Analogue Models for T and CPT Violation in Neutral-Meson Oscillations

Analogue models for CP violation in neutral-meson systems are studied in a general framework. No-go results are obtained for models in classical mechanics that are nondissipative or that involve one-dimensional oscillators. A complete emulation is shown to be possible for a two-dimensional oscillator with rheonomic constraints, and an explicit example with spontaneous T and CPT violation is presented. The results have implications for analogue models with electrical circuits.Comment: 9 page

Effect of Hydrocortisone on Mortality and Organ Support in Patients With Severe COVID-19: The REMAP-CAP COVID-19 Corticosteroid Domain Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Evidence regarding corticosteroid use for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is limited. Objective: To determine whether hydrocortisone improves outcome for patients with severe COVID-19. Design, Setting, and Participants: An ongoing adaptive platform trial testing multiple interventions within multiple therapeutic domains, for example, antiviral agents, corticosteroids, or immunoglobulin. Between March 9 and June 17, 2020, 614 adult patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled and randomized within at least 1 domain following admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) for respiratory or cardiovascular organ support at 121 sites in 8 countries. Of these, 403 were randomized to open-label interventions within the corticosteroid domain. The domain was halted after results from another trial were released. Follow-up ended August 12, 2020. Interventions: The corticosteroid domain randomized participants to a fixed 7-day course of intravenous hydrocortisone (50 mg or 100 mg every 6 hours) (n = 143), a shock-dependent course (50 mg every 6 hours when shock was clinically evident) (n = 152), or no hydrocortisone (n = 108). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary end point was organ support-free days (days alive and free of ICU-based respiratory or cardiovascular support) within 21 days, where patients who died were assigned -1 day. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model that included all patients enrolled with severe COVID-19, adjusting for age, sex, site, region, time, assignment to interventions within other domains, and domain and intervention eligibility. Superiority was defined as the posterior probability of an odds ratio greater than 1 (threshold for trial conclusion of superiority >99%). Results: After excluding 19 participants who withdrew consent, there were 384 patients (mean age, 60 years; 29% female) randomized to the fixed-dose (n = 137), shock-dependent (n = 146), and no (n = 101) hydrocortisone groups; 379 (99%) completed the study and were included in the analysis. The mean age for the 3 groups ranged between 59.5 and 60.4 years; most patients were male (range, 70.6%-71.5%); mean body mass index ranged between 29.7 and 30.9; and patients receiving mechanical ventilation ranged between 50.0% and 63.5%. For the fixed-dose, shock-dependent, and no hydrocortisone groups, respectively, the median organ support-free days were 0 (IQR, -1 to 15), 0 (IQR, -1 to 13), and 0 (-1 to 11) days (composed of 30%, 26%, and 33% mortality rates and 11.5, 9.5, and 6 median organ support-free days among survivors). The median adjusted odds ratio and bayesian probability of superiority were 1.43 (95% credible interval, 0.91-2.27) and 93% for fixed-dose hydrocortisone, respectively, and were 1.22 (95% credible interval, 0.76-1.94) and 80% for shock-dependent hydrocortisone compared with no hydrocortisone. Serious adverse events were reported in 4 (3%), 5 (3%), and 1 (1%) patients in the fixed-dose, shock-dependent, and no hydrocortisone groups, respectively. Conclusions and Relevance: Among patients with severe COVID-19, treatment with a 7-day fixed-dose course of hydrocortisone or shock-dependent dosing of hydrocortisone, compared with no hydrocortisone, resulted in 93% and 80% probabilities of superiority with regard to the odds of improvement in organ support-free days within 21 days. However, the trial was stopped early and no treatment strategy met prespecified criteria for statistical superiority, precluding definitive conclusions. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02735707

Correlation of drilling cores and the Paks brickyard key section at the area of Paks, Hungary

The stratotype section of Paks brickyard provides the most detailed accessible loess-paleosol sequence from almost the entire Pleistocene in the middle part of the Carpathian Basin. The best and thickest loess archives of Hungary (Paks, Udvari-2A borehole) are preserved in this part of the basin and now two more drilling cores were deepened in this area on plateau position on loessic ridges: PA-I (∼85 m) and PA-II (∼50 m). In absence of numerical dating method available for the entire records an attempt was made to compare the cores and correlate them to Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) mainly based on the variations of their MS curves and soil characteristics. Characteristic patterns of MS seem to help the identification of Marine Isotope Stages and therefore the correlation among the sections. Macroscopic investigation of the paleosols can support the correlation, although the coeval paleosols can have different appearances due to their different environmental conditions and topographic positions. Thirteen samples were dated using luminescence from the upper part of the cores, covering the age range of 20–200 ka to check and revise the supposed correlation. The MS based correlation supported by soil characteristics was only partly confirmed by luminescence data. Therefore, we emphasize that any correlation solely based on MS data or soil morphology, without any numerical age control, has to be taken with great caution. The different thickness and the present altitude of the coeval loess and paleosols imply differences and changes in paleogeomorphological positions of the investigated profiles during the Pleistocene. Significant subsidence and/or tectonic movements are the main causes of the deficient appearance of MIS 6-3 sediments in the Paks brickyard outcrop compared to the more complete sequences of the cores.National Research Development and Innovation Office project K119366. Special thanks to the Mecsekérc Ltd. B. Bradák acknowledges the financial support of project BU235P18 (Junta de Castilla y Leon, Spain) and the European Regional Development Fund

Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age

Present-day people from England and Wales harbour more ancestry derived from Early European Farmers (EEF) than people of the Early Bronze Age . To understand this, we generated genome-wide data from 793 individuals, increasing data from the Middle to Late Bronze and Iron Age in Britain by 12-fold, and Western and Central Europe by 3.5-fold. Between 1000 and 875 BC, EEF ancestry increased in southern Britain (England and Wales) but not northern Britain (Scotland) due to incorporation of migrants who arrived at this time and over previous centuries, and who were genetically most similar to ancient individuals from France. These migrants contributed about half the ancestry of Iron Age people of England and Wales, thereby creating a plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain. These patterns are part of a broader trend of EEF ancestry becoming more similar across central and western Europe in the Middle to Late Bronze Age, coincident with archaeological evidence of intensified cultural exchange . There was comparatively less gene flow from continental Europe during the Iron Age, and Britain's independent genetic trajectory is also reflected in the rise of the allele conferring lactase persistence to ~50% by this time compared to ~7% in central Europe where it rose rapidly in frequency only a millennium later. This suggests that dairy products were used in qualitatively different ways in Britain and in central Europe over this period. [Abstract copyright: © 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.