We investigate the particle production due to parametric resonances in model of inflation where the lightest composite state stemming from the minimal walking technicolor theory plays the role of the inflaton. For model of inflation, the effective theory couples non-minimally to gravity. Regarding the preheating, we study in details a model of a composite inflaton field φ coupled to another scalar field χ with the interaction term g 2 φ 2 χ 2 . Particularly, in Minkowski space, the stage of parametric resonances can be described by the Mathieu equation. Interestingly, we discover that broad resonances can be typically achieved and potentially efficient in our model causing the number of particle density in this process exponentially increases.

Objective Outcomes of childhood‐onset Graves' disease (GD) and suggested duration of anti‐thyroid drug (ATD) therapy have been controversial. This study aimed to determine long‐term outcomes following ATD therapy, including remission and relapse rates. Design, patients and measurements A retrospective study of 265 paediatric patients with GD who were initially treated with ATD was conducted. Long‐term outcomes were analysed. Results Median (IQR) age at diagnosis was 11.5 (9.4, 13.7) years. Duration of ATD treatment was 4.3 (2.3, 6.7) years and time since diagnosis to the enrolment was 7.1 (3.8, 10.9) years. There were 77, 93 and 95 patients who underwent definitive treatment, had ATD discontinuation, and were still being treated with ATD, respectively. The remission rate was 21% (56 out of 265 patients) and relapse rate was 40% (37 out of 93 patients). Cumulative incidence of first remission increased with the duration of ATD treatment with maximum remission rate at 5.3 years following ATD therapy. Among patients who experienced relapse, approximately 50% had disease relapse which occurred within 1 year after ATD discontinuation. Patients with goitre size of less than 3.5 cm, thyroid‐stimulating hormone receptor antibody of less than 10 IU/L, no ophthalmopathy at diagnosis and methimazole dose requirement of less than 0.25 mg/kg/day at 1 year after treatment were more likely to achieve remission. Conclusions Remission rate of childhood‐onset GD was relatively low following ATD treatment. Longer‐term ATD therapy was associated with increased remission rate. Approximately 50% of patients with relapse had disease relapse within 1 year following ATD discontinuation.

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This study utilized historical radiosonde data from 37 selected WMO stations to analyze the physical properties of Southeast Asian lower atmosphere in both spatial and temporal regimes. The proposed analysis method includes the estimation of static atmospheric parameters and their correlations, the trend analysis from the parameters’ time series, and the extraction of annual and interannual variations from the detrended parameters’ time series. The vertical structure analysis of temperature and pressure “profiles” (i.e., temperature and pressure as functions of altitude at a given time) shows that their residuals from the isentropic atmosphere are altitude-dependent and predictable. The correlation analysis between estimated parameters shows that the heat capacity ratio is a function of the environmental lapse rate, which can be used in the parameterization of the atmospheric model. The molar mass of the Southeast Asian lower atmosphere was also estimated from the parameterization to be 29.65 g/mol, slightly higher than that of the average value of dry air at 28.97 g/mol. The spatial analysis of their average values indicates that the Southeast Asian lower atmosphere can be zonally classified into the Northern Equatorial Subregion (NES) and Central Equatorial Subregion (CES), where their boundary is located between the latitude of 5° N to 10° N. The trend analysis of each parameter’s time series suggests that the Southeast Asian lower atmosphere is a transient system manipulated by climate oscillations and climate change. Their equilibrium values can be estimated using linear regression analysis. The results from the Lomb-Scargle periodogram analysis also suggest that the annual variation originated from the Brewer-Dobson Circulation (BDC) and the interannual variation was manipulated by climate oscillations such as the Quasi-biennial Oscillation (QBO). This knowledge can be used to adjust the isentropic model to suit applications requiring accurate approximation, parameterize the model without sacrificing accuracy, and study the effect of climate oscillations and climate change on the Southeast Asian lower atmosphere. HIGHLIGHTS Time series of Southeast Asian lower atmosphere’s physical parameters were estimated from historical radiosonde data Southeast Asian lower atmosphere can be classified into Northern and Central Equatorial Subregions based on physical parameters Southeast Asian lower atmosphere is a transient system manipulated by climate oscillations and climate change GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

This study represents an attempt to estimate sea surface temperature (SST) trends of ten islands along the coastlines of the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. Satellite-based SST data from September 1981 to December 2011 were obtained from Daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature version 2 (Daily OISST v.2) produced at NOAA-NCDC, where they were used to analyze moving histograms, coefficients of bimodality and linear regression analysis. We found that SST of all study sites had significantly increased over the past 30 years, and coefficients of bimodality showed that distribution of SST would be bimodal distribution rather than unimodal distribution. Results also showed that mass coral bleaching events in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea were likely to occur when there were sudden increases in SST over a short period or a small increase over a long period due to major El Niño or La Niña events roughly every 10 years.