Pre-Symmetry Sets of 3D shapes

The investigation of 3D euclidean symmetry sets (SS) and medial axis is an important area, due in particular to their various important applications. The pre-symmetry set of a surface M in 3-space (resp. smooth closed curve in 2D) is the set of pairs of points which contribute to the symmetry set, that is, the closure of the set of pairs of distinct points p and q in M, for which there exists a sphere (resp. a circle) tangent to M at p and at q. The aim of this paper is to address problems related to the smoothness and the singularities of the pre-symmetry sets of 3D shapes. We show that the pre-symmetry set of a smooth surface in 3-space has locally the structure of the graph of a function from R^2 to R^2, in many cases of interest.Comment: ACM-class: I.2; I.5; I.4; J.2. Latex, 3 grouped figures. The final version will appear in the proceedings of the First International Workshop on Deep Structure, Singularities and Computer Vision, Maastricht June 200

A Unified Algebraic Approach to Classical Yang-Baxter Equation

In this paper, the different operator forms of classical Yang-Baxter equation are given in the tensor expression through a unified algebraic method. It is closely related to left-symmetric algebras which play an important role in many fields in mathematics and mathematical physics. By studying the relations between left-symmetric algebras and classical Yang-Baxter equation, we can construct left-symmetric algebras from certain classical r-matrices and conversely, there is a natural classical r-matrix constructed from a left-symmetric algebra which corresponds to a parak\"ahler structure in geometry. Moreover, the former in a special case gives an algebraic interpretation of the ``left-symmetry'' as a Lie bracket ``left-twisted'' by a classical r-matrix.Comment: To appear in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretica

Jachères naturelles et restauration des propriétés des sols en zone semi-aride. Cas du Sénégal

L'objectif des travaux est d'analyser, dans une zone sahélo-soudanienn e fortement peuplée du Sénégal, les effets de jachères naturelles, d'âge et de gestion différents, sur les caractéristiques physico-chimiques et biologiques des sols. Avec une protection totale contre le pâturage et l'exploitation du bois, 15 ans de jachère permettent d'accroître les teneurs en matière organique de 50 %. La porosité totale de l'horizon de surface est multipliée par deux, l'abondance des macro-agrégats s'accroît de 50 à 70 % et la biomasse microbienne totale de 30 %. Quinze années de jachère protégée ne provoquent pas une baisse de la densité globale d'infestation en nématodes phytoparasites, mais modifient la composition spécifique du peuplement. Les jachères anciennes soumises à une forte pression d'exploitation présentent les mêmes tendances, mais montrent des teneurs en matière organique du sol inférieures d'environ 20 % à celles de parcelles protégées. Sur les jachères jeunes (3 années), le temps de culture précédant l'abandon culturel n'a pas d'influence significative sur les paramètres mesurés. Même si elle était réalisable, la jachère naturelle de longue durée ne possède plus les potentialités nécessaires à la restauration de la fertilité du milieu. II faut s'orienter vers des pratiques de jachères améliorées ou de substitution, en introduisant des ligneux et des graminées pérennes à forte biomasse racinaire et à croissance rapide, qui ont un fort impact sur les caractéristiques biologiques et physiques des sols. (Résumé d'auteur

Special symplectic Lie groups and hypersymplectic Lie groups

A special symplectic Lie group is a triple $(G,\omega,\nabla)$ such that $G$ is a finite-dimensional real Lie group and $\omega$ is a left invariant symplectic form on $G$ which is parallel with respect to a left invariant affine structure $\nabla$. In this paper starting from a special symplectic Lie group we show how to ``deform" the standard Lie group structure on the (co)tangent bundle through the left invariant affine structure $\nabla$ such that the resulting Lie group admits families of left invariant hypersymplectic structures and thus becomes a hypersymplectic Lie group. We consider the affine cotangent extension problem and then introduce notions of post-affine structure and post-left-symmetric algebra which is the underlying algebraic structure of a special symplectic Lie algebra. Furthermore, we give a kind of double extensions of special symplectic Lie groups in terms of post-left-symmetric algebras.Comment: 32 page

Nonhuman primates across sub-Saharan Africa are infected with the yaws bacterium Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue

Dear Editor, The bacterium Treponema pallidum (TP) causes human syphilis (subsp. pallidum; TPA), bejel (subsp. endemicum; TEN), and yaws (subsp. pertenue; TPE) (1). Although syphilis has reached a worldwide distribution (2), bejel and yaws have remained endemic diseases. Bejel affects individuals in dry areas of Sahelian Africa and Saudi Arabia, whereas yaws affects those living in the humid tropics (1). Yaws is currently reported as endemic in 14 countries, and an additional 84 countries have a known history of yaws but lack recent epidemiological data (3,4). Although this disease was subject to global eradication efforts in the mid-20th century, it later reemerged in West Africa, Southern Asia, and the Pacific region (5). New large-scale treatment options triggered the ongoing second eradication campaign, the goal of which is to eradicate yaws globally by 2020 (5). References: (1) Giacani, L. & Lukehart, S.A. The endemic treponematoses. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 27, 89–115 (2014). (2) Arora, N. et al. Origin of modern syphilis and emergence of a pandemic Treponema pallidum cluster. Nat. Microbiol. 2, 16245 (2016). (3) Marks, M. Yaws: towards the WHO eradication target. Trans. R Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. 110, 319–320 (2016). (4) World Health Organization. Eradication of yaws: procedures for verification and certification of interruption of transmission (World Health Organization, Geneva, 2018). (5) Asiedu, K., Fitzpatrick, C. & Jannin, J. Eradication of yaws: historical efforts and achieving WHO’s 2020 target. PLoS Negl. Trop. Dis. 8, e3016 (2014)

Clinical Protection from Falciparum Malaria Correlates with Neutrophil Respiratory Bursts Induced by Merozoites Opsonized with Human Serum Antibodies

Background: Effective vaccines to combat malaria are urgently needed, but have proved elusive in the absence of validated correlates of natural immunity. Repeated blood stage infections induce antibodies considered to be the main arbiters of protection from pathology, but their essential functions have remained speculative. Methodology/Principal Findings: This study evaluated antibody dependent respiratory burst (ADRB) activity in polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) induced by Plasmodium falciparum merozoites and antibodies in the sera of two different African endemic populations, and investigated its association with naturally acquired clinical protection. Respiratory bursts by freshly isolated PMN were quantified by chemiluminescence readout in the presence of isoluminol, which preferentially detects extra-cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Using a standardized, high throughput protocol, 230 sera were analyzed from individuals of all age groups living in meso-(Ndiop) or holo-endemic (Dielmo) Senegalese villages, and enrolled in a cross-sectional prospective study with intensive follow-up. Statistical significance was determined using non-parametric tests and Poisson regression models. The most important finding was that PMN ADRB activity was correlated with acquired clinical protection from malaria in both high and low transmission areas (P = 0.006 and 0.036 respectively). Strikingly, individuals in Dielmo with dichotomized high ADRB indexes were seventeen fold less susceptible to malaria attacks (P = 0.006). Complementary results showed that ADRB activity was (i) dependent on intact merozoites and IgG opsonins, but not parasitized erythrocytes, or complement, (ii) correlated with merozoite specific cytophilic IgG1 and IgG3 antibody titers (P < 0.001 for both), and (iii) stronger in antisera from a holo-endemic compared to a meso-endemic site (P = 0.002), and reduced in asymptomatic carriers (P < 0.001). Conclusions/Significance: This work presents the first clearly demonstrated functional antibody immune correlate of clinical protection from Plasmodium falciparum malaria, and begs the question regarding the importance of ADRB by PMN for immune protection against malaria in vivo

Correction: host genetic factors and vaccine-induced immunity to hepatitis B virus infection.

[This corrects the article on p. e1898 in vol. 3.]

Possibilities for Relapsing Fever Reemergence

Increasing globalization may pave the way for reemergence of relapsing fever