Supersymmetry and TT¯ deformations Chang, Chih-Kai; Ferko, Christian; Sethi, Savdeep
The journal of high energy physics,
23/4, Letnik:
2019, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
A
bstract
We propose a manifestly supersymmetric generalization of the solvable
T
T
¯
deformation of two-dimensional field theories. For theories with (1
,
1) and (0
,
1) supersymmetry, the ...deformation is defined by adding a term to the superspace Lagrangian built from a superfield containing the supercurrent. We prove that the energy levels of the resulting deformed theory are determined exactly in terms of those of the undeformed theory. This supersymmetric deformation extends to higher dimensions, where we conjecture that it might provide a higher-dimensional analogue of
T
T
¯
, producing supersymmetric Dirac or Dirac-Born-Infeld actions in special cases.
Single‐ and few‐layer MoS2 nanoflowers are first discovered to have a piezo‐catalyst effect, exhibiting an ultra‐high degradation activity in the dark by introducing external mechanical strains. The ...degradation ratio of the Rhodamine‐B dye solution reaches 93% within 60 s under ultrasonic‐wave assistance in the dark.
Depending on the inflammatory milieu, injury can result either in a tissue's complete regeneration or in its degeneration and fibrosis, the latter of which could potentially lead to permanent organ ...failure. Yet how inflammatory cells regulate matrix-producing cells involved in the reparative process is unknown. Here we show that in acutely damaged skeletal muscle, sequential interactions between multipotent mesenchymal progenitors and infiltrating inflammatory cells determine the outcome of the reparative process. We found that infiltrating inflammatory macrophages, through their expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), directly induce apoptosis of fibro/adipogenic progenitors (FAPs). In states of chronic damage, however, such as those in mdx mice, macrophages express high levels of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1), which prevents the apoptosis of FAPs and induces their differentiation into matrix-producing cells. Treatment with nilotinib, a kinase inhibitor with proposed anti-fibrotic activity, can block the effect of TGF-β1 and reduce muscle fibrosis in mdx mice. Our findings reveal an unexpected anti-fibrotic role of TNF and suggest that disruption of the precisely timed progression from a TNF-rich to a TGF-β-rich environment favors fibrotic degeneration of the muscle during chronic injury.
Anaerobic digestion of food waste appears promising to generate biogas in the context of the growing energy demand and the circular economy. In particular, anaerobic digestion causes less air and ...solid waste pollution compared to incineration, gasification and pyrolysis. Actual research on biogas production using food waste focuses on the performance of substrates such as manure and bacteria, yet few investigations evaluate the impact of anaerobic digestion on the environment. Here, we review the steps of anaerobic digestion, factors that influence the process, and food waste as main and co-substrate to increase biogas yield. High metabolic activity of anaerobes is optimized by controlling temperature, pH, retention time, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, volatile fatty acid and organic loading rate. We discuss the effect of pre-treatments such as biological, thermal, chemical and mechanical treatments, on anaerobic digestion performance. The impacts of food waste treatments on the environment are compared by life cycle analysis.
•COVID-19 infection can induce severe neurologic complications in children.•All sequences in this study belonged to the BA.2.3 lineage.•The sequences displayed a novel K97E mutation in the spike ...protein.•Only mutations from Japan, the United States, and Hong Kong showed a high correlation.•This strain appeared in April 2022 (coincided with the Omicron outbreak in Taiwan).
Since April 2022, another wave of the Omicron epidemic has struck Taiwanese society, and children with severe neurological complications have been reported frequently. A few cases even developed acute fulminant encephalitis. To investigate the possible causes of the increased incidence of such complications in Taiwan, we reviewed several cases of pediatric patients with severe neurological symptoms.
We collected the medical records of pediatric patients with COVID-19 infection who presented with severe neurological symptoms. The COVID-19 infection was diagnosed by nasal swab reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The remaining samples were sent for whole genome sequencing and spike (S) protein amino acid variation mapping.
The increase of several inflammatory markers was observed in all patients included in this study. However, none of the cerebrospinal fluid samples tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The result of whole genome sequencing showed that all the sequences belonged to the lineage BA.2.3.7. However, the sequences had a K97E mutation in the S protein that differed from other BA.2.3.7 lineage strains, which was located at the S protein N-terminal domain.
The new mutation in the S protein, which had not previously been observed but was discovered in this study, potentially explains the sudden increase in incidence of extremely adverse neurological symptoms in pediatric patients.
The performance of hybrid perovskite‐based light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) is markedly enhanced by the application of a NiOx electrode interlayer and moderate methylamine treatment. A hybrid ...perovskite‐based LED exhibits a peak luminous efficiency of 15.9 cd A−1 biased at 8.5 V, 407.65 mA cm−2, and 65 300 cd m−2, showing a distinctive impact for future applications.
Composite films consisting of polypyrrole (PPy) and graphene oxide (GO) were electrochemically synthesized by electrooxidation of 0.1M pyrrole in aqueous solution containing appropriate amounts of ...GO. Simultaneous chronoamperometric growth profiles and frequency changes on a quartz crystal microbalance showed that the anionic GO was incorporated in the growing GO/PPy composite to maintain its electrical neutrality. Subsequently, the GO was reduced electrochemically to form a reduced GO/PPy (RGO/PPy) composite by cyclic voltammetry. Specific capacitances estimated from galvanostatic discharge curves in 1M H2SO4 at a current density of 1Ag−1 indicated that values for the RGO/PPy composite were larger than those of a pristine PPy film and the GO/PPy composite. In the case of 6mgmL−1 GO for the preparation of GO/PPy, a high specific capacitance of 424Fg−1 obtained at the electrochemically prepared RGO/PPy composite indicated its potential for use as an electrode material for supercapacitors.
Rationale
Antimicrobial photodynamic treatment is potentially an alternative to antibiotics and is also effective against viruses, fungi and some cancers. Our previous studies have shown that blue ...light combined with curcumin, a chemical from the turmeric plant, exerted effective antimicrobial activity via photodynamic treatment. The study reported in this paper investigates which target proteins are affected after the treatment.
Methods
We treated imipenem‐resistant Acinetobacter baumannii with blue light and curcumin and used protein carbonylation as a marker for oxidative damage. After treatment, the bacterial proteins were extracted and the protein carbonyls marked using dinitrophenylhydrazide. After enzyme digestion, we used liquid chromatography/nano‐electrospray ionization (LC/nano‐ESI) ion trap mass spectrometry to identify bacterial peptides from a customized database. The functional enrichment analyses of the identified proteins were performed using gene ontology annotation and the STRING protein–protein interaction network.
Results
The application of curcumin with blue light showed good antibacterial activity against imipenem‐resistant A. baumannii. Using a shotgun proteomics approach, the carbonylated proteins in A. baumannii caused by the photolytic curcumin were identified. The results showed that the proteins related to membrane structures, translation and response to oxidative stress were preferentially modified.
Conclusions
The photolytic curcumin treatment could be a potential alternative to antibiotics for bacterial infection. In this study, the shotgun proteomics strategy allows us to explore the possible bactericidal mechanisms under this oxidative stress. The result provides a reference for future studies on the enhancement of the action of photolytic curcumin.
Taiwan's National Pension Insurance (NPI) is a compulsory defined benefit pension insurance scheme. However, paying the NPI premium is not mandatory. We use the NPI administrative data of more than ...489 million observations to investigate the NPI's sustainability and inequalities for various groups. We find that NPI participants pay their premiums either consistently or not at all. Although the overall willingness to pay the premiums has been declining, one group of the insured persons consistently pays, thereby maintaining the sustainability of the NPI. Intergenerational and intragenerational inequalities are both found in the NPI; however, the government's premium subsidy reduces intragenerational inequality, except for young adult males who need the NPI and regularly pay premiums. Our empirical results suggest that subsidising these young male citizens strengthens the NPI's sustainability and mitigates the intergenerational and intragenerational inequalities of the NPI.