25,758 research outputs found
Determination of the gluon condensate from data in the charm-quark region
The gluon condensate, , i.e. the
leading order power correction in the operator product expansion of current
correlators in QCD at short distances, is determined from
annihilation data in the charm-quark region. This determination is based on
finite energy QCD sum rules, weighted by a suitable integration kernel to (i)
account for potential quark-hadron duality violations, (ii) enhance the
contribution of the well known first two narrow resonances, the and
the , while quenching substantially the data region beyond, and (iii)
reinforce the role of the gluon condensate in the sum rules. By using a kernel
exhibiting a singularity at the origin, the gluon condensate enters the Cauchy
residue at the pole through the low energy QCD expansion of the vector current
correlator. These features allow for a reasonably precise determination of the
condensate, i.e. \langle \frac{\alpha_s}{\pi} G^2 \rangle =0.037 \,\pm\, 0.015
\;{\mbox{GeV}}^4.Comment: Revised version with improved error analysis, more detailed
discussions, and additional reference
Gas Kinematics and Excitation in the Filamentary IRDC G035.39-00.33
Some theories of dense molecular cloud formation involve dynamical
environments driven by converging atomic flows or collisions between
preexisting molecular clouds. The determination of the dynamics and physical
conditions of the gas in clouds at the early stages of their evolution is
essential to establish the dynamical imprints of such collisions, and to infer
the processes involved in their formation. We present multi-transition 13CO and
C18O maps toward the IRDC G035.39-00.33, believed to be at the earliest stages
of evolution. The 13CO and C18O gas is distributed in three filaments
(Filaments 1, 2 and 3), where the most massive cores are preferentially found
at the intersecting regions between them. The filaments have a similar
kinematic structure with smooth velocity gradients of ~0.4-0.8 km s-1 pc-1.
Several scenarios are proposed to explain these gradients, including cloud
rotation, gas accretion along the filaments, global gravitational collapse, and
unresolved sub-filament structures. These results are complemented by HCO+,
HNC, H13CO+ and HN13C single-pointing data to search for gas infall signatures.
The 13CO and C18O gas motions are supersonic across G035.39-00.33, with the
emission showing broader linewidths toward the edges of the IRDC. This could be
due to energy dissipation at the densest regions in the cloud. The average H2
densities are ~5000-7000 cm-3, with Filaments 2 and 3 being denser and more
massive than Filament 1. The C18O data unveils three regions with high CO
depletion factors (f_D~5-12), similar to those found in massive starless cores.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
Search for charginos, neutralinos, and gravitinos at LEP
The hep-ex data base was decided not to be an appropriate place to make
DELPHI notes public. Sorry for the inconvenience.Comment: the paper should not have been made publi
Chiral sum rules and vacuum condensates from tau-lepton decay data
QCD finite energy sum rules, together with the latest updated ALEPH data on
hadronic decays of the tau-lepton are used in order to determine the vacuum
condensates of dimension and . These data are also used to check the
validity of the Weinberg sum rules, and to determine the chiral condensates of
dimension and , as well as the chiral correlator at zero momentum,
proportional to the counter term of the Lagrangian of chiral
perturbation theory, . Suitable (pinched) integration kernels are
introduced in the sum rules in order to suppress potential quark-hadron duality
violations. We find no compelling indications of duality violations in the
kinematic region above GeV after using pinched integration
kernels.Comment: Revised version with additional discussions/comment
Assessment of the feasibility of an ultra-low power, wireless digital patch for the continuous ambulatory monitoring of vital signs.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Vital signs are usually recorded at 4â8â
h intervals in hospital patients, and deterioration between measurements can have serious consequences. The primary study objective was to assess agreement between a new ultra-low power, wireless and wearable surveillance system for continuous ambulatory monitoring of vital signs and a widely used clinical vital signs monitor. The secondary objective was to examine the system's ability to automatically identify and reject invalid physiological data. SETTING: Single hospital centre. PARTICIPANTS: Heart and respiratory rate were recorded over 2â
h in 20 patients undergoing elective surgery and a second group of 41 patients with comorbid conditions, in the general ward. OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome measures were limits of agreement and bias. The secondary outcome measure was proportion of data rejected. RESULTS: The digital patch provided reliable heart rate values in the majority of patients (about 80%) with normal sinus rhythm, and in the presence of abnormal ECG recordings (excluding aperiodic arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation). The mean difference between systems was less than ±1â
bpm in all patient groups studied. Although respiratory data were more frequently rejected as invalid because of the high sensitivity of impedance pneumography to motion artefacts, valid rates were reported for 50% of recordings with a mean difference of less than ±1â
brpm compared with the bedside monitor. Correlation between systems was statistically significant (p<0.0001) for heart and respiratory rate, apart from respiratory rate in patients with atrial fibrillation (p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Overall agreement between digital patch and clinical monitor was satisfactory, as was the efficacy of the system for automatic rejection of invalid data. Wireless monitoring technologies, such as the one tested, may offer clinical value when implemented as part of wider hospital systems that integrate and support existing clinical protocols and workflows
The Pristine survey II: a sample of bright stars observed with FEROS
Extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars are old objects formed in the first Gyr of
the Universe. They are rare and, to select them, the most successful strategy
has been to build on large and low-resolution spectroscopic surveys. The
combination of narrow- and broad band photometry provides a powerful and
cheaper alternative to select metal-poor stars. The on-going Pristine Survey is
adopting this strategy, conducting photometry with the CFHT MegaCam wide field
imager and a narrow-band filter centred at 395.2 nm on the CaII-H and -K lines.
In this paper we present the results of the spectroscopic follow-up conducted
on a sample of 26 stars at the bright end of the magnitude range of the Survey
(g<=15), using FEROS at the MPG/ESO 2.2 m telescope. From our chemical
investigation on the sample, we conclude that this magnitude range is too
bright to use the SDSS gri bands, which are typically saturated. Instead the
Pristine photometry can be usefully combined with the APASS gri photometry to
provide reliable metallicity estimates.Comment: AN accepte
Exploring the interdependencies of research funders in the UK
Investment in medical research is vital to the continuing improvement of the UK's health and wealth. It is through research that we expand our understanding of disease and develop new treatments for patients. Medical research charities currently contribute over ÂŁ1 billion annually to medical research in the UK, of which over ÂŁ350 million is provided by Cancer Research UK. Many charities,
including Cancer Research UK, receive no government funding for their research
activity.
Cancer Research UK is engaged in a programme of work in order to better understand the medical research funding environment and demonstrate the importance of sustained investment. A key part of that is the Office of Health
Economicsâ (OHE) 2011 report âExploring the interdependency between public and charitable medical researchâ. This study found that there are substantial
benefits, both financial and qualitative, from the existence of a variety of funders and that reductions in the level of government financial support for medical
research are likely to have broader negative effects.
This contributed to other evidence which found that the activities and funding of the charity, public and private sectors respectively are complementary, i.e. mutually reinforcing, rather than duplicative or merely substituting for one another.
âExploring the interdependencies of research funders in the UKâ by the Office of Health Economics (OHE) and SPRU: Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Sussex, represents a continued effort to build the evidence base around the funding of medical research.
This report uncovers the extent to which funders of cancer research are interdependent, nationally and internationally. Key figures show that two
thirds of publications acknowledging external support have relied on multiple funders, while just under half benefited from overseas funding, and almost a fifth are also supported by industry. In addition the analysis
shows that the general public would not want tax funding of cancer research to be reduced, but would not donate enough to charities to compensate for any such reduction
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