SU(3) Flux Tubes in a Model of the stochastic Vacuum

We calculate the squared gluon field strengths of a heavy q-$\rm \bar{q}$-pair in the model of the stochastic vacuum. We observe that with increasing separation a chromoelectric flux tube is built. The properties of the emerging flux tube are investigated.Comment: 14, epsf, HD-THEP-94-3

Bound States in the Hot Electroweak Phase

The high temperature phase of the electroweak standard theory is described by a strongly coupled SU(2)-Higgs-model in three dimensions. As in the Abbott-Farhi-model Higgs and W-boson are low lying bound states. Using a method by Simonov based on the Feynman-Schwinger representation of correlators we calculate the masses of these states. Our results are compared with lattice masses.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures; a compressed postscript including the figures is available at http://www.thphys.uni-heidelberg.de/~laser/hd-thep-95-42.ps.

Growth differences between North American and European children at risk for type 1 diabetes

AIM: To evaluate the relationships between early growth and regional variations in type 1 diabetes (T1D) incidence in an international cohort of children with familial and genetic risk for T1D. METHODS: Anthropometric indices between birth to 5 yr of age were compared among regions and T1D proband in 2160 children participating in the Trial to Reduce Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in the Genetically at Risk study. RESULTS: Children in Northern Europe had the highest weight z-score between birth to 12 months of age, while those in Southern Europe and U.S.A. had the lowest weight and length/height z-scores at most time points (p < 0.005 to p < 0.001). Few differences in z-score values for weight, height, and body mass index were found by maternal T1D status. Using International Obesity Task Force criteria, the obesity rates generally increased with age and at 5 yr were highest in males in Northern Europe (6.0%) and in females in Canada (12.8%). However, no statistically significance difference was found by geographic region. In Canada, the obesity rate for female children of mothers with and without T1D differed significantly at 4 and 5 yr (6.0 vs. 0.0% and 21.3 vs. 1.9%, respectively; p < 0.0125) but no differences by maternal T1D status were found in other regions. CONCLUSIONS: There are regional differences in early childhood growth that are consistent with the higher incidence of T1D in Northern Europe and Canada as compared to Southern Europe. Our prospective study from birth will allow evaluation of relationships between growth and the emerging development of autoimmunity and progression to T1D by region in this at-risk population of childre

On the Use of Piezoelectric Sensors in Structural Mechanics: Some Novel Strategies

In the present paper, a review on piezoelectric sensing of mechanical deformations and vibrations of so-called smart or intelligent structures is given. After a short introduction into piezoelectric sensing and actuation of such controlled structures, we pay special emphasis on the description of some own work, which has been performed at the Institute of Technical Mechanics of the Johannes Kepler University of Linz (JKU) in the last years. Among other aspects, this work has been motivated by the fact that collocated control of smart structures requires a sensor output that is work-conjugated to the input by the actuator. This fact in turn brings into the play the more general question of how to measure mechanically meaningful structural quantities, such as displacements, slopes, or other quantities, which form the work-conjugated quantities of the actuation, by means piezoelectric sensors. At least in the range of small strains, there is confidence that distributed piezoelectric sensors or sensor patches in smart structures do measure weighted integrals over their domain. Therefore, there is a need of distributing or shaping the sensor activity in order to be able to re-interpret the sensor signals in the desired mechanical sense. We sketch a general strategy that is based on a special application of work principles, more generally on displacement virials. We also review our work in the past on bringing this concept to application in smart structures, such as beams, rods and plates

Growth Differences Between North American and European Children at Risk for Type 1 Diabetes

Aim: To evaluate the relationships between early growth and regional variations in type 1 diabetes (T1D) incidence in an international cohort of children with familial and genetic risk for T1D. Methods: Anthropometric indices between birth to 5 yr of age were compared among regions and T1D proband in 2160 children participating in the Trial to Reduce Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in the Genetically at Risk study. Results: Children in Northern Europe had the highest weight z-score between birth to 12 months of age, while those in Southern Europe and USA had the lowest weight and length/height z-scores at most time points (p \u3c 0.005 to p \u3c 0.001). Few differences in z-score values for weight, height, and body mass index were found by maternal T1D status. Using International Obesity Task Force criteria, the obesity rates generally increased with age and at 5 yr were highest in males in Northern Europe (6.0%) and in females in Canada (12.8%). However, no statistically significance difference was found by geographic region. In Canada, the obesity rate for female children of mothers with and without T1D differed significantly at 4 and 5 yr (6.0 vs. 0.0% and 21.3 vs. 1.9%, respectively; p \u3c 0.0125) but no differences by maternal T1D status were found in other regions. Conclusions: There are regional differences in early childhood growth that are consistent with the higher incidence of T1D in Northern Europe and Canada as compared to Southern Europe. Our prospective study from birth will allow evaluation of relationships between growth and the emerging development of autoimmunity and progression to T1D by region in this at-risk population of children