Two-loop three-gluon vertex in zero-momentum limit

The two-loop three-gluon vertex is calculated in an arbitrary covariant gauge, in the limit when one of the external momenta vanishes. The differential Ward-Slavnov-Taylor (WST) identity related to this limit is discussed, and the relevant results for the ghost-gluon vertex and two-point functions are obtained. Together with the differential WST identity, they provide another independent way for calculating the three-gluon vertex. The renormalization of the results obtained is also presented.Comment: 22 pages, LaTeX, including 4 figures, uses eps

On-shell two-loop three-gluon vertex

The two-loop three-gluon vertex is calculated in an arbitrary covariant gauge, in the limit when two of the gluons are on the mass shell. The corresponding two-loop results for the ghost-gluon vertex are also obtained. It is shown that the results are consistent with the Ward-Slavnov-Taylor identities.Comment: 34 pages, LaTeX, including 5 figures, uses eps

Role of the nonperturbative input in QCD resummed Drell-Yan QTQ_T-distributions

We analyze the role of the nonperturbative input in the Collins, Soper, and Sterman (CSS)'s $b$-space QCD resummation formalism for Drell-Yan transverse momentum ($Q_T$) distributions, and investigate the predictive power of the CSS formalism. We find that the predictive power of the CSS formalism has a strong dependence on the collision energy $\sqrt{S}$ in addition to its well-known $Q^2$ dependence, and the $\sqrt{S}$ dependence improves the predictive power at collider energies. We show that a reliable extrapolation from perturbatively resummed $b$-space distributions to the nonperturbative large $b$ region is necessary to ensure the correct $Q_T$ distributions. By adding power corrections to the renormalization group equations in the CSS formalism, we derive a new extrapolation formalism. We demonstrate that at collider energies, the CSS resummation formalism plus our extrapolation has an excellent predictive power for $W$ and $Z$ production at all transverse momenta $Q_T\le Q$. We also show that the $b$-space resummed $Q_T$ distributions provide a good description of Drell-Yan data at fixed target energies.Comment: Latex, 43 pages including 15 figures; typos were correcte

High-precision QCD at hadron colliders: electroweak gauge boson rapidity distributions at NNLO

We compute the rapidity distributions of W and Z bosons produced at the Tevatron and the LHC through next-to-next-to leading order in QCD. Our results demonstrate remarkable stability with respect to variations of the factorization and renormalization scales for all values of rapidity accessible in current and future experiments. These processes are therefore ``gold-plated'': current theoretical knowledge yields QCD predictions accurate to better than one percent. These results strengthen the proposal to use W and Z production to determine parton-parton luminosities and constrain parton distribution functions at the LHC. For example, LHC data should easily be able to distinguish the central parton distribution fit obtained by MRST from that obtained by Alekhin.Comment: 47 pages, 17 figures. Minor typos, 1 reference correcte

Perceptions of nutrition education classes offered in conjunction with a community-supported agriculture intervention among low-income families

Abstract Objective: To examine participants' experiences with nutrition education classes that were implemented with and designed to complement a cost-offset community-supported agriculture (CSA) programme. Design: Qualitative analysis of data from twenty-eight focus groups with ninety-six participants enrolled in Farm Fresh Foods for Healthy Kids (F3HK). Transcribed data were coded and analysed by a priori and emergent themes. Setting: Rural and micropolitan communities in New York, North Carolina, Vermont and Washington (USA). Participants: Ninety-six F3HK participants. Results: Participants found recipes and class activities helpful and reported improvements in nutrition knowledge, food preservation skills and home cooking behaviours for themselves and their children; they also reported that classes promoted a sense of community. Some educators better incorporated CSA produce into lessons, which participants reported as beneficial. Other obligations and class logistics were barriers to attendance; participants recommended that lessons be offered multiple times weekly at different times of day. Other suggestions included lengthening class duration to encourage social engagement; emphasising recipes to incorporate that week's CSA produce and pantry staples and offering additional strategies to incorporate children in classes. Conclusion: Complementing a cost-offset CSA with nutrition education may enhance programme benefits to low-income families by improving nutrition knowledge and cooking behaviours. However, future interventions will benefit from ongoing coordination between educators and local growing trajectories to maximise timely coverage of unfamiliar produce in lessons; synchronous scheduling of CSA pick-up and classes for participant convenience and creative strategies to engage children and/or provide childcare

Heavy-quark mass dependence in global PDF analyses and 3- and 4-flavour parton distributions

We study the sensitivity of our recent MSTW 2008 NLO and NNLO PDF analyses to the values of the charm- and bottom-quark masses, and we provide additional public PDF sets for a wide range of these heavy-quark masses. We quantify the impact of varying m_c and m_b on the cross sections for W, Z and Higgs production at the Tevatron and the LHC. We generate 3- and 4-flavour versions of the (5-flavour) MSTW 2008 PDFs by evolving the input PDFs and alpha_S determined from fits in the 5-flavour scheme, including the eigenvector PDF sets necessary for calculation of PDF uncertainties. As an example of their use, we study the difference in the Z total cross sections at the Tevatron and LHC in the 4- and 5-flavour schemes. Significant differences are found, illustrating the need to resum large logarithms in Q^2/m_b^2 by using the 5-flavour scheme. The 4-flavour scheme is still necessary, however, if cuts are imposed on associated (massive) b-quarks, as is the case for the experimental measurement of Z b bbar production and similar processes.Comment: 40 pages, 11 figures. Grids can be found at http://projects.hepforge.org/mstwpdf/ and in LHAPDF V5.8.4. v2: version published in EPJ

Modern optical astronomy: technology and impact of interferometry

The present `state of the art' and the path to future progress in high spatial resolution imaging interferometry is reviewed. The review begins with a treatment of the fundamentals of stellar optical interferometry, the origin, properties, optical effects of turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere, the passive methods that are applied on a single telescope to overcome atmospheric image degradation such as speckle interferometry, and various other techniques. These topics include differential speckle interferometry, speckle spectroscopy and polarimetry, phase diversity, wavefront shearing interferometry, phase-closure methods, dark speckle imaging, as well as the limitations imposed by the detectors on the performance of speckle imaging. A brief account is given of the technological innovation of adaptive-optics (AO) to compensate such atmospheric effects on the image in real time. A major advancement involves the transition from single-aperture to the dilute-aperture interferometry using multiple telescopes. Therefore, the review deals with recent developments involving ground-based, and space-based optical arrays. Emphasis is placed on the problems specific to delay-lines, beam recombination, polarization, dispersion, fringe-tracking, bootstrapping, coherencing and cophasing, and recovery of the visibility functions. The role of AO in enhancing visibilities is also discussed. The applications of interferometry, such as imaging, astrometry, and nulling are described. The mathematical intricacies of the various `post-detection' image-processing techniques are examined critically. The review concludes with a discussion of the astrophysical importance and the perspectives of interferometry.Comment: 65 pages LaTeX file including 23 figures. Reviews of Modern Physics, 2002, to appear in April issu

WNT signalling in prostate cancer

Genome sequencing and gene expression analyses of prostate tumours have highlighted the potential importance of genetic and epigenetic changes observed in WNT signalling pathway components in prostate tumours-particularly in the development of castration-resistant prostate cancer. WNT signalling is also important in the prostate tumour microenvironment, in which WNT proteins secreted by the tumour stroma promote resistance to therapy, and in prostate cancer stem or progenitor cells, in which WNT-β-catenin signals promote self-renewal or expansion. Preclinical studies have demonstrated the potential of inhibitors that target WNT receptor complexes at the cell membrane or that block the interaction of β-catenin with lymphoid enhancer-binding factor 1 and the androgen receptor, in preventing prostate cancer progression. Some WNT signalling inhibitors are in phase I trials, but they have yet to be tested in patients with prostate cancer

Electrochemical Nanoprobes for Single-Cell Analysis

The measurement of key molecules in individual cells with minimal disruption to the biological milieu is the next frontier in single-cell analyses. Nanoscale devices are ideal analytical tools because of their small size and their potential for high spatial and temporal resolution recordings. Here, we report the fabrication of disk-shaped carbon nanoelectrodes whose radius can be precisely tuned within the range 5–200 nm. The functionalization of the nanoelectrode with platinum allowed the monitoring of oxygen consumption outside and inside a brain slice. Furthermore, we show that nanoelectrodes of this type can be used to impale individual cells to perform electrochemical measurements within the cell with minimal disruption to cell function. These nanoelectrodes can be fabricated combined with scanning ion conductance microscopy probes, which should allow high resolution electrochemical mapping of species on or in living cells