75 research outputs found
Charged pion form factor between Q^2=0.60 and 2.45 GeV^2. II. Determination of, and results for, the pion form factor
The charged pion form factor, Fpi(Q^2), is an important quantity which can be
used to advance our knowledge of hadronic structure. However, the extraction of
Fpi from data requires a model of the 1H(e,e'pi+)n reaction, and thus is
inherently model dependent. Therefore, a detailed description of the extraction
of the charged pion form factor from electroproduction data obtained recently
at Jefferson Lab is presented, with particular focus given to the dominant
uncertainties in this procedure. Results for Fpi are presented for
Q^2=0.60-2.45 GeV^2. Above Q^2=1.5 GeV^2, the Fpi values are systematically
below the monopole parameterization that describes the low Q^2 data used to
determine the pion charge radius. The pion form factor can be calculated in a
wide variety of theoretical approaches, and the experimental results are
compared to a number of calculations. This comparison is helpful in
understanding the role of soft versus hard contributions to hadronic structure
in the intermediate Q^2 regime.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figure
Further Experimental Studies of Two-Body Radiative \Upsilon Decays
Continuing our studies of radiative Upsilon(1S) decays, we report on a search
for Upsilon to gamma eta and Upsilon to gamma f_{J}(2220) in 61.3 pb^{-1} of
e^{+}e^{-} data taken with the CLEO II detector at the Cornell Electron Storage
Ring. For the gamma eta search the three decays of the eta meson to
pi^{+}pi^{-}pi^{0}, pi^{0}pi^{0}pi^{0}, and gamma gamma were investigated. We
found no candidate events in the two (3\pi)^{0} modes and no significant excess
over expected backgrounds in the gamma gamma mode to set a limit on the
branching fraction of B(Upsilon to gamma eta) < 2.1 x 10^{-5} at 90% C.L. The
three charged two-body final states h h-bar (h = pi^{+}, K^{+}, p) were
investigated for f_{J}(2220) production, with one, one, and two events found,
respectively. Limits at 90% C.L. of B(\Upsilon to gamma f_{J}) x B(f_{J} to h
h-bar) ~ 1.5 x 10^{-5} have been set for each of these modes. We compare our
results to measurements of other radiative Upsilon decays, to measurements of
radiative J/psi decays, and to theoretical predictions.Comment: 19 pages postscript, also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to Physical Review
Update of the Search for the Neutrinoless Decay
We present an update of the search for the lepton family number violating
decay using a complete CLEO II data sample of 12.6 million
pairs. No evidence of a signal has been found and the
corresponding upper limit is \BR(\tau \to \mu\gamma) < 1.0 \times 10^{-6}
at 90% CL, significantly smaller than previous limits. All quoted results are
preliminary.Comment: 9 pages postscript, also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
Radiative Decay Modes of the Meson
Using data recorded by the CLEO-II detector at CESR we have searched for four
radiative decay modes of the meson: ,
, , and . We
obtain 90% CL upper limits on the branching ratios of these modes of , , and
respectively.Comment: 15 page postscript file, postscript file also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
Measurement of the Mass Splittings between the States
We present new measurements of photon energies and branching fractions for
the radiative transitions: Upsilon(2S)->gamma+chi_b(J=0,1,2). The masses of the
chi_b states are determined from the measured radiative photon energies. The
ratio of mass splittings between the chi_b substates,
r==(M[J=2]-M[J=1])/(M[J=1]-M[J=0]) with M the chi_b mass, provides information
on the nature of the bbbar confining potential. We find
r(1P)=0.54+/-0.02+/-0.02. This value is in conflict with the previous world
average, but more consistent with the theoretical expectation that r(1P)<r(2P);
i.e., that this mass splittings ratio is smaller for the chi_b(1P) triplet than
for the chi_b(2P) triplet.Comment: 11 page postscript file, postscript file also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV
A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The
analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC
from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an
integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross
section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected
exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the
standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The
analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model
Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The
largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is
observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance
of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local
significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is
estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of
this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
Measurement of isolated photon production in pp and PbPb collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 2.76 TeV
Isolated photon production is measured in proton-proton and lead-lead
collisions at nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energies of 2.76 TeV in the
pseudorapidity range |eta|<1.44 and transverse energies ET between 20 and 80
GeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The measured ET spectra are found to be
in good agreement with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions. The
ratio of PbPb to pp isolated photon ET-differential yields, scaled by the
number of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions, is consistent with unity for
all PbPb reaction centralities.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
Drug-gene interactions of antihypertensive medications and risk of incident cardiovascular disease: A pharmacogenomics study from the CHARGE consortium
Background Hypertension is a major risk factor for a spectrum of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including myocardial infarction, sudden death, and stroke. In the US, over 65 million people have high blood pressure and a large proportion of these individuals are prescribed antihypertensive medications. Although large long-term clinical trials conducted in the last several decades have identified a number of effective antihypertensive treatments that reduce the risk of future clinical complications, responses to therapy and protection from cardiovascular events vary among individuals. Methods Using a genome-wide association study among 21,267 participants with pharmaceutically treated hypertension, we explored the hypothesis that genetic variants might influence or modify the effectiveness of common antihypertensive therapies on the risk ofmajor cardiovascular outcomes. The classes of drug treatments included angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, and diuretics. In the setting of the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium, each study performed array-based genome-wide genotyping, imputed to HapMap Phase II reference panels, and used additive genetic models in proportional hazards or logistic regressionmodels to evaluate drug-gene interactions for each of four therapeutic drug classes. We used meta-analysis to combine study-specific interaction estimates for approximately 2 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a discovery analysis among 15,375 European Ancestry participants (3,527 CVD cases) with targeted follow-up in a case-only study of 1,751 European Ancestry GenHAT participants as well as among 4,141 African-Americans (1,267 CVD cases). Results Although drug-SNP interactions were biologically plausible, exposures and outcomes were well measured, and power was sufficient to detect modest interactions, we did not identify any statistically significant interactions from the four antihypertensive therapy meta-analyses (Pinteraction > 5.0Ă10-8). Similarly, findings were null for meta-analyses restricted to 66 SNPs with significant main effects on coronary artery disease or blood pressure from large published genom
Functional and quality of life outcomes of localised prostate cancer treatments (Prostate Testing for Cancer and Treatment [ProtecT] study)
Objective
To investigate the functional and quality of life (QoL) outcomes of treatments for localised prostate cancer and inform treatment decision-making.
Patients and Methods
Men aged 50â69âyears diagnosed with localised prostate cancer by prostate-specific antigen testing and biopsies at nine UK centres in the Prostate Testing for Cancer and Treatment (ProtecT) trial were randomised to, or chose one of, three treatments. Of 2565 participants, 1135 men received active monitoring (AM), 750 a radical prostatectomy (RP), 603 external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) with concurrent androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) and 77 low-dose-rate brachytherapy (BT, not a randomised treatment). Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) completed annually for 6âyears were analysed by initial treatment and censored for subsequent treatments. Mixed effects models were adjusted for baseline characteristics using propensity scores.
Results
Treatment-received analyses revealed different impacts of treatments over 6âyears. Men remaining on AM experienced gradual declines in sexual and urinary function with age (e.g., increases in erectile dysfunction from 35% of men at baseline to 53% at 6âyears and nocturia similarly from 20% to 38%). Radical treatment impacts were immediate and continued over 6âyears. After RP, 95% of men reported erectile dysfunction persisting for 85% at 6âyears, and after EBRT this was reported by 69% and 74%, respectively (Pâ<â0.001 compared with AM). After RP, 36% of men reported urinary leakage requiring at least 1âpad/day, persisting for 20% at 6âyears, compared with no change in men receiving EBRT or AM (Pâ<â0.001). Worse bowel function and bother (e.g., bloody stools 6% at 6âyears and faecal incontinence 10%) was experienced by men after EBRT than after RP or AM (Pâ<â0.001) with lesser effects after BT. No treatment affected mental or physical QoL.
Conclusion
Treatment decision-making for localised prostate cancer can be informed by these 6-year functional and QoL outcomes
Size Doesn't Matter: Towards a More Inclusive Philosophy of Biology
notes: As the primary author, OâMalley drafted the paper, and gathered and analysed data (scientific papers and talks). Conceptual analysis was conducted by both authors.publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticlePhilosophers of biology, along with everyone else, generally perceive life to fall into two broad categories, the microbes and macrobes, and then pay most of their attention to the latter. âMacrobeâ is the word we propose for larger life forms, and we use it as part of an argument for microbial equality. We suggest that taking more notice of microbes â the dominant life form on the planet, both now and throughout evolutionary history â will transform some of the philosophy of biologyâs standard ideas on ontology, evolution, taxonomy and biodiversity. We set out a number of recent developments in microbiology â including biofilm formation, chemotaxis, quorum sensing and gene transfer â that highlight microbial capacities for cooperation and communication and break down conventional thinking that microbes are solely or primarily single-celled organisms. These insights also bring new perspectives to the levels of selection debate, as well as to discussions of the evolution and nature of multicellularity, and to neo-Darwinian understandings of evolutionary mechanisms. We show how these revisions lead to further complications for microbial classification and the philosophies of systematics and biodiversity. Incorporating microbial insights into the philosophy of biology will challenge many of its assumptions, but also give greater scope and depth to its investigations
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