Meson and baryon spectrum for QCD with two light dynamical quarks

We present results of meson and baryon spectroscopy using the Chirally Improved Dirac operator on lattices of size 16**3 x 32 with two mass-degenerate light sea quarks. Three ensembles with pion masses of 322(5), 470(4) and 525(7) MeV and lattice spacings close to 0.15 fm are investigated. Results on ground and excited states for several channels are given, including spin two mesons and hadrons with strange valence quarks. The analysis of the states is done with the variational method, including two kinds of Gaussian sources and derivative sources. We obtain several ground states fairly precisely and find radial excitations in various channels. Excited baryon results seem to suffer from finite size effects, in particular at small pion masses. We discuss the possible appearance of scattering states in various channels, considering masses and eigenvectors. Partially quenched results in the scalar channel suggest the presence of a 2-particle state, however, in most channels we cannot identify them. Where available, we compare our results to results of quenched simulations using the same action.Comment: 27 pages, 29 figures, 11 table

Das Ehrenamt im Umfeld der Familie: die Bedeutung ehrenamtlicher Leistungen für junge Familien

"Freiwilligenarbeit ist ein Thema, das in den vergangenen Jahren zunehmende Aufmerksam-keit in der öffentlichen Diskussion und der Forschung erhalten hat. Das Internationale Jahr der Freiwilligen unterstreicht diese Entwicklung. Mit der vorliegenden Studie soll eine Fragestellung aufgegriffen werden, die bislang im Kontext der Freiwilligen-Forschung vernachlässigt wurde, nämlich: Welche Rolle spielt die Freiwilligenarbeit für Familien? Im Rahmen der Studie wird dabei Freiwilligenarbeit fokussiert, die Familien mit minderjährigen Kindern im Kontext von Betreuungs- und Erziehungsleistungen unterstützt. Dabei wird davon ausgegangen, dass die Arbeit von Freiwilligen einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Entlastung von jungen Familien leistet und die Bedeutung von Freiwilligenarbeit künftig noch weiter steigen wird. Folgende konkrete Fragestellungen werden bearbeitet: In welchen Bereichen und in welchem Umfang kommt Freiwilligenarbeit jungen Familien zu Gute? Welche Menschen engagieren sich für junge Familien und welche Motive sind für ihr Engagement ausschlaggebend? In welche Strukturen ist das Engagement eingebunden und welche Probleme, Chancen und Perspektiven der Freiwilligenarbeit für junge Familien werden aus Sicht von Expertinnen und Experten wahrgenommen?" (Textauszug

Hadron Spectroscopy with Dynamical Chirally Improved Fermions

We simulate two dynamical, mass degenerate light quarks on 16^3x32 lattices with a spatial extent of 2.4 fm using the Chirally Improved Dirac operator. The simulation method, the implementation of the action and signals of equilibration are discussed in detail. Based on the eigenvalues of the Dirac operator we discuss some qualitative features of our approach. Results for ground state masses of pseudoscalar and vector mesons as well as for the nucleon and delta baryons are presented.Comment: 26 pages, 17 figures, 10 table

Excitations of single-beauty hadrons

In this work we study the predominantly orbital and radial excitations of hadrons containing a single heavy quark. We present meson and baryon mass splittings and ratios of meson decay constants (e.g., $f_{B_s}/f_B$ and $f_{B_s'}/f_{B_s}$) resulting from quenched and dynamical two-flavor configurations. Light quarks are simulated using the chirally improved (CI) lattice Dirac operator at valence masses as light as $M_\pi \approx 350$ MeV. The heavy quark is approximated by a static propagator, appropriate for the $b$ quark on our lattices ($1/a \sim 1-2$ GeV). We also include some preliminary calculations of the $O(1/m_Q^{})$ kinetic corrections to the states, showing, in the process, a viable way of applying the variational method to three-point functions involving excited states. We compare our results with recent experimental findings.Comment: 23 pages, 18 figures, 17 tables; slight title change (Ed. killjoy); reference added; version to appear in Phys Rev

A Heat‐Activated Drug‐Delivery Platform Based on Phosphatidyl‐(oligo)‐glycerol Nanocarrier for Effective Cancer Treatment

The potential of cancer drugs is not fully exploited due to low tumor uptake and occurrence of systemic side effects, limiting maximum tolerated dose. Actively targeted nanocarriers improve efficacy while minimizing off‐target toxicity. Herein, it is the first time a drug‐delivery platform for heat‐triggered intravascular drug release is described, based on synthetic phosphatidyl‐(oligo)‐glycerols from organic synthesis to preclinical investigation in feline patients. For the nanocarrier formulated doxorubicin (DOX), superior tumor drug delivery and antitumor activity compared with free DOX, conventional liposomal DOX (Caelyx), and temperature‐sensitive lysolipid‐containing DOX‐liposomes in rat sarcoma are demonstrated. In a comparative oncological study with neoadjuvant treatment of feline sarcoma, a metabolic response determined with 18 F‐FDG‐positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) and histopathological response after tumor resection are significantly better compared with free DOX, potentially by overcoming drug resistance based on improved intratumoral drug distribution. This novel drug‐delivery platform has great potential for the treatment of locally advanced tumors in humans