Scalar gauge fields

In this paper we give a variation of the gauge procedure which employs a scalar gauge field, $B (x)$, in addition to the usual vector gauge field, $A_\mu (x)$. We study this variant of the usual gauge procedure in the context of a complex scalar, matter field $\phi (x)$ with a U(1) symmetry. We will focus most on the case when $\phi$ develops a vacuum expectation value via spontaneous symmetry breaking. We find that under these conditions the scalar gauge field mixes with the Goldstone boson that arises from the breaking of a global symmetry. Some other interesting features of this scalar gauge model are: (i) The new gauge procedure gives rise to terms which violate C and CP symmetries. This may have have applications in cosmology or for CP violation in particle physics; (ii) the existence of mass terms in the Lagrangian which respect the new extended gauge symmetry. Thus one can have gauge field mass terms even in the absence of the usual Higgs mechanism; (iii) the emergence of a sine-Gordon potential for the scalar gauge field; (iv) a natural, axion-like suppression of the interaction strength of the scalar gauge boson.Comment: 15 pages RevTex, no figures; minor corrections, to be published in JHE

Warped Solitonic Deformations and Propagation of Black Holes in 5D Vacuum Gravity

In this paper we use the anholonomic frames method to construct exact solutions for vacuum 5D gravity with metrics having off-diagonal components. The solutions are in general anisotropic and possess interesting features such as an anisotropic warp factor with respect to the extra dimension, or a gravitational scaling/running of some of the physical parameters associated with the solutions. A certain class of solutions are found to describe Schwarzschild black holes which ``solitonically'' propagate in spacetime. The solitonic character of these black hole solutions arises from the embedding of a 3D soliton configuration (e.g. the soliton solutions to the Kadomtsev-Petviashvily or sine-Gordon equations) into certain ansatz functions of the 5D metric. These solitonic solutions may either violate or preserve local Lorentz invariance. In addition there is a connection between these solutions and noncommutative field theory.Comment: 21 pages; revtex, to be published in CQ

Gravitational trapping potential with arbitrary extra dimensions

We extend a recently discovered, non-singular 6 dimensional brane, solution to D=4+n dimensions. As with the previous 6D solution the present solution provides a gravitational trapping mechanism for fields of spin 0, 1/2, 1 and 2. There is an important distinction between 2 extra dimensions and $n$ extra dimensions that makes this more than a trivial extension. In contrast to gravity in n >2 dimensions, gravity in n=2 dimensions is conformally flat. The stress-energy tensor required by this solution has reasonable physically properties, and for n=2 and n=3 can be made to asymptotically go to zero as one moves away from the brane.Comment: 7 pages revtex. No figures. References added some discussions change

The C Terminus of Ku80 activates the DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit

Ku is a heterodimeric protein with double-stranded DNA end-binding activity that operates in the process of nonhomologous end joining. Ku is thought to target the DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) complex to the DNA and, when DNA bound, can interact and activate the DNA-PK catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs). We have carried out a 3′ deletion analysis of Ku80, the larger subunit of Ku, and shown that the C-terminal 178 amino acid residues are dispensable for DNA end-binding activity but are required for efficient interaction of Ku with DNA-PKcs. Cells expressing Ku80 proteins that lack the terminal 178 residues have low DNA-PK activity, are radiation sensitive, and can recombine the signal junctions but not the coding junctions during V(D)J recombination. These cells have therefore acquired the phenotype of mouse SCID cells despite expressing DNA-PKcs protein, suggesting that an interaction between DNA-PKcs and Ku, involving the C-terminal region of Ku80, is required for DNA double-strand break rejoining and coding but not signal joint formation. To gain further insight into important domains in Ku80, we report a point mutational change in Ku80 in the defective xrs-2 cell line. This residue is conserved among species and lies outside of the previously reported Ku70-Ku80 interaction domain. The mutational change nonetheless abrogates the Ku70-Ku80 interaction and DNA end-binding activity

Ellipsoidal, Cylindrical, Bipolar and Toroidal Wormholes in 5D Gravity

In this paper we construct and analyze new classes of wormhole and flux tube-like solutions for the 5D vacuum Einstein equations. These 5D solutions possess generic local anisotropy which gives rise to a gravitational running or scaling of the Kaluza-Klein ``electric'' and ``magnetic'' charges of these solutions. It is also shown that it is possible to self-consistently construct these anisotropic solutions with various rotational 3D hypersurface geometries (i.e. ellipsoidal, cylindrical, bipolar and toroidal). The local anisotropy of these solutions is handled using the technique of anholonomic frames with their associated nonlinear connection structures [vst]. Through the use of the anholonomic frames the metrics are diagonalized, in contrast to holonomic coordinate frames where the metrics would have off-diagonal components. In the local isotropic limit these solutions are shown to be equivalent to spherically symmetric 5D wormhole and flux tube solutions.Comment: 27 pages ReVTeX, added references and discussion. To be published in J. Math. Phy

Soil contamination with silver nanoparticles reduces Bishop pine growth and ectomycorrhizal diversity on pine roots

Soil contamination by silver nanoparticles(AgNP)is of potential environmental concern but little work has been carried out on the effect of such contamination on ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF). EMF are essential to forest ecosystem functions as they are known to enhance growth of trees by nutrient transfer. In this study, soil was experimentally contaminated with AgNP (0, 350 and 790 mg Ag/kg) and planted with Bishop pine seedlings. The effect of AgNP was subsequently measured, assessing variation in pine growth and ectomycorrhizal diversity associated with the root system. After only 1 month, the highest AgNP level had significantly reduced the root length of pine seedlings, which in turn had a small effect on aboveground plant biomass. However, after 4 months growth, both AgNP levels utilised had significantly reduced both pine root and shoot biomass. For example, even the lower levels of AgNP (350 mgAg/kg) soil, reduced fresh root biomass by approximately 57 %. The root systems of the plants grown in AgNP-contaminated soils lacked the lateral and fine root development seen in the control plants (no AgNP). Although, only five different genera of EMF were found on roots of the control plants, only one genus Laccaria was found on roots of plants grown in soil containing 350 mg AgNP/kg. At the higher levels of AgNP contamination, no EMF were observed. Furthermore, extractable silver was found in soils containing AgNP, indicating potential dissolution of silver ions (Ag) from the solid AgNP

Stochastic Approach to Enantiomeric Excess Amplification and Chiral Symmetry Breaking

Stochastic aspects of chemical reaction models related to the Soai reactions as well as to the homochirality in life are studied analytically and numerically by the use of the master equation and random walk model. For systems with a recycling process, a unique final probability distribution is obtained by means of detailed balance conditions. With a nonlinear autocatalysis the distribution has a double-peak structure, indicating the chiral symmetry breaking. This problem is further analyzed by examining eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the master equation. In the case without recycling process, final probability distributions depend on the initial conditions. In the nonlinear autocatalytic case, time-evolution starting from a complete achiral state leads to a final distribution which differs from that deduced from the nonzero recycling result. This is due to the absence of the detailed balance, and a directed random walk model is shown to give the correct final profile. When the nonlinear autocatalysis is sufficiently strong and the initial state is achiral, the final probability distribution has a double-peak structure, related to the enantiomeric excess amplification. It is argued that with autocatalyses and a very small but nonzero spontaneous production, a single mother scenario could be a main mechanism to produce the homochirality.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure

Estudio preliminar sobre el efecto del ultrasonido en las propiedades fisicoquímicas del vino tinto

Ultrasound is regarded as a potential alternative method for improving the quality of some wines. This study was initiated with the objective of evaluating the effects of ultrasound on some important physicochemical properties of red wine such as chromatic characteristics (CC), electrical conductivity (EC), pH, titratable acidity (TA), total phenolic compounds (TPCs) and DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl) free radical scavenging activity (DFRSA). The operational parameters assessed were ultrasound power, ultrasound frequency, exposure time and bath temperature. Results illustrated that there were significant changes in CC, EC and TPC while pH and TA hardly changed except for samples treated at high temperatures. DFRSA was correlated to TPC during ultrasonic treatment. Application of principal component analysis to the experimental data suggested that exposure time was the factor with the greatest ability to induce changes on wine. Results suggested that ultrasound may be applied to improve some physicochemical properties of red wine.El ultrasonido se considera uno de los métodos alternativos potenciales para mejorar la calidad de algunos vinos. Se comenzó este estudio con el objetivo de evaluar los efectos del ultrasonido en algunas de la propiedades fisicoquímicas importantes del vino tinto como son: las características cromáticas (CC), la conductividad eléctrica (EC), el pH, la acidez (TA), los compuestos fenólicos totales (TPC) y el DPPH (1,1-difenil-2-picrilhidrazil) de actividad de eliminación de radicales libres (DFRSA). Los parámetros operacionales examinados fueron: la potencia de ultrasonido, la frecuencia de ultrasonido, el tiempo de exposición y la temperatura de baño. Los resultados ilustraron la existencia de cambios significativos en CC, EC y TPC, mientras que el pH y TA prácticamente no cambiaron excepto en las muestras tratadas con altas temperaturas. DFRSA tuvo correlación con TPC durante el tratamiento con ultrasonido. La aplicación de análisis de componentes principales a los datos experimentales sugirió que el tiempo de exposición era el factor con mayor habilidad para inducir cambios en el vino. Los resultados sugirieron que el ultrasonido podría aplicarse para mejorar algunas de las propiedades fisicoquímicas del vino tinto.National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 31101324]Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province, China [No. 2015JM3097]Technology Transfer Promotion Project of Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China [No.CXY1434(5)]Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China [Nos. GK201302039, GK201404006