95 research outputs found
Superpartner spectrum of minimal gaugino-gauge mediation
We evaluate the sparticle mass spectrum in the minimal four-dimensional
construction that interpolates between gaugino and ordinary gauge mediation at
the weak scale. We find that even in the hybrid case -- when the messenger
scale is comparable to the mass of the additional gauge particles -- both the
right-handed as well as the left-handed sleptons are lighter than the bino in
the low-scale mediation regime. This implies a chain of lepton production and,
consequently, striking signatures that may be probed at the LHC already in the
near future.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; V2: refs and a few comments added; V3 title
change
Anomalous Dimensions of Non-Chiral Operators from AdS/CFT
Non-chiral operators with positive anomalous dimensions can have interesting
applications to supersymmetric model building. Motivated by this, we develop a
new method for obtaining the anomalous dimensions of non-chiral double-trace
operators in N=1 superconformal field theories (SCFTs) with weakly-coupled AdS
duals. Via the Hamiltonian formulation of AdS/CFT, we show how to directly
compute the anomalous dimension as a bound state energy in the gravity dual.
This simplifies previous approaches based on the four-point function and the
OPE. We apply our method to a class of effective AdS5 supergravity models, and
we find that the binding energy can have either sign. If such models can be UV
completed, they will provide the first calculable examples of SCFTs with
positive anomalous dimensions.Comment: 38 pages, 2 figures, refs adde
Cardiac Magnetic Resonance–Derived Extracellular Volume Mapping for the Quantification of Hepatic and Splenic Amyloid
BACKGROUND: Systemic amyloidosis is characterized by amyloid deposition that can involve virtually any organ. Splenic and hepatic amyloidosis occurs in certain types, in some patients but not others, and may influence prognosis and treatment. SAP (serum amyloid P component) scintigraphy is uniquely able to identify and quantify amyloid in the liver and spleen, thus informing clinical management, but it is only available in 2 centers globally. The aims of this study were to examine the potential for extracellular volume (ECV) mapping performed during routine cardiac magnetic resonance to: (1) detect amyloid in the liver and spleen and (2) estimate amyloid load in these sites using SAP scintigraphy as the reference standard. METHODS: Five hundred thirty-three patients referred to the National Amyloidosis Centre, London, between 2015 and 2017 with suspected systemic amyloidosis who underwent SAP scintigraphy and cardiac magnetic resonance with T1 mapping were studied. RESULTS: The diagnostic performance of ECV to detect splenic and hepatic amyloidosis was high for both organs (liver: area under the curve, -0.917 [95% CI, 0.880-0.954]; liver ECV cutoff, 0.395; sensitivity, 90.7%; specificity, 77.7%; P<0.001; spleen: area under the curve, -0.944 [95% CI, 0.925-0.964]; spleen ECV cutoff, 0.385; sensitivity, 93.6%; specificity, 87.5%; P<0.001). There was good correlation between liver and spleen ECV and amyloid load assessed by SAP scintigraphy (r=0.504, P<0.001; r=0.693, P<0.001, respectively). There was high interobserver agreement for both the liver and spleen (ECV liver intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.991 [95% CI, 0.984-0.995]; P<0.001; ECV spleen intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.995 [95% CI, 0.991-0.997]; P<0.001) with little bias across a wide range of ECV values. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that ECV measurements obtained during routine cardiac magnetic resonance scans in patients with suspected amyloidosis can identify and measure the magnitude of amyloid infiltration in the liver and spleen, providing important clues to amyloid type and offering a noninvasive measure of visceral amyloid burden that can help guide and track treatment
A Light Stop with Flavor in Natural SUSY
The discovery of a SM-like Higgs boson near 125 GeV and the flavor texture of
the Standard Model motivate the investigation of supersymmetric quiver-like BSM
extensions. We study the properties of such a minimal class of models which
deals naturally with the SM parameters. Considering experimental bounds as well
as constraints from flavor physics and Electro-Weak Precision Data, we find the
following. In a self-contained minimal model - including the full dynamics of
the Higgs sector - top squarks below a TeV are in tension with b->s{\gamma}
constraints. Relaxing the assumption concerning the mass generation of the
heavy Higgses, we find that a stop not far from half a TeV is allowed. The
models have some unique properties, e.g. an enhancement of the h->
b\bar{b},\tau\bar{{\tau}} decays relative to the h->\gamma{\gamma} one, a
gluino about 3 times heavier than the stop, an inverted hierarchy of about 3-20
between the squarks of the first two generations and the stop, relatively light
Higgsino neutralino or stau NLSP, as well as heavy Higgses and a W' which may
be within reach of the LHC.Comment: LaTeX, 22 pages, 4 figures; V2: references adde
Prospective Case-Control Study of Cardiovascular Abnormalities 6 Months Following Mild COVID-19 in Healthcare Workers
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to detect cardiovascular changes after mild severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. BACKGROUND: Concern exists that mild coronavirus disease 2019 may cause myocardial and vascular disease. METHODS: Participants were recruited from COVIDsortium, a 3-hospital prospective study of 731 health care workers who underwent first-wave weekly symptom, polymerase chain reaction, and serology assessment over 4 months, with seroconversion in 21.5% (n = 157). At 6 months post-infection, 74 seropositive and 75 age-, sex-, and ethnicity-matched seronegative control subjects were recruited for cardiovascular phenotyping (comprehensive phantom-calibrated cardiovascular magnetic resonance and blood biomarkers). Analysis was blinded, using objective artificial intelligence analytics where available. RESULTS: A total of 149 subjects (mean age 37 years, range 18 to 63 years, 58% women) were recruited. Seropositive infections had been mild with case definition, noncase definition, and asymptomatic disease in 45 (61%), 18 (24%), and 11 (15%), respectively, with 1 person hospitalized (for 2 days). Between seropositive and seronegative groups, there were no differences in cardiac structure (left ventricular volumes, mass, atrial area), function (ejection fraction, global longitudinal shortening, aortic distensibility), tissue characterization (T1, T2, extracellular volume fraction mapping, late gadolinium enhancement) or biomarkers (troponin, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide). With abnormal defined by the 75 seronegatives (2 SDs from mean, e.g., ejection fraction 1,072 ms, septal T2 >52.4 ms), individuals had abnormalities including reduced ejection fraction (n = 2, minimum 50%), T1 elevation (n = 6), T2 elevation (n = 9), late gadolinium enhancement (n = 13, median 1%, max 5% of myocardium), biomarker elevation (borderline troponin elevation in 4; all N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide normal). These were distributed equally between seropositive and seronegative individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiovascular abnormalities are no more common in seropositive versus seronegative otherwise healthy, workforce representative individuals 6 months post-mild severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection
Excess Higgs Production in Neutralino Decays
The ATLAS and CMS experiments have recently claimed discovery of a Higgs
boson-like particle at ~5 sigma confidence and are beginning to test the
Standard Model predictions for its production and decay. In a variety of
supersymmetric models, a neutralino NLSP can decay dominantly to the Higgs and
the LSP. In natural SUSY models, a light third generation squark decaying
through this chain can lead to large excess Higgs production while evading
existing BSM searches. Such models can be observed at the 8 TeV LHC in channels
exploiting the rare diphoton decays of the Higgs produced in the cascade decay.
Identifying a diphoton resonance in association with missing energy, a lepton,
or b-tagged jets is a promising search strategy for discovery of these models,
and would immediately signal new physics involving production of a Higgs boson.
We also discuss the possibility that excess Higgs production in these SUSY
decays can be responsible for enhancements of up to 50% over the SM prediction
for the observed rate in the existing inclusive diphoton searches, a scenario
which would likely by the end of the 8 TeV run be accompanied by excesses in
the diphoton + lepton/MET and SUSY multi-lepton/b searches and a potential
discovery in a diphoton + 2b search.Comment: 42 pages, 19 figure
Patterns of myocardial injury in recovered troponin-positive COVID-19 patients assessed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance
BACKGROUND: Troponin elevation is common in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, but underlying aetiologies are ill-defined. We used multi-parametric cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) to assess myocardial injury in recovered COVID-19 patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: One hundred and forty-eight patients (64 ± 12 years, 70% male) with severe COVID-19 infection [all requiring hospital admission, 48 (32%) requiring ventilatory support] and troponin elevation discharged from six hospitals underwent convalescent CMR (including adenosine stress perfusion if indicated) at median 68 days. Left ventricular (LV) function was normal in 89% (ejection fraction 67% ± 11%). Late gadolinium enhancement and/or ischaemia was found in 54% (80/148). This comprised myocarditis-like scar in 26% (39/148), infarction and/or ischaemia in 22% (32/148) and dual pathology in 6% (9/148). Myocarditis-like injury was limited to three or less myocardial segments in 88% (35/40) of cases with no associated LV dysfunction; of these, 30% had active myocarditis. Myocardial infarction was found in 19% (28/148) and inducible ischaemia in 26% (20/76) of those undergoing stress perfusion (including 7 with both infarction and ischaemia). Of patients with ischaemic injury pattern, 66% (27/41) had no past history of coronary disease. There was no evidence of diffuse fibrosis or oedema in the remote myocardium (T1: COVID-19 patients 1033 ± 41 ms vs. matched controls 1028 ± 35 ms; T2: COVID-19 46 ± 3 ms vs. matched controls 47 ± 3 ms). CONCLUSIONS: During convalescence after severe COVID-19 infection with troponin elevation, myocarditis-like injury can be encountered, with limited extent and minimal functional consequence. In a proportion of patients, there is evidence of possible ongoing localized inflammation. A quarter of patients had ischaemic heart disease, of which two-thirds had no previous history. Whether these observed findings represent pre-existing clinically silent disease or de novo COVID-19-related changes remain undetermined. Diffuse oedema or fibrosis was not detected
Low-energy Observables and General Gauge Mediation in the MSSM and NMSSM
We study constraints on the general gauge mediation (GGM) parameter space
arising from low-energy observables in the MSSM and NMSSM. Specifically, we
look at the dependence of the spectra and observables on the correlation
function ratios in the hidden sector where supersymmetry is presumably broken.
Since these ratios are not a priori constrained by theory, current results from
the muon anomalous magnetic moment and flavor physics can potentially provide
valuable intuition about allowed possibilities. It is found that the muon
anomalous magnetic moment and flavor-physics observables place significant
constraints on the GGM parameter space with distinct dependences on the hidden
sector correlation function ratios. The particle spectra arising in GGM, with
the possibility of different correlation function ratios, is contrasted with
common intuition from regular gauge mediation (RGM) schemes (where the ratios
are always fixed). Comments are made on precision gauge coupling unification,
topography of the NLSP space, correlations of the muon anomalous magnetic
moment with other observables, and approximate scaling relations in sparticle
masses with respect to the high-scale correlation function ratios.Comment: 43 pages, 16 figures. Typos corrected, updated references,
acknowledgements and minor changes in expositio
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