Exact Witten Index in D=2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills quantum mechanics

A new, recursive method of calculating matrix elements of polynomial hamiltonians is proposed. It is particularly suitable for the recent algebraic studies of the supersymmetric Yang-Mills quantum mechanics in any dimensions. For the D=2 system with the SU(2) gauge group, considered here, the technique gives exact, closed expressions for arbitrary matrix elements of the hamiltonian and of the supersymmetric charge, in the occupation number representation. Subsequent numerical diagonalization provides the spectrum and restricted Witten index of the system with very high precision (taking into account up to $10^5$ quanta). Independently, the exact value of the restricted Witten index is derived analytically for the first time.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur

Influence of nutrition on feline calcium oxalate urolithiasis with emphasis on endogenous oxalate synthesis

The prevalence of calcium oxalate (CaOx) uroliths detected in cats with lower urinary tract disease has shown a sharp increase over the last decades with a concomitant reciprocal decrease in the occurrence of struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate) uroliths. CaOx stone-preventative diets are available nowadays, but seem to be marginally effective, as CaOx urolith recurrence occurs in patients fed these diets. In order to improve the preventative measures against CaOx urolithiasis, it is important to understand its aetiopathogenesis. The main research focus in CaOx formation in cats has been on the role of Ca, whereas little research effort has been directed towards the role and origin of urinary oxalates. As in man, the exogenous origin of urinary oxalates in cats is thought to be of minor importance, although the precise contribution of dietary oxalates remains unclear. The generally accepted dietary risk factors for CaOx urolithiasis in cats are discussed and a model for the biosynthetic pathways of oxalate in feline liver is provided. Alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase 1 (AGT1) in endogenous oxalate metabolism is a liver-specific enzyme targeted in the mitochondria in cats, and allows for efficient conversion of glyoxylate to glycine when fed a carnivorous diet. The low peroxisomal activity of AGT1 in cat liver is compatible with the view that felids utilised a low-carbohydrate diet throughout evolution. Future research should focus on understanding de novo biosynthesis of oxalate in cats and their adaptation(s) in oxalate metabolism, and on dietary oxalate intake and absorption by cats

Jan Verschueren's Description of Yéi-Nan Culture

Joannis Cornelis Verschueren (1905-1970) worked as a Roman Catholic missionary in southern Irian from 1931 until 1970. In the 1950s he wrote a number of papers on the

Effects of feeding rapeseed oil, soybean oil or linseed oil on stearoyl-CoA desturase expression in the mammary gland of dairy cows

Extensive biohydrogenation of dietary fatty acids (FA) occurs in the rumen of dairy cattle, giving rise to a high proportion of saturated FA in milk fat. Saturated FA may contribute to increased risks of cardiovascular disease and the metabolic syndrome (Williams, 2000). Saturated FA, as well as several mono-unsaturated FA, can be desaturated by ¿9-desaturase, also known as stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD), present in the mammary gland of dairy cows. It is known that nutrition, especially polyunsaturated FA (PUFA), can affect the expression of SCD in rodents (Ntambi, 1999). Although various FA have been identified which can affect mammary SCD expression in dairy cattle, such knowledge is limited compared with rodents. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary FA supplementation of C18:1 cis-9, C18:2 cis-9,12 or C18:3 cis-9,12,15, by feeding rapeseed oil, soybean oil or linseed oil respectively, or its mixture, on SCD expression in the mammary gland of dairy cows

Alteration of gene expression in mammary gland tissue of dairy cows in response to dietary unsaturated fatty acids

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of supplementing unprotected dietary unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) from different plant oils on gene expression in the mammary gland of grazing dairy cows. A total of 28 Holstein–Friesian dairy cows in mid-lactation were blocked according to parity, days in milk, milk yield and fat percentage. The cows were then randomly assigned to four UFA sources based on rapeseed, soybean, linseed or a mixture of the three oils for 23 days, after which, all 28 cows were switched to a control diet for an additional 28 days. On the last day of both periods, mammary gland biopsies were taken to study genome-wide differences in gene expression on Affymetrix GeneChip® Bovine Genome Arrays (no. 900493) by ServiceXS (Leiden, The Netherlands). Supplementation with UFAs resulted in increased milk yield but decreased milk fat and protein percentages. Furthermore, the proportion of de novo fatty acids (FAs) in the milk was reduced, whereas that of long-chain FAs increased. Applying a statistical cut-off of false discovery rate of q-value

Dietary unsaturated fatty acids affect the mammary gland integrity and health in lactating dairy cows

Background Information about the effects of unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) supplementation on the health and integrity of the mammary gland in lactating dairy cows is lacking. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effects of unprotected dietary UFA on the global expression pattern of genes in the mammary gland tissue of grazing dairy cows, and to translate this information into relevant biological knowledge. Methods Twenty-eight Holstein-Friesian dairy cows were randomly assigned to 4 different concentrated UFA-sources for 23 days after which all cows were switched to a non-UFA-supplemented concentrate for an additional 28 days. On the last day of both periods, mammary gland biopsies were taken to study genome-wide differences in gene expression on Bovine Genome Arrays. Results Supplementation with UFA reduced the concentration of short chain fatty acids (FA), C16 FA and saturated FA in the milk, whereas that of trans-FA increased. One major finding was that canonical pathways associated with remodelling and immune functions of the mammary gland were predominantly down-regulated during UFA supplementation and negatively correlated with the concentration of milk trans-FA. Conclusions Supplementing grazing dairy cows with unprotected dietary UFA can affect the remodelling and immune functions of the mammary gland with potential consequences for its integrity and health, as well as milk quality

Towards the lattice study of M-theory (II)

We present new results of the quenched simulations of the reduced D=4 supersymmetric Yang - Mills quantum mechanics for larger gauge groups SU(N), 2<N<9. The model, studied at finite temperature, reveals existence of the two distinct regions which may be precursors of a black hole and the elementary D0 branes phases of M-theory conjectured in the literature. Present results for higher groups confirm the picture found already for N=2. Similar behaviour is observed in the preliminary simulations for the D=6 and D=10 models.Comment: Talk presented at XIX International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory lattice2001(surfaces

On the stability of Dirac sheet configurations

Using cooling for SU(2) lattice configurations, purely Abelian constant magnetic field configurations were left over after the annihilation of constituents that formed metastable Q=0 configurations. These so-called Dirac sheet configurations were found to be stable if emerging from the confined phase, close to the deconfinement phase transition, provided their Polyakov loop was sufficiently non-trivial. Here we show how this is related to the notion of marginal stability of the appropriate constant magnetic field configurations. We find a perfect agreement between the analytic prediction for the dependence of stability on the value of the Polyakov loop (the holonomy) in a finite volume and the numerical results studied on a finite lattice in the context of the Dirac sheet configurations

Small volume expansion of almost supersymmetric large N theories

We consider the small-volume dynamics of nonsupersymmetric orbifold and orientifold field theories defined on a three-torus, in a test of the claimed planar equivalence between these models and appropriate supersymmetric ``parent models". We study one-loop effective potentials over the moduli space of flat connections and find that planar equivalence is preserved for suitable averages over the moduli space. On the other hand, strong nonlinear effects produce local violations of planar equivalence at special points of moduli space. In the case of orbifold models, these effects show that the "twisted" sector dominates the low-energy dynamics.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures; added references, minor change