A tachyonic scalar field with mutually interacting components

We investigate the tachyonic cosmological potential $V(\phi)$ in two different cases of the quasi-exponential expansion of universe and discuss various forms of interaction between the two components---matter and the cosmological constant--- of the tachyonic scalar field, which leads to the viable solutions of their respective energy densities. The distinction among the interaction forms is shown to appear in the $O_{m}(x)$ diagnostic. Further, the role of the high- and low-redshift observations of the Hubble parameter is discussed to determine the proportionality constants and hence the correct form of matter--cosmological constant interaction.Comment: 14 page

Thermodynamics of an one-dimensional ideal gas with fractional exclusion statistics

We show that the particles in the Calogero-Sutherland Model obey fractional exclusion statistics as defined by Haldane. We construct anyon number densities and derive the energy distribution function. We show that the partition function factorizes in the form characteristic of an ideal gas. The virial expansion is exactly computable and interestingly it is only the second virial coefficient that encodes the statistics information.Comment: 10pp, REVTE

Semiclassical theory of transport in a random magnetic field

We study the semiclassical kinetics of 2D fermions in a smoothly varying magnetic field $B({\bf r})$. The nature of the transport depends crucially on both the strength $B_0$ of the random component of $B({\bf r})$ and its mean value $\bar{B}$. For $\bar{B}=0$, the governing parameter is $\alpha=d/R_0$, where $d$ is the correlation length of disorder and $R_0$ is the Larmor radius in the field $B_0$. While for $\alpha\ll 1$ the Drude theory applies, at $\alpha\gg 1$ most particles drift adiabatically along closed contours and are localized in the adiabatic approximation. The conductivity is then determined by a special class of trajectories, the "snake states", which percolate by scattering at the saddle points of $B({\bf r})$ where the adiabaticity of their motion breaks down. The external field also suppresses the diffusion by creating a percolation network of drifting cyclotron orbits. This kind of percolation is due only to a weak violation of the adiabaticity of the cyclotron rotation, yielding an exponential drop of the conductivity at large $\bar{B}$. In the regime $\alpha\gg 1$ the crossover between the snake-state percolation and the percolation of the drift orbits with increasing $\bar{B}$ has the character of a phase transition (localization of snake states) smeared exponentially weakly by non-adiabatic effects. The ac conductivity also reflects the dynamical properties of particles moving on the fractal percolation network. In particular, it has a sharp kink at zero frequency and falls off exponentially at higher frequencies. We also discuss the nature of the quantum magnetooscillations. Detailed numerical studies confirm the analytical findings. The shape of the magnetoresistivity at $\alpha\sim 1$ is in good agreement with experimental data in the FQHE regime near $\nu=1/2$.Comment: 22 pages REVTEX, 14 figure

Ring exchange, the Bose metal, and bosonization in two dimensions

Motivated by the high-T_c cuprates, we consider a model of bosonic Cooper pairs moving on a square lattice via ring exchange. We show that this model offers a natural middle ground between a conventional antiferromagnetic Mott insulator and the fully deconfined fractionalized phase which underlies the spin-charge separation scenario for high-T_c superconductivity. We show that such ring models sustain a stable critical phase in two dimensions, the *Bose metal*. The Bose metal is a compressible state, with gapless but uncondensed boson and ``vortex'' excitations, power-law superconducting and charge-ordering correlations, and broad spectral functions. We characterize the Bose metal with the aid of an exact plaquette duality transformation, which motivates a universal low energy description of the Bose metal. This description is in terms of a pair of dual bosonic phase fields, and is a direct analog of the well-known one-dimensional bosonization approach. We verify the validity of the low energy description by numerical simulations of the ring model in its exact dual form. The relevance to the high-T_c superconductors and a variety of extensions to other systems are discussed, including the bosonization of a two dimensional fermionic ring model

Multi-parametric MR Imaging Biomarkers Associated to Clinical Outcomes in Gliomas: A Systematic Review

[EN] Purpose: To systematically review evidence regarding the association of multi-parametric biomarkers with clinical outcomes and their capacity to explain relevant subcompartments of gliomas. Materials and Methods: Scopus database was searched for original journal papers from January 1st, 2007 to February 20th , 2017 according to PRISMA. Four hundred forty-nine abstracts of papers were reviewed and scored independently by two out of six authors. Based on those papers we analyzed associations between biomarkers, subcompartments within the tumor lesion, and clinical outcomes. From all the articles analyzed, the twenty-seven papers with the highest scores were highlighted to represent the evidence about MR imaging biomarkers associated with clinical outcomes. Similarly, eighteen studies defining subcompartments within the tumor region were also highlighted to represent the evidence of MR imaging biomarkers. Their reports were critically appraised according to the QUADAS-2 criteria. Results: It has been demonstrated that multi-parametric biomarkers are prepared for surrogating diagnosis, grading, segmentation, overall survival, progression-free survival, recurrence, molecular profiling and response to treatment in gliomas. Quantifications and radiomics features obtained from morphological exams (T1, T2, FLAIR, T1c), PWI (including DSC and DCE), diffusion (DWI, DTI) and chemical shift imaging (CSI) are the preferred MR biomarkers associated to clinical outcomes. Subcompartments relative to the peritumoral region, invasion, infiltration, proliferation, mass effect and pseudo flush, relapse compartments, gross tumor volumes, and high-risk regions have been defined to characterize the heterogeneity. For the majority of pairwise cooccurrences, we found no evidence to assert that observed co-occurrences were significantly different from their expected co-occurrences (Binomial test with False Discovery Rate correction, alpha=0.05). The co-occurrence among terms in the studied papers was found to be driven by their individual prevalence and trends in the literature. Conclusion: Combinations of MR imaging biomarkers from morphological, PWI, DWI and CSI exams have demonstrated their capability to predict clinical outcomes in different management moments of gliomas. Whereas morphologic-derived compartments have been mostly studied during the last ten years, new multi-parametric MRI approaches have also been proposed to discover specific subcompartments of the tumors. MR biomarkers from those subcompartments show the local behavior within the heterogeneous tumor and may quantify the prognosis and response to treatment of gliomas.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry for Investigation, Development and Innovation project with identification number DPI2016-80054-R.Oltra-Sastre, M.; Fuster García, E.; Juan -Albarracín, J.; Sáez Silvestre, C.; Perez-Girbes, A.; Sanz-Requena, R.; Revert-Ventura, A.... (2019). 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J Magn Reson Imaging 2011,33(2),296Ingrisch M.; Schneider M.J.; Nörenberg D.; Radiomic Analysis reveals prognostic information in T1-weighted baseline magnetic resonance imaging in patients with glioblastoma. Invest Radiol 2017,52(6),360-366Ulyte A.; Katsaros V.K.; Liouta E.; Prognostic value of preoperative dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI perfusion parameters for high-grade glioma patients. Neuroradiology 2016,58(12),1197-1208O’Neill A.F.; Qin L.; Wen P.Y.; de Groot J.F.; Van den Abbeele A.D.; Yap J.T.; Demonstration of DCE-MRI as an early pharmacodynamic biomarker of response to VEGF Trap in glioblastoma. J Neurooncol 2016,130(3),495-503Kickingereder P.; Bonekamp D.; Nowosielski M.; Radiogenomics of glioblastoma: machine learning-based classification of molecular characteristics by using multiparametric and multiregional mr imaging features. Radiology 2016,281(3),907-918Roberto S-R.; Antonio R-V.; Luis M-B.; Angel A-B.; Gracián G-M.; Quantitative mr perfusion parameters related to survival time in high-grade gliomas. European Radiology 2013,23(12),3456-3465Jain R.; Poisson L.; Narang J.; Genomic mapping and survival prediction in glioblastoma: molecular subclassification strengthened by hemodynamic imaging biomarkers. Radiology 2013,267(1),212-220Fathi K.A.; Mohseni M.; Rezaei S.; Bakhshandehpour G.; Saligheh R.H.; Multi-parametric (ADC/PWI/T2-W) image fusion approach for accurate semi-automatic segmentation of tumorous regions in glioblastoma multiforme. MAGMA 2015,28(1),13-22Caulo M.; Panara V.; Tortora D.; Data-driven grading of brain gliomas: a multiparametric MR imaging study. Radiology 2014,272(2),494-503Alexiou G.A.; Zikou A.; Tsiouris S.; Comparison of diffusion tensor, dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI and (99m)Tc-Tetrofosmin brain SPECT for the detection of recurrent high-grade glioma. Magn Reson Imaging 2014,32(7),854-859Van Cauter S.; De Keyzer F.; Sima D.M.; Integrating diffusion kurtosis imaging, dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast-enhanced MRI, and short echo time chemical shift imaging for grading gliomas. Neuro-oncol 2014,16(7),1010-1021Seeger A.; Braun C.; Skardelly M.; Comparison of three different MR perfusion techniques and MR spectroscopy for multiparametric assessment in distinguishing recurrent high-grade gliomas from stable disease. Acad Radiol 2013,20(12),1557-1565Chawalparit O.; Sangruchi T.; Witthiwej T.; Diagnostic performance of advanced mri in differentiating high-grade from low-grade gliomas in a setting of routine service. J Med Assoc Thai 2013,96(10),1365-1373Li Y.; Lupo J.M.; Parvataneni R.; Survival analysis in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma using pre- and postradiotherapy MR spectroscopic imaging. Neuro-oncol 2013,15(5),607-617Shankar J.J.S.; Woulfe J.; Silva V.D.; Nguyen T.B.; Evaluation of perfusion CT in grading and prognostication of high-grade gliomas at diagnosis: a pilot study. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2013,200(5)Zinn P.O.; Mahajan B.; Sathyan P.; Radiogenomic mapping of edema/cellular invasion MRI-phenotypes in glioblastoma multiforme. PLoS One 2011,6(10)Matsusue E.; Fink J.R.; Rockhill J.K.; Ogawa T.; Maravilla K.R.; Distinction between glioma progression and post-radiation change by combined physiologic MR imaging. Neuroradiology 2010,52(4),297-306Juan-Albarracín J.; Fuster-Garcia E.; Manjón J.V.; Automated glioblastoma segmentation based on a multiparametric structured unsupervised classification. PLoS One 2015,10(5)Itakura H.; Achrol A.S.; Mitchell L.A.; Magnetic resonance image features identify glioblastoma phenotypic subtypes with distinct molecular pathway activities. Sci Transl Med 2015,7(303)Ion-Margineanu A.; Van Cauter S.; Sima D.M.; Tumour relapse prediction using multiparametric MR data recorded during follow-up of GBM patients. BioMed Res Int 2015,2015Durst C.R.; Raghavan P.; Shaffrey M.E.; Multimodal MR imaging model to predict tumor infiltration in patients with gliomas. Neuroradiology 2014,56(2),107-115Yoon J.H.; Kim J.H.; Kang W.J.; Grading of cerebral glioma with multi-parametric MR Imaging and 18F-FDG-PET: concordance and accuracy. European Radiol 2014,24(2),380-389Demerath T.; Simon-Gabriel C.P.; Kellner E.; Mesoscopic imaging of glioblastomas: are diffusion, perfusion and spectroscopic measures influenced by the radiogenetic phenotype? Neuroradiol J 2017,30(1),36-47Qin L.; Li X.; Stroiney A.; Advanced MRI assessment to predict benefit of anti-programmed cell death 1 protein immunotherapy response in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. 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A White Paper on keV sterile neutrino Dark Matter

We present a comprehensive review of keV-scale sterile neutrino Dark Matter, collecting views and insights from all disciplines involved—cosmology, astrophysics, nuclear, and particle physics—in each case viewed from both theoretical and experimental/observational perspectives. After reviewing the role of active neutrinos in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, we focus on sterile neutrinos in the context of the Dark Matter puzzle. Here, we first review the physics motivation for sterile neutrino Dark Matter, based on challenges and tensions in purely cold Dark Matter scenarios. We then round out the discussion by critically summarizing all known constraints on sterile neutrino Dark Matter arising from astrophysical observations, laboratory experiments, and theoretical considerations. In this context, we provide a balanced discourse on the possibly positive signal from X-ray observations. Another focus of the paper concerns the construction of particle physics models, aiming to explain how sterile neutrinos of keV-scale masses could arise in concrete settings beyond the Standard Model of elementary particle physics. The paper ends with an extensive review of current and future astrophysical and laboratory searches, highlighting new ideas and their experimental challenges, as well as future perspectives for the discovery of sterile neutrinos

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Accelarated immune ageing is associated with COVID-19 disease severity

Background The striking increase in COVID-19 severity in older adults provides a clear example of immunesenescence, the age-related remodelling of the immune system. To better characterise the association between convalescent immunesenescence and acute disease severity, we determined the immune phenotype of COVID-19 survivors and non-infected controls. Results We performed detailed immune phenotyping of peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from 103 COVID-19 survivors 3–5 months post recovery who were classified as having had severe (n = 56; age 53.12 ± 11.30 years), moderate (n = 32; age 52.28 ± 11.43 years) or mild (n = 15; age 49.67 ± 7.30 years) disease and compared with age and sex-matched healthy adults (n = 59; age 50.49 ± 10.68 years). We assessed a broad range of immune cell phenotypes to generate a composite score, IMM-AGE, to determine the degree of immune senescence. We found increased immunesenescence features in severe COVID-19 survivors compared to controls including: a reduced frequency and number of naïve CD4 and CD8 T cells (p < 0.0001); increased frequency of EMRA CD4 (p < 0.003) and CD8 T cells (p < 0.001); a higher frequency (p < 0.0001) and absolute numbers (p < 0.001) of CD28−ve CD57+ve senescent CD4 and CD8 T cells; higher frequency (p < 0.003) and absolute numbers (p < 0.02) of PD-1 expressing exhausted CD8 T cells; a two-fold increase in Th17 polarisation (p < 0.0001); higher frequency of memory B cells (p < 0.001) and increased frequency (p < 0.0001) and numbers (p < 0.001) of CD57+ve senescent NK cells. As a result, the IMM-AGE score was significantly higher in severe COVID-19 survivors than in controls (p < 0.001). Few differences were seen for those with moderate disease and none for mild disease. Regression analysis revealed the only pre-existing variable influencing the IMM-AGE score was South Asian ethnicity ( = 0.174, p = 0.043), with a major influence being disease severity ( = 0.188, p = 0.01). Conclusions Our analyses reveal a state of enhanced immune ageing in survivors of severe COVID-19 and suggest this could be related to SARS-Cov-2 infection. Our data support the rationale for trials of anti-immune ageing interventions for improving clinical outcomes in these patients with severe disease

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease