Epistomaroides punctatus (Said, 1949) - a new alien foraminifera found at Akhziv - Rosh HaNikra, northern Israel, eastern Mediterranean Sea

The alien benthic foraminifera Epistomaroides punctatus (Said) is reported for the first time from the northern part of theIsraeli coast. Three living specimens were collected in April 2005, at the vermetid reefs of Akhziv - Rosh HaNikra. Epistomaroidespunctatus has so far only been reported from the Indo-Pacific realm; thus, it is suggested to be a Lessepsian invader

Social vs. practical problems in attaining a colonoscopy: Different patient profiles?

Background: Colonoscopy is an effective procedure for identifying precancerous polyps and cancerous lesions, but it is unlike other cancer screening tools in that it requires sedation and thus assistance from at least one other individual. The intent of this paper was to identify logistical problems in completing the colonoscopy and to examine their relationships with sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: All eligible patients (n = 2500) from two academic-affiliated colonoscopy centers (one free standing, one hospital-based) were invited to participate in an onsite, pre-colonoscopy survey; patients agreeing to participate (n = 1841, RR = 73.6%) received a $5.00 gift card. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) was used to identify the underlying dimensional structure of the problems. Bivariate statistics were performed to compare demographic variables and health literacy levels among patients reporting problems. Multivariate logistic regression with a backwards conditional solution was used to determine the demographic variables independently associated with problems. Results: Multiple correspondence analyses indicated two dimensions of problems (social and practical). Using logistic regression, social problems (e.g., finding someone to accompany the patient) were associated with not living in the same home as the driver, not working due to disability, and younger age. Practical problems (e.g., making an appointment) were associated with “other” minority race, poorer health, lower health literacy, and younger age. Conclusion: Patients experience different problems completing the colonoscopy based on socio-demographics. Particularly at risk are patients who find it difficult to navigate the system, are of younger age, or who may have smaller social networks

Flatte-like distributions and the a_0(980)/f_0(980) mesons

We explore the features of Flatte-like parametrizations. In particular, we demonstrate that the large variation in the absolute values of the coupling constants to the pi-eta (or pi-pi) and KKbar channels for the a_0(980) and f_0(980) mesons that one can find in the literature can be explained by a specific scaling behaviour of the Flatte amplitude for energies near the KKbar threshold. We argue that the ratio of the coupling constants can be much better determined from a fit to experimental data.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure

Phase Transition in Hot Pion Matter

The equation of state for the pion gas is analyzed within the third virial approximation. The second virial coefficient is found from the pion-pion- scattering data, while the third one is considered as a free parameter. The proposed model leads to a first-order phase transition from the pion gas to a more dense phase at the temperature T_pt < 136 MeV. Due to relatively low temperature this phase transition cannot be related to the deconfinement. This suggests that a new phase of hadron matter - 'hot pion liquid' - may exist.Comment: 11 pages, Latex, 4 PS-figures. V2: A few misprints are corrected. Acknowledgments are adde

Masses and widths of scalar-isoscalar multi-channel resonances from data analysis

Peculiarities of obtaining parameters for broad multi-channel resonances from data are discussed analyzing the experimental data on processes $\pi\pi\to\pi\pi,K\bar{K}$ in the $I^GJ^{PC}=0^+0^{++}$ channel in a model-independent approach based on analyticity and unitarity and using an uniformization procedure. We show that it is possible to obtain a good description of the $\pi\pi$ scattering data from the threshold to 1.89 GeV with parameters of resonances cited in the PDG tables as preferred. However, in this case, first, representation of the $\pi\pi$ background is unsatisfactory; second, the data on the coupled process $\pi\pi\to K\bar{K}$ are not well described even qualitatively above 1.15 GeV when using the resonance parameters from the only $\pi\pi$ scattering analysis. The combined analysis of these coupled processes is needed, which is carried out satisfactorily. Then both above-indicated flaws, related to the analysis of solely the $\pi\pi$-scattering, are cured. The most remarkable change of parameters with respect to the values of only $\pi\pi$ scattering analysis appears for the mass of the $f_0 (600)$ which is now in some accordance with the Weinberg prediction on the basis of mended symmetry and with an analysis using the large-$N_c$ consistency conditions between the unitarization and resonance saturation. The obtained $\pi\pi$-scattering length $a_0^0$ in case when we restrict to the analysis of the $\pi\pi$ scattering or consider so-called A-solution (with a lower mass and width of $f_0(600)$ meson) agrees well with prediction of chiral perturbation theory (ChPT) and with data extracted at CERN by the NA48/2 Collaboration from the analysis of the $K_{e4}$ decay and by the DIRAC Collaboration from the measurement of the $\pi^+\pi^-$ lifetime.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures, 6 table