Trans-Planckian Dark Energy?

It has recently been proposed by Mersini et al. 01, Bastero-Gil and Mersini 02 that the dark energy could be attributed to the cosmological properties of a scalar field with a non-standard dispersion relation that decreases exponentially at wave-numbers larger than Planck scale (k_phys > M_Planck). In this scenario, the energy density stored in the modes of trans-Planckian wave-numbers but sub-Hubble frequencies produced by amplification of the vacuum quantum fluctuations would account naturally for the dark energy. The present article examines this model in detail and shows step by step that it does not work. In particular, we show that this model cannot make definite predictions since there is no well-defined vacuum state in the region of wave-numbers considered, hence the initial data cannot be specified unambiguously. We also show that for most choices of initial data this scenario implies the production of a large amount of energy density (of order M_Planck^4) for modes with momenta of order M_Planck, far in excess of the background energy density. We evaluate the amount of fine-tuning in the initial data necessary to avoid this back-reaction problem and find it is of order H/M_Planck. We also argue that the equation of state of the trans-Planckian modes is not vacuum-like. Therefore this model does not provide a suitable explanation for the dark energy.Comment: RevTeX - 15 pages, 7 figures: final version to appear in PRD, minor changes, 1 figure adde

Combining galaxy and 21cm surveys

Acoustic waves traveling through the early Universe imprint a characteristic scale in the clustering of galaxies, QSOs and inter-galactic gas. This scale can be used as a standard ruler to map the expansion history of the Universe, a technique known as Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO). BAO offer a high-precision, low-systematics means of constraining our cosmological model. The statistical power of BAO measurements can be improved if the `smearing' of the acoustic feature by non-linear structure formation is undone in a process known as reconstruction. In this paper we use low-order Lagrangian perturbation theory to study the ability of $21\,$cm experiments to perform reconstruction and how augmenting these surveys with galaxy redshift surveys at relatively low number densities can improve performance. We find that the critical number density which must be achieved in order to benefit $21\,$cm surveys is set by the linear theory power spectrum near its peak, and corresponds to densities achievable by upcoming surveys of emission line galaxies such as eBOSS and DESI. As part of this work we analyze reconstruction within the framework of Lagrangian perturbation theory with local Lagrangian bias, redshift-space distortions, ${\bf k}$-dependent noise and anisotropic filtering schemes.Comment: 10 pages, final version to appear in MNRAS, helpful suggestions from referee and others include

A note on inflation and transplanckian physics

In this paper we consider the influence of transplanckian physics on the CMBR anisotropies produced by inflation. We consider a simple toy model that allows for analytic calculations and argue on general grounds, based on ambiguities in the choice of vacuum, that effects are expected with a magnitude of the order of $H/\Lambda$, where $H$ is the Hubble constant during inflation and $\Lambda$ the scale for new physics, e.g. the Planck scale.Comment: 12 pages. v2: typos corrected and references added. v3: final version accepted for publication by PRD. Improved discussion of adiabatic vacuu

Appropriateness of oral anticoagulants for long-term treatment of atrial fibrillation in older people: results of an evidence-based review and international consensus validation process (OAC-FORTA 2016)

Background: Age appropriateness of anticoagulants for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation is uncertain. Objective: To review oral anticoagulants for the treatment of atrial fibrillation in older (age >65 years) people and to classify appropriate and inappropriate drugs based on efficacy, safety and tolerability using the Fit-fOR-The-Aged (FORTA) classification. Methods: We performed a structured comprehensive review of controlled clinical trials and summaries of individual product characteristics to assess study and total patient numbers, quality of major outcome data and data of geriatric relevance. The resulting evidence was discussed in a round table with an interdisciplinary panel of ten European experts. Decisions on age appropriateness were made using a Delphi process. Results: For the eight drugs included, 380 citations were identified. The primary outcome results were reported in 32 clinical trials with explicit and relevant data on older people. Though over 24,000 patients aged >75/80 years were studied for warfarin, data on geriatric syndromes were rare (two studies reporting on frailty/falls/mental status) and missing for all other compounds. Apixaban was rated FORTA-A (highly beneficial). Other non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (including low/high-intensity dabigatran and high-intensity edoxaban) and warfarin were assigned to FORTA-B (beneficial). Phenprocoumon, acenocoumarol and fluindione were rated FORTA-C (questionable), mainly reflecting the absence of data. Conclusions: All non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants and warfarin were classified as beneficial or very beneficial in older persons (FORTA-A or -B), underlining the overall positive assessment of the risk/benefit ratio for these drugs. For other vitamin-K antagonists regionally used in Europe, the lack of evidence should challenge current practice

Miniaturization of Planar Microwave Devices by Means of Complementary Spiral Resonators (CSRs): Design of Quadrature Phase Shifters

In this work, two compact quadrature phase shifters based on metamaterial transmission lines implemented by means of complementary spiral resonators (CSRs) have been designed, fabricated and measured. The structures consist on Y-junctions with output lines exhibiting 90º phase balance. The reported metamaterial-based devices present a size reduction of 64% and 77% as compared to the conventional one

Bilateral Internuclear Ophthalmoplegia in a Patient with Devic's Neuromyelitis Optica

An unusual presentation of Devic's neuromyelitis optica (NMO) disease associated with bilateral internuclear ophthalmoplegia (INO) is described. A 32-year-old pregnant patient was diagnosed with NMO. First symptoms were headache and sudden visual loss in her right eye (RE). Eighteen months ago, she reported other neurologic symptoms such as paresthesia. Based on her visual field, fundoscopy and Ishihara test, she was diagnosed with retrobulbar neuritis of the RE. After delivery, new neurologic symptoms resembling transverse myelitis appeared. She was treated with methylprednisolone and plasmapheresis, which improved her visual acuity; however, a sudden bilateral INO appeared, with adduction defect and nystagmus with abduction in both eyes. No improvement was obtained after treatment with azathioprine and rituximab. Paresis of the legs and the right arm persisted, but double vision and OIN gradually disappeared. At the end, the patient had a residual exophoria in the RE and nystagmus with abduction in the left eye. Prevalence of NMO is lower than one case per one million inhabitants, and it is not likely to affect the encephalic trunk; furthermore, bilateral INO in NMO is rare. Two major criteria and at least two of the three minor ones are required to confirm a NMO diagnosis, and our patient fulfilled these diagnosis criteria

Subinhibitory Concentrations of Clinically-Relevant Antimicrobials Affect Resistance-Nodulation-Division Family Promoter Activity in Acinetobacter baumannii

Efflux pumps contribute to multidrug resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii due to their ability to expel a wide variety of structurally unrelated compounds. This study aimed to characterize the effect of subinhibitory concentrations of clinically-relevant antibiotics and disinfectants on the promoter activity of members of the Resistance-Nodulation-Division (RND) family in A. baumannii. The promoter regions from three RND efflux pumps (AdeABC, AdeFGH and AdeIJK) and the AdeRS regulatory system from three different A. baumannii strains (ATCC 17961, ATCC 17978, and ATCC 19606) were cloned into a luciferase reporter system (pLPV1Z). Promoter activity was quantitatively assessed in both exponential and stationary phase cultures after exposure to subinhibitory concentrations of four antibiotics from different classes (rifampicin, meropenem, tigecycline and colistin) and two disinfectants (ethanol and chlorhexidine). Subinhibitory concentrations of the compounds tested had variable effects on promoter activity that were highly dependent on the A. baumannii strain, the compound tested and the growth phase. Fold changes in AdeABC promoter activity ranged from 1.97 to 113.7, in AdeFGH from -5.6 to 1.13, in AdeIJK from -2.5 to 2, and in AdeRS from -36.2 to -1.32. Taken together, these results indicate that subinhibitory concentrations of clinically-relevant antibiotics and disinfectants affect the promoter activity of RND family members in A. baumannii in a strain and growth phase dependent manner. These results may have important implications for the treatment of infections caused by A. baumannii.AT is supported by the Garantía Juvenil Program of the Comunidad Autonoma de Madrid and ML-S is supported by the Sara Borrell Program of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. MJM is supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (MP 516/19 and MPY 380/18).S

Influence of Light and Heavy Thresholds on SUSY Unification

In this paper we study and compare susy unification using two different approaches in order to take into account the effect of light particle thresholds on the evolution of gauge couplings: the step--function approximation, on the one hand, and a mass dependent procedure, which gives a more accurate description of the dependence of the results on the masses, on the other. We also include the effect of heavy thresholds, when $SU(5)$ is chosen as the unifying group. We find that the mass--dependent procedure excludes scenarios where all susy masses are below $1\;TeV$, and favors a value of $\alpha_3(m_Z)$ near its upper experimental bound, contrary to the results obtained with the step--function approximation. We underline the dependence of the results on the procedure chosen to deal with light thresholds.Comment: 18 pages,LAEFF-93/014,REVTEX-2.1, 5 figures not included, available upon request (include FAX number)

The Surface Mass Density and Structure of the Outer Disk of NGC 628

We study the kinematics of GALEX-selected H_alpha knots in the outer disk (beyond R25) of NGC 628 (M74), a galaxy representative of large, undisturbed, extended UV (Type 1 XUV) disks. Our spectroscopic target sample of 235 of the bluest UV knots surrounding NGC 628 yielded 15 H_alpha detections (6%), roughly the number expected given the different mean ages of the two populations. The measured vertical velocity dispersion of the H_alpha knots between 1 - 1.8 R25 (13.5 - 23.2 kpc) is < 11 km/s. We assume that the H_alpha knots trace an 'intermediate' vertical mass density distribution (between the isothermal sech(z)^2 and exponential distributions) with a constant scaleheight across the outer disk (h_z = 700 pc) and estimate a total surface mass density of 7.5 solar masses/pc^2. This surface mass density can be accounted for by the observed gas and stars in the outer disk (little or no dark matter in the disk is required). The vertical velocity dispersion of the outer disk H_alpha knots nearly matches that measured from older planetary nebulae near the outskirts of the optical disk by Herrmann et al., suggesting a low level of scattering in the outer disk. A dynamically cold stellar component extending nearly twice as far as the traditional optical disk poses interesting constraints on the accretion history of the galaxy.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal