Degenerate Neutrinos and CP Violation

We have studied mixing and masses of three left handed Majorana neutrinos in the model, which assumes exactly degenerate neutrino masses at some "neutrino unification" scale. Such a simple theoretical ansatz naturally leads to quasidegenerate neutrinos. The neutrino mass splittings induced by renormalization effects. In the model we found that the parameters of the neutrino physics (neutrino mass spectrum, mixing angles and CP violation phases) are strongly intercorrelated to each other. From these correlations we got strong bounds on the parameters which could be checked in the oscillation experiments.Comment: 5 pages, latex, presented at CAPP200

Transition Radiation by Standard Model Neutrinos at an Interface

We discuss the transition radiation process $\nu \to \nu \gamma$ at an interface of two media. The medium fulfills the dual purpose of inducing an effective neutrino-photon vertex and of modifying the photon dispersion relation. The transition radiation occurs when at least one of those quantities have different values in different media. We present a result for the probability of the transition radiation which is both accurate and analytic. For $E_\nu =1$MeV neutrino crossing polyethylene-vacuum interface the transition radiation probability is about $10^{-39}$ and the energy intensity (deposition) is about $10^{-34}$eV. At the surface of the neutron stars the transition radiation probability may be $\sim 10^{-20}$. Our result on three orders of magnitude is larger than the results of previous calculations.}Comment: invited talk, to appear in the proceedings of the XLVIth Rencontres de Moriond EW 201

Axion-photon conversion caused by dielectric interfaces: quantum field calculation

Axion-photon conversion at dielectric interfaces, immersed in a near-homogeneous magnetic field, is the basis for the dielectric haloscope method to search for axion dark matter. In analogy to transition radiation, this process is possible because the photon wave function is modified by the dielectric layers ("Garibian wave function") and is no longer an eigenstate of momentum. A conventional first-order perturbative calculation of the transition probability between a quantized axion state and these distorted photon states provides the microwave production rate. It agrees with previous results based on solving the classical Maxwell equations for the combined system of axions and electromagnetic fields. We argue that in general the average photon production rate is given by our result, independently of the detailed quantum state of the axion field. Moreover, our result provides a new perspective on axion-photon conversion in dielectric haloscopes because the rate is based on an overlap integral between unperturbed axion and photon wave functions, in analogy to the usual treatment of microwave-cavity haloscopes.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures; v2: minor changes to match published versio

Identification of a serum biomarker panel for the differential diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma and primary sclerosing cholagnitis

The non-invasive differentiation of malignant and benign biliary disease is a clinical challenge. Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), leucine-rich α2-glycoprotein (LRG1), interleukin 6 (IL6), pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2), cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA21.1) and mucin 5AC (MUC5AC) have reported utility for differentiating cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) from benign biliary disease. Herein, serum levels of these markers were tested in 66 cases of CCA and 62 cases of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and compared with markers of liver function and inflammation. Markers panels were assessed for their ability to discriminate malignant and benign disease. Several of the markers were also assessed in pre-diagnosis biliary tract cancer (BTC) samples with performances evaluated at different times prior to diagnosis. We show that LRG1 and IL6 were unable to accurately distinguish CCA from PSC, whereas CA19-9, PKM2, CYFRA21.1 and MUC5AC were significantly elevated in malignancy. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curves for these individual markers ranged from 0.73–0.84, with the best single marker (PKM2) providing 61% sensitivity at 90% specificity. A panel combining PKM2, CYFRA21.1 and MUC5AC gave 76% sensitivity at 90% specificity, which increased to 82% sensitivity by adding gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT). In the pre-diagnosis setting, LRG1, IL6 and PKM2 were poor predictors of BTC, whilst CA19-9 and C-reactive protein were elevated up to 2 years before diagnosis. In conclusion, LRG1, IL6 and PKM2 were not useful for early detection of BTC, whilst a model combining PKM2, CYFRA21.1, MUC5AC and GGT was beneficial in differentiating malignant from benign biliary disease, warranting validation in a prospective trial

High prevalence of radiographic outliers and revisions with unicompartmental knee arthroplasty

BACKGROUND: Alignment outcomes and their impact on implant survival following unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) are unclear. The purpose of this study was to assess the implant survival and radiographic outcomes after UKA as well as the impact of component alignment and overhang on implant survival. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 253 primary fixed-bearing and mobile-bearing medial UKAs from a single academic center. All UKAs were performed by 2 high-volume fellowship-trained arthroplasty surgeons. UKAs comprised \u3c10% of their knee arthroplasty practices, with an average of 14.2 medial UKAs per surgeon per year. Implant survival was assessed. Femoral coronal (FCA), femoral sagittal (FSA), tibial coronal (TCA), and tibial sagittal (TSA) angles as well as implant overhang were radiographically measured. Outliers were defined for FCA (\u3e±10° deviation from neutral), FSA (\u3e15° of flexion), TCA (\u3e±5° deviation from neutral), and TSA (\u3e±5° deviation from 7°). Far outliers were an additional \u3e±2° of deviation. Outliers for overhang were identified as \u3e3 mm for anterior overhang, \u3e2 mm for posterior overhang, and \u3e2 mm for medial overhang. RESULTS: Among patients with a failed UKA, revision was performed at an average of 3.7 years (range, 0.03 to 8.7 years). The cumulative revision rate was 14.2%. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated 5 and 10-year survival rates of 88.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 82.0% to 91.0%) and 70.0% (95% CI = 56.0% to 80.0%), respectively. Only 19.0% (48) of the UKAs met target alignment for all 4 alignment measures, and only 72.7% (184) met all 3 targets for overhang. Only 11.9% (30) fell within all alignment and overhang targets. The risk of implant failure was significantly impacted by outliers for FCA (failure rate = 15.4%, p = 0.036), FSA (16.2%, p = 0.028), TCA (17.9%, p = 0.020), and TSA (15.2%, p = 0.034) compared with implants with no alignment or overhang errors (0%); this was also true for far outliers (p \u3c 0.05). Other risk factors for failure were posterior overhang (failure rate = 25.0%, p = 0.006) and medial overhang (38.2%, p \u3c 0.001); anterior overhang was not a significant risk factor (10.0%, p = 0.090). CONCLUSIONS: The proportions of UKA revisions and alignment outliers were greater than expected, even among high-volume arthroplasty surgeons performing an average of 14.2 UKAs per year (just below the high-volume UKA threshold of 15). Alignment and overhang outliers were significant risk factors for implant failure. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence

Attenuated total reflection-FT-IR spectroscopic imaging of protein crystallization

Protein crystallization is of strategic and commercial relevance in the post-genomic era because of its pivotal role in structural proteomics projects. Although protein structures are crucial for understanding the function of proteins and to the success of rational drug design and other biotechnology applications, obtaining high quality crystals is a major bottleneck to progress. The major means of obtaining crystals is by massive-scale screening of a target protein solution with numerous crystallizing agents. However, when crystals appear in these screens, one cannot easily know if they are crystals of protein, salt, or any other molecule that happens to be present in the trials. We present here a method based on Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR)-FT-IR imaging that reliably identifies protein crystals through a combination of chemical specificity and the visualizing capability of this approach, thus solving a major hurdle in protein crystallization. ATR-FT-IR imaging was successfully applied to study the crystallization of thaumatin and lysozyme in a high-throughput manner, simultaneously from six different solutions. This approach is fast as it studies protein crystallization in situ and provides an opportunity to examine many different samples under a range of conditions

The impact of surgeon volume and training status on implant alignment in total knee arthroplasty

BACKGROUND: Implant malalignment may predispose patients to prosthetic failure following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). A more thorough understanding of the surgeon-specific factors that contribute to implant malalignment following TKA may uncover actionable strategies for improving implant survival. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of surgeon volume and training status on malalignment. METHODS: In this retrospective multicenter study, we performed a radiographic analysis of 1,570 primary TKAs performed at 4 private academic and state-funded centers in the U.S. and U.K. Surgeons were categorized as high-volume (≥50 TKAs/year) or low-volume (\u3c50 TKAs/year), and as a trainee (fellow/resident under the supervision of an attending surgeon) or a non-trainee (attending surgeon). On the basis of these designations, 3 groups were defined: high-volume non-trainee, low-volume non-trainee, and trainee. The postoperative medial distal femoral angle (DFA), medial proximal tibial angle (PTA), and posterior tibial slope angle (PSA) were radiographically measured. Outlier measurements were defined as follows: DFA, outside of 5° ± 3° of valgus; PTA, \u3e±3° deviation from the neutral axis; and PSA, \u3c0° or \u3e7° of flexion for cruciate-retaining or \u3c0° or \u3e5° of flexion for posterior-stabilized TKAs. Far outliers were defined as measurements falling \u3e± 2° outside of these ranges. The proportions of outliers were compared between the groups using univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: When comparing the high and low-volume non-trainee groups using univariate analysis, the proportions of knees with outlier measurements for the PTA (5.3% versus 17.4%) and PSA (17.4% versus 28.3%) and the proportion of total outliers (11.8% versus 20.7%) were significantly lower in the high-volume group (all p \u3c 0.001). The proportions of DFA (1.9% versus 6.5%), PTA (1.8% versus 5.7%), PSA (5.5% versus 12.6%), and total far outliers (3.1% versus 8.3%) were also significantly lower in the high-volume non-trainee group (all p \u3c 0.001). Compared with the trainee group, the high-volume non-trainee group had significantly lower proportions of DFA (12.6% versus 21.6%), PTA (5.3% versus 12.0%), PSA (17.4% versus 33.3%), and total outliers (11.8% versus 22.3%) (all p \u3c 0.001) as well as DFA (1.9% versus 3.9%; p = 0.027), PSA (5.5% versus 12.6%; p \u3c 0.001), and total far outliers (3.1% versus 6.4%; p = 0.004). No significant differences were identified when comparing the low-volume non-trainee group and the trainee group, with the exception of PTA outliers (17.4% versus 12.0%; p = 0.041) and PTA far outliers (5.7% versus 2.6%; p = 0.033). Findings from multivariate analysis accounting for the effects of patient age, body mass index, and individual surgeon demonstrated similar results. CONCLUSIONS: Low surgical volume and trainee status were risk factors for outlier and far-outlier malalignment in primary TKA, even when accounting for differences in individual surgeon and patient characteristics. Trainee surgeons performed similarly, and certainly not inferiorly, to low-volume non-trainee surgeons. Even among high-volume non-trainees, the best-performing cohort in our study, the proportion of TKA alignment outliers was still high. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence

Glucocorticoids Rapidly Activate cAMP Production via G\u3csub\u3eαs\u3c/sub\u3e to Initiate Non-Genomic Signaling That Contributes to One-Third of Their Canonical Genomic Effects

Glucocorticoids are widely used for the suppression of inflammation, but evidence is growing that they can have rapid, non-genomic actions that have been unappreciated. Diverse cell signaling effects have been reported for glucocorticoids, leading us to hypothesize that glucocorticoids alone can swiftly increase the 3′,5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) production. We found that prednisone, fluticasone, budesonide, and progesterone each increased cAMP levels within 3 minutes without phosphodiesterase inhibitors by measuring real-time cAMP dynamics using the cAMP difference detector in situ assay in a variety of immortalized cell lines and primary human airway smooth muscle (HASM) cells. A membrane- impermeable glucocorticoid showed similarly rapid stimulation of cAMP, implying that responses are initiated at the cell surface. siRNA knockdown of Gαs virtually eliminated glucocorticoidstimulated cAMP responses, suggesting that these drugs activate the cAMP production via a G protein-coupled receptor. Estradiol had small effects on cAMP levels but G protein estrogen receptor antagonists had little effect on responses to any of the glucocorticoids tested. The genomic and non-genomic actions of budesonide were analyzed by RNA-Seq analysis of 24 hours treated HASM, with and without knockdown of Gαs. A 140-gene budesonide signature was identified, of which 48 genes represent a non-genomic signature that requires Gαs signaling. Collectively, this non-genomic cAMP signaling modality contributes to one-third of the gene expression changes induced by glucocorticoid treatment and shifts the view of how this important class of drugs exerts its effect

Models of Neutrino Masses and Baryogenesis

Majorana masses of the neutrino implies lepton number violation and is intimately related to the lepton asymmetry of the universe, which gets related to the baryon asymmetry of the universe in the presence of the sphalerons during the electroweak phase transition. Assuming that the baryon asymmetry of the universe is generated before the electroweak phase transition, it is possible to dicriminate different classes of models of neutrino masses. While see-saw mechanism and the triplet higgs mechanism are preferred, the Zee-type radiative models and the R-parity breaking models requires additional inputs to generate baryon asymmetry of the universe during the electroweak phase transition.Comment: 27 pages including 5 figures; Review article for Pramana: the Indian Journal of Physic