Spin-Parity Analysis of the Centrally produced KsKs system at 800 GeV

Results are presented of the spin-parity analysis on a sample of centrally produced mesons in the reaction (p p -> p_{slow} K_s K_s p_{fast}) with 800 GeV protons on liquid hydrogen. The spin-parity analysis in the mass region between threshold and 1.58 GeV/c^2 shows that the (K_s K_s) system is produced mainly in S-wave. The f_0(1500) is clearly observed in this region. Above 1.58 GeV/c^2 two solutions are possible, one with mainly S-wave and another with mainly D-wave. This ambiguity prevents a unique determination of the spin of the f_J(1710) meson.Comment: 6 pages, including 6 figures. LaTex, uses 'espcrc2.sty'. To appear in LEAP'96 proceeding

Long-term outcomes of an acellular dermal matrix for the treatment of complex cryptoglandular anal fistula: a pilot study

Backgound Effective, standardized treatments for complex anal fistula (CAF) still represent a clinical challenge. Emerging procedures attempted to achieve the healing rates of fistulotomy whilst preserving sphincter function. Acellular dermal matrix (ADM) used as a plug inserted through the fistulous tract is among newer treatment options. Varying success rates have been reported, most with short-term follow-up. The aim of this study was to report the long-term results of ADM-plug for CAF. Methods Retrospective analysis of a prospective database of patients treated with CAF. All consecutive patients presenting at two tertiary centers (Vall d'Hebron University Hospital and Bellvitge University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain) between November 2015 and March 2019 with a single, cryptoglandular CAF were evaluated for treatment with an ADM-plug were included. The primary endpoint was absence of discharge at clinical examination at 12 month follow-up. Results Twenty-two patients were included [7 women and 15 men, median age 56 (33-74) years]. Most patients had high transsphincteric fistulas (63.6%). The median follow-up was 42 (21-53) months. The 12 month success rate was 68.2%, with an overall healing rate of 59.1%. 77.8% of recurrences occurred within 12 months from surgery. One plug extrusion was observed. No major complications or mortality occurred during the follow-up. Patients did not report any worsening of fecal continence. Conclusions This pilot study showed that more than half of patients with CAF could benefit from ADM-plug placement, preserving continence. A minimum follow-up of 12 months is recommended, because most recurrences occur during the first year

Virtualization - A Key Cost Saver in NASA Multi-Mission Ground System Architecture

With science team budgets being slashed, and a lack of adequate facilities for science payload teams to operate their instruments, there is a strong need for innovative new ground systems that are able to provide necessary levels of capability processing power, system availability and redundancy while maintaining a small footprint in terms of physical space, power utilization and cooling.The ground system architecture being presented is based off of heritage from several other projects currently in development or operations at Goddard, but was designed and built specifically to meet the needs of the Science and Planetary Operations Control Center (SPOCC) as a low-cost payload command, control, planning and analysis operations center. However, this SPOCC architecture was designed to be generic enough to be re-used partially or in whole by other labs and missions (since its inception that has already happened in several cases!)The SPOCC architecture leverages a highly available VMware-based virtualization cluster with shared SAS Direct-Attached Storage (DAS) to provide an extremely high-performing, low-power-utilization and small-footprint compute environment that provides Virtual Machine resources shared among the various tenant missions in the SPOCC. The storage is also expandable, allowing future missions to chain up to 7 additional 2U chassis of storage at an extremely competitive cost if they require additional archive or virtual machine storage space.The software architecture provides a fully-redundant GMSEC-based message bus architecture based on the ActiveMQ middleware to track all health and safety status within the SPOCC ground system. All virtual machines utilize the GMSEC system agents to report system host health over the GMSEC bus, and spacecraft payload health is monitored using the Hammers Integrated Test and Operations System (ITOS) Galaxy Telemetry and Command (TC) system, which performs near-real-time limit checking and data processing on the downlinked data stream and injects messages into the GMSEC bus that are monitored to automatically page the on-call operator or Systems Administrator (SA) when an off-nominal condition is detected. This architecture, like the LTSP thin clients, are shared across all tenant missions.Other required IT security controls are implemented at the ground system level, including physical access controls, logical system-level authentication authorization management, auditing and reporting, network management and a NIST 800-53 FISMA-Moderate IT Security plan Risk Assessment Contingency Plan, helping multiple missions share the cost of compliance with agency-mandated directives.The SPOCC architecture provides science payload control centers and backup mission operations centers with a cost-effective, standardized approach to virtualizing and monitoring resources that were traditionally multiple racks full of physical machines. The increased agility in deploying new virtual systems and thin client workstations can provide significant savings in personnel costs for maintaining the ground system. The cost savings in procurement, power, rack footprint and cooling as well as the shared multi-mission design greatly reduces upfront cost for missions moving into the facility. Overall, the authors hope that this architecture will become a model for how future NASA operations centers are constructed

Non-trivial Infrared Structure in (2+1)-dimensional Quantum Electrodynamics

We show that the gauge-fermion interaction in multiflavour $(2+1)$-dimensional quantum electrodynamics with a finite infrared cut-off is responsible for non-fermi liquid behaviour in the infrared, in the sense of leading to the existence of a non-trivial fixed point at zero momentum, as well as to a significant slowing down of the running of the coupling at intermediate scales as compared with previous analyses on the subject. Both these features constitute deviations from fermi-liquid theory. Our discussion is based on the leading- $1/N$ resummed solution for the wave-function renormalization of the Schwinger-Dyson equations . The present work completes and confirms the expectations of an earlier work by two of the authors (I.J.R.A. and N.E.M.) on the non-trivial infrared structure of the theory.Comment: 10 pages (LaTex), 5 figures (Postscript

Thermodynamic properties of spontaneous magnetization in Chern-Simons QED_3

The spontaneous magnetization in Chern-Simons QED_3 is discussed in a finite temperature system. The thermodynamical potential is analyzed within the weak field approximation and in the fermion massless limit. We find that there is a linear term with respect to the magnetic field with a negative coefficient at any finite temperature. This implies that the spontaneous magnetic field does not vanish even at high temperature. In addition, we examine the photon spectrum in the system. We find that the bare Chern-Simons coefficient is cancelled by the radiative effects. The photons then become topologically massless according to the magnetization, though they are massive by finite temperature effects. Thus the magnetic field is a long-range force without the screening even at high temperature.Comment: 32 pages, Latex, 4 eps figure

Antiproton Production in p+Ap+A Collisions at AGS Energies

Inclusive and semi-inclusive measurements are presented for antiproton ($\bar{p}$) production in proton-nucleus collisions at the AGS. The inclusive yields per event increase strongly with increasing beam energy and decrease slightly with increasing target mass. The $\bar{p}$ yield in 17.5 GeV/c p+Au collisions decreases with grey track multiplicity, $N_g$, for $N_g>0$, consistent with annihilation within the target nucleus. The relationship between $N_g$ and the number of scatterings of the proton in the nucleus is used to estimate the $\bar{p}$ annihilation cross section in the nuclear medium. The resulting cross section is at least a factor of five smaller than the free $\bar{p}-p$ annihilation cross section when assuming a small or negligible formation time. Only with a long formation time can the data be described with the free $\bar{p}-p$ annihilation cross section.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Current-induced highly dissipative domains in high Tc thin films

We have investigated the resistive response of high Tc thin films submitted to a high density of current. For this purpose, current pulses were applied into bridges made of Nd(1.15)Ba(1.85)Cu3O7 and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8. By recording the time dependent voltage, we observe that at a certain critical current j*, a highly dissipative domain develops somewhere along the bridge. The successive formation of these domains produces stepped I-V characteristics. We present evidences that these domains are not regions with a temperature above Tc, as for hot spots. In fact this phenomenon appears to be analog to the nucleation of phase-slip centers observed in conventional superconductors near Tc, but here in contrast they appear in a wide temperature range. Under some conditions, these domains will propagate and destroy the superconductivity within the whole sample. We have measured the temperature dependence of j* and found a similar behavior in the two investigated compounds. This temperature dependence is just the one expected for the depairing current, but the amplitude is about 100 times smaller.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, Revtex, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Increasing age and severe intraoperative hypotension associated with nonsurvival in dogs with gallbladder mucocele undergoing cholecystectomy

OBJECTIVE To identify prognostic indicators and inflammatory markers associated with nonsurvival in dogs with gallbladder mucoceles (GBMs) following cholecystectomy and to evaluate C-reactive protein (CRP) and haptoglobin concentrations in dogs with GBMs compared to healthy controls. ANIMALS 25 dogs that underwent cholecystectomy for removal of GBM and 20 healthy control dogs. METHODS A prospective, multicenter cohort study. Survival outcomes to hospital discharge and 2 weeks postdischarge were recorded from medical records. Laboratory variables, inflammatory markers (CRP and haptoglobin), and 25-hydroxyvitamin(OH) D (25[OH]D) concentrations were measured preoperatively. Associations between signalment, clinicopathologic variables, acute patient physiologic and laboratory evaluation (APPLEFAST) scores, inflammatory markers, 25(OH)D concentration, and survival were analyzed using logistic regression. RESULTS 76% (19/25) and 68% (17/25) of dogs survived to hospital discharge and 2 weeks postdischarge, respectively. For each additional year of age, the odds of nonsurvival in hospital and 2 weeks postdischarge increased by 2.2 (P = .01; 95% CI, 1.2 to 5.0) and 1.7 (P = .04; 95% CI, 1.0 to 3.2), respectively. Intraoperative systolic blood pressure ≤ 65 mm Hg increased the probability of nonsurvival in hospital (P < .04). Gallbladder perforation, APPLEFAST scores, and preoperative serum concentrations of CRP, haptoglobin, and 25(OH)D were not associated with survival. Serum CRP and haptoglobin concentrations were greater in dogs with GBM compared to controls (P < .001). CLINICAL RELEVANCE Increasing age and intraoperative systolic blood pressure ≤ 65 mm Hg were associated with nonsurvival in dogs with GBM undergoing cholecystectomy. Serum CRP, haptoglobin, and 25(OH)D were not associated with nonsurvival postcholecystectomy in this sample population