An in-host model of HIV incorporating latent infection and viral mutation

We construct a seven-component model of the in-host dynamics of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type-1 (i.e, HIV) that accounts for latent infection and the propensity of viral mutation. A dynamical analysis is conducted and a theorem is presented which characterizes the long time behavior of the model. Finally, we study the effects of an antiretroviral drug and treatment implications.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, Proceedings of AIMS Conference on Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems (2015

Evolving small-world networks with geographical attachment preference

We introduce a minimal extended evolving model for small-world networks which is controlled by a parameter. In this model the network growth is determined by the attachment of new nodes to already existing nodes that are geographically close. We analyze several topological properties for our model both analytically and by numerical simulations. The resulting network shows some important characteristics of real-life networks such as the small-world effect and a high clustering.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Tailored design of NKT-stimulatory glycolipids for polarization of immune responses.

Natural killer T (NKT) cell is a distinct population of T lymphocytes that can rapidly release massive amount of Th1 and Th2 cytokines upon the engagement of their T cell receptor with glycolipids presented by CD1d. The secreted cytokines can promote cell-mediated immunity to kill tumor cells and intracellular pathogens, or suppress autoreactive immune cells in autoimmune diseases. Thus, NKT cell is an attractive target for developing new therapeutics to manipulate immune system. The best-known glycolipid to activate NKT cells is α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer), which has been used as a prototype for designing new NKT stimulatory glycolipids. Many analogues have been generated by modification of the galactosyl moiety, the acyl chain or the phytosphingosine chain of α-GalCer. Some of the analogues showed greater abilities than α-GalCer in polarizing immune responses toward Th1 or Th2 dominance. Among them, several analogues containing phenyl groups in the lipid tails were more potent in inducing Th1-skewed cytokines and exhibited greater anticancer efficacy than α-GalCer. Analyses of the correlation between structure and activity of various α-GalCer analogues on the activation of iNKT cell revealed that CD1d-glycolipid complexes interacted with the same population of iNKT cell expressing similar T-cell receptor Vβ as α-GalCer. On the other hand, those phenyl glycolipids with propensity for Th1 dominant responses showed greater binding avidity and stability than α-GalCer for iNKT T-cell receptor when complexed with CD1d. Thus, it is the avidity and stability of the ternary complexes of CD1d-glycolipid-iNKT TCR that dictate the polarity and potency of immune responses. These findings provide a key to the rationale design of immune modulating glycolipids with desirable Th1/Th2 polarity for clinical application. In addition, elucidation of α-GalCer-induced anergy, liver damage and accumulation of myeloid derived suppressor cells has offered explanation for its lacklustre anti-cancer activities in clinical trials. On other hand, the lack of such drawbacks in glycolipid analogues containing phenyl groups in the lipid tails of α-GalCer coupled with the greater binding avidity and stability of CD1d-glycolipid complex for iNKT T-cell receptor, account for their superior anti-cancer efficacy in tumor bearing mice. Further clinical development of these phenyl glycolipids is warranted

Determination of f+K(0)f_+^K(0) and Extraction of ∣Vcs∣|V_{cs}| from Semileptonic DD Decays

By globally analyzing all existing measured branching fractions and partial rates in different four momentum transfer-squared $q^2$ bins of $D\to Ke^+\nu_e$ decays, we obtain the product of the form factor and magnitude of CKM matrix element $V_{cs}$ to be $f_+^K(0)|V_{cs}|=0.717\pm0.004$. With this product, we determine the $D\to K$ semileptonic form factor $f_+^K(0)=0.737\pm0.004\pm0.000$ in conjunction with the value of $|V_{cs}|$ determined from the SM global fit. Alternately, with the product together with the input of the form factor $f_+^K(0)$ calculated in lattice QCD recently, we extract $|V_{cs}|^{D\to Ke^+\nu_e}=0.962\pm0.005\pm0.014$, where the error is still dominated by the uncertainty of the form factor calculated in lattice QCD. Combining the $|V_{cs}|^{D_s^+\to\ell^+\nu_\ell}=1.012\pm0.015\pm0.009$ extracted from all existing measurements of $D^+_s\to\ell^+\nu_\ell$ decays and $|V_{cs}|^{D\to Ke^+\nu_e}=0.962\pm0.005\pm0.014$ together, we find the most precisely determined $|V_{cs}|$ to be $|V_{cs}|=0.983\pm0.011$, which improves the accuracy of the PDG'2014 value $|V_{cs}|^{\rm PDG'2014}=0.986\pm0.016$ by $45\%$

Unified First Law and Thermodynamics of Apparent Horizon in FRW Universe

In this paper we revisit the relation between the Friedmann equations and the first law of thermodynamics. We find that the unified first law firstly proposed by Hayward to treat the "outer"trapping horizon of dynamical black hole can be used to the apparent horizon (a kind of "inner" trapping horizon in the context of the FRW cosmology) of the FRW universe. We discuss three kinds of gravity theorties: Einstein theory, Lovelock thoery and scalar-tensor theory. In Einstein theory, the first law of thermodynamics is always satisfied on the apparent horizon. In Lovelock theory, treating the higher derivative terms as an effective energy-momentum tensor, we find that this method can give the same entropy formula for the apparent horizon as that of black hole horizon. This implies that the Clausius relation holds for the Lovelock theory. In scalar-tensor gravity, we find, by using the same procedure, the Clausius relation no longer holds. This indicates that the apparent horizon of FRW universe in the scalar-tensor gravity corresponds to a system of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. We show this point by using the method developed recently by Eling {\it et al.} for dealing with the $f(R)$ gravity.Comment: v2: revtex, 23 pages, references added, minor changes, to appear in PR