Absolutely stable proton and lowering the gauge unification scale

A unified model is constructed, based on flipped SU(5) in which the proton is absolutely stable. The model requires the existence of new leptons with masses of order the weak scale. The possibility that the unification scale could be extremely low is discussed

Trends in anemia management in US hemodialysis patients 2004-2010.

BACKGROUND: There have been major changes in the management of anemia in US hemodialysis patients in recent years. We sought to determine the influence of clinical trial results, safety regulations, and changes in reimbursement policy on practice. METHODS: We examined indicators of anemia management among incident and prevalent hemodialysis patients from a medium-sized dialysis provider over three time periods: (1) 2004 to 2006 (2) 2007 to 2009, and (3) 2010. Trends across the three time periods were compared using generalized estimating equations. RESULTS: Prior to 2007, the median proportion of patients with monthly hemoglobin >12 g/dL for patients on dialysis 0 to 3, 4 to 6 and 7 to 18 months, respectively, was 42%, 55% and 46% declined to 41%, 54%, and 40% after 2007, and declined more sharply in 2010 to 34%, 41%, and 30%. Median weekly Epoeitin alpha doses over the same periods were 18,000, 12,400, and 9,100 units before 2007; remained relatively unchanged from 2007 to 2009; and decreased sharply in the patients 3-6 and 6-18 months on dialysis to 10,200 and 7,800 units, respectively in 2010. Iron doses, serum ferritin, and transferrin saturation levels increased over time with more pronounced increases in 2010. CONCLUSION: Modest changes in anemia management occurred between 2007 and 2009, followed by more dramatic changes in 2010. Studies are needed to examine the effects of declining erythropoietin use and hemoglobin levels and increasing intravenous iron use on quality of life, transplantation rates, infection rates and survival

Patterns in blood pressure medication use in US incident dialysis patients over the first 6 months.

BACKGROUND: Several observational studies have evaluated the effect of a single exposure window with blood pressure (BP) medications on outcomes in incident dialysis patients, but whether BP medication prescription patterns remain stable or a single exposure window design is adequate to evaluate effect on outcomes is unclear. METHODS: We described patterns of BP medication prescription over 6 months after dialysis initiation in hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients, stratified by cardiovascular comorbidity, diabetes, and other patient characteristics. The cohort included 13,072 adult patients (12,159 hemodialysis, 913 peritoneal dialysis) who initiated dialysis in Dialysis Clinic, Inc., facilities January 1, 2003-June 30, 2008, and remained on the original modality for at least 6 months. We evaluated monthly patterns in BP medication prescription over 6 months and at 12 and 24 months after initiation. RESULTS: Prescription patterns varied by dialysis modality over the first 6 months; substantial proportions of patients with prescriptions for beta-blockers, renin angiotensin system agents, and dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers in month 6 no longer had prescriptions for these medications by month 24. Prescription of specific medication classes varied by comorbidity, race/ethnicity, and age, but little by sex. The mean number of medications was 2.5 at month 6 in hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: This study evaluates BP medication patterns in both hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients over the first 6 months of dialysis. Our findings highlight the challenges of assessing comparative effectiveness of a single BP medication class in dialysis patients. Longitudinal designs should be used to account for changes in BP medication management over time, and designs that incorporate common combinations should be considered

Religio-ethical discussions on organ donation among Muslims in Europe: an example of transnational Islamic bioethics

This article analyzes the religio-ethical discussions of Muslim religious scholars, which took place in Europe specifically in the UK and the Netherlands, on organ donation. After introductory notes on fatwas (Islamic religious guidelines) relevant to biomedical ethics and the socio-political context in which discussions on organ donation took place, the article studies three specific fatwas issued in Europe whose analysis has escaped the attention of modern academic researchers. In 2000 the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) issued a fatwa on organ donation. Besides this “European” fatwa, two other fatwas were issued respectively in the UK by the Muslim Law (Shariah) Council in 1995 and in the Netherlands by the Moroccan religious scholar Muṣṭafā Ben Ḥamza during a conference on “Islam and Organ Donation” held in March 2006. The three fatwas show that a great number of Muslim religious scholars permit organ donation and this holds true for donating organs to non-Muslims as well. Further, they demonstrate that transnationalism is one of the main characteristics of contemporary Islamic bioethics. In a bid to develop their own standpoints towards organ donation, Muslims living in the West rely heavily on fatwas imported from the Muslim world

General Gauge and Anomaly Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking in Grand Unified Theories with Vector-Like Particles

In Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) from orbifold and various string constructions the generic vector-like particles do not need to form complete SU(5) or SO(10) representations. To realize them concretely, we present orbifold SU(5) models, orbifold SO(10) models where the gauge symmetry can be broken down to flipped SU(5) X U(1)_X or Pati-Salam SU(4)_C X SU(2)_L X SU(2)_R gauge symmetries, and F-theory SU(5) models. Interestingly, these vector-like particles can be at the TeV-scale so that the lightest CP-even Higgs boson mass can be lifted, or play the messenger fields in the Gauge Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking (GMSB). Considering GMSB, ultraviolet insensitive Anomaly Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking (AMSB), and the deflected AMSB, we study the general gaugino mass relations and their indices, which are valid from the GUT scale to the electroweak scale at one loop, in the SU(5) models, the flipped SU(5) X U(1)_X models, and the Pati-Salam SU(4)_C X SU(2)_L X SU(2)_R models. In the deflected AMSB, we also define the new indices for the gaugino mass relations, and calculate them as well. Using these gaugino mass relations and their indices, we may probe the messenger fields at intermediate scale in the GMSB and deflected AMSB, determine the supersymmetry breaking mediation mechanisms, and distinguish the four-dimensional GUTs, orbifold GUTs, and F-theory GUTs.Comment: RevTex4, 45 pages, 15 tables, version to appear in JHE

Realistic Standard Model Fermion Mass Relations in Generalized Minimal Supergravity (GmSUGRA)

Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) usually predict wrong Standard Model (SM) fermion mass relation m_e/m_{\mu} = m_d/m_s toward low energies. To solve this problem, we consider the Generalized Minimal Supergravity (GmSUGRA) models, which are GUTs with gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking and higher dimensional operators. Introducing non-renormalizable terms in the super- and K\"ahler potentials, we can obtain the correct SM fermion mass relations in the SU(5) model with GUT Higgs fields in the {\bf 24} and {\bf 75} representations, and in the SO(10) model. In the latter case the gauge symmetry is broken down to SU(3)_C X SU(2)_L X SU(2)_R X U(1)_{B-L}, to flipped SU(5)X U(1)_X, or to SU(3)_C X SU(2)_L X U(1)_1 X U(1)_2. Especially, for the first time we generate the realistic SM fermion mass relation in GUTs by considering the high-dimensional operators in the K\"ahler potential.Comment: JHEP style, 29 pages, no figure,references adde

R-parity violation in SU(5)

We show that judiciously chosen R-parity violating terms in the minimal renormalizable supersymmetric SU(5) are able to correct all the phenomenologically wrong mass relations between down quarks and charged leptons. The model can accommodate neutrino masses as well. One of the most striking consequences is a large mixing between the electron and the Higgsino. We show that this can still be in accord with data in some regions of the parameter space and possibly falsified in future experiments.Comment: 30 pages, 1 figure. Revised version. To appear in JHE

Influence of calcination temperature on structural and magnetic properties of nanocomposites formed by Co-ferrite dispersed in sol-gel silica matrix using tetrakis(2-hydroxyethyl) orthosilicate as precursor

Effects of calcination temperatures varying from 400 to 1000°C on structural and magnetic properties of nanocomposites formed by Co-ferrite dispersed in the sol-gel silica matrix using tetrakis(2-hydroxyethyl) orthosilicate (THEOS) as water-soluble silica precursor have been investigated. Studies carried out using XRD, FT-IR, TEM, STA (TG-DTG-DTA) and VSM techniques. Results indicated that magnetic properties of samples such as superparamagnetism and ferromagnetism showed great dependence on the variation of the crystallinity and particle size caused by the calcination temperature. The crystallization, saturation magnetization Ms and remenant magnetization Mr increased as the calcination temperature increased. But the variation of coercivity Hc was not in accordance with that of Ms and Mr, indicating that Hc is not determined only by the crystallinity and size of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles. TEM images showed spherical nanoparticles dispersed in the silica network with sizes of 10-30 nm. Results showed that the well-established silica network provided nucleation locations for CoFe2O4 nanoparticles to confinement the coarsening and aggregation of nanoparticles. THEOS as silica matrix network provides an ideal nucleation environment to disperse CoFe2O4 nanoparticles and thus to confine them to aggregate and coarsen. By using THEOS as water-soluble silica precursor over the currently used TEOS and TMOS, the organic solvents are not needed owing to the complete solubility of THEOS in water. Synthesized nanocomposites with adjustable particle sizes and controllable magnetic properties make the applicability of Co-ferrite even more versatile

Whole Transcriptome Sequencing Analyses Reveal Molecular Markers of Blood Pressure Response to Thiazide Diuretics

Thiazide diuretics (TD) are commonly prescribed anti-hypertensives worldwide. However, <40% of patients treated with thiazide monotherapy achieve BP control. This study uses whole transcriptome sequencing to identify novel molecular markers associated with BP response to TD. We assessed global RNA expression levels in whole blood samples from 150 participants, representing patients in the upper and lower quartile of BP response to TD from the Pharmacogenomic Evaluation of Antihypertensive Responses (PEAR) (50 whites) and from PEAR-2 (50 whites and 50 blacks). In each study cohort, we performed poly-A RNA-sequencing in baseline samples from 25 responders and 25 non-responders to hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) or chlorthalidone. At FDR adjusted p-value < 0.05, 29 genes were differentially expressed in relation to HCTZ or chlorthalidone BP response in whites. For each differentially expressed gene, replication was attempted in the alternate white group and PEAR-2 blacks. CEBPD (meta-analysis p = 1.8 × 10−11) and TSC22D3 (p = 1.9 × 10−9) were differentially expressed in all 3 cohorts, and explain, in aggregate, 21.9% of response variability to TD. This is the first report of the use of transcriptome-wide sequencing data to identify molecular markers of antihypertensive drug response. These findings support CEBPD and TSC22D3 as potential biomarkers of BP response to TD.National Institute of Health Pharmacogenetics Research Network; National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; Mayo Foundation