Color Fields on the Light-Shell

We study the classical color radiation from very high energy collisions that produce colored particles. In the extreme high energy limit, the classical color fields are confined to a light-shell expanding at $c$ and are associated with a non-linear $\sigma$-model on the 2D light-shell with specific symmetry breaking terms. We argue that the quantum version of this picture exhibits asymptotic freedom and may be a useful starting point for an effective light-shell theory of the structure between the jets at a very high energy collider.Comment: 11 pages, no figure

Sexuality and Affection among Elderly German Men and Women in Long-Term Relationships: Results of a Prospective Population-Based Study

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The study was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Families, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (AZ 314-1722-102/16; AZ 301-1720-295/2), the Ministry for Science, Research and Art Baden-Württemberg, and the University of Rostock (FORUN 989020; 889048)

Computer-Generated Ovaries to Assist Follicle Counting Experiments

Precise estimation of the number of follicles in ovaries is of key importance in the field of reproductive biology, both from a developmental point of view, where follicle numbers are determined at specific time points, as well as from a therapeutic perspective, determining the adverse effects of environmental toxins and cancer chemotherapeutics on the reproductive system. The two main factors affecting follicle number estimates are the sampling method and the variation in follicle numbers within animals of the same strain, due to biological variability. This study aims at assessing the effect of these two factors, when estimating ovarian follicle numbers of neonatal mice. We developed computer algorithms, which generate models of neonatal mouse ovaries (simulated ovaries), with characteristics derived from experimental measurements already available in the published literature. The simulated ovaries are used to reproduce in-silico counting experiments based on unbiased stereological techniques; the proposed approach provides the necessary number of ovaries and sampling frequency to be used in the experiments given a specific biological variability and a desirable degree of accuracy. The simulated ovary is a novel, versatile tool which can be used in the planning phase of experiments to estimate the expected number of animals and workload, ensuring appropriate statistical power of the resulting measurements. Moreover, the idea of the simulated ovary can be applied to other organs made up of large numbers of individual functional units

Reinstated episodic context guides sampling-based decisions for reward.

How does experience inform decisions? In episodic sampling, decisions are guided by a few episodic memories of past choices. This process can yield choice patterns similar to model-free reinforcement learning; however, samples can vary from trial to trial, causing decisions to vary. Here we show that context retrieved during episodic sampling can cause choice behavior to deviate sharply from the predictions of reinforcement learning. Specifically, we show that, when a given memory is sampled, choices (in the present) are influenced by the properties of other decisions made in the same context as the sampled event. This effect is mediated by fMRI measures of context retrieval on each trial, suggesting a mechanism whereby cues trigger retrieval of context, which then triggers retrieval of other decisions from that context. This result establishes a new avenue by which experience can guide choice and, as such, has broad implications for the study of decisions

Polymorphisms in the WNK1 gene are asociated with blood pressure variation and urinary potassium excretion

WNK1 - a serine/threonine kinase involved in electrolyte homeostasis and blood pressure (BP) control - is an excellent candidate gene for essential hypertension (EH). We and others have previously reported association between WNK1 and BP variation. Using tag SNPs (tSNPs) that capture 100% of common WNK1 variation in HapMap, we aimed to replicate our findings with BP and to test for association with phenotypes relating to WNK1 function in the British Genetics of Hypertension (BRIGHT) study case-control resource (1700 hypertensive cases and 1700 normotensive controls). We found multiple variants to be associated with systolic blood pressure, SBP (7/28 tSNPs min-p = 0.0005), diastolic blood pressure, DBP (7/28 tSNPs min-p = 0.002) and 24 hour urinary potassium excretion (10/28 tSNPs min-p = 0.0004). Associations with SBP and urine potassium remained significant after correction for multiple testing (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01 respectively). The major allele (A) of rs765250, located in intron 1, demonstrated the strongest evidence for association with SBP, effect size 3.14 mmHg (95%CI:1.23–4.9), DBP 1.9 mmHg (95%CI:0.7–3.2) and hypertension, odds ratio (OR: 1.3 [95%CI: 1.0–1.7]).We genotyped this variant in six independent populations (n = 14,451) and replicated the association between rs765250 and SBP in a meta-analysis (p = 7×10−3, combined with BRIGHT data-set p = 2×10−4, n = 17,851). The associations of WNK1 with DBP and EH were not confirmed. Haplotype analysis revealed striking associations with hypertension and BP variation (global permutation p10 mmHg reduction) and risk for hypertension (OR<0.60). Our data indicates that multiple rare and common WNK1 variants contribute to BP variation and hypertension, and provide compelling evidence to initiate further genetic and functional studies to explore the role of WNK1 in BP regulation and EH

Recall termination in free recall

Although much is known about the dynamics of memory search in the free recall task, relatively little is known about the factors related to recall termination. Reanalyzing individual trial data from 14 prior studies (1,079 participants in 28,015 trials) and defining termination as occurring when a final response is followed by a long nonresponse interval, we observed that termination probability increased throughout the recall period and that retrieval was more likely to terminate following an error than following a correct response. Among errors, termination probability was higher following prior-list intrusions and repetitions than following extralist intrusions. To verify that this pattern of results can be seen in a single study, we report a new experiment in which 80 participants contributed recall data from a total of 9,122 trials. This experiment replicated the pattern observed in the aggregate analysis of the prior studies

The Impact of Global Warming and Anoxia on Marine Benthic Community Dynamics: an Example from the Toarcian (Early Jurassic)

The Pliensbachian-Toarcian (Early Jurassic) fossil record is an archive of natural data of benthic community response to global warming and marine long-term hypoxia and anoxia. In the early Toarcian mean temperatures increased by the same order of magnitude as that predicted for the near future; laminated, organic-rich, black shales were deposited in many shallow water epicontinental basins; and a biotic crisis occurred in the marine realm, with the extinction of approximately 5% of families and 26% of genera. High-resolution quantitative abundance data of benthic invertebrates were collected from the Cleveland Basin (North Yorkshire, UK), and analysed with multivariate statistical methods to detect how the fauna responded to environmental changes during the early Toarcian. Twelve biofacies were identified. Their changes through time closely resemble the pattern of faunal degradation and recovery observed in modern habitats affected by anoxia. All four successional stages of community structure recorded in modern studies are recognised in the fossil data (i.e. Stage III: climax; II: transitional; I: pioneer; 0: highly disturbed). Two main faunal turnover events occurred: (i) at the onset of anoxia, with the extinction of most benthic species and the survival of a few adapted to thrive in low-oxygen conditions (Stages I to 0) and (ii) in the recovery, when newly evolved species colonized the re-oxygenated soft sediments and the path of recovery did not retrace of pattern of ecological degradation (Stages I to II). The ordination of samples coupled with sedimentological and palaeotemperature proxy data indicate that the onset of anoxia and the extinction horizon coincide with both a rise in temperature and sea level. Our study of how faunal associations co-vary with long and short term sea level and temperature changes has implications for predicting the long-term effects of “dead zones” in modern oceans

The HATNet and HATSouth Exoplanet Surveys

The Hungarian-made Automated Telescope Network (HATNet) has been in operation since 2003, with the key science goal being the discovery and accurate characterization of transiting extrasolar planets (TEPs) around bright stars. Using six small, 11\,cm\ aperture, fully automated telescopes in Arizona and Hawaii, as of 2017 March, it has discovered and accurately characterized 67 such objects. The HATSouth network of telescopes has been in operation since 2009, using slightly larger, 18\,cm diameter optical tubes. It was the first global network of telescopes using identical instrumentation. With three premier sites spread out in longitude (Chile, Namibia, Australia), the HATSouth network permits round-the-clock observations of a 128 square arcdegree swath of the sky at any given time, weather permitting. As of this writing, HATSouth has discovered 36 transiting exoplanets. Many of the altogether ~100 HAT and HATSouth exoplanets were the first of their kind. They have been important contributors to the rapidly developing field of exoplanets, motivating and influencing observational techniques, theoretical studies, and also actively shaping future instrumentation for the detection and characterization of such objects.Comment: Invited review chapter, accepted for publication in "Handbook of Exoplanets", edited by H.J. Deeg and J.A. Belmonte, Springer Reference Work