Minimal anomaly-free chiral fermion sets and gauge coupling unification

We look for minimal chiral sets of fermions beyond the standard model that are anomaly free and, simultaneously, vectorlike particles with respect to colour SU(3) and electromagnetic U(1). We then study whether the addition of such particles to the standard model particle content allows for the unification of gauge couplings at a high energy scale, above $5.0 \times 10^{15}$ GeV so as to be safely consistent with proton decay bounds. The possibility to have unification at the string scale is also considered. Inspired in grand unified theories, we also search for minimal chiral fermion sets that belong to SU(5) multiplets. Restricting to representations up to dimension 50, we show that some of these sets can lead to gauge unification at the GUT and/or string scales.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 8 tables; Comments and references added, final version to appear in Phys. Rev.

EP20.01: Twin pregnancy birth in a new non-tertiary hospital

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pele de sapo melon grown under different irrigation depths and bioestimulant rates in the Semiarid region of Brazil.

The objective of this work was to evaluate physiological and biochemical responses of Pele de sapo melon to different irrigation depths (ID) and bioestimulant rates (BTM) to improve its production efficiency. The experiment was conducted in an experimental field in Juazeiro, BA, Brazil. A randomized block design in split split-plot arrangement was used, with four ID (60, 80, 100, and 120% of crop evapotranspiration ? ETc) in the plots; five (BTM) (Stimulate® at 0, 0.6, 1.2, 2.4, and 4.8 L ha-1 applied via irrigation system during the flowering stage and after the fruiting stage) in the subplots; and two crop seasons (hot season, 23 to 39 °C; and cold season, 15 to 30 °C) in the sub-subplots. The plants were under daily drip irrigation and spacing of 2.0 × 0.3 m. The variables evaluated were: gas exchange, water use efficiency, chlorophyll a and b, relative water, sugar, and amino acid contents, and fruit yield. The results showed that the ID of 60% ETc resulted in water deficit, denoted by increases in solute concentrations, whereas the ID of 80% and 100% resulted in plants with good performance for biochemical, physiological, and production parameters in both crop seasons. The hot season, ID of 120% ETc, and BTM of 2.4 L ha-1 are recommended for Pele de sapo melon crops, since they result in the best physiological responses and fruit yields. Keywords: Cucumis melo, irrigation management, water def

Citalopram reduces aggregation of ATXN3 in a YAC transgenic mouse model of Machado-Joseph disease

Machado-Joseph disease, also known as spinocerebellar ataxia type 3, is a fatal polyglutamine disease with no disease-modifying treatment. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor citalopram was shown in nematode and mouse models to be a compelling repurposing candidate for Machado-Joseph disease therapeutics. We sought to confirm the efficacy of citalopram to decrease ATXN3 aggregation in an unrelated mouse model of Machado-Joseph disease. Four-week-old YACMJD84.2 mice and non-transgenic littermates were given citalopram 8 mg/kg in drinking water or water for 10 weeks. At the end of treatment, brains were collected for biochemical and pathological analyses. Brains of citalopram-treated YACMJD84.2 mice showed an approximate 50% decrease in the percentage of cells containing ATXN3-positive inclusions in the substantia nigra and three examined brainstem nuclei compared to controls. No differences in ATXN3 inclusion load were observed in deep cerebellar nuclei of mice. Citalopram effect on ATXN3 aggregate burden was corroborated by immunoblotting analysis. While lysates from the brainstem and cervical spinal cord of citalopram-treated mice showed a decrease in all soluble forms of ATXN3 and a trend toward reduction of insoluble ATXN3, no differences in ATXN3 levels were found between cerebella of citalopram-treated and vehicle-treated mice. Citalopram treatment altered levels of select components of the cellular protein homeostatic machinery that may be expected to enhance the capacity to refold and/or degrade mutant ATXN3. The results here obtained in a second independent mouse model of Machado-Joseph disease further support citalopram as a potential drug to be repurposed for this fatal disorder.This work was funded by Becky Babcox Research Fund/pilot research award G015617, University of Michigan to M.C.C. and NINDS/NIH R01NS038712 to H.L.P. The work performed at the University of Minho was funded by the European Regional Development Funds (FEDER), through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Programme (COMPETE), and by National funds, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038. This article was developed under the scope of the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Program (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the FEDER. This work was also supported by FCT and COMPETE through the projects [PTDC/SAU-GMG/112617/2009] (to P.M.) and [EXPL/BIM-MEC/ 0239/2012] (to A.T.C.); by FCT through the project [POCI-01-0145- FEDER-016818 (PTDC/NEU-NMC/3648/2014)] (to P.M.); by National Ataxia Foundation (to P.M. and to A.T.C.); and by Ataxia UK (to P.M.). S.D.S. and A.T.C. were supported by fellowships from FCT, SFRH/BD/ 78388/2011 and SFRH/BPD/102317/2014, respectively. FCT fellowships are co-financed by POPH, QREN, Governo da República Portuguesa and EU/FSE

Tailoring porous structure of ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) by controlling solvent/polymer ratio and solvent evaporation rate

Ferroelectric macroporous poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) membranes have been produced by isothermal crystallization from the solution at different temperatures starting from different diluted solutions of the co-polymer in dimethylformamide. In this way pore architecture, consisting in interconnected spherical pores can be obtained. The mechanism and kinetics of solvent evaporation was investigated and related to the evolution of the polymer microstructure. The mechanism underlying the pattern formation has been discussed on the light of the Flory-Huggins (FH) lattice theory, grain boundary effects and the Cahn-Hilliard equation for mass conservation systems. It was also observed that the temperature or initial concentration of the crystallization process does not affect the phase, ferroelectric transition temperature or the melting temperature of the polymer.The authors thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) Grants PTDC/CTM-NAN/112574/2009, PTDC/CTM/73030/2006, PTDC/CTM/69316/2006 and NANO/NMed-SD/0156/2007. V.F., C.M.C. and V.S. thank the FCT for the SFRH/BD/44289/2008, SFRH/BD/68499/2010, SFRH/BPD/63148/2009 grants, respectively. JLGR acknowledge the funding from the Programa de Apoyo a la Investigacion y Desarrollo (PAID-00-09) of the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia for a short stay in Universidade do Minho, Braga, the support of the Spanish Ministry of Science through project No. MAT2010-21611-C03-01 (including the FEDER financial support) and funding for research in the field of Regenerative Medicine through the collaboration agreement from the Conselleria de Sanidad (Generalitat Valenciana), and the Institute de Salud Carlos III (Ministry of Science and Innovation). The authors wish also thank the CeNTI - Centre for Nanotechnology and Smart Materials, Rua Fernando Mesquita, 2782, 4760-034 Vila Nova de Famalicao, Portugal for allowing the use of some experimental equipment.California, A.; Cardoso, VF.; Costa, CM.; Sencadas, V.; Botelho, G.; Gómez Ribelles, JL.; Lanceros-Mendez, S. (2011). Tailoring porous structure of ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) by controlling solvent/polymer ratio and solvent evaporation rate. EUROPEAN POLYMER JOURNAL. 47(12):2442-2450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2011.10.005S24422450471

The 2013 face recognition evaluation in mobile environment

Automatic face recognition in unconstrained environments is a challenging task. To test current trends in face recognition algorithms, we organized an evaluation on face recognition in mobile environment. This paper presents the results of 8 different participants using two verification metrics. Most submitted algorithms rely on one or more of three types of features: local binary patterns, Gabor wavelet responses including Gabor phases, and color information. The best results are obtained from UNILJ-ALP, which fused several image representations and feature types, and UC-HU, which learns optimal features with a convolutional neural network. Additionally, we assess the usability of the algorithms in mobile devices with limited resources. © 2013 IEEE

The use of Open Reading frame ESTs (ORESTES) for analysis of the honey bee transcriptome

BACKGROUND: The ongoing efforts to sequence the honey bee genome require additional initiatives to define its transcriptome. Towards this end, we employed the Open Reading frame ESTs (ORESTES) strategy to generate profiles for the life cycle of Apis mellifera workers. RESULTS: Of the 5,021 ORESTES, 35.2% matched with previously deposited Apis ESTs. The analysis of the remaining sequences defined a set of putative orthologs whose majority had their best-match hits with Anopheles and Drosophila genes. CAP3 assembly of the Apis ORESTES with the already existing 15,500 Apis ESTs generated 3,408 contigs. BLASTX comparison of these contigs with protein sets of organisms representing distinct phylogenetic clades revealed a total of 1,629 contigs that Apis mellifera shares with different taxa. Most (41%) represent genes that are in common to all taxa, another 21% are shared between metazoans (Bilateria), and 16% are shared only within the Insecta clade. A set of 23 putative genes presented a best match with human genes, many of which encode factors related to cell signaling/signal transduction. 1,779 contigs (52%) did not match any known sequence. Applying a correction factor deduced from a parallel analysis performed with Drosophila melanogaster ORESTES, we estimate that approximately half of these no-match ESTs contigs (22%) should represent Apis-specific genes. CONCLUSIONS: The versatile and cost-efficient ORESTES approach produced minilibraries for honey bee life cycle stages. Such information on central gene regions contributes to genome annotation and also lends itself to cross-transcriptome comparisons to reveal evolutionary trends in insect genomes

Mechanical, electrical and electro-mechanical properties of thermoplastic elastomer styrene–butadiene–styrene/multiwall carbon nanotubes composites

Composites of styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) block copolymer with multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) were processed by solution casting in order to investigate the influence of filler content, the different ratio of styrene/butadiene in the copolymer and the architecture of the SBS matrix on the electrical, mechanical and electro-mechanical properties of the composites. It was found that filler content and elastomer matrix architecture influence the percolation threshold and consequently the overall composite electrical conductivity. The mechanical properties are mainly affected by the styrene and filler content. Hopping between nearest fillers is proposed as the main mechanism for the composite conduction. The variation of the electrical resistivity is linear with the deformation. This fact, together with the gauge factor values in the range of 2 to 18, results in appropriate composites to be used as (large) deformation sensors.This work was funded by FEDER funds through the "Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade – COMPETE" and by national funds by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, through project references PTDC/CTM/69316/2006, PTDC/CTM/73465/2006, PTDC/CTM-NAN/112574/2009, and NANO/NMed- SD/0156/2007. PC, JS and VS also thank FCT for the SFRH/BD/64267/2009, SFRH/BD/60623/2009 and SFRH/BPD/63148/2009 grants, respectively. The authors also thank support from the COST Action MP1003 ”European Scientific Network for Artificial Muscles” and the COST action MP0902 “Composites of Inorganic Nanotubes and Polymers (COINAPO)