Holographic Vitrification

We establish the existence of stable and metastable stationary black hole bound states at finite temperature and chemical potentials in global and planar four-dimensional asymptotically anti-de Sitter space. We determine a number of features of their holographic duals and argue they represent structural glasses. We map out their thermodynamic landscape in the probe approximation, and show their relaxation dynamics exhibits logarithmic aging, with aging rates determined by the distribution of barriers.Comment: 100 pages, 25 figure

Implementation of a parentage control system in Portuguese beef-cattle with a panel of microsatellite markers

A study was conducted to assess the feasibility of applying a panel of 10 microsatellite markers in parentage control of beef cattle in Portugal. In the first stage, DNA samples were collected from 475 randomly selected animals of the Charolais, Limousin and Preta breeds. Across breeds and genetic markers, means for average number of alleles, effective number of alleles, expected heterozygosity and polymorphic information content, were 8.20, 4.43, 0.733 and 0.70, respectively. Enlightenment from the various markers differed among breeds, but the set of 10 markers resulted in a combined probability above 0.9995 in the ability to exclude a random putative parent. The marker-set thus developed was later used for parentage control in a group of 140 calves from several breeds, where there was the suspicion of possible faulty parentage recording. Overall, 76.4% of the calves in this group were compatible with the recorded parents, with most incompatibilities due to misidentification of the dam. Efforts must be made to improve the quality of pedigree information, with particular emphasis on information recorded at the calf's birth

Alexithymia in juvenile primary headache sufferers: a pilot study

Starting in the 1990s, there has been accumulating evidence of alexithymic characteristics in adult patients with primary headache. Little research has been conducted, however, on the relationship between alexithymia and primary headache in developmental age. In their research on alexithymia in the formative years, the authors identified one of the most promising prospects for research, as discussed here. The aim of this study was to verify whether there is: (a) a link between tension-type headache and alexithymia in childhood and early adolescence; and (b) a correlation between alexithymia in children/preadolescents and their mothers. This study was based on an experimental group of 32 patients (26 females and 6 males, aged from 8 to 15 years, mean 11.2 ± 2.0) suffering from tension-type headache and 32 control subjects (26 females and 6 males, aged from 8 to 15 years, mean 11.8 ± 1.6). Tension-type headache was diagnosed by applying the International Headache Classification (ICHD-II, 2004). The alexithymic construct was measured using an Italian version of the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children in the case of the juvenile patients and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) for their mothers. Higher rates of alexithymia were observed in the children/preadolescents in the experimental group (EG) than in the control group; in the EG there was no significant correlation between the alexithymia rates in the children/preadolescents and in their mothers

Mycophenolate mofetil, azathioprine and methotrexate usage in paediatric anti-NMDAR encephalitis: A systematic literature review.

Background: Available data on mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), azathioprine (AZA) and methotrexate (MTX) for paediatric-onset anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis (anti-NMDARE) is limited. Methods: Systematic literature review on patients treated with MMF/AZA/MTX for paediatric-onset anti-NMDARE, with focus on modes of use, efficacy and safety. Results: 87 patients were included (age at onset median 11 years, range 0.8-18 years; 69% females). 46% had a relapsing course. 52% received MMF, 27% AZA, 15% MTX, and 6% a combination of MMF/AZA/MTX (7 patients received intrathecal MTX). Before MMF/AZA/MTX, 100% patients received steroids, 83% intravenous immunoglobulin and 45% plasma exchange, and 50% received second-line treatments (rituximab/cyclophosphamide). MMF/AZA/MTX were administered >6 months from onset in 51%, and only after relapse in 40%. Worst mRS before MMF/AZA/MTX was median 4.5 (range 3-5). At last follow-up (median 2 years, range 0.2-8.6), median mRS was 1 (range 0-6). Median annualised relapse rate was 0.4 (range 0-6.7) pre-MMF/AZA/MTX (excluding first events), and 0 on MMF/AZA/MTX (mean 0.03, range 0-0.8). 7% patients relapsed on MMF/AZA/MTX. These relapsing patients had low rate of second-line treatments before MMF/AZA/MTX (25%), long median time between onset and MMF/AZA/MTX usage (18 months), and frequently they were started on MMF/AZA/MTX only after relapse (75%). Relapse rate was lower among patients who received first immune therapy 6430 days (25%) than later (64%), who received second-line treatments at first event (14%) rather than not (64%), who were started on MMF/AZA/MTX after the first (12%) rather than subsequent events (17%), and who were started on MMF/AZA/MTX 643 months from onset (33%) rather than later (53%). Adverse reactions to MMF/AZA/MTX occurred in 2 cases (cytomegalovirus colitis and respiratory infection), of grade 3 Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v4.0. Discussion: Our literature review disclosed heterogeneity in the use of MMF/AZA/MTX in paediatric-onset anti-NMDARE. MMF/AZA/MTX usage is mostly restricted to retrospective cohort descriptions. These agents may reduce risk of relapse, and have a reasonable safety profile, however data on larger cohorts are required to definitively determine effect