1,138 research outputs found
Financial conflicts of interest and reporting bias regarding the association between sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review of systematic reviews
Background: Industry sponsorsâ financial interests might bias the conclusions of scientific research. We examined whether
financial industry funding or the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest influenced the results of published systematic
reviews (SRs) conducted in the field of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and weight gain or obesity.
Methods and Findings: We conducted a search of the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Scopus databases to identify
published SRs from the inception of the databases to August 31, 2013, on the association between SSB consumption and
weight gain or obesity. SR conclusions were independently classified by two researchers into two groups: those that found
a positive association and those that did not. These two reviewers were blinded with respect to the stated source of funding
and the disclosure of conflicts of interest. We identified 17 SRs (with 18 conclusions). In six of the SRs a financial conflict of
interest with some food industry was disclosed. Among those reviews without any reported conflict of interest, 83.3% of the
conclusions (10/12) were that SSB consumption could be a potential risk factor for weight gain. In contrast, the same
percentage of conclusions, 83.3% (5/6), of those SRs disclosing some financial conflict of interest with the food industry
were that the scientific evidence was insufficient to support a positive association between SSB consumption and weight
gain or obesity. Those reviews with conflicts of interest were five times more likely to present a conclusion of no positive
association than those without them (relative risk: 5.0, 95% CI: 1.3â19.3). An important limitation of this study is the
impossibility of ruling out the existence of publication bias among those studies not declaring any conflict of interest.
However, the best large randomized trials also support a direct association between SSB consumption and weight gain or
obesity.
Conclusions: Financial conflicts of interest may bias conclusions from SRs on SSB consumption and weight gain or obesity
Validity of the Generalized Second Law of Thermodynamics of the Universe Bounded by the Event Horizon in Holographic Dark Energy Model
In this letter, we investigate the validity of the generalized second law of
thermodynamics of the universe bounded by the event horizon in the holographic
dark energy model. The universe is chosen to be homogeneous and isotropic and
the validity of the first law has been assumed here. The matter in the universe
is taken in the form of non-interacting two fluid system- one component is the
holographic dark energy model and the other component is in the form of dust.Comment: 8 page
Abnormalities on 1q and 7q are associated with poor outcome in sporadic Burkitt's lymphoma. A cytogenetic and comparative genomic hybridization study
Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) studies have demonstrated a high incidence of chromosomal imbalances in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. However, the information on the genomic imbalances in Burkitt's Lymphoma (BL) is scanty. Conventional cytogenetics was performed in 34 cases, and long-distance PCR for t(8;14) was performed in 18 cases. A total of 170 changes were present with a median of four changes per case (range 1-22). Gains of chromosomal material (143) were more frequent than amplifications (5) or losses (22). The most frequent aberrations were gains on chromosomes 12q (26%), Xq (22%), 22q (20%), 20q (17%) and 9q (15%). Losses predominantly involved chromosomes 13q (17%) and 4q (9%). High-level amplifications were present in the regions 1q23-31 (three cases), 6p12-p25 and 8p22-p23. Upon comparing BL vs Burkitt's cell leukemia (BCL), the latter had more changes (mean 4.3 +/- 2.2) than BL (mean 2.7 +/- 3.2). In addition, BCL cases showed more frequently gains on 8q, 9q, 14q, 20q, and 20q, 9q, 8q and 14q, as well as losses on 13q and 4q. Concerning outcome, the presence of abnormalities on 1q (ascertained either by cytogenetics or by CGH), and imbalances on 7q (P=0.01) were associated with a short survival
Interacting entropy-corrected new agegraphic dark energy in Brans-Dicke cosmology
Motivated by a recent work of one of us [1], we extend it by using quantum
(or entropy) corrected new agegraphic dark energy in the Brans-Dicke cosmology.
The correction terms are motivated from the loop quantum gravity which is one
of the competitive theories of quantum gravity. Taking the non-flat background
spacetime along with the conformal age of the universe as the length scale, we
derive the dynamical equation of state of dark energy and the deceleration
parameter. An important consequence of this study is the phantom divide
scenario with entropy-corrected new agegraphic dark energy. Moreover, we assume
a system of dark matter, radiation and dark energy, while the later interacts
only with dark matter. We obtain some essential expressions related with dark
energy dynamics. The cosmic coincidence problem is also resolved in our model.Comment: 16 pages, no figure, accepted for publication in Gen. Relativ. Gra
New Approach to GUTs
We introduce a new string-inspired approach to the subject of grand
unification which allows the GUT scale to be small, \lesssim 200 TeV, so that
it is within the reach of {\em conceivable} laboratory accelerated colliding
beam devices. The key ingredient is a novel use of the heterotic string
symmetry group physics ideas to render baryon number violating effects small
enough to have escaped detection to date. This part of the approach involves
new unknown parameters to be tested experimentally. A possible hint at the
existence of these new parameters may already exist in the EW precision data
comparisons with the SM expectations.Comment: 8 pages; improved text and references, note added; extended text, 1
figure added; extended text for publication in Eur. Phys. Journal
Computing Yukawa Couplings from Magnetized Extra Dimensions
We compute Yukawa couplings involving chiral matter fields in toroidal
compactifications of higher dimensional super-Yang-Mills theory with magnetic
fluxes. Specifically we focus on toroidal compactifications of D=10
super-Yang-Mills theory, which may be obtained as the low-energy limit of Type
I, Type II or Heterotic strings. Chirality is obtained by turning on constant
magnetic fluxes in each of the 2-tori. Our results are general and may as well
be applied to lower D=6,8 dimensional field theories. We solve Dirac and
Laplace equations to find out the explicit form of wavefunctions in extra
dimensions. The Yukawa couplings are computed as overlap integrals of two Weyl
fermions and one complex scalar over the compact dimensions. In the case of
Type IIB (or Type I) string theories, the models are T-dual to (orientifolded)
Type IIA with D6-branes intersecting at angles. These theories may have
phenomenological relevance since particular models with SM group and three
quark-lepton generations have been recently constructed. We find that the
Yukawa couplings so obtained are described by Riemann theta-functions, which
depend on the complex structure and Wilson line backgrounds. Different patterns
of Yukawa textures are possible depending on the values of these backgrounds.
We discuss the matching of these results with the analogous computation in
models with intersecting D6-branes. Whereas in the latter case a string
computation is required, in our case only field theory is needed.Comment: 73 pages, 9 figures. Using JHEP3.cls. Typos and other minor
corrections fixed. References adde
Lepton flavor violation decays in the topcolor-assisted technicolor model and the littlest Higgs model with parity
The new particles predicted by the topcolor-assisted technicolor ()
model and the littlest Higgs model with T-parity (called model) can
induce the lepton flavor violation () couplings at tree level or one loop
level, which might generate large contributions to some processes. Taking
into account the constraints of the experimental data on the relevant free
parameters, we calculate the branching ratios of the decay processes
with = , and
in the context of these two kinds of new physics models. We find
that the model and the model can indeed produce significant
contributions to some of these decay processes.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figure
Constraints on Large Extra Dimensions with Bulk Neutrinos
We consider right-handed neutrinos propagating in (large) extra
dimensions, whose only coupling to Standard Model fields is the Yukawa coupling
to the left-handed neutrino and the Higgs boson. These theories are attractive
as they can explain the smallness of the neutrino mass, as has already been
shown. We show that if is bigger than two, there are strong
constraints on the radius of the extra dimensions, resulting from the
experimental limit on the probability of an active state to mix into the large
number of sterile Kaluza-Klein states of the bulk neutrino. We also calculate
the bounds on the radius resulting from requiring that perturbative unitarity
be valid in the theory, in an imagined Higgs-Higgs scattering channel.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures, revtex4. v2: Minor typos corrected, references
adde
Phenotypic, transcriptomic, and genomic features of clonal plasma cells in light-chain amyloidosis
Immunoglobulin light-chain amyloidosis (AL) and multiple myeloma (MM) are 2 distinct monoclonal gammopathies that involve the same cellular compartment: clonal plasma cells (PCs). Despite the fact that knowledge about MM PC biology has significantly increased in the last decade, the same does not apply for AL. Here, we used an integrative phenotypic, molecular, and genomic approach to study clonal PCs from 24 newly diagnosed patients with AL. Through principal-component-analysis, we demonstrated highly overlapping phenotypic profiles between AL and both monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance and MM PCs. However, in contrast to MM, highly purified fluorescence-activated cell-sorted clonal PCs from AL (n = 9) showed almost normal transcriptome, with only 38 deregulated genes vs normal PCs; these included a few tumor-suppressor (CDH1, RCAN) and proapoptotic (GLIPR1, FAS) genes. Notwithstanding, clonal PCs in AL (n=11) were genomically unstable, with a median of 9 copy number alterations (CNAs) per case, many of such CNAs being similar to those found in MM. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) performed in 5 AL patients revealed a median of 15 nonrecurrent mutations per case. Altogether, our results show that in the absence of a unifying mutation by WES, clonal PCs in AL display phenotypic and CNA profiles similar to MM, but their transcriptome is remarkably similar to that of normal PCs
Heavy quarkonium: progress, puzzles, and opportunities
A golden age for heavy quarkonium physics dawned a decade ago, initiated by
the confluence of exciting advances in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and an
explosion of related experimental activity. The early years of this period were
chronicled in the Quarkonium Working Group (QWG) CERN Yellow Report (YR) in
2004, which presented a comprehensive review of the status of the field at that
time and provided specific recommendations for further progress. However, the
broad spectrum of subsequent breakthroughs, surprises, and continuing puzzles
could only be partially anticipated. Since the release of the YR, the BESII
program concluded only to give birth to BESIII; the -factories and CLEO-c
flourished; quarkonium production and polarization measurements at HERA and the
Tevatron matured; and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC have opened a window on the
deconfinement regime. All these experiments leave legacies of quality,
precision, and unsolved mysteries for quarkonium physics, and therefore beg for
continuing investigations. The plethora of newly-found quarkonium-like states
unleashed a flood of theoretical investigations into new forms of matter such
as quark-gluon hybrids, mesonic molecules, and tetraquarks. Measurements of the
spectroscopy, decays, production, and in-medium behavior of c\bar{c}, b\bar{b},
and b\bar{c} bound states have been shown to validate some theoretical
approaches to QCD and highlight lack of quantitative success for others. The
intriguing details of quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions that have
emerged from RHIC have elevated the importance of separating hot- and
cold-nuclear-matter effects in quark-gluon plasma studies. This review
systematically addresses all these matters and concludes by prioritizing
directions for ongoing and future efforts.Comment: 182 pages, 112 figures. Editors: N. Brambilla, S. Eidelman, B. K.
Heltsley, R. Vogt. Section Coordinators: G. T. Bodwin, E. Eichten, A. D.
Frawley, A. B. Meyer, R. E. Mitchell, V. Papadimitriou, P. Petreczky, A. A.
Petrov, P. Robbe, A. Vair
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