Direct CP, T and/or CPT violations in the K^0-\bar{K^0} system - Implications of the recent KTeV results on 2π2\pi decays -

The recent results on the CP violating parameters Re(e'/e) and \Delta\phi = \phi_{00}-\phi_{+-} reported by the KTeV Collaboration are analyzed with a view to constrain CP, T and CPT violations in a decay process. Combining with some relevant data compiled by the Particle Data Group, we find Re(e_2-e_0) = (0.85 +- 3.11)*10^{-4} and Im(e_2-e_0) = (3.2 +- 0.7)*10^{-4}, where Re(e_I) and Im(e_I) represent respectively CP/CPT and CP/T violations in decay of K^0 and \bar{K^0} into a 2\pi state with isospin I.Comment: 7 pages, No figure

Sutureless technique to support anastomosis during thoracic aorta replacement

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In aortic replacement procedures the aortic wall and Teflon strips form a double layer, with the use of continuous sutures. Surgical glues may or may not be used to enhance the durability of the anastomoses. In this technical report a modification of the aortic stumps preparation is devised.</p> <p>The technique reduces substantially the preparation time of the aortic stumps by the use of ligation clips and a surgical sealant.</p> <p>Technique</p> <p>Suturing is the standard method for the aortic-teflon double-layer formation prior to Dacron anastomosis. In this study, instead of suturing, 5-6 ligation clips are primarily applied on the exterior of the double layer to facilitate proper cooptation. Secondarily, in order to fuse the two layers together, a sealant is injected in between the Teflon and aortic wall. Thus each stump is delivered quickly sutureless for the Dacron anastomosis.</p> <p>Between January 2003 and March 2009 this modified operative technique was performed in 14 cases (group A) with a mean age of 50 ± 16 years. This was contrasted against 24 controls (group B), with a mean age of 40 ± 28 years, treated with the conventional method, where only continuous sutures were used during the anastomosis. All patients were cases of ascending aorta replacement and/or aortic hemi-arch replacement, for acute aortic dissection or aortic dilatation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The pure anastomosis time (stump preparation and Dacron connection) was shortened by approximately 25 minutes depending on surgeon's experience. The anastomosis blood-loss was also significantly reduced in the sutureless group A, as evident by the dry operative field and the limited use of blood products, post-prosthetic graft anastomosis. This reflected to a faster post-operative recovery, faster extubation and fewer complications. At a mean follow-up of 21 ± 7 days, there were no post-operative deaths being related to acute aortic dissection or rupture of the anastomotic site.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Aortic replacement with the combination of ligation clips and a surgical sealant vs. sutures alone allows easy manipulations of the aorta and adaptation of the diameters, thus optimizing aortic operational timings and hemostasis. Moreover, it prevents blood loss and aortic wall trauma from multiple sutures.</p

Postoperative peri-axillary seroma following axillary artery cannulation for surgical treatment of acute type A aortic dissection

The arterial cannulation site for optimal tissue perfusion and cerebral protection during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) for surgical treatment of acute type A aortic dissection remains controversial. Right axillary artery cannulation confers significant advantages, because it provides antegrade arterial perfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass, and allows continuous antegrade cerebral perfusion during hypothermic circulatory arrest, thereby minimizing global cerebral ischemia. However, right axillary artery cannulation has been associated with serious complications, including problems with systemic perfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass, problems with postoperative patency of the artery due to stenosis, thrombosis or dissection, and brachial plexus injury. We herein present the case of a 36-year-old Caucasian man with known Marfan syndrome and acute type A aortic dissection, who had direct right axillary artery cannulation for surgery of the ascending aorta. Postoperatively, the patient developed an axillary perigraft seroma. As this complication has, not, to our knowledge, been reported before in cardiothoracic surgery, we describe this unusual complication and discuss conservative and surgical treatment options

A Review of the "Digital Turn" in the New Literacy Studies

Digital communication has transformed literacy practices and assumed great importance in the functioning of workplace, recreational, and community contexts. This article reviews a decade of empirical work of the New Literacy Studies, identifying the shift toward research of digital literacy applications. The article engages with the central theoretical, methodological, and pragmatic challenges in the tradition of New Literacy Studies, while highlighting the distinctive trends in the digital strand. It identifies common patterns across new literacy practices through cross-comparisons of ethnographic research in digital media environments. It examines ways in which this research is taking into account power and pedagogy in normative contexts of literacy learning using the new media. Recommendations are given to strengthen the links between New Literacy Studies research and literacy curriculum, assessment, and accountability in the 21st century

Findings of a review of spacecraft fire safety needs

Discussions from a workshop to guide UCLA and NASA investigators on the state of knowledge and perceived needs in spacecraft fire safety and its risk management are reviewed, for an introduction to an analytical and experimental project in this field. The report summarizes the workshop discussions and includes the visual aids used in the presentations. Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) methods, which are currently not used, would be of great value to the designs and operation of future human-crew spacecraft. Key points in the discussions were the importance of understanding and testing smoldering as a likely fire scenario in space and the need for smoke damage modeling, since many fire-risk models ignore this mechanism and consider only heat damage

A test of Local Realism with entangled kaon pairs and without inequalities

We propose the use of entangled pairs of neutral kaons, considered as a promising tool to close the well known loopholes affecting generic Bell's inequality tests, in a specific Hardy-type experiment. Hardy's contradiction without inequalities between Local Realism and Quantum Mechanics can be translated into a feasible experiment by requiring ideal detection efficiencies for only one of the observables to be alternatively measured. Neutral kaons are near to fulfil this requirement and therefore to close the efficiency loophole.Comment: 4 RevTeX page

Water-related ecosystems' mapping and assessment based on remote sensing techniques and geospatial analysis: The SWOS national service case of the Greek Ramsar sites and their catchments

Water-related ecosystems' mapping and assessment based on remote sensing techniques and geospatial analysis: The SWOS national service case of the Greek Ramsar sites and their catchments. Remote Sensing of Environment 245 (2020) 111795. doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.11179

Finite-size scaling of the helicity modulus of the two-dimensional O(3) model

Using Monte Carlo methods, we compute the finite-size scaling function of the helicity modulus $\Upsilon$ of the two-dimensional O(3) model and compare it to the low temperature expansion prediction. From this, we estimate the range of validity for the leading terms of the low temperature expansion of the finite-size scaling function and for the low temperature expansion of the correlation length. Our results strongly suggest that a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition at a temperature $T > 0$ is extremely unlikely in this model.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Postscript figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. B Jan. 1997 as a Brief Repor