Magnetogenesis in non-local models during inflation

The generation of magnetic fields during inflation in an electromagnetic model with a non-local form factor in Maxwell`s action is studied. The equations of motion for the electromagnetic field are derived and solved. It is found that the conformal symmetry breaking due to the non-local form factor does not lead to the generation of magnetic fields during inflation in the absence of interaction with the inflaton field. If such a coupling takes place, then the presence of the form factor inhibits the generation of primordial magnetic fields compared to the case where the non-local form factor is absent.Comment: 7 page

Induced vacuum energy density of quantum charged scalar matter in the background of an impenetrable magnetic tube with the Neumann boundary condition

We consider vacuum polarization of charged scalar matter field outside the tube with magnetic flux inside. The tube is impenetrable for quantum matter and the perfectly rigid (Neumann) boundary condition is imposed at its surface. We write expressions for induced vacuum energy density for the case of a space of arbitrary dimension and for an arbitrary value of the magnetic flux. We do the numerical computation for the case of half-integer flux value in the London flux units and (2+1)-dimensional space-time. We show that the induced vacuum energy of the charged scalar matter field is induced if the Compton wavelength of the matter field exceeds the transverse size of the tube considerably. We show that vacuum energy is periodic in the value of the magnetic flux of the tube, providing a quantum-field-theoretical manifestation of the Aharonov-Bohm effect. The dependencies of the induced vacuum energy upon the distance from the center of the tube under the different values of its thickness were obtained. Obtained results are compared to the results obtained earlier in the case of the perfectly reflecting (Dirichlet) boundary condition. It is shown that the value of the induced vacuum energy density in the case of the Neumann boundary condition is greater than in the case of the Dirichlet boundary condition.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure

Semiclassical gravitational effects near a singular magnetic flux

We consider the backreaction of the vacuum polarization effect for a massive charged scalar field in the presence of a singular magnetic massless string on the background metric. Using semiclassical approach, we find the first-order (in $\hbar$ units) metric modifications and the corresponding gravitational potential and deficit angle. It is shown that, in certain region of values of coupling constant and magnetic flux, the gravitational potential and deficit angle can be positive as well as negative over all distances from the string and can even change its sign. Unlike the case of massless scalar field, the gravitational corrections were found to have short-range behavior.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, journal versio

Оценка технологий здравоохранения и система лекарственного возмещения в Италии

The Italian healthcare system is historically structured by the difference in economic development between the northern and southern parts of this country. The Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) is the national health technology assessment (HTA) authority in charge of the reimbursement and formulary-listing. Some regions have established their own HTA institutions to define the reimbursement policy for a specific region or organization. Because of that, the entire HTA system in Italy can be characterized by low inter-regional coherence and insufficient coordination. As a result, the access to medical services is not unified at the regional level; in addition, it is difficult to collect and analyze the data required for providing value-based healthcare. Although the cost-effectiveness of specific health technologies is taken into consideration for decision-making, in practice, the main focus rests on the budget impact and cost control. Along with that, the AIFA holds the leading positions in Europe in using such innovative approaches as the patient access schemes, early HTA and horizon scanning.Структура итальянской системы здравоохранения исторически обусловлена разницей в экономическом развитии между северными и южными регионами страны. Медицинское агентство Италии (англ. - TheItalianMedicinesAgency, итал. - AgenziaItalianadelFarmaco, AIFA) является национальным агентством по оценке технологий здравоохранения (ОТЗ), ответственным за решения о государственном возмещении стоимости лекарственных препаратов и формирование национального перечня возмещаемых препаратов. В некоторых регионах Италии существуют собственные ОТЗ учреждения, в функции которых входит проведение ОТЗ для конкретного региона или учреждения. В целом система ОТЗ Италии характеризуется недостаточной согласованностью на межрегиональном уровне из-за недостаточной унификации процессов и координации на национальном уровне. Это приводит к неравенству доступа к медицинским услугам и трудностям в создании эффективной системы сбора и анализа данных для практического применяя ценностноориентированного подхода. Хотя органами ОТЗ при принятии решений учитывается экономическая эффективность технологий здравоохранения, на практике основное внимание уделяется влиянию на бюджет и контролю затрат. Также можно отметить, что AIFA занимает лидирующие позиции в Европе в применении таких инновационных подходов, как соглашения о разделения рисков и затрат, ранняя ОТЗ и сканирование горизонта

Реальная клиническая практика: принципы использования в принятии управленческих решений и оценке технологий здравоохранения

The use of real-world data (RWD) and real-world evidence (RWE) in process of improving public health, their assessment, and use in decision making is a promising area. Discussions are actively underway about the possibility of using RWD and RWE in routine medical practice of doctors and health care organizers, the weaknesses of these matters and ways to overcome them. Taking into account the considerable amount of information, complexity, and inconsistency of issues under consideration, the article presents the basic principles of using RWD and RWE in decision making, classification of health technologies values, classification of RWE sources, position of RWD studies in the hierarchy of clinical study designs, as well as the ways of their use in complex drug assessment.Использование данных и доказательств реальной клинической практики (РКП) при подготовке предложений по совершенствованию системы здравоохранения, их оценке и последующем принятии на их основе управленческих решений является перспективным и актуальным направлением. Активно ведутся дискуссии о возможности применения в практической деятельности врачей и организаторов здравоохранения данных и доказательств РКП, о слабых сторонах этих данных и путях их преодоления. Учитывая значительный объем информации, комплексность и противоречивость рассматриваемого вопроса, в статье приведены основные принципы использования данных и доказательств РКП при принятии управленческих решений в здравоохранении, классификация видов ценности медицинских технологий, классификация источников доказательств, основанных на данных РКП, положение исследований РКП в иерархии дизайнов клинических исследований, а также возможности их применения в комплексной оценке лекарственных препаратов

Клинико-экономический анализ и оценка влияния на бюджет применения имплантируемых кардиовертеров-дефибрилляторов в Российской Федерации

Objective: to evaluate cost-effectiveness and budget impact of using single and dual chamber implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD) adjunctive to the standard drug therapy (DT) compared to the standard DT alone for the primary and secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD).Material and methods. Original partitioned survival analysis model was developed to assess the cost-effectiveness of using ICD within the modelling horizon of 8 years. The following model outcomes were used: life years and quality-adjusted life years (QALY). Primary prevention model was focused on patients after myocardial infarction with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤30%, whilst secondary prevention model considered cardiac arrest survivors and/or patients diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation with LVEF ≤35%. The model summarizes treatment effect and costs for ICD and DT specific to the healthcare system of the Russian Federation (RF). The main scenario accounted for ICD implantation cost in accordance with general reimbursement price asserted in the high technology medical care list part 2 (HТMC 2). Additionally, alternative scenario of ICD reimbursement level was developed to account for general tariff split onto singleand dual-chamber ICD implantation reimbursement tariffs which can be financed through high technology medical care list part 1 (HТMC 1). Budget impact analysis compared the costs of using ICD within the current volume of the annual increase in ICD implantations and a threefold increased volume of ICD implantations.Results. By the end of the modelling period, additional 34% of patients survived in the ICD group compared to the DT group. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per 1 QALY constituted 2.8 and 2.2 million rubles for primary and secondary prevention, respectively. ICER values are slightly above or lower than the willingness-to-pay threshold of 2.5 million rubles per 1 QALY in the RF in the segment of primary and secondary SCD prevention, respectively. Additional HТMC 1 scenario incorporating lower ICD implantation prices resulted in an average ICER drop by 13% compared to HTMC 2. Overall patient population requiring SCD prevention comprised of 7,161 and 3,341 patients in primary and secondary prevention, respectively. Budget impact analysis showed that threefold rise in the ICD implantations rate will require additional 648 million rubles for primary prevention cohort to provide additional 573 patients with ICD, and 230 million rubles for secondary prevention cohort with additional 267 patients covered with ICD. ICD reimbursement price drop within the HТMC 1 scenario will save 133 million rubles and allow to provide additional 143 patients with ICDs for a given budget.Conclusion. ICD is a cost-effective option of secondary prevention of SCD. Additional analysis of ICD reimbursement price drop drives ICER downwards to a considerable extent which in turn increases the accessibility of ICDs to patients. In scenario of ICD implantation financing within HТMC 1, ICD is established to be a cost-effective option for primary and secondary prevention of SCD in the RF.Цель: оценка клинико-экономической эффективности и анализ влияния на бюджет (АВБ) применения одно- и двухкамерных имплантируемых кардиовертеров-дефибрилляторов (ИКД) в сочетании со стандартной лекарственной терапией (ЛТ) по сравнению со стандартной ЛТ для первичной и вторичной профилактики внезапной сердечной смерти (ВСС).Материал и методы. Построена оригинальная модель распределенной выживаемости пациентов с риском ВСС для проведения анализа «затраты–эффективность» с горизонтом моделирования 8 лет. В качестве исходов модели были использованы годы жизни и годы жизни с поправкой на качество (англ. quality-adjusted life year, QALY). Модель первичной профилактики ВСС включала пациентов после инфаркта миокарда с фракцией выброса левого желудочка (ФВЛЖ) 30% и менее, модель вторичной профилактики ВСС – больных после остановки сердца и/или имеющих желудочковую тахикардию или фибрилляцию желудочков с ФВЛЖ 35% и менее. Модель позволяет прогнозировать затраты на лечение и исходы пациентов, использующих ИКД или ЛТ в условиях системы здравоохранения Российской Федерации (РФ). Основной сценарий учитывает стоимость имплантации прибора по единому тарифу для всех типов ИКД в рамках второго перечня высокотехнологичной медицинской помощи (ВМП 2). Дополнительно моделировали сценарий со снижением тарифа на имплантацию ИКД за счет разгруппировки существующего единого тарифа на два: для однои двухкамерных ИКД в отдельности в рамках первого перечня ВМП (ВМП 1). С помощью АВБ сравнивали затраты на использование ИКД в рамках текущего объема ежегодного прироста имплантаций ИКД и повышенного (трехкратного) объема прироста.Результаты. На конец горизонта моделирования дополнительный прирост выживаемости в группе ИКД по сравнению с группой ЛТ составил 34%. Инкрементальный показатель «затраты–эффективность» (англ. incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, ICER) за 1 QALY в основном сценарии составил 2,8 и 2,2 млн руб. в сегментах первичной и вторичной профилактики ВСС соответственно. Полученное значение по первичной профилактике незначительно превышает, а по вторичной профилактике находится ниже референтного значения ICER (порога готовности платить), составляющего в РФ 2,5 млн руб. за 1 QALY. Моделируемое снижение стоимости тарифа на установку ИКД в рамках перечня ВМП 1 улучшает затратную эффективность (снижает ICER) в среднем на 13% от сценария ВМП 2. Суммарная популяция пациентов, нуждающихся в первичной и вторичной профилактике ВСС, составляет около 7161 и 3341 человека соответственно. Моделирование трехкратного прироста числа ИКД по отношению к текущим объемам обеспеченности в АВБ позволяет дополнительно обеспечить 573 пациента в рамках первичной профилактики ВСС, затратив дополнительно 638 млн руб., и 267 пациентов в рамках вторичной профилактики ВСС при размере дополнительных затрат 230 млн руб. Снижение стоимости имплантации ИКД в сценарии ВМП 1 способствует повышению доступности данной технологии за счет высвобождения дополнительных средств в размере 133 млн руб., позволяющих выполнить дополнительные операции по установке приборов ИКД 143 пациентам при первичной и вторичной профилактике ВСС суммарно.Заключение. ИКД является затратно-эффективной технологией в сегменте вторичной профилактики ВСС. Снижение стоимости ИКД в результате разгруппировки тарифа ВМП 2 значительно повышает клинико-экономическую эффективность данной технологии и способствует ее доступности для пациентов. Таким образом, при финансировании имплантаций по разгруппированным тарифам в рамках перечня ВМП 1 ИКД является затратно-эффективной опцией первичной и вторичной профилактики ВСС в РФ

Experimental bounds on sterile neutrino mixing angles

We derive bounds on the mixing between the left-chiral ("active") and the right-chiral ("sterile") neutrinos, provided from the combination of neutrino oscillation data and direct experimental searches for sterile neutrinos. We demonstrate that the mixing of sterile neutrinos with any flavour can be significantly suppressed, provided that the angle theta_13 is non-zero. This means that the lower bounds on sterile neutrino lifetime, coming from the negative results of direct experimental searches can be relaxed (by as much as the order of magnitude at some masses). We also demonstrate that the results of the negative searches of sterile neutrinos with PS191 and CHARM experiments are not applicable directly to the see-saw models. The reinterpretation of these results provides up to the order of magnitude stronger bounds on sterile neutrino lifetime than previously discussed in the literature. We discuss the implications of our results for the Neutrino Minimal Standard Model (the NuMSM).Comment: 18 pages + Appendices. Journal version with updated figure

The SHiP experiment at the proposed CERN SPS Beam Dump Facility

The Search for Hidden Particles (SHiP) Collaboration has proposed a general-purpose experimental facility operating in beam-dump mode at the CERN SPS accelerator to search for light, feebly interacting particles. In the baseline configuration, the SHiP experiment incorporates two complementary detectors. The upstream detector is designed for recoil signatures of light dark matter (LDM) scattering and for neutrino physics, in particular with tau neutrinos. It consists of a spectrometer magnet housing a layered detector system with high-density LDM/neutrino target plates, emulsion-film technology and electronic high-precision tracking. The total detector target mass amounts to about eight tonnes. The downstream detector system aims at measuring visible decays of feebly interacting particles to both fully reconstructed final states and to partially reconstructed final states with neutrinos, in a nearly background-free environment. The detector consists of a 50 m long decay volume under vacuum followed by a spectrometer and particle identification system with a rectangular acceptance of 5 m in width and 10 m in height. Using the high-intensity beam of 400 GeV protons, the experiment aims at profiting from the 4 x 10(19) protons per year that are currently unexploited at the SPS, over a period of 5-10 years. This allows probing dark photons, dark scalars and pseudo-scalars, and heavy neutral leptons with GeV-scale masses in the direct searches at sensitivities that largely exceed those of existing and projected experiments. The sensitivity to light dark matter through scattering reaches well below the dark matter relic density limits in the range from a few MeV/c(2) up to 100 MeV-scale masses, and it will be possible to study tau neutrino interactions with unprecedented statistics. This paper describes the SHiP experiment baseline setup and the detector systems, together with performance results from prototypes in test beams, as it was prepared for the 2020 Update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics. The expected detector performance from simulation is summarised at the end

Fast simulation of muons produced at the SHiP experiment using generative adversarial networks

This paper presents a fast approach to simulating muons produced in interactions of the SPS proton beams with the target of the SHiP experiment. The SHiP experiment will be able to search for new long-lived particles produced in a 400 GeV/c SPS proton beam dump and which travel distances between fifty metres and tens of kilometers. The SHiP detector needs to operate under ultra-low background conditions and requires large simulated samples of muon induced background processes. Through the use of Generative Adversarial Networks it is possible to emulate the simulation of the interaction of 400 GeV/c proton beams with the SHiP target, an otherwise computationally intensive process. For the simulation requirements of the SHiP experiment, generative networks are capable of approximating the full simulation of the dense fixed target, offering a speed increase by a factor of Script O(106). To evaluate the performance of such an approach, comparisons of the distributions of reconstructed muon momenta in SHiP's spectrometer between samples using the full simulation and samples produced through generative models are presented. The methods discussed in this paper can be generalised and applied to modelling any non-discrete multi-dimensional distribution

The experimental facility for the Search for Hidden Particles at the CERN SPS

The International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) logo The International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) logo The following article is OPEN ACCESS The experimental facility for the Search for Hidden Particles at the CERN SPS C. Ahdida44, R. Albanese14,a, A. Alexandrov14, A. Anokhina39, S. Aoki18, G. Arduini44, E. Atkin38, N. Azorskiy29, J.J. Back54, A. Bagulya32Show full author list Published 25 March 2019 • © 2019 CERN Journal of Instrumentation, Volume 14, March 2019 Download Article PDF References Download PDF 543 Total downloads 7 7 total citations on Dimensions. Article has an altmetric score of 1 Turn on MathJax Share this article Share this content via email Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Share on Mendeley Article information Abstract The Search for Hidden Particles (SHiP) Collaboration has shown that the CERN SPS accelerator with its 400 GeV/c proton beam offers a unique opportunity to explore the Hidden Sector [1–3]. The proposed experiment is an intensity frontier experiment which is capable of searching for hidden particles through both visible decays and through scattering signatures from recoil of electrons or nuclei. The high-intensity experimental facility developed by the SHiP Collaboration is based on a number of key features and developments which provide the possibility of probing a large part of the parameter space for a wide range of models with light long-lived super-weakly interacting particles with masses up to Script O(10) GeV/c2 in an environment of extremely clean background conditions. This paper describes the proposal for the experimental facility together with the most important feasibility studies. The paper focuses on the challenging new ideas behind the beam extraction and beam delivery, the proton beam dump, and the suppression of beam-induced background