Loop quantum gravity effects on inflation and the CMB

In loop quantum cosmology, the universe avoids a big bang singularity and undergoes an early and short super-inflation phase. During super-inflation, non-perturbative quantum corrections to the dynamics drive an inflaton field up its potential hill, thus setting the initial conditions for standard inflation. We show that this effect can raise the inflaton high enough to achieve sufficient e-foldings in the standard inflation era. We analyze the cosmological perturbations generated when slow-roll is violated after super-inflation, and show that loop quantum effects can in principle leave an indirect signature on the largest scales in the CMB, with some loss of power and running of the spectral index.Comment: revtex4, 5 pages, 3 figures, significant improvements in explanation of quantization and perturbation issues; version to appear Classical and Quantum Gravit

Electronic and Magnetic Phase Diagram of a Superconductor, SmFeAsO1-xFx

A crystallographic and magnetic phase diagram of SmFeAsO1-xFx is determined as a function of x in terms of temperature based on electrical transport and magnetization, synchrotron powder x-ray diffraction, 57Fe Mossbauer spectra (MS), and 149Sm nuclear resonant forward scattering (NRFS) measurements. MS revealed that the magnetic moments of Fe were aligned antiferromagnetically at ~144 K (TN(Fe)). The magnetic moment of Fe (MFe) is estimated to be 0.34 myuB/Fe at 4.2 K for undoped SmFeAsO; MFe is quenched in superconducting F-doped SmFeAsO. 149Sm NRFS spectra revealed that the magnetic moments of Sm start to order antiferromagnetically at 5.6 K (undoped) and 4.4 K (TN(Sm)) (x = 0.069). Results clearly indicate that the antiferromagnetic Sm sublattice coexists with the superconducting phase in SmFeAsO1-xFx below TN(Sm), while antiferromagnetic Fe sublattice does not coexist with the superconducting phase.Comment: Accepted in New Journal of Physic

Receptor Autoradiographic Analysis of Muscarinic Receptors in the Rat Atrioventricular Node

We carried out investigations on muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (m-AChR) in the rat heart, including the atrioventricular (AV) node. The related tissue sections were incubated with 3H-quinuclidinyl benzilate (3H-QNB), then autoradiography and an image analysis coupled with computer-assisted microdensitometry were done. A single type of specific and high affinity binding sites of 3H-QNB was found to be highly concentrated in the AV node, the maximum binding capacity (Bmax) being 1.4 pmol/mg protein and with a dissociation constant (Kd) of 0.5 nM. The density and affinity of the binding to the AV node were the highest, when compared with findings in the atrium (interatrial septum) and ventricle (interventricular septum). The binding was competitively displaced by AF-DX 116, a selective antagonist for the M2 AChR subtype, with a high affinity, whereas pirenzepine, an antagonist for the M1 AChR subtype was much less potent in displacing the binding. Therefore, vagal-cholinergic stimulation presumably plays a significant role in functions of the rat AV node, probably by interacting with the specific, high affinity M2 AChR subtype

Pacemaker-induced Superior Vena Cava Syndrome : Report of One Case and Review of the Literature

A 76-year-old man developed superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) 20 months after the implantation of a dual chamber pacemaker, and was successfully treated with thrombolytic therapy followed by long-term anticoagulant therapy. The face and neck were markedly swollen, and superficial veins in the neck, upper arms and upper chest were prominently distended. Venography from bilateral cubital veins revealed a severe stenosis of the distal segment of the superior vena cava without the development of collateral channels. After an initial treatment with urokinase for 5 days followed by warfarin for 16 months, the symptoms and signs of the SVCS disappeared, and the digital subtraction angiography revealed a marked regression of the thrombotic stenosis. In view of the expected increase in the insertion of multiple leads in cases of dual chamber pacemakers or including fractured lead retention, more attention should be paid to the risk of the development of the SVCS in these cases

A Case of Asymptomatic Left Ventricular Dysfunction during the Treatment of Metastatic Breast Cancer with Trastuzumab

We report a case of 29-year-old Japanese female with a history of resection of primary carcinoma of the right breast. After a partial response by chemotherapy with pirarubicin and docetaxel for lung metastasis, the patient developed multiple brain and bone metastases. As the degree of overexpression of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) was (2+), trastuzumab was administered in combination with paclitaxel. Asymptomatic left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction evaluated by echocardiography was observed ten weeks after the beginning of the treatment. After two weeks of discontinuation of the therapy, however, LV function showed rapid recovery and the resumed use of trastuzumab did not cause further cardiac deterioration. The patient died of sudden respiratory failure due to cerebral herniation and not to heart failure

Fatty liver incidence and predictive variables.

Although fatty liver predicts ischemic heart disease, the incidence and predictors of fatty liver need examination. The objective of this study was to determine fatty liver incidence and predictive variables. Using abdominal ultrasonography, we followed biennially through 2007 (mean follow-up, 11.6+/-4.6 years) 1635 Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors (606 men) without fatty liver at baseline (November 1990 through October 1992). We examined potential predictive variables with the Cox proportional hazard model and longitudinal trends with the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. In all, 323 (124 men) new fatty liver cases were diagnosed. The incidence was 19.9/1000 person-years (22.3 for men, 18.6 for women) and peaked in the sixth decade of life. After controlling for age, sex, and smoking and drinking habits, obesity (relative risk (RR), 2.93; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.33-3.69, P<0.001), low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (RR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.42-2.47; P<0.001), hypertriglyceridemia (RR, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.96-3.15; P<0.001), glucose intolerance (RR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.09-2.10; P=0.013) and hypertension (RR, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.30-2.04; P<0.001) were predictive of fatty liver. In multivariate analysis including all variables, obesity (RR, 2.55; 95% CI, 1.93-3.38; P<0.001), hypertriglyceridemia (RR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.41-2.62; P<0.001) and hypertension (RR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.01-1.71; P=0.046) remained predictive. In fatty liver cases, body mass index and serum triglycerides, but not systolic or diastolic blood pressure, increased significantly and steadily up to the time of the diagnosis. Obesity, hypertriglyceridemia and, to a lesser extent, hypertension might serve as predictive variables for fatty liver

Evaluation of Precipitation Estimates by at-Launch Codes of GPM/DPR Algorithms Using Synthetic Data from TRMM/PR Observations

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory will carry a Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) consisting of a Ku-band precipitation radar (KuPR) and a Ka-band precipitation radar (KaPR). In this study, \u27at-launch\u27 codes of DPR precipitation algorithms, which will be used in GPM ground systems at launch, were evaluated using synthetic data based upon the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR) data. Results from the codes (Version 4.20131010) of the KuPR-only, KaPR-only, and DPR algorithms were compared with \u27true values\u27 calculated based upon drop size distributions assumed in the synthetic data and standard results from the TRMM algorithms at an altitude of 2 km over the ocean. The results indicate that the total precipitation amounts during April 2011 from the KuPR and DPR algorithms are similar to the true values, whereas the estimates from the KaPR data are underestimated. Moreover, the DPR estimates yielded smaller precipitation rates for rates less than about 10 mm/h and greater precipitation rates above 10 mm/h. Underestimation of the KaPR estimates was analyzed in terms of measured radar reflectivity ({\bf Z}-{\bf m}) of the KaPR at an altitude of 2 km. The underestimation of the KaPR data was most pronounced during strong precipitation events of {\bf Z}-{\bf m} \lt {\bf 18}~{\bf dBZ} (high attenuation cases) over heavy precipitation areas in the Tropics, whereas the underestimation was less pronounced when the {\bf Z}-{\bf m}\gt 26~{\bf dBZ} (moderate attenuation cases). The results suggest that the underestimation is caused by a problem in the attenuation correction method, which was verified by the improved codes

Absolute X-ray energy measurement using a high-accuracy angle encoder

This paper presents an absolute X-ray photon energy measurement method that uses a Bond diffractometer. The proposed system enables the prompt and rapid in situ measurement of photon energies over a wide energy range. The diffractometer uses a reference silicon single-crystal plate and a highly accurate angle encoder called SelfA. The performance of the system is evaluated by repeatedly measuring the energy of the first excited state of the potassium-40 nuclide. The excitation energy is determined as 29829.39 (6) eV, and this is one order of magnitude more accurate than the previous measurement. The estimated uncertainty of the photon energy measurement was 0.7 p.p.m. as a standard deviation and the maximum observed deviation was 2 p.p.m