Olmesartan-based monotherapy vs combination therapy in hypertension: A meta-analysis based on age and chronic kidney disease status.

Antihypertensive monotherapy is often insufficient to control blood pressure (BP). Several recent guidelines advocate for initial combination drug therapy in many patients. This meta-analysis of seven randomized, double-blind studies (N = 5888) evaluated 8 weeks of olmesartan medoxomil (OM)-based single-pill dual-combination therapy (OM+amlodipine/azelnidipine or hydrochlorothiazide) vs OM monotherapy in adults with hypertension. BP-lowering efficacy, goal achievement, and adverse events were assessed in the full cohort and subgroups (elderly/nonelderly and patients with and without chronic kidney disease). In the full cohort at week 8, for dual therapy vs monotherapy, seated BP was lower (137.5/86.1 mm Hg vs 144.4/89.9 mm Hg), and the mean change from baseline in BP and BP goal achievement (<140/90 mm Hg) were greater (-22.7/-15.0 mm Hg vs -16.0/-11.3 mm Hg and 51.2% vs 34.7%, respectively). Adverse events were similar between groups. BP-lowering efficacy among subgroups mirrored the findings in the full cohort whereby changes were significantly greater following OM dual-combination therapy vs OM monotherapy

Measuring the Top Yukawa Coupling at 100 TeV

We propose a measurement of the top Yukawa coupling at a 100 TeV hadron collider, based on boosted Higgs and top decays. We find that the top Yukawa coupling can be measured to 1%, with excellent handles for reducing systematic and theoretical uncertainties, both from side bands and from $t\bar{t}H/t\bar{t}Z$ ratios.Comment: v2: expanded contents and authorshi

Phenomenology of sub-GeV Dark Matter - Monte-Carlo based developments and Search Strategies

The nature of dark matter is one of the most exciting questions of fundamental physics. In terms of a particle physics model the mass spectrum for possible dark matter candidates is huge. Extensive experimental programs seek to unveil the microscopic physics governing dark matter. While indirect and direct detection as well as collider searches have excluded a large class of dark matter models at the weak scale, the region below the GeV scale is relatively unexplored by these experiments. Therefore, it is particularly interesting to study the phenomenology of sub-GeV dark matter. One of the leading constraints in the MeV to GeV range is expected to be set by indirect detection. However, a theoretical description of dark matter annihilation processes into Standard Model quarks is missing yet. In a Monte-Carlo based implementation in Herwig, we provide, for the first time, a modeling of these annihilations for dark matter models with vector mediators. This allows for a comprehensive study of sub-GeV dark matter annihilations in indirect detection searches. In the sub-MeV mass range, low energy experiments and astrophysical as well as cosmological ob- servations can set constraints on dark matter couplings to the Standard Model. If the dark matter candidate does not couple to the Standard Model Higgs, standard collider searches are not able to probe dark matter masses at the order of a few eV. We sytematically study a wealth of constraints on scalar and pseudoscalar dark matter candidates over a large range of dark matter masses. In addition, we introduce a novel search strategy at the LHC that extends the reach of complementary searches for light dark matter candidates

Uninterrupted edoxaban vs. vitamin K antagonists for ablation of atrial fibrillation: the ELIMINATE-AF trial.

AIMS: Edoxaban is a direct factor Xa inhibitor approved for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF). Uninterrupted edoxaban therapy in patients undergoing AF ablation has not been tested. METHODS AND RESULTS: The ELIMINATE-AF trial, a multinational, multicentre, randomized, open-label, parallel-group study, was conducted to assess the safety and efficacy of once-daily edoxaban 60 mg (30 mg in patients indicated for dose reduction) vs. vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in AF patients undergoing catheter ablation. Patients were randomized 2:1 to edoxaban vs. VKA. The primary endpoint (per-protocol population) was time to first occurrence of all-cause death, stroke, or International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis-defined major bleeding during the period from the end of the ablation procedure to end of treatment (90 days). Overall, 632 patients were enrolled, 614 randomized, and 553 received study drug and underwent ablation; 177 subjects underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging to assess silent cerebral infarcts. The primary endpoint (only major bleeds occurred) was observed in 0.3% (1 patient) on edoxaban and 2.0% (2 patients) on VKA [hazard ratio (95% confidence interval): 0.16 (0.02-1.73)]. In the ablation population (modified intent-to-treat population including patients with ablation), the primary endpoint was observed in 2.7% of edoxaban (N = 10) and 1.7% of VKA patients (N = 3) between start of ablation and end of treatment. There were one ischaemic and one haemorrhagic stroke, both in patients on edoxaban. Cerebral microemboli were detected in 13.8% (16) patients who received edoxaban and 9.6% (5) patients in the VKA group (nominal P = 0.62). CONCLUSION: Uninterrupted edoxaban therapy represents an alternative to uninterrupted VKA treatment in patients undergoing AF ablation

Physics at a 100 TeV pp collider: Higgs and EW symmetry breaking studies

This report summarises the physics opportunities for the study of Higgs bosons and the dynamics of electroweak symmetry breaking at the 100 TeV pp collider.Comment: 187 pages, 94 figures. Chapter 2 of the "Physics at the FCC-hh" Repor

"Phettbergs Nette Leit Show" im ORF

Phettbergs Nette Leit Show ist eine ursprünglich für ein Live-Publikum konzipierte Talkshow, die zwischen Juni 1995 und April 1996 im Rahmen der Sendung Kunststücke von ORF2 und 3sat ausgestrahlt wurde. Das Format erlangte schnell große Bekanntheit und erzielte, am späten Sendeplatz gemessen, hohe Einschaltquoten, sowie ein beachtliches Medienecho. Konzept und Idee stammen von Kurt Palm, dem Mitbegründer des Sparvereins der Unzertrennlichen, und Hermes Phettberg, der in sämtlichen Folgen als Talkmaster fungierte. Das zentrale Forschungsanliegen ist die Frage nach den ausschlaggebenden Faktoren des Erfolgs der Talkshow

Hazma Meets HERWIG4DM: Precision Gamma-Ray, Neutrino, and Positron Spectra for Light Dark Matter

We present a new open-source package, Hazma 2, that computes accurate spectra relevant for indirect dark matter searches for photon, neutrino, and positron production from vector-mediated dark matter annihilation and for spin-one dark matter decay. The tool bridges across the regimes of validity of two state of the art codes: Hazma 1, which provides an accurate description below hadronic resonances up to center-of-mass energies around 250 MeV, and HERWIG4DM, which is based on vector meson dominance and measured form factors, and accurate well into the few GeV range. The applicability of the combined code extends to approximately 1.5 GeV, above which the number of final state hadrons off of which we individually compute the photon, neutrino, and positron yield grows exceedingly rapidly. We provide example branching ratios, particle spectra and conservative observational constraints from existing gamma-ray data for the well-motivated cases of decaying dark photon dark matter and vector-mediated fermionic dark matter annihilation. Finally, we compare our results to other existing codes at the boundaries of their respective ranges of applicability. Hazma 2 is freely available on GitHub.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figure