Cornering Solar Radiative-Zone Fluctuations with KamLAND and SNO Salt

We update the best constraints on fluctuations in the solar medium deep within the solar Radiative Zone to include the new SNO-salt solar neutrino measurements. We find that these new measurements are now sufficiently precise that neutrino oscillation parameters can be inferred independently of any assumptions about fluctuation properties. Constraints on fluctuations are also improved, with amplitudes of 5% now excluded at the 99% confidence level for correlation lengths in the range of several hundred km. Because they are sensitive to correlation lengths which are so short, these solar neutrino results are complementary to constraints coming from helioseismology.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX file using RevTEX4, 6 figures include

Expert United Kingdom consensus on the preservation of joint health in people with moderate and severe haemophilia A: A modified Delphi panel

Aim: For people with haemophilia A (PwHA), bleeding in the joints leads to joint damage and haemophilia-related arthropathy, impacting range of motion and life expectancy. Existing guidelines for managing haemophilia A support healthcare professionals (HCPs) and PwHA in their efforts to preserve joint health. However, such guidance should be reviewed, considering emerging evidence and consensus as presented in this manuscript. Methods: Fifteen HCPs experienced in the management of PwHA in the UK participated in a three-round Delphi panel. Consensus was defined at ≥70% of panellists agreeing or disagreeing for Likert-scale questions, and ≥70% selecting the same option for multiple- or single-choice questions. Questions not reaching consensus were revised for the next round. Results: 26.8% (11/41), 44.8% (13/29) and 93.3% (14/15) of statements reached consensus in Rounds 1, 2 and 3, respectively. HCPs agreed that prophylaxis should be offered to patients with a baseline factor VIII (FVIII) level of ≤5 IU/dL and that, where there is no treatment burden, the aim of prophylaxis should be to achieve a trough FVIII level ≥15 IU/dL and maintain a longer period with FVIII levels of ≥20-30 IU/dL to provide better bleed protection. The aspirational goal for PwHA is to prevent all joint bleeds, which may be achieved by maintaining normalised (50-150 IU/dL) FVIII levels. Conclusion: The panel of experts were largely aligned on approaches to preserving joint health in PwHA, and this consensus may help guide HCPs

Baseline Psychological Traits Contribute to Lake Louise Acute Mountain Sickness Score at High Altitude

Talks, Benjamin James, Catherine Campbell, Stephanie J. Larcombe, Lucy Marlow, Sarah L. Finnegan, Christopher T. Lewis, Samuel J.E. Lucas, Olivia K. Harrison, and Kyle T.S. Pattinson. Baseline psychological traits contribute to Lake Louise Acute Mountain Sickness score at high altitude. High Alt Med Biol. 23:69-77, 2022. Background: Interoception refers to an individual's ability to sense their internal bodily sensations. Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is a common feature of ascent to high altitude that is only partially explained by measures of peripheral physiology. We hypothesized that interoceptive ability may explain the disconnect between measures of physiology and symptom experience in AMS. Methods: Two groups of 18 participants were recruited to complete a respiratory interoceptive task three times at 2-week intervals. The control group remained in Birmingham (140 m altitude) for all three tests. The altitude group completed test 1 in Birmingham, test 2 the day after arrival at 2,624 m, and test 3 at 2,728 m after an 11-day trek at high altitude (up to 4,800 m). Results: By measuring changes to metacognitive performance, we showed that acute ascent to altitude neither presented an interoceptive challenge, nor acted as interoceptive training. However, AMS symptom burden throughout the trek was found to relate to sea level measures of anxiety, agoraphobia, and neuroticism. Conclusions: This suggests that the Lake Louise AMS score is not solely a reflection of physiological changes on ascent to high altitude, despite often being used as such by researchers and commercial trekking companies alike. Keywords: acute mountain sickness; altitude; breathlessness; exercise; filter detection task; interoceptio

Fermions from Half-BPS Supergravity

We discuss collective coordinate quantization of the half-BPS geometries of Lin, Lunin and Maldacena (hep-th/0409174). The LLM geometries are parameterized by a single function $u$ on a plane. We treat this function as a collective coordinate. We arrive at the collective coordinate action as well as path integral measure by considering D3 branes in an arbitrary LLM geometry. The resulting functional integral is shown, using known methods (hep-th/9309028), to be the classical limit of a functional integral for free fermions in a harmonic oscillator. The function $u$ gets identified with the classical limit of the Wigner phase space distribution of the fermion theory which satisfies u * u = u. The calculation shows how configuration space of supergravity becomes a phase space (hence noncommutative) in the half-BPS sector. Our method sheds new light on counting supersymmetric configurations in supergravity.Comment: 28 pages, 2 figures, epsf;(v3) eq. (3.3) clarified and notationally simplified; version to appear in JHE

Expert United Kingdom consensus on the preservation of joint health in people with moderate and severe haemophilia A: A modified Delphi panel

\ua9 2024 The Authors. Haemophilia published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Aim: For people with haemophilia A (PwHA), bleeding in the joints leads to joint damage and haemophilia-related arthropathy, impacting range of motion and life expectancy. Existing guidelines for managing haemophilia A support healthcare professionals (HCPs) and PwHA in their efforts to preserve joint health. However, such guidance should be reviewed, considering emerging evidence and consensus as presented in this manuscript. Methods: Fifteen HCPs experienced in the management of PwHA in the UK participated in a three-round Delphi panel. Consensus was defined at ≥70% of panellists agreeing or disagreeing for Likert-scale questions, and ≥70% selecting the same option for multiple- or single-choice questions. Questions not reaching consensus were revised for the next round. Results: 26.8% (11/41), 44.8% (13/29) and 93.3% (14/15) of statements reached consensus in Rounds 1, 2 and 3, respectively. HCPs agreed that prophylaxis should be offered to patients with a baseline factor VIII (FVIII) level of ≤5 IU/dL and that, where there is no treatment burden, the aim of prophylaxis should be to achieve a trough FVIII level ≥15 IU/dL and maintain a longer period with FVIII levels of ≥20–30 IU/dL to provide better bleed protection. The aspirational goal for PwHA is to prevent all joint bleeds, which may be achieved by maintaining normalised (50–150 IU/dL) FVIII levels. Conclusion: The panel of experts were largely aligned on approaches to preserving joint health in PwHA, and this consensus may help guide HCPs

Partition functions and elliptic genera from supergravity

We develop the spacetime aspects of the computation of partition functions for string/M-theory on AdS(3) xM. Subleading corrections to the semi-classical result are included systematically, laying the groundwork for comparison with CFT partition functions via the AdS(3)/CFT(2) correspondence. This leads to a better understanding of the "Farey tail" expansion of Dijkgraaf et. al. from the point of view of bulk physics. Besides clarifying various issues, we also extend the analysis to the N=2 setting with higher derivative effects included.Comment: 34 page

ALPGEN, a generator for hard multiparton processes in hadronic collisions

This paper presents a new event generator, ALPGEN, dedicated to the study of multiparton hard processes in hadronic collisions. The code performs, at the leading order in QCD and EW interactions, the calculation of the exact matrix elements for a large set of parton-level processes of interest in the study of the Tevatron and LHC data. The current version of the code describes the following final states: (W -> ffbar') QQbar+ N jets (Q being a heavy quark, and f=l,q), with N f fbar)+QQbar+Njets (f=l,nu), with N ffbar') + charm + N jets (f=l,q), N f fbar') + N jets (f=l,q) and (Z/gamma* -> f fbar)+ N jets (f=l,nu), with N<=6; nW+mZ+lH+N jets, with n+m+l+N<=8 and N<=3 including all 2-fermion decay modes of W and Z bosons, with spin correlations; Q Qbar+N jets (N b f fbar' decays and relative spin correlations included if Q=t; Q Qbar Q' Qbar'+N jets, with Q and Q' heavy quarks (possibly equal) and N b f fbar' decays and relative spin correlations included if Q=t; N jets, with N<=6. Parton-level events are generated, providing full information on their colour and flavour structure, enabling the evolution of the partons into fully hadronised final states.Comment: 1+38 pages, uses JHEP.cls. Documents code version 1.2: extended list of processes, updated documentation and bibliograph

BMC Ophthalmol

Background Systematically review the evidence describing the impact of anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy on neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) patient outcomes and healthcare resource utilization. Methods A systematic literature review was completed using Medline and EMBASE for publications prior to July 2018, and proceedings from major ophthalmology conferences (January 2016 to July 2018). The search strategy combined terms for nAMD with terms for anti-VEGF and study design. The review focused on publications describing the impact of anti-VEGF on blindness, visual impairment, vision-related quality of life (VRQoL), mortality, and costs. The search targeted data collected in epidemiological or observational studies to reflect real-world outcomes but also considered modeling-based approaches. Results The use of anti-VEGF in clinical practice was associated with significant reduction in the incidence of blindness by nAMD. Population-based analyses reported reduction in incidence among the general population of 47% (9.1 cases/100,000 in 2006 to 4.8 cases/100,000 in 2011). Among patients aged ≥50 years, a reduction of 50% was observed (52.2 cases/100,000 in 2000 to 25.7 cases/100,000 in 2010). In some cases, the odds of decreased vision (defined as decline from normal to moderate, moderate to severe, or severe to blindness) fell by 41% following introduction of anti-VEGF. Patients’ VRQoL improved with treatment, with patients reporting a positive impact shortly after treatment was initiated. Change on National Eye Institute 25-Item Visual Function Questionnaire score from baseline to month 12 ranged from 0.7 to 4.4. Although nAMD patients report signs of depression and anxiety, the evidence suggests that there is no association between the use of anti-VEGF and the prevalence or diagnosis of depression. The introduction of anti-VEGF led to increased overall treatment costs due to replacement of existing less frequently administered treatments (e.g. photodynamic therapy) and increased number of patients treated (prior to anti-VEGF, only ~ 20% of patients were eligible for treatment). Conclusions The introduction of anti-VEGF agents has been associated with a positive impact on patient-relevant outcomes, including a significant reduction in incidence of blindness and visual impairment by nAMD. Anti-VEGF agents replaced less-effective treatments, improving patient outcomes and broadening the patient population eligible for treatment

Br J Ophthalmol

The aim of this work was to evaluate the contribution of real-world evidence (RWE) in changing anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy treatment practices and improving real-world treatment strategies for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).A PubMed literature search was performed to review the large number of English-language studies conducted to investigate the real-world effectiveness of anti-VEGF (aflibercept and ranibizumab) treatment paradigms available for nAMD.The evidence for pro re nata (PRN), treat-and-extend (T&E) and fixed bimonthly dosing regimens for anti-VEGF treatment of nAMD were reviewed and findings are summarised. RWE demonstrated that T&E regimens optimise visual outcomes while reducing burden on patients, clinics and physicians, compared with both fixed-dose and PRN regimens.RWE has helped to develop and improve real-world treatment strategies in nAMD, with the aim of optimising visual outcomes and reducing treatment burden in clinical practice. Of the various regimens, a T&E regimen is most likely to adequately balance clinical outcomes and treatment burden for patients with nAMD