Abstract: We establish a precise relation between mixed boundary conditions for scalar fields in asymptotically anti de Sitter spacetimes and the equation of state of the dual fluid. We provide a detailed derivation of the relation in the case of five bulk-dimensions for scalar fields saturating the Breitenlohner-Freedman bound. As a concrete example, we discuss the five dimensional scalar-tensor theories describing dark energy in four dimensions. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Abstract: Chemical inhibition of chromatin regulators provides an effective approach to investigate the roles of chromatin modifications in plant and animals. In this work, chemical inhibition of the Arabidopsis histone acetyltransferase activity by gamma-butyrolactone (MB-3), the inhibitor of the catalytic activity of mammalian GENERAL CONTROL NON-REPRESSIBLE 5 (GCN5) is evaluated. Arabidopsis seedlings were germinated in LS medium supplemented with different concentrations of MB-3, and inhibition in the root length and yellowed leaves were observed. The yellowed leaves phenotype of the plants grown in 100 μM of MB-3 was reverted when plants were additionally treated with 1 μM of TSA, a histone deacetylase inhibitor. Using an immunoblot assay with specific antibodies revealed a reduction of H3K14 acetylation levels at 3 and 24 h post-treatment. At 24 h post-treatment a reduction of H3K9 acetylation levels was observed. Targets of GCN5 related to stress were downregulated at 3 h post-treatment but no change was observed in target genes related to developmental transition. Our results indicate that MB-3 is a chemical inhibitor of the histone acetyltransferase in Arabidopsis and suggest that this inhibitor could function in other plants species. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Abstract: The ideal magnetohydrodynamic theorem on the conservation of the magnetic connections between plasma elements is generalized to relativistic plasmas in curved spacetime. The connections between plasma elements, which are established by a covariant connection equation, display a particularly complex structure in curved spacetime. Nevertheless, it is shown that these connections can be interpreted in terms of magnetic field lines alone by adopting a 3 + 1 foliation of spacetime.

Abstract: Exact electromagnetic wave solutions to Maxwell equations on anisotropic Bianchi I cosmological spacetime backgrounds are studied. The waves evolving on Bianchi I spacetimes exhibit birefringence (associated with linear polarization) and dispersion. The particular case of a vacuum-dominated anisotropic Universe, which reproduces a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker Universe (for late times)-while, for earlier times, it matches a Kasner Universe-is studied. The electromagnetic waves do not, in general, follow null geodesics. This produces a modification of the cosmological redshift, which is then dependent on light polarization, its dispersion, and its non-null geodesic behavior. New results presented here may help to tackle some issues related to the “horizon” problem.

Abstract: We find exact solutions to Maxwell equations written in terms of fourvector potentials in non-rotating, as well as in Gdel and Kerr spacetimes. We show that Maxwell equations can be reduced to two uncoupled secondorder differential equations for combinations of the components of the four-vector potential. Exact electromagnetic waves solutions are written on given gravitational field backgrounds where they evolve. We find that in non-rotating spherical symmetric spacetimes, electromagnetic waves travel along null geodesics. However, electromagnetic waves on Gdel and Kerr spacetimes do not exhibit that behavior.

Abstract: In the last ten years, the technology of differential geometry, ubiquitous in gravitational physics, has found its place in the field of optics. It has been successfully used in the design of optical metamaterials through a technique now known as “transformation optics.” This method, however, only applies for the particular class of metamaterials known as impedance matched, that is, materials whose electric permittivity is equal to their magnetic permeability. In that case, the material may be described by a spacetime metric. In the present work we will introduce a generalization of the geometric methods of transformation optics to situations in which the material is not impedance matched. In such situations, the material -or more precisely, its constitutive tensor-will not be described by a metric only. We bring in a second tensor, with the local symmetries of the Weyl tensor, the “W-tensor.” In the geometric optics approximation we show how the properties of the W-tensor are related to the asymmetric transmission of the material. We apply this feature to the design of a particularly interesting set of asymmetric materials. These materials are birefringent when light rays approach the material in a given direction, but behave just like vacuum when the rays have the opposite direction with the appropriate polarization (or, in some cases, independently of the polarization). (C) 2017 Optical Society of America

Abstract: Small drops impinging obliquely on thin flowing soap films frequently demonstrate the rare emergence of bulk elastic effects working in-tandem with the more commonplace hydrodynamic interactions. Three collision regimes are observable: (a) drop piercing through the film, (b) it coalescing with the flow, and (c) it bouncing off the film surface. During impact, the drop deforms along with a bulk elastic deformation of the film. For impacts that are close-to-tangential, the bounce-off regime predominates. We outline a reduced order analytical framework assuming a deformable drop and a deformable three-dimensional film, and the idealization invokes a phase-based parametric study. Angular inclination of the film and the ratio of post and pre-impact drop sizes entail the phase parameters. We also perform experiments with vertically descending droplets (constituted from deionized water) impacting against an inclined soap film, flowing under constant pressure head. Model-predicted phase domain for bounce-off compares well to our experimental findings. Additionally, the experiments exhibit momentum transfer to the film in the form of shed vortex dipoles, along with propagation of free surface waves. On consulting prior published work, we note that for locomotion of water-walking insects using an impulsive action, the momentum distribution to the shed vortices and waves are both significant, taking up respectively 2/3 and 1/3 of the imparted streamwise momentum. Considering the visually similar impulse actions, this theory, despite its assumption of a quiescent liquid bath of infinite depth, is applied to the drop bounce-off experiments, and the resultant shed vortex dipole momenta are compared to the momenta of the coherent vortex structures computed from particle imaging velocimetry data. The magnitudes reveal identical order (10(-7) N s), suggesting that notwithstanding the disparities, the bounce-off regime may be tapped as a toy analog for impulse-based interfacial biolocomotion.

Abstract: Tide pools habitats are naturally exposed to a high degree of environmental variability. The consequences of living in these extreme habitats are not well established. In particular, little it is known about of the effects of hypercanic seawater (i.e. high pCO(2) levels) on marine vertebrates such as intertidal pool fish. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of increased pCO(2) on the physiology and behavior in juveniles of the intertidal pool fish Girella laevifrons. Two nominal pCO(2) concentrations (400 and 1600 patm) were used. We found that exposure to hypercapnic conditions did not affect oxygen consumption and absorption efficiency. However, the lateralization and boldness behavior was significantly disrupted in high pCO(2) conditions. In general, a predator-risk cost of boldness is assumed, thus the increased occurrence of shy personality in juvenile fishes may result in a change in the balance of this biological interaction, with significant ecological consequences. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract: We generalize the problem of univalence of the integral of f'(z)(alpha) when f is univalent to the complex harmonic mappings. To do this, we extend the univalence criterion by Ahlfors in [1] to those mappings. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.