Concordance group of virtual knots

We study concordance of virtual knots. Our main result is that a classical knot K is virtually slice if and only if it is classically slice. From this we deduce that the concordance group of classical knots embeds into the concordance group of long virtual knots

Effects of aminoperimidine on electrolyte transport across amphibian skin

The effect of aminoperimidine (AP)on transepithelial Na+ transport and Cl- conductance (G(Cl)) of isolated amphibian skin (Bufo viridis and Rana esculenta) was analyzed using transepithelial and intracellular electrophysiological techniques. AP, applied at concentrations between 30 and 100 mu M from the mucosal side, stimulated Na+ transport rapidly and reversibly by more than 30% of the control value due to an increase in apical membrane Na+ permeability. Influence of AP on basolateral membrane conductance and effective driving force for Na+ were negligible. Voltage-activated G(Cl) of toad skin, but not the resting, deactivated conductance, as well as spontaneously high G(Cl) in frog skin was rapidly inhibited by AP in a concentration-dependent manner. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 20 mu M is the highest hithero reported inhibitory power for G(Cl) in amphibian skin. The effect of AP on G(Cl) was slowly and incompletely reversible even after brief exposure to the agent. Serosal application of AP had similar, albeit delayed effects on both Nai and Cl- transport. AP did not interfere with the Cl- pathway after it was opened by 100-300 mu M CPT-cAMP, a membrane-permeable, nonhydrolyzed analogue of cAMP. Inhibition of the voltage-activated G(Cl) by AP was attenuated or missing when AP was applied during voltage perturbation to serosa-positive potentials. Since AP is positively charged at physiological pH, it suggests that the affected site is located inside the Cl- pathway at a certain distance from the external surface. AP affects then the Na+ and Cl- transport pathways independent of each other. The nature of chemical interference with AP, which is responsible for the influence on the transport of Na+ and Cl-, remains to be elucidated

The Weak and Strong Lefschetz Properties for Artinian K-Algebras

Let A = bigoplus_{i >= 0} A_i be a standard graded Artinian K-algebra, where char K = 0. Then A has the Weak Lefschetz property if there is an element ell of degree 1 such that the multiplication times ell : A_i --> A_{i+1} has maximal rank, for every i, and A has the Strong Lefschetz property if times ell^d : A_i --> A_{i+d} has maximal rank for every i and d. The main results obtained in this paper are the following. 1) EVERY height three complete intersection has the Weak Lefschetz property. (Our method, surprisingly, uses rank two vector bundles on P^2 and the Grauert-Mulich theorem.) 2) We give a complete characterization (including a concrete construction) of the Hilbert functions that can occur for K-algebras with the Weak or Strong Lefschetz property (and the characterization is the same one). 3) We give a sharp bound on the graded Betti numbers (achieved by our construction) of Artinian K-algebras with the Weak or Strong Lefschetz property and fixed Hilbert function. This bound is again the same for both properties. Some Hilbert functions in fact FORCE the algebra to have the maximal Betti numbers. 4) EVERY Artinian ideal in K[x,y] possesses the Strong Lefschetz property. This is false in higher codimension.Comment: To appear in J. Algebr

Kepler super-flare stars: what are they?

The Kepler mission has led to the serendipitous discovery of a significant number of `super flares' - white light flares with energies between 10^33 erg and 10^36 erg - on solar-type stars. It has been speculated that these could be `freak' events that might happen on the Sun, too. We have started a programme to study the nature of the stars on which these super flares have been observed. Here we present high-resolution spectroscopy of 11 of these stars and discuss our results. We find that several of these stars are very young, fast-rotating stars where high levels of stellar activity can be expected, but for some other stars we do not find a straightforward explanation for the occurrence of super flares.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 9 pages, 4 figure

Seed conservation in ex situ genebanks - genetic studies on longevity in barley

Recognizing the danger due to a permanent risk of loss of the genetic variability of cultivated plants and their wild relatives in response to changing environmental conditions and cultural practices, plant ex situ genebank collections were created since the beginning of the last century. World-wide more than 6 million accessions have been accumulated of which more than 90% are stored as seeds. Research on seed longevity was performed in barley maintained for up to 34 years in the seed store of the German ex situ genebank of the Leibniz-Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben. A high intraspecific variation was detected in those natural aged accessions. In addition three doubled haploid barley mapping populations being artificial aged were investigated to study the inheritance of seed longevity. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping was based on a transcript map. Major QTLs were identified on chromosomes 2H, 5H (two) and 7H explaining a phenotypic variation of up to 54%. A sequence homology search was performed to derive the putative function of the genes linked to the QTLs