Constructing infinitely many smooth structures on small 4-manifolds

The purpose of this article is twofold. First we outline a general construction scheme for producing simply-connected minimal symplectic 4-manifolds with small Euler characteristics. Using this scheme, we illustrate how to obtain irreducible symplectic 4-manifolds homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to \CP#(2k+1)\CPb for $k = 1,...,4$, or to 3\CP# (2l+3)\CPb for $l =1,...,6$. Secondly, for each of these homeomorphism types, we show how to produce an infinite family of pairwise nondiffeomorphic nonsymplectic 4-manifolds belonging to it. In particular, we prove that there are infinitely many exotic irreducible nonsymplectic smooth structures on \CP#3\CPb, 3\CP#5\CPb and 3\CP#7\CPb.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figure

Stochastic Event Reconstruction of Atmospheric Contaminant Dispersion Using Bayesian Inference

Environmental sensors have been deployed in various cities for early detection of contaminant releases into the atmosphere. Event reconstruction and improved dispersion modeling capabilities are needed to estimate the extent of contamination, which is required to implement effective strategies in emergency management. To this end, a stochastic event reconstruction capability that can process information from an environmental sensor network is developed. A probability model is proposed to take into account both zero and non-zero concentration measurements that can be available from a sensor network because of a sensor’s specified limit of detection. The inference is based on the Bayesian paradigm with Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling. Fast-running Gaussian plume dispersion models are adopted as the forward model in the Bayesian inference approach to achieve rapid-response event reconstructions. The Gaussian plume model is substantially enhanced by introducing stochastic parameters in its turbulent diffusion parameterizations and estimating them within the Bayesian inference framework. Additionally, parameters of the likelihood function are estimated in a principled way using data and prior probabilities to avoid tuning in the overall method, The event reconstruction method is successfully validated for both real and synthetic dispersion problems, and posterior distributions of the model parameters are used to generate probabilistic plume envelopes with specified confidence levels to aid emergency decisions

Conserved Charges of Higher D Kerr-AdS Spacetimes

We compute the energy and angular momenta of recent D-dimensional Kerr-AdS solutions to cosmological Einstein gravity, as well as of the BTZ metric, using our invariant charge definitions.Comment: 11 pages, references added, equation correcte

Decolorization of synthetic melanoidins-containing wastewater by a bacterial consortium

The presence of melanoidins in molasses wastewater leads to water pollution both due to its dark brown color and its COD contents. In this study, a bacterial consortium isolated from waterfall sediment was tested for its decolorization. The identification of culturable bacteria by 16S rDNA based approach showed that the consortium composed of Klebsiella oxytoca, Serratia mercescens, Citrobacter sp. and unknown bacterium. In the context of academic study, prevention on the difficulties of providing effluent as well as its variations in compositions, several synthetic media prepared with respect to color and COD contents based on analysis of molasses wastewater, i.e., Viandox sauce (13.5% v/v), caramel (30% w/v), beet molasses wastewater (41.5% v/v) and sugarcane molasses wastewater (20% v/v) were used for decolorization using consortium with color removal 9.5, 1.13, 8.02 and 17.5%, respectively, within 2 days. However, Viandox sauce was retained for further study. The effect of initial pH and Viandox concentration on decolorization and growth of bacterial consortium were further determined. The highest decolorization of 18.3% was achieved at pH 4 after 2 day of incubation. Experiments on fresh or used medium and used or fresh bacterial cells, led to conclusion that the limitation of decolorization was due to nutritional deficiency. The effect of aeration on decolorization was also carried out in 2 L laboratory-scale suspended cell bioreactor. The maximum decolorization was 19.3% with aeration at KLa = 2.5836 h-1 (0.1 vvm)

The genetic landscape of high-risk neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma is a malignancy of the developing sympathetic nervous system that often presents with widespread metastatic disease, resulting in survival rates of less than 50%1. To determine the spectrum of somatic mutation in high-risk neuroblastoma, we studied 240 cases using a combination of whole exome, genome and transcriptome sequencing as part of the Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) initiative. Here we report a low median exonic mutation frequency of 0.60 per megabase (0.48 non-silent), and remarkably few recurrently mutated genes in these tumors. Genes with significant somatic mutation frequencies included ALK (9.2% of cases), PTPN11 (2.9%), ATRX (2.5%, an additional 7.1% had focal deletions), MYCN (1.7%, a recurrent p.Pro44Leu alteration), and NRAS (0.83%). Rare, potentially pathogenic germline variants were significantly enriched in ALK, CHEK2, PINK1, and BARD1. The relative paucity of recurrent somatic mutations in neuroblastoma challenges current therapeutic strategies reliant upon frequently altered oncogenic drivers

Multiple Andreev reflections in two-dimensional Josephson junctions with broken time-reversal symmetry

Andreev bound states (ABS) occur in Josephson junctions when the total phase of the Andreev and normal reflections is a multiple of $2\pi$. In ballistic junctions with an applied voltage bias, a quasi-particle undergoes multiple Andreev reflections before entering the leads, resulting in peaks in the current-voltage $I(V)$ curve. Here we present a general model for Josephson junctions with spin-active interlayers i.e., magnetic or topological materials with broken time-reversal symmetry. We investigate how ABS change the peak positions and shape of $I(V)$, which becomes asymmetric for a single incident angle. We show how the angle-resolved $I(V)$ curve becomes a spectroscopic tool for the chirality and degeneracy of ABS.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Impact of early disease factors on metabolic syndrome in systemic lupus erythematosus: data from an international inception cohort.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access.The metabolic syndrome (MetS) may contribute to the increased cardiovascular risk in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We examined the association between MetS and disease activity, disease phenotype and corticosteroid exposure over time in patients with SLE.Recently diagnosed (1, higher disease activity, increasing age and Hispanic or Black African race/ethnicity were independently associated with MetS over the first 2 years of follow-up in the cohort.MetS is a persistent phenotype in a significant proportion of patients with SLE. Renal lupus, active inflammatory disease and damage are SLE-related factors that drive MetS development while antimalarial agents appear to be protective from early in the disease course.Canadian Institutes of Health Research 93695 86526 Arthritis Research UK (Arthritis Research UK Epidemiology Unit Core Support Programme Grant) National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Unit Funding Scheme NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre Arthritis Research UK Manchester Academic Health Science Centre NIHR Biomedical Research Unit Funding Scheme NIHR Manchester Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility Arthritis Research Clinical Research Fellowship 18845 Ministry for Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea A120404 Lupus UK NIHR/Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility at University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and City Hospital Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, UK NIH UL1 RR025741 P60AR 30692 K24 AR 002138 RR00046 Hopkins Lupus Cohort NIH RD-1 43727 Department of Education, Universities and Research, Basque Government Singer Family Fund for Lupus Research tier 1 Canada Research Chair on Systemic Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases, Universite Lava