3d Coulomb branch and 5d Higgs branch at infinite coupling

The Higgs branch of minimally supersymmetric five dimensional SQCD theories increases in a significant way at the UV fixed point when the inverse gauge coupling is tuned to zero. It has been a long standing problem to figure out how, and to find an exact description of this Higgs branch. This paper solves this problem in an elegant way by proposing that the Coulomb branches of three dimensional ${\cal N}=4$ supersymmetric quiver gauge theories, named "Exceptional Sequences", provide the solution to the problem. Thus, once again, 3d ${\cal N}=4$ Coulomb branches prove to be useful tools in solving problems in higher dimensions. Gauge invariant operators on the 5d side consist of classical objects such as mesons, baryons and gaugino bilinears, and non perturbative objects such as instanton operators with or without baryon number. On the 3d side we have classical objects such as Casimir invariants and non perturbative objects such as monopole operators, bare or dressed. The duality map works in a very interesting way.Comment: 37 pages, 3 figure

Acute heart failure in patients with acute aortic syndrome: Pathophysiology and clinical-prognostic implications

Aims Although acute heart failure (AHF) is a potential complication of acute aortic syndromes (AAS), its clinical details and management implications have been scarcely evaluated. This study aimed to assess prevalence, pathophysiological mechanisms, impact on treatment, and in-hospital mortality of AHF in AAS. Methods and results Data were collected from a prospective AAS registry (398 patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2013). Patients with AHF were identified by the presence of dyspnoea as the presentation symptom or radiological signs of pulmonary congestion or cardiogenic shock, including patients with cardiac tamponade (CT). AHF frequency was 28% (Stanford type A 32% vs. type B 20%, P = 0.01). Four mechanisms leading to AHF were identified, alone or in combination: CT (26%), aortic regurgitation (25%), myocardial ischaemia (17%), and hypertensive crisis (10%). In type A patients, aortic regurgitation and CT were the most frequent mechanisms, whereas myocardial ischaemia and hypertensive crisis were the most frequent in type B patients. Although no difference was noted for diagnostic times, AHF at presentation led to a longer surgical delay in type A AAS. In-hospital mortality was higher in patients with AHF compared with those without (34% vs. 17%, P < 0.001). After multivariable analysis, AHF was associated with increased risk of in-hospital death (adjusted odds ratio 1.97, 95% confidence interval 1.14-3.36, P = 0.014). Conclusion AHF occurs in more than a quarter of patients with AAS of both type A and type B, is due to a variety of pathophysiological mechanisms, and is associated with increased surgical delay and in-hospital mortality. © 2015 The Authors European Journal of Heart Failure © 2015 European Society of Cardiology

On classical and quantum moduli Spaces of supersymmetric gauge theories

This manuscript presents some results that concern supersymmetric theories with eight supercharges and moduli spaces of instantons. The latter are attacked from two fronts. Firstly we study the quantum-corrected Coulomb branch of three-dimensional N = 4 quiver theories which are encoded in the over-extended Dynkin diagram of a group G. Studying the ring of gauge invariant operators on the Coulomb branch for these theories by means of a generalised monopole formula yields precisely the Hilbert series for the moduli space of G-instantons. We provide results for any G, including non-simply-laced and exceptional groups. In the second part of the thesis we analyse the Higgs branch of some five-dimensional N = 1 supersymmetric gauge theories. We provide a description of the quantum-corrected Higgs branch in terms of instanton operators, the glueball superfield and mesons. In particular, a classical nilpotent relation is found to be corrected by bilinears in instanton operators. The analysis depends on a decomposition of the Hilbert series for the moduli space of E_{N_f +1} instantons into SO(2Nf) instantons, which are the known Higgs branch at infinite and finite coupling respectively. The dressing of instanton operators in terms of finite coupling fields is also analysed. In passing, we also present an interesting phenomenon where the Higgs branch of a given family of gauge theories with eight supercharges and classical gauge and global symmetry groups is not a single hyperKähler cone but rather the union of two such cones with nontrivial intersection.Open Acces

Instanton Operators and the Higgs Branch at Infinite Coupling

The richness of 5d $\mathcal{N}=1$ theories with a UV fixed point at infinite coupling is due to the existence of local disorder operators known as instanton operators. By considering the Higgs branch of SU(2) gauge theories with N$_{f}$ ≤ 7 flavours at finite and infinite coupling, we write down the explicit chiral ring relations between instanton operators, the glueball superfield and mesons. Exciting phenomena appear at infinite coupling: the glueball superfield is no longer nilpotent and the classical chiral ring relations are quantum corrected by instanton operators bilinears. We also find expressions for the dressing of instanton operators of arbitrary charge. The same analysis is performed for USp(2k) with an antisymmetric hypermultiplet and pure SU(N) gauge theories.The richness of 5d $\mathcal{N}=1$ theories with a UV fixed point at infinite coupling is due to the existence of local disorder operators known as instanton operators. By considering the Higgs branch of $SU(2)$ gauge theories with $N_f \leq 7$ flavours at finite and infinite coupling, we write down the explicit chiral ring relations between instanton operators, the glueball superfield and mesons. Exciting phenomena appear at infinite coupling: the glueball superfield is no longer nilpotent and the classical chiral ring relations are quantum corrected by instanton operators bilinears. We also find expressions for the dressing of instanton operators of arbitrary charge. The same analysis is performed for $USp(2k)$ with an antisymmetric hypermultiplet and pure $SU(N)$ gauge theories

Coulomb Branch and The Moduli Space of Instantons

The moduli space of instantons on ℂ2 for any simple gauge group is studied using the Coulomb branch of N=4N=4 gauge theories in three dimensions. For a given simple group G, the Hilbert series of such an instanton moduli space is computed from the Coulomb branch of the quiver given by the over-extended Dynkin diagram of G. The computation includes the cases of non-simply-laced gauge groups G, complementing the ADHM constructions which are not available for exceptional gauge groups. Even though the Lagrangian description for non-simply laced Dynkin diagrams is not currently known, the prescription for computing the Coulomb branch Hilbert series of such diagrams is very simple. For instanton numbers one and two, the results are in agreement with previous works. New results and general features for the moduli spaces of three and higher instanton numbers are reported and discussed in detail

Recidivism risk in male adult sex offenders with psychopathic traits assessed by PCL-R: A systematic review

Psychopathy has been empirically associated with various forms of antisocial behavior including sexual assault. In fact, the lack of empathy characterizing psychopathic offenders may facilitate the perpetration of more extreme violence. This systematic review aims to explore the relationship between psychopathy traits in male adult sex offenders and the increase in recidivism risk for any type of reoffence, with a special focus on sexual recidivism. From an initial sample of 757 articles related to the topic, only 14 were selected from the current literature at the end of the inclusion process. Each of these assessed the relation between psychopathy traits (measured by PCL-R) and recidivism risk in male sex offenders (age > 18), providing an effect size (quantitative findings). The results of their analysis agree with the currently available literature: the presence of psychopathic traits in sex offenders would seem to correlate with an increased risk of recidivism of general but non-sexual. Furthermore, almost half of the included works highlighted a positive relationship between psychopathy and violent reoffences. However, the limited availability of studies and the unevenness in their results indicate the need to expand future research in this direction

Cavitated pulmonary nodules in a female patient with breast cancer: Keep in mind Serratia marcescens’ infections

Serratia species are gram-negative bacteria, which could be isolated from soil, water, plants, animals and air. They are responsible for a heterogeneous spectrum of diseases, affecting the central nervous system, the urinary tract, the respiratory tract and the bloodstream.Pulmonary involvement is rare and typically occurs in immunocompromised patients; radiological appearances include haemorrhagic bronchopneumonia, even with the development of pulmonary abscesses and cavitated parenchymal lesions, or diffuse alveolar damage. Concerning pulmonary cavities, the differential diagnosis should include metastatic lung nodules, rheumatoid arthritis, Langerhans cell histiocytosis, mycotic infections and septic emboli. The knowledge of these radiological features, in association with clinical history and laboratory findings, is mandatory to make the correct diagnosis, suggesting the right treatment and the adequate follow-up. We described a challenging case of a Serratia marcescens’ pulmonary infection, which occurred in a patient with breast cancer: clinical features and main imaging findings have been discussed – in order to help clinicians and radiologists in the management of the disease