Constraints on large scalar multiplets from perturbative unitarity

We determine the constraints on the isospin and hypercharge of a scalar electroweak multiplet from partial-wave unitarity of tree-level scattering diagrams. The constraint from SU(2)_L interactions yields T <= 7/2 (i.e., n <= 8) for a complex scalar multiplet and T <= 4 (i.e., n <= 9) for a real scalar multiplet, where n = 2T+1 is the number of isospin states in the multiplet.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure. v2: refs added, minor additions to text, submitted to PR

A nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation for water waves on finite depth with constant vorticity

A nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation for the envelope of two dimensional surface water waves on finite depth with non zero constant vorticity is derived, and the influence of this constant vorticity on the well known stability properties of weakly nonlinear wave packets is studied. It is demonstrated that vorticity modifies significantly the modulational instability properties of weakly nonlinear plane waves, namely the growth rate and bandwidth. At third order we have shown the importance of the coupling between the mean flow induced by the modulation and the vorticity. Furthermore, it is shown that these plane wave solutions may be linearly stable to modulational instability for an opposite shear current independently of the dimensionless parameter kh, where k and h are the carrier wavenumber and depth respectively

Hypercalcaemia and in vitro osteolysis associated with xenografts of squamous carcinomas of the tongue.

link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Effects of regional differences and demography in modelling foot-and-mouth disease in cattle at the national scale

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a fast-spreading viral infection that can produce large and costly outbreaks in livestock populations. Transmission occurs at multiple spatial scales, as can the actions used to control outbreaks. The US cattle industry is spatially expansive, with heterogeneous distributions of animals and infrastructure. We have developed a model that incorporates the effects of scale for both disease transmission and control actions, applied here in simulating FMD outbreaks in US cattle. We simulated infection initiating in each of the 3049 counties in the contiguous US, 100 times per county. When initial infection was located in specific regions, large outbreaks were more likely to occur, driven by infrastructure and other demographic attributes such as premises clustering and number of cattle on premises. Sensitivity analyses suggest these attributes had more impact on outbreak metrics than the ranges of estimated disease parameter values. Additionally, although shipping accounted for a small percentage of overall transmission, areas receiving the most animal shipments tended to have other attributes that increase the probability of large outbreaks. The importance of including spatial and demographic heterogeneity in modelling outbreak trajectories and control actions is illustrated by specific regions consistently producing larger outbreaks than others

PCN162 The Cost-Effectiveness of Second-Line Crizotinib in Eml4-Alk Rearranged Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Background: Snoring / sleep apnea are potentially life threatening breathing occurs during sleep. Little attention is being giving to this clinical condition. Objective: To determine the prevalence of snoring and risk factors associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) among adults workers in two local governments of state, Nigeria Methodology: A cross - sectional survey of 121 young adult and adults working in two local governments of Ekiti state, south western Nigeria was carried out. A self administered questionnaire that was incorporated with Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Berlin Score was used to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics, information related to snoring, sleep related problems and their anthropometric. The Body Mass Index (BMI) and blood pressure of each participant were also measured. Results: Snoring was reported in forty nine (40.5%) of the participants. Their age ranges from 23 to 65 years, mean of 43.89 ± 8.53 SD. The proportion of males and Berlin score (high risk) were significantly (p < 0.001) higher among snores than non regression found sex (OR=7.791, 95% CI =2.971- 20.429), Berlin Score (high risk) (OR= 8.642, 95% CI= 3.159 - 23.639) as significant (P< 0.001) independent risk factors for OSA. Excessive day time sleepiness as determined by ESS score of the participants. Conclusion: The overall prevalence of snoring in this study was 40.5%. Snoring was found to increase with age, body mass index, male sex and those with high risk for Berlin score with high risk of developing Obstructive sleep apne

The application of ultrasonic NDT techniques in tribology

The use of ultrasonic reflection is emerging as a technique for studying tribological contacts. Ultrasonic waves can be transmitted non-destructively through machine components and their behaviour at an interface describes the characteristics of that contact. This paper is a review of the current state of understanding of the mechanisms of ultrasonic reflection at interfaces, and how this has been used to investigate the processes of dry rough surface contact and lubricated contact. The review extends to cover how ultrasound has been used to study the tribological function of certain engineering machine elements

Berberine and Coptidis Rhizoma as novel antineoplastic agents: A review of traditional use and biomedical investigations

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Coptidis Rhizoma (Huanglian) and its major component, berberine, have drawn extensive attention toward their antineoplastic effects in the recent years. The antineoplastic effects are related to the Chinese Medicine (CM) properties of Huangliang in treating diseases by removing damp-heat and purging fire and counteracting toxicity. Aim of the review: To trace the long history of the traditional use of Huanglian from folk medicines, especially from Chinese medicine, to recent pharmacological studies of Huanglian and berberine, with an emphasis on their antineoplastic effects and the promise as novel antineoplastic agents. Methods: A total of seven databases were extensively searched for literature research. The terms and keywords for searching included Huanglian, berberine, Coptis, Coptidis Rhizoma, anticancer, anti-invasion, antimatastasis and mechanism. The papers including ours with studies on anticancer and mechanism, pharmacology and toxicology of Huanglian and/or berberine were focused. Results: In view of traditional use, the anticancer effects of Huanglian can be ascribed to its CM trait by removing damp-heat, fire and toxicity. From modern biomedical studies, anticancer effects have been demonstrated in both Huanglian and berberine. The underlying molecular mechanisms involve cell-cycle arrest, apoptosis induction and anti-inflammation. Berberine is an essential anticancer compound in Huanglian. In some studies, the use of Huanglian was shown to be more effective and beneficial than the use of berberine alone. The presence of other protoberberine-type alkaloids in Huanglian might give synergistic effects for the anticancer effects. Berberine also demonstrates effects of antiangiogenesis, anti-invasion and anti-metastasis in some cancer cell lines, however, more investigations are required to unravel the underlying mechanisms involved. Conclusions: The modern evidences of treating cancer with Huanglian and berberine have a strong linkage with traditional concept and rules of using Huanglian in CM practice. As anticancer candidates with low toxicity, berberine and its altered structure, as well as Huanglian and its formulae, will attract scientists to pursue the potential anticancer effects and the mechanisms by using technologies of genomics, proteomics and other advanced approaches. On the other hand, relatively few in vivo studies have been conducted on anticancer effects of Huanglian and berberine. The clinical application of berberine or Huanglian as novel cancer therapeutic agents requires in vivo validations and further investigations of their anticancer mechanisms. © 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.published_or_final_versio

Further observations on mechanisms of bone destruction by squamous carcinomas of the head and neck: the role of host stroma.

Mechanisms of bone invasion by squamous carcinomas of the head and neck have been investigated using fresh tumours and established tumour cell lines in an in vitro bone resorption assay with 45Ca-labelled mouse calvaria. Fresh tumours regularly resorb bone in vitro. Activity is consistently reduced by indomethacin. The tumours release E2 prostaglandins (PGE2) in amounts sufficient to account for approximately 50% of the bone resorption observed. Small amounts of non-prostaglandin (indomethacin-resistant) osteolytic factors are also produced. Control non-neoplastic tissues show a variable capacity to resorb bone in vitro; PGE2 levels in these tissues may be related to their content of inflammatory cells. Tumour cell lines also resorb bone in vitro but, for most lines, activity is not significantly blocked by indomethacin and PGE2 levels are generally insufficient to account for the osteolysis observed. Non-prostaglandin bone resorbing factors thus predominate. It is concluded that most squamous cancers of the head and neck are osteolytic in vitro and release a mixture of prostaglandin and non-prostaglandin factors which stimulate osteoclastic bone resorption. These factors are derived from both neoplastic and stromal elements, and are "tumour-associated" rather than "tumour-specific". In vitro bone resorption and prostaglandin release does not correlate with pathological features of the tumour or with post-operative survival