Supergravity solutions with AdS(4) from non-Abelian T-dualities

We present a large class of new backgrounds that are solutions of type II supergravity with a warped AdS(4) factor, non-trivial axion-dilaton, B-field, and three-and five-form Ramond-Ramond fluxes. We obtain these solutions by applying non-Abelian T-dualities with respect to SU(2) or SU(2)/U(1) isometries to reductions to 10d IIA of 11d sugra solutions of the form AdS(4) x Y-7, with Y-7 = S-7/Z(k), S-7, M-1,M-1,M-1, Q(1,1,1) and N(1,1). The main class of reductions to IIA is along the Hopf fiber and leads to solutions of the form AdS(4) x K-6, where K-6 is Kahler Einstein with K-6 = CP3, S-2 x CP2, S-2 x S-2 x S-2; the first member of this class is dual to the ABJM field theory in the 't Hooft limit. We also consider other less symmetric but susy preserving reductions along circles that are not the Hopf fiber. In the case of N(1,1) we find an additional breaking of isometries in the NAT-dual background. To initiate the study of some properties of the field theory dual, we explicitly compute the central charge holographically.SP1

Fibrinogen E fragment selectively disrupts the vasculature and inhibits the growth of tumours in a syngeneic murine model

We recently demonstrated that a fragment of human fibrinogen, fibrinogen E fragment, inhibits the migration and differentiation of human endothelial cells in vitro. Here we show that it exerts similar effects on murine endothelial cells in vitro, and selectively disrupts tumour endothelium in vivo, causing widespread intravascular thrombosis and retarding the growth of CT26 tumours in a syngeneic murine model

On high moments of strongly diluted large Wigner random matrices

We consider a dilute version of the Wigner ensemble of nxn random matrices $H$ and study the asymptotic behavior of their moments $M_{2s}$ in the limit of infinite $n$, $s$ and $\rho$, where $\rho$ is the dilution parameter. We show that in the asymptotic regime of the strong dilution, the moments $M_{2s}$ with $s=\chi\rho$ depend on the second and the fourth moments of the random entries $H_{ij}$ and do not depend on other even moments of $H_{ij}$. This fact can be regarded as an evidence of a new type of the universal behavior of the local eigenvalue distribution of strongly dilute random matrices at the border of the limiting spectrum. As a by-product of the proof, we describe a new kind of Catalan-type numbers related with the tree-type walks.Comment: 43 pages (version four: misprints corrected, discussion added, other minor modifications

The \u3ci\u3eExxon Valdez\u3c/i\u3e Reopener: Natural Resources Damage Settlements and Roads Not Taken

The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill caused extensive natural resource damage to the Prince William Sound. Lawsuits addressing this natural resource damage resulted in a settlement that required Exxon to pay $900 million over time to trustees charged with spending this money to restore the damaged environment of the Sound and nearby areas. The settlement included a “Reopener Clause,” which pledges Exxon to spend an additional$100 million to fund restoration or rehabilitation of resources whose injuries were not foreseeable in 1989. This Article urges the State of Alaska and the United States to seek enforcement of the Reopener Clause, to restore natural resources and Native subsistence uses that were not addressed in the initial settlement and have not recovered from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Alternatively, this Article urges Native entities to intervene in the case and seek enforcement of the Reopener Clause. To date, neither Alaska nor the federal government have requested any of the $100 million Exxon may be required to pay to compensate for additional damages resulting from the oil spill. We offer extended comment on this most famous of all natural resource damage cases. Special attention will be paid to legal roads not taken

Predictors of Medication Adherence in the Elderly: The Role of Mental Health

The aging population routinely has comorbid conditions requiring complicated medication regimens, yet nonadherence can preclude optimal outcomes. This study explored the association of adherence in the elderly with demographic, socioeconomic, and disease burden measures. Data were from the fifth visit (2011-2013) for 6,538 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, conducted in four communities. The Morisky–Green–Levine Scale measured self-reported adherence. Forty percent of respondents indicated some nonadherence, primarily due to poor memory. Logit regression showed, surprisingly, that persons with low reading ability were more likely to report being adherent. Better self-reported physical or mental health both predicted better adherence, but the magnitude of the association was greater for mental than for physical health. Compared with persons with normal or severely impaired cognition, mild cognitive impairment was associated with lower adherence. Attention to mental health measures in clinical settings could provide opportunities for improving medication adherence

Antihypertensive adherence and outcomes among community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Rationale, aims, and objectives: Despite proven benefits for reducing incidence of major cardiac events, antihypertensive drug therapy remains underutilized in the United States. This analysis assesses antihypertensive drug adherence, utilization predictors, and associations between adherence and outcomes (a composite of cardiovascular events, Medicare inpatient payments, and inpatient days). Methods: The sample consisted of Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study cohort participants reporting hypertension without prevalent cardiovascular disease during 2006 to 2007 annual follow-up calls. Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities records were linked to Medicare claims through 2012. Antihypertensive medication adherence was measured as more than 80% proportion days covered by using Medicare Part D claims. Standard and hierarchical regression models were used to evaluate adjusted associations between person characteristics and adherence and between adherence and outcomes. Results: Among 1826 hypertensive participants with Part D coverage, 31.5% had no antihypertensive class with more than 80% proportion days covered in the 3 months preceding the report of hypertension in 2006 to 2007. After adjustment for confounders, positive predictors of use included female gender and diabetes; negative predictors were African-American race and current smoking. Adjusted association between receiving no therapy and a composite endpoint of cardiovascular outcomes through 2012 was not statistically significant (hazard ratio: 0.93; 95% confidence interval: 0.72, 1.22) nor was the adjusted association with Medicare inpatient days or payments (incremental difference at 48 months in payments: $1217; 95$2030, $4463). Conclusions: Despite having medical and prescription coverage, nearly a third of hypertensive participants were not adherent to antihypertensive drug therapy. Differences in clinical outcomes associated with nonadherence, though not statistically significant, were consistent with results from randomized trials. The approach provides a model framework for rigorous assessment of detailed data that are increasingly available through emerging sources

Contribution of medications and risk factors to QTc interval lengthening in the atherosclerosis risk in communities (ARIC) study

Rationale, aims, and objectives: Prolongation of the corrected QT (QTc) interval is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The association between QTc interval–prolonging medications (QTPMs) and risk factors with magnitude of QTc interval lengthening is unknown. We examined the contribution of risk factors alone and in combination with QTPMs to QTc interval lengthening. Method: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study assessed 15 792 participants with a resting, standard 12-lead electrocardiogram and ≥1 measure of QTc interval over 4 examinations at 3-year intervals (1987-1998). From 54 638 person-visits, we excluded participants with QRS ≥ 120 milliseconds (n = 2333 person-visits). We corrected the QT interval using the Bazett and Framingham formulas. We examined QTc lengthening using linear regression for 36 602 person-visit observations for 14 160 cohort members controlling for age ≥ 65 years, female sex, left ventricular hypertrophy, QTc > 500 milliseconds at the prior visit, and CredibleMeds categorized QTPMs (Known, Possible, or Conditional risk). We corrected standard errors for repeat observations per person. Results: Eighty percent of person-visits had at least one risk factor for QTc lengthening. Use of QTPMs increased over the 4 visits from 8% to 17%. Among persons not using QTPMs, history of prolonged QTc interval and female sex were associated with the greatest QTc lengthening, 39 and 12 milliseconds, respectively. In the absence of risk factors, Known QTPMs and ≥2 QTPMs were associated with modest but greater QTc lengthening than Possible or Conditional QTPMs. In the presence of risk factors, ≥2 QTPM further increased QTc lengthening. In combination with risk factors, the association of all QTPM categories with QTc lengthening was greater than QTPMs alone. Conclusion: Risk factors, particularly female sex and history of prolonged QTc interval, have stronger associations with QTc interval lengthening than any QTPM category alone. All QTPM categories augmented QTc interval lengthening associated with risk factors

Titan's Prolific Propane: The Cassini CIRS Perspective

In this paper we select large spectral averages of data from the Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) obtained in limb-viewing mode at low latitudes (30S--30N), greatly increasing the path length and hence signal-to-noise ratio for optically thin trace species such as propane. By modeling and subtracting the emissions of other gas species, we demonstrate that at least six infrared bands of propane are detected by CIRS, including two not previously identified in Titan spectra. Using a new line list for the range 1300-1400cm -1, along with an existing GEISA list, we retrieve propane abundances from two bands at 748 and 1376 cm-1. At 748 cm-1 we retrieve 4.2 +/- 0.5 x 10(-7) (1-sigma error) at 2 mbar, in good agreement with previous studies, although lack of hotbands in the present spectral atlas remains a problem. We also determine 5.7 +/- 0.8 x 10(-7) at 2 mbar from the 1376 cm-1 band - a value that is probably affected by systematic errors including continuum gradients due to haze and also an imperfect model of the n6 band of ethane. This study clearly shows for the first time the ubiquity of propane's emission bands across the thermal infrared spectrum of Titan, and points to an urgent need for further laboratory spectroscopy work, both to provide the line positions and intensities needed to model these bands, and also to further characterize haze spectral opacity. The present lack of accurate modeling capability for propane is an impediment not only for the measurement of propane itself, but also for the search for the emissions of new molecules in many spectral regions.Comment: 7 Figures, 3 Tables. Typeset in Latex with elsart.cls. In press for Planetary and Space Scienc

Novel genotype-phenotype and MRI correlations in a large cohort of patients with SPG7 mutations

Objective: To clinically, genetically, and radiologically characterize a large cohort of SPG7 patients. Methods: We used data from next-generation sequencing panels for ataxias and hereditary spastic paraplegia to identify a characteristic phenotype that helped direct genetic testing for variations in SPG7. We analyzed MRI. We reviewed all published SPG7 mutations for correlations. Results: We identified 42 cases with biallelic SPG7 mutations, including 7 novel mutations, including a large multi-exon deletion, representing one of the largest cohorts so far described. We identified a characteristic phenotype comprising cerebellar ataxia with prominent cerebellar dysarthria, mild lower limb spasticity, and a waddling gait, predominantly from a cohort of idiopathic ataxia. We report a rare brain MRI finding of dentate nucleus hyperintensity on T2 sequences with SPG7 mutations. We confirm that the c.1529C>T allele is frequently present in patients with long-standing British ancestry. Based on the findings of the present study and existing literature, we confirm that patients with homozygous mutations involving the M41 peptidase domain of SPG7 have a younger age at onset compared to individuals with mutations elsewhere in the gene (14 years difference, p T compound heterozygous mutations are associated with a younger age at onset compared to homozygous cases (5.4 years difference, p < 0.022). Conclusions: Mutant SPG7 is common in sporadic ataxia. In patients with British ancestry, c.1529C>T allele represents the most frequent mutation. SPG7 mutations can be clinically predicted by the characteristic hybrid spastic-ataxic phenotype described above, along with T2 hyperintensity of the dentate nucleus on MRI

The Science of Sungrazers, Sunskirters, and Other Near-Sun Comets

This review addresses our current understanding of comets that venture close to the Sun, and are hence exposed to much more extreme conditions than comets that are typically studied from Earth. The extreme solar heating and plasma environments that these objects encounter change many aspects of their behaviour, thus yielding valuable information on both the comets themselves that complements other data we have on primitive solar system bodies, as well as on the near-solar environment which they traverse. We propose clear definitions for these comets: We use the term near-Sun comets to encompass all objects that pass sunward of the perihelion distance of planet Mercury (0.307 AU). Sunskirters are defined as objects that pass within 33 solar radii of the Sun’s centre, equal to half of Mercury’s perihelion distance, and the commonly-used phrase sungrazers to be objects that reach perihelion within 3.45 solar radii, i.e. the fluid Roche limit. Finally, comets with orbits that intersect the solar photosphere are termed sundivers. We summarize past studies of these objects, as well as the instruments and facilities used to study them, including space-based platforms that have led to a recent revolution in the quantity and quality of relevant observations. Relevant comet populations are described, including the Kreutz, Marsden, Kracht, and Meyer groups, near-Sun asteroids, and a brief discussion of their origins. The importance of light curves and the clues they provide on cometary composition are emphasized, together with what information has been gleaned about nucleus parameters, including the sizes and masses of objects and their families, and their tensile strengths. The physical processes occurring at these objects are considered in some detail, including the disruption of nuclei, sublimation, and ionisation, and we consider the mass, momentum, and energy loss of comets in the corona and those that venture to lower altitudes. The different components of comae and tails are described, including dust, neutral and ionised gases, their chemical reactions, and their contributions to the near-Sun environment. Comet-solar wind interactions are discussed, including the use of comets as probes of solar wind and coronal conditions in their vicinities. We address the relevance of work on comets near the Sun to similar objects orbiting other stars, and conclude with a discussion of future directions for the field and the planned ground- and space-based facilities that will allow us to address those science topics