Single color and single flavor color superconductivity

We survey the non-locked color-flavor-spin channels for quark-quark (color superconducting) condensates in QCD, using an NJL model. We also study isotropic quark-antiquark (mesonic) condensates. We make mean-field estimates of the strength and sign of the self-interaction of each condensate, using four-fermion interaction vertices based on known QCD interactions. For the attractive quark pairing channels, we solve the mean-field gap equations to obtain the size of the gap as a function of quark density. We also calculate the dispersion relations for the quasiquarks, in order to see how fully gapped the spectrum of fermionic excitations will be. We use our results to specify the likely pairing patterns in neutral quark matter, and comment on possible phenomenological consequences

Critical phenomena from the two-particle irreducible 1/N expansion

The 1/N expansion of the two-particle irreducible (2PI) effective action is employed to compute universal properties at the second-order phase transition of an O(N)-symmetric N-vector model directly in three dimensions. At next-to-leading order the approach cures the spurious small-N divergence of the standard (1PI) 1/N expansion for a computation of the critical anomalous dimension eta(N), and leads to improved estimates already for moderate values of N.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure

A Feasibility Study of Quantifying Longitudinal Brain Changes in Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) Encephalitis Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Stereology.

OBJECTIVES: To assess whether it is feasible to quantify acute change in temporal lobe volume and total oedema volumes in herpes simplex virus (HSV) encephalitis as a preliminary to a trial of corticosteroid therapy. METHODS: The study analysed serially acquired magnetic resonance images (MRI), of patients with acute HSV encephalitis who had neuroimaging repeated within four weeks of the first scan. We performed volumetric measurements of the left and right temporal lobes and of cerebral oedema visible on T2 weighted Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery (FLAIR) images using stereology in conjunction with point counting. RESULTS: Temporal lobe volumes increased on average by 1.6% (standard deviation (SD 11%) in five patients who had not received corticosteroid therapy and decreased in two patients who had received corticosteroids by 8.5%. FLAIR hyperintensity volumes increased by 9% in patients not receiving treatment with corticosteroids and decreased by 29% in the two patients that had received corticosteroids. CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown it is feasible to quantify acute change in temporal lobe and total oedema volumes in HSV encephalitis and suggests a potential resolution of swelling in response to corticosteroid therapy. These techniques could be used as part of a randomized control trial to investigate the efficacy of corticosteroids for treating HSV encephalitis in conjunction with assessing clinical outcomes and could be of potential value in helping to predict the clinical outcomes of patients with HSV encephalitis

Four patients with a history of acute exacerbations of COPD: implementing the CHEST/Canadian Thoracic Society guidelines for preventing exacerbations

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Application of pharmacogenomics and bioinformatics to exemplify the utility of human <i>ex vivo</i> organoculture models in the field of precision medicine

Here we describe a collaboration between industry, the National Health Service (NHS) and academia that sought to demonstrate how early understanding of both pharmacology and genomics can improve strategies for the development of precision medicines. Diseased tissue ethically acquired from patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), was used to investigate inter-patient variability in drug efficacy using ex vivo organocultures of fresh lung tissue as the test system. The reduction in inflammatory cytokines in the presence of various test drugs was used as the measure of drug efficacy and the individual patient responses were then matched against genotype and microRNA profiles in an attempt to identify unique predictors of drug responsiveness. Our findings suggest that genetic variation in CYP2E1 and SMAD3 genes may partly explain the observed variation in drug response

Physiology of short-term verbal memory

These studies document a series of brain events accompanying short-term memory functions. For auditory verbal material the sequence involves at least two different sites within auditory cortex subserving sensory and cognitive processes of memorization. During the scanning of the short-term store structures within the medial temporal lobes, presumably the hippocampus, are active. There is an inconsistency between these results and the clinical observations of the need for an intact dominant parietal lobe for auditory short-term memory to function normally. Magnetic recordings showed no focal dipolar source of activity in the parietal lobe during any aspect of auditory short-term memory. The discrepancy could be accounted for by considering the parietal lobe lesion as "disconnecting" the lateral temporal cortex from the deep medial hippocampal structures thereby impeding auditory short-term functions (Geschwind, 1965). These studies show that the physiological analysis of brain events in the msec range can provide information about relatively complex cognitive processes underlying short-term memory. The magnetic and electrical recording methods provide a noninvasive way to study human brain functions involved in cognition that can then be correlated with behavioral measures of specific cognitive activities

Clinical Study Limited Effects of Endurance or Interval Training on Visceral Adipose Tissue and Systemic Inflammation in Sedentary Middle-Aged Men

properly cited. Purpose. Limited data exists for the effects of sprint-interval training (SIT) and endurance training (ET) on total body composition, abdominal visceral adipose tissue, and plasma inflammation. Moreover, whether &quot;active&quot; or &quot;passive&quot; recovery in SIT provides a differential effect on these measures remains uncertain. Methods. Sedentary middle-aged men ( = 62; 49.5±5.8 y; 29.7±3.7 kg⋅m 2 ) underwent abdominal computed tomography, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, venepuncture, and exercise testing before and after the interventions, which included the following: 12 wks 3 d⋅wk −1 ET ( = 15; 50-60 min cycling; 80% HR max ), SIT (4-10 × 30 s sprint efforts) with passive (P-SIT; = 15) or active recovery (A-SIT; = 15); or nonexercise control condition (CON; = 14). Changes in cardiorespiratory fitness, whole-body and visceral fat mass, and plasma systemic inflammation were examined. Results. Compared to CON, significant increases in interpolated power output (P-SIT, &lt; 0.001; ET, = 0.012; A-SIT, = 0.041) and test duration (P-SIT, = 0.001; ET, = 0.012; A-SIT, = 0.046) occurred after training. Final VO 2 consumption was increased after P-SIT only ( &lt; 0.001). Despite &gt;90% exercise compliance, there was no change in whole-body or visceral fat mass or plasma inflammation ( &gt; 0.05). Conclusion. In sedentary middle-aged men, SIT was a time-effective alternative to ET in facilitating conditioning responses yet was ineffective in altering body composition and plasma inflammation, and compared to passive recovery, evidenced diminished conditioning responses when employing active recovery

Involving seldom-heard groups in a PPI process to inform the design of a proposed trial on the use of probiotics to prevent preterm birth: a case study

Background Patient and public involvement (PPI) is an important tool in approaching research challenges. However, involvement of socially and ethnically diverse populations remains limited and practitioners need effective methods of involving a broad section of the population in planning and designing research. Methods In preparation for the development of a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) on the use of probiotics to prevent preterm birth, we conducted a public consultation exercise in a socially disadvantaged and ethnically diverse community. The consultation aimed to meet and engage local service users in considering the acceptability of the proposed protocol, and to encourage their participation in future and ongoing patient and public involvement activities. Four discussion groups were held in the community with mothers of young children within the proposed trial region, using an inclusive approach that incorporated a modified version of the Nominal Group Technique (NGT). Bringing the consultation to the community supported the involvement of often seldom-heard participants, such as those from minority ethnic groups. Results The women involved expressed a number of concerns about the proposed protocol, including adherence to the probiotic supplement regimen and randomisation. The proposal for the RCT in itself was perceived as confirmation that probiotic supplements had potentially beneficial effects, but also that they had potentially harmful side-effects. The complexity of the women’s responses provided greater insights into the challenges of even quite simple trial designs and enabled the research team to take these concerns into account while planning the pilot trial. Conclusions The use of the NGT method allowed for a consultation of a population traditionally less likely to participate in medical research. A carefully facilitated PPI exercise can allow members to express unanticipated concerns that may not have been elicited by a survey method. Findings from such exercises can be utilised to improve clinical trial design, provide insight into the feasibility of trials, and enable engagement of often excluded population groups