Supersymmetry without a light Higgs boson at the LHC

We analyze the LHC phenomenology of lambdaSUSY - a version of NMSSM with a largish SH1H2 coupling. The scalar spectrum of the model contains a 200-300 GeV Higgs boson h with Standard-Model like properties, and heavy CP-even and CP-odd Higgs bosons H and A with masses in 500-800 GeV range. We study the discovery potential of H and A in the decay chains H->hh->4V->2l6j and A->Zh->Z2V->2l4j. The dominant backgrounds are the diffuse Z6j and Z4j productions, which can be suppressed by demanding reconstruction of V's and h's in intermediate states. The excess of signal events allows for a discovery of both H and A with over 5sigma significance for 100 inverse fb of integrated luminosity.Comment: 29 pages, 19 figure

Very High Energy gamma-rays from electron/positron Pair Halos

In this paper we study the formation of giant electrons-positron pair halos around the powerful high energy extragalactic sources. We investigate the dependence of radiation of pair halos, in particular the spectral and angular distributions on the energy spectrum of the primary gamma-rays, the redshift of the source, and the flux of the extragalactic background light.Comment: 17 pages, 17 figures, published in Volume No. 18, Issue No. 06 of "International Journal Of Modern Physics D

The extended Malkus-Robbins dynamo as a perturbed Lorenz system

Recent investigations of some self-exciting Faraday-disk homopolar dynamo ([1-4]) have yielded the classic Lorenz equations as a special limit when one of the principal bifurcation parameters is zero. In this paper we focus upon one of those models [3] and illustrate what happens to some of the lowest order unstable periodic orbits as this parameter is increased from zero

Upper Limits on the Extragalactic Background Light from the Gamma-Ray Spectra of Blazars

The direct measurement of the extragalactic background light (EBL) is difficult at optical to infrared wavelengths because of the strong foreground radiation originating in the Solar System. Very high energy (VHE, E$>$100 GeV) gamma rays interact with EBL photons of these wavelengths through pair production. In this work, the available VHE spectra from six blazars are used to place upper limits on the EBL. These blazars have been detected over a range of redshifts and a steepening of the spectral index is observed with increasing source distance. This can be interpreted as absorption by the EBL. In general, knowledge of the intrinsic source spectrum is necessary to determine the density of the intervening EBL. Motivated by the observed spectral steepening with redshift, upper limits on the EBL are derived by assuming that the intrinsic spectra of the six blazars are $\propto E^{-1.8}$. Upper limits are then placed on the EBL flux at discrete energies without assuming a specific spectral shape for the EBL. This is an advantage over other methods since the EBL spectrum is uncertain.Comment: 33 pages, 14 figures, accepted by Ap

Nanofiller for the mechanical reinforcement of maltodextrins orodispersible films

One of the most critical quality attributes of orodispersible films (ODFs) is related to the development of dosage forms with tensile properties suitable for the packaging and patient's handling. Aiming to develop a strategy to reinforce the tensile properties, the current work reported the feasibility to improve the tensile strength of maltodextrins (MDX) based ODFs by adding an amorphous water insoluble nanofiller, namely polyvinylacetate (PVAc). The possible interactions between components investigated by DSC and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy revealed that MDX and PVAc were immiscible; even if, the presence of plasticizers permitted the homogeneous dispersion of PVAc in the film until the 10% w/w concentration was reached. As a consequence, PVAc nanoparticles was found to be an effective reinforcing agent only at the concentrations of 3 and 5% w/w. In this optimal range, the tensile strength increased at least 1.5 fold and the elastic modulus increased at least 4 times

Sexual functioning and opioid maintenance treatment in women. Results from a large multicentre study

Opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) is the most widespread therapy for both females and males opioid addicts. While many studies have evaluated the OMT impact on men’s sexuality, the data collected about the change in women’s sexual functioning is still limited despite the fact that it is now well-known that opioids-both endogenous and exogenous-affect the endocrine system and play an important role in sexual functioning. The present study aims to determine how OMT with buprenorphine (BUP) or methadone (MTD) affects sexual health in women; examining also any possible emerging correlation between sexual dysfunction (SD), type of opioid and patients’ mental health. This multi-center study case recruited 258 female volunteers attending Italian public Addiction Outpatients Centers that were stabilized with OMT for at least 3 months. SD was assessed with the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale. The twelve-item General Health Questionnaire was used to assess participants’ mental health conditions. The results show that 56.6% of women receiving OMT for at least 3 months presented SD without significant differences between MTD e BUP groups. The majority of the subjects with SD have a poorer quality of intimate relationships and worse mental health than the average. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the largest report on the presence of SDs in women as a side effects of MTD and BUP used in OMT. Since SDs cause difficulties in intimate relationships, lower patients’ quality of life and interfere with OMT beneficial outcomes, we recommend that women undertaking an opioid therapy have routine screening for SD and we highlight the importance to better examine opioid-endocrine interactions in future studies in order to provide alternative potential treatments such as the choice of opioid, opioid dose reduction and hormone supplementation

AB0623 RATE AND PREDICTIVE FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH SUSTAINED REMISSION IN IDIOPATHIC INFLAMMATORY MYOSITIS

Background:Idiopathic inflammatory myositis (IIM) is a group of heterogeneous connective tissue diseases, characterised by chronic muscle inflammation, myositis-specific or myositis-associated autoantibodies and different extra-muscular features. Achieveing low disease activity or remission in patients with IIM has proven to be difficult due to the wide clinical spectrum of the different IIM types.Objectives:To retrospectively assess any predictive factors for sustained remission in IIM patientsMethods:We retrospectively analyzed data taken from medical charts, which included age at disease onset, gender, laboratory data as well as clinical features present at onset, organ involvement and treatment history. A total of 151 adult patients with IIM followed-up for > 1 year were retrospectively enrolled. Remission was defined as no clinical and laboratory evidence of disease activity persistent for more than 6 months during follow-up, while undergoing myositis therapy or under no medication. The remission of cutaneous involvement was defined as no current activity of skin rash, absence of Gottron's papules as well as heliotrope rash and erythema, whereas the remission of pulmonary involvement was considered as no requirement for intensification of immunosuppressive therapy during follow-up. Likewise, absence of muscle weakness or hyposthenia was taken into account for evaluating muscle involvement. Moreover, the clinical features were accompanied by normalization of myogenic enzymes such as creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase levels.Results:Among all 151 patients, 89 (58.9%) patients achieved sustained remission. By univariate analysis, overlap myositis (7.9% vs 27.4%; p=0.003; OR:0.22), cancer-associated myositis (CAM) (7.8% vs 19.35%; p=0.046; OR:0.3), as well as the presence of anti Ku (3.37% vs 12.9%; p=0.05; OR:0.23) and anti TIF-1 gamma (1.1% vs 8%; p=0.043; OR:0.13) antibodies and polyarthritis (11.2% vs 24.19%; p=0.045; OR: 0.397) at onset were significantly associated with active IIM, not achieving remission.Out of 89 patients in remission, 79 (88.8%) achieved long-term sustained remission, lasting at least 2 years, whereas 10 patients (11.2%) showed relapse. Most of relapsed patients showed a relapse/remitting disease, with no evident trigger for the relapse. We divided our cohort of 89 patients in remission in 2 subsets: 83 patients in remission undergoing therapy (93.3%) and 6 patients in drug-free remission (6.7%). No significant differences were found between two groups, except for younger age at onset (p=0.0002) found in patients achieving drug-free remission.Conclusion:Sustained remission occurs in about one half of patients with IIM. The presence of anti Ku and anti TIF-1 gamma antibodies as well as polyarthritis at onset lowers the chance of achieving sustained remission. Younger age at diagnosis has proved to predict drug-free long-lasting remission.Disclosure of Interests:None declare

Keck spectroscopy of z=1-3 ULIRGs from the Spitzer SWIRE survey

(Abridged) High-redshift ultra luminous infrared galaxies contribute the bulk of the cosmic IR background and are the best candidates for very massive galaxies in formation at z>1.5. We present Keck/LRIS optical spectroscopy of 35 z>1.4 luminous IR galaxies in the Spitzer Wide-area Infra-Red Extragalactic survey (SWIRE) northern fields (Lockman Hole, ELAIS-N1, ELAIS-N2). The primary targets belong to the ``IR-peak'' class of galaxies, having the 1.6 micron (restframe) stellar feature detected in the IRAC Spitzer channels.The spectral energy distributions of the main targets are thoroughly analyzed, by means of spectro-photometric synthesis and multi-component fits (stars + starburst dust + AGN torus). The IR-peak selection technique is confirmed to successfully select objects above z=1.4, though some of the observed sources lie at lower redshift than expected. Among the 16 galaxies with spectroscopic redshift, 62% host an AGN component, two thirds being type-1 and one third type-2 objects. The selection, limited to r'<24.5, is likely biased to optically-bright AGNs. The SEDs of non-AGN IR-peakers resemble those of starbursts (SFR=20-500 Msun/yr) hosted in massive (M>1e11 Msun) galaxies. The presence of an AGN component provides a plausible explanation for the spectroscopic/photometric redshift discrepancies, as the torus produces an apparent shift of the peak to longer wavelengths. These sources are analyzed in IRAC and optical-IR color spaces. In addition to the IR-peak galaxies, we present redshifts and spectral properties for 150 objects, out of a total of 301 sources on slits.Comment: Accepted for publications on Astronomy and Astrophysics (acceprance date March 8th, 2007). 33 pages. The quality of some figures have been degrade

Mid-infrared sources in the ELAIS Deep X-ray Survey

We present a cross‐correlation of the European Large Area Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) survey (ELAIS) with the ELAIS Deep X‐ray Survey of the N1 and N2 fields. There are seven Chandra point sources with matches in the ELAIS Final Analysis 15‐μm catalogue, out of a total of 28 extragalactic ISO sources present in the Chandra fields. Five of these are consistent with active galactic nuclei (AGN) giving an AGN fraction of ∼19 per cent in the 15‐μm flux range 0.8–6 mJy. We have co‐added the hard X‐ray fluxes of the individually undetected ISO sources and find a low significance detection consistent with star formation in the remaining population. We combine our point source cross‐correlation fraction with the XMM–Newton observations of the Lockman Hole and Chandra observations of the Hubble Deep Field North to constrain source count models of the mid‐infrared galaxy population. The low dust‐enshrouded AGN fraction in ELAIS implied by the number of cross‐identifications between the ELAIS mid‐infrared sample and the Chandra point sources is encouraging for the use of mid‐infrared surveys to constrain the cosmic star formation history, provided there are not further large undetected populations of Compton‐thick AGN

Diversity in EWAS: current state, challenges, and solutions

Here, we report a lack of diversity in epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) and DNA methylation (DNAm) data, discuss current challenges, and propose solutions for EWAS and DNAm research in diverse populations. The strategies we propose include fostering community involvement, new data generation, and cost-effective approaches such as locus-specific analysis and ancestry variable region analysis