396 research outputs found
The adjuvant treatment of kidney cancer: a multidisciplinary outlook
Approximately 70% of cases of kidney cancer are localized or locally advanced at diagnosis. Among patients who undergo surgery for these cancers, 30–35% will eventually develop potentially fatal metachronous distant metastases. Effective adjuvant treatments are urgently needed to reduce the risk of recurrence of kidney cancer and of dying of metastatic disease. To date, almost all of the tested adjuvant agents have failed to demonstrate any benefit. Only two trials of an autologous renal tumour cell vaccine and of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib have shown positive results, but these have been criticized for methodological reasons and conflicting data, respectively. The results of two additional trials of targeted agents as adjuvant therapies have not yet been published. Novel immune checkpoint inhibitors are promising approaches to adjuvant therapy in kidney cancer, and a number of trials are now underway. An important component of the management of patients with kidney cancer, particularly those who undergo radical resection for localized renal cell carcinoma, is the preservation of kidney function to reduce morbidity and mortality. The optimal management of these patients therefore requires a multidisciplinary approach involving nephrologists, oncologists, urologists and pathologists
Shape-Function Effects and Split Matching in B-> Xs l+ l-
We derive the triply differential spectrum for the inclusive rare decay B ->
Xs l+ l- in the shape function region, in which Xs is jet-like with . Experimental cuts make this a relevant region. The
perturbative and non-perturbative parts of the matrix elements can be defined
with the Soft-Collinear Effective Theory, which is used to incorporate alphas
corrections consistently. We show that, with a suitable power counting for the
dilepton invariant mass, the same universal jet and shape functions appear as
in B-> Xs gamma and B-> Xu l nu decays. Parts of the usual alphas(m_b)
corrections go into the jet function at a lower scale, and parts go into the
non-perturbative shape function. For B -> Xs l+ l-, the perturbative series in
alphas are of a different character above and below mu=mb. We introduce a
``split matching'' method that allows the series in these regions to be treated
independently.Comment: 33 pages; journal versio
Remarks on Semileptonic B and D Decays into Orbitally Excited Mesons
We have obtained the differential decay rate and calculated the branching
ratios of the exclusive semileptonic decays , where is a
p-wave meson, using the nonrelativistic ISGW quark model. Our results are
compared with the predictions of the ISGW2 model. We have computed some
branching ratios that were not reported or were reported with 0.00 in this
model. For example, we find that , and , which seems to be
at the reach of forthcoming experiments. Furthermore, we have classified the
decays in two groups and compared the semileptonic and
nonleptonic decays including a tensor meson in the final state.Comment: 11 pages, LaTe
Soft-Collinear Factorization in Effective Field Theory
The factorization of soft and ultrasoft gluons from collinear particles is
shown at the level of operators in an effective field theory. Exclusive
hadronic factorization and inclusive partonic factorization follow as special
cases. The leading order Lagrangian is derived using power counting and gauge
invariance in the effective theory. Several species of gluons are required, and
softer gluons appear as background fields to gluons with harder momenta. Two
examples are given: the factorization of soft gluons in B->D pi, and the
soft-collinear convolution for the B->Xs gamma spectrum.Comment: 32 pages, 11 figs, journal versio
Radiation reaction and gravitational waves in the effective field theory approach
We compute the contribution to the Lagrangian from the leading order (2.5
post-Newtonian) radiation reaction and the quadrupolar gravitational waves
emitted from a binary system using the effective field theory (EFT) approach of
Goldberger and Rothstein. We use an initial value formulation of the underlying
(quantum) framework to implement retarded boundary conditions and describe
these real-time dissipative processes. We also demonstrate why the usual
scattering formalism of quantum field theory inadequately accounts for these.
The methods discussed here should be useful for deriving real-time quantities
(including radiation reaction forces and gravitational wave emission) and
hereditary terms in the post-Newtonian approximation (including memory, tail
and other causal, history-dependent integrals) within the EFT approach. We also
provide a consistent formulation of the radiation sector in the equivalent
effective field theory approach of Kol and Smolkin.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure
Bounds on Heavy-to-Heavy Mesonic Form Factors
We provide upper and lower bounds on the form factors for B -> D, D^* by
utilizing inclusive heavy quark effective theory sum rules. These bounds are
calculated to leading order in Lambda_QCD/m_Q and alpha_s. The O(alpha_s^2
beta_0) corrections to the bounds at zero recoil are also presented. We compare
our bounds with some of the form factor models used in the literature. All the
models we investigated failed to fall within the bounds for the combination of
form factors (omega^2 - 1)/(4 omega)|omega h_{A2}+h_{A3}|^2.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figure
Testing factorization in B -> D(*)X decays
In QCD the amplitude for B0 -> D(*)+pi- factorizes in the large Nc limit or
in the large energy limit Q >> Lambda_QCD where Q = {m_b, m_c, m_b-m_c}. Data
also suggests factorization in exclusive processes B-> D* pi+ pi- pi- pi0 and
B-> D* omega pi-, however by themselves neither large Nc nor large Q can
account for this. Noting that the condition for large energy release in B0-> D+
pi- is enforced by the SV limit, m_b, m_c >> m_b-m_c >> Lambda, we propose that
the combined large Nc and SV limits justify factorization in B -> D(*) X. This
combined limit is tested with the inclusive decay spectrum measured by CLEO. We
also give exact large Nc relations among isospin amplitudes for B -> D(*)X and
B -> D(*) D-bar(*)X, which can be used to test factorization through exclusive
or inclusive measurements. Predictions for the modes B-> D(*) pi pi, B-> D(*)K
K-bar and B-> D(*) D-bar(*) K are discussed using available data.Comment: 15 pages, 3 included .eps figures, minor change
Sum rules in the heavy quark limit of QCD
In the leading order of the heavy quark expansion, we propose a method within
the OPE and the trace formalism, that allows to obtain, in a systematic way,
Bjorken-like sum rules for the derivatives of the elastic Isgur-Wise function
in terms of corresponding Isgur-Wise functions of transitions to
excited states. A key element is the consideration of the non-forward
amplitude, as introduced by Uraltsev. A simplifying feature of our method is to
consider currents aligned along the initial and final four-velocities. As an
illustration, we give a very simple derivation of Bjorken and Uraltsev sum
rules. On the other hand, we obtain a new class of sum rules that involve the
products of IW functions at zero recoil and IW functions at any . Special
care is given to the needed derivation of the projector on the polarization
tensors of particles of arbitrary integer spin. The new sum rules give further
information on the slope and also on the curvature
, and imply, modulo a very natural assumption, the
inequality , and therefore the absolute bound
.Comment: 64 pages, Late
Illuminating Dense Quark Matter
We imagine shining light on a lump of cold dense quark matter, in the CFL
phase and therefore a transparent insulator. We calculate the angles of
reflection and refraction, and the intensity of the reflected and refracted
light. Although the only potentially observable context for this phenomenon
(reflection of light from and refraction of light through an illuminated quark
star) is unlikely to be realized, our calculation casts new light on the old
idea that confinement makes the QCD vacuum behave as if filled with a
condensate of color-magnetic monopoles.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Angular Momentum Mixing in Crystalline Color Superconductivity
In crystalline color superconductivity, quark pairs form at non-zero total
momentum. This crystalline order potentially enlarges the domain of color
superconductivity in cold dense quark matter. We present a perturbative
calculation of the parameters governing the crystalline phase and show that
this is indeed the case. Nevertheless, the enhancement is modest, and to lowest
order is independent of the strength of the color interaction.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, Revte
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