The Savvidy ``ferromagnetic vacuum'' in three-dimensional lattice gauge theory

The vacuum effective potential of three-dimensional SU(2) lattice gauge theory in an applied color-magnetic field is computed over a wide range of field strengths. The background field is induced by an external current, as in continuum field theory. Scaling and finite volume effects are analyzed systematically. The first evidence from lattice simulations is obtained of the existence of a nontrivial minimum in the effective potential. This supports a ``ferromagnetic'' picture of gluon condensation, proposed by Savvidy on the basis of a one-loop calculation in (3+1)-dimensional QCD.Comment: 9pp (REVTEX manuscript). Postscript figures appende

How to adequately represent biological processes in modeling multifunctionality of arable soils

Essential soil functions such as plant productivity, C storage, nutrient cycling and the storage and purification of water all depend on soil biological processes. Given this insight, it is remarkable that in modeling of these soil functions, the various biological actors usually do not play an explicit role. In this review and perspective paper we analyze the state of the art in modeling these soil functions and how biological processes could more adequately be accounted for. We do this for six different biologically driven processes clusters that are key for understanding soil functions, namely i) turnover of soil organic matter, ii) N cycling, iii) P dynamics, iv) biodegradation of contaminants v) plant disease control and vi) soil structure formation. A major conclusion is that the development of models to predict changes in soil functions at the scale of soil profiles (i.e. pedons) should be better rooted in the underlying biological processes that are known to a large extent. This is prerequisite to arrive at the predictive models that we urgently need under current conditions of Global Change

On the nature of surface roughness with application to contact mechanics, sealing, rubber friction and adhesion

Surface roughness has a huge impact on many important phenomena. The most important property of rough surfaces is the surface roughness power spectrum C(q). We present surface roughness power spectra of many surfaces of practical importance, obtained from the surface height profile measured using optical methods and the Atomic Force Microscope. We show how the power spectrum determines the contact area between two solids. We also present applications to sealing, rubber friction and adhesion for rough surfaces, where the power spectrum enters as an important input.Comment: Topical review; 82 pages, 61 figures; Format: Latex (iopart). Some figures are in Postscript Level

Effect of Long-Term Agricultural Management on the Soil Microbiota Influenced by the Time of Soil Sampling

Application of agrochemicals and mechanization enabled increasing agriculturalproductivity yet caused various environmental and soil health-related problems.Agricultural practices affect soil microorganisms, which are the key players of manyecosystem processes. However, less is known about whether this effect differs betweentime points. Therefore, soil was sampled in winter (without crop) and in summer (inthe presence of maize) from a long-term field experiment (LTE) in Bernburg (Germany)managed either under cultivator tillage (CT) or moldboard plow (MP) in combinationwith either intensive nitrogen (N)-fertilization and pesticides (Int) or extensive reducedN-fertilization without fungicides (Ext), respectively. High-throughput sequencing of 16SrRNA gene and fungal ITS2 amplicons showed that changes in the microbial communitycomposition were correlated to differences in soil chemical properties caused by tillagepractice. Microbial communities of soils sampled in winter differed only depending onthe tillage practice while, in summer, also a strong effect of the fertilization intensity wasobserved. A small proportion of microbial taxa was shared between soils from the twosampling times, suggesting the existence of a stable core microbiota at the LTE. Ingeneral, taxa associated with organic matter decomposition (such as Actinobacteria,Bacteroidetes, Rhizopus, and Exophiala) had a higher relative abundance under CT.Among the taxa with significant changes in relative abundances due to different long-termagricultural practices were putative pathogenic (e.g., Gibellulopsis and Gibberella) andbeneficial microbial genera (e.g., Chitinophagaceae, Ferruginibacter, and Minimedusa).In summary, this study suggests that the effects of long-term agricultural managementpractices on the soil microbiota are influenced by the soil sampling time, and this needsto be kept in mind in future studies for the interpretation of field data.Fil: Fernandez Gnecco, Gabriela Amancay. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Covacevich, Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Consolo, Verónica Fabiana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Behr, Jan H.. Leibniz Institute Of Vegetable And Ornamental Crops (; AlemaniaFil: Sommermann, Loreen. Department Of Agriculture, Ecotrophology And Landscape; AlemaniaFil: Moradtalab, Narges. Department Of Nutritional Crop Physiology, Institute Of; AlemaniaFil: Maccario, Lorrie. Section Of Microbiology, Department Of Biology, Univers; AlemaniaFil: Sørensen, Søren J.. Section Of Microbiology, Department Of Biology, Univers; AlemaniaFil: Deubel, Annette. Department Of Agriculture, Ecotrophology And Landscape; AlemaniaFil: Schellenberg, Ingo. Department Of Agriculture, Ecotrophology And Landscape; AlemaniaFil: Geistlinger, Joerg. Department Of Agriculture, Ecotrophology And Landscape; AlemaniaFil: Neumann, Günter. Department Of Nutritional Crop Physiology, Institute Of; AlemaniaFil: Grosch, Rita. Leibniz Institute Of Vegetable And Ornamental Crops (; AlemaniaFil: Smalla, Kornelia. Julius Kühn Institut Braunschweig; AlemaniaFil: Babin, Doreen. Julius Kühn Institut Braunschweig; Alemani

Finding a moral homeground: appropriately critical religious education and transmission of spiritual values

Values-inspired issues remain an important part of the British school curriculum. Avoiding moral relativism while fostering enthusiasm for spiritual values and applying them to non-curricular learning such as school ethos or children's home lives are challenges where spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development might benefit from leadership by critical religious education (RE). Whether the school's model of spirituality is that of an individual spiritual tradition (schools of a particular religious character) or universal pluralistic religiosity (schools of plural religious character), the pedagogy of RE thought capable of leading SMSC development would be the dialogical approach with examples of successful implementation described by Gates, Ipgrave and Skeie. Marton's phenomenography, is thought to provide a valuable framework to allow the teacher to be appropriately critical in the transmission of spiritual values in schools of a particular religious character as evidenced by Hella's work in Lutheran schools

Expression of FAP-1 by human colon adenocarcinoma: implication for resistance against Fas-mediated apoptosis in cancer

Although colon carcinoma cells express Fas receptors, they are resistant to Fas-mediated apoptosis. Defects within the intracellular Fas signal transduction may be responsible. We investigated whether the Fas-associated phosphatase-1 (FAP-1), an inhibitor of Fas signal transduction, contributed to this resistance in colon carcinomas. In vivo, apoptosis of cancer cells was detected in situ using terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling ( TUNEL). FAP-1, FasR, and Fas ligand (FasL) were detected using immunohistochemistry. In vitro, colon carcinoma cells were primarily cultured, and their sensitivity to Fas-mediated apoptosis was evaluated by treatment with agonistic anti-FasR CH11 IgM monoclonal antibody in the presence or absence of synthetic Ac-SLV (serine-leucine-valine) tripeptide. Fas-associated phosphatase-1 expression was detected in 20 out of 28 colon adenocarcinomas. In vivo, a positive correlation between the percentage of apoptotic tumour cells and the number of FasL-positive tumour infiltrating lymphocytes was observed in FAP-1 negative cancers, but not in FAP-1-positive ones. Primarily cultured colon cancer cells, which were refractory to CH-11-induced apoptosis, had higher expression of FAP-1 on protein and mRNA levels than the sensitive group. Resistance to Fas-mediated apoptosis in tumour cells could be abolished by Ac-SLV tripetides. Fas-associated phosphatase-1 expression protects colon cancer cells from Fas-mediated apoptosis, and blockade of FAP-1 and FasR interaction sensitises tumour cells to Fas-dependent apoptosis

Insufficient antiretroviral therapy in pregnancy: missed opportunities for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Europe

Background: Although mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) rates are at an all-time low in Western Europe, potentially preventable transmissions continue to occur. Duration of antenatal combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) is strongly associated with MTCT risk.Methods: Data on pregnant HIV-infected women enrolled in the Western and Central European sites of the European Collaborative Study between January 2000 and July 2009 were analysed. The proportion of women receiving no antenatal ART or 1-13 days of treatment was investigated, and associated factors explored using logistic regression models.Results: Of 2,148 women, 142 (7%) received no antenatal ART, decreasing from 8% in 2000-2003 to 5% in 2004-2009 (chi(2)=8.73; P= 14 days antenatal ART and 7.4% (10/136) among those with insufficient ART.Conclusions: Over the last 10 years, around one in 11 women in this study received insufficient antenatal ART, accounting for 40% of MTCTs. One-half of these women were diagnosed before conception, suggesting disengagement from care

Newly established tumourigenic primary human colon cancer cell lines are sensitive to TRAIL-induced apoptosis in vitro and in vivo

Most data on the therapeutic potential of tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) as well as resistance to FAS ligand (FASL) in colorectal cancer have come from in vitro studies using cell lines. To gain a clearer understanding about the susceptibility of patient tumours to TRAIL and FASL, we derived primary human cancer epithelial cells from colon cancer patients. Characterisation of primary cultures PAP60 and MIH55 determined their highly proliferating advantage, transforming capability and tumorigenicity in vitro and in vivo. Although FASL treatment appeared to cause little apoptosis only in the PAP60 primary culture, increased apoptosis independent of p53 was observed in both primary PAP60 and MIH55 and control cell lines Caco-2, HT29 and DLD-1 after treatment with SuperKiller TRAIL. Expression analysis of death receptors (DR) in the original parental tumours, the primary cultures before and after engraftment as well as the mouse xenografts, revealed a significant upregulation of both DR4 and DR5, which correlated to differences in sensitivity of the cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Treating patient tumour xenograft/SCID mouse models with Killer TRAIL in vivo suppressed tumour growth. This is the first demonstration of TRAIL-induced apoptosis in characterised tumorigenic primary human cultures (in vitro) and antitumour activity in xenograft models (in vivo)