1,118 research outputs found
Intrinsic quadrupole moment of the nucleon
We address the question of the intrinsic quadrupole moment Q_0 of the nucleon
in various models. All models give a positive intrinsic quadrupole moment for
the proton. This corresponds to a prolate deformation. We also calculate the
intrinsic quadrupole moment of the Delta(1232). All our models lead to a
negative intrinsic quadrupole moment of the Delta corresponding to an oblate
deformation.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Observation of confined current ribbon in JET plasmas
we report the identification of a localised current structure inside the JET
plasma. It is a field aligned closed helical ribbon, carrying current in the
same direction as the background current profile (co-current), rotating
toroidally with the ion velocity (co-rotating). It appears to be located at a
flat spot in the plasma pressure profile, at the top of the pedestal. The
structure appears spontaneously in low density, high rotation plasmas, and can
last up to 1.4 s, a time comparable to a local resistive time. It considerably
delays the appearance of the first ELM.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
FESOM-C v.2: coastal dynamics on hybrid unstructured meshes
We describe FESOM-C, the
coastal branch of the Finite-volumE Sea ice â Ocean Model (FESOM2), which
shares with FESOM2 many numerical aspects, in particular its finite-volume
cell-vertex discretization. Its dynamical core differs in the implementation
of time stepping, the use of a terrain-following vertical coordinate, and the
formulation for hybrid meshes composed of triangles and quads. The first two
distinctions were critical for coding FESOM-C as an independent branch. The
hybrid mesh capability improves numerical efficiency, since quadrilateral
cells have fewer edges than triangular cells. They do not suffer from
spurious inertial modes of the triangular cell-vertex discretization and need
less dissipation. The hybrid mesh capability allows one to use
quasi-quadrilateral unstructured meshes, with triangular cells included only
to join quadrilateral patches of different resolution or instead of strongly
deformed quadrilateral cells. The description of the model numerical part is
complemented by test cases illustrating the model performance.</p
Partial volume correction strategies for quantitative FDG PET in oncology
Purpose: Quantitative accuracy of positron emission tomography (PET) is affected by partial volume effects resulting in increased underestimation of the standardized uptake value (SUV) with decreasing tumour volume. The purpose of the present study was to assess accuracy and precision of different partial volume correction (PVC) methods. Methods: Three methods for PVC were evaluated: (1) inclusion of the point spread function (PSF) within the reconstruction, (2) iterative deconvolution of PET images and (3) calculation of spill-in and spill-out factors based on tumour masks. Simulations were based on a mathematical phantom with tumours of different sizes and shapes. Phantom experiments were performed in 2-D mode using the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) NU2 image quality phantom containing six differently sized spheres. Clinical studies (2-D mode) included a test-retest study consisting of 10 patients with stage IIIB and IV non-small cell lung cancer and a response monitoring study consisting of 15 female breast cancer patients. In all studies tumour or sphere volumes of interest (VOI) were generated using VOI based on adaptive relative thresholds. Results: Simulations and experiments provided similar results. All methods were able to accurately recover true SUV within 10% for spheres equal to and larger than 1 ml. Reconstruction-based recovery, however, provided up to twofold better precision than image-based methods. Cl
Preservation of quality of life in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2âpositive metastatic breast cancer treated with tucatinib or placebo when added to trastuzumab and capecitabine (HER2CLIMB trial)
AIMS: In HER2CLIMB, tucatinib significantly improved progression-free and overall survival in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2âpositive (HER2+) metastatic breast cancer. We evaluated the impact of tucatinib on health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) in HER2CLIMB. METHODS: Patients were randomised 2:1 to tucatinib or placebo combined with trastuzumab and capecitabine. Starting with protocol version 7, the EuroQol 5 Dimensions 5 Levels (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire and EQ visual analogue scale (VAS) were administered at day 1 of cycle 1, every two cycles during cycles 3â9, every three cycles during cycle 12 and thereafter and at each patient's 30-day follow-up visit. RESULTS: Among 364 patients eligible for HR-QoL assessment, 331 (91%) completed â„1 assessment. EQ-VAS scores were similar for both arms at baseline and maintained throughout treatment. EQ-5D-5L scores were similar between the treatment arms, stable throughout therapy and worsened after discontinuing treatment. Risk of meaningful deterioration (â„7 points) on EQ-VAS was reduced 19% in the tucatinib vs. placebo arm (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.55, 1.18); the median (95% CI) time to deterioration was not reached in the tucatinib arm and was 5.8 months (4.3, -) in the placebo arm. Among patients with brain metastases (n = 164), risk of meaningful deterioration on EQ-VAS was reduced 49% in the tucatinib arm (HR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.28, 0.93); the median (95% CI) time to deterioration was not reached in the tucatinib arm and was 5.5 months (4.2, -) in the placebo arm. CONCLUSIONS: HR-QoL was preserved for patients with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer who were treated with tucatinib added to trastuzumab and capecitabine and maintained longer with tucatinib therapy than without it among those with brain metastases
First amyloid ÎČ1-42 certified reference material for re-calibrating commercial immunoassays
INTRODUCTION: Reference materials based on human cerebrospinal fluid were certified for the mass concentration of amyloid beta (AÎČ)1-42 (AÎČ42 ). They are intended to be used to calibrate diagnostic assays for AÎČ42 . METHODS: The three certified reference materials (CRMs), ERM-DA480/IFCC, ERM-DA481/IFCC and ERM-DA482/IFCC, were prepared at three concentration levels and characterized using isotope dilution mass spectrometry methods. Roche, EUROIMMUN, and Fujirebio used the three CRMs to re-calibrate their immunoassays. RESULTS: The certified AÎČ42 mass concentrations in ERM-DA480/IFCC, ERM-DA481/IFCC, and ERM-DA482/IFCC are 0.45, 0.72, and 1.22 Όg/L, respectively, with expanded uncertainties (k = 2) of 0.07, 0.11, and 0.18 Όg/L, respectively. Before re-calibration, a good correlation (Pearson's r > 0.97), yet large biases, were observed between results from different commercial assays. After re-calibration the between-assay bias was reduced to < 5%. DISCUSSION: The AÎČ42 CRMs can ensure the equivalence of results between methods and across platforms for the measurement of AÎČ42
Peripheral blood immune response elicited by beta-lactoglobulin in childhood cow's milk allergy.
Measurement of Triple-Gauge-Boson Couplings of the W Boson at LEP
We report on measurements of the triple-gauge-boson couplings of the W boson
in e+e- collisions with the L3 detector at LEP. W-pair, single-W and
single-photon events are analysed in a data sample corresponding to a total
luminosity of 76.7 pb^{-1} collected at centre-of-mass energies between 161 GeV
and 183 GeV. CP-conserving as well as both C- and P-conserving
triple-gauge-boson couplings are determined. The results, in good agreement
with the Standard-Model expectations, confirm the existence of the self
coupling among the electroweak gauge bosons and constrain its structure
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