Chiral perturbation theory with Wilson-type fermions including a2a^2 effects: Nf=2N_f=2 degenerate case

We have derived the quark mass dependence of $m_{\pi}^2$, $m_{\rm AWI}$ and $f_{\pi}$, using the chiral perturbation theory which includes the $a^2$ effect associated with the explicit chiral symmetry breaking of the Wilson-type fermions, in the case of the $N_f=2$ degenerate quarks. Distinct features of the results are (1) the additive renormalization for the mass parameter $m_q$ in the Lagrangian, (2) $O(a)$ corrections to the chiral log ($m_q\log m_q$) term, (3) the existence of more singular term, $\log m_q$, generated by $a^2$ contributions, and (4) the existence of both $m_q\log m_q$ and $\log m_q$ terms in the quark mass from the axial Ward-Takahashi identity, $m_{\rm AWI}$. By fitting the mass dependence of $m_\pi^2$ and $m_{\rm AWI}$, obtained by the CP-PACS collaboration for $N_f=2$ full QCD simulations, we have found that the data are consistently described by the derived formulae. Resumming the most singular terms $\log m_q$, we have also derived the modified formulae, which show a better control over the next-to-leading order correction.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures (10 eps files), Revtex4, some discussions and references added, the final version to appear in PR

B Physics with NRQCD: A Quenched Study

We present results on the spectrum of B mesons and heavy baryons, using a non-relativistic formulation for the heavy and a clover action for the light quark. We also discuss B meson decay constants and their dependency upon the heavy meson mass.Comment: 4 pages, uuencoded compressed postscript file, contribution to LATTICE 9

Beliefs and Attitudes of Medical Students from Public and Private Universities in Malaysia towards Individuals with HIV/AIDS

We describe the findings from a survey assessing the beliefs regarding testing, confidentiality, disclosure, and environment of care and attitudes towards care of people with HIV/AIDS (PLHWA), in 1020, 4th and 5th year medical students, from public and private medical universities in Malaysia. A self-administered validated questionnaire based on the UNAIDS Model Questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale (5, strongly disagree; 4, disagree; 3, neutral; 2, agree; 1, strongly agree) was used as a survey tool. The survey included demographic data and data on undergraduate training received on HIV/AIDS. Statistical significance in the demographic data and training received by respondents was evaluated using the chi-square test while the independent Student's t-test was used for comparison of means between public and private universities. A P value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant with 95% confidence interval. Our study revealed less than 20% of medical students received adequate training to care for PLHWA. They had prevalent negative beliefs regarding testing, confidentiality, disclosure and environment of care towards PLHWA although in giving care to PLHWA, their attitudes were largely positive and nondiscriminatory.Article Link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2013/462826

Anthropic tuning of the weak scale and of m_u/m_d in two-Higgs-doublet models

It is shown that in a model in which up-type and down-type fermions acquire mass from different Higgs doublets, the anthropic tuning of the Higgs mass parameters can explain the fact that the observed masses of the $d$ and $u$ quarks are nearly the same with $d$ slightly heavier. If Yukawa couplings are assumed not to "scan" (vary among domains), this would also help explain why the t quark is much heavier than the b quark. It is also pointed out that the existence of dark matter invalidates some earlier anthropic arguments against the viability of domains where the Standard Model Higgs has positive $\mu^2$, but makes other even stronger arguments possible.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figure

Acanthamoeba castellanii induces host cell death via a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-dependent mechanism

Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis due to Acanthamoeba castellanii is a serious human infection with fatal consequences, but it is not clear how the circulating amoebae interact with the blood-brain barrier and transmigrate into the central nervous system. We studied the effects of an Acanthamoeba encephalitis isolate belonging to the T1 genotype on human brain microvascular endothelial cells, which constitute the blood-brain barrier. Using an apoptosis-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, we showed that Acanthamoeba induces programmed cell death in brain microvascular endothelial cells. Next, we observed that Acanthamoeba specifically activates phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. Acanthamoeba-mediated brain endothelial cell death was abolished using LY294002, a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor. These results were further confirmed using brain microvascular endothelial cells expressing dominant negative forms of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. This is the first demonstration that Acanthamoeba-mediated brain microvascular endothelial cell death is dependent on phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase

Isolation of Acanthamoeba isolates belonging to T2, T3, T4 and T7 genotypes from environmental samples in Ankara, Turkey

Acanthamoeba keratitis is a blinding infection that is becoming increasingly important in human health. Early diagnosis is a prerequisite for successful treatment and requires identification of Acanthamoeba at the genotypic level. The genus Acanthamoeba consists of both pathogenic and non-pathogenic species and has been recently classified into 13 different genotypes, T1-T12 and T14. More importantly, 95% of Acanthamoeba isolates that produce keratitis belong to T4 genotypes. In this study, we attempted to determine whether predominance of T4 isolates in Acanthamoeba keratitis is due to greater virulence or greater prevalence. We isolated 18 Acanthamoeba isolates from environmental samples in Ankara, Turkey and determined their pathogenic potential by means osmotolerance, temperature tolerance and in vitro cytotoxicity assays using corneal epithelial cells. Ribosomal DNA sequencing revealed that 10 isolates belong to T2, 5 belong to T3, 2 belong to T4 and one belongs to T7 genotype. As expected, T3 and T4 isolates exhibited the most pathogenic traits and were osmotolerant, temperature tolerant and exhibited severe corneal epithelial cell cytotoxicity indicating their pathogenic potential. Overall these data indicate that high frequency of T4 isolates in keratitis cases may well be due to their greater virulence. This is the first report presenting environmental distribution of Acanthamoeba in Ankara, Turkey

Managing urban socio-technical change? Comparing energy technology controversies in three European contexts

A {\em local graph partitioning algorithm} finds a set of vertices with small conductance (i.e. a sparse cut) by adaptively exploring part of a large graph $G$, starting from a specified vertex. For the algorithm to be local, its complexity must be bounded in terms of the size of the set that it outputs, with at most a weak dependence on the number $n$ of vertices in $G$. Previous local partitioning algorithms find sparse cuts using random walks and personalized PageRank. In this paper, we introduce a randomized local partitioning algorithm that finds a sparse cut by simulating the {\em volume-biased evolving set process}, which is a Markov chain on sets of vertices. We prove that for any set of vertices $A$ that has conductance at most $\phi$, for at least half of the starting vertices in $A$ our algorithm will output (with probability at least half), a set of conductance $O(\phi^{1/2} \log^{1/2} n)$. We prove that for a given run of the algorithm, the expected ratio between its computational complexity and the volume of the set that it outputs is $O(\phi^{-1/2} polylog(n))$. In comparison, the best previous local partitioning algorithm, due to Andersen, Chung, and Lang, has the same approximation guarantee, but a larger ratio of $O(\phi^{-1} polylog(n))$ between the complexity and output volume. Using our local partitioning algorithm as a subroutine, we construct a fast algorithm for finding balanced cuts. Given a fixed value of $\phi$, the resulting algorithm has complexity $O((m+n\phi^{-1/2}) polylog(n))$ and returns a cut with conductance $O(\phi^{1/2} \log^{1/2} n)$ and volume at least $v_{\phi}/2$, where $v_{\phi}$ is the largest volume of any set with conductance at most $\phi$.Comment: 20 pages, no figure

Some topics in the kinetics of protein aggregation

Preliminary results are presented for the kinetics of phase separation in three distinct models of protein aggregation. The first is a model of the formation of spherical microcrystals of insulin via an initial formation of fractal clusters of insulin. The results of our Brownian dynamics study of this model are in qualitative agreement with a recent experimental study (Biophys. Jour. 89 (2005) 3424-3433) of microcrystal formation from aqueous mixtures of insulin. A second work involves a theory for the formation of metastable bundles of sickle hemoglobin from fibers, based on a recent generic theory of bundle formation (Phy. Rev. Lett. 99 (2007) 098101). We also discuss a model for the microscopic formation of these fibers. Finally, we discuss preliminary results for the kinetics of cluster formation for a six patch model of protein crystallization