Cage-induced stereotypies, perseveration and the effects of environmental enrichment in laboratory mice.

When kept in barren and restrictive cages, animals frequently develop stereotypic behaviour patterns that are characterized by high repetition rates, conspicuous invariance and an apparent lack of function. Although millions of animals are affected, the underlying causes and mechanisms are still unclear. Growing evidence suggests that cage-induced stereotypies may reflect pathological dysfunction within basal ganglia circuitry expressed by perseverative behaviour. In order to assess whether variation in stereotypy performance and variation in perseverative behaviour may have a common cause in ICR CD-1 mice, we assessed the effects of environmental enrichment on both phenomena. We raised 48 female ICR CD-1 mice in standard or enriched cages from three weeks to either 6 or 11 months of age and measured stereotypy level in the home cage and perseveration on an extinction task. We further examined whether enriched rearing conditions (early enrichment) protect mice from the developing stereotypies later in life and whether stereotypies developed in barren cages would persist in an enriched environment (late enrichment) by transferring standard mice to enriched cages and vice versa for 14 weeks after completion of the extinction task. We found no evidence for a causal relation between stereotypy and perseveration in mice. However, transfer to enriched cages reduced stereotypy levels significantly both at 6 and 11 months of age indicating that stereotypies had not become established yet. Finally, we found that removing enrichments at both ages did not induce higher stereotypy levels, thereby confirming earlier reports of a neuroprotective effect of early enrichment.

Measurement of the mass difference between top and anti-top quarks in pp collisions at View the MathML √s=7 TeV using the ATLAS detector

A measurement of the mass difference between top and anti-top quarks is presented. In a 4.7 fb−14.7 fb−1 data sample of proton–proton collisions at View the MathML sources=7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, events consistent with View the MathML sourcett¯ production and decay into a single charged lepton final state are reconstructed. For each event, the mass difference between the top and anti-top quark candidate is calculated. A two b -tag requirement is used in order to reduce the background contribution. A maximum likelihood fit to these per-event mass differences yields View the MathML sourceΔm≡mt−mt¯=0.67±0.61(stat)±0.41(syst) GeV, consistent with CPT invariance.

Self-esteem development across the life span: A longitudinal study with a large sample from Germany

The authors examined the development of self-esteem across the life span. Data came from a German longitudinal study with 3 assessments across 4 years of a sample of 2,509 individuals ages 14 to 89 years. The self-esteem measure used showed strong measurement invariance across assessments and birth cohorts. Latent growth curve analyses indicated that self-esteem follows a quadratic trajectory across the life span, increasing during adolescence, young adulthood, and middle adulthood, reaching a peak at age 60 years, and then declining in old age. No cohort effects on average levels of self-esteem or on the shape of the trajectory were found. Moreover, the trajectory did not differ across gender, level of education, or for individuals who had lived continuously in West versus East Germany (i.e., the 2 parts of Germany that had been separate states from 1949 to 1990). However, the results suggested that employment status, household income, and satisfaction in the domains of work, relationships, and health contribute to a more positive life span trajectory of self-esteem. The findings have significant implications, because they call attention to developmental stages in which individuals may be vulnerable because of low self-esteem (such as adolescence and old age) and to factors that predict successful versus problematic developmental trajectories.

Topology of the ambient boundary and the convergence of causal curves

We discuss the topological nature of the boundary spacetime, the conformal infinity of the ambient cosmological metric. Due to the existence of a homothetic group, the bounding spacetime must be equipped not with the usual Euclidean metric topology but with the Zeeman fine topology. This then places severe constraints to the convergence of a sequence of causal curves and the extraction of a limit curve, and also to our ability to formulate conditions for singularity formation.

Infrared regime of SU(2) with one adjoint Dirac flavor

SU(2) gauge theory with one Dirac flavor in the adjoint representation is investigated on a lattice. Initial results for the gluonic and mesonic spectrum, static potential from Wilson and Polyakov loops, and the anomalous dimension of the fermionic condensate from the Dirac mode number are presented. The results found are not consistent with conventional confining behavior, pointing instead tentatively towards a theory lying within or very near the onset of the conformal window, with the anomalous dimension of the fermionic condensate in the range 0.9≲γ∗≲0.95. The implications of our work for building a viable theory of strongly interacting dynamics beyond the standard model are discussed.

Solution of the relativistic Schrödinger equation for the δ ′ -Function potential in one dimension using cutoff regularization

We study the relativistic version of the Schrödinger equation for a point particle in one dimension with the potential of the first derivative of the delta function. The momentum cutoff regularization is used to study the bound state and scattering states. The initial calculations show that the reciprocal of the bare coupling constant is ultraviolet divergent, and the resultant expression cannot be renormalized in the usual sense, where the divergent terms can just be omitted. Therefore, a general procedure has been developed to derive different physical properties of the system. The procedure is used first in the nonrelativistic case for the purpose of clarification and comparisons. For the relativistic case, the results show that this system behaves exactly like the delta function potential, which means that this system also shares features with quantum filed theories, like being asymptotically free. In addition, in the massless limit, it undergoes dimensional transmutation, and it possesses an infrared conformal fixed point. The comparison of the solution with the relativistic delta function potential solution shows evidence of universality.

Regularity conditions in the realisability problem in applications to point processes and random closed sets

We study existence of random elements with partially specified distributions. The technique relies on the existence of a positive ex-tension for linear functionals accompanied by additional conditions that ensure the regularity of the extension needed for interpreting it as a probability measure. It is shown in which case the extens ion can be chosen to possess some invariance properties. The results are applied to the existence of point processes with given correlation measure and random closed sets with given two-point covering function or contact distribution function. It is shown that the regularity condition can be efficiently checked in many cases in order to ensure that the obtained point processes are indeed locally finite and random sets have closed realisations.

Dispersion relation for hadronic light-by-light scattering: theoretical foundations

In this paper we make a further step towards a dispersive description of the hadronic light-by-light (HLbL) tensor, which should ultimately lead to a data-driven evaluation of its contribution to (g − 2) μ . We first provide a Lorentz decomposition of the HLbL tensor performed according to the general recipe by Bardeen, Tung, and Tarrach, generalizing and extending our previous approach, which was constructed in terms of a basis of helicity amplitudes. Such a tensor decomposition has several advantages: the role of gauge invariance and crossing symmetry becomes fully transparent; the scalar coefficient functions are free of kinematic singularities and zeros, and thus fulfill a Mandelstam double-dispersive representation; and the explicit relation for the HLbL contribution to (g − 2) μ in terms of the coefficient functions simplifies substantially. We demonstrate explicitly that the dispersive approach defines both the pion-pole and the pion-loop contribution unambiguously and in a model-independent way. The pion loop, dispersively defined as pion-box topology, is proven to coincide exactly with the one-loop scalar QED amplitude, multiplied by the appropriate pion vector form factors.

Yang-Baxter deformations of Minkowski spacetime

We study Yang-Baxter deformations of 4D Minkowski spacetime. The Yang-Baxter sigma model description was originally developed for principal chiral models based on a modified classical Yang-Baxter equation. It has been extended to coset curved spaces and models based on the usual classical Yang-Baxter equation. On the other hand, for flat space, there is the obvious problem that the standard bilinear form degenerates if we employ the familiar coset Poincaré group/Lorentz group. Instead we consider a slice of AdS5 by embedding the 4D Poincaré group into the 4D conformal group SO(2, 4) . With this procedure we obtain metrics and B-fields as Yang-Baxter deformations which correspond to well-known configurations such as T-duals of Melvin backgrounds, Hashimoto-Sethi and Spradlin-Takayanagi-Volovich backgrounds, the T-dual of Grant space, pp-waves, and T-duals of dS4 and AdS4. Finally we consider a deformation with a classical r-matrix of Drinfeld-Jimbo type and explicitly derive the associated metric and B-field which we conjecture to correspond to a new integrable system.

Acute Toxicity and Quality of Life After Dose-Intensified Salvage Radiation Therapy for Biochemically Recurrent Prostate Cancer After Prostatectomy: First Results of the Randomized Trial SAKK 09/10

PURPOSE Patients with biochemical failure (BF) after radical prostatectomy may benefit from dose-intensified salvage radiation therapy (SRT) of the prostate bed. We performed a randomized phase III trial assessing dose intensification. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with BF but without evidence of macroscopic disease were randomly assigned to either 64 or 70 Gy. Three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy or intensity-modulated radiation therapy/rotational techniques were used. The primary end point was freedom from BF. Secondary end points were acute toxicity according to the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (version 4.0) and quality of life (QoL) according to the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaires C30 and PR25. RESULTS Three hundred fifty patients were enrolled between February 2011 and April 2014. Three patients withdrew informed consent, and three patients were not eligible, resulting in 344 patients age 48 to 75 years in the safety population. Thirty patients (8.7%) had grade 2 and two patients (0.6%) had grade 3 genitourinary (GU) baseline symptoms. Acute grade 2 and 3 GU toxicity was observed in 22 patients (13.0%) and one patient (0.6%), respectively, with 64 Gy and in 29 patients (16.6%) and three patients (1.7%), respectively, with 70 Gy (P = .2). Baseline grade 2 GI toxicity was observed in one patient (0.6%). Acute grade 2 and 3 GI toxicity was observed in 27 patients (16.0%) and one patient (0.6%), respectively, with 64 Gy, and in 27 patients (15.4%) and four patients (2.3%), respectively, with 70 Gy (P = .8). Changes in early QoL were minor. Patients receiving 70 Gy reported a more pronounced and clinically relevant worsening in urinary symptoms (mean difference in change score between arms, 3.6; P = .02). CONCLUSION Dose-intensified SRT was associated with low rates of acute grade 2 and 3 GU and GI toxicity. The impact of dose-intensified SRT on QoL was minor, except for a significantly greater worsening in urinary symptoms.

Guidance of treatment decisions in risk-adapted primary radiotherapy for prostate cancer using multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging: a single center experience.

BACKGROUND Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the prostate is considered to be the most precise noninvasive staging modality for localized prostate cancer. Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) dynamic sequences have recently been shown to further increase the accuracy of staging relative to morphological imaging alone. Correct radiological staging, particularly the detection of extraprostatic disease extension, is of paramount importance for target volume definition and dose prescription in highly-conformal curative radiotherapy (RT); in addition, it may affect the risk-adapted duration of additional antihormonal therapy. The purpose of our study was to analyze the impact of mpMRI-based tumor staging in patients undergoing primary RT for prostate cancer. METHODS A total of 122 patients admitted for primary RT for prostate cancer were retrospectively analyzed regarding initial clinical and computed tomography-based staging in comparison with mpMRI staging. Both tumor stage shifts and overall risk group shifts, including prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level and the Gleason score, were assessed. Potential risk factors for upstaging were tested in a multivariate analysis. Finally, the impact of mpMRI-based staging shift on prostate RT and antihormonal therapy was evaluated. RESULTS Overall, tumor stage shift occurred in 55.7% of patients after mpMRI. Upstaging was most prominent in patients showing high-risk serum PSA levels (73%), but was also substantial in patients presenting with low-risk PSA levels (50%) and low-risk Gleason scores (45.2%). Risk group changes occurred in 28.7% of the patients with consequent treatment adaptations regarding target volume delineation and duration of androgen deprivation therapy. High PSA levels were found to be a significant risk factor for tumor upstaging and newly diagnosed seminal vesicle infiltration assessed using mpMRI. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that mpMRI of the prostate leads to substantial tumor upstaging, and can considerably affect treatment decisions in all patient groups undergoing risk-adapted curative RT for prostate cancer.

On the CFT operator spectrum at large global charge

We calculate the anomalous dimensions of operators with large global charge J in certain strongly coupled conformal field theories in three dimensions, such as the O(2) model and the supersymmetric fixed point with a single chiral superfield and a W = Φ3 superpotential. Working in a 1/J expansion, we find that the large-J sector of both examples is controlled by a conformally invariant effective Lagrangian for a Goldstone boson of the global symmetry. For both these theories, we find that the lowest state with charge J is always a scalar operator whose dimension ΔJ satisfies the sum rule J2ΔJ−(J22+J4+316)ΔJ−1−(J22+J4+316)ΔJ+1=0.04067 up to corrections that vanish at large J . The spectrum of low-lying excited states is also calculable explcitly: for example, the second-lowest primary operator has spin two and dimension ΔJ+3√. In the supersymmetric case, the dimensions of all half-integer-spin operators lie above the dimensions of the integer-spin operators by a gap of order J+12. The propagation speeds of the Goldstone waves and heavy fermions are 12√ and ±12 times the speed of light, respectively. These values, including the negative one, are necessary for the consistent realization of the superconformal symmetry at large J.

Nonparametric location estimators in the randomized complete block design

Several tests for the comparison of different groups in the randomized complete block design exist. However, there is a lack of robust estimators for the location difference between one group and all the others on the original scale. The relative marginal effects are commonly used in this situation, but they are more difficult to interpret and use by less experienced people because of the different scale. In this paper two nonparametric estimators for the comparison of one group against the others in the randomized complete block design will be presented. Theoretical results such as asymptotic normality, consistency, translation invariance, scale preservation, unbiasedness, and median unbiasedness are derived. The finite sample behavior of these estimators is derived by simulations of different scenarios. In addition, possible confidence intervals with these estimators are discussed and their behavior derived also by simulations.

Hadronic light-by-light scattering and the muon g−2

The largest uncertainties in the Standard Model calculation of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon (g − 2)μ come from hadronic contributions. In particular, it can be expected that in a few years the subleading hadronic light-by-light (HLbL) contribution will dominate the theory uncertainty. We present a dispersive description of the HLbL tensor, which is based on unitarity, analyticity, crossing symmetry, and gauge invariance. Such a model-independent Approach opens up an avenue towards a data-driven determination of the HLbL contribution to the (g − 2)μ.

Heisenberg symmetry and hypermultiplet manifolds

We study the emergence of Heisenberg (Bianchi II) algebra in hyper-Kähler and quaternionic spaces. This is motivated by the rôle these spaces with this symmetry play in N = 2 hypermultiplet scalar manifolds. We show how to construct related pairs of hyper-Kähler and quaternionic spaces under general symmetry assumptions, the former being a zooming-in limit of the latter at vanishing scalar curvature. We further apply this method for the two hyper-Kähler spaces with Heisenberg algebra, which is reduced to U (1) × U (1) at the quaternionic level. We also show that no quaternionic spaces exist with a strict Heisenberg symmetry – as opposed to Heisenberg U (1). We finally discuss the realization of the latter by gauging appropriate Sp(2, 4) generators in N = 2 conformal supergravity.