Solitons and Vertex Operators in Twisted Affine Toda Field Theories

Affine Toda field theories in two dimensions constitute families of integrable, relativistically invariant field theories in correspondence with the affine Kac-Moody algebras. The particles which are the quantum excitations of the fields display interesting patterns in their masses and coupling and which have recently been shown to extend to the classical soliton solutions arising when the couplings are imaginary. Here these results are extended from the untwisted to the twisted algebras. The new soliton solutions and their masses are found by a folding procedure which can be applied to the affine Kac-Moody algebras themselves to provide new insights into their structures. The relevant foldings are related to inner automorphisms of the associated finite dimensional Lie group which are calculated explicitly and related to what is known as the twisted Coxeter element. The fact that the twisted affine Kac-Moody algebras possess vertex operator constructions emerges naturally and is relevant to the soliton solutions.Comment: 27 pages (harvmac) + 3 figures (LaTex) at the end of the file, Swansea SWAT/93-94/1

Double-blind, placebo-controlled first in human study to investigate an oral vaccine aimed to elicit an immune reaction against the VEGF-Receptor 2 in patients with stage IV and locally advanced pancreatic cancer

BACKGROUND: The investigational oral DNA vaccine VXM01 targets the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) and uses Salmonella typhi Ty21a as a vector. The immune reaction elicited by VXM01 is expected to disrupt the tumor neovasculature and, consequently, inhibit tumor growth. VXM01 potentially combines the advantages of anti-angiogenic therapy and active immunotherapy. METHODS/DESIGN: This phase I trial examines the safety, tolerability, and immunological and clinical responses to VXM01. The randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind dose-escalation study includes up to 45 patients with locally advanced and stage IV pancreatic cancer. The patients will receive four doses of VXM01 or placebo in addition to gemcitabine as standard of care. Doses from 10(6) cfu up to 10(10) cfu of VXM01 will be evaluated in the study. An independent data safety monitoring board (DSMB) will be involved in the dose-escalation decisions. In addition to safety as primary endpoint, the VXM01-specific immune reaction, as well as clinical response parameters will be evaluated. DISCUSSION: The results of this study shall provide the first data regarding the safety and immunogenicity of the oral anti-VEGFR-2 vaccine VXM01 in cancer patients. They will also define the recommended dose for phase II and provide the basis for further clinical evaluation, which may also include additional cancer indications. TRIAL REGISTRATION: EudraCT No.: 2011-000222-29, NCT01486329, ISRCTN6880927

Observation of the Ankle and Evidence for a High-Energy Break in the Cosmic Ray Spectrum

We have measured the cosmic ray spectrum at energies above $10^{17}$ eV using the two air fluorescence detectors of the High Resolution Fly's Eye experiment operating in monocular mode. We describe the detector, PMT and atmospheric calibrations, and the analysis techniques for the two detectors. We fit the spectrum to models describing galactic and extragalactic sources. Our measured spectrum gives an observation of a feature known as the ``ankle'' near $3\times 10^{18}$ eV, and strong evidence for a suppression near $6\times 10^{19}$ eV.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. To appear in Physics Letters B. Accepted versio

Mobile Air Quality Studies (MAQS) - an international project

Due to an increasing awareness of the potential hazardousness of air pollutants, new laws, rules and guidelines have recently been implemented globally. In this respect, numerous studies have addressed traffic-related exposure to particulate matter using stationary technology so far. By contrast, only few studies used the advanced technology of mobile exposure analysis. The Mobile Air Quality Study (MAQS) addresses the issue of air pollutant exposure by combining advanced high-granularity spatial-temporal analysis with vehicle-mounted, person-mounted and roadside sensors. The MAQS-platform will be used by international collaborators in order 1) to assess air pollutant exposure in relation to road structure, 2) to assess air pollutant exposure in relation to traffic density, 3) to assess air pollutant exposure in relation to weather conditions, 4) to compare exposure within vehicles between front and back seat (children) positions, and 5) to evaluate "traffic zone"- exposure in relation to non-"traffic zone"-exposure. Primarily, the MAQS-platform will focus on particulate matter. With the establishment of advanced mobile analysis tools, it is planed to extend the analysis to other pollutants including including NO2, SO2, nanoparticles, and ozone

Computational results for an automatically tuned CMA-ES with increasing population size on the CEC'05 benchmark set

Abstract In this article, we apply an automatic algorithm configuration tool to improve the performance of the CMA-ES algorithm with increasing population size (iCMA-ES), the best performing algorithm on the CEC'05 benchmark set for continuous function optimization. In particular, we consider a separation between tuning and test sets and, thus, tune iCMA-ES on a different set of functions than the ones of the CEC'05 benchmark set. Our experimental results show that the tuned iCMA-ES improves significantly over the default version of iCMA-ES. Furthermore, we provide some further analyses on the impact of the modified parameter settings on iCMA-ES performance and a comparison with recent results of algorithms that use CMA-ES as a subordinate local search

Leichtes Nutzfahrzeug mit Wasserstoffmotor und Hybrid-Antriebsstrang

Die Projektpartner Ford, Bosch, MAHLE, Umicore, Institut für Fahrzeugtechnik (IFS, Universität Stuttgart), Forschungsinstitut für Kraftfahrwesen und Fahrzeugmotoren Stuttgart (FKFS), Lehrstuhl für Thermodynamik mobiler Energiewandlungssysteme (tme, RWTH Aachen), DHL, PUREM by Eberspächer und Shell haben im Rahmen des „H2 ICE Democar“ Projekts zwei voll funktionsfähige Fahrzeugdemonstratoren auf Basis leichter Nutzfahrzeuge entwickelt. Für die Demonstrationsfahrzeuge mit Wasserstoff-Verbrennungsmotor basiertem Hybridantriebsstrang wurden die Schlüsselmerkmale identifiziert. Das innovative Antriebskonzept minimiert die Abgasemissionen des Motors durch ein mageres Brennverfahren und ermöglicht einen CO2-neutralen Betrieb mit hoher Reichweite, schneller Betankung und „zero-impact“-Abgasemissionen. Ein Benzin-Serienmotor wurde für den mageren Betrieb mit Wasserstoff angepasst. Neben dem Wasserstoffmotor wurden ein H2 spezifisches Abgasnachbehandlungssystem sowie ein H2 Tanksystem in das Zielfahrzeug integriert. Die auf Komponenten-, Motoren- und Rollenprüfständen gewonnenen Testergebnisse werden durch 1D- und 3D-Simulationen bestätigt. Die Projektergebnisse unterstreichen das hohe Potenzial der gewählten technischen Lösung, die zu einer CO2-neutralen Mobilität mit „zero-impact“-Emissionen beitragen kann. The project partners Ford, Bosch, MAHLE, Umicore, Institute of Automotive Engineering (IFS, University of Stuttgart), Research Institute for Automotive Engineering and Powertrain Systems Stuttgart (FKFS), Chair of Thermodynamics of Mobile Energy Conversion Systems (tme, RWTH Aachen University), DHL, PUREM by Eberspächer and Shell have developed two fully operational light commercial vehicle demonstrators in the framework of the “H2 ICE Democar” project. For the demonstrator vehicles the key features have been identified for the H2 engine hybrid powertrain operation. The innovative powertrain concept minimizes engine out emissions by a lean combustion system and enables CO2-neutral operation with long driving range, fast refueling, and “zero-impact” tailpipe exhaust emissions. A gasoline baseline engine has been adapted to lean hydrogen operation. In addition to the H2 engine, a dedicated exhaust gas treatment system and a H2 storage system have been integrated in the target vehicle. All investigation results on component, engine and vehicles level have been supported by 1D and 3D simulations. The project results underline the high potential of this technical solution which can contribute to well-to-wheel and life cycle CO2 neutral mobility solutions achieving “zero-impact” emissions

Serum neurofilament light in atrial fibrillation: clinical, neuroimaging and cognitive correlates

Emerging evidence suggests that atrial fibrillation is associated with cognitive dysfunction independently of stroke, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this cross-sectional analysis from the Swiss-atrial fibrillation Study (NCT02105844), we investigated the association of serum neurofilament light protein, a neuronal injury biomarker, with (i) the CHA; 2; DS; 2; -VASc score (congestive heart failure, hypertension, age 65-74 or >75 years, diabetes mellitus, stroke or transient ischaemic attack, vascular disease, sex), clinical and neuroimaging parameters and (ii) cognitive measures in atrial fibrillation patients. We measured neurofilament light in serum using an ultrasensitive single-molecule array assay in a sample of 1379 atrial fibrillation patients (mean age, 72 years; female, 27%). Ischaemic infarcts, small vessel disease markers and normalized brain volume were assessed on brain MRI. Cognitive testing included the Montreal cognitive assessment, trail-making test, semantic verbal fluency and digit symbol substitution test, which were summarized using principal component analysis. Results were analysed using univariable and multivariable linear regression. Neurofilament light was associated with the CHA; 2; DS; 2; -VASc score, with an average 19.2% [95% confidence interval (17.2%, 21.3%)] higher neurofilament per unit CHA; 2; DS; 2; -VASc increase. This association persisted after adjustment for age and MRI characteristics. In multivariable analyses, clinical parameters associated with neurofilament light were higher age [32.5% (27.2%, 38%) neurofilament increase per 10 years], diabetes mellitus, heart failure and peripheral artery disease [26.8% (16.8%, 37.6%), 15.7% (8.1%, 23.9%) and 19.5% (6.8%, 33.7%) higher neurofilament, respectively]. Mean arterial pressure showed a curvilinear association with neurofilament, with evidence for both an inverse linear and a U-shaped association. MRI characteristics associated with neurofilament were white matter lesion volume and volume of large non-cortical or cortical infarcts [4.3% (1.8%, 6.8%) and 5.5% (2.5%, 8.7%) neurofilament increase per unit increase in log-volume of the respective lesion], as well as normalized brain volume [4.9% (1.7%, 8.1%) higher neurofilament per 100 cm; 3; smaller brain volume]. Neurofilament light was inversely associated with all cognitive measures in univariable analyses. The effect sizes diminished after adjusting for clinical and MRI variables, but the association with the first principal component was still evident. Our results suggest that in atrial fibrillation patients, neuronal loss measured by serum neurofilament light is associated with age, diabetes mellitus, heart failure, blood pressure and vascular brain lesions, and inversely correlates with normalized brain volume and cognitive function

Update and prognosis of <i>Dermacentor</i> distribution in Germany: Nationwide occurrence of <i>Dermacentor reticulatus</i>.

A considerable range expansion of Dermacentor reticulatus has been observed in several European countries, which is concerning in the light of its vector function for several pathogens, including Babesia canis and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). The present study provides an update on the distribution of Dermacentor ticks in Germany, using a citizen science approach. Ticks were collected by citizens from March 2020 to May 2021, and submitted along with information on the date and location of collection, potential hosts and details about the circumstances of discovery. In total, 3,292 Dermacentor specimens were received, of which 76.4% (2,515/3,292) were identified as D. reticulatus and 23.0% (758/3,292) as D. marginatus, while 0.6% (19/3,292) were too damaged for species-level identification. Dermacentor reticulatus was received from all federal states of Germany. Maxent species distribution models predicted suitable environmental conditions for D. reticulatus throughout Germany. Findings on the vegetation or on pastured animals without travel history confirmed the occurrence of this tick species as far north as the most northern German federal state Schleswig-Holstein. In contrast, the distribution of D. marginatus still appears to be limited to southwestern Germany, although the northward shift of the distribution limit observed in the preceding citizen science study, as compared with previous published distributions, was confirmed. This shift was also predicted by Maxent species distribution models, reflecting the broader distribution of the tick occurrence data contributed by citizens. Most D. reticulatus ticks were found on dogs (1,311/1,960, 66.9%), while D. marginatus was mainly discovered on hoofed animals (197/621, 31.7%) and humans (182/621, 29.3%). Human tick bites were reported in 0.7% (14/1,960) of host-assigned D. reticulatus and 3.4% (21/621) of host-assigned D. marginatus. Further studies to investigate an increasing endemisation of Babesia canis in Germany as well as the relevance of D. reticulatus for TBEV spread throughout the country, e.g., by traveling dogs, are urgently needed. In view of the activity of D. reticulatus during winter or the colder months, which complements that of Ixodes ricinus, a year-round tick protection of at least dogs is strongly recommended

Addressing gaps in care of people with conditions affecting sex development and maturation

Differences of sex development are conditions with discrepancies between chromosomal, gonadal and phenotypic sex. In congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, a lack of gonadotropin activity results primarily in the absence of pubertal development with prenatal sex development being (almost) unaffected in most patients. To expedite progress in the care of people affected by differences of sex development and congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, the European Union has funded a number of scientific networks. Two Actions of the Cooperation of Science and Technology (COST) programmes - DSDnet (BM1303) and GnRH Network (BM1105) - provided the framework for ground-breaking research and allowed the development of position papers on diagnostic procedures and special laboratory analyses as well as clinical management. Both Actions developed educational programmes to increase expertise and promote interest in this area of science and medicine. In this Perspective article, we discuss the success of the COST Actions DSDnet and GnRH Network and the European Reference Network for Rare Endocrine Conditions (Endo-ERN), and provide recommendations for future research