Anthropic tuning of the weak scale and of m_u/m_d in two-Higgs-doublet models

It is shown that in a model in which up-type and down-type fermions acquire mass from different Higgs doublets, the anthropic tuning of the Higgs mass parameters can explain the fact that the observed masses of the $d$ and $u$ quarks are nearly the same with $d$ slightly heavier. If Yukawa couplings are assumed not to "scan" (vary among domains), this would also help explain why the t quark is much heavier than the b quark. It is also pointed out that the existence of dark matter invalidates some earlier anthropic arguments against the viability of domains where the Standard Model Higgs has positive $\mu^2$, but makes other even stronger arguments possible.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figure

Nucleon sigma term and strange quark content from lattice QCD with exact chiral symmetry

We calculate the nucleon sigma term in two-flavor lattice QCD utilizing the Feynman-Hellman theorem. Both sea and valence quarks are described by the overlap fermion formulation, which preserves exact chiral and flavor symmetries on the lattice. We analyse the lattice data for the nucleon mass using the analytical formulae derived from the baryon chiral perturbation theory. From the data at valence quark mass set different from sea quark mass, we may extract the sea quark contribution to the sigma term, which corresponds to the strange quark content. We find that the strange quark content is much smaller than the previous lattice calculations and phenomenological estimates.Comment: 27 page

Brane Realizations of Quantum Hall Solitons and Kac-Moody Lie Algebras

Using quiver gauge theories in (1+2)-dimensions, we give brane realizations of a class of Quantum Hall Solitons (QHS) embedded in Type IIA superstring on the ALE spaces with exotic singularities. These systems are obtained by considering two sets of wrapped D4-branes on 2-spheres. The space-time on which the QHS live is identified with the world-volume of D4-branes wrapped on a collection of intersecting 2-spheres arranged as extended Dynkin diagrams of Kac-Moody Lie algebras. The magnetic source is given by an extra orthogonal D4-brane wrapping a generic 2-cycle in the ALE spaces. It is shown as well that data on the representations of Kac-Moody Lie algebras fix the filling factor of the QHS. In case of finite Dynkin diagrams, we recover results on QHS with integer and fractional filling factors known in the literature. In case of hyperbolic bilayer models, we obtain amongst others filling factors describing holes in the graphene.Comment: Lqtex; 15 page

Pan-squamous genomic profiling stratified by anatomic tumor site and viral association

Background: Squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) have diverse anatomic etiologies but may share common genomic biomarkers. We profiled 7,871 unique SCCs across nine anatomic sites to investigate commonality in genomic alterations (GA), tumor mutational burden (TMB), human papillomavirus (HPV) association, and mutational signatures. Methods: Tissue from over 8,100 unique SCC samples originating from nine anatomic sites (anogenital (anus, cervix, penis, vagina, vulva), esophagus, head and neck, lung, and skin) were sequenced by hybrid capture-based comprehensive genomic profiling to evaluate GA and TMB. About 3% of non-cutaneous SCC samples had UV signatures, indicative of potential primary site misdiagnoses, and were filtered from the analysis. Detection of HPV, including high-risk strains 16, 18, 31, 33, and 45, was implemented through de novo assembly of non-human sequencing reads and BLASTn comparison against all viral nucleotide sequences in the NCBI database. Results: The proportion of HPV+ patients by anatomic site varied, with the highest being anal (91%) and cervical (83%). The mutational landscape of each cohort was similar, regardless of anatomic origin, but clustered based on HPV status. The largest differences in GA frequency as stratified by HPV- vs. HPV+ were TP53 (87% vs. 12%), CDKN2A (45% vs. 6%), and PIK3CA (22% vs. 33%). The median TMB in cases originating from HPV-associated sites was similar, regardless of HPV status. Higher median TMB was observed in lung and skin cases, which exhibited significant enrichment of mutational signatures indicative of tobacco- and UV-induced DNA damage, respectively. Conclusions: HPV+ and HPV- SCC populations have distinct genomic profiles and, for the latter, anatomic site is correlated with TMB distribution, secondary to associated carcinogen exposure. As such, biomarkers such as TMB and UV signature can provide unexpected insight into site of origin misdiagnoses and may correlate with benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors

First simultaneous observations of flux transfer events at the high-latitude magnetopause by the cluster spacecraft and pulsed radar signatures in the conjugate ionosphere by the CUTLASS and EISCAT radars

Cluster magnetic field data are studied during an outbound pass through the post-noon high-latitude magnetopause region on 14 February 2001. The onset of several minute perturbations in the magnetospheric field was observed in conjunction with a southward turn of the interplanetary magnetic field observed upstream by the ACE spacecraft and lagged to the subsolar magnetopause. These perturbations culminated in the observation of four clear magnetospheric flux transfer events (FTEs) adjacent to the magnetopause, together with a highly-structured magnetopause boundary layer containing related field features. Furthermore, clear FTEs were observed later in the magnetosheath. The magnetospheric FTEs were of essentially the same form as the original “flux erosion events” observed in HEOS-2 data at a similar location and under similar interplanetary conditions by Haerendel et al. (1978). We show that the nature of the magnetic perturbations in these events is consistent with the formation of open flux tubes connected to the northern polar ionosphere via pulsed reconnection in the dusk sector magnetopause. The magnetic footprint of the Cluster spacecraft during the boundary passage is shown to map centrally within the fields-of-view of the CUTLASS SuperDARN radars, and to pass across the field-aligned beam of the EISCAT Svalbard radar (ESR) system. It is shown that both the ionospheric flow and the backscatter power in the CUTLASS data pulse are in synchrony with the magnetospheric FTEs and boundary layer structures at the latitude of the Cluster footprint. These flow and power features are subsequently found to propagate poleward, forming classic “pulsed ionospheric flow” and “poleward-moving radar auroral form” structures at higher latitudes. The combined Cluster-CUTLASS observations thus represent a direct demonstration of the coupling of momentum and energy into the magnetosphere-ionosphere system via pulsed magnetopause reconnection. The ESR observations also reveal the nature of the structured and variable polar ionosphere produced by the structured and time-varying precipitation and flow