2,882 research outputs found
Stress Tensor Perturbations in Conformal Field Theory
We reconsider the problem of deforming a conformal field theory to a neighboring theory which is again critical. An invariant formulation of this problem is important for understanding the underlying symmetry of string theory. We give a simple derivation of A. Sen’s recent formula for the change in the stress tensor and show that, when correctly interpreted, it is coordinate-invariant. We give the corresponding superconformal perturbation for superfield backgrounds and explain why it has no direct analog for spin-field backgrounds
A Bayesian Approach to Strong Lens Finding in the Era of Wide-area Surveys
The arrival of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and
Time (LSST), Euclid-Wide and Roman wide area sensitive surveys will herald a
new era in strong lens science in which the number of strong lenses known is
expected to rise from to . However,
current lens-finding methods still require time-consuming follow-up visual
inspection by strong-lens experts to remove false positives which is only set
to increase with these surveys. In this work we demonstrate a range of methods
to produce calibrated probabilities to help determine the veracity of any given
lens candidate. To do this we use the classifications from citizen science and
multiple neural networks for galaxies selected from the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC)
survey. Our methodology is not restricted to particular classifier types and
could be applied to any strong lens classifier which produces quantitative
scores. Using these calibrated probabilities, we generate an ensemble
classifier, combining citizen science and neural network lens finders. We find
such an ensemble can provide improved classification over the individual
classifiers. We find a false positive rate of can be achieved with a
completeness of , compared to for the best individual classifier.
Given the large number of galaxy-galaxy strong lenses anticipated in LSST, such
improvement would still produce significant numbers of false positives, in
which case using calibrated probabilities will be essential for population
analysis of large populations of lenses.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, 14 pages, 9 figures. Comments welcom
H0LiCOW III. Quantifying the effect of mass along the line of sight to the gravitational lens HE 0435-1223 through weighted galaxy counts
Based on spectroscopy and multiband wide-field observations of the
gravitationally lensed quasar HE 0435-1223, we determine the probability
distribution function of the external convergence for
this system. We measure the under/overdensity of the line of sight towards the
lens system and compare it to the average line of sight throughout the
universe, determined by using the CFHTLenS as a control field. Aiming to
constrain as tightly as possible, we determine
under/overdensities using various combinations of relevant informative weighing
schemes for the galaxy counts, such as projected distance to the lens,
redshift, and stellar mass. We then convert the measured under/overdensities
into a distribution, using ray-tracing through the
Millennium Simulation. We explore several limiting magnitudes and apertures,
and account for systematic and statistical uncertainties relevant to the
quality of the observational data, which we further test through simulations.
Our most robust estimate of has a median value
and a standard deviation of
. The measured corresponds to
uncertainty on the time delay distance, and hence the Hubble constant
inference from this system. The median value
is robust to (i.e. on ) regardless of the adopted
aperture radius, limiting magnitude and weighting scheme, as long as the latter
incorporates galaxy number counts, the projected distance to the main lens, and
a prior on the external shear obtained from mass modeling. The availability of
a well-constrained makes \hequad\ a valuable system for
measuring cosmological parameters using strong gravitational lens time delays.Comment: 24 pages, 17 figures, 6 tables. Submitted to MNRA
Differential sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor-1 protein expression in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex between schizophrenia Type 1 and Type 2
Understanding the etiology and treatment approaches in schizophrenia is challenged in part by the heterogeneity of this disorder. One encouraging progress is the growing evidence that there are subtypes of schizophrenia. Recen
Heme Oxygenase-1 Expression Affects Murine Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Progression.
Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), the rate-limiting enzyme in heme degradation, is a cytoprotective enzyme upregulated in the vasculature by increased flow and inflammatory stimuli. Human genetic data suggest that a diminished HO-1 expression may predispose one to abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) development. In addition, heme is known to strongly induce HO-1 expression. Utilizing the porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) model of AAA induction in HO-1 heterozygous (HO-1+/-, HO-1 Het) mice, we found that a deficiency in HO-1 leads to augmented AAA development. Peritoneal macrophages from HO-1+/- mice showed increased gene expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including MCP-1, TNF-alpha, IL-1-beta, and IL-6, but decreased expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and TGF-beta. Furthermore, treatment with heme returned AAA progression in HO-1 Het mice to a wild-type profile. Using a second murine AAA model (Ang II-ApoE-/-), we showed that low doses of the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor rosuvastatin can induce HO-1 expression in aortic tissue and suppress AAA progression in the absence of lipid lowering. Our results support those studies that suggest that pleiotropic statin effects might be beneficial in AAA, possibly through the upregulation of HO-1. Specific targeted therapies designed to induce HO-1 could become an adjunctive therapeutic strategy for the prevention of AAA disease
Global Incidence and mortality of oesophageal cancer and their correlation with socioeconomic indicators temporal patterns and trends in 41 countries
Oesophageal cancers (adenocarcinomas [AC] and squamous cell carcinomas [SCC]) are characterized by high incidence/mortality in many countries. We aimed to delineate its global incidence and mortality, and studied whether socioeconomic development and its incidence rate were correlated. The age-standardized rates (ASRs) of incidence and mortality of this medical condition in 2012 for 184 nations from the GLOBOCAN database; national databases capturing incidence rates, and the WHO mortality database were examined. Their correlations with two indicators of socioeconomic development were evaluated. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to generate trends. The ratio between the ASR of AC and SCC was strongly correlated with HDI (r = 0.535 [men]; r = 0.661 [women]) and GDP (r = 0.594 [men]; r = 0.550 [women], both p < 0.001). Countries that reported the largest reduction in incidence in male included Poland (Average Annual Percent Change [AAPC] = −7.1, 95%C.I. = −12,−1.9) and Singapore (AAPC = −5.8, 95%C.I. = −9.5,−1.9), whereas for women the greatest decline was seen in Singapore (AAPC = −12.3, 95%C.I. = −17.3,−6.9) and China (AAPC = −5.6, 95%C.I. = −7.6,−3.4). The Philippines (AAPC = 4.3, 95%C.I. = 2,6.6) and Bulgaria (AAPC = 2.8, 95%C.I. = 0.5,5.1) had a significant mortality increase in men; whilst Columbia (AAPC = −6.1, 95%C.I. = −7.5,−4.6) and Slovenia (AAPC = −4.6, 95%C.I. = −7.9,−1.3) reported mortality decline in women. These findings inform individuals at increased risk for primary prevention
Treatment with bexarotene, a compound that increases apolipoprotein-E, provides no cognitive benefit in mutant APP/PS1 mice
BACKGROUND: Though the precise cause(s) of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remain unknown, there is strong evidence that decreased clearance of β-amyloid (Aβ) from the brain can contribute to the disease. Therapeutic strategies to promote natural Aβ clearance mechanisms, such as the protein apolipoprotein-E (APOE), hold promise for the treatment of AD. The amount of APOE in the brain is regulated by nuclear receptors including retinoid X receptors (RXRs). Drugs that activate RXRs, including bexarotene, can increase APOE and ABCA1 production, and have been shown to decrease the Aβ burden and improve cognition in mouse models of Aβ amyloidosis. Although recent bexarotene studies failed to replicate the rapid clearance of Aβ from brains, behavioral and cognitive effects of this compound remain controversial. FINDINGS: In efforts to clarify these behavioral findings, mutant APP/PS1 mice were acutely dosed with bexarotene. While ABCA1 was upregulated in mutant APP/PS1 mice treated with bexarotene, this drug failed to attenuate Aβ plaques or cognitive deficits in these mice. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend rigorous preclinical study to evaluate the mechanism and utility of such a compound for AD therapy
Diffusive hidden Markov model characterization of DNA looping dynamics in tethered particle experiments
In many biochemical processes, proteins bound to DNA at distant sites are
brought into close proximity by loops in the underlying DNA. For example, the
function of some gene-regulatory proteins depends on such DNA looping
interactions. We present a new technique for characterizing the kinetics of
loop formation in vitro, as observed using the tethered particle method, and
apply it to experimental data on looping induced by lambda repressor. Our
method uses a modified (diffusive) hidden Markov analysis that directly
incorporates the Brownian motion of the observed tethered bead. We compare
looping lifetimes found with our method (which we find are consistent over a
range of sampling frequencies) to those obtained via the traditional
threshold-crossing analysis (which can vary depending on how the raw data are
filtered in the time domain). Our method does not involve any time filtering
and can detect sudden changes in looping behavior. For example, we show how our
method can identify transitions between long-lived, kinetically distinct states
that would otherwise be difficult to discern
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