here, we showed that curcumin can improve the efficiency of gefitinib in the resistant NSCLC cells both in vitro and in vivo models. Methods/Principal Findings: After screening 598 herbal and natural compounds, we found curcumin could inhibit cell proliferation in different gefitinib-resistant NSCLC cell lines; concentration-dependently down-regulate EGFR phosphorylation through promoting EGFR degradation in NSCLC cell lines with wild-type EGFR or T790M EGFR. In addition, the antitumor activity of gefitinib was potentiated via curcumin through blocking EGFR activation and inducing apoptosis in gefitinib-resistant NSCLC cell lines; also the combined treatment with curcumin and gefitinib exhibited significant inhibition in the CL1-5, A549 and H1975 xenografts tumor growth in SCID mice through reducing EGFR, c-MET, cyclin D1 expression, and inducing apoptosis activation through caspases-8, 9 and PARP. Interestingly, we observed that the combined treatment group represented better survival rate and less intestinal mucosal damage compare to gefitinib-alone therapy. We showed that curcumin attenuated the gefitinib-induced cell proliferation inhibition and apoptosis through altering p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation in intestinal epithelia cell. Conclusions/Significance: Curcumin potentiates antitumor activity of gefitinib in cell lines and xenograft mice model of NSCLC through inhibition of proliferation, EGFR phosphorylation, and induction EGFR ubiquitination and apoptosis. In addition, curcumin attenuates gefitinib-induced gastrointestinal adverse effects via altering p38 activation. These findings provide a novel treatment strategy that curcumin as an adjuvant to increase the spectrum of the usage of gefitinib and overcome the gefitinib inefficiency in NSCLC patients