The One-Loop Spectral Problem of Strongly Twisted N\mathcal{N}=4 Super Yang-Mills Theory

We investigate the one-loop spectral problem of $\gamma$-twisted, planar $\mathcal{N}$=4 Super Yang-Mills theory in the double-scaling limit of infinite, imaginary twist angle and vanishing Yang-Mills coupling constant. This non-unitary model has recently been argued to be a simpler version of full-fledged planar $\mathcal{N}$=4 SYM, while preserving the latter model's conformality and integrability. We are able to derive for a number of sectors one-loop Bethe equations that allow finding anomalous dimensions for various subsets of diagonalizable operators. However, the non-unitarity of these deformed models results in a large number of non-diagonalizable operators, whose mixing is described by a very complicated structure of non-diagonalizable Jordan blocks of arbitrarily large size and with a priori unknown generalized eigenvalues. The description of these blocks by methods of integrability remains unknown.Comment: 33 page

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

On the One-Loop Dilatation Operator of Strongly-Twisted N=4 Super Yang-Mills Theory

In den letzten beiden Jahrzehnten hat sich N=4 Super Yang-Mills Theorie (SYM) als vergleichsweise einfache wechselwirkende Quantenfeldtheorie etabliert. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass N=4 SYM im sogenannten planaren Limes eine integrable konforme Feldtheorie ist. Diese Erkenntnis wurde im Rahmen der Lösung des Spektralproblems gewonnen, das als die Diagonalisierung des Dilatationsoperators definiert ist. Dieser Operator ist der Teil der konformen Algebra, der Skalentransformationen erzeugt. In jüngerer Zeit wurde vorgeschlagen, dass verwandte Theorien, die man kollektiv als stark getwistete N=4 SYM bezeichnet, tatsächlich einfacher wären. Wir untersuchen das Spektralproblem dieser Theorien und bestimmen die Eigenwerte des Dilatationsoperators. Dabei ist unsere Analyse auf Einschleifenordnung beschränkt. Wir leiten zunächst den Einschleifendilatationsoperator der stark getwisteten Modelle her. Bemerkenswerterweise ist der Dilatationsoperator nicht diagonalisierbar, da die stark getwisteten Theorien nicht unitär sind. Wir definieren den Begriff des eklektischen Feldinhalts von lokalen zusammengesetzten Operatoren. Eine endliche Potenz des Dilatationsoperators bildet die entsprechenden Operatoren mit eklektischem Feldinhalt auf null ab. Die Herleitung unterschiedlicher Bethe Ansätze wird präsentiert um die Eigenzustände des Dilatationsoperators zu finden. Wir stellen die Lösungen der Bethe Gleichungen vor, wobei wir Sektor für Sektor vorgehen. Wir konstruieren auch einige der auftretenden Jordan Blöcke. Des Weiteren diskutieren wir den Einfluss, den die Jordan Blöcke auf die Zweipunktfunktionen der Theorie haben. In einer nicht unitären Theorie ist die Klassifikation der lokal zusammengesetzten Operatoren in Primäroperatoren und Abkömmlinge nicht vollständig und eine dritte Art Operator, nämlich der logarithmische Operator, tritt auf. Die entsprechenden Zweipunktfunktionen enthalten Logarithmen.Over the last two decades, N=4 Super Yang-Mills theory (SYM) has established a reputation of being the simplest interacting quantum field theory in four dimensions. In the so-called planar limit, N=4 SYM turned out to be an integrable conformal field theory. Integrability was first found when solving the spectral problem, which is defined as diagonalising the dilatation operator. The latter is the part of the conformal algebra generating scaling transformations. Its eigenvalues are the anomalous dimensions. More recently, it was proposed that a certain non-unitary deformation of N=4 SYM, the so-called strongly-twisted theories, are actually simpler. We investigate the spectral problem of these theories at one-loop order. We derive the one-loop dilatation operator of the strongly-twisted models and express it in terms of the one of the untwisted theory. Notably, since the strongly-twisted theories are non-unitary, the dilatation operator turns out to be non-diagonalisable. We define the notion of eclectic field content of local composite operators. A finite number of applications of the dilatation operator annihilates these local composite operators with eclectic field content. A derivation of several different Bethe ansätze to find eigenstates of the dilatation operator is presented. Furthermore, we also propose a short-cut to derive the Bethe equations from those of the unscaled models. We present solutions to the Bethe equations sector by sector, derive the Jordan blocks of the dilatation operator and show their impact on the two-point correlation functions of the theory. The classification of local composite operators into primaries and descendants is no longer complete in a non-unitary theory and a third type of operator, named a logarithmic operator, appears. The corresponding two-point functions contain logarithms

ESPEN guideline on clinical nutrition in liver disease

This update of evidence-based guidelines (GL) aims to translate current evidence and expert opinion into recommendations for multidisciplinary teams responsible for the optimal nutritional and metabolic management of adult patients with liver disease. The GL was commissioned and financially supported by ESPEN. Members of the guideline group were selected by ESPEN. We searched for meta-analyses, systematic reviews and single clinical trials based on clinical questions according to the PICO format. The evidence was evaluated and used to develop clinical recommendations implementing the SIGN method. A total of 85 recommendations were made for the nutritional and metabolic management of patients with acute liver failure, severe alcoholic steatohepatitis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, liver cirrhosis, liver surgery and transplantation as well as nutrition associated liver injury distinct from fatty liver disease. The recommendations are preceded by statements covering current knowledge of the underlying pathophysiology and pathobiochemistry as well as pertinent methods for the assessment of nutritional status and body composition