Exactly solvable strings in Minkowski spacetime

We study the integrability of the equations of motion for the Nambu-Goto strings with a cohomogeneity-one symmetry in Minkowski spacetime. A cohomogeneity-one string has a world surface which is tangent to a Killing vector field. By virtue of the Killing vector, the equations of motion can be reduced to the geodesic equation in the orbit space. Cohomogeneity-one strings are classified into seven classes (Types I to VII). We investigate the integrability of the geodesic equations for all the classes and find that the geodesic equations are integrable. For Types I to VI, the integrability comes from the existence of Killing vectors on the orbit space which are the projections of Killing vectors on Minkowski spacetime. For Type VII, the integrability is related to a projected Killing vector and a nontrivial Killing tensor on the orbit space. We also find that the geodesic equations of all types are exactly solvable, and show the solutions.Comment: 11 pages, a reference added, some points clarifie

Characteristic value determination from small samples

The paper deals with the characteristic value determination from relatively small samples. When the distribution and its parameters of a random variable are known, the characteristic value is deterministic quantity. However, in practical problems the parameters of distribution are unknown and can only be estimated from random samples. Therefore the characteristic value is by itself a random variable. The estimates of characteristic values are strongly dependant on the distribution of random variable. In the paper we show the analytical solution for characteristic value determination from random samples of normal and lognormal random variables. The confirmation of analytical results is accomplished by the use of computer simulations. For Gumbel, and Weibull distribution the characteristic value estimates are obtained numerically by combination of simulations and bisection method. In the paper the numerical results are presented for 5% characteristic values with 75% confidence interval, which is in accord with the majority of European building standards. The proposed approach is demonstrated on the data of experimentally obtained bending strengths of finger jointed wooden beams. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Vector Positronium States in QED3

The homogeneous Bethe-Salpeter equation is solved in the quenched ladder approximation for the vector positronium states of 4-component quantum electrodynamics in 2 space and 1 time dimensions. Fermion propagator input is from a Rainbow approximation Dyson-Schwinger solution, with a broad range of fermion masses considered. This work is an extension of earlier work on the scalar spectrum of the same model. The non-relativistic limit is also considered via the large fermion mass limit. Classification of states via their transformation properties under discrete parity transformations allows analogies to be drawn with the meson spectrum of QCD.Comment: 24 pages, 2 encapsulated postscript figure

Comparing the effectiveness of small-particle versus large-particle inhaled corticosteroid in COPD

Dirkje S Postma,1 Nicolas Roche,2 Gene Colice,3 Elliot Israel,4 Richard J Martin,5 Willem MC van Aalderen,6 Jonathan Grigg,7 Anne Burden,8 Elizabeth V Hillyer,8 Julie von Ziegenweidt,8 Gokul Gopalan,9 David Price8,10 1University of Groningen, Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands; 2Respiratory and Intensive Care Medicine, Cochin Hospital Group, APHP, Paris-Descartes University (EA2511), Paris, France; 3Pulmonary, Critical Care and Respiratory Services, Washington Hospital Center and George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington DC, USA; 4Pulmonary and Critical Care Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 5Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, USA; 6Dept of Pediatric Respiratory Medicine and Allergy, Emma Children's Hospital AMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; 7Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University London, London, UK; 8Research in Real Life, Ltd, Cambridge, UK; 9Respiratory, Global Scientific Affairs, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Frazer, PA, USA; 10Academic Primary Care, Division of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK Purpose: Small airway changes and dysfunction contribute importantly to airway obstruction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is currently treated with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and long-acting bronchodilators at Global initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) grades 2–4. This retrospective matched cohort analysis compared effectiveness of a representative small-particle ICS (extrafine beclomethasone) and larger-particle ICS (fluticasone) in primary care patients with COPD. Patients and methods: Smokers and ex-smokers with COPD ≥40 years old initiating or stepping-up their dose of extrafine beclomethasone or fluticasone were matched 1:1 for demographic characteristics, index prescription year, concomitant therapies, and disease severity during 1 baseline year. During 2 subsequent years, we evaluated treatment change and COPD exacerbations, defined as emergency care/hospitalization for COPD, acute oral corticosteroids, or antibiotics for lower respiratory tract infection. Results: Mean patient age was 67 years, 57%–60% being male. For both initiation (n=334:334) and step-up (n=189:189) patients, exacerbation rates were comparable between extrafine beclomethasone and fluticasone cohorts during the 2 year outcome period. Odds of treatment stability (no exacerbation or treatment change) were significantly greater for patients initiating extrafine beclomethasone compared with fluticasone (adjusted odds ratio 2.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.32–4.73). Median ICS dose exposure during 2 outcome years was significantly lower (P<0.001) for extrafine beclomethasone than fluticasone cohorts (315 µg/day versus 436 µg/day for initiation, 438 µg/day versus 534 µg/day for step-up patients). Conclusion: We observed that small-particle ICS at significantly lower doses had comparable effects on exacerbation rates as larger-particle ICS at higher doses, whereas initiation of small-particle ICS was associated with better odds of treatment stability during 2-years' follow-up. Keywords: COPD exacerbation, extrafine particle, matched cohort analysis, real life, small airway

Nucleon form factors and a nonpointlike diquark

Nucleon form factors are calculated on q^2 in [0,3] GeV^2 using an Ansatz for the nucleon's Fadde'ev amplitude motivated by quark-diquark solutions of the relativistic Fadde'ev equation. Only the scalar diquark is retained, and it and the quark are confined. A good description of the data requires a nonpointlike diquark correlation with an electromagnetic radius of 0.8 r_pi. The composite, nonpointlike nature of the diquark is crucial. It provides for diquark-breakup terms that are of greater importance than the diquark photon absorption contribution.Comment: 5 pages, REVTEX, epsfig, 3 figure

Baryon form factors in a diquark-quark bound state description

Nucleon form factors are calculated in a relativistic diquark--quark picture based on the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. The nucleon wave function is obtained in a static approximation to the quark exchange interaction between the valence quark and the diquark. We evaluate the valence quark and $0^+$--diquark contribution to the nucleon electromagnetic and weak currents. We find reasonable electric charge radii, magnetic moments as in the additive diquark model, and $g_A \approx 1$. We discuss the dependence on the model parameters.Comment: 10 pages, latex, 1 postscript figure included (uuencoded

Development and Design of a Fluidized Bed/Upflow Sand Filter Configuration for Use in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems.

A fluidized bed/upflow sand filter configuration, was developed and designed for utilization in recirculating aquaculture system, specifically the soft-shell crab and soft-shell crawfish industries. These filters were selected and designed because of their ability to withstand clogging and still maintain high levels of water quality for aquaculture production. The effectiveness of sand grain size was used to evaluate fluidized bed filter performance with filter loadings ranging from 16 to 1285 pounds of crawfish per cubic foot of filter sand. A coarse sand grain size was recommended as a filter media because of it\u27s ability to shear excessive biofilm growth from the sand, thus prohibiting clogging from occurring within the filter bed. The fluidized bed/upflow sand filter combination was evaluated in terms of nitrification and oxygen consumption when used with a recirculating crab shedding system. The filter combination\u27s carrying capacity (700 crabs per cubic foot of sand media) exceeded that observed with the submerged rock filter by more than 20 times and was largely explained by the filter\u27s solids removal ability which significantly reduced the filter\u27s oxygen loading rate (OLR). Nitrification rates with the filter combination were extremely high as total ammonia and nitrite levels remained below 1.0 mg-N/L. Verification of a volumetric loading criteria (150 pounds per cubic foot) for this filter combination was further established with performance data obtained from a commercial soft-shell crawfish facility. Water quality monitoring results indicated that the filters maintained total ammonia and nitrite levels below 1.0 mg-N/L under typical operating conditions. Shock loading, pH control, and over-feeding, rather than filter capacity, dominated water quality fluctuations, thereby indicating that the loading criteria was sufficient for commercial operation

Adsorption models of hybridization and post-hybridisation behaviour on oligonucleotide microarrays

Analysis of data from an Affymetrix Latin Square spike-in experiment indicates that measured fluorescence intensities of features on an oligonucleotide microarray are related to spike-in RNA target concentrations via a hyperbolic response function, generally identified as a Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Furthermore the asymptotic signal at high spike-in concentrations is almost invariably lower for a mismatch feature than for its partner perfect match feature. We survey a number of theoretical adsorption models of hybridization at the microarray surface and find that in general they are unable to explain the differing saturation responses of perfect and mismatch features. On the other hand, we find that a simple and consistent explanation can be found in a model in which equilibrium hybridization followed by partial dissociation of duplexes during the post-hybridization washing phase.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures, some rearrangement of sections and some additions. To appear in J.Phys.(condensed matter

Using the 'Recognising and Assessing Medical problems in a psychiatric setting' (RAMPPS) course within a Pre-registration mental Health nursing Course

O objetivo da comunicação é apresentar e discutir alguns resultados de uma pesquisa voltada às possíveis articulações entre uma formação oferecida pela Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo – SEE/SP por meio dos Grupos de Referência – GR a equipes gestoras, compostas por professores (as) coordenadores (as), diretores (as) de escola e supervisores (as) de ensino, e suas práticas de gestão tanto em suas escolas como nas diretorias de ensino da rede pública paulista. A abordagem metodológica é predominantemente qualitativa e exploratória, tendo com principal instrumento relatos de observações dos encontros formativos. Assim, primeiramente contextualizam-se historicamente a formação e o desenvolvimento profissional de gestores (as) escolares, focalizando, mais especificamente, o Estado de São Paulo. Em seguida, explicita-se como a formação oferecida por meio do GR foi planejada. Finalmente, apresentam-se e discutem-se alguns resultados, derivados de uma primeira sistematização de dados referentes a alguns encontros formativos do GR. Eles confirmam que a autonomia, a participação e a gestão democrática podem ter sido alguns dos princípios do planejamento da formação por parte da SEE/SP e que esses princípios não têm orientado a formação como seria esperado em razão de limitações de várias ordens, notadamente aquelas impostas pelo próprio sistema de ensino estadual. Apesar desse entrave fundamental, é possível vislumbrar, já nesta análise inicial, algumas possíveis interlocuções entre a formação no GR e práticas gestoras