Octet-baryon masses in finite space

We report on a recent study of finite-volume effects on the lowest-lying octet baryon masses using the covariant baryon chiral perturbation theory up to next-to-leading order by analysing the latest $n_f = 2 + 1$ lattice QCD results from the NPLQCD Collaboration.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; parallel talk delivered by XLR at the 14th national conference on nuclear structure, April 12nd - 16th, 2012, Huzhou, Chin

Biologics for the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps : state of the art

Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is a complex upper airway disease affecting up to 11% of the population of Western Europe. In these western countries, 85% of the CRSwNP disease reveals a type 2 inflammatory pattern. In the last 15 years, several randomized double-blind studies on monoclonal antibodies in CRSwNP were performed. These studies demonstrated for the first time that biologics targeting type 2 immune reactions might be successful in nasal polyps. The target proteins, interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-13, and IgE were previously identified as key mediators in studies using nasal polyp tissues to measure and to interact in ex-vivo settings. No biomarkers have been identified to predict response to a specific biologic or to monitor treatment success. These studies were characterized by small numbers of patients and heterogeneous populations. They did, however, pave the way for currently performed and analyzed phase 3 studies, which will possibly lead to the registration of the first biologic drug with the indication CRSwNP. The studies already provide indications on the effects to be expected from those biologics; the results of phase-3 studies in larger populations will be decisive for the indications, patient selection, and finally the stopping rules for those drugs in subjects with severe nasal polyps, in whom the current standard of care including topical and oral glucocorticosteroids, antibiotics and surgical procedures failed to control the disease. We may expect that those biologics will open new perspectives for those patients with severe polyposis with, but also independent of asthma, allowing to avoid the possible adverse events resulting from systemic glucocorticosteroids and surgery

A study of a multi-century coral stable isotope record from Rarotonga, southwest subtropical Pacific, for the period 1726–1997

This study presents a 271-year (1726–1997) subseasonal oxygen and carbon isotopes (δ18O and δ13 C) records from a coral colony of porites lobata at Rarotonga (21.5°S, 159.5°W) in the southwest subtropical Pacific. A new method is introduced whereby the effects of sea surface temperature (SST) can be separated from those of seawater δ18O composition (δ18 Osw) on coral δ18O by using the coupled coral Sr/Ca and δ18O. The reconstructed δ 18Osw at Rarotonga using this method shows that it contributes significantly to the annual changes of coral δ18O for the period 1726–1997. While changes of δ18O, account for ∼39% of the total coral δ18O variation, changes of SST account for ∼61%. The reconstructed δ18O sw also shows a positive linear correlation with a satellite-based estimated salinity for the period 1980–1997 (r = 0.72). This linear correlation between reconstructed δ18Osw and salinity makes it possible to use the reconstructed δ18O, to estimate the past interannual and decadal salinity changes in this region. Applying a similar method to coral δ13C, the effects of kinetic and metabolic activity on coral δ13C were also quantitatively separated. The results show that the variation of coral δ 13C appears to be mainly caused by variation of metabolic activity rather than that of kinetic activity in both tropical and subtropical regions. For the tropical regions, δ13C variation in corals is predominantly influenced by changes of metabolic activity (∼90%), while for subtropical regions, approximately 70–75% of the total variation of coral δ13C is due to the effects of metabolic activity. The interannual and interdecadal variability in coral δ 18O at Rarotonga for the period 1726–1997 was also examined. The results suggest that although Rarotonga is located outside of the center of action of ENSO, it is generally sensitive to ENSO variability in this region. In addition, the decadal variability (∼12 yr) was further differentiated from the interdecadal-scale variability (∼32 yr) for the period 1726–1997 at Rarotonga. Based on the analysis of both tropical and subtropical coral data and comparisons with the Nino3.4 SST index and PDO index, it was hypothesized that the decadal and interdecadal variability might result from separate forcing mechanisms