205 research outputs found
Dapagliflozin add-on to metformin in type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled with metformin:a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 102-week trial
Background: Management of type 2 diabetes with metformin often does not provide adequate glycemic control, thereby necessitating add-on treatment. In a 24-week clinical trial, dapagliflozin, an investigational sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor, improved glycemic control in patients inadequately controlled with metformin. The present study is an extension that was undertaken to evaluate dapagliflozin as long-term therapy in this population.Methods: This was a long-term extension (total 102 weeks) of a 24-week phase 3, multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group trial. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) to blinded daily treatment (placebo, or dapagliflozin 2.5 to 5, or 10 mg) plus open-label metformin (=1,500 mg). The previously published primary endpoint was change from baseline in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) at 24 weeks. This paper reports the follow-up to week 102, with analysis of covariance model performed at 24 weeks with last observation carried forward; a repeated measures analysis was utilized to evaluate changes from baseline in HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and weight.Results: A total of 546 patients were randomized to 1 of the 4 treatments. The completion rate for the 78-week double-blind extension period was lower for the placebo group (63.5%) than for the dapagliflozin groups (68.3% to 79.8%). At week 102, mean changes from baseline HbA1c (8.06%) were +0.02% for placebo compared with -0.48% (P = 0.0008), -0.58% (
Identifying Reduced-Form Relations with Panel Data
The literature that tests for U-shaped relationships using panel data, such as those between pollution and income or inequality and growth, reports widely divergent (parametric and non-parametric) empirical findings. We explain why lack of identification lies at the root of these differences. To deal with this lack of identification, we propose an identification strategy that explicitly distinguishes between what can be identified on the basis of the data and what is a consequence of subjective choices due to a lack of identification. We apply our methodology to the pollution-income relationship of both CO2- and SO2-emissions. Interestingly, our approach yields estimates of both income (scale) and time (composition and/or technology) effects for these reduced-form relationships that are insensitive to the required subjective choices and consistent with theoretical predictions
Pathway to the Square Kilometre Array - The German White Paper -
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is the most ambitious radio telescope ever
planned. With a collecting area of about a square kilometre, the SKA will be
far superior in sensitivity and observing speed to all current radio
facilities. The scientific capability promised by the SKA and its technological
challenges provide an ideal base for interdisciplinary research, technology
transfer, and collaboration between universities, research centres and
industry. The SKA in the radio regime and the European Extreme Large Telescope
(E-ELT) in the optical band are on the roadmap of the European Strategy Forum
for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and have been recognised as the essential
facilities for European research in astronomy.
This "White Paper" outlines the German science and R&D interests in the SKA
project and will provide the basis for future funding applications to secure
German involvement in the Square Kilometre Array.Comment: Editors: H. R. Kl\"ockner, M. Kramer, H. Falcke, D.J. Schwarz, A.
Eckart, G. Kauffmann, A. Zensus; 150 pages (low resolution- and colour-scale
images), published in July 2012, language English (including a foreword and
an executive summary in German), the original file is available via the MPIfR
homepag
Bose-Einstein Correlations of Three Charged Pions in Hadronic Z^0 Decays
Bose-Einstein Correlations (BEC) of three identical charged pions were
studied in 4 x 10^6 hadronic Z^0 decays recorded with the OPAL detector at LEP.
The genuine three-pion correlations, corrected for the Coulomb effect, were
separated from the known two-pion correlations by a new subtraction procedure.
A significant genuine three-pion BEC enhancement near threshold was observed
having an emitter source radius of r_3 = 0.580 +/- 0.004 (stat.) +/- 0.029
(syst.) fm and a strength of \lambda_3 = 0.504 +/- 0.010 (stat.) +/- 0.041
(syst.). The Coulomb correction was found to increase the \lambda_3 value by
\~9% and to reduce r_3 by ~6%. The measured \lambda_3 corresponds to a value of
0.707 +/- 0.014 (stat.) +/- 0.078 (syst.) when one takes into account the
three-pion sample purity. A relation between the two-pion and the three-pion
source parameters is discussed.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX, 5 eps figures included, accepted by Eur. Phys. J.
Search for Higgs Bosons in e+e- Collisions at 183 GeV
The data collected by the OPAL experiment at sqrts=183 GeV were used to
search for Higgs bosons which are predicted by the Standard Model and various
extensions, such as general models with two Higgs field doublets and the
Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The data correspond to an
integrated luminosity of approximately 54pb-1. None of the searches for neutral
and charged Higgs bosons have revealed an excess of events beyond the expected
background. This negative outcome, in combination with similar results from
searches at lower energies, leads to new limits for the Higgs boson masses and
other model parameters. In particular, the 95% confidence level lower limit for
the mass of the Standard Model Higgs boson is 88.3 GeV. Charged Higgs bosons
can be excluded for masses up to 59.5 GeV. In the MSSM, mh > 70.5 GeV and mA >
72.0 GeV are obtained for tan{beta}>1, no and maximal scalar top mixing and
soft SUSY-breaking masses of 1 TeV. The range 0.8 < tanb < 1.9 is excluded for
minimal scalar top mixing and m{top} < 175 GeV. More general scans of the MSSM
parameter space are also considered.Comment: 49 pages. LaTeX, including 33 eps figures, submitted to European
Physical Journal
A Measurement of the Product Branching Ratio f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X) in Z0 Decays
The product branching ratio, f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X), where
Lambda_b denotes any weakly-decaying b-baryon, has been measured using the OPAL
detector at LEP. Lambda_b are selected by the presence of energetic Lambda
particles in bottom events tagged by the presence of displaced secondary
vertices. A fit to the momenta of the Lambda particles separates signal from B
meson and fragmentation backgrounds. The measured product branching ratio is
f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X) = (2.67+-0.38(stat)+0.67-0.60(sys))%
Combined with a previous OPAL measurement, one obtains
f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X) = (3.50+-0.32(stat)+-0.35(sys))%.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, 3 eps figs included, submitted to the European
Physical Journal
Measurement of the Michel Parameters in Leptonic Tau Decays
The Michel parameters of the leptonic tau decays are measured using the OPAL
detector at LEP. The Michel parameters are extracted from the energy spectra of
the charged decay leptons and from their energy-energy correlations. A new
method involving a global likelihood fit of Monte Carlo generated events with
complete detector simulation and background treatment has been applied to the
data recorded at center-of-mass energies close to sqrt(s) = M(Z) corresponding
to an integrated luminosity of 155 pb-1 during the years 1990 to 1995. If e-mu
universality is assumed and inferring the tau polarization from neutral current
data, the measured Michel parameters are extracted. Limits on non-standard
coupling constants and on the masses of new gauge bosons are obtained. The
results are in agreement with the V-A prediction of the Standard Model.Comment: 32 pages, LaTeX, 9 eps figures included, submitted to the European
Physical Journal
Deliberative and epistemic approaches to democracy
Deliberative and epistemic approaches to democracy are two important dimensions of contemporary democratic theory. This chapter studies these dimensions in the emerging ecosystem of civic and political participation tools, and appraises their collective value in a new distinct concept: linked democracy. Linked democracy is the distributed, technology-supported collective decision-making process, where data, information and knowledge are connected and shared by citizens online. Innovation and learning are two key elements of Athenian democracies which can be facilitated by the new digital technologies, and a cross-disciplinary research involving computational scientists and democratic theorists can lead to new theoretical insights of democracy
Measurement of the Production Rate of Charm Quark Pairs from Gluons in Hadronic Decays
The rate of secondary charm-quark-pair production has been measured in 4.4 million hadronic Z0 decays collected by OPAL. By selecting events with three jets and tagging charmed hadrons in the gluon jet candidate using leptons and charged D* mesons, the average number of secondary charm-quark pairs per hadronic event is found to be (3.20+-0.21+-0.38)x10-2
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