Self-Dual Conformal Supergravity and the Hamiltonian Formulation

In terms of Dirac matrices the self-dual and anti-self-dual decomposition of a conformal supergravity is given and a self-dual conformal supergravity theory is developed as a connection dynamic theory in which the basic dynamic variabes include the self-dual spin connection i.e. the Ashtekar connection rather than the triad. The Hamiltonian formulation and the constraints are obtained by using the Dirac-Bergmann algorithm. PACS numbers: 04.20.Cv, 04.20.Fy,04.65.+

A comparative study of heavy metal concentrations in the clam Corbicula javanica and surface sediments collected from clean and polluted sites of Langat River, Selangor.

Previously, anthropogenic activities in Langat River had been reported to have negative impact on the riverine water quality (Sarmani, 1989; Azrina et al., 2006). This involved a wide range of macrobenthic invertebrates. Since the Langat River serves as one of the major sources of drinking water for the citizens of Kuala Lumpur (Sarmani, 1989), pollution due to domestic and industrial wastes from rubber mills which can be found at the south of Hulu Langat town and palm oil refineries close to Banting (Sarmani, 1989). This has raised concern on the need to conduct continuous monitoring of hazardous materials at Langat River, particularly heavy metals. There are several monitoring approaches to quantify and investigate heavy metal contamination, such as, by analyses of concentrations in water, sediments and biota. Sarmani (1989) had reported arsenic concentrations was slightly higher than that of natural level, particularly water of downstream of the river. In respect of sediment analysis, Shazili et al. (2006) have reported sediments of Langat River were confronted with Pb and Zn. In current study, the quantification of heavy metal concentrations in the surface sediments and the measurement of metal concentrations in indigenous biomonitor clam Corbicula javanica were conducted. The metal concentrations found in the biomonitor have high relevant from ecotoxicological point of view because they reflect the metal bioavailabilities to the biomonitor from the ecosystem (Rainbow, 1995)

Enterovirus 71 uses cell surface heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycan as an attachment receptor

Enterovirus 71 (EV-71) infections are usually associated with mild hand, foot, and mouth disease in young children but have been reported to cause severe neurological complications with high mortality rates. To date, four EV-71 receptors have been identified, but inhibition of these receptors by antagonists did not completely abolish EV-71 infection, implying that there is an as yet undiscovered receptor(s). Since EV-71 has a wide range of tissue tropisms, we hypothesize that EV-71 infections may be facilitated by using receptors that are widely expressed in all cell types, such as heparan sulfate. In this study, heparin, polysulfated dextran sulfate, and suramin were found to significantly prevent EV-71 infection. Heparin inhibited infection by all the EV-71 strains tested, including those with a single-passage history. Neutralization of the cell surface anionic charge by polycationic poly-D-lysine and blockage of heparan sulfate by an anti-heparan sulfate peptide also inhibited EV-71 infection. Interference with heparan sulfate biosynthesis either by sodium chlorate treatment or through transient knockdown of N-deacetylase/N-sulfotransferase-1 and exostosin-1 expression reduced EV-71 infection in RD cells. Enzymatic removal of cell surface heparan sulfate by heparinase I/II/III inhibited EV-71 infection. Furthermore, the level of EV-71 attachment to CHO cell lines that are variably deficient in cell surface glycosaminoglycans was significantly lower than that to wild-type CHO cells. Direct binding of EV-71 particles to heparin-Sepharose columns under physiological salt conditions was demonstrated. We conclude that EV-71 infection requires initial binding to heparan sulfate as an attachment receptor

Spectrum of Sizes for Perfect Deletion-Correcting Codes

One peculiarity with deletion-correcting codes is that perfect $t$-deletion-correcting codes of the same length over the same alphabet can have different numbers of codewords, because the balls of radius $t$ with respect to the Levenshte\u{\i}n distance may be of different sizes. There is interest, therefore, in determining all possible sizes of a perfect $t$-deletion-correcting code, given the length $n$ and the alphabet size~$q$. In this paper, we determine completely the spectrum of possible sizes for perfect $q$-ary 1-deletion-correcting codes of length three for all $q$, and perfect $q$-ary 2-deletion-correcting codes of length four for almost all $q$, leaving only a small finite number of cases in doubt.Comment: 23 page

Multiple QTL-effects of wheat Gpc-B1 locus on grain protein and micronutrient concentrations

Micronutrient malnutrition afflicts over three billion peopleworldwide and the numbers are continuously increasing. Developing genetically micronutrientenriched cereals, which are the predominant source of human dietary, is essential to alleviate malnutrition worldwide. Wheat chromosome 6B derived from wild emmerwheat [Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides (Körn.) Thell] was previously reported to be a source for high Zn concentration in the grain. In the present study, recombinant chromosome substitution lines (RSLs), previously constructed for genetic and physical maps of Gpc-B1 (a 250-kb locus affecting grain protein concentration), were used to identify the effects of the Gpc-B1 locus on grain micronutrient concentrations. RSLs carrying the Gpc-B1 allele of T. dicoccoides accumulated on average 12% higher concentration of Zn, 18% higher concentration of Fe, 29% higher concentration of Mn and 38% higher concentration of protein in the grain as compared with RSLs carrying the allele from cultivated wheat (Triticum durum). Furthermore, the high grain Zn, Fe and Mn concentrations were consistently expressed in five different environments with an absence of genotype by environment interaction. The results obtained in the present study also confirmed the previously reported effect of the wild-type allele of Gpc-B1 on earlier senescence of flag leaves. We suggest that the Gpc-B1 locus is involved in more efficient remobilization of protein, zinc, iron and manganese from leaves to the grains, in addition to its effect on earlier senescence of the green tissues

Recent developments in antiviral agents against enterovirus 71 infection

Enterovirus 71 (EV-71) is the main etiological agent of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). Recent EV-71 outbreaks in Asia-Pacific were not limited to mild HFMD, but were associated with severe neurological complications such as aseptic meningitis and brainstem encephalitis, which may lead to cardiopulmonary failure and death. The absence of licensed therapeutics for clinical use has intensified research into anti-EV-71 development. This review highlights the potential antiviral agents targeting EV-71 attachment, entry, uncoating, translation, polyprotein processing, virus-induced formation of membranous RNA replication complexes, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. The strategies for antiviral development include target-based synthetic compounds, anti-rhinovirus and poliovirus libraries screening, and natural compound libraries screening. Growing knowledge of the EV-71 life cycle will lead to successful development of antivirals. The continued effort to develop antiviral agents for treatment is crucial in the absence of a vaccine. The coupling of antivirals with an effective vaccine will accelerate eradication of the disease

Nano silica dispersion in epoxy: the investigation of heat, milling speed and duration effect

Nano composites are a promising development but the challenge of homogenous and discrete dispersion of the nano fillers are barriers that must be overcome before they can be effectively implemented. Although the common dispersion methods such as particle surface modification, comprehensive milling metrologies and the usage of solvents bear results, these are time consuming and not cost effective. In this paper, we explore the efficiency of coupling the usage of ball-media and heat on the dispersion of nano silica in epoxy. No solvents are involved. The effects of milling speed and duration are also studied albeit under a fixed ball media : silica-epoxy volume ratio of 3:5. The experiment set-up involves a simple 3-blade mixer, round bottom flask and 60 ? m zirconia ball. At nano silica loading of 10 wt % the nano silica clusters are systematically reduced from 1.5 - 2 ? m to 100 - 200 nm with the usage of ball media and application of heat. At the optimum milling speed and duration of 500 rpm for 5 hours, the aggregate sizes were further reduced to 30 - 70 nm, which is almost a discrete dispersion

3 W of single-frequency output at 532 nm by intracavity frequency doubling of a diode-bar-pumped Nd:YAG ring laser 3 W of single-frequency output at 532 nm by intracavity frequency doubling of a diode-bar-pumped Nd:YAG ring laser

A beam-shaped 20W diode-bar has longitudinally pumped a Nd:YAG laser in a ring configuration. Unidirectional single-frequency operation is enforced by a Faraday rotator. Intracavity frequency doubling, using a KTP crystal has produced 3W of stable, single-frequency TEMoo output at 532nm

Muscle-specific deletion of SOCS3 increases the early inflammatory response but does not affect regeneration after myotoxic injury

Myosin heavy chain gene expression and muscle fiber oxidative capacity in muscles from uninjured control and SOCS3 MKO mice. qRT-PCR using primers to detect MyHCIIb (A), MyHCIIx (B), MyHCI (C), and MyHCIIa (D) was performed on RNA extracted from snap frozen muscles following dissection. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM and compared with an unpaired two-tailed Student’s t test. n = 8 mice/genotype. (E) Representative succinate dehydrogenase (SDH)-reacted TA muscle sections from uninjured muscles of 12-week-old control and SOCS3 MKO mice. Quantification of SDH intensity was determined by analysis of SDH reacted TA muscle sections. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM and compared with an unpaired two-tailed Student’s t test. n = 5 mice/genotype. Scale bar = 100 μm. (PDF 145 kb