678 research outputs found
The Hilbert basis method for D-flat directions and the superpotential
We discuss, using the Hilbert basis method, how to efficiently construct a
complete basis for D-flat directions in supersymmetric Abelian and non-Abelian
gauge theories. We extend the method to discrete (R and non-R) symmetries. This
facilitates the construction of a basis of all superpotential terms in a theory
with given symmetries.Comment: 11 pages; a related mathematica code can be found at
http://einrichtungen.ph.tum.de/T30e/codes/NonAbelianHilbert
Bilateral linear scleroderma "en coup de sabre" associated with facial atrophy and neurological complications
BACKGROUND: Linear scleroderma "en coup de sabre" (LSCS) usually affects one side of the face and head in the frontoparietal area with band-like indurated skin lesions. The disease may be associated with facial hemiatrophy. Various ophthalmological and neurological abnormalities have been observed in patients with LSCS. We describe an unusual case of LSC. CASE PRESENTATION: A 23 year old woman presented bilateral LSCS and facial atrophy. The patient had epileptic seizures as well as oculomotor and facial nerve palsy on the left side which also had pronounced skin involvement. Clinical features of different stages of the disease are presented. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the presented patient with bilateral LSCS and facial atrophy provide further evidence for a neurological etiology of the disease and may also indicate that classic progressive facial hemiatrophy (Parry-Romberg syndrome) and LSCS actually represent different spectra of the same disease
Native myocardial T1 time can predict development of subsequent anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy
Aims: This study aims to assess subclinical changes in functional and morphological myocardial magnetic resonance parameters very early into an anthracycline treatment, which may predict subsequent development of anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy (aCMP). Methods and results: Thirty sarcoma patients with planned anthracycline-based chemotherapy (360-400 mg/m doxorubicin-equivalent) were recruited. Median treatment time was 19.1 ± 2.1 weeks. Enrolled individuals received three cardiovascular magnetic resonance studies (before treatment, 48 h after first anthracycline treatment, and upon completion of treatment). Native T1 mapping (modified Look-Locker inversion recovery 5s(3s)3s), T2 mapping, and extracellular volume maps were acquired in addition to a conventional cardiovascular magnetic resonance with steady-state free precession cine imaging at 1.5 T. Patients were given 0.2 mmol/kg gadoteridol for extracellular volume quantification and late gadolinium enhancement imaging. Development of relevant aCMP was defined as drop of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) by >10%. For analysis, 23 complete data sets were available. Nine patients developed aCMP with LVEF reduction >10% until end of chemotherapy. Baseline LVEF was not different between patients with and without subsequent aCMP. When assessed 48 h after first dose of antracyclines, patients with subsequent aCMP had significantly lower native myocardial T1 times compared with before therapy (1002.0 ± 37.9 vs. 956.5 ± 29.2 ms, P  0.05). Patients with aCMP had decreased left ventricular mass upon completion of therapy (86.9 ± 24.5 vs. 81.1 ± 22.3 g; P = 0.02), while patients without aCMP did not show a change in left ventricular mass (81.8 ± 21.0 vs. 79.2 ± 18.1 g; P > 0.05). No patient developed new myocardial scars or compact myocardial fibrosis under chemotherapy. Conclusions: Early decrease of T1 times 48 h after first treatment with anthracyclines can predict the development of subsequent aCMP after completion of chemotherapy
Subclinical myocardial injury in patients with Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy 1 and preserved ejection fraction - assessment by cardiovascular magnetic resonance
Background: Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy type 1 (FSHD1) is an autosomal dominant and the third most common inherited muscle disease. Cardiac involvement is currently described in several muscular dystrophies (MD), but there are conflicting reports in FSHD1. Mostly, FSHD1 is recognized as MD with infrequent cardiac involvement, but sudden cardiac deaths are reported in single cases. The aim of this study is to investigate whether subclinical cardiac involvement in FSHD1 patients is detectable in preserved left ventricular systolic function applying cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). Methods: We prospectively included patients with genetically confirmed FSHD1 (n =â52, 48â±â15âyears) and compared them with 29 healthy age-matched controls using a 1.5âT CMR scanner. Myocardial tissue differentiation was performed qualitatively using focal fibrosis imaging (late gadolinium enhancement (LGE)), fat imaging (multi-echo sequence for fat/water-separation) and parametric T2- and T1-mapping for quantifying inflammation and diffuse fibrosis. Extracellular volume fraction was calculated. A 12-lead electrocardiogram and 24-h Holter were performed for the assessment of MD-specific Groh-criteria and arrhythmia. Results: Focal fibrosis by LGE was present in 13 patients (25%,10 men), fat infiltration in 7 patients (13%,5 men). T2 values did not differ between FSHD1 and healthy controls. Native T1 mapping revealed significantly higher values in patients (global native myocardial T1 values basal: FSHD1: 1012â±â26âms vs. controls: 985â±â28âms, p <â0.01, medial FSHD1: 994â±â37âms vs. controls: 982â±â28âms, p =â0.028). This was also evident in regions adjacent to focal fibrosis, indicating diffuse fibrosis. Groh-criteria were positive in 1 patient. In Holter, arrhythmic events were recorded in 10/43 subjects (23%). Conclusions: Patients with FSHD1 and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction present focal and diffuse myocardial injury. Longitudinal multi-center trials are needed to define the impact of myocardial changes as well as a relation between myocardial injury and arrhythmias on long-term prognosis and therapeutic decision-making. Trial Registration: ISRCTN registry with study ID ISRCTN13744381
Non-supersymmetric heterotic model building
We investigate orbifold and smooth Calabi-Yau compactifications of the
non-supersymmetric heterotic SO(16)xSO(16) string. We focus on such Calabi-Yau
backgrounds in order to recycle commonly employed techniques, like index
theorems and cohomology theory, to determine both the fermionic and bosonic 4D
spectra. We argue that the N=0 theory never leads to tachyons on smooth
Calabi-Yaus in the large volume approximation. As twisted tachyons may arise on
certain singular orbifolds, we conjecture that such tachyonic states are lifted
in the full blow-up. We perform model searches on selected orbifold geometries.
In particular, we construct an explicit example of a Standard Model-like theory
with three generations and a single Higgs field.Comment: 1+30 pages latex, 11 tables; v2: references and minor revisions
added, matches version published in JHE
Development of a novel, windowless, amorphous selenium based photodetector for use in liquid noble detectors
Detection of the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) scintillation light produced by
liquid noble elements is a central challenge in order to fully exploit the
available timing, topological, and calorimetric information in detectors
leveraging these media. In this paper, we characterize a novel, windowless
amorphous selenium based photodetector with direct sensitivity to VUV light. We
present here the manufacturing and experimental setup used to operate this
detector at low transport electric fields (2.7-5.2 V/m) and across a wide
range of temperatures (77K-290K). This work shows that the first
proof-of-principle device windowless amorphous selenium is robust under
cryogenic conditions, responsive to VUV light at cryogenic temperatures, and
preserves argon purity. These findings motivate a continued exploration of
amorphous selenium devices for simultaneous detection of scintillation light
and ionization charge in noble element detectors
6D Effective Action of Heterotic Compactification on K3 with nontrivial Gauge Bundles
We compute the six-dimensional effective action of the heterotic string
compactified on K3 for the standard embedding and for a class of backgrounds
with line bundles and appropriate Yang-Mills fluxes. We compute the couplings
of the charged scalars and the bundle moduli as functions of the geometrical K3
moduli from a Kaluza-Klein analysis. We derive the D-term potential and show
that in the flux backgrounds U(1) vector multiplets become massive by a
Stuckelberg mechanism.Comment: 41 pages, typos corrected, references adde
Yukawa couplings and masses of non-chiral states for the Standard Model on D6-branes on T6/Z6'
The perturbative leading order open string three-point couplings for the
Standard Model with hidden USp(6) on fractional D6-branes on T6/Z6' from
arXiv:0806.3039 [hep-th], arXiv:0910.0843 [hep-th] are computed. Physical
Yukawa couplings consisting of holomorphic Wilsonian superpotential terms times
a non-holomorphic prefactor involving the corresponding classical open string
Kaehler metrics are given, and mass terms for all non-chiral matter states are
derived. The lepton Yukawa interactions are at leading order flavour diagonal,
while the quark sector displays a more intricate pattern of mixings. While N=2
supersymmetric sectors acquire masses via only two D6-brane displacements -
which also provide the hierarchies between up- and down-type Yukawas within one
quark or lepton generation -, the remaining vector-like states receive masses
via perturbative three-point couplings to some Standard Model singlet fields
with vevs along flat directions. Couplings to the hidden sector and messengers
for supersymmetry breaking are briefly discussed.Comment: 52 pages (including 8p. appendix); 5 figures; 14 tables; v2:
discussion in section 4.1.3 extended, footnote 5 added, typos corrected,
accepted by JHE
Quantification of myocardial strain assessed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance feature tracking in healthy subjects - influence of segmentation and analysis software
OBJECTIVES: Quantification of myocardial deformation by feature tracking is of growing interest in cardiovascular magnetic resonance. It allows the assessment of regional myocardial function based on cine images. However, image acquisition, post-processing, and interpretation are not standardized. We aimed to assess the influence of segmentation procedure such as slice selection and different types of analysis software on values and quantification of myocardial strain in healthy adults. METHODS: Healthy volunteers were retrospectively analyzed. Post-processing was performed using CVI(42) and TomTec. Longitudinal and radial(Long axis (LAX)) strain were quantified using 4-chamber-view, 3-chamber-view, and 2-chamber-view. Circumferential and radialShort axis (SAX) strain were assessed in basal, midventricular, and apical short-axis views and using full coverage. Global and segmental strain values were compared to each other regarding their post-processing approach and analysis software package. RESULTS: We screened healthy volunteers studied at 1.5 or 3.0 T and included 67 (age 44.3 ± 16.3 years, 31 females). Circumferential and radial(SAX) strain values were different between a full coverage approach vs. three short slices (- 17.6 ± 1.8% vs. - 19.2 ± 2.3% and 29.1 ± 4.8% vs. 34.6 ± 7.1%). Different analysis software calculated significantly different strain values. Within the same vendor, different field strengths (- 17.0 ± 2.1% at 1.5 T vs. - 17.0 ± 1.7% at 3 T, p = 0.845) did not influence the calculated global longitudinal strain (GLS), and were similar in gender (- 17.4 ± 2.0% in females vs. - 16.6 ± 1.8% in males, p = 0.098). Circumferential and radial strain were different in females and males (circumferential strain - 18.2 ± 1.7% vs. - 17.1 ± 1.8%, p = 0.029 and radial strain 30.7 ± 4.7% vs. 27.8 ± 4.6%, p = 0.047). CONCLUSIONS: Myocardial deformation assessed by feature tracking depends on segmentation procedure and type of analysis software. Circumferential(SAX) and radial(SAX) depend on the number of slices used for feature tracking analysis. As known from other imaging modalities, GLS seems to be the most stable parameter. During follow-up studies, standardized conditions should be warranted
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