Isospin splitting in heavy baryons and mesons

A recent general analysis of light-baryon isospin splittings is updated and extended to charmed baryons. The measured $\Sigma_c$ and $\Xi_c$ splittings stand out as being difficult to understand in terms of two-body forces alone. We also discuss heavy-light mesons; though the framework here is necessarily less general, we nevertheless obtain some predictions that are not strongly model-dependent.Comment: 12 pages REVTEX 3, plus 4 uuencoded ps figures, CMU-HEP93-

Estudio de la Situación de la Lectura Comprensiva en alumnos de Estudios Generales de la Facultad de Humanidades, del Centro Regional Universitario de Veraguas".

Se trata de un estudio de la comprensión lectora de los estudiantes de Estudios Generales de la Facultad de Humanidades, en el Centro Regional Universitario de Veraguas, sobre la base de la consideración del bajo o regular rendimiento académico atribuido especialmente a la deficiencia en esta habilidad cognitiva. Se fundamenta en estudios realizados y en opiniones de investigadores de la materia sumados a la preocupación de la necesidad de fomentar y desarrollar en los estudiantes el proceso de lectura comprensiva pues es la base de los aprendizajes, y de la formación autónoma y regulada Incluye la lectura como estrategia cognitiva para el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje clases de lecturas importancia de la comprensión lectora el rendimiento académico y la comprensión lectora la intervención docente y la motivación entre otros aspectos Se enfatiza en la necesidad de valorar la lectura como estrategia para aprender a aprender y para alcanzar un mayor rendimiento en las actividades donde se requiere esta destreza que constituye una forma de autoaprendizaje autónomo y regulado Al final se ofrece una propuesta para el mejoramiento de esta habilidad cognitiva en los estudiantes no solo de Estudios Generales sino de todo el Centro

Ambulance Response Time at Three Selected Tertiary Hospitals In Malaysia: Performance of Hospital-Based Ambulance Equipped With Computerized Call Centre System

AbstractIntroduction. The importance of rapid ambulance response to emergency medical crises is undeniable and early access to advanced care is a crucial to safe life. Modern computerized call centre and the hospital based ambulance are believed to enhance the quality of service delivery. However, whether it will further reduce the response time is debatable.Methodology. A cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2012 until July 2012 at three selected tertiary hospitals in Malaysia. The aims were to determine and compare the association of response time in the hospital based ambulance and community-based ambulance and hospital with computerized call centre system and the call centre using voice only respectively. The ambulance response time was expressed in a median and interquartile range (IQR) and Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine the associations between types of ambulance and computerized call centre system versus voice only. Wilcoxon Rank Sign Test was used to assess the significance of means difference.Result. A hospital-based ambulance had the median of 0.19 minutes while community-based ambulance had the median of 0.20 minutes (The Z score - 0.916, P value - 0.360). The hospital with computer call centre had the median of 0.19 minutes while hospital without computer call centre had the median of 0.20 minutes (The Z score - 0.816, P value - 0.414).Conclusions. The response time of hospital-based ambulance equipped with computerized call center system is comparable in three selected tertiary hospitals in Malaysia. Keywords: Ambulance response time; Hospital-based ambulance; computerised call centre

BTZ-copolymer loaded graphene aerogel as new type Green and metal-freevisible light photocatalyst

This paper reports a new class of efficient, green and metal-free visible-light photocatalyst made from graphene aerogel (GA) doped with a conjugated porous polymer (CMPs). Hence, we report the synthesis of a benzothiadiazole (BTZ)-based CMP loaded into GA via a one-step hydrothermal reaction between 2D graphene oxide (GO) and the CMP, performed through a green process and under mild conditions. The as-prepared GA showed a bathochromic shift in the UV–vis diffraction reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) absorption edge to 628.5 nm, demonstrating its ability to absorb light in the visible region. SEM, TEM, XPS, EDX mapping results further showed the successful loading of the BTZ-based CMP in the GA array. The synthesized GA was used as a 3D structured photocatalyst for the visible-light-driven photodecomposition of methyl orange (MO) with an efficiency of 89.2% (5 wt% CMP). When compared to that of the pure CMP (86.9%), a comparable yet small increase in the efficiency was observed. This is due to a synergistic effect between GO and loaded polymer in GA array upon the formation of CMPGA hybrid structure via chemical interaction between BTZ-Py and GO throughout the mild hydrothermal reaction, and the enhanced photocatalytic activity exhibited from 1 mg equivalent polymer in the CMPGA2 hybrid when compared to the 20 mg pure polymer. Upon repeated use, the depreciation in photocatalytic activity was low with a <5% drop over 3 cycles. These results showed the CMP-loaded GA as an efficient metal-free photocatalyst and a promising material for further investigation into other photocatalytic applications

Actividades inmobiliarias, empresariales y de alquiler, y su efecto en la economía de Panamá.

The main objective of this research is to examine the importance and contribution of the "K" sector corresponding to "Real estate, business and rental activities" in Panama during the period 2007-2015; for this, the relationship between the GDP of the K sector and the national GDP is sought.On the other hand, the participation of each province within the sector "Real estate, business and rental activities" is analyzed.With these data of similar characteristics, the level of competition of the sector is estimated, with respect to the national economyEl principal objetivo de esta investigación es examinar la importancia y aporte del sector “K” correspondiente a “Actividades inmobiliarias, empresariales y de alquiler” en Panamá durante el periodo 2007-2015; para ello, se busca la relación entre el PIB del sector K y el PIB a nivel nacional. &nbsp;Por otra parte, se analiza la participación de cada provincia dentro del sector “Actividades inmobiliarias, empresariales y de alquiler”. &nbsp;Con estos datos de características similares, se estima el nivel de competencia del sector, con respecto a la economía naciona

Effects of upward and downward social comparison information on the efficacy of an appearance-based sun protection intervention: a randomized, controlled experiment

This experiment examined the impact of adding upward and/or downward social comparison information on the efficacy of an appearance-based sun protection intervention (UV photos and photoaging information). Southern California college students (N = 126) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: control, intervention, intervention plus upward social comparison, intervention plus downward social comparison. The results demonstrated that all those who received the basic UV photo/photoaging intervention reported greater perceived susceptibility to photoaging (d = .74), less favorable tanning cognitions (d = .44), and greater intentions to sun protect (d = 1.32) relative to controls. Of more interest, while the basic intervention increased sun protective behavior during the subsequent 5 weeks relative to controls (d = .44), the addition of downward comparison information completely negated this benefit. Upward comparison information produced sun protection levels that were only slightly (and nonsignificantly) greater than in the basic intervention condition and, as such, does not appear to be a cost-effective addition. Possible mechanisms that may have reduced the benefits of upward comparison information and contributed to the undermining effects of downward comparison information are discussed

A Potentially Disastrous Life -Threatening Complication of Emergency Tube Thoracostomy in A Simple Case of Spontaneous Pneumothorax

Emergency tube thoracostomy carries risks of infective and technical complications. The aseptic technique is essential to prevent infections, while blunt dissection method can minimise the associated technical complications. Preparation and adherence to protocols as well as appropriate knowledge and skills, however, are of utmost importance to reduce risks of complications. Physicians must have adequate knowledge of anatomy and the procedure to ensure for accurate site tube placement without any complication. This case illustrates how a failure to appropriately use the instrument resulted in a displaced scalpel blade inside the thoracic cavity. It caused an unnecessary thoracotomy for blade retrieval. The mishap escalated a simple procedure to the potentially disastrous life-threatening event

Effectiveness of Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Leptospirosis among Adults: A Systematic Review

Leptospirosis is one of the most widespread re-emerging zoonoses in the world. Malaysia is known to be an endemic country for human leptospirosis, with a case fatality rate of 2.11%, and an average annual incidence rate of 7.80 cases per 100,000 individuals. This systematic review is conducted to determine the effectiveness of antibiotic prophylaxis for leptospirosis among the adult populations who are highly at risk of getting infected. A systematic search was performed for the relevant titles, abstracts and keywords on PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane and Google Scholar from inception to November 2017 based on the PICO strategy; which returned 126 studies. Screening of abstracts had shortlisted 19 studies and data extraction was conducted for 8 studies which had been accepted after review of the full text. For the evaluation of antibiotics prophylaxis effectiveness against leptospirosis, only trials and cohort studies with risk ratio (RR) were selected. The articles were analyzed from the viewpoint of the dosage, adverse effects, study settings and effectiveness of the antibiotic prophylaxis. Using fixed effects model, pooled RR showed protective association between antibiotic prophylaxis use against the incidence of leptospirosis (RR = 0.31; 95% CI: 0.20, 0.48). Antibiotic prophylaxis for leptospirosis had been shown to be effective in preventing the incidence of the disease among high-risk populations and carries minimal adverse effects. It is recommended that the practice of antibiotic prophylaxis for leptospirosis is included in the standard protocol for leptospirosis prevention among people at high-risk, including disaster response teams and patrons of eco-sports tourism activities; with the drug of choice being doxycycline, either as a single 200 mg dose or weekly dose of 200 mg for the duration of exposure, based on the setting, duration of event and resources available

From scalar to string confinement

We outline a connection between scalar quark confinement, a phenomenologically successful concept heretofore lacking fundamental justification, and QCD. Although scalar confinement does not follow from QCD, there is an interesting and close relationship between them. We develop a simple model intermediate between scalar confinement and the QCD string for illustrative purposes. Finally, we find the bound state masses of scalar, time-component vector, and string confinement analytically through semi-classical quantization.Comment: ReVTeX, 9 pages, 5 figure

The running coupling of 8 flavors and 3 colors

We compute the renormalized running coupling of SU(3) gauge theory coupled to N_f = 8 flavors of massless fundamental Dirac fermions. The recently proposed finite volume gradient flow scheme is used. The calculations are performed at several lattice spacings allowing for a controlled continuum extrapolation. The results for the discrete beta-function show that it is monotonic without any sign of a fixed point in the range of couplings we cover. As a cross check the continuum results are compared with the well-known perturbative continuum beta-function for small values of the renormalized coupling and perfect agreement is found.Comment: 15 pages, 17 figures, published versio