Comparison of 5-year progression of retinitis pigmentosa involving the posterior pole among siblings by means of SD-OCT: a retrospective study

The blockchain technology promises to transform finance, money and evengovernments. However, analyses of blockchain applicability and robustness typicallyfocus on isolated systems whose actors contribute mainly by running the consensusalgorithm. Here, we highlight the importance of considering trustless platformswithin the broader ecosystem that includes social and communication networks. Asan example, we analyse the flash-crash observed on 21st June 2017 in the Ethereumplatform and show that a major phenomenon of social coordination led to acatastrophic cascade of events across several interconnected systems. We proposethe concept of “emergent centralisation” to describe situations where a single systembecomes critically important for the functioning of the whole ecosystem, and arguethat such situations are likely to become more and more frequent in interconnectedsocio-technical systems. We anticipate that the systemic approach we propose willhave implications for future assessments of trustless systems and call for the attentionof policy-makers on the fragility of our interconnected and rapidly changing world

Exciton-polariton topological insulator

The authors thank R. Thomale for fruitful discussions. S.K. acknowledges the European Commission for the H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) fellowship (Topopolis). S.K., S.H. and M.S. are grateful for financial support by the JMU-Technion seed money program. S.H. also acknowledges support by the EPSRC ”Hybrid Polaritonics” Grant (EP/M025330/1). The Würzburg group acknowledges support by the ImPACT Program, Japan Science and Technology Agency and the State of Bavaria. T.C.H.L. and R. G. were supported by the Ministry of Education (Singapore) Grant No. 2017-T2-1-001Topological insulators—materials that are insulating in the bulk but allow electrons to flow on their surface—are striking examples of materials in which topological invariants are manifested in robustness against perturbations such as defects and disorder1. Their most prominent feature is the emergence of edge states at the boundary between areas with different topological properties. The observable physical effect is unidirectional robust transport of these edge states. Topological insulators were originally observed in the integer quantum Hall effect2 (in which conductance is quantized in a strong magnetic field) and subsequently suggested3,4,5 and observed6 to exist without a magnetic field, by virtue of other effects such as strong spin–orbit interaction. These were systems of correlated electrons. During the past decade, the concepts of topological physics have been introduced into other fields, including microwaves7,8, photonic systems9,10, cold atoms11,12, acoustics13,14 and even mechanics15. Recently, topological insulators were suggested to be possible in exciton-polariton systems16,17,18 organized as honeycomb (graphene-like) lattices, under the influence of a magnetic field. Exciton-polaritons are part-light, part-matter quasiparticles that emerge from strong coupling of quantum-well excitons and cavity photons19. Accordingly, the predicted topological effects differ from all those demonstrated thus far. Here we demonstrate experimentally an exciton-polariton topological insulator. Our lattice of coupled semiconductor microcavities is excited non-resonantly by a laser, and an applied magnetic field leads to the unidirectional flow of a polariton wavepacket around the edge of the array. This chiral edge mode is populated by a polariton condensation mechanism. We use scanning imaging techniques in real space and Fourier space to measure photoluminescence and thus visualize the mode as it propagates. We demonstrate that the topological edge mode goes around defects, and that its propagation direction can be reversed by inverting the applied magnetic field. Our exciton-polariton topological insulator paves the way for topological phenomena that involve light–matter interaction, amplification and the interaction of exciton-polaritons as a nonlinear many-body system.PostprintPeer reviewe

FCC-ee: The Lepton Collider: Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report Volume 2

In response to the 2013 Update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics, the Future Circular Collider (FCC) study was launched, as an international collaboration hosted by CERN. This study covers a highest-luminosity high-energy lepton collider (FCC-ee) and an energy-frontier hadron collider (FCC-hh), which could, successively, be installed in the same 100 km tunnel. The scientific capabilities of the integrated FCC programme would serve the worldwide community throughout the 21st century. The FCC study also investigates an LHC energy upgrade, using FCC-hh technology. This document constitutes the second volume of the FCC Conceptual Design Report, devoted to the electron-positron collider FCC-ee. After summarizing the physics discovery opportunities, it presents the accelerator design, performance reach, a staged operation scenario, the underlying technologies, civil engineering, technical infrastructure, and an implementation plan. FCC-ee can be built with today’s technology. Most of the FCC-ee infrastructure could be reused for FCC-hh. Combining concepts from past and present lepton colliders and adding a few novel elements, the FCC-ee design promises outstandingly high luminosity. This will make the FCC-ee a unique precision instrument to study the heaviest known particles (Z, W and H bosons and the top quark), offering great direct and indirect sensitivity to new physics

FCC Physics Opportunities: Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report Volume 1

We review the physics opportunities of the Future Circular Collider, covering its e+e-, pp, ep and heavy ion programmes. We describe the measurement capabilities of each FCC component, addressing the study of electroweak, Higgs and strong interactions, the top quark and flavour, as well as phenomena beyond the Standard Model. We highlight the synergy and complementarity of the different colliders, which will contribute to a uniquely coherent and ambitious research programme, providing an unmatchable combination of precision and sensitivity to new physics

Impact of Systemic Inflammation and Autoimmune Diseases on apoA-I and HDL Plasma Levels and Functions

The cholesterol of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) and its major proteic component, apoA-I, have been widely investigated as potential predictors of acute cardiovascular (CV) events. In particular, HDL cholesterol levels were shown to be inversely and independently associated with the risk of acute CV diseases in different patient populations, including autoimmune and chronic inflammatory disorders. Some relevant and direct anti-inflammatory activities of HDL have been also recently identified targeting both immune and vascular cell subsets. These studies recently highlighted the improvement of HDL function (instead of circulating levels) as a promising treatment strategy to reduce inflammation and associated CV risk in several diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. In these diseases, anti-inflammatory treatments targeting HDL function might improve both disease activity and CV risk. In this narrative review, we will focus on the pathophysiological relevance of HDL and apoA-I levels/functions in different acute and chronic inflammatory pathophysiological conditions