Predicting the tripartite network of mosquito-borne disease

The potential for a pathogen to infect a host is mediated by traits of both the host and pathogen, as well as the complex interactions between them. Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) require an intermediate vector, introducing an additional compatibility layer. Existing predictive models of host-virus networks rarely incorporate the unique aspects of vector transmission, instead treating vector biology as a hidden, unobserved layer. We explore two possible extensions to address this: first, we added vector traits into predictions of the bipartite host-virus network; and second, we used host, vector, and virus traits to predict the tripartite host-vector-virus network. We tested both approaches on mosquito-borne flaviviruses of mammals. Using host-virus models, we find that the inclusion of vector traits may improve inference in some cases, while viral traits proved to be the most important for model performance. Further, we found that it was possible, though quite difficult, to predict full tripartite (host-vector-virus) links. Both approaches are interesting avenues for further model development, but our results keenly underscore a need to collect more comprehensive datasets to characterize arbovirus ecology, across a wide and less biased geographic scope, especially outside of North America, and to better identify molecular traits that underpin host-vector-virus interactions.

A Gauge Theory for the Weak and Electromagnetic Interactions

In this chapter we develop the Glashow–Weinberg–Salam theory of electromagnetic and weak interactions based on the gauge group SU(2) × U(1). We show that the apparent difference in strength between the two interactions is due to the Brout–Englert–Higgs phenomenon which results in heavy intermediate vector bosons. The model is presented first for the leptons, and then we argue that the extension to hadrons requires the introduction of a fourth quark. We show that the GIM mechanism guarantees the natural suppression of strangeness changing neutral currents. In the same spirit, the need to introduce a natural source of CP-violation leads to a six quark model with the Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa mass matrix.

The Weak Interactions

We present the phenomenology of the weak interactions in a historical perspective, from Fermi’s four-fermion theory to the V−A current×current interaction. The experiments of C.S. Wu, which established parity violation, and M. Goldhaber, which measured the neutrino helicity, are described. We study in turn the leptonic, semi-leptonic and non-leptonic weak interactions. We introduce the concept of the conserved vector current and the partially conserved axial current and show that the latter is the result of spontaneously broken chiral symmetry with the pion the corresponding pseudo-Goldstone boson. We study Gell–Mann’s current algebra and derive the Adler–Weisberger relation. Strangeness changing weak interactions and the Cabibbo theory are described. We present a phenomenological analysis of CP-violation in the neutral kaon system and we end with the intermediate vector boson hypothesis.

The Standard Model and Experiment

We review some basic experiments which established the validity of the Standard Model. They include the discovery of charm as well as the other two heavy quark flavours, that of the intermediate vector bosons W± and Z and of the BEH scalar. We show the successes of the model in the domain of hadron spectroscopy, but also its shortcomings. The rich subject of CP-violation in the hadronic and the leptonic sectors is reviewed, as well as the questions of flavour violating transitions. We end with an overall comparison between theory and experiment and point out the few cases in which some tension persists.

The Standard Model of Electroweak Interactions

In this chapter, we summarize the structure of the standard EW theory and specify the couplings of the intermediate vector bosons W±, Z and of the Higgs particle with the fermions and among themselves, as dictated by the gauge symmetry plus the observed matter content and the requirement of renormalizability

More on the Fundamental Forces and Their “Carriers”

A discussion of the “carriers” of the basic forces of nature and the way they “work.” Electrical charges and their interaction with photons (QED). Gravitons and the identity of inertial and gravitational masses. Intermediate vector bosons and the weak interactions. Gluons and the “chromodynamic” interactions (Quantum Chromodynamics: QCD). Adding electric charges and “colored” chromodynamic charges. Confinement in QCD.

The Unification of Forces

The quest for a unified theory of all fundamental forces. Faraday’s unification of all “types” of electricity. Maxwell’s unification of electricity, magnetism and light. Heinrich Hertz, and radio waves. The unification of weak and electromagnetic interactions by Glashow, Weinberg, and Salam. “Weak neutral currents.” The discovery of the “Intermediate Vector Bosons.” The quest for a “Grand Unified Theory.” Proton decay. The core of the Sun. Serendipity, solar neutrinos, and the supernova SN1987A. Neutrino oscillations. What a “gauge theory” is.

Contributions of Calorimetry to the Advancement of Science

In this last chapter, some scientific discoveries are described in which calorimeters have played a crucial role. The chosen examples were all awarded a Nobel prize in physics. The first example concerns the discovery of the intermediate vector bosons (W and Z) by the experiments UA1 and UA2 at CERN (1982). More than anything else, this discovery has been crucial for the dominant role that calorimeters have played in the design of experiments at the subsequent generation(s) of particle accelerators. The second example concerns the discovery of the fact that neutrinos have a non-zero rest mass, by the SuperKamiokande collaboration (1998). This discovery inspired the development of the even larger water Cerenkov calorimeters discussed in Chapter 10. The third example concerns the discovery of the Higgs boson, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (2012). In all three cases, the role of the calorimeters, and their importance for the discoveries, is described in some detail.

An Analysis of a Minimal Vectorlike Extension of the Standard Model

We analyze an extension of the Standard Model with an additionalSU(2)hypercolor gauge group keeping the Higgs boson as a fundamental field. Vectorlike interactions of new hyperquarks with the intermediate vector bosons are explicitly constructed. We also consider pseudo-Nambu–Goldstone bosons caused by the symmetry breakingSU(4)→Sp(4). A specific global symmetry of the model with zero hypercharge of the hyperquark doublets ensures the stability of a neutral pseudoscalar field. Some possible manifestations of the lightest states at colliders are also examined.

The processes e+e−→ K±(K∗∓(892),K∗∓(1410)) and e+e−→ (η,η′(958))(ϕ(1020),ϕ(1680)) in the extended Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model

The processes [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are calculated in the framework of the extended Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model. The intermediate vector mesons [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and their first radially excited states are taken into account. The obtained results are in satisfactory agreement with the experimental data. The predictions for the cross-sections of the reactions [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] were made.