Sensitivity to the KARMEN Timing Anomaly at MiniBooNE

We present sensitivities for the MiniBooNE experiment to a rare exotic pion decay producing a massive particle, Q^0. This type of decay represents one possible explanation for the timing anomaly reported by the KARMEN collaboration. MiniBooNE will be able to explore an area of the KARMEN signal that has not yet been investigated

Ghrelin is not Related to Hunger or Calories Consumed at Breakfast in Lean and Obese Women

poster abstractBackground: The mechanisms that result in greater caloric intake in obese individuals are incompletely understood. Ghrelin administration increases ad lib food intake in humans. We investigated the relationship of ghrelin to calorie consumption and hunger at breakfast on two separate occasions in lean and obese women. Methods: 23 lean (BMI 22.3±0.5 kg/m2, 26.5±1.0 yr) and 25 obese (BMI 36.9±0.7 kg/m2, 27.8±1.1 yr) women participated in a noncontiguous 2 day study. The minimum and maximum days between visits were 6 and 43 days. Participants were given the same breakfast on both days (turkey sausage, French toast with margarine/syrup, fruit cup, coffee, tea, diet soda, or water) with portions adjusted to provide 20% of the daily energy requirement for weight maintenance. Subjects were instructed to eat until full. Hunger was evaluated on a Satiety Labeled Intensity Magnitude Scale (SLIM) before and after the meal. Anchors were “greatest imaginable fullness” at 0 and “greatest imaginable hunger” at 100. Blood samples were collected over 120 minutes for measurement of active ghrelin. Results: Lean subjects consumed an equivalent number of calories on both days (380.0±14.6 vs 378.2±14.9 kcal), as did the obese (419.4±16.2 vs 428.8±15.4 kcal). On average for both days, obese consumed significantly more breakfast calories than lean (424.1±11.1 vs 379.1±10.3 kcal; P<0.01), but the same percentage of calories provided (85.7±1.8 vs 86.1±1.7 %kcal). Lean subjects rated hunger before breakfast the same on both days (69.2±1.6 vs 71.7±1.4), as did the obese (69.8±1.6 vs 69.6±1.8), and there was no difference between the groups. Lean subjects rated hunger after breakfast the same on both days (27.8±1.9 vs 30.3±2.4), as did the obese (25.0±1.7 vs 24.3±1.8). The reduction in hunger score following breakfast was significant for both groups (P<0.0001), with the obese reporting significantly less hunger/more fullness after breakfast than the lean (P=0.02). Fasting ghrelin was significantly greater in the lean than obese women (549.9±58.9 vs 231.0±29.1 pg/ml; P<0.0001). Ghrelin was significantly reduced at 60 min following breakfast in the lean (375.8±49.2 pg/ml; P=0.028) but not the obese (212.2±26.4 pg/ml). Ghrelin was not related to hunger score prior to breakfast, and there was no relationship between reduction in ghrelin and hunger score in the lean or obese. Conclusion: Caloric intake (as a percentage provided) and hunger scores before breakfast on two occasions were the same for both lean and obese women. Fasting ghrelin was significantly different between lean and obese women but did not predict hunger score or calories consumed. Our findings do not support a role for ghrelin in driving food intake at breakfast

Prospects for Observations of Pulsars and Pulsar Wind Nebulae with CTA

The last few years have seen a revolution in very-high gamma-ray astronomy (VHE; E>100 GeV) driven largely by a new generation of Cherenkov telescopes (namely the H.E.S.S. telescope array, the MAGIC and MAGIC-II large telescopes and the VERITAS telescope array). The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project foresees a factor of 5 to 10 improvement in sensitivity above 0.1 TeV, extending the accessible energy range to higher energies up to 100 TeV, in the Galactic cut-off regime, and down to a few tens GeV, covering the VHE photon spectrum with good energy and angular resolution. As a result of the fast development of the VHE field, the number of pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) detected has increased from one PWN in the early '90s to more than two dozen firm candidates today. Also, the low energy threshold achieved and good sensitivity at TeV energies has resulted in the detection of pulsed emission from the Crab Pulsar (or its close environment) opening new and exiting expectations about the pulsed spectra of the high energy pulsars powering PWNe. Here we discuss the physics goals we aim to achieve with CTA on pulsar and PWNe physics evaluating the response of the instrument for different configurations.Comment: accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic

Superconducting zero temperature phase transition in two dimensions and in the magnetic field

We derive the Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson theory for the superconducting phase transition in two dimensions and in the magnetic field. Without disorder the theory describes a fluctuation induced first-order quantum phase transition into the Abrikosov lattice. We propose a phenomenological criterion for determining the transition field and discuss the qualitative effects of disorder. Comparison with recent experiments on MoGe films is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

Quantification of Myocardial Blood Flow in Absolute Terms Using (82)Rb PET Imaging: The RUBY-10 Study.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare myocardial blood flow (MBF) and myocardial flow reserve (MFR) estimates from rubidium-82 positron emission tomography ((82)Rb PET) data using 10 software packages (SPs) based on 8 tracer kinetic models. BACKGROUND: It is unknown how MBF and MFR values from existing SPs agree for (82)Rb PET. METHODS: Rest and stress (82)Rb PET scans of 48 patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease were analyzed in 10 centers. Each center used 1 of 10 SPs to analyze global and regional MBF using the different kinetic models implemented. Values were considered to agree if they simultaneously had an intraclass correlation coefficient &gt;0.75 and a difference &lt;20% of the median across all programs. RESULTS: The most common model evaluated was the Ottawa Heart Institute 1-tissue compartment model (OHI-1-TCM). MBF values from 7 of 8 SPs implementing this model agreed best. Values from 2 other models (alternative 1-TCM and Axially distributed) also agreed well, with occasional differences. The MBF results from other models (e.g., 2-TCM and retention) were less in agreement with values from OHI-1-TCM. CONCLUSIONS: SPs using the most common kinetic model-OHI-1-TCM-provided consistent results in measuring global and regional MBF values, suggesting that they may be used interchangeably to process data acquired with a common imaging protocol

The spiritual organization: critical reflections on the instrumentality of workplace spirituality

Authors' draft of article. Final version published by Routledge in Journal of Management, Spirituality and Religion available online at: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/14766086.aspThis paper offers a theoretical contribution to the current debate on workplace spirituality by: (a) providing a selective critical review of scholarship, research and corporate practices which treat workplace spirituality in performative terms, that is, as a resource or means to be manipulated instrumentally and appropriated for economic ends; (b) extending Ezioni’s analysis of complex organizations and proposing a new category, the ‘spiritual organization’, and; (c) positing three alternative positions with respect to workplace spirituality that follow from the preceding critique. The spiritual organization can be taken to represent the development of a trajectory of social technologies that have sought, incrementally, to control the bodies, minds, emotions and souls of employees. Alternatively, it might be employed to conceptualize the way in which employees use the workplace as a site for pursuing their own spiritualities (a reverse instrumentalism). Finally, we consider the possible incommensurability of ‘work organization’ and ‘spirituality’ discourses

Demystifying an unidentified EGRET source by VHE gamma-ray observations

In a novel approach in observational high-energy gamma-ray astronomy, observations carried out by imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes provide necessary templates to pinpoint the nature of intriguing, yet unidentified EGRET gamma-ray sources. Using GeV-photons detected by CGRO EGRET and taking advantage of high spatial resolution images from H.E.S.S. observations, we were able to shed new light on the EGRET observed gamma-ray emission in the Kookaburra complex, whose previous coverage in the literature is somewhat contradictory. 3EGJ1420-6038 very likely accounts for two GeV gamma-ray sources (E>1 GeV), both in positional coincidence with the recently reported pulsar wind nebulae (PWN) by HESS in the Kookaburra/Rabbit complex. PWN associations at VHE energies, supported by accumulating evidence from observations in the radio and X-ray band, are indicative for the PSR/plerionic origin of spatially coincident, but still unidentified Galactic gamma-ray sources from EGRET. This not only supports the already suggested connection between variable, but unidentified low-latitude gamma-ray sources with pulsar wind nebulae (3EGJ1420-6038 has been suggested as PWN candidate previoulsy), it also documents the ability of resolving apparently confused EGRET sources by connecting the GeV emission as measured from a large-aperture space-based gamma-ray instrument with narrow field-of-view but superior spatial resolution observations by ground-based atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, a very promising identification technique for achieving convincing individual source identifications in the era of GLAST-LAT.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science, Proc. of "The Multi-Messenger Approach to High-Energy Gamma-ray Sources (Third Workshop on the Nature of Unidentified High-Energy Sources)", Barcelona, July 4-7, 2006, one typo correcte

Mediation of foundation ontology based knowledge sources

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in the journal Computers in Industry [© Elsevier]. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Computers and Industry: www.elsevier.com/locate/compindOntologies are helpful in giving interoperable structures to sources of knowledge and information. This interoperability, however, is greatly hindered by the heterogeneity of independently developed ontologies which in turn increases the requirements for mediation systems to reconcile the differences. A core concepts ontology for a certain domain contained by a foundation ontology can be used to alleviate this problem and to facilitate the reconciliation efforts. Possible differences in the use of concepts from the core concepts to model entities in domain ontologies can be prevented by binding the domain ontology developers to some rules. These rules can be particularly useful for domain ontologies requiring some kind of traceability of their concepts in the foundation ontology. The mediation system can then use this traceability to establish similarities between two ontologies. Software applications, like the one explained in this paper, can then be developed to perform the mediation task automatically and accurately

Primary Invasive Aspergillosis of the Digestive Tract: Report of Two Cases and Review of the Literature

BACKGROUND: Disseminated aspergillosis is thought to occur as a result of vascular invasion from the lungs with subsequent bloodstream dissemination, and portals of entry other than sinuses and/or the respiratory tract remain speculative. METHODS: We report two cases of primary aspergillosis in the digestive tract and present a detailed review of eight of the 23 previously-published cases for which detailed data are available. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: These ten cases presented with symptoms suggestive of typhlitis, with further peritonitis requiring laparotomy and small bowel segmental resection. All cases were characterized by the absence of pulmonary disease at the time of histologically-confirmed gastrointestinal involvement with vascular invasion by branched Aspergillus hyphae. These cases suggest that the digestive tract may represent a portal of entry for Aspergillus species in immunocompromised patients

A Review of the fossil record of turtles of the clade Baenidae

The fossil record of the turtle clade Baenidae ranges from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian—Albian) to the Eocene. The group is present throughout North America during the Early Cretaceous, but is restricted to the western portions of the continents in the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene. No credible remains of the clade have been reported outside of North America to date. Baenids were warmadapted freshwater aquatic turtles that supported high levels of diversity at times through niche partitioning, particularly by adapting to a broad range of dietary preferences ranging from omnivorous to molluscivorous. Current phylogenies place Baenidae near the split of crown-group Testudines. Within Baenidae three more inclusive, named clades are recognized: Baenodda, Palatobaeninae and Eubaeninae. A taxonomic review of the group concludes that of 49 named taxa, 30 are nomina valida, 12 are nomina invalida and 7 are nomina dubia