8,034 research outputs found
Consequences of eye fluke infection on anti-predator behaviours in invasive round gobies in Kalmar Sound
The Effectiveness of Poly-(4-vinyl-N-hexylpyridiniumbromide) as an Antibacterial Implant Coating: An In Vitro Study
The clinical success of osseointegrated dental implants depends on the strong attachment of the surrounding hard and soft tissues. Bacterial adhesion on implant surfaces can cause inflammatory reactions and may influence healing and long-term success of dental implants. Promising implant coatings should minimize bacterial adhesion, but allow epithelial and connective tissue attachment. Therefore, the present study has examined the bioactive effect of poly-(4-vinyl-N-hexylpyridiniumbromide) regarding typical oral bacteria as well as cytotoxicitiy to human cells considering different methods of connecting polymers to silicate-containing surfaces. The results revealed that the application of putative antibacterial and biocompatible polymer in coating strategies is affected by a variety of parameters. Published findings regarding reduced bacterial adhesion could not be verified using oral pathogens whereas hexylated polymers seem problematic for strong adhesion of soft tissue. Concerning innovative coatings for dental implants basic aspects (surface roughness, thickness, alkylation, combination with other polymers) have to be considered in further investigations
Semileptonic B Decays and Determination of |Vub|
Semileptonic decays of the B mesons provide an excellent probe for the weak
and strong interactions of the bottom quark. The large data samples collected
at the B Factories have pushed the experimental studies of the semileptonic B
decays to a new height and stimulated significant theoretical developments. I
review recent progresses in this fast-evolving field, with an emphasis on the
determination of the magnitude of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element
|Vub|.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Mod. Phys. Lett.
-Decay Spectrum, Response Function and Statistical Model for Neutrino Mass Measurements with the KATRIN Experiment
The objective of the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment is to
determine the effective electron neutrino mass with an
unprecedented sensitivity of (90\% C.L.) by precision electron
spectroscopy close to the endpoint of the decay of tritium. We present
a consistent theoretical description of the electron energy spectrum in
the endpoint region, an accurate model of the apparatus response function, and
the statistical approaches suited to interpret and analyze tritium
decay data observed with KATRIN with the envisaged precision. In addition to
providing detailed analytical expressions for all formulae used in the
presented model framework with the necessary detail of derivation, we discuss
and quantify the impact of theoretical and experimental corrections on the
measured . Finally, we outline the statistical methods for
parameter inference and the construction of confidence intervals that are
appropriate for a neutrino mass measurement with KATRIN. In this context, we
briefly discuss the choice of the energy analysis interval and the
distribution of measuring time within that range.Comment: 27 pages, 22 figures, 2 table
Cost risk benefit analysis to support chemoprophylaxis policy for travellers to malaria endemic countries
BACKGROUND: In a number of malaria endemic regions, tourists and travellers face a declining risk of travel associated malaria, in part due to successful malaria control. Many millions of visitors to these regions are recommended, via national and international policy, to use chemoprophylaxis which has a well recognized morbidity profile. To evaluate whether current malaria chemo-prophylactic policy for travellers is cost effective when adjusted for endemic transmission risk and duration of exposure. a framework, based on partial cost-benefit analysis was used. METHODS: Using a three component model combining a probability component, a cost component and a malaria risk component, the study estimated health costs avoided through use of chemoprophylaxis and costs of disease prevention (including adverse events and pre-travel advice for visits to five popular high and low malaria endemic regions) and malaria transmission risk using imported malaria cases and numbers of travellers to malarious countries. By calculating the minimal threshold malaria risk below which the economic costs of chemoprophylaxis are greater than the avoided health costs we were able to identify the point at which chemoprophylaxis would be economically rational. RESULTS: The threshold incidence at which malaria chemoprophylaxis policy becomes cost effective for UK travellers is an accumulated risk of 1.13% assuming a given set of cost parameters. The period a travellers need to remain exposed to achieve this accumulated risk varied from 30 to more than 365 days, depending on the regions intensity of malaria transmission. CONCLUSIONS: The cost-benefit analysis identified that chemoprophylaxis use was not a cost-effective policy for travellers to Thailand or the Amazon region of Brazil, but was cost-effective for travel to West Africa and for those staying longer than 45 days in India and Indonesia
Superallowed 0+ to 0+ nuclear beta decays: A new survey with precision tests of the conserved vector current hypothesis and the standard model
A new critical survey is presented of all half-life, decay-energy and
branching-ratio measurements related to 20 0+ to 0+ beta decays. Compared with
our last review, there are numerous improvements: First, we have added 27
recently published measurements and eliminated 9 references; of particular
importance, the new data include a number of high-precision Penning-trap
measurements of decay energies. Second, we have used the recently improved
isospin symmetry-breaking corrections. Third, our calculation of the
statistical rate function now accounts for possible excitation in the daughter
atom. Finally, we have re-examined the systematic uncertainty associated with
the isospin symmetry-breaking corrections by evaluating the radial-overlap
correction using Hartree-Fock radial wave functions and comparing the results
with our earlier calculations, which used Saxon-Woods wave functions; the
provision for systematic uncertainty has been changed as a consequence. The new
corrected Ft values are impressively constant and their average, when combined
with the muon liftime, yields the up-down quark-mixing element of the
Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix, V_{ud} = 0.97425(22). The unitarity
test on the top row of the matrix becomes |V_{ud}|^2 + |V_{us}|^2 + |V_{ub}|^2
= 0.99995(61). Both V_{ud} and the unitarity sum have significantly reduced
uncertainties compared with our previous survey, although the new value of
V_{ud} is statistically consistent with the old one. From these data we also
set limits on the possible existence of scalar interactions, right-hand
currents and extra Z bosons. Finally, we discuss the priorities for future
theoretical and experimental work with the goal of making the CKM unitarity
test even more definitive.Comment: 36 pages, 11 tables, 9 figure
Influence of genetic copy number variants of the human GLUT3 glucose transporter gene SLC2A3 on protein expression, glycolysis and rheumatoid arthritis risk: A genetic replication study
A pulsed, mono-energetic and angular-selective UV photo-electron source for the commissioning of the KATRIN experiment
The KATRIN experiment aims to determine the neutrino mass scale with a
sensitivity of 200 meV/c^2 (90% C.L.) by a precision measurement of the shape
of the tritium -spectrum in the endpoint region. The energy analysis of
the decay electrons is achieved by a MAC-E filter spectrometer. To determine
the transmission properties of the KATRIN main spectrometer, a mono-energetic
and angular-selective electron source has been developed. In preparation for
the second commissioning phase of the main spectrometer, a measurement phase
was carried out at the KATRIN monitor spectrometer where the device was
operated in a MAC-E filter setup for testing. The results of these measurements
are compared with simulations using the particle-tracking software
"Kassiopeia", which was developed in the KATRIN collaboration over recent
years.Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures, submitted to European Physical Journal
Energy landscape - a key concept for the dynamics of glasses and liquids
There is a growing belief that the mode coupling theory is the proper
microscopic theory for the dynamics of the undercooled liquid above a critical
temperature T_c. In addition, there is some evidence that the system leaves the
saddlepoints of the energy landscape to settle in the valleys at this critical
temperature. Finally, there is a microscopic theory for the entropy at the
calorimetric glass transition T_g by Mezard and Parisi, which allows to
calculate the Kauzmann temperature from the atomic pair potentials.
The dynamics of the frozen glass phase is at present limited to
phenomenological models. In the spirit of the energy landscape concept, one
considers an ensemble of independent asymmetric double-well potentials with a
wide distribution of barrier heights and asymmetries (ADWP or Gilroy-Phillips
model). The model gives an excellent description of the relaxation of glasses
up to about T_g/4. Above this temperature, the interaction between different
relaxation centers begins to play a role. One can show that the interaction
reduces the number of relaxation centers needed to bring the shear modulus down
to zero by a factor of three.Comment: Contribution to the III Workshop on Nonequilibrium Phenomena in
Supercooled Fluids, Glasses and Amorphous Materials, 22-27 September 2002,
Pisa; 14 pages, 3 figures; Version 3 takes criticque at Pisa into account;
final version 4 will be published in J.Phys.: Condens.Matte
- …