Constructions of diagonal quartic and sextic surfaces with infinitely many rational points

In this note we construct several infinite families of diagonal quartic surfaces \begin{equation*} ax^4+by^4+cz^4+dw^4=0, \end{equation*} where $a,b,c,d\in\Z\setminus\{0\}$ with infinitely many rational points and satisfying the condition $abcd\neq \square$. In particular, we present an infinite family of diagonal quartic surfaces defined over \Q with Picard number equal to one and possessing infinitely many rational points. Further, we present some sextic surfaces of type $ax^6+by^6+cz^6+dw^i=0$, $i=2$, $3$, or $6$, with infinitely many rational points.Comment: revised version will appear in International Journal of Number Theor

Characteristics, Risk Factors, and Treatment Practices of Known Adult Hypertensive Patients in Saudi Arabia

Objective. To determine the prevalence, risk factors, characteristics, and treatment practices of known adult hypertensives in Saudi Arabia. Methods. Cross-sectional community-based study using the WHO stepwise approach. Saudi adults were randomly chosen from Primary Health Care Centers catchment areas. Data was collected using a questionnaire which included sociodemographic data, history of hypertension, risk factors, treatment practices, biochemical and anthropometric measurements. Collected data was cheeked, computer fed, and analysed using SPSS V17. Results. Out of 4719 subjects (99.2% response), 542 (11.5%) subjects were known hypertensives or detected by health workers in the past 12 months. Hypertension was significantly associated with age, gender, geographical location, education, employment, diabetes, physical inactivity, excess body weight, and ever smoking. Multiple logistic analysis controlling for age showed that significant predictors of hypertension were diabetes mellitus, ever smoking, obesity, and hypercholesteremia. Several treatment modalities and practices were significantly associated with gender, age, education, and occupation. About 74% were under prescribed treatment by physicians, 62% on dietary modification, 37% attempted weight reduction, 27% performed physical exercise, and less than 7% used herbs, consulted traditional healers or quitted smoking. Income was not significantly associated with any treatment modality or patient practices. Conclusion. Hypertension (known and undetected) is a major chronic health problem among adults in Saudi Arabia. Many patients' practices need changes. A comprehensive approach is needed to prevent, early detect, and control the disease targeting, the risk factors, and predictors identified

Current Management Strategies in Breast Cancer by Targeting Key Altered Molecular Players

Breast Cancer is second largest disease affecting women worldwide. It remains the most frequently reported and leading cause of death among women in both developed and developing countries. Chemoprevention is one the promising approaches which reduces breast cancer. Tamoxifen and raloxifene are commonly used for treatment of breast cancer in women with high risk, although resistance occurs by tamoxifen after five years of therapy and both drugs cause uterine cancer and thromboembolic events. Aromatase inhibitors are coming up as potential option for prevention in treatment with adjuvant trials in practice. The combination of aromatase inhibitors along with tamoxifen can also be beneficial. For this, clinical trials based on large number of patients with optimal dose and lesser side effects have to be more in practice. Despite the clinical trials going on, there is need of better molecular models which can identify high risk population and new agents with better benefit having less side effects and improved biomarkers for treating breast cancer

Bounds for Lepton Flavor Violation and the Pseudoscalar Higgs in the General Two Higgs Doublet Model using g−2g-2 muon factor

Current experimental data from the $g-2$ muon factor, seems to show the necessity of physics beyond the Standard Model (SM), since the difference between SM and experimental predictions is 2.6$\sigma$. In the framework of the General Two Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM), we calculate the muon anomalous magnetic moment to get lower and upper bounds for the Flavour Changing (FC) Yukawa couplings in the leptonic sector. We also obtain lower bounds for the mass of the pseudoscalar Higgs ($m_{A^0}$) as a function of the parameters of the model.Comment: 12 pages, RevTex4, 5 figures. Improved presentation, updated experimental data, amplified analysis, new figures added. Subbmited to Phys. Rev.

Efficacy and Safety of Alemtuzumab Through 9 Years of Follow-up in Patients with Highly Active Disease: Post Hoc Analysis of CARE-MS I and II Patients in the TOPAZ Extension Study

Background: Alemtuzumab efficacy versus subcutaneous interferon-β-1a (SC IFNB-1a) was demonstrated over 2 years in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, with continued efficacy over 7 additional years. Alemtuzumab is included as a recommended treatment for patients with highly active disease (HAD) by the American Academy of Neurology Practice Guidelines, and the label indication in Europe was recently restricted to the treatment of HAD patients. There is currently no consensus definition for HAD, and alemtuzumab efficacy across various HAD definitions has not been explored previously. Objectives: In this post hoc analysis, we assess the efficacy and safety of alemtuzumab in Comparison of Alemtuzumab and Rebif® Efficacy in Multiple Sclerosis (CARE-MS) trial patients who met criteria for at least one of four separate definitions of HAD (one primary and three alternatives). Over 2 years, alemtuzumab-treated HAD patients were compared with SC IFNB-1a-treated HAD patients, with additional 7-year follow-up in patients from the alemtuzumab arm. Methods: Patients in the CARE-MS studies received either alemtuzumab (baseline: 5 days; 12 months later: 3 days) or SC IFNB-1a (3 times weekly). Alemtuzumab-treated patients who enrolled in the extensions could receive additional courses ≥ 12 months apart. Four definitions of HAD were applied to assess alemtuzumab efficacy: the pre-specified primary definition (two or more relapses in the year prior to baseline and at least one gadolinium [Gd]-enhancing lesion at baseline) and three alternative definitions that focused on relapse, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or prior treatment response criteria. Efficacy outcomes were annualized relapse rate, change in Expanded Disability Status Scale score, 6-month confirmed disability worsening, 6-month confirmed disability improvement, MRI disease activity, and brain volume change. Adverse events were summarized for HAD patients meeting the primary definition. Results: In the pooled CARE-MS population, 208 alemtuzumab-treated patients met the primary HAD definition. Annualized relapse rate was 0.27 in years 0–2 and 0.16 in years 3–9. Over 9 years, 62% of patients were free of 6-month confirmed disability worsening, 50% had 6-month confirmed disability improvement, and median cumulative change in brain volume was − 2.15%. During year 9, 62% had no evidence of disease activity, and 69% were free of MRI disease activity. Similar efficacy outcomes were observed using an alternative relapse-driven HAD definition. For patients meeting alternative HAD definitions focused on either higher MRI lesion counts or disease activity while on prior therapy, reduced efficacy for some endpoints was seen. Safety was consistent with the overall CARE-MS population through year 9. Conclusions: Over 9 years, alemtuzumab efficacy was maintained in CARE-MS HAD patients based on four HAD definitions. These results support intervention with alemtuzumab in patients with early indicators of HAD, including frequent relapse without high MRI activity. No safety signals were observed over 9 years that were unique to the HAD populations. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifiers: NCT00530348; NCT00548405; NCT00930553; NCT02255656

Cotrimoxazole reduces systemic inflammation in HIV infection by altering the gut microbiome and immune activation

Wellcome TrustCanadian Institutes of Health ResearchMedical Research CouncilDepartment for International Development under MRC/DFID Concordat agreement and EDCTP2 programme supported by the European UnionMRC Clinical Trials Unit at UC

Why do UK banks securitize?

Working paper seriesThe eight years from 2000 to 2008 saw a rapid growth in the use of securitization by UK banks. We aim to identify the reasons that contributed to this rapid growth. The time period (2000 to 2010) covered by our study is noteworthy as it covers the pre- nancial crisis credit- boom, the peak of the nancial crisis and its aftermath. In the wake of the nancial crisis, many governments, regulators and political commentators have pointed an accusing nger at the securitization market - even in the absence of a detailed statistical and economic analysis. We contribute to the extant literature by performing such an analysis on UK banks, fo- cussing principally on whether it is the need for liquidity (i.e. the funding of their balance sheets), or the desire to engage in regulatory capital arbitrage or the need for credit risk trans- fer that has led to UK banks securitizing their assets. We show that securitization has been signi cantly driven by liquidity reasons. In addition, we observe a positive link between securitization and banks credit risk. We interpret these latter ndings as evidence that UK banks which engaged in securitization did so, in part, to transfer credit risk and that, in comparison to UK banks which did not use securitization, they had more credit risk to transfer in the sense that they originated lower quality loans and held lower quality assets. We show that banks which issued more asset-backed securities before the nancial crisis su¤ered more defaults after the nancial crisis.The eight years from 2000 to 2008 saw a rapid growth in the use of securitization by UK banks. We aim to identify the reasons that contributed to this rapid growth. The time period (2000 to 2010) covered by our study is noteworthy as it covers the pre-financial crisis credit- boom, the peak of the financial crisis and its aftermath. In the wake of the financial crisis, many governments, regulators and political commentators have pointed an accusing finger at the securitization market - even in the absence of a detailed statistical and economic analysis. We contribute to the extant literature by performing such an analysis on UK banks, fo- cussing principally on whether it is the need for liquidity (i.e. the funding of their balance sheets), or the desire to engage in regulatory capital arbitrage or the need for credit risk trans- fer that has led to UK banks securitizing their assets. We show that securitization has been significantly driven by liquidity reasons. In addition, we observe a positive link between securitization and banks credit risk. We interpret these latter findings as evidence that UK banks which engaged in securitization did so, in part, to transfer credit risk and that, in comparison to UK banks which did not use securitization, they had more credit risk to transfer in the sense that they originated lower quality loans and held lower quality assets. We show that banks which issued more asset-backed securities before the financial crisis suffered more defaults after the financial crisis