1,690 research outputs found
Ocular sarcoidosis and tuberculous lymphadenopathy: coincidence or real association
Tuberculosis and sarcoidosis share similarity in histopathologic findings and clinically occur in association with each other occasionally. Tuberculosis should always be ruled out before the diagnosis of sarcoidosis. But, the diagnosis is often complicated, especially in extrapulmonary cases. Here we present a case of bilateral vitreous hemorrhage with uveitis. Ocular sarcoidosis was initially diagnosed based on the characteristic ocular findings, negative results on chest radiography, tuberculosis culture, and polymerase chain reaction of aqueous, as well as simultaneous presence of panda and lambda sign on gallium-67 scans. The ocular condition improved after pars plana vitrectomy and systemic steroid therapy. However, TB lymphadenopathy but no recurrent ocular inflammation was found 6 years later. The patient received anti-TB treatment for 6 months thereafter. The eyes remained silent except cataract progression and glaucoma under two medications during this period. In conclusion, TB could occur coincidently or in association with sarcoidosis, continued follow-up is important for patients with ocular sarcoidosis
New Constraints (and Motivations) for Abelian Gauge Bosons in the MeV-TeV Mass Range
We survey the phenomenological constraints on abelian gauge bosons having
masses in the MeV to multi-GeV mass range (using precision electroweak
measurements, neutrino-electron and neutrino-nucleon scattering, electron and
muon anomalous magnetic moments, upsilon decay, beam dump experiments, atomic
parity violation, low-energy neutron scattering and primordial
nucleosynthesis). We compute their implications for the three parameters that
in general describe the low-energy properties of such bosons: their mass and
their two possible types of dimensionless couplings (direct couplings to
ordinary fermions and kinetic mixing with Standard Model hypercharge). We argue
that gauge bosons with very small couplings to ordinary fermions in this mass
range are natural in string compactifications and are likely to be generic in
theories for which the gravity scale is systematically smaller than the Planck
mass - such as in extra-dimensional models - because of the necessity to
suppress proton decay. Furthermore, because its couplings are weak, in the
low-energy theory relevant to experiments at and below TeV scales the charge
gauged by the new boson can appear to be broken, both by classical effects and
by anomalies. In particular, if the new gauge charge appears to be anomalous,
anomaly cancellation does not also require the introduction of new light
fermions in the low-energy theory. Furthermore, the charge can appear to be
conserved in the low-energy theory, despite the corresponding gauge boson
having a mass. Our results reduce to those of other authors in the special
cases where there is no kinetic mixing or there is no direct coupling to
ordinary fermions, such as for recently proposed dark-matter scenarios.Comment: 49 pages + appendix, 21 figures. This is the final version which
appears in JHE
Towards strange metallic holography
We initiate a holographic model building approach to `strange metallic'
phenomenology. Our model couples a neutral Lifshitz-invariant quantum critical
theory, dual to a bulk gravitational background, to a finite density of gapped
probe charge carriers, dually described by D-branes. In the physical regime of
temperature much lower than the charge density and gap, we exhibit anomalous
scalings of the temperature and frequency dependent conductivity. Choosing the
dynamical critical exponent appropriately we can match the non-Fermi liquid
scalings, such as linear resistivity, observed in strange metal regimes. As
part of our investigation we outline three distinct string theory realizations
of Lifshitz geometries: from F theory, from polarised branes, and from a
gravitating charged Fermi gas. We also identify general features of
renormalisation group flow in Lifshitz theories, such as the appearance of
relevant charge-charge interactions when . We outline a program to
extend this model building approach to other anomalous observables of interest
such as the Hall conductivity.Comment: 71 pages, 8 figure
TGFβ activation primes canonical Wnt signaling through the downregulation of AXIN2
OBJECTIVES: Aberrant activation of Wnt signaling has been observed in systemic sclerosis (SSc) affected tissues. This study aimed to determine the role of transforming growth factor (TGF)β in driving the increased Wnt signaling, through modulation of AXIN2, a critical regulator of Wnt canonical pathway. METHODS: Canonical Wnt signaling activation was analyzed by TOPFlash TCF/LEF promoter assays. AXIN2 was evaluated in vitro by analysis of AXIN2 primary/mature transcripts expression and decay, TβRI blockade, siRNA-mediated TTP-1 depletion and through XAV-939-mediated AXIN2 stabilisation. In vivo, Axin2 mRNA and protein expression was determined in skin and lung biopsies from TβRIIΔk-fib transgenic mice and littermate controls. RESULTS: SSc fibroblasts display increased response to canonical Wnt ligands despite basal levels of Wnt signaling comparable to healthy control (HC) fibroblasts in vitro. Notably, we show that SSc fibroblasts express reduced basal expression of AXIN2, which is caused by endogenous TGFβ-dependent increase of AXIN2 mRNA decay. Accordingly, we observed that TGFβ decreased AXIN2 expression both in vitro in HC fibroblasts and in vivo, employing TβRIIΔk-fib transgenic mice. Additionally, we demonstrate by AXIN2 loss and gain of function experiments, that the TGFβ-induced increased response to Wnt activation characteristic of SSc fibroblasts is dependent on reduced AXIN2 bioavailability. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the importance of reduced AXIN2 bioavailability in mediating the increased canonical Wnt response observed in SSc fibroblasts. This novel mechanism extends our understanding of the processes involved in Wnt/β-catenin-driven pathology and supports the rationale for targeting the TGFβ pathway to regulate the aberrant Wnt signaling observed during fibrosis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Lifshitz black holes in string theory
We provide the first black hole solutions with Lifshitz asymptotics found in
string theory. These are expected to be dual to models enjoying anisotropic
scale invariance with dynamical exponent z=2 at finite temperature. We employ a
consistent truncation of type IIB supergravity to four dimensions with an
arbitrary 5-dimensional Einstein manifold times a circle as internal geometry.
New interesting features are found that significantly differ from previous
results in phenomenological models. In particular, small black holes are shown
to be thermodynamically unstable, analogously to the usual AdS-Schwarzschild
black holes, and extremality is never reached. This signals a possible
Hawking-Page like phase transition at low temperatures.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures. v2 references adde
Deformations of Lifshitz holography
The simplest gravity duals for quantum critical theories with z=2 `Lifshitz'
scale invariance admit a marginally relevant deformation. Generic black holes
in the bulk describe the field theory with a dynamically generated momentum
scale Lambda as well as finite temperature T. We describe the thermodynamics of
these black holes in the quantum critical regime where T >> Lambda^2. The
deformation changes the asymptotics of the spacetime mildly and leads to
intricate UV sensitivities of the theory which we control perturbatively in
Lambda^2/T.Comment: 1+27 pages, 12 figure
Black Hole Thermodynamics and Heavy Fermion Metals
Heavy fermion alloys at critical doping typically exhibit non-Fermi-liquid
behavior at low temperatures, including a logarithmic or power law rise in the
ratio of specific heat to temperature as the temperature is lowered. Anomalous
specific heat of this type is also observed in a simple class of gravitational
dual models that exhibit anisotropic scaling with dynamical critical exponent z
> 1.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures; v2: added references; v3: matches published
versio
Lovelock-Lifshitz Black Holes
In this paper, we investigate the existence of Lifshitz solutions in Lovelock
gravity, both in vacuum and in the presence of a massive vector field. We show
that the Lovelock terms can support the Lifshitz solution provided the
constants of the theory are suitably chosen. We obtain an exact black hole
solution with Lifshitz asymptotics of any scaling parameter in both
Gauss-Bonnet and in pure 3rd order Lovelock gravity. If matter is added in the
form of a massive vector field, we also show that Lifshitz solutions in
Lovelock gravity exist; these can be regarded as corrections to Einstein
gravity coupled to this form of matter. For this form of matter we numerically
obtain a broad range of charged black hole solutions with Lifshitz asymptotics,
for either sign of the cosmological constant. We find that these asymptotic
Lifshitz solutions are more sensitive to corrections induced by Lovelock
gravity than are their asymptotic AdS counterparts. We also consider the
thermodynamics of the black hole solutions and show that the temperature of
large black holes with curved horizons is proportional to where is
the critical exponent; this relationship holds for black branes of any size. As
is the case for asymptotic AdS black holes, we find that an extreme black hole
exists only for the case of horizons with negative curvature. We also find that
these Lovelock-Lifshitz black holes have no unstable phase, in contrast to the
Lovelock-AdS case. We also present a class of rotating Lovelock-Lifshitz black
holes with Ricci-flat horizons.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures, a few references added, typo fixed and some
comments have been adde
On Charged Lifshitz Black Holes
We obtain exact solutions of charged asymptotically Lifshitz black holes in
arbitrary (d+2) dimensions, generalizing the four dimensional solution
investigated in 0908.2611[hep-th]. We find that both the conventional
Hamiltonian approach and the recently proposed method for defining mass in
non-relativistic backgrounds do not work for this specific example. Thus the
mass of the black hole can only be determined by the first law of
thermodynamics. We also obtain perturbative solutions in five-dimensional
Gauss-Bonnet gravity. The ratio of shear viscosity over entropy density and the
DC conductivity are calculated in the presence of Gauss-Bonnet corrections.Comment: 24 pages, no figures, to appear in JHE
Non-conformal Hydrodynamics in Einstein-dilaton Theory
In the Einestein-dilaton theory with a Liouville potential parameterized by
, we find a Schwarzschild-type black hole solution. This black hole
solution, whose asymptotic geometry is described by the warped metric, is
thermodynamically stable only for . Applying the gauge/gravity
duality, we find that the dual gauge theory represents a non-conformal thermal
system with the equation of state depending on . After turning on the
bulk vector fluctuations with and without a dilaton coupling, we calculate the
charge diffusion constant, which indicates that the life time of the quasi
normal mode decreases with . Interestingly, the vector fluctuation with
the dilaton coupling shows that the DC conductivity increases with temperature,
a feature commonly found in electrolytes.Comment: 27 pages and 2 figures, published in JHE
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