On the Solutions of Generalized Bogomolny Equations

Generalized Bogomolny equations are encountered in the localization of the topological N=4 SYM theory. The boundary conditions for 't Hooft and surface operators are formulated by giving a model solution with some special singularity. In this note we consider the generalized Bogomolny equations on a half space and construct model solutions for the boundary 't Hooft and surface operators. It is shown that for the 't Hooft operator the equations reduce to the open Toda chain for arbitrary simple gauge group. For the surface operators the solutions of interest are rational solutions of a periodic non-abelian Toda system.Comment: 16 pages, no figure

On classification of Poisson vertex algebras

We describe a conjectural classification of Poisson vertex algebras of CFT type and of Poisson vertex algebras in one differential variable (= scalar Hamiltonian operators)

Pesticide Exposure Alters Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Levels in Mexican Agricultural Workers

Organophosphorous pesticides (OPs) are suspected of altering reproductive function by reducing brain acetylcholinesterase activity and monoamine levels, thus impairing hypothalamic and/or pituitary endocrine functions and gonadal processes. Our objective was to evaluate in a longitudinal study the association between OP exposure and serum levels of pituitary and sex hormones. Urinary OP metabolite levels were measured by gas–liquid chromatography, and serum pituitary and sex hormone levels by enzymatic immunoassay and radioimmunoassay in 64 men. A total of 147 urine and blood samples were analyzed for each parameter. More than 80% of the participants had at least one OP metabolite in their urine samples. The most frequent metabolite found was diethylthiophosphate (DETP; 55%), followed by diethylphosphate (DEP; 46%), dimethylthiophosphate (DMTP; 32%), and dimethyldithiophosphate (DMDTP; 31%). However, the metabolites detected at higher concentrations were DMTP, DEP, DMDTP, and dimethylphosphate. There was a high proportion of individuals with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) concentrations outside the range of normality (48%). The average FSH serum levels were higher during the heavy pesticide spraying season. However, a multivariate analysis of data collected in all periods showed that serum FSH levels were negatively associated with urinary concentrations of both DMTP and DMDTP, whereas luteinizing hormone (LH) was negatively associated with DMTP. We observed no significant associations between estradiol or testosterone serum levels with OP metabolites. The hormonal disruption in agricultural workers presented here, together with results from experimental animal studies, suggests that OP exposure disrupts the hypothalamic–pituitary endocrine function and also indicates that FSH and LH are the hormones most affected

Effective String Theory Revisited

We revisit the effective field theory of long relativistic strings such as confining flux tubes in QCD. We derive the Polchinski-Strominger interaction by a calculation in static gauge. This interaction implies that a non-critical string which initially oscillates in one direction gets excited in orthogonal directions as well. In static gauge no additional term in the effective action is needed to obtain this effect. It results from a one-loop calculation using the Nambu-Goto action. Non-linearly realized Lorentz symmetry is manifest at all stages in dimensional regularization. We also explain that independent of the number of dimensions non-covariant counterterms have to be added to the action in the commonly used zeta-function regularization.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, v2: typo corrected, references added, published versio

Lessons from Mycobacterium avium complex-associated pneumonitis: a case report

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) is an increasingly recognized cause of pulmonary disease in immunocompetent individuals. An acute form of MAC lung disease, MAC-associated pneumonitis, has generally been associated with the use of hot tubs. There is controversy in the literature about whether MAC-associated pneumonitis is a classic hypersensitivity pneumonitis or is a direct manifestation of mycobacterial infection. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the second case in the literature of MAC-associated pneumonitis not related to the use of hot tubs. The source of MAC in a 52-year-old immunocompetent patient was an intrapulmonary cyst containing numerous acid-fast bacilli. The patient developed disseminated miliary nodules throughout both lung fields. Histological examination of resected lung tissue revealed well-formed, acid-fast negative granulomas composed predominantly of CD4+ T-cells and CD68+ histiocytes. The granulomas were strongly positive for tumor necrosis factor-alpha, a pro-inflammatory cytokine. CONCLUSION: The attempt to classify MAC-associated pneumonitis as either a classic hypersensitivity pneumonitis or a direct manifestation of mycobacterial infection is not particularly useful. Our case demonstrates that MAC-associated pneumonitis is characterized by a vigorous T-helper 1-like, pro-inflammatory, immune response to pulmonary mycobacterial infection. The immunopathology provides a rationale for clinical studies of anti-MAC therapy with the addition of anti-inflammatory agents (for example, corticosteroids) to hasten the resolution of infection and symptoms

implications for first line treatment recommendations

Introduction: Treatment for All recommendations have allowed access to antiretroviral (ARV) treatment for an increasing number of patients. This minimizes the transmission of infection but can potentiate the risk of transmitted (TDR) and acquired drug resistance (ADR). Objective: To study the trends of TDR and ADR in patients followed up in Portuguese hospitals between 2001 and 2017. Methods: In total, 11,911 patients of the Portuguese REGA database were included. TDR was defined as the presence of one or more surveillance drug resistance mutation according to the WHO surveillance list. Genotypic resistance to ARV was evaluated with Stanford HIVdb v7.0. Patterns of TDR, ADR and the prevalence of mutations over time were analyzed using logistic regression. Results and Discussion: The prevalence of TDR increased from 7.9% in 2003 to 13.1% in 2017 (p < 0.001). This was due to a significant increase in both resistance to nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and non-nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), from 5.6% to 6.7% (p = 0.002) and 2.9% to 8.9% (p < 0.001), respectively. TDR was associated with infection with subtype B, and with lower viral load levels (p < 0.05). The prevalence of ADR declined from 86.6% in 2001 to 51.0% in 2017 (p < 0.001), caused by decreasing drug resistance to all antiretroviral (ARV) classes (p < 0.001). Conclusions: While ADR has been decreasing since 2001, TDR has been increasing, reaching a value of 13.1% by the end of 2017. It is urgently necessary to develop public health programs to monitor the levels and patterns of TDR in newly diagnosed patients.publishersversionpublishe

Team approach concept in management of oro-facial clefts: a survey of Nigerian practitioners

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cleft palate craniofacial teams have evolved across the globe in the last 20 years in compliance with the interdisciplinary concept of management of oro-facial clefts. An interdisciplinary care allows a coordinated treatment protocol for the patient. The objective of this study was to evaluate oro-facial cleft care in Nigeria with particular emphasis on the compliance of the practitioners to the team approach concept.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A snapshot survey was conducted among specialists that attended the Pan African Congress on Cleft Lip and Palate, at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Nigeria in February 2007.</p> <p>Result</p> <p>Sixty three respondents successfully completed and returned the questionnaire for analysis. Mean age of respondents was 43.5 years and the range was 38–62 years.</p> <p>Male to female ratio was 2.7:1. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and Plastic Surgeons constituted the majority of respondents (38.1% and 22.2%) respectively. Only 47.6% (n = 30) of the specialists belonged to cleft teams. Majority of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and Plastic Surgeons belonged to cleft teams (70% and 63.3% respectively) while speech pathologists and orthodontists were less represented (20% and 36.7% respectively) in teams.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Findings from this study suggests that interdisciplinary care for the cleft patient does not appear to have been fully embraced in Nigeria. This may be a result of several reasons ranging from non availability of the requisite specialists, the relatively young age of cleft care practice in this part of the world to the poor state of infrastructure.</p

Grip Force Reveals the Context Sensitivity of Language-Induced Motor Activity during “Action Words

Studies demonstrating the involvement of motor brain structures in language processing typically focus on \ud time windows beyond the latencies of lexical-semantic access. Consequently, such studies remain inconclusive regarding whether motor brain structures are recruited directly in language processing or through post-linguistic conceptual imagery. In the present study, we introduce a grip-force sensor that allows online measurements of language-induced motor activity during sentence listening. We use this tool to investigate whether language-induced motor activity remains constant or is modulated in negative, as opposed to affirmative, linguistic contexts. Our findings demonstrate that this simple experimental paradigm can be used to study the online crosstalk between language and the motor systems in an ecological and economical manner. Our data further confirm that the motor brain structures that can be called upon during action word processing are not mandatorily involved; the crosstalk is asymmetrically\ud governed by the linguistic context and not vice versa

Anti-inflammatory effects and possible mechanism of action of lupeol acetate isolated from Himatanthus drasticus (Mart.) Plumel

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The species <it>Himatanthus drasticus </it>is popularly known in Northeast Brazil as "janaguba" and belongs to the family Apocynaceae. The latex collected from its stem bark is used for several purposes including anti-inflammatory properties and presents among its bioactive constituents the pentacyclic triterpene lupeol. The objective of the present work was to study <it>in vivo </it>and <it>in vitro </it>the lupeol acetate (LA) isolated from the plant latex, in several models of inflammation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Male Swiss mice (25-30 g, 6-24 animals per group) were administered with LA, 30 min before the test initiation. In the evaluation of analgesic activity the formalin test was used. The anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by the following tests: paw edema induced by carrageenan and dextran, and the carrageenan-induced neutrophil migration into peritoneal cavities. Furthermore, the effect of LA on the myeloperoxidase release (MPO, an inflammation biomarker) from human neutrophils was also determined, as well as its antioxidant potential by the DPPH assay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the formalin test, LA (10, 25 and 50 mg/kg, i.p.) inhibited both the 1^st(neurogenic, 0-5 min) and mainly the 2^nd(inflammatory, 20-25 min) phase. Naloxone completely reversed the LA effect, indicating the participation of the opioid system. LA also significantly inhibited carrageenan- and dextran-induced paw edemas, as well as the neutrophil migration to the peritoneal cavity evaluated by the carrageenan-induced pleurisia. In this model, the effect of a very low dose of LA (0.1 mg/kg) was potentiated by the same dose of pentoxifylline (PTX), a known TNF-alpha inhibitor. LA (25 and 50 μg/ml) was also very effective in inhibiting MPO released from stimulated human neutrophils, and significantly decreased the number of cells expressing iNOS activity in the paw of mice submitted to carrageenan-induced edema, suggesting a drug involvement with the NO system.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The anti-inflammatory effect of LA probably involves the opioid system, as indicated by the complete blockade of the opioid antagonist naloxone. Furthermore, the LA effect was potentiated by PTX (a TNF-alpha inhibitor). LA also decreased the number of iNOS cells, suggesting the participation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the NO system in the drug action.</p

Melasma and its association with different types of nevi in women: A case-control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Very little is known about possible association of nevi and melasma. The study objective was to determine if there is an association between melasma and existence of different kinds of nevi.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a case-control study, 120 female melasma patients referred to dermatology clinic of Ardabil and 120 patients referred to other specialty clinics who lacked melasma were enrolled after matching for age. Number of different types of nevi including lentigines and melanocytic nevi were compared between case and control group patients. Data were entered into the computer and analyzed by SPSS 13 statistical software.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean number of lentigines was 25.5 in melasma group compared to 8 in control group(P < 0.01). Mean number of melanocytic nevi was 13.2 in cases compared to 2.8 in control group(P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that existence of freckles, lentigines and more than three melanocytic nevi were positively related to developing melasma. The chance of melasma increased up to 23 times for patients having more than three melanocytic nevi. Congenital nevi were observed among 10% both in case and control groups. Campbell de morgan angiomas were seen among 26 patients(21.8%) in case group compared to 6 patients(5%) in control group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Existence of lentigines and melanocytic nevi increases chance of having melasma</p