Alternating trilinear forms on a 9-dimensional space and degenerations of (3,3)-polarized Abelian surfaces

We give a detailed analysis of the semisimple elements, in the sense of Vinberg, of the third exterior power of a 9-dimensional vector space over an algebraically closed field of characteristic different from 2 and 3. To a general such element, one can naturally associate an Abelian surface X, which is embedded in 8-dimensional projective space. We study the combinatorial structure of this embedding and explicitly recover the genus 2 curve whose Jacobian variety is X. We also classify the types of degenerations of X that can occur. Taking the union over all Abelian surfaces in Heisenberg normal form, we get a 5-dimensional variety which is a birational model for a genus 2 analogue of Shioda's modular surfaces. We find determinantal set-theoretic equations for this variety and present some additional equations which conjecturally generate the radical ideal.Comment: 30 pages; v2: small correction

Homological algebra for osp(1/2n)

We discuss several topics of homological algebra for the Lie superalgebra osp(1|2n). First we focus on Bott-Kostant cohomology, which yields classical results although the cohomology is not given by the kernel of the Kostant quabla operator. Based on this cohomology we can derive strong Bernstein-Gelfand-Gelfand resolutions for finite dimensional osp(1|2n)-modules. Then we state the Bott-Borel-Weil theorem which follows immediately from the Bott-Kostant cohomology by using the Peter-Weyl theorem for osp(1|2n). Finally we calculate the projective dimension of irreducible and Verma modules in the category O

Attosecond dynamics through a Fano resonance: Monitoring the birth of a photoelectron

This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science on 354, 11 november 2016, DOI: 10.1126/science.aah5188The dynamics of quantum systems are encoded in the amplitude and phase of wave packets. However, the rapidity of electron dynamics on the attosecond scale has precluded the complete characterization of electron wave packets in the time domain. Using spectrally resolved electron interferometry, we were able to measure the amplitude and phase of a photoelectron wave packet created through a Fano autoionizing resonance in helium. In our setup, replicas obtained by two-photon transitions interfere with reference wave packets that are formed through smooth continua, allowing the full temporal reconstruction, purely from experimental data, of the resonant wave packet released in the continuum. In turn, this resolves the buildup of the autoionizing resonance on an attosecond time scale. Our results, in excellent agreement with ab initio time-dependent calculations, raise prospects for detailed investigations of ultrafast photoemission dynamics governed by electron correlation, as well as coherent control over structured electron wave packetsWe thank S. Weber for crucial contributions to the PLFA attosecond beamline, D. Cubaynes, M. Meyer, F. Penent, J. Palaudoux, for setup and test of the electron spectrometer, and O. Smirnova, for fruitful discussions. Supported by ITN-MEDEA 641789, ANR-15-CE30-0001-01-CIMBAAD, ANR11-EQPX0005-ATTOLAB, the European Research Council Advanced Grant XCHEM no. 290853, the European COST Action XLIC CM1204, and the MINECO Project no. FIS2013-42002-R. We acknowledge allocation of computer time from CCC-UAM and Mare Nostrum BS

Techno-economic assessment of four CO2 Storage sites

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) should be a key technology in order to achieve a decline in the CO2 emissions intensity of the power sector and other intensive industry, but this potential deployment could be restricted by cost issues as the International Energy Agency (IEA) in their last projections (World Energy Outlook 2013) has considered only around 1% of global fossil fuel-fired power plants could be equipped with CCS by 2035. The SiteChar project funded by 7th Framework Programme of European Commission gives the opportunity to evaluate the most influential parameters of techno-economic evaluations of four feasible European projects for CO2 geological storage located onshore and offshore and related to aquifer storage or oil and gas reservoirs, at different stages of characterization. Four potential CO2 storage sites have been assessed in terms of storage costs per tonne of CO2 permanently stored (equivalent cost based). They are located offshore UK, onshore Denmark, offshore Norway and offshore Italy. The four SiteChar techno-economic evaluations confirm it is not possible to derive any meaningful average cost for a CO2 storage site. The results demonstrate that the structure of costs for a project is heterogeneous and the storage cost is consequently site dependent. The strategy of the site development is fundamental, the technical choices such as the timing, rate and duration of injection are also important. The way monitoring is managed, using observation wells and logging has a strong impact on the estimated monitoring costs. Options to lower monitoring costs, such as permanent surveys, exist and should be further investigated. Table 1 below summarizes the cost range in Euro per tonne (Discount Rate (DR) at 8%) for the different sites, which illustrates the various orders of magnitude due to the specificities of each site. These figures have how to be considered with care. In particular the Italian and Norwegian sites present very specific features that explain the high estimated costs. For the Italian site, the short duration of CO2 injection associated with a low injection rate makes the CO2 project comparable to a demo project. The Norwegian site is an offshore site located in a virgin area with high infrastructure costs and a combination of injection duration and injection rate that makes the derived costs very sensitive to the discount rate

Myostatin Is Elevated in Congenital Heart Disease and After Mechanical Unloading

Myostatin is a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass whose activity is upregulated in adult heart failure (HF); however, its role in congenital heart disease (CHD) is unknown.We studied myostatin and IGF-1 expression via Western blot in cardiac tissue at varying degrees of myocardial dysfunction and after biventricular support in CHD by collecting myocardial biopsies from four patient cohorts: A) adult subjects with no known cardiopulmonary disease (left ventricle, LV), (Adult Normal), (n = 5); B) pediatric subjects undergoing congenital cardiac surgery with normal RV size and function (right ventricular outflow tract, RVOT), (n = 3); C) pediatric subjects with worsening but hemodynamically stable LV failure [LV and right ventricle (LV, RV,)] with biopsy collected at the time of orthotopic heart transplant (OHT), (n = 7); and D) pediatric subjects with decompensated bi-ventricular failure on BiVAD support with biopsy collected at OHT (LV, RV, BiVAD), (n = 3).The duration of HF was longest in OHT patients compared to BIVAD. The duration of BiVAD support was 4.3±1.9 days. Myostatin expression was significantly increased in LV-OHT compared to RV-OHT and RVOT, and was increased more than double in decompensated biventricular HF (BiVAD) compared to both OHT and RVOT. An increased myostatin/IGF-1 ratio was associated with ventricular dysfunction.Myostatin expression in increased in CHD, and the myostatin/IGF-1 ratio increases as ventricular function deteriorates. Future investigation is necessary to determine if restoration of the physiologic myostatin/IGF-1 ratio has therapeutic potential in HF

A Horizon Study for Cosmic Explorer: Science, Observatories, and Community

Gravitational-wave astronomy has revolutionized humanity's view of the universe. Investment in the field has rewarded the scientific community with the first direct detection of a binary black hole merger and the multimessenger observation of a neutron-star merger. Each of these was a watershed moment in astronomy, made possible because gravitational waves reveal the cosmos in a way that no other probe can. Since the first detection of gravitational waves in 2015, the National Science Foundation's LIGO and its partner observatory, the European Union's Virgo, have detected over fifty binary black hole mergers and a second neutron star merger -- a rate of discovery that has amazed even the most optimistic scientists.This Horizon Study describes a next-generation ground-based gravitational-wave observatory: Cosmic Explorer. With ten times the sensitivity of Advanced LIGO, Cosmic Explorer will push the gravitational-wave astronomy towards the edge of the observable universe ($z \sim 100$). This Horizon Study presents the science objective for Cosmic Explorer, and describes and evaluates its design concepts for. Cosmic Explorer will continue the United States' leadership in gravitational-wave astronomy in the international effort to build a "Third-Generation" (3G) observatory network that will make discoveries transformative across astronomy, physics, and cosmology

Use of thyroid hormones in hypothyroid and euthyroid patients: a THESIS* survey of Belgian specialists *THESIS: treatment of hypothyroidism in Europe by specialists: an international survey.

[en] BACKGROUND: Hypothyroidism is a topic that continues to provoke debate and controversy with regards to specific indications, type of thyroid hormone substitution and efficacy. We investigated the use of thyroid hormones in clinical practice in Belgium, a country where currently only levothyroxine (LT4) tablet formulations are available. METHOD: Members of the Belgian Endocrine Society were invited to respond to an online questionnaire. Results were compared with those from other THESIS surveys. RESULTS: Eighty (50%) of the invited 160 individuals, completed the questionnaire. LT4 was the first treatment of choice for all respondents. As secondary choice, some also prescribed liothyronine (LT3) and LT4 + LT3 combinations (2 and 7 respondents, respectively). Besides hypothyroidism, 34 and 50% of respondents used thyroid hormones for infertile euthyroid TPOAb positive women and the treatment of a growing non-toxic goiter, respectively. Had alternative formulations of LT4 to tablets been available (soft gel or liquid L-T4), 2 out of 80 (2.5%) participants would consider them for patients achieving biochemical euthyroidism but remaining symptomatic. This proportion was higher in case of unexplained poor biochemical control of hypothyroidism (13.5%) and in patients with celiac disease or malabsorption or interfering drugs (10%). In symptomatic euthyroid patients, 20% of respondents would try combined LT4 + LT3 treatment. Psychosocial factors were highlighted as the main contributors to persistent symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: LT4 tablets is the preferred treatment for hypothyroidism in Belgium. A minority of the respondents would try combined LT4 + LT3 in symptomatic but biochemically euthyroid patients. Thyroid hormones are prescribed for euthyroid infertile women with thyroid autoimmunity and patients with non-toxic goiter, a tendency noted in other European countries, despite current evidence of lack of benefit