4,137 research outputs found
Simple predictions from ALCOR_c for rehadronisation of charmed quark matter
We study the production of charmed hadrons with the help of ALCOR_c, the
algebraic coalescence model for rehadronisation of charmed quark matter.
Mesonic ratios are introduced as factors connecting various antibaryon to
baryon ratios. The resulting simple relations could serve as tests of quark
matter formation and coalescence type rehadronization in heavy ion collisions.Comment: 7 pages in Latex, 1 PS figur
Agreement between questionnaires and registry data on routes to diagnosis and milestone dates of the cancer diagnostic pathway
BACKGROUND
The routes to diagnosis and the time intervals along the diagnostic pathway affect cancer outcomes. Some data on routes to diagnosis and milestone dates can be extracted from registries or databases. When this data is incomplete, inaccurate or non-existing, other data sources are needed. This study investigates the agreement between multiple data sources on routes to diagnosis and milestone dates of cancer pathway.
METHODS
Information on routes to diagnosis and milestone dates were compared across four data sources (cancer patients, general practitioners, cancer specialists and registries) for breast, colorectal, lung and ovarian cancers across the UK, Scandinavia, Canada and Australia. Agreement on routes to diagnosis and milestone dates was assessed by Kappa and AC1 coefficients and Linâs concordance correlation coefficient (CCC).
RESULTS
4502 patients were included in the analysis of routes to diagnosis. The agreement was almost perfect (kappa = 0.15â0.88, AC1 = 0.86â0.91) for breast cancer, substantial to almost perfect (kappa = 0.07â0.86, AC1 = 0.74â0.93) for colorectal and ovarian cancers, and substantial (kappa = 0.09â0.11, AC1 = 0.65â0.74) for lung cancer. 2287 patients were included in the analysis of milestone dates. The agreement was adequate for all cancer types (CCC = 0.88â0.99); highest agreement was seen for date of diagnosis (CCC = 0.94â0.99).
CONCLUSION
We found a reasonable agreement between patient/physician questionnaires and registry data for routes to diagnosis and milestone dates. The agreement on routes to diagnosis was generally higher for breast cancer than for colorectal, ovarian and lung cancers. Lower agreement was seen on date of first presentation to primary care and date of treatment initiation compared to date of diagnosis
Singlet-doublet Higgs mixing and its implications on the Higgs mass in the PQ-NMSSM
We examine the implications of singlet-doublet Higgs mixing on the properties
of a Standard Model (SM)-like Higgs boson within the Peccei-Quinn invariant
extension of the NMSSM (PQ-NMSSM). The SM singlet added to the Higgs sector
connects the PQ and visible sectors through a PQ-invariant non-renormalizable
K\"ahler potential term, making the model free from the tadpole and domain-wall
problems. For the case that the lightest Higgs boson is dominated by the
singlet scalar, the Higgs mixing increases the mass of a SM-like Higgs boson
while reducing its signal rate at collider experiments compared to the SM case.
The Higgs mixing is important also in the region of parameter space where the
NMSSM contribution to the Higgs mass is small, but its size is limited by the
experimental constraints on the singlet-like Higgs boson and on the lightest
neutralino constituted mainly by the singlino whose Majorana mass term is
forbidden by the PQ symmetry. Nonetheless the Higgs mixing can increase the
SM-like Higgs boson mass by a few GeV or more even when the Higgs signal rate
is close to the SM prediction, and thus may be crucial for achieving a 125 GeV
Higgs mass, as hinted by the recent ATLAS and CMS data. Such an effect can
reduce the role of stop mixing.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures; published in JHE
<i>Spitzer</i> microlens measurement of a massive remnant in a well-separated binary
We report the detection and mass measurement of a binary lens OGLE-2015-BLG-1285La,b, with the more massive component having M1 > 1.35 Mâ (80% probability). A main-sequence star in this mass range is ruled out by limits on blue light, meaning that a primary in this mass range must be a neutron star (NS) or black hole (BH). The system has a projected separation râ„ = 6.1 ± 0.4 AU and lies in the Galactic bulge. These measurements are based on the "microlens parallax" effect, i.e., comparing the microlensing light curve as seen from Spitzer, which lay at 1.25 AU projected from Earth, to the light curves from four ground-based surveys, three in the optical and one in the near-infrared. Future adaptive optics imaging of the companion by 30 m class telescopes will yield a much more accurate measurement of the primary mass. This discovery both opens the path and defines the challenges to detecting and characterizing BHs and NSs in wide binaries, with either dark or luminous companions. In particular, we discuss lessons that can be applied to future Spitzer and Kepler K2 microlensing parallax observations
Supersymmetric Large Extra Dimensions and the Cosmological Constant Problem
This article briefly summarizes and reviews the motivations for - and the
present status of - the proposal that the small size of the observed Dark
Energy density can be understood in terms of the dynamical relaxation of two
large extra dimensions within a supersymmetric higher-dimensional theory.Comment: Talk presented to Theory Canada I, Vancouver, June 2005. References
added in V
Dark Matter in a Constrained NMSSM
We explore the parameter space of a Constrained Next-to-Minimal
Supersymmetric Standard Model with GUT scale boundary conditions (CNMSSM) and
find regions where the relic density of the lightest neutralino is compatible
with the WMAP measurement. We emphasize differences with the MSSM: cases where
annihilation of the LSP occurs via a Higgs resonance at low values of tan\beta
and cases where the LSP has a large singlino component. The particle spectrum
as well as theoretical and collider constraints are calculated with NMSSMTools.
All neutralino annihilation and coannihilation processes are then computed with
micrOMEGAs, taking into account higher order corrections to the Higgs sector.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, references added, some comments added, version
to be published in JCA
Comfort radicalism and NEETs: a conservative praxis
Young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) are construed by policy makers as a pressing problem about which something should be done. Such young people's lack of employment is thought to pose difficulties for wider society in relation to social cohesion and inclusion and it is feared that they will become a 'lost generation'. This paper(1) draws upon English research, seeking to historicise the debate whilst acknowledging that these issues have a much wider purchase. The notion of NEETs rests alongside longstanding concerns of the English state and middle classes, addressing unruly male working class youth as well as the moral turpitude of working class girls. Waged labour and domesticity are seen as a means to integrate such groups into society thereby generating social cohesion. The paper places the debate within it socio-economic context and draws on theorisations of cognitive capitalism, Italian workerism, as well as emerging theories of antiwork to analyse these. It concludes by arguing that âradicalâ approaches to NEETs that point towards inequities embedded in the social structure and call for social democratic solutions veer towards a form of comfort radicalism. Such approaches leave in place the dominance of capitalist relations as well as productivist orientations that celebrate waged labour
Associations between neutering and early-onset urinary incontinence in UK bitches under primary veterinary care
Experience of malignancies with oral glucose-lowering drugs in the randomised controlled ADOPT (A Diabetes Outcome Progression Trial) and RECORD (Rosiglitazone Evaluated for Cardiovascular Outcomes and Regulation of Glycaemia in Diabetes) clinical trials
Clinical course, therapeutic responses and outcomes in relapsing MOG antibody-associated demyelination.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
We characterised the clinical course, treatment and outcomes in 59 patients with relapsing myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody-associated demyelination.
METHODS:
We evaluated clinical phenotypes, annualised relapse rates (ARR) prior and on immunotherapy and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), in 218 demyelinating episodes from 33 paediatric and 26 adult patients.
RESULTS:
The most common initial presentation in the cohort was optic neuritis (ON) in 54% (bilateral (BON) 32%, unilateral (UON) 22%), followed by acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) (20%), which occurred exclusively in children. ON was the dominant phenotype (UON 35%, BON 19%) of all clinical episodes. 109/226 (48%) MRIs had no brain lesions. Patients were steroid responsive, but 70% of episodes treated with oral prednisone relapsed, particularly at doses <10\u2009mg daily or within 2 months of cessation. Immunotherapy, including maintenance prednisone (P=0.0004), intravenous immunoglobulin, rituximab and mycophenolate, all reduced median ARRs on-treatment. Treatment failure rates were lower in patients on maintenance steroids (5%) compared with non-steroidal maintenance immunotherapy (38%) (P=0.016). 58% of patients experienced residual disability (average follow-up 61 months, visual loss in 24%). Patients with ON were less likely to have sustained disability defined by a final EDSS of 652 (OR 0.15, P=0.032), while those who had any myelitis were more likely to have sustained residual deficits (OR 3.56, P=0.077).
CONCLUSION:
Relapsing MOG antibody-associated demyelination is strongly associated with ON across all age groups and ADEM in children. Patients are highly responsive to steroids, but vulnerable to relapse on steroid reduction and cessation
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