Strong lens search in the ESO public Survey KiDS

We have started a systematic search of strong lens candidates in the ESO public survey KiDS based on the visual inspection of massive galaxies in the redshift range $0.1<z<0.5$. As a pilot program we have inspected 100 sq. deg., which overlap with SDSS and where there are known lenses to use as a control sample. Taking advantage of the superb image quality of VST/OmegaCAM, the colour information and accurate model subtracted images, we have found 18 new lens candidates, for which spectroscopic confirmation will be needed to confirm their lensing nature and study the mass profile of the lensing galaxies.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, to appear on the refereed Proceeding of the "The Universe of Digital Sky Surveys" conference held at the INAF--OAC, Naples, on 25th-28th november 2014, to be published on Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, edited by Longo, Napolitano, Marconi, Paolillo, Iodic

Special values of canonical Green's functions

We give a precise formula for the value of the canonical Green's function at a pair of Weierstrass points on a hyperelliptic Riemann surface. Further we express the 'energy' of the Weierstrass points in terms of a spectral invariant recently introduced by N. Kawazumi and S. Zhang. It follows that the energy is strictly larger than log 2. Our results generalize known formulas for elliptic curves.Comment: 10 page

Long-Range Coulomb Interaction and the Crossover between Quantum and Shot Noise in Diffusive Conductors

Frequency-dependent nonequilibrium noise in quantum-coherent diffusive conductors is calculated with account taken of long-range Coulomb interaction. For long and narrow contacts with strong external screening the crossover between quantum and shot noise takes place at frequencies much smaller than the voltage drop across the contact. We also show that under certain frequency limitations, the semiclassical and quantum-coherent approaches to shot noise are mathematically equivalent.Comment: 13 pages, RevTex, 7 ps figures, more details of derivation give

Current noise in long diffusive SNS junctions in the incoherent MAR regime

Spectral density of current fluctuations at zero frequency is calculated for a long diffusive SNS junction with low-resistive interfaces. At low temperature, T << Delta, the subgap shot noise approaches linear voltage dependence, S=(2/ 3R)(eV + 2Delta), which is the sum of the shot noise of the normal conductor and voltage independent excess noise. This result can also be interpreted as the 1/3-suppressed Poisson noise for the effective charge q = e(1+2Delta/eV) transferred by incoherent multiple Andreev reflections (MAR). At higher temperatures, anomalies of the current noise develop at the gap subharmonics, eV = 2Delta/n. The crossover to the hot electron regime from the MAR regime is analyzed in the limit of small applied voltages.Comment: improved version, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Pioglitazone improves cardiac function and alters myocardial substrate metabolism without affecting cardiac triglyceride accumulation and high-energy phosphate metabolism in patients with well-controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus

0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In T2DM patients, pioglitazone was associated with improvement in some measures of left ventricular diastolic function, myocardial glucose uptake, and whole-body insulin sensitivity. The functional changes, however, were not associated with myocardial substrate and high-energy phosphate metabolis

Two major QTLs on chr. 2BL and 3BS influence grain yield in durum wheat across a broad range of water regimes

Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog

Superconductive proximity effect in interacting disordered conductors

We present a general theory of the superconductive proximity effect in disordered normal--superconducting (N-S) structures, based on the recently developed Keldysh action approach. In the case of the absence of interaction in the normal conductor we reproduce known results for the Andreev conductance G_A at arbitrary relation between the interface resistance R_T and the diffusive resistance R_D. In two-dimensional N-S systems, electron-electron interaction in the Cooper channel of normal conductor is shown to strongly affect the value of G_A as well as its dependence on temperature, voltage and magnetic field. In particular, an unusual maximum of G_A as a function of temperature and/or magnetic field is predicted for some range of parameters R_D and R_T. The Keldysh action approach makes it possible to calculate the full statistics of charge transfer in such structures. As an application of this method, we calculate the noise power of an N-S contact as a function of voltage, temperature, magnetic field and frequency for arbitrary Cooper repulsion in the normal metal and arbitrary values of the ratio R_D/R_T.Comment: RevTeX, 28 pages, 18 PostScript figures; added and updated reference

6-thioguanine treatment in inflammatory bowel disease: A critical appraisal by a European 6-TG working party

Recently, the suggestion to use 6-thioguanine (6-TG) as an alternative thiopurine in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been discarded due to reports about possible (hepato) toxicity. During meetings arranged in Vienna and Prague in 2004, European experts applying 6-TG further on in IBD patients presented data on safety and efficacy of 6-TG. After thorough evaluation of its risk-benefit ratio, the group consented that 6-TG may still be considered as a rescue drug in stringently defined indications in IBD, albeit restricted to a clinical research setting. As a potential indication for administering 6-TG, we delineated the requirement for maintenance therapy as well as intolerance and/or resistance to aminosalicylates, azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine, methotrexate and infliximab. Furthermore, indications are preferred in which surgery is thought to be inappropriate. The standard 6-TG dosage should not exceed 25 mg daily. Routine laboratory controls are mandatory in short intervals. Liver biopsies should be performed after 6-12 months, three years and then three-yearly accompanied by gastroduodenoscopy, to monitor for potential hepatotoxicity, including nodular regenerative hyperplasia (NRH) and veno-occlusive disease (VOD). Treatment with 6-TG must be discontinued in case of overt or histologically proven hepatotoxicity. Copyright (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel

Evolution of costs of inflammatory bowel disease over two years of follow-up

Background: With the increasing use of anti-TNF therapy in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a shift of costs has been observed with medication costs replacing hospitalization and surgery as major cost driver. We aimed to explore the evolution of IBD-related costs over two years of follow-up. Methods and Findings: In total 1,307 Crohn's disease (CD) patients and 915 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients were prospectively followed for two years by three-monthly web-based questionnaires. Changes of healthcare costs, productivity costs and out-of-pocket costs over time were assessed using mixed model analysis. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify costs drivers. In total 737 CD patients and 566 UC were included. Total costs were stable over two years of follow-up, with annual total costs of € 7,835 in CD and € 3,600 in UC. However, within healthcare costs, the proportion of anti-TNF therapy-related costs increased from 64% to 72% in CD (p<0.01) and from 31% to 39% in UC (p < 0.01). In contrast, the proportion of hospitalization costs decreased from 19% to 13% in CD (p<0.01), and 22% to 15% in UC (p < 0.01). Penetrating disease course predicted an increase of healthcare costs (adjusted odds ratio (adj. OR) 1.95 (95% CI 1.02-3.37) in CD and age <40 years in UC (adj. OR 4.72 (95% CI 1.61-13.86)). Conclusions: BD-related costs remained stable over two years. However, the proportion of anti-TNFrelated healthcare costs increased, while hospitalization costs decreased. Factors associated with increased costs were penetrating disease course in CD and age <40 in UC