On the background in the γp→ω(π0γ)p\gamma p \to \omega(\pi^0\gamma) p reaction and mixed event simulation

In this paper we evaluate sources of background for the $\gamma p \to \omega p$, with the $\omega$ detected through its $\pi^0 \gamma$ decay channel, to compare with the experiment carried out at ELSA. We find background from $\gamma p \to \pi^0 \pi^0 p$ followed by decay of a $\pi^0$ into two $\gamma$, recombining one $\pi^0$ and one $\gamma$, and from the $\gamma p \to \pi^0 \eta p$ reaction with subsequent decay of the $\eta$ into two photons. This background accounts for the data at $\pi^0 \gamma$ invariant masses beyond 700 MeV, but strength is missing at lower invariant masses which was attributed to photon misidentification events, which we simulate to get a good reproduction of the experimental background. Once this is done, we perform an event mixing simulation to reproduce the calculated background and we find that the method provides a good description of the background at low $\pi^0 \gamma$ invariant masses but fakes the background at high invariant masses, making background events at low invariant masses, which are due to $\gamma$ misidentification events, responsible for the background at high invariant masses which is due to the $\gamma p \to \pi^0 \pi^0 p$ and $\gamma p \to \pi^0 \eta p$ reactions.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Chiral dynamics of baryon resonances and hadrons in a nuclear medium

In these lectures I make an introduction to chiral unitary theory applied to the meson baryon interaction and show how several well known resonances are dynamically generated, and others are predicted. Two very recent experiments are analyzed, one of them showing the existence of two $\Lambda(1405)$ states and the other one providing support for the $\Lambda(1520)$ resonance as a quasibound state of $\Sigma(1385) \pi$. The use of chiral Lagrangians to account for the hadronic interaction at the elementary level introduces a new approach to deal with the modification of meson and baryon properties in a nuclear medium. Examples of it for $\bar{K}$, $\eta$ and $\phi$ modification in the nuclear medium are presented.Comment: Lectures given in the Workshop on Hadron Physics, Puri (India), march 200

ChemBank: a small-molecule screening and cheminformatics resource database

ChemBank (http://chembank.broad.harvard.edu/) is a public, web-based informatics environment developed through a collaboration between the Chemical Biology Program and Platform at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. This knowledge environment includes freely available data derived from small molecules and small-molecule screens and resources for studying these data. ChemBank is unique among small-molecule databases in its dedication to the storage of raw screening data, its rigorous definition of screening experiments in terms of statistical hypothesis testing, and its metadata-based organization of screening experiments into projects involving collections of related assays. ChemBank stores an increasingly varied set of measurements derived from cells and other biological assay systems treated with small molecules. Analysis tools are available and are continuously being developed that allow the relationships between small molecules, cell measurements, and cell states to be studied. Currently, ChemBank stores information on hundreds of thousands of small molecules and hundreds of biomedically relevant assays that have been performed at the Broad Institute by collaborators from the worldwide research community. The goal of ChemBank is to provide life scientists unfettered access to biomedically relevant data and tools heretofore available primarily in the private sector

Charm and hidden charm scalar mesons in the nuclear medium

We study the renormalization of the properties of low lying charm and hidden charm scalar mesons in a nuclear medium, concretely of the D_{s0}(2317) and the theoretical hidden charm state X(3700). We find that for the D_{s0}(2317), with negligible width at zero density, the width becomes about 100 MeV at normal nuclear matter density, while in the case of the X(3700) the width becomes as large as 200 MeV. We discuss the origin of this new width and trace it to reactions occurring in the nucleus, while offering a guideline for future experiments testing these changes. We also show how those medium modifications will bring valuable information on the nature of the scalar resonances and the mechanisms of the interaction of D mesons with nucleons and nuclei

A-dependence of phi-meson production in p+A collisions

A systematic analysis of the A-dependence of phi-meson production in proton-nucleus collisions is presented. We apply different formalisms for the evaluation of the phi-meson distortion in nuclei and discuss the theoretical uncertainties of the data analysis. The corresponding results are compared to theoretical predictions. We also discuss the interpretation of the extracted results with respect to different observables and provide relations between frequently used definitions. The perspectives of future experiments are evaluated and estimates based on our systematical study are given.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure

Pattern of medical waste management: existing scenario in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Medical waste is infectious and hazardous. It poses serious threats to environmental health and requires specific treatment and management prior to its final disposal. The problem is growing with an ever-increasing number of hospitals, clinics, and diagnostic laboratories in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. However, research on this critical issue has been very limited, and there is a serious dearth of information for planning. This paper seeks to document the handling practice of waste (e.g. collection, storage, transportation and disposal) along with the types and amount of wastes generated by Health Care Establishments (HCE). A total of 60 out of the existing 68 HCE in the study areas provided us with relevant information.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The methodology for this paper includes empirical field observation and field-level data collection through inventory, questionnaire survey and formal and informal interviews. A structured questionnaire was designed to collect information addressing the generation of different medical wastes according to amount and sources from different HCE. A number of in-depth interviews were arranged to enhance our understanding of previous and existing management practice of medical wastes. A number of specific questions were asked of nurses, hospital managers, doctors, and cleaners to elicit their knowledge. The collected data with the questionnaire survey were analysed, mainly with simple descriptive statistics; while the qualitative mode of analysis is mainly in narrative form.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The paper shows that the surveyed HCE generate a total of 5,562 kg/day of wastes, of which about 77.4 per cent are non-hazardous and about 22.6 per cent are hazardous. The average waste generation rate for the surveyed HCE is 1.9 kg/bed/day or 0.5 kg/patient/day. The study reveals that there is no proper, systematic management of medical waste except in a few private HCE that segregate their infectious wastes. Some cleaners were found to salvage used sharps, saline bags, blood bags and test tubes for resale or reuse.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The paper reveals that lack of awareness, appropriate policy and laws, and willingness are responsible for the improper management of medical waste in Dhaka City. The paper also shows that a newly designed medical waste management system currently serves a limited number of HCE. New facilities should be established for the complete management of medical waste in Dhaka City.</p

Flexible informatics for linking experimental data to mathematical models via DataRail

MOTIVATION: Linking experimental data to mathematical models in biology is impeded by the lack of suitable software to manage and transform data. Model calibration would be facilitated and models would increase in value were it possible to preserve links to training data along with a record of all normalization, scaling, and fusion routines used to assemble the training data from primary results. RESULTS: We describe the implementation of DataRail, an open source MATLAB-based toolbox that stores experimental data in flexible multi-dimensional arrays, transforms arrays so as to maximize information content, and then constructs models using internal or external tools. Data integrity is maintained via a containment hierarchy for arrays, imposition of a metadata standard based on a newly proposed MIDAS format, assignment of semantically typed universal identifiers, and implementation of a procedure for storing the history of all transformations with the array. We illustrate the utility of DataRail by processing a newly collected set of ~22,000 measurements of protein activities obtained from cytokine-stimulated primary and transformed human liver cells