Relaxing Constraints on Inflation Models with Curvaton

We consider the effects of the curvaton, late-decaying scalar condensation, to observational constraints on inflation models. From current observations of cosmic density fluctuations, severe constraints on some class of inflation models are obtained, in particular, on the chaotic inflation with higher-power monomials, the natural inflation, and the new inflation. We study how the curvaton scenario changes (and relaxes) the constraints on these models.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure

Effects of alteplase for acute stroke on the distribution of functional outcomes: a pooled analysis of 9 trials

Background—Thrombolytic therapy with intravenous alteplase within 4.5 hours of ischemic stroke onset increases the overall likelihood of an excellent outcome (no, or nondisabling, symptoms). Any improvement in functional outcome distribution has value, and herein we provide an assessment of the effect of alteplase on the distribution of the functional level by treatment delay, age, and stroke severity. Methods—Prespecified pooled analysis of 6756 patients from 9 randomized trials comparing alteplase versus placebo/open control. Ordinal logistic regression models assessed treatment differences after adjustment for treatment delay, age, stroke severity, and relevant interaction term(s). Results—Treatment with alteplase was beneficial for a delay in treatment extending to 4.5 hours after stroke onset, with a greater benefit with earlier treatment. Neither age nor stroke severity significantly influenced the slope of the relationship between benefit and time to treatment initiation. For the observed case mix of patients treated within 4.5 hours of stroke onset (mean 3 hours and 20 minutes), the net absolute benefit from alteplase (ie, the difference between those who would do better if given alteplase and those who would do worse) was 55 patients per 1000 treated (95% confidence interval, 13–91; P=0.004). Conclusions—Treatment with intravenous alteplase initiated within 4.5 hours of stroke onset increases the chance of achieving an improved level of function for all patients across the age spectrum, including the over 80s and across all severities of stroke studied (top versus bottom fifth means: 22 versus 4); the earlier that treatment is initiated, the greater the benefit

Magnetodielectric detection of magnetic quadrupole order in Ba(TiO)Cu4_4(PO4_4)4_4 with Cu4_4O12_{12} square cupolas

In vortex-like spin arrangements, multiple spins can combine into emergent multipole moments. Such multipole moments have broken space-inversion and time-reversal symmetries, and can therefore exhibit linear magnetoelectric (ME) activity. Three types of such multipole moments are known: toroidal, monopole, and quadrupole moments. So far, however, the ME-activity of these multipole moments has only been established experimentally for the toroidal moment. Here, we propose a magnetic square cupola cluster, in which four corner-sharing square-coordinated metal-ligand fragments form a noncoplanar buckled structure, as a promising structural unit that carries an ME-active multipole moment. We substantiate this idea by observing clear magnetodielectric signals associated with an antiferroic ME-active magnetic quadrupole order in the real material Ba(TiO)Cu$_4$(PO$_4$)$_4$. The present result serves as a useful guide for exploring and designing new ME-active materials based on vortex-like spin arrangements.Comment: 4 figure

Surgical outcomes after cardiac surgery in liver transplant recipients

ObjectiveThis was a single-center retrospective study to assess the surgical outcomes and predictors of mortality of liver transplant recipients undergoing cardiac surgery.MethodsFrom 2000 to 2010, 61 patients with a functioning liver allograft underwent cardiac surgery. The mean interval between liver transplantation and cardiac surgery was 5.4 ± 4.4 years. Of the 61 patients, 33 (54%) were in Child-Pugh class A and 28 in class B. The preoperative and postoperative data were reviewed.ResultsThe overall in-hospital mortality was 6.6%. The survival rate was 82.4% ± 5.1% at 1 year and 50.2% ± 8.2% at 5 years. Cox regression analysis identified preoperative encephalopathy (odds ratio, 5.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.8-15.5; P = .003) and pulmonary hypertension (odds ratio, 3.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.3-9.4; P = .045) as independent predictors of late mortality. The preoperative Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores of patients who died in-hospital or late postoperatively were significantly greater statistically than the scores of the others (in-hospital death, 23.7 ± 7.8 vs 13.1 ± 4.5, P < .001; late death, 15.2 ± 6.1 vs 12.3 ± 4.1, P = .038). The Youden index identified an optimal MELD score cutoff value of 13.5 (sensitivity, 56.0%; specificity, 67.6%). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis successfully demonstrated that the survival rate of the MELD score less than 13.5 (MELD <13.5) group was significantly greater than that of the MELD >13.5 group (MELD <13.5 group, 93.8% ± 4.2% at 1 year and 52.4% ± 11.8% at 5 years; MELD >13.5 group, 66.9% ± 9.6% at 1 year and 46.1% ± 11.1% at 5 years; P = .027). In contrast, the survival rate when stratified by Child-Pugh class (class A vs B) was not significantly different.ConclusionsCardiac surgery in the liver allograft recipients was associated with acceptable surgical outcomes. Preoperative encephalopathy and pulmonary hypertension were independent predictors of late mortality. The cutoff value of 13.5 in the MELD score might be useful for predicting surgical mortality in cardiac surgery

Influence of steps on the tilting and adsorption dynamics of ordered Pn films on vicinal Ag(111) surfaces

Here we present a structural study of pentacene (Pn) thin films on vicinal Ag(111) surfaces by He atom diffraction measurements and density functional theory (DFT) calculations supplemented with van der Waals (vdW) interactions. Our He atom diffraction results suggest initial adsorption at the step edges evidenced by initial slow specular reflection intensity decay rate as a function of Pn deposition time. In parallel with the experimental findings, our DFT+vdW calculations predict the step edges as the most stable adsorption site on the surface. An isolated molecule adsorbs as tilted on the step edge with a binding energy of 1.4 eV. In addition, a complete monolayer (ML) with pentacenes flat on the terraces and tilted only at the step edges is found to be more stable than one with all lying flat or tilted molecules, which in turn influences multilayers. Hence our results suggest that step edges can trap Pn molecules and act as nucleation sites for the growth of ordered thin films with a crystal structure similar to that of bulk Pn.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Dependence of the BEC transition temperature on interaction strength: a perturbative analysis

We compute the critical temperature T_c of a weakly interacting uniform Bose gas in the canonical ensemble, extending the criterion of condensation provided by the counting statistics for the uniform ideal gas. Using ordinary perturbation theory, we find in first order $(T_c-T_c^0)/T_c^0 = -0.93 a\rho^{1/3}$, where T_c^0 is the transition temperature of the corresponding ideal Bose gas, a is the scattering length, and $\rho$ is the particle number density.Comment: 14 pages (RevTeX

On-Orbit Results of Photoelectron Current Measurement System in Low Earth Orbit on HORYU-IV Satellite

On-orbit photoelectron current experiment is one of the missions carried out with the less resource available from a HORYU-IV satellite, for measuring the current from metallic and insulator surfaces from air mass zero (AMO) spectrum. This is with the view to determined photoelectron potential of materials widely used in spacecraft in space. HORYU-IV also known as Arc Event Generator and Investigator satellite (AEGIS) is among HORYU satellite series of Kyushu Institute of Technology, which was launched on February 17, 2016 as a piggy-back on-board H-IIA rocket. The measurement system consists of current-voltage amplifier circuits for Au, Kapton and Black Kapton samples with varying gains and other discrete components. We present the analysis of the telemetry data obtained after the launch; validate the effectiveness of the design and verification processes. The results show that the current measured from Black kapton sample surface had 1.80 nA and 2.70 nA, corresponds to 69.1ᵒ and 75.1ᵒ minimum and maximum elevation angles respectively. This paper described the on-orbit result of PEC and its verification through ground tests

Structure and expression of 12-oxophytodienoate reductase (OPR) subgroup I gene in pea and oxidoreductase activity of their recombinant proteins

Recently, we observed that expression of a pea gene (S64) encoding an oxophytodienoic acid reductase (OPR) was induced by a suppressor of pea defense responses, secreted by the pea pathogen Mycosphaerella pinodes. Because it is known that OPRs are usually encoded by families of homologous genes, we screened for genomic and cDNA clones encoding members of this putative OPR family in pea. We isolated five members of the OPR gene family from a pea genomic DNA library, and amplified six cDNA clones, including S64, by RT-PCR (reverse transcriptase-PCR). Sequencing analysis revealed that S64 corresponds to PsOPR2, and the amino acid sequences of the predicted products of the six OPR-like genes shared more than 80% identity with each other. Based on their sequence similarity, all these OPR-like genes code for OPRs of subgroup I, i.e., enzymes which are not required for jasmonic acid biosynthesis. However, the genes varied in their exon/intron organization and in their promoter sequences. To investigate the expression of each individual OPR-like gene, RT-PCR was performed using gene-specific primers. The results indicated that the OPR-like gene most strongly induced by the inoculation of pea plants with a compatible pathogen and by treatment with the suppressor from M. pinodes was PsOPR2. Furthermore, the ability of the six recombinant OPR-like proteins to reduce a model substrate, 2-cyclohexen-1-one (2-CyHE), was investigated. The results indicated that PsOPR1, 4 and 6 display robust activity, and PsOPR2 has a most remarkable ability to reduce 2-CyHE, whereas PsOPR3 has little and PsOPR5 does not reduce this compound. Thus, the six OPR-like proteins can be classified into four types. Interestingly, the gene structures, expression profiles, and enzymatic activities used to classify each member of the pea OPR-like gene family are clearly correlated, indicating that each member of this OPR-like family has a distinct function.</p