Pseudo Goldstone Bosons Phenomenology in Minimal Walking Technicolor

We construct the non-linear realized Lagrangian for the Goldstone Bosons associated to the breaking pattern of SU(4) to SO(4). This pattern is expected to occur in any Technicolor extension of the standard model featuring two Dirac fermions transforming according to real representations of the underlying gauge group. We concentrate on the Minimal Walking Technicolor quantum number assignments with respect to the standard model symmetries. We demonstrate that for, any choice of the quantum numbers, consistent with gauge and Witten anomalies the spectrum of the pseudo Goldstone Bosons contains electrically doubly charged states which can be discovered at the Large Hadron Collider.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure

First Principles Simulations of Boron Diffusion in Graphite

Boron strongly modifies electronic and diffusion properties of graphite. We report the first ab initio study of boron interaction with the point defects in graphite, which includes structures, thermodynamics, and diffusion. A number of possible diffusion mechanisms of boron in graphite are suggested. We conclude that boron diffuses in graphite by a kick-out mechanism. This mechanism explains the common activation energy, but large magnitude difference, for the rate of boron diffusion parallel and perpendicular to the basal plane. © 2007 The American Physical Society

Free monadic Tarski and MMI3-algebras

MMI3-algebras are a generalization of the monadic Tarski algebras as defined by A. Monteiro and L. Iturrioz, and a particular case of the MMIn+1-algebras defined by A. Figallo. They can also be seen as monadic three-valued £ukasiewicz algebras without a first element. By using this point of view, and the free monadic extensions, we construct the free MMI3-algebras on a finite number of generators, and indicate the coordinates of the generators. As a byproduct, we also obtain a construction of the free monadic Tarski algebras.Fil: Entizne, Rosana V.. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Matemática; ArgentinaFil: Monteiro, Luiz F.. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Matemática; ArgentinaFil: Savini, Sonia M.. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Matemática; ArgentinaFil: Viglizzo, Ignacio Dario. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Matemática; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentin

Transplacental transmission of field and rescued strains of BTV-2 and BTV-8 in experimentally infected sheep

Transplacental transmission of bluetongue virus has been shown previously for the North European strain of serotype 8 (BTV-8) and for tissue culture or chicken egg-adapted vaccine strains but not for field strains of other serotypes. In this study, pregnant ewes (6 per group) were inoculated with either field or rescued strains of BTV-2 and BTV-8 in order to determine the ability of these viruses to cross the placental barrier. The field BTV-2 and BTV-8 strains was passaged once in Culicoides KC cells and once in mammalian cells. All virus inoculated sheep became infected and seroconverted against the different BTV strains used in this study. BTV RNA was detectable in the blood of all but two ewes for over 28 days but infectious virus could only be detected in the blood for a much shorter period. Interestingly, transplacental transmission of BTV-2 (both field and rescued strains) was demonstrated at high efficiency (6 out of 13 lambs born to BTV-2 infected ewes) while only 1 lamb of 12 born to BTV-8 infected ewes showed evidence of in utero infection. In addition, evidence for horizontal transmission of BTV-2 between ewes was observed. As expected, the parental BTV-2 and BTV-8 viruses and the viruses rescued by reverse genetics showed very similar properties to each other. This study showed, for the first time, that transplacental transmission of BTV-2, which had been minimally passaged in cell culture, can occur; hence such transmission might be more frequent than previously thought

Seven good reasons for integrating terrestrial and marine spatial datasets in changing environments

A comprehensive understanding of environmental changes taking place in coastal regions relies on accurate integration of both terrestrial and submerged geo-environmental datasets. However, this practice is hardly implemented because of the high (or even prohibitive) survey costs required for submerged areas and the frequent low accessibility of shallow areas. In addition, geoscientists are used to working on land or at sea independently, making the integration even more challenging. Undoubtedly new methods and techniques of offshore investigation adopted over the last 50 years and the latest advances in computer vision have played a crucial role in allowing a seamless combination of terrestrial and marine data. Although efforts towards an innovative integration of geo-environmental data from above to underwater are still in their infancy, we have identified seven topics for which this integration could be of tremendous benefit for environmental research: (1) geomorphological mapping; (2) Late-Quaternary changes of coastal landscapes; (3) geoarchaeology; (4) geoheritage and geodiversity; (5) geohazards; (6) marine and landscape ecology; and (7) coastal planning and management. Our review indicates that the realization of seamless DTMs appears to be the basic condition to operate a comprehensive integration of marine and terrestrial data sets, so far exhaustively achieved in very few case studies. Technology and interdisciplinarity will be therefore critical for the development of a holistic approach to understand our changing environments and design appropriate management measures accordingly

Specific interaction of plant HMG-like proteins with cruciform DNA

Proteins which, on the basis of their solubility in 0.35% NaCl-2% TCA and of their electrophoretic mobility, correspond to animal HMG 1/2 family were isolated from nuclei of ungerminated pea embryos. These proteins ound with a high degree of specificity to synthetic cruciform DNA produced by annealing chemically synthesized oligonucleotides. Hence, specific binding to four-way junction DNA, previously reported for animal HMG 1 and 2 proteins proved also to be a property of plant HMG 1/2 family, in spite of their low homology to the animal ones

The Social Appraisal of Techno-Experiments: Whirlpools and Mosaics of Smart Urbanism

Technology-driven experiments—techno-experiments—have become a central mode of spatial intervention in a paradigm of smart growth. They are often considered a manifestation of a techno-managerial approach to governance, built upon the increasing influence of IT corporations on urban politics. Yet, there is little evidence indicating how these interests articulate techno-experiments and shape their legacies over the long run. This paper questions the varied politics of techno-experiments by comparing four projects in Stockholm and Amsterdam: two smart energy grid pilots and two online community-based platforms. Mobilizing the notion of the “social appraisal of technology,” it argues that techno-experiments can take different forms depending on how the role of digital technology is defined and negotiated by actors throughout the process of experimentation. The paper empirically shows that experiments can evolve in two main ways, defined as “whirlpools” and “mosaics.” As whirlpools, they upscale self-referentially; as mosaics, they instead extend into a set of scattered spin-offs. The key factors producing such outcomes, these cases show, are the form of partnership established at the outset of techno-experiments, and the ability of research funding and governmental agencies to steer projects as they develop