Effective Action and Schwinger Pair Production in Scalar QED

Some astrophysical objects are supposed to have very strong electromagnetic fields above the critical strength. Quantum fluctuations due to strong electromagnetic fields modify the Maxwell theory and particularly electric fields make the vacuum unstable against pair production of charged particles. We study the strong field effect such as the effective action and the Schwinger pair production in scalar QED.Comment: RevTex 6 pages, no figure; Proceedings of APCTP Winter School on Black Hole Astrophysics 2008, Jan 24-29, 200

Successful pregnancy outcome after laparoscopic-assisted excision of a bizarre leiomyoma: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Bizarre leiomyoma is a rare leiomyoma variant that requires a precise histopathological evaluation. Especially when diagnosed in a younger woman, this tumor leads to challenging treatment issues involving fertility preservation. Owing to the low incidence of bizarre leiomyoma, there is insufficient evidence to support myomectomy alone as an appropriate management option. Also, the impact of bizarre leiomyoma on fertility is not well known.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 30-year-old Japanese woman who had never given birth was referred to us because of a uterine tumor with an unusual diagnostic image and was treated by a gasless laparoscopic-assisted excision with a wound retractor. Owing to an unclear margin between her uterine tumor and myometrium, a concomitant excision of adjacent myometrial tissue was required to achieve the maximum resection of her tumor. The histopathological diagnosis was bizarre leiomyoma. Seven months later, she conceived spontaneously and her pregnancy course was uneventful. At 37 weeks of gestation, an elective cesarean section was performed. Although a slight omental adhesion was noted at the postexcisional scar, her uterine wall structure was well preserved and a recurrence of bizarre leiomyoma was not noted.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A laparoscopic-assisted excision of bizarre leiomyoma is a feasible and minimally invasive conservative measure for a woman who wishes to preserve fertility.</p

H umanized Monoclonal Antibody DREG-200 Di rected Against L-Selectin Protects in Feline Myocardial Reperfusion Injury1

ABSTRAC

Characteristics of Nasal Resonance and Perceptual Rating in Prelingual Hearing Impaired Adults

ObjectivesResonance problems in hearing impaired (HI) individuals have been described as aspects of nasality. However, there are limitations in being able to explain the range of resonance problems. Therefore, this study suggests a perceptual rating that will effectively explain the characteristics of resonance problems in HI individuals.MethodsNasalance scores were obtained from 32 subjects in each of HI and normal hearing (NH) groups using a nasometer. The subjects were categorized into groups based on normal and abnormal nasalance ranges. The abnormal nasalance range group was further divided into hyper-, hypo-, and mixed-nasal groups. Nasalance scores were based the individuals performance in a series of passage and syllable tasks. The perceptual rating was evaluated using a newly introduced tool, 'vertical focus of resonance' (VFR), which focuses on the resonance energy in the frontal, throat, pharyngeal and nasal locations.ResultsThe NH group demonstrated a significantly lower nasalance score in the oral coupling and passage tasks than the HI group. Based on the results of nasalance correlation analysis, the HI group showed highly significant correlations between syllable and passage tasks, as contrasted with the NH group. There were significant differences in VFR between the nasalance types in both the NH and the HI groups.ConclusionThe HI hyper-nasal group showed tendencies of velopharyngeal opening, as opposed to the HI hypo-nasal group which showed tendencies of velopharyngeal closure. The HI mixed-nasal group showed inappropriate coordination of velopharyngeal function. In the HI group, the results of VFR showed that the air flow and the resonance energy were not released from the cavity of resonance. The suggested VFR tool explains the focusing characteristics of resonance energy within a continuation of speech sound regardless of the phonetic environment. Therefore, VFR may be a useful tool in explaining the deviant resonance patterns of HI individuals

Critical mutation rate has an exponential dependence on population size for eukaryotic-length genomes with crossover

The critical mutation rate (CMR) determines the shift between survival-of-the-fittest and survival of individuals with greater mutational robustness (“flattest”). We identify an inverse relationship between CMR and sequence length in an in silico system with a two-peak fitness landscape; CMR decreases to no more than five orders of magnitude above estimates of eukaryotic per base mutation rate. We confirm the CMR reduces exponentially at low population sizes, irrespective of peak radius and distance, and increases with the number of genetic crossovers. We also identify an inverse relationship between CMR and the number of genes, confirming that, for a similar number of genes to that for the plant Arabidopsis thaliana (25,000), the CMR is close to its known wild-type mutation rate; mutation rates for additional organisms were also found to be within one order of magnitude of the CMR. This is the first time such a simulation model has been assigned input and produced output within range for a given biological organism. The decrease in CMR with population size previously observed is maintained; there is potential for the model to influence understanding of populations undergoing bottleneck, stress, and conservation strategy for populations near extinction

Hearing effects from intermittent and continuous noise exposure in a study of Korean factory workers and firefighters

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>South Korea and surrounding countries in East Asia are believed to have the highest proportion in the world of high frequency hearing loss due to occupational noise exposure, yet there has been limited information published in international journals, and limited information for control of noise in local workplaces beyond strategies from western countries. We exploit medical surveillance information from two worker groups to enhance local knowledge about noise-induced hearing loss and explore the possible importance of shift work to risk.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Four-years of hearing data were evaluated for 81 male farm machine factory workers and 371 male firefighters who had successfully completed a health examination and questionnaires for the duration of the study period. The averages of hearing thresholds at 2, 3, and 4 kHz were used as the primary end-point for comparison. Repeat measure analysis adjusted for age, exposure duration and smoking status was used to measure the difference in hearing threshold between the two groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Noise levels were measured in the factory at a mean of 82 dBA, with a range of 66-97. No concurrent measurements were taken for the firefighters, but historic comparison values showed a wider range but a similar mean of 76-79 dBA. Although losses during follow-up were negligible, the factory workers had significantly (<it>P </it>< 0.0001) more hearing loss at the baseline of the study than the firefighters in both ears at 2, 3, and 4 kHz, adjusted for age, duration of employment and smoking status. Among those with 10 years of employment, mean losses at these frequencies among the factory workers fell into the impairment range (> 25 dB loss). Firefighters also showed increased losses associated with longer exposure duration, but these were significantly less marked. Losses at lower frequencies (< or = 1 kHz) were negligible in both groups.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Korean work environments with continuous noise exposure in the measured range should consider implementation of a hearing conservation program. Further evaluation of hearing loss in workers exposed to irregular or intermittent high noise levels, such as firefighters, is also warranted.</p

Measurement of the Z/gamma* + b-jet cross section in pp collisions at 7 TeV

The production of b jets in association with a Z/gamma* boson is studied using proton-proton collisions delivered by the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and recorded by the CMS detector. The inclusive cross section for Z/gamma* + b-jet production is measured in a sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.2 inverse femtobarns. The Z/gamma* + b-jet cross section with Z/gamma* to ll (where ll = ee or mu mu) for events with the invariant mass 60 < M(ll) < 120 GeV, at least one b jet at the hadron level with pT > 25 GeV and abs(eta) < 2.1, and a separation between the leptons and the jets of Delta R > 0.5 is found to be 5.84 +/- 0.08 (stat.) +/- 0.72 (syst.) +(0.25)/-(0.55) (theory) pb. The kinematic properties of the events are also studied and found to be in agreement with the predictions made by the MadGraph event generator with the parton shower and the hadronisation performed by PYTHIA.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of High Energy Physic

The Pochonia chlamydosporia Serine Protease Gene vcp1 Is Subject to Regulation by Carbon, Nitrogen and pH: Implications for Nematode Biocontrol

The alkaline serine protease VCP1 of the fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia belongs to a family of subtilisin-like enzymes that are involved in infection of nematode and insect hosts. It is involved early in the infection process, removing the outer proteinaceous vitelline membrane of nematode eggs. Little is known about the regulation of this gene, even though an understanding of how nutrients and other factors affect its expression is critical for ensuring its efficacy as a biocontrol agent. This paper provides new information on the regulation of vcp1 expression. Sequence analysis of the upstream regulatory region of this gene in 30 isolates revealed that it was highly conserved and contained sequence motifs characteristic of genes that are subject to carbon, nitrogen and pH-regulation. Expression studies, monitoring enzyme activity and mRNA, confirmed that these factors affect VCP1 production. As expected, glucose reduced VCP1 expression and for a few hours so did ammonium chloride. Surprisingly, however, by 24 h VCP1 levels were increased in the presence of ammonium chloride for most isolates. Ambient pH also regulated VCP1 expression, with most isolates producing more VCP1 under alkaline conditions. There were some differences in the response of one isolate with a distinctive upstream sequence including a variant regulatory-motif profile. Cryo-scanning electron microscopy studies indicated that the presence of nematode eggs stimulates VCP1 production by P. chlamydosporia, but only where the two are in close contact. Overall, the results indicate that readily-metabolisable carbon sources and unfavourable pH in the rhizosphere/egg-mass environment may compromise nematode parasitism by P. chlamydosporia. However, contrary to previous indications using other nematophagous and entomopathogenic fungi, ammonium nitrate (e.g. from fertilizers) may enhance biocontrol potential in some circumstances

Cardiovascular Effects of Excess Growth Hormone: How Real is the Threat?

Patients with acromegaly carry a high risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD). In fact, CVD is the leading cause of mortality among this group of patients. The most frequent cardiovascular complications are heart failure (HF), valvular disease, hypertension, arrhythmias, and coronary artery disease (CAD). The pathophysiology centers on the family of growth hormone (GH). These hormones are involved in normal cardiac development and function; however, excess of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), the principally active hormone, can also cause negative effects on the cardiovascular system. HF in acromegaly usually presents with biventricular enlargement and diastolic dysfunction and is strongly associated with the duration of GH excess rather than the degree of hormone elevation. There is a high prevalence of valvular disease affecting aortic and mitral valves among patients with longer disease duration. The development of hypertension in acromegaly may be attributed to the effects of chronic GH/IGF-1 excess on different organ systems, which act via several mechanisms. The aspect of arrhythmia and CAD complicating acromegaly are currently not fully understood