Charm Lifetimes and Mixing

A review of the latest results on charm lifetimes and D-mixing is presented. The e+e- collider experiments are now able to measure charm lifetimes quite precisely, however comparisons with the latest results from fixed-target experiments show that possible systematic effects could be evident. The new D-mixing results from the B-factories have changed the picture that is emerging. Although the new world averaged value of y_CP is now consistent with zero, there is still a very interesting and favoured scenario if the strong phase difference between the Doubly-Cabibbo-suppressed and the Cabibbo-flavoured D0 -> Kpi decay is large.Comment: Presented at the 9th International Symposium on Heavy Flavors, Caltech, Pasadena, 10-13 Sept. 2001. To appear in proceeding

Review of charm and beauty lifetimes

A review of the latest experimental results on charm and beauty particle lifetimes is presented together with a brief summary of measurement methods used for beauty particle lifetime measurements. There have been significant updates to the D{sub s}{sup +}/D{sup 0}, B{sup +}/B{sub d}{sup 0} and {Lambda}{sub b}{sup 0}/B{sub d}{sup 0} lifetime ratios which have some theoretical implications. However more precise measurements are still needed before one can make conclusive statements about the theory used to calculate the particle lifetimes

Microbial lysate upregulates host oxytocin

Neuropeptide hormone oxytocin has roles in social bonding, energy metabolism, and wound healing contributing to good physical, mental and social health. It was previously shown that feeding of a human commensal microbe Lactobacillus reuteri (L. reuteri) is sufficient to up-regulate endogenous oxytocin levels and improve wound healing capacity in mice. Here we show that oral L. reuteri-induced skin wound repair benefits extend to human subjects. Further, dietary supplementation with a sterile lysate of this microbe alone is sufficient to boost systemic oxytocin levels and improve wound repair capacity. Oxytocin-producing cells were found to be increased in the caudal paraventricular nucleus [PVN] of the hypothalamus after feeding of a sterile lysed preparation of L. reuteri, coincident with lowered blood levels of stress hormone corticosterone and more rapid epidermal closure, in mouse models. We conclude that microbe viability is not essential for regulating host oxytocin levels. The results suggest that a peptide or metabolite produced by bacteria may modulate host oxytocin secretion for potential public or personalized health goals.Published versio

The Curve of Compactified 6D Gauge Theories and Integrable Systems

We analyze the Seiberg-Witten curve of the six-dimensional N=(1,1) gauge theory compactified on a torus to four dimensions. The effective theory in four dimensions is a deformation of the N=2* theory. The curve is naturally holomorphically embedding in a slanted four-torus--actually an abelian surface--a set-up that is natural in Witten's M-theory construction of N=2 theories. We then show that the curve can be interpreted as the spectral curve of an integrable system which generalizes the N-body elliptic Calogero-Moser and Ruijsenaars-Schneider systems in that both the positions and momenta take values in compact spaces. It turns out that the resulting system is not simply doubly elliptic, rather the positions and momenta, as two-vectors, take values in the ambient abelian surface. We analyze the two-body system in some detail. The system we uncover provides a concrete realization of a Beauville-Mukai system based on an abelian surface rather than a K3 surface.Comment: 22 pages, JHEP3, 4 figures, improved readility of figures, added reference

Determinants of medication adherence to antihypertensive medications among a Chinese population using Morisky medication adherence scale

<b>Background and objectives</b> Poor adherence to medications is one of the major public health challenges. Only one-third of the population reported successful control of blood pressure, mostly caused by poor drug adherence. However, there are relatively few reports studying the adherence levels and their associated factors among Chinese patients. This study aimed to study the adherence profiles and the factors associated with antihypertensive drug adherence among Chinese patients.<p></p> <b>Methods</b> A cross-sectional study was conducted in an outpatient clinic located in the New Territories Region of Hong Kong. Adult patients who were currently taking at least one antihypertensive drug were invited to complete a self-administered questionnaire, consisting of basic socio-demographic profile, self-perceived health status, and self-reported medication adherence. The outcome measure was the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). Good adherence was defined as MMAS scores greater than 6 points (out of a total score of 8 points).<p></p> <b>Results</b> From 1114 patients, 725 (65.1%) had good adherence to antihypertensive agents. Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted. Younger age, shorter duration of antihypertensive agents used, job status being employed, and poor or very poor self-perceived health status were negatively associated with drug adherence.<p></p> <b>Conclusion</b> This study reported a high proportion of poor medication adherence among hypertensive subjects. Patients with factors associated with poor adherence should be more closely monitored to optimize their drug taking behavior

Preliminary results of trial NPC-0501 evaluating the therapeutic gain by changing from concurrent-adjuvant to induction-concurrent chemoradiotherapy, changing from fluorouracil to capecitabine, and changing from conventional to accelerated radiotherapy fractionation in patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma

© 2014 American Cancer Society. BACKGROUND A current recommendation for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is conventional fractionated radiotherapy with concurrent cisplatin plus adjuvant cisplatin and fluorouracil (PF). In this randomized trial, the authors evaluated the potential therapeutic benefit from changing to an induction-concurrent chemotherapy sequence, replacing fluorouracil with oral capecitabine, and/or using accelerated rather than conventional radiotherapy fractionation. METHODS Patients with stage III through IVB, nonkeratinizing NPC were randomly allocated to 1 of 6 treatment arms. The protocol was amended in 2009 to permit confining randomization to the conventional fractionation arms. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival. Secondary endpoints included overall survival and safety. RESULTS In total, 803 patients were accrued, and 706 patients were randomly allocated to all 6 treatment arms. Comparisons of induction PF versus adjuvant PF did not indicate a significant improvement. Unadjusted comparisons of induction cisplatin and capecitabine (PX) versus adjuvant PF indicated a favorable trend in progression-free survival for the conventional fractionation arm (P = .045); analyses that were adjusted for other significant factors and fractionation reflected a significant reduction in the hazards of disease progression (hazard ratio [HR], 0.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.36-0.80) and death (HR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.25-0.70). Unadjusted comparisons of induction sequences versus adjuvant sequences did not reach statistical significance, but adjusted comparisons indicated favorable improvements by induction sequence. Comparisons of induction PX versus induction PF revealed fewer toxicities (neutropenia and electrolyte disturbance), unadjusted comparisons of efficacy were statistically insignificant, but adjusted analyses indicated that induction PX had a lower hazard of death (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.34-0.97). Changing the fractionation from conventional to accelerated did not achieve any benefit but incurred higher toxicities (acute mucositis and dehydration). CONCLUSIONS Preliminary results indicate that the benefit of changing to an induction-concurrent sequence remains uncertain; replacing fluorouracil with oral capecitabine warrants further validation in view of its convenience, favorable toxicity profile, and favorable trends in efficacy; and accelerated fractionation is not recommended for patients with locoregionally advanced NPC who receive chemoradiotherapy.postprin