Myofibroblasts are central mediators of fibrosis. Typically derived from resident fibroblasts, myofibroblasts represent a heterogeneous population of cells that are principally defined by acquired ...contractile function and high synthetic ability to produce extracellular matrix (ECM). Current literature sheds new light on the critical role of ECM signaling coupled with mechanotransduction in driving myofibroblastic activation. In particular, transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) and extra domain A containing fibronectin (EDA-FN) are thought to be the primary ECM signaling mediators that form and also induce positive feedback loops. The outside-in and inside-out signaling circuits are transmitted and integrated by TGF-β receptors and integrins at the cell membrane, ultimately perpetuating the abundance and activities of TGF-β1 and EDA-FN in the ECM. In this review, we highlight these conceptual advances in understanding myofibroblastic activation, in hope of revealing its therapeutic anti-fibrotic implications.
This study draws on the ecological perspective of teacher agency to examine the manifestation of English teachers' agency toward the ongoing curriculum reform in China and the factors that impact it. ...This study surveyed 353 high school English teachers and then collected data from three case study participants through in-depth interviews. The findings showed that the majority of teachers surveyed exhibited positive attitudes and beliefs about implementing the reform and inclinations to change, but the teachers also showed a constrained state of agency in practice. Teacher agency developed as the teachers exerted sustained pedagogical change and reflection on reform-based practices. Through the findings, prior experiences and reform-oriented beliefs were found to mediate teachers' agency, and reform-related experiences were more influential than future goals in shaping agency. The factors of perceived school culture that involved teachers' interaction with students, colleague cooperation, and administrative support also medicated teachers' agency in practice. Implications are proposed for policymakers and school leaders to help teachers coordinate inconsistencies between high-stakes examination preparation and holistic education and make positive sense of professional development in the context of educational changes.
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We look for oscillating signals in the primordial bispectrum from new physics heavy particles which are visibly large for next generation large scale structures (LSS) survey. We show that ...in ordinary inflation scenarios where a slow-rolling inflaton generates density fluctuations and with no breaking of scale invariance or spacetime symmetry, there exist no naturally large signals unless the rolling inflaton generates a parity-odd chemical potential for the heavy particles. We estimate the accessibility of this signal through observations. While current CMB data are already sensitive in the most optimistic scenario, future probes, including LSS survey and 21 cm observation, can cover interesting regions of the model space.
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The dispersion relation of an elastic 4-point amplitude in the forward direction leads to a
sum rule
that connects the low energy amplitude to the high energy observables. We perform a ...classification of these sum rules based on massless helicity amplitudes. With this classification, we are able to systematically write down the sum rules for the dimension-6 operators of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT), some of which are absent in previous literatures. These sum rules offer distinct insights on the relations between the operator coefficients in the EFT and the properties of the full theory that generates them. Their applicability goes beyond tree level, and in some cases can be used as a practical method of computing the one loop contributions to low energy observables. They also provide an interesting perspective for understanding the custodial symmetries of the SM Higgs and fermion sectors.
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We study the production of massive gauge bosons during inflation from the axion-type coupling to the inflaton and the corresponding oscillatory features in the primordial non-Gaussianity. ...In a window in which both the gauge boson mass and the chemical potential are large, the signal is potentially reachable by near-future large scale structure probes. This scenario covers a new region in oscillation frequency which is not populated by previously known cosmological collider models. We also demonstrate how to properly include the exponential factor and discuss the subtleties in obtaining power dependence of the gauge boson mass in the signal estimate.
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The QCD axion’s coupling to photons is often assumed to lie in a narrow band as a function of the axion mass. We demonstrate that several simple mechanisms, in addition to the photophilic ...clockwork axion already in the literature, can significantly extend the allowed range of couplings. Some mechanisms we present generalize the KNP alignment scenario, widely studied as a model of inflation, to the phenomenology of a QCD axion. In particular we present KSVZ-like realizations of two-axion KNP alignment and of the clockwork mechanism. Such a “confinement tower” realization of clockwork may prove useful in a variety of model-building contexts. We also show that kinetic mixing of the QCD axion with a lighter axion-like particle can dramatically alter the QCD axion’s coupling to photons, differing from the other models we present by allowing non-quantized couplings. The simple models that we present fully cover the range of axion-photon couplings that could be probed by experiments. They motivate growing axion detection efforts over a wide space of masses and couplings.
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In recent years the search for dark matter has intensified with competitive bounds coming from collider searches, direct detection, and indirect detection. Collider searches at the Large ...Hadron Collider (LHC) lack the necessary center-of-mass energy to probe TeV-scale dark matter. It is TeV-scale dark matter, however, that remains viable for many models of supersymmetry. In this paper, we study the reach of a 100 TeV proton-proton collider for neutralino dark matter and compare to 14 TeV LHC projections. We employ a supersymmetric simplified model approach and present reach estimates from monojet searches, soft lepton searches, and disappearing track searches. The searches are applied to pure neutralino spectra, compressed neutralino spectra, and coannihilating spectra. We find a factor of 4-5 improvement in mass reach in going from 14 TeV to 100 TeV. More specifically, we find that given a 1% systematic uncertainty, a 100 TeV collider could exclude winos up to 1.4 TeV and higgsinos up to 850 GeV in the monojet channel. Coannihilation scenarios with gluinos can be excluded with neutralino masses of 6.2 TeV, with stops at 2.8 TeV, and with squarks at 4.0 TeV. Using a soft lepton search, compressed spectra with a chargino-neutralino splitting of Δ
m
= 20 − 30 GeV can exclude neutralinos at ~1 TeV. Given a sufficiently long chargino lifetime, the disappearing track search is very effective and we extrapolate current experimental bounds to estimate that a ~2TeVwinocouldbediscoveredanda ~3TeVwinocouldbeexcluded.
The discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC exposes some of the most profound mysteries fundamental physics has encountered in decades, opening the door to the next phase of experimental exploration. ...More than ever, this will necessitate new machines to push us deeper into the energy frontier. In this article, we discuss the physics motivation and present the physics potential of a proton–proton collider running at an energy significantly beyond that of the LHC and a luminosity comparable to that of the LHC. 100 TeV is used as a benchmark of the center of mass energy, with integrated luminosities of 3ab−1–30ab−1.
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