Second order backward stochastic differential equations and fully non-linear parabolic PDEs

We introduce a class of second order backward stochastic differential equations and show relations to fully non-linear parabolic PDEs. In particular, we provide a stochastic representation result for solutions of such PDEs and discuss Monte Carlo methods for their numerical treatment.Comment: 26 page

Constraints on CP violation in the Higgs sector from the ρ\rho parameter

We discuss the relation between the CP symmetry and the custodial $SU(2)$ symmetry in the Higgs sector. In particular, we show that CP violation in the Higgs-gauge sector is allowed only if the custodial $SU(2)$ symmetry is broken. We exploit these facts to constrain CP violation using the experimental bounds on $\rho-1$. CP nonconservation in the Higgs-fermion interactions can also be constrained in a similar way although a possible exception is pointed out.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures (not included), SLAC-PUB-619

Chemokine (C-C Motif) Ligand 2 (CCL2) in Sera of Patients with Type 1 Diabetes and Diabetic Complications

Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2), commonly known as monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases characterized by monocytic infiltration. However, limited data have been reported on MCP-1 in type 1 diabetes (T1D) and the findings are inconclusive and inconsistent.In this study, MCP-1 was measured in the sera from 2,472 T1D patients and 2,654 healthy controls using a Luminex assay. The rs1024611 SNP in the promoter region of MCP-1 was genotyped for a subset of subjects (1764 T1D patients and 1323 controls) using the TaqMan-assay.Subject age, sex or genotypes of MCP-1 rs1024611SNP did not have a major impact on serum MCP-1 levels in either healthy controls or patients. While hemoglobin A1c levels did not have a major influence on serum MCP-1 levels, the mean serum MCP-1 levels are significantly higher in patients with multiple complications (mean = 242 ng/ml) compared to patients without any complications (mean = 201 ng/ml) (p = 3.5×10(-6)). Furthermore, mean serum MCP-1 is higher in controls (mean = 261 ng/ml) than T1D patients (mean = 208 ng/ml) (p<10(-23)). More importantly, the frequency of subjects with extremely high levels (>99(th) percentile of patients or 955 ng/ml) of serum MCP-1 is significantly lower in the T1D group compared to the control group (odds ratio = 0.11, p<10(-33)).MCP-1 may have a dual role in T1D and its complications. While very high levels of serum MCP-1 may be protective against the development of T1D, complications are associated with higher serum MCP-1 levels within the T1D group

Group Theoretical Origin of CP Violation

We propose the complex group theoretical Clebsch-Gordon coefficients as a novel origin of CP violation. This is manifest in our model based on SU(5) combined with the T' group as the family symmetry. The complex CG coefficients in T' lead to explicit CP violation which is thus geometrical in origin. The predicted CP violation measures in the quark sector are consistent with the current experimental data. The corrections due to leptonic Dirac CP violating phase gives the experimental best fit value for the solar mixing angle, and we also gets the right amount of the baryonic asymmetry.Comment: v1: 4 pages; v2: RGE corrections included giving better agreement with experiments, abstract shortened; v3: Title of the paper has been changed, references added, version to appear in Phys. Lett.

Forward–backward SDEs with distributional coefficients

Forward–backward stochastic differential equations (FBSDEs) have attracted significant attention since they were introduced, due to their wide range of applications, from solving non-linear PDEs to pricing American-type options. Here, we consider two new classes of multidimensional FBSDEs with distributional coefficients (elements of a Sobolev space with negative order). We introduce a suitable notion of solution and show its existence and in certain cases its uniqueness. Moreover we establish a link with PDE theory via a non-linear Feynman–Kac formula. The associated semi-linear parabolic PDE is the same for both FBSDEs, also involves distributional coefficients and has not previously been investigated

Theoretical and Phenomenological Constraints on Form Factors for Radiative and Semi-Leptonic B-Meson Decays

We study transition form factors for radiative and rare semi-leptonic B-meson decays into light pseudoscalar or vector mesons, combining theoretical constraints and phenomenological information from Lattice QCD, light-cone sum rules, and dispersive bounds. We pay particular attention to form factor parameterisations which are based on the so-called series expansion, and study the related systematic uncertainties on a quantitative level. In this context, we also provide the NLO corrections to the correlation function between two flavour-changing tensor currents, which enters the unitarity constraints for the coefficients in the series expansion.Comment: 52 pages; v2: normalization error in (29ff.) corrected, conclusion about relevance of unitarity bounds modified; form factor fits unaffected; references added; v3: discussion on truncation of series expansion added, matches version to be published in JHEP; v4: corrected typos in Tables 5 and

Association of glomerular hyperfiltration with serum chemokine levels and metabolic features in prepubertal children with overweight/obesity

Background and aims Glomerular hyperfiltration (GH) is proposed as one of the earliest events in obesity (OB)-associated renal disease. Children with GH and type-1 diabetes showed increased chemokine levels. Chemokine associations with glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and metabolic features in prepubertal children with overweight (OW)/OB are unknown. Methods and results Cross-sectional study. 75 prepubertal children (aged: 9.0 ± 1.7 years) with OW/OB were studied. Clinical and metabolic characteristics (including non-esterified fatty acids, NEFA) and GFR (combined Zappitelli equation) were assessed. GH was defined as GFR >135 ml/min.1.73 m2. Serum levels of regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES)/CCL5, interleukin-8 (IL-8)/CXCL8 and monokine-induced by interferon-γ (MIG)/CXCL9 were measured by ELISA. Age- and sex-adjusted correlations and differences were tested. 48% of the cohort was female and 13% were OW, 54% OB and 33% severe OB. Prepubertal children with GH showed lower z-BMI (−12%), NEFA (−26%) and uric acid (−22%) than those without GH (all p 0.05). Adjusted correlations were significant for RANTES and z-BMI (r = 0.26; p < 0.05) and for MIG with z-BMI (r = −0.26; p < 0.05) and with NEFA (r = 0.27; p < 0.05). Conclusion GH was not associated with higher chemokine levels in prepubertal children with OW/OB. Decreased rather than elevated GFR values were correlated with obesity and worse metabolic profiles. Chemokines levels in children with severe OB suggest a regulation of the immune response. Follow-up studies are needed to address the clinical implications of these findings. Keywords ObesityChildrenChemokinesHyperfiltrationRenal diseas

Sliding mode speed auto-regulation technique for robotic tracking

In advanced industry manufacturing involving robotic operations, the required tasks can be frequently formulated in terms of a path or trajectory tracking. In this paper, an approach based on sliding mode conditioning of a path parametrization is proposed to achieve the greatest tracking speed which is compatible with the robot input constraints (joint speeds). Some distinctive features of the proposal are that: (1) it is completely independent of the robot parameters, and it does not require a priori knowledge of the desired path either, (2) it avoids on-line computations necessary for conventional analytical methodologies, and (3) it can be easily added as a supervisory block to pre-existing path tracking schemes. A sufficient condition (lower bound on desired tracking speed) for the sliding mode regulation to be activated is derived, while a chattering amplitude estimation is obtained in terms of the sampling period and a tunable first-order filter bandwidth. The algorithm is evaluated on the freely accessible 6R robot model PUMA-560, for which a path passing through a wrist singularity is considered to show the effectiveness of the proposal under hard tracking conditions. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This research is partially supported by DISICOM project PROM-ETEO 2008/088 of Generalitat Valenciana (Spain), research project DPI2008-06731-C02-01 of the Spanish Government (Spain), Technical University of Valencia (Spain), and the Argentinian Government (UNLP 111127, CONICET PIP 112-200801-0, ANPCyT PICT 2007 00535).Garelli, F.; Gracia Calandin, LI.; Sala, A.; Albertos Pérez, P. (2011). Sliding mode speed auto-regulation technique for robotic tracking. Robotics and Autonomous Systems. 59(7-8):519-529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2011.03.007S519529597-