43,143 research outputs found
Analytical and Numerical Flash-Algorithms for Track Fits
Flash-algorithm track-reconstruction routines with speed factors 3000-4000 in
excess those of traditional iterative routines are presented.
The methods were successfully tested in the alignment of the Test Beam setup
for the ATLAS Pixel Detector
MCM-D modules yielding a
60 fold increase in alignment resolution over iterative routines, for the
same amount of alocated CPU time.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Development and validation of a risk score for chronic kidney disease in HIV infection using prospective cohort data from the D:A:D study.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major health issue for HIV-positive individuals, associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Development and implementation of a risk score model for CKD would allow comparison of the risks and benefits of adding potentially nephrotoxic antiretrovirals to a treatment regimen and would identify those at greatest risk of CKD. The aims of this study were to develop a simple, externally validated, and widely applicable long-term risk score model for CKD in HIV-positive individuals that can guide decision making in clinical practice
Light-cone sum rules for form factors revisited
We reconsider and update the QCD light-cone sum rules for form
factors. The gluon radiative corrections to the twist-2 and twist-3 terms in
the correlation functions are calculated. The -quark mass is
employed, instead of the one-loop pole mass used in the previous analyses. The
light-cone sum rule for is fitted to the measured
-distribution in , fixing the input parameters with the
largest uncertainty: the Gegenbauer moments of the pion distribution amplitude.
For the vector form factor at zero momentum transfer we predict
. Combining it with the value of the
product extracted from experiment, we obtain
. In addition, the scalar
and penguin form factors and are
calculated.Comment: 33 pages, 7 figures, one figure and a few comments added, version to
appear in JHE
Beyond the standard model physics at RHIC in polarized pp collision
A polarized hadron collider experiment must have a great discovery potential
for a search of physics beyond the standard model. Experimental data of various
symmetry tests at RHIC are going to be obtained within a few years. The author
developed a simulation tool, studying a sensitivity of hunting contact
interaction at RHIC by measuring parity violating spin asymmetries.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure, Proc. of Praha-SPIN-200
The impact of diabetes-related complications on healthcare costs: results from the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS Study No. 65)
<b>Aims</b> To develop a model for estimating the immediate and long-term healthcare costs associated with seven diabetes-related complications in patients with Type 2 diabetes participating in the UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS).
<b>Methods</b> The costs associated with some major complications were estimated using data on 5102 UKPDS patients (mean age 52.4 years at diagnosis). In-patient and out-patient costs were estimated using multiple regression analysis based on costs calculated from the length of admission multiplied by the average specialty cost and a survey of 3488 UKPDS patients’ healthcare usage conducted in 1996–1997.
<b>Results</b> Using the model, the estimate of the cost of first complications were as follows: amputation £8459 (95% confidence interval £5295, £13 200); non-fatal myocardial infarction £4070 (£3580, £4722); fatal myocardial infarction £1152 (£941, £1396); fatal stroke £3383 (£1935, £5431); non-fatal stroke £2367 (£1599, £3274); ischaemic heart disease £1959 (£1467, £2541); heart failure £2221 (£1690, £2896); cataract extraction £1553 (£1320, £1855); and blindness in one eye £872 (£526, £1299). The annual average in-patient cost of events in subsequent years ranged from £631 (£403, £896) for heart failure to £105 (£80, £142) for cataract extraction. Non-in-patient costs for macrovascular complications were £315 (£247, £394) and for microvascular complications were £273 (£215, £343) in the year of the event. In each subsequent year the costs were, respectively, £258 (£228, £297) and £204 (£181, £255).
<b>Conclusions</b> These results provide estimates of the immediate and long-term healthcare costs associated with seven diabetes-related complications
Heavy Quarkonium States with the Holographic Potential
The quarkonium states in a quark-gluon plasma is examined with the heavy
quark potential implied by the holographic principle. Both the vanila
AdS-Schwarzschild metric and the one with an infrared cutoff are considered.
The dissociation temperature is calculated by solving the Schr\"o dinger
equation of the potential model. In the case of the AdS-Schwarzschild metric
with a IR cutoff, the dissociation temperatures for and
with the U-ansatz of the potential are found to agree with the lattice results
within a factor of two.Comment: 9 pages with 2 figues in Revte
Joint teleconsultations (virtual outreach) versus standard outpatient appointments for patients referred by their general practitioner for a specialist opinion: a randomised trial.
BACKGROUND: The current model of general practitioner referral of patients to hospital specialists in the UK is sometimes associated with unnecessary duplication of investigations and treatments. We aimed to compare joint teleconsultations between general practitioners, specialists, and patients (virtual outreach) with standard outpatient referral. METHODS: Virtual outreach services were established in London and Shrewsbury. The general practitioners referred 3170 patients, of whom 2094 consented to participate in the study and were eligible for inclusion. 1051 patients were randomly assigned virtual outreach, and 1043 standard outpatient appointments. We followed up the patients for 6 months after their index consultation. The primary outcome measure was the offer of a follow-up outpatient appointment. Analysis was by intention to treat. FINDINGS: More patients in the virtual outreach group than the standard group were offered a follow-up appointment (502 [52%] vs 400 [41%], odds ratio 1.52 [95% CI 1.27-1.82], p<0.0001). Significant differences in effects were observed between the two sites (p=0.009) and across different specialties (p<0.0001). Virtual outreach increased the offers of follow-up appointments more in Shrewsbury than in London, and more in ear, nose, and throat surgery and orthopaedics than in the other specialties. Fewer tests and investigations were ordered in the virtual outreach group by an average of 0.79 per patient (0.37-1.21, p=0.0002). Patients' satisfaction (analysed per protocol) was greater after a virtual outreach consultation than after a standard outpatient consultation (mean difference 0.33 scale points [95% CI 0.23-0.43], p<0.0001), with no heterogeneity between specialties or sites. INTERPRETATION: The trial showed that allocation of patients to virtual outreach consultations is variably associated with increased offers of follow-up appointments according to site and specialty, but leads to significant increases in patients' satisfaction and substantial reductions in tests and investigations. Efficient operation of such services will require appropriate selection of patients, significant service reorganisation, and provision of logistical support
Precision Measurements and Fermion Geography in the Randall-Sundrum Model Revisited
We re-examine the implications of allowing fermion fields to propagate in the
five-dimensional bulk of the Randall-Sundrum (RS) localized gravity model. We
find that mixing between the Standard Model top quark and its Kaluza Klein
excitations generates large contributions to the rho parameter and consequently
restricts the fundamental RS scale to lie above 100 TeV. To circumvent this
bound we propose a `mixed' scenario which localizes the third generation
fermions on the TeV brane and allows the lighter generations to propagate in
the full five-dimensional bulk. We show that this construction naturally
reproduces the observed m_c / m_t and m_s / m_b hierarchies. We explore the
signatures of this scenario in precision measurements and future high energy
collider experiments. We find that the region of parameter space that addresses
the hierarchies of fermion Yukawa couplings permits a Higgs boson with a mass
of 500 GeV and remains otherwise invisible at the LHC. However, the entire
parameter region consistent with electroweak precision data is testable at
future linear colliders. We briefly discuss possible constraints on this
scenario arising from flavor changing neutral currents.Comment: 44 pages, 20 ps files; VII, typos fixed and refs adde
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