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The field of dark matter detection is a highly visible and highly competitive one. In this paper, we propose recommendations for presenting dark matter direct detection results particularly suited for weak-scale dark matter searches, although we believe the spirit of the recommendations can apply more broadly to searches for other dark matter candidates, such as very light dark matter or axions. To translate experimental data into a final published result, direct detection collaborations must make a series of choices in their analysis, ranging from how to model astrophysical parameters to how to make statistical inferences based on observed data. While many collaborations follow a standard set of recommendations in some areas, for example the expected flux of dark matter particles (to a large degree based on a paper from Lewin and Smith in 1995), in other areas, particularly in statistical inference, they have taken different approaches, often from result to result by the same collaboration. We set out a number of recommendations on how to apply the now commonly used Profile Likelihood Ratio method to direct detection data. In addition, updated recommendations for the Standard Halo Model astrophysical parameters and relevant neutrino fluxes are provided. The authors of this note include members of the DAMIC, DarkSide, DARWIN, DEAP, LZ, NEWS-G, PandaX, PICO, SBC, SENSEI, SuperCDMS, and XENON collaborations, and these collaborations provided input to the recommendations laid out here. Wide-spread adoption of these recommendations will make it easier to compare and combine future dark matter results.

Small epipelagic and migratory, Eutynnus affinis (kawakawa) is one of the commercially significant tunas of Indo-Pacific’s tropical and subtropical waters. Consequently, successful management must ensure its sustainability. Unfortunately, the management and stock structure of certain migratory species in the area are not clear. The current study aimed to discriminate the E. affinis through body shape variations and to evaluate the variations among seven populations of E. affinis. A total of 114 individuals of E. affinis collected from two main geographic area, Straits of Malacca and South China Sea. Multivariate analyses, such as discriminant function analyses (DFA) of 12 morphometric characters was carried out to discriminate seven populations of E. affinis. The results revealed there is a significant variation among the body shape and seven populations of E. affinis. The average shapes of populations from Terengganu, Kelantan, and Johor were approximately similar to each other. In contrast, the average shapes of populations from Selangor were separated. This present study is the first report using morphometric method conducted on E. affinis from Peninsular Malaysian waters.

LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a second-generation direct dark matter experiment with spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering sensitivity above 1.4×10–48 cm2 for a WIMP mass of 40GeV/c2 and a 1000 days exposure. LZ achieves this sensitivity through a combination of a large 5.6 t fiducial volume, active inner and outer veto systems, and radio-pure construction using materials with inherently low radioactivity content. The LZ collaboration performed an extensive radioassay campaign over a period of six years to inform material selection for construction and provide an input to the experimental background model against which any possible signal excess may be evaluated. The campaign and its results are described in this paper. We present assays of dust and radon daughters depositing on the surface of components as well as cleanliness controls necessary to maintain background expectations through detector construction and assembly. Finally, examples from the campaign to highlight fixed contaminant radioassays for the LZ photomultiplier tubes, quality control and quality assurance procedures through fabrication, radon emanation measurements of major sub-systems, and bespoke detector systems to assay scintillator are presented.

We study a random aggregation process involving rectangular clusters. In each aggregation event, two rectangles are chosen at random and if they have a compatible side, either vertical or horizontal, they merge along that side to form a larger rectangle. Starting with \\(N\\) identical squares, this elementary event is repeated until the system reaches a jammed state where each rectangle has two unique sides. The average number of frozen rectangles scales as \\(N^\\alpha\\) in the large-\\(N\\) limit. The growth exponent \\(\\alpha=0.229\\pm 0.002\\) characterizes statistical properties of the jammed state and the time-dependent evolution. We also study an aggregation process where rectangles are embedded in a plane and interact only with nearest neighbors. In the jammed state, neighboring rectangles are incompatible, and these frozen rectangles form a tiling of the two-dimensional domain. In this case, the final number of rectangles scales linearly with system size.

ION224, a liver-directed antisense inhibitor of diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 2 (DGAT2), suppresses de novo lipogenesis, an important metabolic pathway associated with lipotoxicity and the underlying inflammation, hepatocellular injury, and fibrosis in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). This study aimed to prospectively assess the safety and efficacy of ION224 in patients with MASH and fibrosis. ION224-CS2 was an adaptive, two-part, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial conducted at 43 clinical sites in the USA and Puerto Rico in patients aged 18–75 years with biopsy-confirmed MASH and fibrosis (stages F1, F2, and F3) and baseline liver steatosis ≥10%. In part 1, participants were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to subcutaneous injections of ION224 60 mg, 90 mg, or 120 mg, or placebo, once per month. In part 2, participants were randomly assigned (2:1) to ION224 90 mg and 120 mg or placebo after a pre-specified interim analysis of safety and efficacy (liver steatosis). The primary endpoint was ≥2-point reduction in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Activity Score Activity Score (NAS) with ≥1-point improvement in hepatocellular ballooning or lobular inflammation, and without worsening of fibrosis at week 51. The primary analysis was in a predefined per-protocol set that included patients who received at least ten of 13 doses of the study drug without missing three consecutive doses and completed the final liver biopsy at the end of treatment. ION224-CS2 was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04932512) and is closed. Between June 8, 2021, and Dec 27, 2022, 160 participants were randomly assigned to receive ION224 60 mg (n=23), 90 mg (n=45), or 120 mg (n=46), or placebo (n=46), of whom 123 were included in the per-protocol set. The primary endpoint was met in 18 (46%) of 39 participants in the 90-mg group (predicted risk 46·2% [95% CI 30·5–61·8]; risk difference 27·4% [95% CI 6·7–48·1], p=0·0094) and 20 (59%) of 34 in the 120-mg group (58·8% [42·3–75·4]; 40·1% [18·7– 61·4], p=0·0002) compared with six (19%) of 32 in the placebo group (predicted risk 18·7% [95% CI 5·2–32·3]). ION224 was safe and well tolerated. Adverse events were reported in 107 (94%) of participants treated with ION224 and 41 (89%) of 46 participants treated with placebo. There were no deaths and no treatment-related serious adverse events. This study provides the first clinical evidence that antisense-mediated inhibition of DGAT2 with ION224 could be a safe and efficacious strategy for the treatment of MASH. The observed histological improvements were independent of changes in bodyweight, suggesting potential to combine with other therapies such as GLP-1 based treatments. Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

Data on transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) for severe bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) stenosis and how this compares to that for tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) stenosis are limited. Twenty-one consecutive patients with BAV were treated with the Edwards or CoreValve bioprosthesis from November 2007 to December 2012 at San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Clinical Institute S. Ambrogio, Milan, Italy. Results were compared with a cohort of patients with TAV (n = 447) treated with the same bioprostheses over the same period. Procedural 1- and 12-month outcomes were examined as defined by the Valve Academic Research Consortium criteria. Patients with BAV were younger (76.7 ± 7.1 vs 79.8 ± 7.4 years, p = 0.06) and with a larger aortic annulus (25.0 ± 1.8 vs 23.6 ± 2.1 mm, p = 0.01). Device success (85.7% vs 94.4%, p = 0.10) was lower in patients with BAV. Although the 30-day composite safety end point (23.8% vs 21.0%, p = 0.76) was similar between the 2 groups, mortality rate at 30 days was higher (14.2% vs 3.6%, p = 0.02) in the BAV group. Cardiovascular mortality at 1 year did not differ significantly between the 2 groups (10.5% vs 7.4%, p = 0.62). In conclusion, transcatheter aortic valve implantation in high surgical risk patients with severe BAV stenosis appears to be feasible with mid-term cardiovascular mortality similar to that for patients with TAV. Early survival and device success, however, were lower for patients with BAV demonstrating that further studies are required to identify which subset of patients with BAV is best suited for transcatheter treatment.

Previous angiographic studies have suggested that the future risk for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) is related to coronary stenosis severity. The aim of this study was to use the grayscale and virtual histology (VH)–intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) data from the Providing Regional Observations to Study Predictors of Events in the Coronary Tree (PROSPECT) study to identify underlying lesion morphologic characteristics that might explain these findings. In PROSPECT, patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes in whom percutaneous coronary intervention was successful underwent 3-vessel grayscale and VH-IVUS and were followed for a median of 3.4 years for the incidence of MACEs. Overall, 3,115 nonculprit lesions detected by IVUS were divided into quartiles according to baseline angiographic diameter stenosis. From the first to fourth quartiles, there were increases in the prevalence of lesions with IVUS minimum luminal areas ≤4 mm2, IVUS plaque burden ≥70%, and VH-IVUS thin-cap fibroatheroma (13.4%, 22.0%, 24.2%, and 30.3%, respectively, p <0.001), along with an increased frequency of plaque ruptures and greater necrotic core volumes. The incidence of lesions with plaque burden ≥70%, minimum luminal area ≤4 mm2, and VH thin-cap fibroatheroma was highest in the fourth quartile (0%, 0.4%, 0.4%, and 2.8% in the first through fourth quartiles, respectively, p <0.001). Three-year MACE rates were also highest in the fourth quartile (0.3%, 0.7%, 1.3%, and 5.1%, respectively, p <0.001). In conclusion, increasing angiographic diameter stenosis was associated with an increased frequency of grayscale and VH-IVUS lesion morphologic features that have been associated with adverse events and that may, in part, explain why future MACEs were related to baseline lesion severity.