Baryogenesis, Electric Dipole Moments and Dark Matter in the MSSM

We study the implications for electroweak baryogenesis (EWB) within the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) of present and future searches for the permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of the electron, for neutralino dark matter, and for supersymmetric particles at high energy colliders. We show that there exist regions of the MSSM parameter space that are consistent with both present two-loop EDM limits and the relic density and that allow for successful EWB through resonant chargino and neutralino processes at the electroweak phase transition. We also show that under certain conditions the lightest neutralino may be simultaneously responsible for both the baryon asymmetry and relic density. We give present constraints on chargino/neutralino-induced EWB implied by the flux of energetic neutrinos from the Sun, the prospective constraints from future neutrino telescopes and ton-sized direct detection experiments, and the possible signatures at the Large Hadron Collider and International Linear Collider.Comment: 32 pages, 10 figures; version to appear on JHE

Spatiotemporal analysis for detection of pre-symptomatic shape changes in neurodegenerative diseases: Initial application to the GENFI cohort

Brain atrophy as measured from structural MR images, is one of the primary imaging biomarkers used to track neurodegenerative disease progression. In diseases such as frontotemporal dementia or Alzheimer's disease, atrophy can be observed in key brain structures years before any clinical symptoms are present. Atrophy is most commonly captured as volume change of key structures and the shape changes of these structures are typically not analysed despite being potentially more sensitive than summary volume statistics over the entire structure. In this paper we propose a spatiotemporal analysis pipeline based on Large Diffeomorphic Deformation Metric Mapping (LDDMM) to detect shape changes from volumetric MRI scans. We applied our framework to a cohort of individuals with genetic variants of frontotemporal dementia and healthy controls from the Genetic FTD Initiative (GENFI) study. Our method, take full advantage of the LDDMM framework, and relies on the creation of a population specific average spatiotemporal trajectory of a relevant brain structure of interest, the thalamus in our case. The residuals from each patient data to the average spatiotemporal trajectory are then clustered and studied to assess when presymptomatic mutation carriers differ from healthy control subjects. We found statistical differences in shape in the anterior region of the thalamus at least five years before the mutation carrier subjects develop any clinical symptoms. This region of the thalamus has been shown to be predominantly connected to the frontal lobe, consistent with the pattern of cortical atrophy seen in the disease

Disease-related cortical thinning in presymptomatic granulin mutation carriers

Mutations in the granulin gene (GRN) cause familial frontotemporal dementia. Understanding the structural brain changes in presymptomatic GRN carriers would enforce the use of neuroimaging biomarkers for early diagnosis and monitoring. We studied 100 presymptomatic GRN mutation carriers and 94 noncarriers from the Genetic Frontotemporal dementia initiative (GENFI), with MRI structural images. We analyzed 3T MRI structural images using the FreeSurfer pipeline to calculate the whole brain cortical thickness (CTh) for each subject. We also perform a vertex-wise general linear model to assess differences between groups in the relationship between CTh and diverse covariables as gender, age, the estimated years to onset and education. We also explored differences according to TMEM106B genotype, a possible disease modifier. Whole brain CTh did not differ between carriers and noncarriers. Both groups showed age-related cortical thinning. The group-by-age interaction analysis showed that this age-related cortical thinning was significantly greater in GRN carriers in the left superior frontal cortex. TMEM106B did not significantly influence the age-related cortical thinning. Our results validate and expand previous findings suggesting a

Neuroimmune chemical messengers and their conservation during evolution. In: Stem cells in marine organisms

Cellular communication is mediated primarly by chemical signal molecules. This suggests that during the course of evolution, organisms in which this form of communication developed have gratly increased their chances of survival, ensuring that this trait passes on to their descendents........

Dynamic foot-exerciser : a validation study and testing in disuse oedema patients

Aim. It is well-known that sitting one hour results in swelling and fluid tetention. However sitting for a long-day work or in elderly people with leg disuse, the venous and lymphatic stasis might be important for chronic venous [and lymphatic] disorders (CVD). Physical training programmes developed to prevent CVD are aimed at calf muscles strengthening. Methods. We studied a patented, dynamic foot-moover or calf muscle pump facilitating device (PPD: VenoGym by Engineer E. Tacconi), designed to encourage the user to do a certain physical and spontaneous activity without any particular effort. A first test showed that a short period of use (half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon) of PFD induces subjective benefits, confirmed by the sensation of "light legs". Validation was carried out in a griup of 22 healthy people (mean age 52 years, range 27-69) by Photoplethysmography (PPG) and in 4 subjects by Laser Doppler Imaging. Moreover we tested PFD on 12 aged disable people and in 12 patients without mobility problems, based on a special form for the QoL and swelling reduction, color-Duplex and laser-Doppler exams. Results. PPG analysis showed that the few minutes of exercises with PFD determined a vein emptying of both legs (45%+/-18 M+/-SD right leg and 47+/-18 M+/- SD left leg). Laser-Doppler imaging performed on both feet after 10 minutes of exercise showed a mean reduction of 19% of tissue perfusion. The study carried out on disabled patients, showed an improvement in blood flow and leg swelling reduction in both groups, the most effectiveness in the control group. Conclusion. PFD device has a proven vasoactive effect both on micro and macrocirculation; the results on disabled confirm the necessity of a valid physical activity