Populating the swampland: the case of U(1)^496 and E_8 x U(1)^248

For d=10 N=1 SUGRA coupled to d=10 N=1 SYM, anomaly cancellation places severe constraints on the allowed gauge groups. Besides the ones known to appear in string theory, only U(1)^496 and E_8 x U(1)^248 are allowed. There are no known theories of quantum gravity that reduce in some limit to these two last supergravity theories, and in this note I present some evidence that those quantum theories might not exist. The first observation is that, upon compactification, requring that the quantum theory possesses a moduli space with finite volume typically implies the existence of singularities where the 4d gauge group is enhanced, but for these two theories that gauge enhancement is problematic from the 10d point of view. I also point out that while these four supergravity theories present repulson-type singularities, the known mechanism that repairs those singularities for the first two - the non-Abelian enhancon - is not available for the last two theories. In short, these two supergravity theories might be too Abelian for their own good.Comment: 12 page

Heavy quark density in N=4 SYM: from hedgehog to Lifshitz spacetimes

We study the effect of an order N^2 density of heavy quarks in strongly coupled N=4 SUSY Yang-Mills theory in the large N limit. This is achieved in the type IIB supergravity dual by introducing a uniformly smeared density of macroscopic string sources stretching to the boundary of AdS_5 x S^5. The backreacted system exhibits a flow from an AdS_5 "hedgehog" geometry to a scaling Lifshitz-like solution Lif_5 x S^5 with dynamical critical exponent z=7, wherein the scaling symmetry is broken by a logarithmic running dilaton. We find an exact black brane solution within the scaling regime which describes the low temperature thermodynamics of the system.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures, references adde

Review for the generalist: evaluation of low back pain in children and adolescents

Back pain is common in children and adolescents. Most cases of back pain are non-specific and self-limiting. In children and adolescents, pain is usually related to the posterior elements of the spine and disc-related problems are rare. Serious pathology, including malignancy and infection needs to be excluded. Evaluation and management is challenging and requires a thorough history and physical exam, and understanding of the immature skeleton. Diagnostic imaging is useful in the evaluation of a child or adolescent with low back pain and can help guide management. This article will review common causes of back pain in the pediatric population

Benefits and barriers among volunteer teaching faculty: comparison between those who precept and those who do not in the core pediatrics clerkship

Background: Community-based outpatient experiences are a core component of the clinical years in medical school. Central to the success of this experience is the recruitment and retention of volunteer faculty from the community. Prior studies have identified reasons why some preceptors volunteer their time however, there is a paucity of data comparing those who volunteer from those who do not. Methods: A survey was developed following a review of previous studies addressing perceptions of community-based preceptors. A non-parametric, Mann–Whitney U test was used to compare active preceptors (APs) and inactive preceptors (IPs) and all data were analyzed in SPSS 20.0. Results: There was a 28% response rate. Preceptors showed similar demographic characteristics, valued intrinsic over extrinsic benefits, and appreciated Continuing Medical Education (CME)/Maintenance of Certification (MOC) opportunities as the highest extrinsic reward. APs were more likely to also precept at the M1/M2 level and value recognition and faculty development opportunities (p<0.05). IPs denoted time as the most significant barrier and, in comparison to APs, rated financial compensation as more important (p<0.05). Conclusions: Community preceptors are motivated by intrinsic benefits of teaching. Efforts to recruit should initially focus on promoting awareness of teaching opportunities and offering CME/MOC opportunities. Increasing the pool of preceptors may require financial compensation

Proteomics: in pursuit of effective traumatic brain injury therapeutics

Effective traumatic brain injury (TBI) therapeutics remain stubbornly elusive. Efforts in the field have been challenged by the heterogeneity of clinical TBI, with greater complexity among underlying molecular phenotypes than initially conceived. Future research must confront the multitude of factors comprising this heterogeneity, representing a big data challenge befitting the coming informatics age. Proteomics is poised to serve a central role in prescriptive therapeutic development, as it offers an efficient endpoint within which to assess post-TBI biochemistry. We examine rationale for multifactor TBI proteomic studies and the particular importance of temporal profiling in defining biochemical sequences and guiding therapeutic development. Lastly, we offer perspective on repurposing biofluid proteomics to develop theragnostic assays with which to prescribe, monitor and assess pharmaceutics for improved translation and outcome for TBI patients

Quasinormal modes and holographic correlators in a crunching AdS geometry

We calculate frequency space holographic correlators in an asymptotically AdS crunching background, dual to a relevant deformation of the M2-brane CFT placed in de Sitter spacetime. For massless bulk scalars, exploiting the connection to a solvable supersymmetric quantum mechanical problem, we obtain the exact frequency space correlator for the dual operator in the deformed CFT. Controlling the shape of the crunching surface in the Penrose diagram by smoothly dialling the deformation from zero to infinity, we observe that in the large deformation limit the Penrose diagram becomes a `square', and the exact holographic correlators display striking similarities to their counterparts in the BTZ black hole and its higher dimensional generalisations. We numerically determine quasinormal poles for relevant and irrelevant operators, and find an intricate pattern of these in the complex frequency plane. In the case of relevant operators, the deformation parameter has an infinite sequence of critical values, each one characterised by a pair of poles colliding and moving away from the imaginary frequency axis with increasing deformation. In the limit of infinite deformation all scalar operators have identical quasinormal spectra. We compare and contrast our strongly coupled de Sitter QFT results with strongly coupled thermal correlators from AdS black holes

A branch and efficiency algorithm for the optimal design of supply chain networks

Supply chain operations directly affect service levels. Decision on amendment of facilities is generally decided based on overall cost, leaving out the efficiency of each unit. Decomposing the supply chain superstructure, efficiency analysis of the facilities (warehouses or distribution centers) that serve customers can be easily implemented. With the proposed algorithm, the selection of a facility is based on service level maximization and not just cost minimization as this analysis filters all the feasible solutions utilizing Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique. Through multiple iterations, solutions are filtered via DEA and only the efficient ones are selected leading to cost minimization. In this work, the problem of optimal supply chain networks design is addressed based on a DEA based algorithm. A Branch and Efficiency (B&E) algorithm is deployed for the solution of this problem. Based on this DEA approach, each solution (potentially installed warehouse, plant etc) is treated as a Decision Making Unit, thus is characterized by inputs and outputs. The algorithm through additional constraints named “efficiency cuts”, selects only efficient solutions providing better objective function values. The applicability of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through illustrative examples

Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data

This study was supported by a grant from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Health Technology Assessment programme (reference No 13/03/25, to ARM

Chromosomal-level assembly of the Asian Seabass genome using long sequence reads and multi-layered scaffolding

We report here the ~670 Mb genome assembly of the Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer), a tropical marine teleost. We used long-read sequencing augmented by transcriptomics, optical and genetic mapping along with shared synteny from closely related fish species to derive a chromosome-level assembly with a contig N50 size over 1 Mb and scaffold N50 size over 25 Mb that span ~90% of the genome. The population structure of L. calcarifer species complex was analyzed by re-sequencing 61 individuals representing various regions across the species' native range. SNP analyses identified high levels of genetic diversity and confirmed earlier indications of a population stratification comprising three clades with signs of admixture apparent in the South-East Asian population. The quality of the Asian seabass genome assembly far exceeds that of any other fish species, and will serve as a new standard for fish genomics

Designing nanomaterials with desired mechanical properties by constraining the evolution of their grain shapes

Grain shapes are acknowledged to impact nanomaterials' overall properties. Research works on this issue include grain-elongation and grain-strain measurements and their impacts on nanomaterials' mechanical properties. This paper proposes a stochastic model for grain strain undergoing severe plastic deformation. Most models deal with equivalent radii assuming that nanomaterials' grains are spherical. These models neglect true grain shapes. This paper also proposes a theoretical approach of extending existing models by considering grain shape distribution during stochastic design and modelling of nanomaterials' constituent structures and mechanical properties. This is achieved by introducing grain 'form'. Example 'forms' for 2-D and 3-D grains are proposed. From the definitions of form, strain and Hall-Petch-Relationship to Reversed-Hall-Petch-Relationship, data obtained for nanomaterials' grain size and conventional materials' properties are sufficient for analysis. Proposed extended models are solved simultaneously and tested with grain growth data. It is shown that the nature of form evolution depends on form choice and dimensional space. Long-run results reveal that grain boundary migration process causes grains to become spherical, grain rotation coalescence makes them deviate away from becoming spherical and they initially deviate away from becoming spherical before converging into spherical ones due to the TOTAL process. Percentage deviations from spherical grains depend on dimensional space and form: 0% minimum and 100% maximum deviations were observed. It is shown that the plots for grain shape functions lie above the spherical (control) value of 1 in 2-D grains for all considered grain growth mechanisms. Some plots lie above the spherical value, and others approach the spherical value before deviating below it when dealing with 3-D grains. The physical interpretations of these variations are explained from elementary principles about the different grain growth mechanisms. It is observed that materials whose grains deviate further away from the spherical ones have more enhanced properties, while materials with spherical grains have lesser properties. It is observed that there exist critical states beyond which Hall-Petch Relationship changes to Reversed Hall-Petch Relationship. It can be concluded that if grain shapes in nanomaterials are constrained in the way they evolve, then nanomaterials with desired properties can be designed