Jarlskog Invariant of the Neutrino Mapping Matrix

The Jarlskog Invariant $J_{\nu-map}$ of the neutrino mapping matrix is calculated based on a phenomenological model which relates the smallness of light lepton masses $m_e$ and $m_1$ (of $\nu_1$) with the smallness of $T$ violation. For small $T$ violating phase $\chi_l$ in the lepton sector, $J_{\nu-map}$ is proportional to $\chi_l$, but $m_e$ and $m_1$ are proportional to $\chi_l^2$. This leads to $J_{\nu-map} \cong {1/6}\sqrt{\frac{m_e}{m_\mu}}+O \bigg(\sqrt{\frac{m_em_\mu}{m_\tau^2}}\bigg)+O \bigg(\sqrt{\frac{m_1m_2}{m_3^2}}\bigg)$. Assuming $\sqrt{\frac{m_1m_2}{m_3^2}}<<\sqrt{\frac{m_e}{m_\mu}}$, we find $J_{\nu-map}\cong 1.16\times 10^{-2}$, consistent with the present experimental data.Comment: 19 page

ANALYSIS OF THE RISK MANAGEMENT PROPERTIES OF GRAZING CONTRACTS VERSUS FUTURES AND OPTION CONTRACTS

A stochastic budget simulator and generalized stochastic dominance are used to compare the risk management properties of grazing contracts to futures and option contracts. The results show that the risks of backgrounding feeder cattle are reduced significantly for pasture owners in a grazing contract. However, the risks of the cattle owner in a grazing contract are not significantly reduced. The results show that generally risk adverse pasture owners prefer grazing contracts to integrated production when traditional hedging is used to manage price risks. In addition, grazing contracts compare favorably with put option contracts for some pasture owners.Backgrounding, Futures contracts, Grazing contracts, Options contracts, Risk management, Risk and Uncertainty,

Public health and economic costs of investigating a suspected outbreak of Legionnaires' disease.

This paper provides one of the first assessments of the burden of both the public health investigation and the economic costs associated with an apparent outbreak of Legionnaires' disease (LD) in South East London. In addition to epidemiological, microbiological and environmental investigations, we collected data on the staff time and resources committed by the 11 main organizations responsible for managing the outbreak. Of the overall estimated costs of 455,856 pounds, only 14% (64,264 pounds) was spent on investigation and control of the outbreak compared with 86% (391,592 pounds) spent on the hospital treatment of the patients. The time and money spent on public health services in this investigation appear to represent good value for money considering the potential costs of a major outbreak, including the high case-fatality rate in LD generally and the high health-care costs. Further research is needed to determine optimum strategies for the cost-effective use of health system resources in investigations of LD. Whether the threshold for investigation of cases should be based on observed incidence rates or the cost-effectiveness of investigations, or both, should be debated further

Profile of Xeomin® (incobotulinumtoxinA) for the treatment of blepharospasm

Even though conventional botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) products have shown successful treatment results in patients with benign blepharospasm (BEB), the main, potential long-term side effect of BoNT use is the development of immunologic resistance due to the production of neutralizing antibody to the neurotoxin after repeated injections. Xeomin® (incobotulinumtoxinA), a unique botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A) drug free of complexing proteins otherwise contained in all conventional BoNT/A drugs, was recently approved by US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of cervical dystonia or blepharospasm in adults. The newly approved BoNT/A drug may overcome this limitation of previous conventional products, since it contains pure neurotoxin (150 kDa) through a manufacturing process that separates it from complexing proteins such as hemagglutinins produced by fermentation of Clostridium botulinum. Many studies have also shown that Xeomin® has the same efficacy and safety profile as complexing protein-containing products such as Botox® and is exchangeable with Botox® using a simple 1:1 conversion ratio. Xeomin® represents a new treatment option for the repeated treatment of patients with blepharospasm in that it may reduce antibody-induced therapy failure. But, long-term comparative trials in naïve patients between Xeomin® and conventional BoNT/A drugs are required to confirm the low immunogenicity of Xeomin®

Exploring the associations shared by mood, pain-related attention and pain outcomes related to sleep disturbance in a chronic pain sample

OBJECTIVE: Sleep disturbance in chronic pain is common, occurring in two-thirds of patients. There is a complex relationship between chronic pain and sleep; pain can disrupt sleep and poor sleep can exaggerate pain intensity. This may have an impact on both depressive symptoms and attention to pain. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between chronic pain and sleep, and the role of mood and attention. METHODS: Chronic pain patients, recruited from a secondary care outpatient clinic, completed self-report measures of pain, sleep, depressive symptoms and attention to pain. Hierarchical regression and structural equation modelling were used to explore the relationships between these measures. Participants (n = 221) were aged between 20 and 84 (mean = 52) years. RESULTS: The majority of participants were found to be ‘poor sleepers’ (86%) with increased pain severity, depressive symptoms and attention to pain. Both analytical approaches indicated that sleep disturbance is indirectly associated with increased pain severity Instead the relationship shared by sleep disturbance and pain severity was further associated with depressive symptoms and attention to pain. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that sleep disturbance may contribute to clinical pain severity indirectly though changes in mood and attention. Prospective studies exploring lagged associations between these constructs could have critical information relevant to the treatment of chronic pain

Role of anisotropy in the spin-dimer compound BaCuSi2O6

We present results of magnetisation and electron paramagnetic resonance experiments on the spin-dimer system BaCuSi2O6. Evidence indicates that the origin of anisotropic terms in the spin Hamiltonian is from magnetic dipolar interactions. Axial symmetry-breaking is on a very small energy scale of ~11 mK, confirming Bose Einstein condensation critical scaling over an extended temperature range in the vicinity of the quantum critical point.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Update on thyroid eye disease and management

Thyroid eye disease is a heterogeneous autoimmune orbital reaction typically manifesting in middle age. The inflammation may parallel or remain isolated from a related inflammatory cascade in the thyroid called Graves’ disease. The orbital manifestations can lead to severe proptosis, dry eyes, strabismus, and optic neuropathy. In this article, we will discuss this unique condition including the ophthalmic findings and management

The Multilayer Perceptron as an Aid to the Early Diagnosis of Myocardial Infarction

The establishment of a decision aid for the early diagnosis of myocardial infarction is described.The system uses a multi-layer Perceptron structure and is trained in the usual way. It is shown that the performance of the network can exceed that of the admitting clinicians, a panel of senior physicians in a large teaching hospital and a protocol derived using conventional statistical methods over a wide range of performance measures. In particular, the network demonstrates the highly specific behaviour necessary when making the decision whether or not to administer thrombolytic therapy-a potentially life-saving decision which must be taken in the very early stages, long before confirmatory laboratory test results are available. The network is compact and has been implemented on a portable computer. In operation it responds very quickly, giving its diagnosis and recommendations (taking account of clinical opinion) in a fraction of the time taken to input the patient's symptoms