Heavy Quark Effective Field Theory at O(1/m_Q^2). II. QCD Corrections to the Currents

We present a calculation of the renormalized heavy-light and heavy-heavy currents in HQET at order O(1/m_Q^2).Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX (using amsmath.sty

Active vision-based localization for robots in a home-tour scenario

Self-Localization is a crucial task for mobile robots. It is not only a requirement for auto navigation but also provides contextual information to support human robot interaction (HRI). In this paper we present an active vision-based localization method for integration in a complex robot system to work in human interaction scenarios (e.g. home-tour) in a real world apartment. The holistic features used are robust to illumination and structural changes in the scene. The system uses only a single pan-tilt camera shared between different vision applications running in parallel to reduce the number of sensors. Additional information from other modalities (like laser scanners) can be used, profiting of an integration into an existing system. The camera view can be actively adapted and the evaluation showed that different rooms can be discerned

Unimagined Imaginary Parts in Heavy Quark Effective Field Theory

We argue that the imaginary parts of the anomalous dimensions in the multiparticle sectors of heavy quark effective field theory may be removed by a suitable redefinition of the multiparticle states. The connection between the imaginary parts of the anomalous dimensions and the interquark potential is pointed outComment: 14 Pages, LaTeX, HUTP-93/A009, IKDA 93/

Model Based Identification and Measurement of Reorganization Potential in Public Administrations – the PICTURE-Approach

Public administrations are faced with a modernization and performance gap. On the one hand citizens and companies have increasing requirements. On the other hand the financial and human resources remain static or even decrease. In recent years public administrations tried to counteract with reengineering their business processes. However, it is observable that reengineering projects in public administrations have a too narrow focus as they concentrate on a small subset of their overall processes. In this paper we claim that significant progress in the identification and measurement of reorganization potential can only be achieved by including the majority of all administrational processes – the process landscape. Therefore, we propose a method architecture which is capable of two things: Firstly, it supports a distributed modeling process across a whole public administration in order to capture the process landscape. Secondly, it is able to estimate the reorganization potential within the process landscape based on an analysis model. A working example derived from a currently funded EU project is supplemented in order to demonstrate our approach and to make it more comprehensible to the reader

Extended NJL Model for light and heavy mesons without q-qbar thresholds

We consider the NJL model as an effective quark theory to describe the interaction which is responsible for the quark flavor dynamics at intermediate energies. In addition to the usual ultraviolet cut-off which is necessary since the model is non-renormalizable, we also introduce an infrared cut-off which drops off the unknown confinement part of the quark interaction, which is believed to be less important for the flavor dynamics. The infrared cut-off eliminates all q-qbar thresholds, which plague the application of the usual NJL model beyond low-energy pion physics. We apply this two-cut-off prescription to the extended NJL model with chiral and heavy quark symmetries proposed recently by us. We find a satisfactoring description even of the heavy mesons with spin/parity J/P = (0+, 1+). Furthermore, the shape-parameters of the Isgur-Wise function are studied as a function of the residual heavy meson mass.Comment: 9 pages LaTeX, 3 figures included using epsfig.sty, also available via http://qft3.physik.hu-berlin.de/~feldmann/pub/9608223.ps.Z, Citation [3] correcte

Transapical aortic valve implantation with a self-expanding anatomically oriented valve

Aims The Medtronic Engager™ aortic valve bioprosthesis is a self-expanding valve with support arms facilitating anatomically correct positioning and axial fixation. Valve leaflets, made of bovine pericardium, are mounted on a Nitinol frame. Here, we report the first in man study with this new implant (Trial Identifier NCT00677638). Methods and results Thirty patients (mean age 83.4 ± 3.8 years; 83% female) with tricuspid aortic valve stenosis were included in the study. Mean logistic EuroSCORE was 23.4 ± 11.9. Mean aortic annulus diameter was 21.8 ± 1.4 mm. For this study, the Engager was available in only one size (23 mm), to fit aortic annuli of 19-23 mm. Standard transapical valve implantation was performed using predilation of the aortic valve and rapid ventricular pacing during ballon valvuloplasty and most valve deployments. Accurate valve placement was achieved in 29/30 cases (97%). Post-implant peak-to-peak gradient was 13.3 ± 9.3 mmHg. In 80% of the patients, no more than grade I paravalvular leakage was observed, in 13% grades I-II and in 3% grade II. Three patients (10%) required permanent pacemaker implantation for higher-degree or complete atrioventricular block. Four dissections (13%) occurred during positioning of the valve and were treated surgically in three cases. Thirty-day and in-hospital mortality were 20% and 23%, respectively, and 6-month survival was 56.7%. No structural failure occurred for up to 1 year. Conclusion This series established the feasibility of implanting a novel self-expanding transapical aortic valve prosthesis predictably into an anatomically correct position. Observed complications led to complete redesign of the delivery system for upcoming clinical studies with the goal of establishing safety and performanc

Autoantikörpernachweis mittels indirekter Immunfluoreszenz an HEp-2-Zellen

Systemic autoimmune diseases are characterized by the presence of antinuclear autoantibodies (ANAs). Diluted patient sera are typically used to screen for the presence of ANAs by immunofluorescence microscopy with fixed HEp-2 cells. Despite high quality test kits, reports of different laboratories frequently present controversial results. This study presents a recommendation for a unified processing and interpretation of HEp-2 based screening for autoantibodies. We provide suggestions for selection of high quality test kits, optimized processing, and diagnostic procedures. For good laboratory practice, in addition to a relevant clinical diagnosis and an experienced laboratory specialist, the following procedure is highly recommended: initial HEp-2 based screening by indirect immunofluorescence, starting with a 1:80 serum dilution and evaluation in a bright fluorescence microscope, pathological values from a titer of 1:160, internal quality checks, and unified interpretation. We aim to improve diagnostics and care for patients with autoimmune diseases as a central focus of the European Autoimmunity Standardization Initiative (EASI)

Biomarker qualification at the European Medicines Agency: a review of biomarker qualification procedures from 2008 to 2020

Regulatory qualification of biomarkers facilitates their harmonised use across drug developers, enabling more personalised medicine. This study reviews various aspects of the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) biomarker qualification procedure, including frequency and outcome, common challenges, and biomarker characteristics. Our findings provide insights into EMA's biomarker qualification process and will thereby support future applications. All biomarker-related "Qualification of Novel Methodologies for Medicine Development" procedures that started from 2008 to 2020 were included. Procedural data were extracted from relevant documents and analysed descriptively. In total, 86 biomarker qualification procedures were identified, of which 13 resulted in qualified biomarkers. Whereas initially many biomarker qualification procedures were linked to a single company and specific drug development program, a shift was observed to qualification efforts by consortia. Most biomarkers were proposed (n=45) and qualified (n=9) for use in patient selection, stratification, and enrichment, followed by efficacy biomarkers (37 proposed, 4 qualified). Overall, many issues were raised during qualification procedures, mostly related to biomarker properties and assay validation (in 79% and 77% of all procedures, respectively). Issues related to the proposed context of use and rationale were least common, yet, were still raised in 54% of all procedures. While few qualified biomarkers are currently available, procedures focus increasingly on biomarkers for general use instead of those linked to specific drug compounds. The issues raised during qualification procedures illustrate the thorough discussions taking place between applicants and regulators - highlighting aspects that need careful consideration and underlining the importance of an appropriate validation strategy

Power suppressed effects in B-> X_s gamma at O(alpha_s)

We compute the O(alpha_s) corrections to the Wilson coefficients of the dimension five operators emerging from the Operator Product Expansion of inclusive radiative B decays. We discuss the impact of the resulting O(alpha_s Lambda_QCD^2/m_b^2) corrections on the extraction of m_b and mu_pi^2 from the moments of the photon spectrum.Comment: 14 pages,4 figures, v2: comments and one figure on endpoint behaviour added, version to appear on NP

Divergent responses of Atlantic cod to ocean acidification and food limitation

In order to understand the effect of global change on marine fishes, it is imperative to quantify the effects on fundamental parameters such as survival and growth. Larval survival and recruitment of the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) were found to be heavily impaired by end-of-century levels of ocean acidification. Here, we analysed larval growth among 35–36 days old surviving larvae, along with organ development and ossification of the skeleton. We combined CO2treatments (ambient: 503 µatm, elevated: 1,179 µatm) with food availability in order to evaluate the effect of energy limitation in addition to the ocean acidification stressor. As expected, larval size (as a proxy for growth) and skeletogenesis were positively affected by high food availability. We found significant interactions between acidification and food availability. Larvae fed ad libitum showed little difference in growth and skeletogenesis due to the CO2 treatment. Larvae under energy limitation were significantly larger and had further developed skeletal structures in the elevated CO2 treatment compared to the ambient CO2 treatment. However, the elevated CO2 group revealed impairments in critically important organs, such as the liver, and had comparatively smaller functional gills indicating a mismatch between size and function. It is therefore likely that individual larvae that had survived acidification treatments will suffer from impairments later during ontogeny. Our study highlights important allocation trade-off between growth and organ development, which is critically important to interpret acidification effects on early life stages of fish