AdS vacua with scale separation from IIB supergravity

Only two kinds of compactification are known that lead to four-dimensional supersymmetric AdS vacua with moduli stabilisation and separation of scales at tree-level. The most studied ones are compactifications of massive IIA supergravity on SU(3) structures with smeared O6 planes, for which a general ten-dimensional expression for the solution in terms of the SU(3) structure was found. Less studied are compactifications of IIB supergravity with smeared O5/O7 planes. In this paper we derive a general ten-dimensional expression for the smeared O5/O7 solutions in terms of SU(2) structures. For a specific choice of orientifold projections, we recover the known examples and we also provide new explicit solutions.Comment: 27 + 16 pages; v2 references added and typos in few equations correcte

Domain walls inside localised orientifolds

The equations of motion of toroidal orientifold compactifications with fluxes are in one-to-one correspondence with gauged supergravity if the orientifold (and D-brane) sources are smeared over the compact space. This smeared limit is identical to the approximation that ignores warping. It is therefore relevant to compare quantities obtained from the gauged supergravity with the true 10d solution with localised sources. In this paper we find the correspondence between BPS domain walls in gauged SUGRA and 10D SUGRA with localised sources. Our model is the simplest orientifold with fluxes we are aware of: an O6/D6 compactification on T^3/Z_2 in massive IIA with H_3-flux. The BPS domain walls correspond to a O6/D6/NS5/D8 bound state. Our analysis reveals that the domain wall energy computed in gauged SUGRA is unaffected by the localisation of the O6/D6 sources.Comment: 26 pages, 1 figur

Instantons and wormholes in AdS(3) x S-3 x CY2

We study supergravity instantons sourced by axion (and saxion) fields in the Euclidean AdS(3) x S-3 x CY2 vacua of IIB supergravity. Such instantons are described by geodesic curves on the moduli space; the timelike geodesics can describe Euclidean wormholes, the lightlike geodesics describe (generalizations of) D instantons, and spacelike geodesics are subextremal versions thereof. We perform a concrete classification of such geodesics and find that, despite earlier claims, the wormholes fail to be regular. A subclass of the lightlike geodesics is supersymmetric and, up to dualities, lifts to Euclidean strings wrapping 2-cycles in the CY2. The dual of these instantons is expected to be worldsheet instantons of the D1-D5 conformal field theory

Incisional Hernia: An Experimental and Clinical Study

__Abstract__ Incisional hernia is one of the most common long-term complications of abdominal surgery. In prospective studies with sufficient follow-up, incidences of incisional hernia after laparotomy up to 20% are reported. Incisional hernia can be defined as an internal abdominal wall defect that develops after a previously closed laparotomy. Intra-abdominal organs such as omentum, bowel or bladder may protrude through the fascial defect, covered by a peritoneal sac and intact skin. If a rupture of the abdominal wall occurs within the first postoperative days, when the ski

Elucidation of in Vitro Chlorinated Tyrosine Adducts in Blood Plasma as Selective Biomarkers of Chlorine Exposure

[Image: see text] Chlorine is a widely available industrial chemical and involved in a substantial number of cases of poisoning. It has also been used as a chemical warfare agent in military conflicts. To enable forensic verification, the persistent biomarkers 3-chlorotyrosine and 3,5-dichlorotyrosine in biomedical samples could be detected. An important shortfall of these biomarkers, however, is the relatively high incidence of elevated levels of chlorinated tyrosine residues in individuals with inflammatory diseases who have not been exposed to chlorine. Therefore, more reliable biomarkers are necessary to distinguish between endogenous formation and exogeneous exposure. The present study aims to develop a novel diagnostic tool for identifying site-specific chlorinated peptides as a more unambiguous indicator of exogeneous chlorine exposure. Human blood plasma was exposed in vitro to various chlorine concentrations, and the plasma proteins were subsequently digested by pronase, trypsin, or pepsin. After sample preparation, the digests were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) and liquid chromatography high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC–HRMS/MS). In line with other studies, low levels of 3-chlorotyrosine and 3,5-dichlorotyrosine were found in blank plasma samples in this study. Therefore, 50 site-specific biomarkers were identified, which could be used as more unambiguous biomarkers for chlorine exposure. Chlorination of the peptides TY*ETTLEK, Y*KPGQTVK, Y*QQKPGQAPR, HY*EGSTVPEK, and Y*LY*EIAR could already be detected at moderate in vitro chlorine exposure levels. In addition, the latter two peptides were found to have dichlorinated fragments. Especially, Y*LY*EIAR, with a distinct chlorination pattern in the MS spectra, could potentially be used to differentiate exogeneous exposure from endogenous causes as other studies reported that this part of human serum albumin is nitrated rather than chlorinated under physiological conditions. In conclusion, trypsin digestion combined with high-resolution MS analysis of chlorinated peptides could constitute a valuable technique for the forensic verification of exposure to chlorine

Scaling solutions and geodesics in moduli space

In this paper we consider cosmological scaling solutions in general relativity coupled to scalar fields with a non-trivial moduli space metric. We discover that the scaling property of the cosmology is synonymous with the scalar fields tracing out a particular class of geodesics in moduli space - those which are constructed as integral curves of the gradient of the log of the potential. Given a generic scalar potential we explicitly construct a moduli metric that allows scaling solutions, and we show the converse - how one can construct a potential that allows scaling once the moduli metric is known.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Prevalence and follow-up of potentially inappropriate medication and potentially omitted medication in older patients with cancer - The PIM POM study

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of Potentially Inappropriate Medication (PIMs) and Potentially Omitted Medication (POMs) in older patients with cancer. Materials and Methods: In this prospective observational study (hospital) pharmacists conducted comprehensive medication reviews in older patients with cancer (aged >= 65 years) receiving parenteral chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy at the Deventer Hospital. PIMs and POMs were identified using the Screening Tool of Older Persons' potentially inappropriate Prescriptions (STOPP), the Screening Tool to Alert doctors to the Right Treatment (START), and pharmacists' expert opinion. Recommendations regarding PIMs and POMs were communicated to the patient's oncologist/haematologist and follow-up was measured. Associations between covariates and the prevalence of PIMs and POMs were statistically analysed. Results: For the 150 patients included, 180 PIMs and 86 POMs were identified with a prevalence of 78%. Using pharmacists' expert opinion in addition to only STOPP/START criteria contributed to 49% of the PIMs and 23% of the POMs. A follow-up action was required in 73% of the 266 PIMs and POMs. Number of medicines and Charlson Comorbidity Index score were both associated with having at least one PIM and/or POM (p = .031 and p = .016, respectively). Conclusion: The prevalence of PIMs and POMs and subsequent follow-up in older patients with cancer is high. A pharmacist-led comprehensive medication review is a good instrument to identify these PIMs and POMs and to optimize patients' treatment. A complete approach, including pharmacists' expert opinion, is recommended to identify all PIMs and POMs in clinical practice. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd