787 research outputs found
The burden of road traffic accidents in a French Departement: the description of the injuries and recent changes
International audienceBACKGROUND: A significant reduction in road traffic accidents has been observed since prevention measures were introduced by the French public authorities in 2002. The goals of this study are to describe the burden of road traffic accidents in a French Departement, and to identify changes if any between the periods 1997-2001 and 2002-2006 on the basis of the disability adjusted life years (DALY). METHODS: Years of lost life (YLL) and years lived with disability (YLD) were calculated for two periods using the mortality and incidence data in the Rhone Departement Registry of Road Traffic Accident Casualties. RESULTS: YLD and YLL that are related to road traffic accidents are at their maximum value between 15 and 24 years of age. For men, intracranial fractures and intracranial injuries dominate, and for women it is spinal cord injuries that account for highest rates of YLD. A reduction in the rates of YLL and YLD has been observed for both genders and all age groups between 1997-2001 and 2002-2006. CONCLUSION: The reduction in DALY between the two periods is explained both by the reduction in the number of fatalities and injuries but also by an increase in the age at which they occur
The Wide-Field X and Gamma-Ray Telescope ECLAIRs aboard the Gamma-Ray Burst Multi-Wavelength Space Mission SVOM
The X and Gamma-ray telescope ECLAIRs is foreseen to be launched on a low
Earth orbit (h=630 km, i=30 degrees) aboard the SVOM satellite (Space-based
multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor), a French-Chinese mission
with Italian contribution. Observations are expected to start in 2013. It has
been designed to detect and localize Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) or persistent
sources of the sky, thanks to its wide field of view (about 2 sr) and its
remarkable sensitivity in the 4-250 keV energy range, with enhanced imaging
sensitivity in the 4-70 keV energy band. These characteristics are well suited
to detect highly redshifted GRBs, and consequently to provide fast and accurate
triggers to other onboard or ground-based instruments able to follow-up the
detected events in a very short time from the optical wavelength bands up to
the few MeV Gamma-Ray domain.Comment: Proccedings of the "2008 Nanjing GRB Conference", June 23-27 2008,
Nanjing, Chin
The Inverse Amplitude Method in Scattering in Chiral Perturbation Theory to Two Loops
The inverse amplitude method is used to unitarize the two loop
scattering amplitudes of SU(2) Chiral Perturbation Theory in the ,
and channels. An error analysis in terms of the low energy
one-loop parameters and existing experimental data is
undertaken. A comparison to standard resonance saturation values for the two
loop coefficients is also carried out. Crossing
violations are quantified and the convergence of the expansion is discussed.Comment: (Latex, epsfig) 30 pages, 13 figures, 8 table
Scattering in Three Flavour ChPT
We present the scattering lengths for the processes in the three
flavour Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT) framework at next-to-next-to-leading
order (NNLO). The calculation has been performed analytically but we only
include analytical results for the dependence on the low-energy constants
(LECs) at NNLO due to the size of the expressions. These results, together with
resonance estimates of the NNLO LECs are used to obtain constraints on the
Zweig rule suppressed LECs at NLO, and . Contrary to
expectations from NLO order calculations we find them to be compatible with
zero. We do a preliminary study of combining the results from
scattering, scattering and the scalar form-factors and find only a
marginal compatibility with all experimental/dispersive input data.Comment: 23 page
Corrections to the Gell-Mann-Oakes-Renner relation and chiral couplings and
Next to leading order corrections to the
Gell-Mann-Oakes-Renner relation (GMOR) are obtained using weighted QCD Finite
Energy Sum Rules (FESR) involving the pseudoscalar current correlator. Two
types of integration kernels in the FESR are used to suppress the contribution
of the kaon radial excitations to the hadronic spectral function, one with
local and the other with global constraints. The result for the pseudoscalar
current correlator at zero momentum is , leading to the chiral corrections to GMOR: . The resulting uncertainties are mostly due to variations in the upper
limit of integration in the FESR, within the stability regions, and to a much
lesser extent due to the uncertainties in the strong coupling and the strange
quark mass. Higher order quark mass corrections, vacuum condensates, and the
hadronic resonance sector play a negligible role in this determination. These
results confirm an independent determination from chiral perturbation theory
giving also very large corrections, i.e. roughly an order of magnitude larger
than the corresponding corrections in chiral . Combining
these results with our previous determination of the corrections to GMOR in
chiral , , we are able to determine two low
energy constants of chiral perturbation theory, i.e. , and , both at the
scale of the -meson mass.Comment: Revised version with minor correction
The cusp effect in eta' --> eta pi pi decays
Strong final-state interactions create a pronounced cusp in eta' --> eta pi0
pi0 decays. We adapt and generalize the non-relativistic effective field theory
framework developed for the extraction of pi pi scattering lengths from K --> 3
pi decays to this case. The cusp effect is predicted to have an effect of more
than 8% on the decay spectrum below the pi+ pi- threshold.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures; comment added, typos corrected, version
published in Eur. Phys. J.
Assessing the conservation value of waterbodies: the example of the Loire floodplain (France)
In recent decades, two of the main management tools used to stem biodiversity erosion have been biodiversity monitoring and the conservation of natural areas. However, socio-economic pressure means that it is not usually possible to preserve the entire landscape, and so the rational prioritisation of sites has become a crucial issue. In this context, and because floodplains are one of the most threatened ecosystems, we propose a statistical strategy for evaluating conservation value, and used it to prioritise 46 waterbodies in the Loire floodplain (France). We began by determining a synthetic conservation index of fish communities (Q) for each waterbody. This synthetic index includes a conservation status index, an origin index, a rarity index and a richness index. We divided the waterbodies into 6 clusters with distinct structures of the basic indices. One of these clusters, with high Q median value, indicated that 4 waterbodies are important for fish biodiversity conservation. Conversely, two clusters with low Q median values included 11 waterbodies where restoration is called for. The results picked out high connectivity levels and low abundance of aquatic vegetation as the two main environmental characteristics of waterbodies with high conservation value. In addition, assessing the biodiversity and conservation value of
territories using our multi-index approach plus an a posteriori hierarchical classification methodology reveals two major interests: (i) a possible geographical extension and (ii) a multi-taxa adaptation
Chiral Extrapolation of the Strangeness Changing K pi Form Factor
We perform a chiral extrapolation of lattice data on the scalar K pi form
factor and the ratio of the kaon and pion decay constants within Chiral
Perturbation Theory to two loops. We determine the value of the scalar form
factor at zero momentum transfer, at the Callan-Treiman point and at its soft
kaon analog as well as its slope. Results are in good agreement with their
determination from experiment using the standard couplings of quarks to the W
boson. The slope is however rather large. A study of the convergence of the
chiral expansion is also performed.Comment: few minor change
The epsilon expansion at next-to-next-to-leading order with small imaginary chemical potential
We discuss chiral perturbation theory for two and three quark flavors in the
epsilon expansion at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) including a small
imaginary chemical potential. We calculate finite-volume corrections to the
low-energy constants and and determine the non-universal
modifications of the theory, i.e., modifications that cannot be mapped to
random matrix theory (RMT). In the special case of two quark flavors in an
asymmetric box we discuss how to minimize the finite-volume corrections and
non-universal modifications by an optimal choice of the lattice geometry.
Furthermore we provide a detailed calculation of a special version of the
massless sunset diagram at finite volume.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figure
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