Gravitational inflaton decay and the hierarchy problem

We study implications of the large-N species solution to the hierarchy problem, proposed by G. Dvali, for reheating of the universe after inflation. Dvali's proposal contains additional N~10^{32} Z_2-conserved quantum fields beyond the Standard Model particles with mass ~1 TeV, which weaken gravity by a factor of 1/N, and thus explain the hierarchy between the Plank scale and the electroweak scale. We show that, in this scenario, the decay rates of inflaton fields through gravitational decay channels are enhanced by a factor of N, and thus they decay into N species of the quantum fields very efficiently, in the limit that quantum gravity effects are unimportant for the gravitational decay rate. In order not to over-reheat the universe, inflaton mass, vacuum expectation value of inflaton, or non-minimal gravitational coupling should be tightly fine-tuned. Our conclusion holds even when the gravitational decay is prohibited by some symmetry of the theory; the universe may still be over-reheated via annihilation of inflatons, if the number density of inflaton quanta is greater than the critical value.Comment: 6 pages, submitted to PRD, (v2) references added, (v3) revised to have inflaton quanta canonically normalize

Effects of Gravitational Chern-Simons during Axion-SU(2) Inflation

In this paper, we examine the viability of inflation models with a spectator axion field coupled to both gravitational and SU(2) gauge fields via Chern-Simons couplings. Requiring phenomenological success of the axion-SU(2) sector constrains the coupling strength of the gravitational Chern-Simons term. We find that the impact of this term on the production and propagation of gravitational waves can be as large as fifty percent enhancement for the helicity that is not sourced by the gauge field, if the cut-off scale is as low as $\Lambda$ = 20H. The effect becomes smaller for a larger value of $\Lambda$, while the impact on the helicity sourced by the gauge field is negligible regardless of $\Lambda$.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures (v2) References added and typos corrected. Submitted to JCA

Lesbian intimate partner violence and perceived social support

Violence between intimate partners is recurrent in the daily lives of many Brazilian women, but its characteristics are little studied in same-sex relationships. This article aims to characterize the manifestation of violence in homosexual relationships among women based on its typology and frequency and to analyze the possible associations between violence and social support. The sample consisted of 634 Brazilian lesbians adults aged 18 to 58 years who answered three online instruments: Brazil Socioeconomic Classification Criteria, Conflict Tactics Scales (Brief version), and Perception of Social Support Scale. Based on latent class analysis, we identified four significantly different classes in terms of patterns of violence suffered and perceived social support. The findings reinforce the finding that relationship between violence between partners and social support is a heterogeneous phenomenon, in which the variables are not always directly associated.La violencia entre parejas íntimas es recurrente en la vida diaria de muchas mujeres brasileñas, pero sus características son poco estudiadas en las relaciones homosexuales. El objetivo de este artículo fue caracterizar la manifestación de violencia en las relaciones homosexuales entre mujeres con relación a tipo y frecuencia, y analizar las posibles asociaciones entre violencia y apoyo social. Participaron 634 adultas brasileñas lesbianas, de 18 a 58 años de edad. Las participantes respondieron a tres instrumentos en línea: Criterio de Clasificación Socioeconómica de Brasil, Escala Resumida de Conflicto Táctico y Escala de Percepción de Apoyo Social. Del análisis de clases latentes, se identificaron cuatro clases significativamente diferentes en términos de patrones de violencia sufrida y apoyo social percibido. Los hallazgos refuerzan que la relación entre violencia entre parejas y apoyo social es un fenómeno heterogéneo, en el que las variables no siempre están directamente relacionadas.A violência entre parceiros íntimos é recorrente no cotidiano de muitas mulheres brasileiras, mas suas características são pouco estudadas em relacionamentos homossexuais. O objetivo deste estudo foi caracterizar a manifestação da violência em relacionamentos homossexuais de mulheres a partir de sua tipologia e frequência, e analisar as possíveis associações entre violência e percepção de suporte social. A amostra foi composta por 634 adultas brasileiras, lésbicas, com idades entre 18 e 58 anos. As participantes responderam a três instrumentos online: Critério de Classificação Socioeconômica Brasil, Escala Tática de Conflitos e Escala de Percepção do Suporte Social. Por meio da análise de classes latentes, identificou-se quatro classes significativamente distintas em temos de padrões de violência sofrida e suporte social percebido. Os achados reforçam que a relação entre violência entre parceiras e o suporte social consiste em um fenômeno heterogêneo, cujas variáveis nem sempre se relacionam diretamente

Is Adjuvant Chemotherapy Necessary in Patients with Early Endometrial Cancer?

Background: We investigated whether there was a difference in prognosis between patients with stage IA endometrial cancer with and without lymphovascular space invasion. Methods: We enrolled patients with stage IA (pT1aN0M0) endometrial cancer admitted to our hospital from 2009 to 2018. All patients underwent hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and systematic pelvic lymphadenectomy. We immunopathologically evaluated the presence or absence of lymphovascular space invasion in the tumor tissue using hematoxylin and eosin, Elastica-van Gieson, and podoplanin staining. We analyzed disease-free and overall survival and calculated patients’ survival distribution using the Kaplan–Meier method and log-rank test. The multivariate analysis was performed to determine the prognostic factors. Results: A total of 116 patients were included. The median age of the patients was 57 (range, 30–78) years, and the histological subtype revealed 98 and 18 cases of types 1 and 2, respectively. The median follow-up period was 71.9 (range, 10.8–149) months, and the 3-year disease-free and 3-year overall survival rates were 94% and 99%, respectively. The disease-free and overall survival rates were significantly shorter in type 2 patients than in type 1 patients (type 2 vs. type 1; 77% vs. 97%, P < 0.01, 94% vs. 100%, P = 0.014, respectively). The univariate and multivariate analyses showed that there were no significant differences in disease-free survival between the lymphovascular space invasion-positive and -negative groups among type 1 cases. Conclusion: There was no difference in prognosis between patients with stage IA and type 1 endometrial cancer with and without lymphovascular space invasion

RAISE-3 for Agile On-Orbit Demonstration of Innovative Satellite Technologies: Mission Definition and Conceptual Design

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has selected on-orbit demonstration missions for the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-3 project in May 2020, as part of the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program. Seven on-orbit demonstration missions were selected in a category of parts, components and subsystems and those missions will be demonstrated onboard the RApid Innovative payload demonstration SatellitE-3 (RAISE-3). This 100kg-class satellite developed by JAXA is a flagship of the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-3 fleet. This paper describes an overview of the demonstration missions and system specifications of RAISE-3, as well as results of conceptual design of the satellite and a partial application of digital development process to an initial phase of the project. Further, project plan and technical challenges to be studied in a project implementation phase are also discussed

The Ratio of Plasma Aldosterone Concentration to Potassium in Adrenocorticotropin Stimulation Test is a Possible New Index for Diagnosis of Aldosterone-producing Adenoma in Patients with Primary Aldosteronism

Article信州医学雑誌 63(3):145-156 (2015)journal articl

Reheating of the universe after inflation with f(phi)R gravity

We show that reheating of the universe occurs spontaneously in a broad class of inflation models with f(phi)R gravity (phi is inflaton). The model does not require explicit couplings between phi and bosonic or fermionic matter fields. The couplings arise spontaneously when phi settles in the vacuum expectation value (vev) and oscillates, with coupling constants given by derivatives of f(phi) at the vev and the mass of resulting bosonic or fermionic fields. This mechanism allows inflaton quanta to decay into any fields which are not conformally invariant in f(phi)R gravity theories.Comment: 4 pages, (v2) references added, (v3) revised to have inflaton quanta canonically normalize