313 Can patient-reported health-related quality of life predict survival in cystic fibrosis?

Monthly newsletter of the BU Medical Campu

Homoeologous chromosomal location of the genes encoding thionins in wheat and rye

Thionins are high sulphur basic polypeptides present in the endosperm of Gramineae. In wheat there are three thionins encoded by genes located in the long arms of chromosomes 1A, 1B and 1D. Rye has one thionin encoded by a gene which has been assigned to chromosome 1R after analysis of the Imperial-Chinese Spring rye-wheat disomic addition lines. Commercial varieties and experimental stocks with a 1B/1R substitution carry the thionin from rye ( R) instead of the B thionin from wheat. The R thionin gene is not located in the large chromosomal segment representing most of the short arm of chromosome 1R

Two-point functions for SU(3) Polyakov Loops near T_c

We discuss the behavior of two point functions for Polyakov loops in a SU(3) gauge theory about the critical temperature, T_c. From a Z(3) model, in mean field theory we obtain a prediction for the ratio of masses at T_c, extracted from correlation functions for the imaginary and real parts of the Polyakov loop. This ratio is m_i/m_r = 3 if the potential only includes terms up to quartic order in the Polyakov loop; its value changes as pentic and hexatic interactions become important. The Polyakov Loop Model then predicts how m_i/m_r changes above T_c.Comment: 5 pages, no figures; reference adde

Quantity and Fate of Water Salvage as a Result of Saltcedar Control on the Pecos River in Texas

This report presents results for the Subtask 3.3 of the Pecos River Basin Assessment Project sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB). The overall objective of Subtask 3.3 is to examine the hydrologic impacts of Tamarix spp. (saltcedar) control along a 5 km segment of the Pecos River near Mentone, Texas. This report is also based on work supported in part by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreements No. 2005-34461-15661 and No. 2005-45049-03209, Texas Cooperative Extension (TCE), and Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES). As part of the deliverables of this project, an existing monitoring network of 8 wells was examined and enhanced with 9 additional wells equipped with water level loggers. Land surface profile and piezometric surface profile were developed to characterize interaction of surface and groundwater for different seasons as well as for verification of monitored water levels. Flow measurements were conducted during a release of water from Red Bluff Reservoir in March 2005 to determine losses or gains within the selected reach. Continued water level monitoring data provide more detailed information about water exchange between surface water and groundwater under different flow conditions. Correlation analyses of river stage and groundwater levels in monitoring boreholes provided further insight. Results show that the river is hydraulically connected with shallow groundwater for this 5 km segment, which is comprised of Sites A and B, near Mentone, Texas in Loving County. Generally, the river is losing water to the aquifer at both sites. A gentle hydraulic gradient exists on the east bank of the river while a steeper gradient occurs on the west bank probably due to different hydrological properties of soils. Seepage from the river not only recharges the shallow aquifer, but also creates groundwater flow parallel to the channel, which may eventually discharge back to the river downstream. The reversed hydraulic gradients also demonstrate complexity of the dynamic relationship between the river and the aquifer. Water loss at the treated Site A decreased dramatically following saltcedar control in 2001, and remained very low through 2004. This study conservatively estimates water salvage of 0.5 – 1.0 acre feet per acre from control of saltcedar at this particular site. Salvaged water most likely contributes to aquifer recharge rather than increased streamflow. Vegetation return in the form of native grasses and saltcedar re-growth at Site A may be the cause of corresponding increases in water loss in 2005 and 2006. Site A may also be affected by the untreated adjacent upriver segment (Site B), resulting in over-estimated water loss. Although the saltcedar water loss and salvage estimates presented here are believed to be conservative, the extreme differences in yearly site conditions throughout the study made it difficult to compare pre and post treatment calculations with confidence. It is recommended that additional flow measurements for longer reaches, enhanced monitoring of surface water and groundwater interaction, and further studies on hydrological impacts of saltcedar control be conducted. For future studies using the paired plot method, it is recommended that both sites be logged for at least 3 years prior to treatment. To reduce the potential for upriver treatment affect on downriver study areas, it is recommended that hydrological and ecological conditions immediately upstream of each plot be alike.U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Boar

Does the QCD plasma contain propagating gluons?

Comparison of two appropriately chosen screening masses of colour singlet operators in the pure glue QCD plasma indicates that at sufficiently high temperature it contains a weakly-interacting massive quasi-particle with the quantum numbers of the electric gluon. Still in the deconfined phase, but closer to T_c, the same mass ratio is similar to that at zero temperature, indicating that the propagating modes are more glueball-like, albeit with a lower scale for the masses. We observe a continuity between these two regimes.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Measurement of the Charged Multiplicities in b, c and Light Quark Events from Z0 Decays

Average charged multiplicities have been measured separately in $b$, $c$ and light quark ($u,d,s$) events from $Z^0$ decays measured in the SLD experiment. Impact parameters of charged tracks were used to select enriched samples of $b$ and light quark events, and reconstructed charmed mesons were used to select $c$ quark events. We measured the charged multiplicities: $\bar{n}_{uds} = 20.21 \pm 0.10 (\rm{stat.})\pm 0.22(\rm{syst.})$, $\bar{n}_{c} = 21.28 \pm 0.46(\rm{stat.}) ^{+0.41}_{-0.36}(\rm{syst.})$ $\bar{n}_{b} = 23.14 \pm 0.10(\rm{stat.}) ^{+0.38}_{-0.37}(\rm{syst.})$, from which we derived the differences between the total average charged multiplicities of $c$ or $b$ quark events and light quark events: $\Delta \bar{n}_c = 1.07 \pm 0.47(\rm{stat.})^{+0.36}_{-0.30}(\rm{syst.})$ and $\Delta \bar{n}_b = 2.93 \pm 0.14(\rm{stat.})^{+0.30}_{-0.29}(\rm{syst.})$. We compared these measurements with those at lower center-of-mass energies and with perturbative QCD predictions. These combined results are in agreement with the QCD expectations and disfavor the hypothesis of flavor-independent fragmentation.Comment: 19 pages LaTex, 4 EPS figures, to appear in Physics Letters

D* Production in Deep Inelastic Scattering at HERA

This paper presents measurements of D^{*\pm} production in deep inelastic scattering from collisions between 27.5 GeV positrons and 820 GeV protons. The data have been taken with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The decay channel $D^{*+}\to (D^0 \to K^- \pi^+) \pi^+$ (+ c.c.) has been used in the study. The $e^+p$ cross section for inclusive D^{*\pm} production with $5<Q^2<100 GeV^2$ and $y<0.7$ is 5.3 \pms 1.0 \pms 0.8 nb in the kinematic region {$1.3<p_T(D^{*\pm})<9.0$ GeV and $| \eta(D^{*\pm}) |<1.5$}. Differential cross sections as functions of p_T(D^{*\pm}), $\eta(D^{*\pm}), W$ and $Q^2$ are compared with next-to-leading order QCD calculations based on the photon-gluon fusion production mechanism. After an extrapolation of the cross section to the full kinematic region in p_T(D^{*\pm}) and $\eta$(D^{*\pm}), the charm contribution $F_2^{c\bar{c}}(x,Q^2)$ to the proton structure function is determined for Bjorken $x$ between 2 $\cdot$ 10$^{-4}$ and 5 $\cdot$ 10$^{-3}$.Comment: 17 pages including 4 figure

Observation of Scaling Violations in Scaled Momentum Distributions at HERA

Charged particle production has been measured in deep inelastic scattering (DIS) events over a large range of $x$ and $Q^2$ using the ZEUS detector. The evolution of the scaled momentum, $x_p$, with $Q^2,$ in the range 10 to 1280 $GeV^2$, has been investigated in the current fragmentation region of the Breit frame. The results show clear evidence, in a single experiment, for scaling violations in scaled momenta as a function of $Q^2$.Comment: 21 pages including 4 figures, to be published in Physics Letters B. Two references adde