A multicentre retrospective cohort comparison of aetiology and survival in patients with chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis versus idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from BMJ Publishing Group via the DOI in this recordWinter Meeting of the British Thoracic Society, 5-7 December 2018, London, U

Relating harmonic and projective descriptions of N=2 nonlinear sigma models

Recent papers have established the relationship between projective superspace and a complexified version of harmonic superspace. We extend this construction to the case of general nonlinear sigma models in both frameworks. Using an analogy with Hamiltonian mechanics, we demonstrate how the Hamiltonian structure of the harmonic action and the symplectic structure of the projective action naturally arise from a single unifying action on a complexified version of harmonic superspace. This links the harmonic and projective descriptions of hyperkahler target spaces. For the two examples of Taub-NUT and Eguchi-Hanson, we show how to derive the projective superspace solutions from the harmonic superspace solutions.Comment: 25 pages; v3: typo fixed in eq (1.36

Sigma-model for Generalized Composite p-branes

A multidimensional gravitational model containing several dilatonic scalar fields and antisymmetric forms is considered. The manifold is chosen in the form M = M_0 x M_1 x ... x M_n, where M_i are Einstein spaces (i > 0). The block-diagonal metric is chosen and all fields and scale factors of the metric are functions on M_0. For the forms composite (electro-magnetic) p-brane ansatz is adopted. The model is reduced to gravitating self-interacting sigma-model with certain constraints. In pure electric and magnetic cases the number of these constraints is m(m - 1)/2 where m is number of 1-dimensional manifolds among M_i. In the "electro-magnetic" case for dim M_0 = 1, 3 additional m constraints appear. A family of "Majumdar-Papapetrou type" solutions governed by a set of harmonic functions is obtained, when all factor-spaces M_k are Ricci-flat. These solutions are generalized to the case of non-Ricci-flat M_0 when also some additional "internal" Einstein spaces of non-zero curvature are added to M. As an example exact solutions for D = 11 supergravity and related 12-dimensional theory are presented.Comment: 33 pages, Latex. Some corrections and rearrangements are mad

Off-shell supergravity-matter couplings in three dimensions

We develop the superspace geometry of N-extended conformal supergravity in three space-time dimensions. General off-shell supergravity-matter couplings are constructed in the cases N=1,2,3,4.Comment: 73 pages; V5: typos in eqs. (3.4b), (3.17) and (4.24) correcte

Extension of non-minimal derivative coupling theory and Hawking radiation in black-hole spacetime

We study the greybody factor and Hawking radiation with a non-minimal derivative coupling between the scalar field and the curvature in the background of the slowly rotating Kerr-Newman black hole. Our results show that both the absorption probability and luminosity of Hawking radiation of the scalar field increase with the coupling. Moreover, we also find that for the weak coupling $\eta<\eta_c$, the absorption probability and luminosity of Hawking radiation decrease when the black hole's Hawking temperature decreases; while for stronger coupling $\eta>\eta_c$, the absorption probability and luminosity of Hawking radiation increase on the contrary when the black hole's Hawking temperature decreases. This feature is similar to the Hawking radiation in a $d$-dimensional static spherically-symmetric black hole surrounded by quintessence \cite{chensong}.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, Title changed, Appendix changed, accepted by JHE

Tenosynovial giant cell tumors as accidental findings after episodes of distortion of the ankle: two case reports

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Tenosynovial giant cell tumors are benign tumors of uncertain pathogenesis. They occur in the joints, tendons and synovial bursas. Due to a high recurrence rate of up to 50%, some authors call a giant cell tumor a semimalignant tumor. To date, less than 10 cases of tenosynovial giant cell tumor of the ankle have been published in the international medical literature.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>In this case report, we present two patients with localized tumors that were detected accidentally after the occurrence of ankle sprains with persisting pain in the joint. The tumors were resected by open marginal surgery and regular follow-up examinations were carried out.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We present an unusual occurrence of a tumor along with a possible follow-up strategy, which has not been previously discussed in the international literature.</p

N = 2 supersymmetric sigma-models and duality

For two families of four-dimensional off-shell N = 2 supersymmetric nonlinear sigma-models constructed originally in projective superspace, we develop their formulation in terms of N = 1 chiral superfields. Specifically, these theories are: (i) sigma-models on cotangent bundles T*M of arbitrary real analytic Kaehler manifolds M; (ii) general superconformal sigma-models described by weight-one polar supermultiplets. Using superspace techniques, we obtain a universal expression for the holomorphic symplectic two-form \omega^{(2,0)} which determines the second supersymmetry transformation and is associated with the two complex structures of the hyperkaehler space T*M that are complimentary to the one induced from M. This two-form is shown to coincide with the canonical holomorphic symplectic structure. In the case (ii), we demonstrate that \omega^{(2,0)} and the homothetic conformal Killing vector determine the explicit form of the superconformal transformations. At the heart of our construction is the duality (generalized Legendre transform) between off-shell N = 2 supersymmetric nonlinear sigma-models and their on-shell N = 1 chiral realizations. We finally present the most general N = 2 superconformal nonlinear sigma-model formulated in terms of N = 1 chiral superfields. The approach developed can naturally be generalized in order to describe 5D and 6D superconformal nonlinear sigma-models in 4D N = 1 superspace.Comment: 31 pages, no figures; V2: reference and comments added, typos corrected; V3: more typos corrected, published versio

Variation of health-related quality of life assessed by caregivers and patients affected by severe childhood infections.

BACKGROUND: The agreement between self-reported and proxy measures of health status in ill children is not well established. This study aimed to quantify the variation in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) derived from young patients and their carers using different instruments. METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional survey was conducted between August 2010 and March 2011. Children with meningitis, bacteremia, pneumonia, acute otitis media, hearing loss, chronic lung disease, epilepsy, mild mental retardation, severe mental retardation, and mental retardation combined with epilepsy, aged between five to 14 years in seven tertiary hospitals were selected for participation in this study. The Health Utilities Index Mark 2 (HUI2), and Mark 3 (HUI3), and the EuroQoL Descriptive System (EQ-5D) and Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS) were applied to both paediatric patients (self-assessment) and caregivers (proxy-assessment). RESULTS: The EQ-5D scores were lowest for acute conditions such as meningitis, bacteremia, and pneumonia, whereas the HUI3 scores were lowest for most chronic conditions such as hearing loss and severe mental retardation. Comparing patient and proxy scores (n = 74), the EQ-5D exhibited high correlation (r = 0.77) while in the HUI2 and HUI3 patient and caregiver scores were moderately correlated (r = 0.58 and 0.67 respectively). The mean difference between self and proxy-assessment using the HUI2, HUI3, EQ-5D and EQ-VAS scores were 0.03, 0.05, -0.03 and -0.02, respectively. In hearing-impaired and chronic lung patients the self-rated HRQOL differed significantly from their caregivers. CONCLUSIONS: The use of caregivers as proxies for measuring HRQOL in young patients affected by pneumococcal infection and its sequelae should be employed with caution. Given the high correlation between instruments, each of the HRQOL instruments appears acceptable apart from the EQ-VAS which exhibited low correlation with the others