Some comments on embedding inflation in the AdS/CFT correspondence

The anti-de Sitter space/conformal field theory correspondence (AdS/CFT) can potentially provide a complete formulation of string theory on a landscape of stable and metastable vacua that naturally give rise to eternal inflation. As a model for this process, we consider bubble solutions with de Sitter interiors, obtained by patching together dS and Schwarzschild-AdS solutions along a bubble wall. For an interesting subclass of these solutions the bubble wall reaches spacelike infinity in the black hole interior. Including the effects of perturbations leads to a null singularity emanating from this point. Such solutions are interpreted as states in a single CFT, and are shown to be compatible with holographic entropy bounds. The construction suggests de Sitter entropy be interpreted as the total number of degrees of freedom in effective field theory, with a novel adaptive stepsize cutoff.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, revtex

Solar cell radiation response near the interface of different atomic number materials

The response of cobalt 60 irradiated N/P silicon solar cells was measured as a function of the atomic number of the medium adjacent to the cell and the direction of the gamma ray beam. The interpositioning of various thicknesses of aluminum between the adjacent material and the cell had the effect of moving the cell to various locations in an approximate monatomic numbered medium. Using this technique the solar cell response was determined at various distances from the interface for gold and beryllium. The results were compared with predictions based upon ionization chamber measurements of dose perturbations in aluminum and found to agree within five percent. Ionization chamber data was then used to estimate the influence of various base contact materials

Thrombotic variables and risk of idiopathic venous thromboembolism in women aged 45-64 years - Relationships to hormone replacement therapy

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been shown to increase the relative risk of idiopathic venous thromboembolism (VTE) about threefold in several observational studies and one randomised controlled trial. Whether or not this relative risk is higher in women with underlying thrombophilia phenotypes, such as activated protein C (APC) resistance, is unknown. We therefore restudied the participants in a case-control study of the relationship between the use of HRT and the occurrence of idiopathic VTE in women aged 45-64 years. After protocol exclusions, 66 of the cases in the original study and 163 of the controls were studied. Twenty haematological variables relevant to risk of VTE were analysed, including thrombotic states defined from the literature. The relative risk of VTE showed significant associations with APC resistance (OR 4.06; 95% CI 1.62, 10.21); low antithrombin (3.33; 1.15, 9.65) or protein C (2.93; 1.06, 8.14); and high coagulation factor IX (2.34: 1.26, 1.35), or fibrin D-dimer (3.84; 1.99, 7.32). HRT use increased the risk of VTE in women without any of these thrombotic static; (OR 4.09; 95% CI 1.26, 13.30). A similar effect of HRT use on the relative risk of VTE was also found in women with prothrombotic states. Thus for example, the combination of HRT use and APC resistance increased the risk of VTE about 13-fold compared with women of similar age without either APC resistance or HRT use (OR 13.27; 95%, CI 4.30, 40.97). We conclude that the combination of HRT use and thrombophilias (especially if multiple) increases the relative risk of VTE substantially; hence women known to have thrombophilias (especially if multiple) should be counselled about this increased risk prior to prescription of HRT. However. HRT increases the risk of VTE about fourfold even in women without any thrombotic abnormalities: possible causes are discussed

Initial states and infrared physics in locally de Sitter spacetime

The long wavelength physics in a de Sitter region depends on the initial quantum state. While such long wavelength physics is under control for massive fields near the Hartle-Hawking vacuum state, such initial states make unnatural assumptions about initial data outside the region of causal contact of a local observer. We argue that a reasonable approximation to a maximum entropy state, one that makes minimal assumptions outside an observer's horizon volume, is one where a cutoff is placed on a surface bounded by timelike geodesics, just outside the horizon. For sufficiently early times, such a cutoff induces secular logarithmic divergences with the expansion of the region. For massive fields, these effects sum to finite corrections at sufficiently late times. The difference between the cutoff correlators and Hartle-Hawking correlators provides a measure of the theoretical uncertainty due to lack of knowledge of the initial state in causally disconnected regions. These differences are negligible for primordial inflation, but can become significant during epochs with very long-lived de Sitter regions, such as we may be entering now.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, references adde

Hemostatic factors and risk of coronary heart disease in general populations: new prospective study and updated meta-analyses

<p>Background: Activation of blood coagulation and fibrinolysis may be associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease. We aimed to assess associations of circulating tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) antigen, D-dimer and von Willebrand factor (VWF) with coronary heart disease risk.</p> <p>Design: Prospective case-control study, systematic review and meta-analyses.</p> <p>Methods: Measurements were made in 1925 people who had a first-ever nonfatal myocardial infarction or died of coronary heart disease during follow-up (median 19.4 years) and in 3616 controls nested within the prospective population-based Reykjavik Study.</p> <p>Results: Age and sex-adjusted odds ratios for coronary heart disease per 1 standard deviation higher baseline level were 1.25 (1.18, 1.33) for t-PA antigen, 1.01 (0.95, 1.07) for D-dimer and 1.11 (1.05, 1.18) for VWF. After additional adjustment for conventional cardiovascular risk factors, corresponding odds ratios were 1.07 (0.99, 1.14) for t-PA antigen, 1.06 (1.00, 1.13) for D-dimer and 1.08 (1.02, 1.15) for VWF. When combined with the results from previous prospective studies in a random-effects meta-analysis, overall adjusted odds ratios were 1.13 (1.06, 1.21) for t-PA antigen (13 studies, 5494 cases), 1.23 (1.16, 1.32) with D-dimer (18 studies, 6799 cases) and 1.16 (1.10, 1.22) with VWF (15 studies, 6556 cases).</p> <p>Conclusions: Concentrations of t-PA antigen, D-dimer and VWF may be more modestly associated with first-ever CHD events than previously reported. More detailed analysis is required to clarify whether these markers are causal risk factors or simply correlates of coronary heart disease.</p&gt

Transcriptome sequencing, annotation and polymorphism detection in the hop bush, Dodonaea viscosa

The hop bush, Dodonaea viscosa, is a trans-oceanic species distributed oversix continents. It evolved in Australia where it is found over a wide range of habitat types and is an ecologically important species. Limited genomic resources are currently available for this species, thus our understanding of its evolutionary history and ecological adaptation is restricted. Here, we present a comprehensive transcriptome dataset for future genomic studies into this species.We performed Illumina sequencing of cDNA prepared from leaf tissue collected from seven populations of D. viscosa ssp. angustissima and spatulata distributed along an environmental gradient in South Australia. Sequenced reads were assembled to provide a transcriptome resource. Contiguous sequences (contigs) were annotated using BLAST searches against the NCBI non-redundant database and gene ontology definitions were assigned. Single nucleotide polymorphisms were detected for the establishment of a genetic marker set. A comparison between the two subspecies was also carried out.Illumina sequencing returned 268,672,818 sequence reads, which were de novoassembled into 105,125 contigs. Contigs with significant BLAST alignments (E value < 1e(-5))numbered at 44,191, with 38,311 of these having their most significant hits to sequences from land plant species. Gene Ontology terms were assigned to 28,440 contigs and KEGG analysis identified 146 pathways that the gene products from 5,070 contigs are potentially involved in. The subspecies comparison identified 8,494 fixed SNP differences across 3,979 contiguous sequences, indicating a level of genetic differentiation between them. Across all samples, 248,235 SNPs were detected.We have established a significant genomic data resource for D. viscosa,providing a comprehensive transcriptomic reference. Genetic differences among morphologically distinct subspecies were found. A wide range of putative gene regions were identified along with a large set of variable SNP markers, providing a basis for studies into the evolution and ecological adaptation of D. viscosa.Matthew J. Christmas, Ed Biffin and Andrew J. Low

Feasibility and tolerability of whole-body, low-intensity vibration and its effects on muscle function and bone in patients with dystrophinopathies: a pilot study.

IntroductionDystrophinopathies are X-linked muscle degenerative disorders that result in progressive muscle weakness complicated by bone loss. This study's goal was to evaluate feasibility and tolerability of whole-body, low-intensity vibration (WBLIV) and its potential effects on muscle and bone in patients with Duchenne or Becker muscular dystrophy.MethodsThis 12-month pilot study included 5 patients (age 5.9-21.7 years) who used a low-intensity Marodyne LivMD plate vibrating at 30-90 Hz for 10 min/day for the first 6 months. Timed motor function tests, myometry, and peripheral quantitative computed tomography were performed at baseline and at 6 and 12 months.ResultsMotor function and lower extremity muscle strength remained either unchanged or improved during the intervention phase, followed by deterioration after WBLIV discontinuation. Indices of bone density and geometry remained stable in the tibia.ConclusionsWBLIV was well tolerated and appeared to have a stabilizing effect on lower extremity muscle function and bone measures. Muscle Nerve 55: 875-883, 2017

Eighty years of food-web response to interannual variation in discharge recorded in river diatom frustules from an ocean sediment core.

Little is known about the importance of food-web processes as controls of river primary production due to the paucity of both long-term studies and of depositional environments which would allow retrospective fossil analysis. To investigate how freshwater algal production in the Eel River, northern California, varied over eight decades, we quantified siliceous shells (frustules) of freshwater diatoms from a well-dated undisturbed sediment core in a nearshore marine environment. Abundances of freshwater diatom frustules exported to Eel Canyon sediment from 1988 to 2001 were positively correlated with annual biomass of Cladophora surveyed over these years in upper portions of the Eel basin. Over 28 years of contemporary field research, peak algal biomass was generally higher in summers following bankfull, bed-scouring winter floods. Field surveys and experiments suggested that bed-mobilizing floods scour away overwintering grazers, releasing algae from spring and early summer grazing. During wet years, growth conditions for algae could also be enhanced by increased nutrient loading from the watershed, or by sustained summer base flows. Total annual rainfall and frustule densities in laminae over a longer 83-year record were weakly and negatively correlated, however, suggesting that positive effects of floods on annual algal production were primarily mediated by "top-down" (consumer release) rather than "bottom-up" (growth promoting) controls

Nonsingular Black Hole Evaporation and ``Stable'' Remnants

We examine the evaporation of two--dimensional black holes, the classical space--times of which are extended geometries, like for example the two--dimensional section of the extremal Reissner--Nordstrom black hole. We find that the evaporation in two particular models proceeds to a stable end--point. This should represent the generic behavior of a certain class of two--dimensional dilaton--gravity models. There are two distinct regimes depending on whether the back--reaction is weak or strong in a certain sense. When the back--reaction is weak, evaporation proceeds via an adiabatic evolution, whereas for strong back--reaction, the decay proceeds in a somewhat surprising manner. Although information loss is inevitable in these models at the semi--classical level, it is rather benign, in that the information is stored in another asymptotic region.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, harvmac and epsf, RU-93-12, PUPT-1399, NSF-ITP-93-5