A
bstract
Five- and four-dimensional superconformal field theories with eight supercharges arise from canonical threefold singularities in M-theory and Type IIB string theory, respectively. We study ...their Coulomb and Higgs branches using crepant resolutions and deformations of the singularities. We propose a relation between the resulting moduli spaces, by compactifying the theories to 3d, followed by 3d
N
= 4 mirror symmetry and an
S
-type gauging of an abelian flavor symmetry. In particular, we use this correspondence to determine the Higgs branch of some 5d SCFTs and their magnetic quivers from the geometry. As an application of the general framework, we observe that singularities that engineer Argyres-Douglas theories in Type IIB also give rise to rank-0 5d SCFTs in M-theory. We also compute the higher-form symmetries of the 4d and 5d SCFTs, including the one-form symmetries of generalized Argyres-Douglas theories of type (
G, G′
).
Plant‐to‐plant signalling is a key mediator of interactions among plant species. Plants can perceive and respond to chemical cues emitted from their neighbours, altering survival and performance, ...impacting plant coexistence and community assembly. An increasing number of studies indicate root exudates as key players in plant‐to‐plant signalling. Root exudates mediate root detection and behaviour, kin recognition, flowering and production, driving inter‐ and intra‐specific facilitation in cropping systems and mixed‐species plantations. Altered interactions may be attributed to the signalling components within root exudates. Root ethylene, strigolactones, jasmonic acid, (‐)‐loliolide and allantoin are signalling chemicals that convey information on local conditions in plant–plant interactions. These root‐secreted signalling chemicals appear ubiquitous in plants and trigger a series of belowground responses inter‐ and intra‐specifically, involving molecular events in biosynthesis, secretion and action. The secretion of root signals, mainly mediated by ATP‐binding cassette transporters, is critical. Root‐secreted signalling chemicals and their molecular mechanisms are rapidly revealing a multitude of fascinating plant–plant interactions. However, many root signals, particularly species‐specific signals and their underlying mechanisms, remain to be uncovered due to methodological limitations and root‐soil interactions. A thorough understanding of root‐secreted chemical signals and their mechanisms will offer many ecological implications and potential applications for sustainable agriculture.
This review deals with the roles of root exudates in plant‐to‐plant signalling, and the identity of root‐secreted chemical signals and their molecular mechanisms, providing fascinating insights into communication and interactions among plants.
A
bstract
We propose a graph-based approach to 5d superconformal field theories (SCFTs) based on their realization as M-theory compactifications on singular elliptic Calabi-Yau threefolds. ...Field-theoretically, these 5d SCFTs descend from 6d
N
= (1
,
0) SCFTs by circle compactification and mass deformations. We derive a description of these theories in terms of graphs, so-called Combined Fiber Diagrams, which encode salient features of the partially resolved Calabi-Yau geometry, and provides a combinatorial way of characterizing all 5d SCFTs that descend from a given 6d theory. Remarkably, these graphs manifestly capture strongly coupled data of the 5d SCFTs, such as the superconformal flavor symmetry, BPS states, and mass deformations. The capabilities of this approach are demonstrated by deriving all rank one and rank two 5d SCFTs. The full potential, how- ever, becomes apparent when applied to theories with higher rank. Starting with the higher rank conformal matter theories in 6d, we are led to the discovery of previously unknown flavor symmetry enhancements and new 5d SCFTs.
A
bstract
Canonical threefold singularities in M-theory and Type IIB string theory give rise to superconformal field theories (SCFTs) in 5d and 4d, respectively. In this paper, we study canonical ...hypersurface singularities whose resolutions contain residual terminal singularities and/or 3-cycles. We focus on a certain class of ‘trinion’ singularities which exhibit these properties. In Type IIB, they give rise to 4d
N
= 2 SCFTs that we call
D
p
b
(
G
)-trinions, which are marginal gaugings of three SCFTs with
G
flavor symmetry. In order to understand the 5d physics of these trinion singularities in M-theory, we reduce these 4d and 5d SCFTs to 3d
N
= 4 theories, thus determining the electric and magnetic quivers (or, more generally, quiverines). In M-theory, residual terminal singularities give rise to free sectors of massless hypermultiplets, which often are discretely gauged. These free sectors appear as ‘ugly’ components of the magnetic quiver of the 5d SCFT. The 3-cycles in the crepant resolution also give rise to free hypermultiplets, but their physics is more subtle, and their presence renders the magnetic quiver ‘bad’. We propose a way to redeem the badness of these quivers using a class
S
realization. We also discover new S-dualities between different
D
p
b
(
G
)-trinions. For instance, a certain
E
8
gauging of the
E
8
Minahan-Nemeschansky theory is S-dual to an
E
8
-shaped Lagrangian quiver SCFT.
A
bstract
Using a one-way Monte Carlo algorithm from several different starting points, we get an approximation to the distribution of toric threefold bases that can be used in four-dimensional ...F-theory compactification. We separate the threefold bases into “resolvable” ones where the Weierstrass polynomials (
f, g
) can vanish to order (4
,
6) or higher on codimension-two loci and the “good” bases where these (4
,
6) loci are not allowed. A simple estimate suggests that the number of distinct resolvable base geometries exceeds 10
3000
, with over 10
250
“good” bases, though the actual numbers are likely much larger. We find that the good bases are concentrated at specific “end points” with special isolated values of
h
1,1
that are bigger than 1,000. These end point bases give Calabi-Yau fourfolds with specific Hodge numbers mirror to elliptic fibrations over simple threefolds. The non-Higgsable gauge groups on the end point bases are almost entirely made of products of
E
8
,
F
4
,
G
2
and SU(2). Nonetheless, we find a large class of good bases with a single non-Higgsable SU(3). Moreover, by randomly contracting the end point bases, we find many resolvable bases with
h
1,1
(
B
) ∼ 50-200 that cannot be contracted to another smooth threefold base.
The 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) causing an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan, Hubei province of China was isolated in January 2020. This study aims to investigate its epidemiologic history, and ...analyze the clinical characteristics, treatment regimens, and prognosis of patients infected with 2019-nCoV during this outbreak.
Clinical data from 137 2019-nCoV-infected patients admitted to the respiratory departments of nine tertiary hospitals in Hubei province from December 30, 2019 to January 24, 2020 were retrospectively collected, including general status, clinical manifestations, laboratory test results, imaging characteristics, and treatment regimens.
None of the 137 patients (61 males, 76 females, aged 20-83 years, median age 57 years) had a definite history of exposure to Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. Major initial symptoms included fever (112/137, 81.8%), coughing (66/137, 48.2%), and muscle pain or fatigue (44/137, 32.1%), with other, less typical initial symptoms observed at low frequency, including heart palpitations, diarrhea, and headache. Nearly 80% of the patients had normal or decreased white blood cell counts, and 72.3% (99/137) had lymphocytopenia. Lung involvement was present in all cases, with most chest computed tomography scans showing lesions in multiple lung lobes, some of which were dense; ground-glass opacity co-existed with consolidation shadows or cord-like shadows. Given the lack of effective drugs, treatment focused on symptomatic and respiratory support. Immunoglobulin G was delivered to some critically ill patients according to their conditions. Systemic corticosteroid treatment did not show significant benefits. Notably, early respiratory support facilitated disease recovery and improved prognosis. The risk of death was primarily associated with age, underlying chronic diseases, and median interval from the appearance of initial symptoms to dyspnea.
The majority of patients with 2019-nCoV pneumonia present with fever as the first symptom, and most of them still showed typical manifestations of viral pneumonia on chest imaging. Middle-aged and elderly patients with underlying comorbidities are susceptible to respiratory failure and may have a poorer prognosis.
A
bstract
In 1, 2 we proposed an approach based on graphs to characterize 5d superconformal field theories (SCFTs), which arise as compactifications of 6d
N
= (1
,
0) SCFTs. The graphs, so-called ...combined fiber diagrams (CFDs), are derived using the realization of 5d SCFTs via M-theory on a non-compact Calabi-Yau threefold with a canonical singularity. In this paper we complement this geometric approach by connecting the CFD of an SCFT to its weakly coupled gauge theory or quiver descriptions and demonstrate that the CFD as recovered from the gauge theory approach is consistent with that as determined by geometry. To each quiver description we also associate a graph, and the embedding of this graph into the CFD that is associated to an SCFT provides a systematic way to enumerate all possible consistent weakly coupled gauge theory descriptions of this SCFT. Furthermore, different embeddings of gauge theory graphs into a fixed CFD can give rise to new UV-dualities for which we provide evidence through an analysis of the prepotential, and which, for some examples, we substantiate by constructing the M-theory geometry in which the dual quiver descriptions are manifest.
Trifectas for TN in 5d Eckhard, Julius; Schäfer-Nameki, Sakura; Wang, Yi-Nan
The journal of high energy physics,
07/2020, Volume:
2020, Issue:
7
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
A
bstract
The trinions
T
N
are a class of 5d
N
= 1 superconformal field theories (SCFTs) realized as M-theory on ℂ
3
/ℤ
N
×
ℤ
N
. We apply to
T
N
, as well as closely-related SCFTs that are obtained ...by mass deformations, a multitude of recently developed approaches to studying 5d SCFTs and their IR gauge theory descriptions. Thereby we provide a complete picture of the theories both on the Coulomb branch and Higgs branch, from various geometric points of view — toric and gluing of compact surfaces as well as combined fiber diagrams — to magnetic quivers and Hasse diagrams.
This review reports on recent advances in state-of-the-art detection methods for microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs). The review commences by describing the materials, fabrication ...methods and driving mechanisms employed in μPADs. The review then explores the main detection methods and applications of μPADs proposed over the past five years. The discussions focus on seven detection technologies, namely (1) colorimetric detection, (2) fluorescent detection, (3) electrochemical detection and photoelectrochemical detection, (4) chemiluminescent detection, (5) electrochemiluminescent detection, (6) nanoparticle-based detection, and (7) spectrometry detection. Overall, the review provides a useful insight into recent advances in the μPAD detection field and serves as a useful source of reference for further research and innovation in the field.
•Detection methods of microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) have been discussed.•The review focuses on proposals for main detection methods and applications of μPADs.•A comprehensive review of the main applications of μPADs over the past five years.
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