Evolution of emotions on networks leads to the evolution of cooperation in social dilemmas

We show that the resolution of social dilemmas in random graphs and scale-free networks is facilitated by imitating not the strategy of better-performing players but, rather, their emotions. We assume sympathy and envy to be the two emotions that determine the strategy of each player in any given interaction, and we define them as the probabilities of cooperating with players having a lower and a higher payoff, respectively. Starting with a population where all possible combinations of the two emotions are available, the evolutionary process leads to a spontaneous fixation to a single emotional profile that is eventually adopted by all players. However, this emotional profile depends not only on the payoffs but also on the heterogeneity of the interaction network. Homogeneous networks, such as lattices and regular random graphs, lead to fixations that are characterized by high sympathy and high envy, while heterogeneous networks lead to low or modest sympathy but also low envy. Our results thus suggest that public emotions and the propensity to cooperate at large depend, and are in fact determined by, the properties of the interaction network

Nonlinear energy-loss straggling of protons and antiprotons in an electron gas

The electronic energy-loss straggling of protons and antiprotons moving at arbitrary nonrelativistic velocities in a homogeneous electron gas are evaluated within a quadratic response theory and the random-phase approximation (RPA). These results show that at low and intermediate velocities quadratic corrections reduce significantly the energy-loss straggling of antiprotons, these corrections being, at low-velocities, more important than in the evaluation of the stopping power.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Searching for new sources of innovative products for the food industry within halophyte aromatic plants: In vitro antioxidant activity and phenolic and mineral contents of infusions and decoctions of Crithmum maritimum L.

Aromatic halophyte plants are an outstanding source of bioactive compounds and natural products with potential use in the food industry. This work reports the in vitro antioxidant activity, toxicity, poly phenolic profile and mineral contents of infusions and decoctions from stems, leaves and flowers of Crithmum maritimum L, an aromatic and edible maritime halophyte (sea fennel). Aspalathus linearis (Burm.f.) Dahlg. (rooibos) herbal tea was used as a reference. Sea fennel's tisanes, particularly from leaves, were rich in phenolic compounds and five of them (p-hydroxybenzoic and ferulic acids, epicatechin, pyrocatechol and 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde) were here described in C maritimum for the first time. Chlorogenic acid was the dominant phenolic determined. Na was the most abundant mineral in all tisanes followed by Ca and Mg in leaves' tisanes and K in flowers. Sea fennel's samples had a similar antioxidant activity than those from A. linearis, and had no significant toxicity towards four different mammalian cell lines. Altogether, our results suggest that sea fennel can be a source of products and/or molecules for the food industry with antioxidant properties and minerals in the form, for example, of innovative health-promoting herbal beverages.FCT Investigator Programme [IF/00049/2012

Hamiltonian Formalism of the de-Sitter Invariant Special Relativity

Lagrangian of the Einstein's special relativity with universal parameter $c$ ($\mathcal{SR}_c$) is invariant under Poincar\'e transformation which preserves Lorentz metric $\eta_{\mu\nu}$. The $\mathcal{SR}_c$ has been extended to be one which is invariant under de Sitter transformation that preserves so called Beltrami metric $B_{\mu\nu}$. There are two universal parameters $c$ and $R$ in this Special Relativity (denote it as $\mathcal{SR}_{cR}$). The Lagrangian-Hamiltonian formulism of $\mathcal{SR}_{cR}$ is formulated in this paper. The canonic energy, canonic momenta, and 10 Noether charges corresponding to the space-time's de Sitter symmetry are derived. The canonical quantization of the mechanics for $\mathcal{SR}_{cR}$-free particle is performed. The physics related to it is discussed.Comment: 24 pages, no figur

The CP-violating asymmetry in \eta\to\pi^+ \pi^- e^+e^-

We study the CP-violating asymmetry {\cal A}_{\rm CP}, which arises, in \eta\to\pi^+\pi^- e^+e^-, from the angular correlation of the e^+ e^- and \pi^+\pi^- planes due to the interference between the magnetic and electric decay amplitudes. With the phenomenologically determined magnetic amplitude and branching ratio as input, the asymmetry, induced by the electric bremsstrahlung amplitude through the CP-violating decay \eta\to\pi^+\pi^-, and by an unconventional tensor type operator, has been estimated respectively. The upper bound of {\cal A}_{\rm CP} from the former is about 10^{-3}, and the asymmetry from the latter might be up to O(10^{-2}). One can therefore expect that this CP asymmetry would be an interesting CP-violating observable for the future precise measurements in the \eta factories.Comment: LaTeX, 6 pages. One reference corrected, and some new references adde

K^+ -> pi^+pi^0e^+e^-: a novel short-distance probe

We study the decay K^+ -> pi^+ pi^0 e^+ e^-, currently under analysis by the NA62 Collaboration at CERN. In particular, we provide a detailed analysis of the Dalitz plot for the long-distance, gamma^*-mediated, contributions (Bremsstrahlung, direct emission and its interference). We also examine a set of asymmetries to isolate genuine short-distance effects. While we show that charge asymmetries are not required to test short distances, they provide the best environment for its detection. This constitutes by itself a strong motivation for NA62 to study K^- decays in the future. We therefore provide a detailed study of different charge asymmetries and the corresponding estimated signals. Whenever possible, we make contact with the related processes K^+ -> pi^+ pi^0 gamma and K_L -> pi^+ pi^- e^+ e^- and discuss the advantages of K^+ -> pi^+ pi^0 e^+ e^- over them.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure

Long-distance contribution to the forward-backward asymmetry in decays K+ --> pi+ l+ l-

The long-distance contribution via the two-photon intermediate state to the forward-backward asymmetries in decays K+ --> pi+ l+ l- (l=e and mu) has been studied within the standard model. In order to evaluate the dispersive part of the K+ --> pi+ gamma* gamma* --> pi+ l+ l- amplitude, we employ a phenomenological form factor to soften the ultraviolet behavior of the transition. It is found that, this long-distance transition, although subject to some theoretical uncertainties, can lead to significant contributions to the forward-backward asymmetries, which could be tested in the future high-precise experiments.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Morphological and Molecular Defects in Human Three-Dimensional Retinal Organoid Model of X-Linked Juvenile Retinoschisis

X-linked juvenile retinoschisis (XLRS), linked to mutations in the RS1 gene, is a degenerative retinopathy with a retinal splitting phenotype. We generated human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) from patients to study XLRS in a 3D retinal organoid in vitro differentiation system. This model recapitulates key features of XLRS including retinal splitting, defective retinoschisin production, outer-segment defects, abnormal paxillin turnover, and impaired ER-Golgi transportation. RS1 mutation also affects the development of photoreceptor sensory cilia and results in altered expression of other retinopathy-associated genes. CRISPR/Cas9 correction of the disease-associated C625T mutation normalizes the splitting phenotype, outer-segment defects, paxillin dynamics, ciliary marker expression, and transcriptome profiles. Likewise, mutating RS1 in control hiPSCs produces the disease-associated phenotypes. Finally, we show that the C625T mutation can be repaired precisely and efficiently using a base-editing approach. Taken together, our data establish 3D organoids as a valid disease model

Profiling Transboundary Aerosols over Taiwan and Assessing Their Radiative Effects

A synergistic process was developed to study the vertical distributions of aerosol optical properties and their effects on solar heating using data retrieved from ground-based radiation measurements and radiative transfer simulations. Continuous MPLNET and AERONET observations were made at a rural site in northern Taiwan from 2005 to 2007. The aerosol vertical extinction profiles retrieved from ground-based lidar measurements were categorized into near-surface, mixed, and two-layer transport types, representing 76% of all cases. Fine-mode (Angstrom exponent, alpha, approx.1.4) and moderate-absorbing aerosols (columnar single-scattering albedo approx.0.93, asymmetry factor approx.0.73 at 440 nm wavelength) dominated in this region. The column-integrated aerosol optical thickness at 500 nm (tau(sub 500nm)) ranges from 0.1 to 0.6 for the near-surface transport type, but can be doubled in the presence of upper-layer aerosol transport. We utilize aerosol radiative efficiency (ARE; the impact on solar radiation per unit change of tau(sub 500nm)) to quantify the radiative effects due to different vertical distributions of aerosols. Our results show that the ARE at the top-of-atmosphere (-23 W/ sq m) is weakly sensitive to aerosol vertical distributions confined in the lower troposphere. On the other hand, values of the ARE at the surface are -44.3, -40.6 and -39.7 W/sq m 38 for near-surface, mixed, and two-layer transport types, respectively. Further analyses show that the impact of aerosols on the vertical profile of solar heating is larger for the near-surface transport type than that of two-layer transport type. The impacts of aerosol on the surface radiation and the solar heating profiles have implications for the stability and convection in the lower troposphere

HLA Class I and Class II Conserved Extended Haplotypes and Their Fragments or Blocks in Mexicans: Implications for the Study of Genetic Diversity in Admixed Populations

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes are highly polymorphic and informative in disease association, transplantation, and population genetics studies with particular importance in the understanding of human population diversity and evolution. The aim of this study was to describe the HLA diversity in Mexican admixed individuals. We studied the polymorphism of MHC class I (HLA-A, -B, -C), and class II (HLA-DRB1, -DQB1) genes using high-resolution sequence based typing (SBT) method and we structured the blocks and conserved extended haplotypes (CEHs) in 234 non-related admixed Mexican individuals (468 haplotypes) by a maximum likelihood method. We found that HLA blocks and CEHs are primarily from Amerindian and Caucasian origin, with smaller participation of African and recent Asian ancestry, demonstrating a great diversity of HLA blocks and CEHs in Mexicans from the central area of Mexico. We also analyzed the degree of admixture in this group using short tandem repeats (STRs) and HLA-B that correlated with the frequency of most probable ancestral HLA-C/−B and -DRB1/−DQB1 blocks and CEHs. Our results contribute to the analysis of the diversity and ancestral contribution of HLA class I and HLA class II alleles and haplotypes of Mexican admixed individuals from Mexico City. This work will help as a reference to improve future studies in Mexicans regarding allotransplantation, immune responses and disease associations