Predictive Ability of QCD Sum Rules for Excited Baryons

The masses of octet baryons are calculated by the method of QCD sum rules. Using generalized interpolating fields, three independent sets of QCD sum rules are derived which allow the extraction of low-lying N* states with spin-parity 1/2+, 1/2- and 3/2- in both the non-strange and strange channels. The predictive ability of the sum rules is examined by a Monte-Carlo based analysis procedure in which the three phenomenological parameters (mass, coupling, threshold) are treated as free parameters simultaneously. Realistic uncertainties in these parameters are obtained by simultaneously exploring all uncertainties in the QCD input parameters. Those sum rules with good predictive power are identified and their predictions are compared with experiment where available.Comment: 33 pages, 2 figure

Chiral Baryon Fields in the QCD Sum Rule

We study the structure of local baryon fields using the method of QCD sum rule. We only consider the single baryon fields and calculate their operator product expansions. We find that the octet baryon fields belonging to the chiral representations [(3,3*)+(3*,3)] and [(8,1)+(1,8)] and the decuplet baryon fields belonging to the chiral representations [(3,6)+(6,3)] lead to the baryon masses which are consistent with the experimental data of ground baryon masses. We also calculate their decay constants, check our normalizations for baryon fields in PRD81:054002(2010) and find that they are well-defined.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure, 1 table, accepted by EPJ

How can diverse national food and land-use priorities be reconciled with global sustainability targets? Lessons from the FABLE initiative

There is an urgent need for countries to transition their national food and land-use systems toward food and nutritional security, climate stability, and environmental integrity. How can countries satisfy their demands while jointly delivering the required transformative change to achieve global sustainability targets? Here, we present a collaborative approach developed with the FABLE—Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land, and Energy—Consortium to reconcile both global and national elements for developing national food and land-use system pathways. This approach includes three key features: (1) global targets, (2) country-driven multi-objective pathways, and (3) multiple iterations of pathway refinement informed by both national and international impacts. This approach strengthens policy coherence and highlights where greater national and international ambition is needed to achieve global goals (e.g., the SDGs). We discuss how this could be used to support future climate and biodiversity negotiations and what further developments would be needed

Female chromosome X mosaicism is age-related and preferentially affects the inactivated X chromosome

To investigate large structural clonal mosaicism of chromosome X, we analysed the SNP microarray intensity data of 38,303 women from cancer genome-wide association studies (20,878 cases and 17,425 controls) and detected 124 mosaic X events42Mb in 97 (0.25%) women. Here we show rates for X-chromosome mosaicism are four times higher than mean autosomal rates; X mosaic events more often include the entire chromosome and participants with X events more likely harbour autosomal mosaic events. X mosaicism frequency increases with age (0.11% in 50-year olds; 0.45% in 75-year olds), as reported for Y and autosomes. Methylation array analyses of 33 women with X mosaicism indicate events preferentially involve the inactive X chromosome. Our results provide further evidence that the sex chromosomes undergo mosaic events more frequently than autosomes, which could have implications for understanding the underlying mechanisms of mosaic events and their possible contribution to risk for chronic diseases

Detectable clonal mosaicism and its relationship to aging and cancer

In an analysis of 31,717 cancer cases and 26,136 cancer-free controls from 13 genome-wide association studies, we observed large chromosomal abnormalities in a subset of clones in DNA obtained from blood or buccal samples. We observed mosaic abnormalities, either aneuploidy or copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity, of >2 Mb in size in autosomes of 517 individuals (0.89%), with abnormal cell proportions of between 7% and 95%. In cancer-free individuals, frequency increased with age, from 0.23% under 50 years to 1.91% between 75 and 79 years (P = 4.8 × 10(-8)). Mosaic abnormalities were more frequent in individuals with solid tumors (0.97% versus 0.74% in cancer-free individuals; odds ratio (OR) = 1.25; P = 0.016), with stronger association with cases who had DNA collected before diagnosis or treatment (OR = 1.45; P = 0.0005). Detectable mosaicism was also more common in individuals for whom DNA was collected at least 1 year before diagnosis with leukemia compared to cancer-free individuals (OR = 35.4; P = 3.8 × 10(-11)). These findings underscore the time-dependent nature of somatic events in the etiology of cancer and potentially other late-onset diseases

cMyb regulates hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell mobilization during zebrafish hematopoiesis

The establishment of the HSC pool in vertebrates depends not only on the formation and the propagation of these stem cells but also on their proper trafficking among the defined hematopoietic organs. However, the physiologic mechanisms that regulate HSC mobilization remain elusive. Through analysis of the zebrafish cmyb mutant cmybhkz3, we show that the suppression of cMyb function abrogates larval and adult hematopoiesis, with concomitant accumulation of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) in their birthplace, the ventral wall of the dorsal aorta (VDA). Cell tracking and time-lapse recording reveal that the accumulation of HSPCs in cmybhkz3 mutants is caused by the impairment of HSPC egression from the VDA. Further analysis demonstrates that the HSPC migratory defects in cmybhkz3 mutants are at least partly because of adversely elevated levels of chemokine stromal cell-derived factor 1a (Sdf1a). Our study reveals that cMyb plays a hitherto unidentified role in dictating physiologic HSPC migration by modulating Sdf1a signaling. © 2011 by The American Society of Hematology

Assessment of measurement-based methods for separating wheel and track contributions to railway rolling noise

The noise produced during a train pass-by originates from several different sources such as propulsion noise, noise from auxiliary equipment, aerodynamic noise and rolling noise. The rolling noise is radiated by the wheels and the track and is excited by the wheel and rail unevenness, usually referred to as roughness. The current TSI Noise certification method, which must be satisfied by all new mainline trains in Europe, relies on the use of a reference track to quantify the noise from new vehicles. The reference track is defined by an upper limit of the rail roughness and a lower limit of the track decay rate (TDR). However, since neither the rail roughness nor the track radiation can be completely neglected, the result cannot be taken as representing only the vehicle noise and the measurement does not allow separate identification of the noise radiated by wheel and track. It is even likely that further reductions in the limit values for new rolling stock cannot be achieved on current tracks. There is therefore a need for a method to separate the noise into these two components reliably and cheaply. The purpose of the current study is to assess existing and new methods for rolling noise separation. Field tests have been carried out under controlled conditions, allowing the different methods to be compared. The TWINS model is used with measured vibration data to give reference estimates of the wheel and track noise components. Six different methods are then considered that can be used to estimate the track component. It is found that most of these methods can obtain the track component of noise with acceptable accuracy. However, apart from the TWINS model, the wheel noise component could only be estimated directly using three methods and unfortunately these did not give satisfactory results in the current tests