115 research outputs found
Partially ionized atmospheres of neutron stars with strong magnetic fields
We construct hydrogen atmosphere models for strongly magnetized neutron stars
in thermodynamic equilibrium, taking into account partial ionization. The
presence of bound states affects the equation of state, absorption
coefficients, and polarizability tensor of a strongly magnetized plasma.
Therefore the partial ionization influences the polarization vectors and
opacities of normal electromagnetic waves, and thus the spectra of outgoing
radiation. Here we review a model suitable for the most typical neutron-star
atmospheres and focus on the problems that remain to be solved for its
extension to other atmospheric parameters.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, Adv. Sp. Res., in pres
Promising effects of oxytocin on social and food-related behaviour in young children with Prader-Willi syndrome: A randomized, double-blind, controlled crossover trial
Background: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is known for hyperphagia with impaired satiety and a specific behavioural phenotype with stubbornness, temper tantrums, manipulative and controlling behaviour and obsessive
Effective Potential on Fuzzy Sphere
The effective potential of quantized scalar field on fuzzy sphere is
evaluated to the two-loop level. We see that one-loop potential behaves like
that in the commutative sphere and the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism of the
radiatively symmetry breaking could be also shown in the fuzzy sphere system.
In the two-loop level, we use the heavy-mass approximation and the
high-temperature approximation to perform the evaluations. The results show
that both of the planar and nonplanar Feynman diagrams have inclinations to
restore the symmetry breaking in the tree level. However, the contributions
from planar diagrams will dominate over those from nonplanar diagrams by a
factor N^2. Thus, at heavy-mass limit or high-temperature system the quantum
field on the fuzzy sphere will behave like those on the commutative sphere. We
also see that there is a drastic reduction of the degrees of freedom in the
nonplanar diagrams when the particle wavelength is smaller than the
noncommutativity scale.Comment: Latex 18 pages, some typos correcte
Noncommutative Differential Calculus for D-brane in Non-Constant B Field Background
In this paper we try to construct noncommutative Yang-Mills theory for
generic Poisson manifolds. It turns out that the noncommutative differential
calculus defined in an old work is exactly what we need. Using this calculus,
we generalize results about the Seiberg-Witten map, the Dirac-Born-Infeld
action, the matrix model and the open string quantization for constant B field
to non-constant background with H=0.Comment: 21 pages, Latex file, references added, minor modificatio
Candida albicans Inhibits Pseudomonas aeruginosa Virulence through Suppression of Pyochelin and Pyoverdine Biosynthesis.
Bacterial-fungal interactions have important physiologic and medical ramifications, but the mechanisms of these interactions are poorly understood. The gut is host to trillions of microorganisms, and bacterial-fungal interactions are likely to be important. Using a neutropenic mouse model of microbial gastrointestinal colonization and dissemination, we show that the fungus Candida albicans inhibits the virulence of the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa by inhibiting P. aeruginosa pyochelin and pyoverdine gene expression, which plays a critical role in iron acquisition and virulence. Accordingly, deletion of both P. aeruginosa pyochelin and pyoverdine genes attenuates P. aeruginosa virulence. Heat-killed C. albicans has no effect on P. aeruginosa, whereas C. albicans secreted proteins directly suppress P. aeruginosa pyoverdine and pyochelin expression and inhibit P. aeruginosa virulence in mice. Interestingly, suppression or deletion of pyochelin and pyoverdine genes has no effect on P. aeruginosa's ability to colonize the GI tract but does decrease P. aeruginosa's cytotoxic effect on cultured colonocytes. Finally, oral iron supplementation restores P. aeruginosa virulence in P. aeruginosa and C. albicans colonized mice. Together, our findings provide insight into how a bacterial-fungal interaction can modulate bacterial virulence in the intestine. Previously described bacterial-fungal antagonistic interactions have focused on growth inhibition or colonization inhibition/modulation, yet here we describe a novel observation of fungal-inhibition of bacterial effectors critical for virulence but not important for colonization. These findings validate the use of a mammalian model system to explore the complexities of polymicrobial, polykingdom infections in order to identify new therapeutic targets for preventing microbial disease
Lattice dynamics and electron-phonon coupling in transition metal diborides
The phonon density-of-states of transition metal diborides TMB2 with TM = Ti,
V, Ta, Nb and Y has been measured using the technique of inelastic neutron
scattering. The experimental data are compared with ab initio density
functional calculations whereby an excellent agreement is registered. The
calculations thus can be used to obtain electron-phonon spectral functions
within the isotropic limit. A comparison to similar data for MgB2 and AlB2
which were subject of prior publications as well as parameters important for
the superconducting properties are part of the discussion.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Matrix dynamics of fuzzy spheres
We study the dynamics of fuzzy two-spheres in a matrix model which represents
string theory in the presence of RR flux. We analyze the stability of known
static solutions of such a theory which contain commuting matrices and SU(2)
representations. We find that irreducible as well as reducible representations
are stable. Since the latter are of higher energy, this stability poses a
puzzle. We resolve this puzzle by noting that reducible representations have
marginal directions corresponding to non-spherical deformations. We obtain new
static solutions by turning on these marginal deformations. These solutions now
have instability or tachyonic directions. We discuss condensation of these
tachyons which correspond to classical trajectories interpolating from
multiple, small fuzzy spheres to a single, large sphere. We briefly discuss
spatially independent configurations of a D3/D5 system described by the same
matrix model which now possesses a supergravity dual.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, uses JHEP.cls; (v2) references adde
A P53-Independent DNA Damage Response Suppresses Oncogenic Proliferation and Genome Instability
The Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 complex is a DNA double-strand break sensor that mediates a tumor-suppressive DNA damage response (DDR) in cells undergoing oncogenic stress, yet the mechanisms underlying this effect are poorly understood. Using a genetically inducible primary mammary epithelial cell model, we demonstrate that Mre11 suppresses proliferation and DNA damage induced by diverse oncogenic drivers through a p53-independent mechanism. Breast tumorigenesis models engineered to express a hypomorphic Mre11 allele exhibit increased levels of oncogene-induced DNA damage, R-loop accumulation, and chromosomal instability with a characteristic copy number loss phenotype. Mre11 complex dysfunction is identified in a subset of human triple-negative breast cancers and is associated with increased sensitivity to DNA-damaging therapy and inhibitors of ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3 related (ATR) and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Thus, deficiencies in the Mre11-dependent DDR drive proliferation and genome instability patterns in p53-deficient breast cancers and represent an opportunity for therapeutic exploitation
The Fuzzy Sphere: From The Uncertainty Relation To The Stereographic Projection
On the fuzzy sphere, no state saturates simultaneously all the Heisenberg
uncertainties. We propose a weaker uncertainty for which this holds. The family
of states so obtained is physically motivated because it encodes information
about positions in this fuzzy context. In particular, these states realize in a
natural way a deformation of the stereographic projection. Surprisingly, in the
large limit, they reproduce some properties of the ordinary coherent states
on the non commutative plane.Comment: 18 pages, Latex. Minor changes in notations. Version to appear in
JHE
Green function techniques in the treatment of quantum transport at the molecular scale
The theoretical investigation of charge (and spin) transport at nanometer
length scales requires the use of advanced and powerful techniques able to deal
with the dynamical properties of the relevant physical systems, to explicitly
include out-of-equilibrium situations typical for electrical/heat transport as
well as to take into account interaction effects in a systematic way.
Equilibrium Green function techniques and their extension to non-equilibrium
situations via the Keldysh formalism build one of the pillars of current
state-of-the-art approaches to quantum transport which have been implemented in
both model Hamiltonian formulations and first-principle methodologies. We offer
a tutorial overview of the applications of Green functions to deal with some
fundamental aspects of charge transport at the nanoscale, mainly focusing on
applications to model Hamiltonian formulations.Comment: Tutorial review, LaTeX, 129 pages, 41 figures, 300 references,
submitted to Springer series "Lecture Notes in Physics
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