The bermions: an approach to lattice QCD dynamical fermions from negative flavour numbers

We estimate the effects of dynamical fermions by extrapolating to positive flavour numbers the results from negative values obtained by adding to the pure gauge sector a fermion action where the fields obey a Bose statistics: the bermions.Comment: 21 pages, uuencoded PS file, 11 figures include

Target Independence of the Emc-SMC Effect

An approach to deep inelastic scattering is described in which the matrix elements arising from the operator product expansion are factorised into composite operator propagators and proper vertex functions. In the case of polarised \m p scattering, the composite operator propagator is identified with the square root of the QCD topological susceptibility $\sqrt{\chi^{\prime}(0)}$, while the corresponding proper vertex is a renormalisation group invariant. We estimate $\chi^{\prime}(0)$ using QCD spectral sum rules and find that it is significantly suppressed relative to the OZI expectation. Assuming OZI is a good approximation for the proper vertex, our predictions, \int_{0}^{1}dx g_1^p (x;Q^2=10\GV^2)= 0.143 \pm 0.005 and $G^{(0)}_A \equiv \Delta \Sigma = 0.353 \pm 0.052$, are in excellent agreement with the new SMC data. This result, together with one confirming the validity of the OZI rule in the \hp radiative decay, supports our earlier conjecture that the suppression in the flavour singlet component of the first moment of $g_1^p$ observed by the EMC-SMC collaboration is a target-independent feature of QCD related to the $U(1)$ anomaly and is not a property of the proton structure. As a corollary, we extract the magnitude of higher twist effects from the neutron and Bjorken sum rules.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures available on request

Measurement of the Neutron Spin Structure Function g1ng_1^n with a Polarized ^3He Target

Results are reported from the HERMES experiment at HERA on a measurement of the neutron spin structure function $g_1^n(x,Q^2)$ in deep inelastic scattering using 27.5 GeV longitudinally polarized positrons incident on a polarized $^3$He internal gas target. The data cover the kinematic range $0.023<x<0.6$ and $1 (GeV/c)^2 < Q^2 <15 (GeV/c)^2$. The integral $\int_{0.023}^{0.6} g_1^n(x) dx$ evaluated at a fixed $Q^2$ of $2.5 (GeV/c)^2$ is $-0.034\pm 0.013(stat.)\pm 0.005(syst.)$. Assuming Regge behavior at low $x$, the first moment $\Gamma_1^n=\int_0^1 g_1^n(x) dx$ is $-0.037\pm 0.013(stat.)\pm 0.005(syst.)\pm 0.006(extrapol.)$.Comment: 4 pages TEX, text available at http://www.krl.caltech.edu/preprints/OAP.htm

Environment and Rural Affairs Monitoring & Modelling Programme – ERAMMP Year 1 Report 12TA1: ‘Quick Start’ Modelling (Phase 1) Technical Annex.

Farmscoper is a decision support tool that can be used to assess diffuse agricultural pollutant loads on a farm and quantify the impacts of farm mitigation methods on these pollutants. The farm systems within the tool can be customised to reflect management and environmental conditions representative of farming across England and Wales. The tool contains over 100 mitigation methods, including many of those in the latest Defra Mitigation Method User Guide

The relationship between white matter microstructure and general cognitive ability in patients with schizophrenia and healthy participants in the ENIGMA Consortium

Objective: Schizophrenia has recently been associated with widespread white matter microstructural abnormalities, but the functional effects of these abnormalities remain unclear. Widespread heterogeneity of results from studies published to date preclude any definitive characterization of the relationship between white matter and cognitive performance in schizophrenia. Given the relevance of deficits in cognitive function to predicting social and functional outcomes in schizophrenia, the authors carried out a meta-analysis of available data through the ENIGMA Consortium, using a common analysis pipeline, to elucidate the relationship between white matter microstructure and a measure of general cognitive performance, IQ, in patients with schizophrenia and healthy participants. Methods: The meta-analysis included 760 patients with schizophrenia and 957 healthy participants from 11 participating ENIGMA Consortium sites. For each site, principal component analysis was used to calculate both a global fractional anisotropy component (gFA) and a fractional anisotropy component for six long association tracts (LA-gFA) previously associated with cognition. Results: Meta-analyses of regression results indicated that gFA accounted for a significant amount of variation in cognition in the full sample (effect size [Hedges’ g]=0.27, CI=0.17–0.36), with similar effects sizes observed for both the patient (effect size=0.20, CI=0.05–0.35) and healthy participant groups (effect size=0.32, CI=0.18–0.45). Comparable patterns of association were also observed between LA-gFA and cognition for the full sample (effect size=0.28, CI=0.18–0.37), the patient group (effect size=0.23, CI=0.09–0.38), and the healthy participant group (effect size=0.31, CI=0.18–0.44). Conclusions: This study provides robust evidence that cognitive ability is associated with global structural connectivity, with higher fractional anisotropy associated with higher IQ. This association was independent of diagnosis; while schizophrenia patients tended to have lower fractional anisotropy and lower IQ than healthy participants, the comparable size of effect in each group suggested a more general, rather than disease-specific, pattern of association

Environment and Rural Affairs Monitoring & Modelling Programme – ERAMMP Year 1 Report 12: ‘Quick Start’ Modelling (Phase 1)

The potential impact of Brexit on the farming sector and wider environment is just one of the many challenges facing the Welsh Government. There are a range of decision and modelling tools which can be used to explore potential outcomes and the areas at risk where the environmental regulatory floor needs to be enhanced or social transition programmes put in place. The same tools can also be used to explore a range of ‘what if’ scenarios for different land management options which could be included in new Payment for Ecosystem Service (PES) schemes or in national land management payment schemes to replace CAP. To meet this challenge in Wales, a partnership between the Welsh Government, their stakeholders and a consortium of research organisations led by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) was formed. This partnership, called ERAMMP, (https://erammp.wales/en) combined expert knowledge and a range of decision and modelling tools to examine potential changes in agricultural land use that might result from Brexit, and to explore potential benefits of new land management options

SPIN-DEPENDENT NUCLEAR STRUCTURE FUNCTIONS: GENERAL APPROACH WITH APPLICATION TO THE DEUTERON

We study deep-inelastic scattering from polarized nuclei within a covariant framework. A clear connection is established between relativistic and non-relativistic limits, which enables a rigorous derivation of convolution formulae for the spin-dependent nuclear structure functions g_1^A and g_2^A in terms of off-mass-shell extrapolations of polarized nucleon structure functions, g_1^N and g_2^N. Approximate expressions for g_{1,2}^A are obtained by expanding the off-shell g_{1,2}^N about their on-shell limits. As an application of the formalism we consider nuclear effects in the deuteron, knowledge of which is necessary to obtain accurate information on the spin-dependent structure functions of the neutron.Comment: 26 pages RevTeX, 9 figures available upon reques

Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: A Synopsis of Coordinated National Crop Wild Relative Seed Collecting Programs across Five Continents

The Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change Project set out to improve the diversity, quantity, and accessibility of germplasm collections of crop wild relatives (CWR). Between 2013 and 2018, partners in 25 countries, heirs to the globetrotting legacy of Nikolai Vavilov, undertook seed collecting expeditions targeting CWR of 28 crops of global significance for agriculture. Here, we describe the implementation of the 25 national collecting programs and present the key results. A total of 4587 unique seed samples from at least 355 CWR taxa were collected, conserved ex situ, safety duplicated in national and international genebanks, and made available through the Multilateral System (MLS) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Plant Treaty). Collections of CWR were made for all 28 targeted crops. Potato and eggplant were the most collected genepools, although the greatest number of primary genepool collections were made for rice. Overall, alfalfa, Bambara groundnut, grass pea and wheat were the genepools for which targets were best achieved. Several of the newly collected samples have already been used in pre-breeding programs to adapt crops to future challenges.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A multi-center study on the attitudes of Malaysian emergency health care staff towards allowing family presence during resuscitation of adult patients

BACKGROUND The practice of allowing family members to witness on-going active resuscitation has been gaining ground in many developed countries since it was first introduced in the early 1990s. In many Asian countries, the acceptability of this practice has not been well studied. AIM We conducted a multi-center questionnaire study to determine the attitudes of health care professionals in Malaysia towards family presence to witness ongoing medical procedures during resuscitation. METHODS Using a bilingual questionnaire (in Malay and English language), we asked our respondents about their attitudes towards allowing family presence (FP) as well as their actual experience of requests from families to be allowed to witness resuscitations. Multiple logistic regression was used to analyze the association between the many variables and a positive attitude towards FP. RESULTS Out of 300 health care professionals who received forms, 270 responded (a 90% response rate). Generally only 15.8% of our respondents agreed to allow relatives to witness resuscitations, although more than twice the number (38.5%) agreed that relatives do have a right to be around during resuscitation. Health care providers are significantly more likely to allow FP if the procedures are perceived as likely to be successful (e.g., intravenous cannulation and blood taking as compared to chest tube insertion). Doctors were more than twice as likely as paramedics to agree to FP (p-value = 0.002). This is probably due to the Malaysian work culture in our health care systems in which paramedics usually adopt a 'follow-the-leader' attitude in their daily practice. CONCLUSION The concept of allowing FP is not well accepted among our Malaysian health care providers