Non-Pauli Effects from Noncommutative Spacetimes

Noncommutative spacetimes lead to nonlocal quantum field theories (qft's) where spin-statistics theorems cannot be proved. For this reason, and also backed by detailed arguments, it has been suggested that they get corrected on such spacetimes leading to small violations of the Pauli principle. In a recent paper \cite{Pauli}, Pauli-forbidden transitions from spacetime noncommutativity were calculated and confronted with experiments. Here we give details of the computation missing from this paper. The latter was based on a spacetime $\mathcal{B}_{\chi\vec{n}}$ different from the Moyal plane. We argue that it quantizes time in units of $\chi$. Energy is then conserved only mod $\frac{2\pi}{\chi}$. Issues related to superselection rules raised by non-Pauli effects are also discussed in a preliminary manner.Comment: 15 Pages, 1 Table, Full details and further developments of arXiv:1003.2250. This version is close to the one accepted by JHE

Formulation and performance of variational integrators for rotating bodies

Variational integrators are obtained for two mechanical systems whose configuration spaces are, respectively, the rotation group and the unit sphere. In the first case, an integration algorithm is presented for Euler’s equations of the free rigid body, following the ideas of Marsden et al. (Nonlinearity 12:1647–1662, 1999). In the second example, a variational time integrator is formulated for the rigid dumbbell. Both methods are formulated directly on their nonlinear configuration spaces, without using Lagrange multipliers. They are one-step, second order methods which show exact conservation of a discrete angular momentum which is identified in each case. Numerical examples illustrate their properties and compare them with existing integrators of the literature

Vaccination against Foot-and-mouth disease : do initial conditions affect its benefit?

When facing incursion of a major livestock infectious disease, the decision to implement a vaccination programme is made at the national level. To make this decision, governments must consider whether the benefits of vaccination are sufficient to outweigh potential additional costs, including further trade restrictions that may be imposed due to the implementation of vaccination. However, little consensus exists on the factors triggering its implementation on the field. This work explores the effect of several triggers in the implementation of a reactive vaccination-to-live policy when facing epidemics of foot-and-mouth disease. In particular, we tested whether changes in the location of the incursion and the delay of implementation would affect the epidemiological benefit of such a policy in the context of Scotland. To reach this goal, we used a spatial, premises-based model that has been extensively used to investigate the effectiveness of mitigation procedures in Great Britain. The results show that the decision to vaccinate, or not, is not straightforward and strongly depends on the underlying local structure of the population-at-risk. With regards to disease incursion preparedness, simply identifying areas of highest population density may not capture all complexities that may influence the spread of disease as well as the benefit of implementing vaccination. However, if a decision to vaccinate is made, we show that delaying its implementation in the field may markedly reduce its benefit. This work provides guidelines to support policy makers in their decision to implement, or not, a vaccination-to-live policy when facing epidemics of infectious livestock disease

Fifteen new risk loci for coronary artery disease highlight arterial-wall-specific mechanisms

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although 58 genomic regions have been associated with CAD thus far, most of the heritability is unexplained, indicating that additional susceptibility loci await identification. An efficient discovery strategy may be larger-scale evaluation of promising associations suggested by genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Hence, we genotyped 56,309 participants using a targeted gene array derived from earlier GWAS results and performed meta-analysis of results with 194,427 participants previously genotyped, totaling 88,192 CAD cases and 162,544 controls. We identified 25 new SNP-CAD associations (P < 5 × 10(-8), in fixed-effects meta-analysis) from 15 genomic regions, including SNPs in or near genes involved in cellular adhesion, leukocyte migration and atherosclerosis (PECAM1, rs1867624), coagulation and inflammation (PROCR, rs867186 (p.Ser219Gly)) and vascular smooth muscle cell differentiation (LMOD1, rs2820315). Correlation of these regions with cell-type-specific gene expression and plasma protein levels sheds light on potential disease mechanisms

Modulation by steroid hormones of a "sexy" acoustic signal in an Oscine species, the Common Canary Serinus canaria

The respective influence of testosterone and estradiol on the structure of the Common Canary Serinus canaria song was studied by experimentally controlling blood levels of steroid hormones in males and analyzing the consequent effects on acoustic parameters. A detailed acoustic analysis of the songs produced before and after hormonal manipulation revealed that testosterone and estradiol seem to control distinct song parameters independently. The presence of receptors for testosterone and estradiol in the brain neural pathway controlling song production strongly suggests that the observed effects are mediated by a steroid action at the neuronal level.<br>A influência da testosterona e do estradiol, respectivamente, na estrutura do canto do Canário-do-reino Serinus canaria foi estudada analisando o efeito da manipulação dos níveis sanguíneos de hormônios esteróides em machos nos parâmetros acústicos do canto. Uma analise detalhada dos cantos produzidos antes e depois da manipulação hormonal revelou que testosterona e estradiol parecem controlar independentemente parâmetros acústicos distintos. A presença de receptores para esses hormônios no circuito neuronal para controle da produção do canto sugere fortemente que os efeitos observados são mediados pela ação de esteróides a nivel neuronal

The Songbird Neurogenomics (SoNG) Initiative: Community-based tools and strategies for study of brain gene function and evolution

BACKGROUND: Songbirds hold great promise for biomedical, environmental and evolutionary research. A complete draft sequence of the zebra finch genome is imminent, yet a need remains for application of genomic resources within a research community traditionally focused on ethology and neurobiological methods. In response, we developed a core set of genomic tools and a novel collaborative strategy to probe gene expression in diverse songbird species and natural contexts. RESULTS: We end-sequenced cDNAs from zebra finch brain and incorporated additional sequences from community sources into a database of 86,784 high quality reads. These assembled into 31,658 non-redundant contigs and singletons, which we annotated via BLAST search of chicken and human databases. The results are publicly available in the ESTIMA:Songbird database. We produced a spotted cDNA microarray with 20,160 addresses representing 17,214 non-redundant products of an estimated 11,500–15,000 genes, validating it by analysis of immediate-early gene (zenk) gene activation following song exposure and by demonstrating effective cross hybridization to genomic DNAs of other songbird species in the Passerida Parvorder. Our assembly was also used in the design of the "Lund-zfa" Affymetrix array representing ~22,000 non-redundant sequences. When the two arrays were hybridized to cDNAs from the same set of male and female zebra finch brain samples, both arrays detected a common set of regulated transcripts with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.895. To stimulate use of these resources by the songbird research community and to maintain consistent technical standards, we devised a "Community Collaboration" mechanism whereby individual birdsong researchers develop experiments and provide tissues, but a single individual in the community is responsible for all RNA extractions, labelling and microarray hybridizations. CONCLUSION: Immediately, these results set the foundation for a coordinated set of 25 planned experiments by 16 research groups probing fundamental links between genome, brain, evolution and behavior in songbirds. Energetic application of genomic resources to research using songbirds should help illuminate how complex neural and behavioral traits emerge and evolve

Environmental and Parental Influences on Offspring Health and Growth in Great Tits (Parus major)

PMCID: PMC3728352This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente