Genetics of Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis in African American Children

Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a histologic diagnosis based on kidney biopsy findings of focal and segmental scarring of the glomeruli, with minimal immune deposits. Patients with FSGS present clinically with progressive proteinuric chronic kidney disease (CKD). The International Study of Kidney Disease in Children described FSGS in 6.9% of children with nephrotic syndrome, but more recent estimates of the disease are higher. This group has been understudied in Africa. As in adults, FSGS is more common in Black and Hispanic children. Compared to non-Black children, Black children are older at disease presentation, have increased rates of progression to kidney failure requiring therapy and, among kidney transplant recipients, have significantly shorter kidney allograft lifespan and higher rates of delayed graft function. As genetic factors are more likely to underlie diseases with pediatric onset and greater severity, characterizing genetic susceptibility to FSGS in Black children may provide insights into disease mechanisms and potential treatment

Magnetic and pair correlations of the Hubbard model with next-nearest-neighbor hopping

A combination of analytical approaches and quantum Monte Carlo simulations is used to study both magnetic and pairing correlations for a version of the Hubbard model that includes second-neighbor hopping $t^{\prime }=-0.35t$ as a model for high-temperature superconductors. Magnetic properties are analyzed using the Two-Particle Self-Consistent approach. The maximum in magnetic susceptibility as a function of doping appears both at finite $$ and at $t^{\prime }=0$ but for two totally different physical reasons. When $t^{\prime }=0$, it is induced by antiferromagnetic correlations while at $t^{\prime }=-0.35t$ it is a band structure effect amplified by interactions. Finally, pairing fluctuations are compared with $$-matrix results to disentangle the effects of van Hove singularity and of nesting on superconducting correlations. The addition of antiferromagnetic fluctuations increases slightly the $d$-wave superconducting correlations despite the presence of a van Hove singularity which tends to decrease them in the repulsive model. Some aspects of the phase diagram and some subtleties of finite-size scaling in Monte Carlo simulations, such as inverted finite-size dependence, are also discussed.Comment: Revtex, 8 pages + 15 uuencoded postcript figure

Exploring nu signals in dark matter detectors

We investigate standard and non-standard solar neutrino signals in direct dark matter detection experiments. It is well known that even without new physics, scattering of solar neutrinos on nuclei or electrons is an irreducible background for direct dark matter searches, once these experiments each the ton scale. Here, we entertain the possibility that neutrino interactions are enhanced by new physics, such as new light force carriers (for instance a "dark photon") or neutrino magnetic moments. We consider models with only the three standard neutrino flavors, as well as scenarios with extra sterile neutrinos. We find that low-energy neutrino--electron and neutrino--nucleus scattering rates can be enhanced by several orders of magnitude, potentially enough to explain the event excesses observed in CoGeNT and CRESST. We also investigate temporal modulation in these neutrino signals, which can arise from geometric effects, oscillation physics, non-standard neutrino energy loss, and direction-dependent detection efficiencies. We emphasize that, in addition to providing potential explanations for existing signals, models featuring new physics in the neutrino sector can also be very relevant to future dark matter searches, where, on the one hand, they can be probed and constrained, but on the other hand, their signatures could also be confused with dark matter signals.Comment: 38 pages, 8 figures, 1 table; v3: eq 3 and nuclear recoil plots corrected, footnote added, conclusions unchange

When to elicit feedback in dialogue: Towards a model based on the information needs of speakers

Buschmeier H, Kopp S. When to elicit feedback in dialogue: Towards a model based on the information needs of speakers. In: Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents. Boston, MA, USA; 2014: 71-80.Communicative feedback in dialogue is an important mechanism that helps interlocutors coordinate their interaction. Listeners pro-actively provide feedback when they think that it is important for the speaker to know their mental state, and speakers pro-actively seek listener feedback when they need information on whether a listener perceived, understood or accepted their message. This paper presents first steps towards a model for enabling attentive speaker agents to determine when to elicit feedback based on continuous assessment of their information needs about a user's listening state

Limit on Tau Neutrino Mass from τ−→π−π+π−π0ντ\tau^{-}\to \pi^{-}\pi^{+}\pi^{-}\pi^{0}\nu_{\tau}

From a data sample of 29058 $\tau^\pm\to\pi^\pm\pi^+\pi^-\pi^0\nu_\tau$ decays observed in the CLEO detector we derive a 95% confidence upper limit on the tau neutrino mass of 28 MeV.Comment: 17 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN

Modeling the Subsurface Structure of Sunspots

While sunspots are easily observed at the solar surface, determining their subsurface structure is not trivial. There are two main hypotheses for the subsurface structure of sunspots: the monolithic model and the cluster model. Local helioseismology is the only means by which we can investigate subphotospheric structure. However, as current linear inversion techniques do not yet allow helioseismology to probe the internal structure with sufficient confidence to distinguish between the monolith and cluster models, the development of physically realistic sunspot models are a priority for helioseismologists. This is because they are not only important indicators of the variety of physical effects that may influence helioseismic inferences in active regions, but they also enable detailed assessments of the validity of helioseismic interpretations through numerical forward modeling. In this paper, we provide a critical review of the existing sunspot models and an overview of numerical methods employed to model wave propagation through model sunspots. We then carry out an helioseismic analysis of the sunspot in Active Region 9787 and address the serious inconsistencies uncovered by \citeauthor{gizonetal2009}~(\citeyear{gizonetal2009,gizonetal2009a}). We find that this sunspot is most probably associated with a shallow, positive wave-speed perturbation (unlike the traditional two-layer model) and that travel-time measurements are consistent with a horizontal outflow in the surrounding moat.Comment: 73 pages, 19 figures, accepted by Solar Physic

Origins of the Ambient Solar Wind: Implications for Space Weather

The Sun's outer atmosphere is heated to temperatures of millions of degrees, and solar plasma flows out into interplanetary space at supersonic speeds. This paper reviews our current understanding of these interrelated problems: coronal heating and the acceleration of the ambient solar wind. We also discuss where the community stands in its ability to forecast how variations in the solar wind (i.e., fast and slow wind streams) impact the Earth. Although the last few decades have seen significant progress in observations and modeling, we still do not have a complete understanding of the relevant physical processes, nor do we have a quantitatively precise census of which coronal structures contribute to specific types of solar wind. Fast streams are known to be connected to the central regions of large coronal holes. Slow streams, however, appear to come from a wide range of sources, including streamers, pseudostreamers, coronal loops, active regions, and coronal hole boundaries. Complicating our understanding even more is the fact that processes such as turbulence, stream-stream interactions, and Coulomb collisions can make it difficult to unambiguously map a parcel measured at 1 AU back down to its coronal source. We also review recent progress -- in theoretical modeling, observational data analysis, and forecasting techniques that sit at the interface between data and theory -- that gives us hope that the above problems are indeed solvable.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Special issue connected with a 2016 ISSI workshop on "The Scientific Foundations of Space Weather." 44 pages, 9 figure

Measurement of the W+W-gamma Cross Section and Direct Limits on Anomalous Quartic Gauge Boson Couplings at LEP

The process e+e- -> W+W-gamma is analysed using the data collected with the L3 detector at LEP at a centre-of-mass energy of 188.6GeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 176.8pb^-1. Based on a sample of 42 selected W+W- candidates containing an isolated hard photon, the W+W-gamma cross section, defined within phase-space cuts, is measured to be: sigma_WWgamma = 290 +/- 80 +/- 16 fb, consistent with the Standard Model expectation. Including the process e+e- -> nu nu gamma gamma, limits are derived on anomalous contributions to the Standard Model quartic vertices W+W- gamma gamma and W+W-Z gamma at 95% CL: -0.043 GeV^-2 < a_0/Lambda^2 < 0.043 GeV^-2 0.08 GeV^-2 < a_c/Lambda^2 < 0.13 GeV^-2 0.41 GeV^-2 < a_n/Lambda^2 < 0.37 GeV^-2

Production of Single W Bosons at \sqrt{s}=189 GeV and Measurement of WWgamma Gauge Couplings

Single W boson production in electron-positron collisions is studied with the L3 detector at LEP. The data sample collected at a centre-of-mass energy of \sqrt{s} = 188.7GeV corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 176.4pb^-1. Events with a single energetic lepton or two acoplanar hadronic jets are selected. Within phase-space cuts, the total cross-section is measured to be 0.53 +/- 0.12 +/- 0.03 pb, consistent with the Standard Model expectation. Including our single W boson results obtained at lower \sqrt{s}, the WWgamma gauge couplings kappa_gamma and lambda_gamma are determined to be kappa_gamma = 0.93 +/- 0.16 +/- 0.09 and lambda_gamma = -0.31 +0.68 -0.19 +/- 0.13

Search for an invisibly decaying Higgs boson in e^+e^- collisions at \sqrt{s} = 183 - 189 GeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into invisible particles is performed using the data collected at LEP by the L3 experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 183 GeV and 189 GeV. The integrated luminosities are respectively 55.3 pb^-1 and 176.4 pb^-1. The observed candidates are consistent with the expectations from Standard Model processes. In the hypothesis that the production cross section of this Higgs boson equals the Standard Model one and the branching ratio into invisible particles is 100%, a lower mass limit of 89.2 GeV is set at 95% confidence level