Angular asymmetries in the reactions pp \to d\pi^+\eta and pn \to d\pi^0\eta and a_0-f_0 mixing

The reactions pp\to d\pi^+\eta and pn\to d\pi^0\eta are of special interest for investigating the a_0(980) (J^P=0^+) resonance in the process NN \to da_0 \to d\pi\eta. We study some aspects of those reactions within a general formalism and also in a concrete phenomenological model. In particular, it is shown that the presence of nonresonant (i.e. without excitation of the a_0 resonance) contributions to these reactions yields nonvanishing values for specific polarization observables, i.e. to effects like those generated by a_0-f_0 mixing. An experimental determination of these observables for the reaction pp\to d\pi^+\eta would provide concrete information on the magnitude of those nonresonant contributions to \pi\eta production. We discuss also the possibility of extracting information about a_0-f_0 mixing from the reaction pn \to d\pi^0\eta with polarized proton beam.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Measurement of the ΔS=-ΔQ Amplitude from K_(e3)^0 Decay

We have measured the time distribution of the π^+e^-ν and π^-e^+ν modes from initial K^0's in a spark-chamber experiment performed at the Bevatron. From 1079 events between 0.2 and 7 K_S^0 lifetime, we find ReX=-0.069±0.036, ImX=+0.108_(-0.074)^(+0.092). This result is consistent with X=0 (relative probability = 0.25), but more than 4 standard deviations from the existing world average, +0.14 -0.13i

The role of primary healthcare professionals in oral cancer prevention and detection

AIM: To investigate current knowledge, examination habits and preventive practices of primary healthcare professionals in Scotland, with respect to oral cancer, and to determine any relevant training needs. SETTING: Primary care. METHOD: Questionnaires were sent to a random sample of 357 general medical practitioners (GMPs) and 331 dental practitioners throughout Scotland. Additionally, focus group research and interviews were conducted amongst primary healthcare team members. RESULTS: Whilst 58% of dental respondents reported examining regularly for signs of oral cancer, GMPs examined patients' mouths usually in response to a complaint of soreness. The majority of GMPs (85%) and dentists (63%) indicated that they felt less than confident in detecting oral cancer, with over 70% of GMPs identifying lack of training as an important barrier. Many practitioners were unclear concerning the relative importance of the presence of potentially malignant lesions in the oral cavity. A high proportion of the GMPs indicated that they should have a major role to play in oral cancer detection (66%) but many felt strongly that this should be primarily the remit of the dental team. CONCLUSION: The study revealed a need for continuing education programmes for primary care practitioners in oral cancer-related activities. This should aim to improve diagnostic skills and seek to increase practitioners' participation in preventive activities

Recombinant Fibrinogen Studies Reveal That Thrombin Specificity Dictates Order of Fibrinopeptide Release

During cleavage of fibrinogen by thrombin, fibrinopeptide A (FpA) release precedes fibrinopeptide B (FpB) release. To examine the basis for this ordered release, we synthesized A'beta fibrinogen, replacing FpB with a fibrinopeptide A-like peptide, FpA' (G14V). Analyses of fibrinopeptide release from A'beta fibrinogen showed that FpA release and FpA' release were similar; the release of either peptide followed simple first-order kinetics. Specificity constants for FpA and FpA' were similar, demonstrating that these peptides are equally competitive substrates for thrombin. In the presence of Gly-Pro-Arg-Pro, an inhibitor of fibrin polymerization, the rate of FpB release from normal fibrinogen was reduced 3-fold, consistent with previous data; in contrast, the rate of FpA' release from A'beta fibrinogen was unaffected. Thus, with A'beta fibrinogen, fibrinopeptide release from the beta chain is similar to fibrinopeptide release from the alpha chain. We conclude that the ordered release of fibrinopeptides is dictated by the specificity of thrombin for its substrates. We analyzed polymerization, following changes in turbidity, and found that polymerization of A'beta fibrinogen was similar to that of normal fibrinogen. We analyzed clot structure by scanning electron microscopy and found that clots from A'beta fibrinogen were similar to clots from normal fibrinogen. We conclude that premature release of the fibrinopeptide from the N terminus of the beta chain does not affect polymerization of fibrinogen

The politics of in/visibility: carving out queer space in Ul'yanovsk

<p>In spite of a growing interest within sexualities studies in the concept of queer space (Oswin 2008), existing literature focuses almost exclusively on its most visible and territorialised forms, such as the gay scene, thus privileging Western metropolitan areas as hubs of queer consumer culture (Binnie 2004). While the literature has emphasised the political significance of queer space as a site of resistance to hegemonic gender and sexual norms, it has again predominantly focused on overt claims to public space embodied in Pride events, neglecting other less open forms of resistance.</p><p> This article contributes new insights to current debates about the construction and meaning of queer space by considering how city space is appropriated by an informal queer network in Ul’ianovsk. The group routinely occupied very public locations meeting and socialising on the street or in mainstream cafés in central Ul’ianovsk, although claims to these spaces as queer were mostly contingent, precarious or invisible to outsiders. The article considers how provincial location affects tactics used to carve out communal space, foregrounding the importance of local context and collective agency in shaping specific forms of resistance, and questioning ethnocentric assumptions about the empowering potential of visibility.</p&gt

Psychogenic Elaboration of Simple Partial Seizures

Seizures that cause loss of consciousness (LOC) can be classified as epileptic or nonepileptic based on evaluation of ictal semiology and analysis of changes in EEG events, recorded with continuous scalp EEG and video monitoring. We report 3 patients who had hippocampal electrographic seizures documented with intracranial EEG recording with no accompanying scalp EEG change immediately preceding psychogenic unresponsiveness. Each patient also had complex partial seizures (CPS) originating in the hippocampus. Some individuals can have complex interactions of epileptic and nonepileptic seizures.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66184/1/j.1528-1157.1995.tb00471.x.pd

Nebuliser therapy in the intensive care unit

The relationship between identity, lived experience, sexual practices and the language through which these are conveyed has been widely debated in sexuality literature. For example, ‘coming out’ has famously been conceptualised as a ‘speech act’ (Sedgwick 1990) and as a collective narrative (Plummer 1995), while a growing concern for individuals’ diverse identifications in relations to their sexual and gender practices has produced interesting research focusing on linguistic practices among LGBT-identified individuals (Leap 1995; Kulick 2000; Cameron and Kulick 2006; Farqhar 2000). While an explicit focus on language remains marginal to literature on sexualities (Kulick 2000), issue of language use and translation are seldom explicitly addressed in the growing literature on intersectionality. Yet intersectional perspectives ‘reject the separability of analytical and identity categories’ (McCall 2005:1771), and therefore have an implicit stake in the ‘vernacular’ language of the researched, in the ‘scientific’ language of the researcher and in the relationship of continuity between the two. Drawing on literature within gay and lesbian/queer studies and cross-cultural studies, this chapter revisits debates on sexuality, language and intersectionality. I argue for the importance of giving careful consideration to the language we choose to use as researchers to collectively define the people whose experiences we try to capture. I also propose that language itself can be investigated as a productive way to foreground how individual and collective identifications are discursively constructed, and to unpack the diversity of lived experience. I address intersectional complexity as a methodological issue, where methodology is understood not only as the methods and practicalities of doing research, but more broadly as ‘a coherent set of ideas about the philosophy, methods and data that underlie the research process and the production of knowledge’ (McCall 2005:1774). My points are illustrated with examples drawn from my ethnographic study on ‘lesbian’ identity in urban Russia, interspersed with insights from existing literature. In particular, I aim to show that an explicit focus on language can be a productive way to explore the intersections between the global, the national and the local in cross-cultural research on sexuality, while also addressing issues of positionality and accountability to the communities researched

Atypical audiovisual speech integration in infants at risk for autism

The language difficulties often seen in individuals with autism might stem from an inability to integrate audiovisual information, a skill important for language development. We investigated whether 9-month-old siblings of older children with autism, who are at an increased risk of developing autism, are able to integrate audiovisual speech cues. We used an eye-tracker to record where infants looked when shown a screen displaying two faces of the same model, where one face is articulating/ba/and the other/ga/, with one face congruent with the syllable sound being presented simultaneously, the other face incongruent. This method was successful in showing that infants at low risk can integrate audiovisual speech: they looked for the same amount of time at the mouths in both the fusible visual/ga/− audio/ba/and the congruent visual/ba/− audio/ba/displays, indicating that the auditory and visual streams fuse into a McGurk-type of syllabic percept in the incongruent condition. It also showed that low-risk infants could perceive a mismatch between auditory and visual cues: they looked longer at the mouth in the mismatched, non-fusible visual/ba/− audio/ga/display compared with the congruent visual/ga/− audio/ga/display, demonstrating that they perceive an uncommon, and therefore interesting, speech-like percept when looking at the incongruent mouth (repeated ANOVA: displays x fusion/mismatch conditions interaction: F(1,16) = 17.153, p = 0.001). The looking behaviour of high-risk infants did not differ according to the type of display, suggesting difficulties in matching auditory and visual information (repeated ANOVA, displays x conditions interaction: F(1,25) = 0.09, p = 0.767), in contrast to low-risk infants (repeated ANOVA: displays x conditions x low/high-risk groups interaction: F(1,41) = 4.466, p = 0.041). In some cases this reduced ability might lead to the poor communication skills characteristic of autism

Search for the glueball candidates f0(1500) and fJ(1710) in gamma gamma collisions

Data taken with the ALEPH detector at LEP1 have been used to search for gamma gamma production of the glueball candidates f0(1500) and fJ(1710) via their decay to pi+pi-. No signal is observed and upper limits to the product of gamma gamma width and pi+pi- branching ratio of the f0(1500) and the fJ(1710) have been measured to be Gamma_(gamma gamma -> f0(1500)). BR(f0(1500)->pi+pi-) < 0.31 keV and Gamma_(gamma gamma -> fJ(1710)). BR(fJ(1710)->pi+pi-) < 0.55 keV at 95% confidence level.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Three-body decays of K0 mesons

We have measured the time distributions of the π+e-ν̅, π-e+ν, and π+π-π0 modes from initially pure K0's in a spark-chamber experiment performed at the Bevatron. From 1079 Ke3 events between 0.2 and 7 KS lifetimes, we find ReX=-0.070±0.036, ImX=0.107-0.074+0.092. This result is consistent with X=0 (relative probability = 0.25). From 148 K→π+π-π0 events in the same fiducial volume, we get ReW=-0.05±0.17 and ImW=0.39-0.37+0.35. ("W" is variously known as η+-0 and x+iy.) Our results are consistent with W=0 (relative probability = 0.30)