Five-quark components in baryons

Evidence has been accumulating for the existence of significant intrinsic non-perturbative five-quark components in various baryons. The inclusion of the five-quark components gives a natural explanation of the excess of $\bar d$ over $\bar u$, significant quark orbital angular momentum in the proton, the problematic mass and decay pattern of the lowest $1/2^-$ baryon nonet, etc.. A breathing mode of $qqq\leftrightarrow qqqq\bar q$ is suggested for the lowest $1/2^-$ baryon octet. Evidence of a predicted member of the new scheme, $\Sigma^*(1/2^-)$ around 1380 MeV, is introduced.Comment: invited plenary talk at the 10th International Conference on Hypernuclear and Strange Particle Physics (HypX09) September 14th - 18th, 2009, Tokai, Ibaraki, Japa

Special Issue Call for Papers: Mathematics and Society

The Journal of Humanistic Mathematics (http://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/) is pleased to announce a call for papers for a special issue on Mathematics and Society. Please send your initial proposal submissions via email to the guest editors by August 15, 2022. Initial submission of complete manuscripts is due December 15, 2022. The issue is currently scheduled to appear in July 2023

An anisotropic elastoplastic model for soft clays based on logarithmic contractancy

A new constitutive model for soft structured clays is developed based on an existing model called S-CLAY1S, which is a Cam Clay type model that accounts for anisotropy and destructuration. The new model (E-SCLAY1S) uses the framework of logarithmic contractancy to introduce a new parameter that controls the shape of the yield surface as well as the plastic potential (as an assumed associated flow rule is applied). This new parameter can be used to fit the coefficient of earth pressure at rest, the undrained shear strength or the stiffness under shearing stress paths predicted by the model. The improvement to previous constitutive models that account for soil fabric and bonding is formulated within the contractancy framework such that the model predicts the uniqueness of the critical state line and its slope is independent of the contractancy parameter. Good agreement has been found between the model predictions and published laboratory results for triaxial compression tests. An important finding is that the contractancy parameter, and consequently the shape of the yield surface, seem to change with the degree of anisotropy; however, further study is required to investigate this response. From published data, the yield surface for isotropically consolidated clays seems “bullet” or “almond” shaped, similar to that of the Cam Clay model; while for anisotropically consolidated clays, the yield surface is more elliptical, like a rotated and distorted Modified Cam Clay yield surface

Heat and health in Antwerp under climate change: Projected impacts and implications for prevention

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;BACKGROUND: &lt;/b&gt;Excessive summer heat is a serious environmental health problem in several European cities. Heat-related mortality and morbidity is likely to increase under climate change scenarios without adequate prevention based on locally relevant evidence.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;METHODS: &lt;/b&gt;We modelled the urban climate of Antwerp for the summer season during the period 1986-2015, and projected summer daily temperatures for two periods, one in the near (2026-2045) and one in the far future (2081-2100), under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5. We then analysed the relationship between temperature and mortality, as well as with hospital admissions for the period 2009-2013, and estimated the projected mortality in the near future and far future periods under changing climate and population, assuming alternatively no acclimatization and acclimatization based on a constant threshold percentile temperature.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;RESULTS: &lt;/b&gt;During the sample period 2009-2013 we observed an increase in daily mortality from a maximum daily temperature of 26°C, or the 89th percentile of the maximum daily temperature series. The annual average heat-related mortality in this period was 13.4 persons (95% CI: 3.8-23.4). No effect of heat was observed in the case of hospital admissions due to cardiorespiratory causes. Under a no acclimatization scenario, annual average heat-related mortality is multiplied by a factor of 1.7 in the near future (24.1deaths/year CI 95%: 6.78-41.94) and by a factor of 4.5 in the far future (60.38deaths/year CI 95%: 17.00-105.11). Under a heat acclimatization scenario, mortality does not increase significantly in the near or in the far future.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;CONCLUSION: &lt;/b&gt;These results highlight the importance of a long-term perspective in the public health prevention of heat exposure, particularly in the context of a changing climate, and the calibration of existing prevention activities in light of locally relevant evidence.&lt;/p&gt;</p

TAO Conceptual Design Report: A Precision Measurement of the Reactor Antineutrino Spectrum with Sub-percent Energy Resolution

The Taishan Antineutrino Observatory (TAO, also known as JUNO-TAO) is a satellite experiment of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO). A ton-level liquid scintillator detector will be placed at about 30 m from a core of the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant. The reactor antineutrino spectrum will be measured with sub-percent energy resolution, to provide a reference spectrum for future reactor neutrino experiments, and to provide a benchmark measurement to test nuclear databases. A spherical acrylic vessel containing 2.8 ton gadolinium-doped liquid scintillator will be viewed by 10 m^2 Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) of &gt;50% photon detection efficiency with almost full coverage. The photoelectron yield is about 4500 per MeV, an order higher than any existing large-scale liquid scintillator detectors. The detector operates at -50 degree C to lower the dark noise of SiPMs to an acceptable level. The detector will measure about 2000 reactor antineutrinos per day, and is designed to be well shielded from cosmogenic backgrounds and ambient radioactivities to have about 10% background-to-signal ratio. The experiment is expected to start operation in 2022

Late-stage diagnosis of HIV infection in Brazilian children: evidence from two national cohort studies

This study analyzed data from two consecutive retrospective cohort samples (1983 to 1998 and 1999 to 2002) of Brazilian children with AIDS (N = 1,758) through mother-to-child-transmission. Late-stage diagnosis (CDC category C) was investigated in relation to the following variables: year of birth, year of HIV diagnosis, and time periods related to changes in government treatment guidelines. Late-stage diagnosis occurred in 731 (41.6%) of cases and was more prevalent in infants under 12 months of age. The rate of late-stage diagnosis decreased from 48% to 36% between the two periods studied. We also observed a reduction in the proportion of late-stage diagnoses and the time lapse between HIV diagnosis and ART initiation. A significant association was found between timely diagnosis and having been born in recent years (OR = 0.62; p = 0.009) and year of HIV diagnosis (OR = 0.72; p = 0.002/OR = 0.62; p < 0.001). Infants under the age of 12 months were more likely to be diagnosed at a late stage than older children (OR = 1.70; p = 0.004). Despite advances, there is a need to improve the effectiveness of policies and programs focused on improving early diagnosis and management of HIV/AIDS

Emended descriptions of Bacillus sporothermodurans and Bacillus oleronius with the inclusion of dairy farm isolates of both species

Bacillus sporothermodurans is an industrially important micro-organism because of its ability to produce endospores which resist ultra high temperature (UHT) and industrial sterilization processes. It was described by Pettersson et al. (1996) based on seven genetically homogeneous isolates all from UHT-milk. Bacillus oleronius, the closest phylogenetic neighbor of B. sporothermodurans, was described by Kuhnigk et al. (1995), based on a single strain, isolated from the hindgut of the termite Reticulitermes santonensis. A polyphasic study of a heterogeneous collection of B. sporothermodurans and B. oleronius strains isolated from various sources and geographic origins led to an emended description of both species. Additional data presented are the results of fatty acids, quinones and/or cell wall analysis (polar lipids). DNA-DNA hybridizations confirmed 3 subgroups of strains obtained after SDS-PAGE analysis of cellular proteins as B. sporothermodurans. One named B. sporothermodurans strain (R-7489) was reclassified as a Bacillus fordii strain. The phenotypic profiles of both species were rather heterogeneous, sometimes different from the original descriptions and did not differ in a large number of characters, although B. oleronius generally gave stronger reactions in its positive tests than did B. sporothermodurans; the variable and weak reactions for both organisms with some substrates blurred the distinction between both. However, differences in polar lipid, SDS-PAGE and menaquinone profiles clearly allow distinction between the two species