3,551 research outputs found
axial form factor from bubble chamber experiments
A careful reanalysis of both Argonne National Laboratory and Brookhaven
National Laboratory data for weak single pion production is done. We consider
deuteron nuclear effects and normalization (flux) uncertainties in both
experiments. We demonstrate that these two sets of data are in good agreement.
For the dipole parametrization of , we obtain , GeV. As an application we present the discussion of
the uncertainty of the neutral current 1 production cross section,
important for the T2K neutrino oscillation experiment.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, 2 table
Comparative analysis of hepatitis C virus phylogenies from coding and non-coding regions: the 5' untranslated region (UTR) fails to classify subtypes
BACKGROUND: The duration of treatment for HCV infection is partly indicated by the genotype of the virus. For studies of disease transmission, vaccine design, and surveillance for novel variants, subtype-level classification is also needed. This study used the Shimodaira-Hasegawa test and related statistical techniques to compare phylogenetic trees obtained from coding and non-coding regions of a whole-genome alignment for the reliability of subtyping in different regions. RESULTS: Different regions of the HCV genome yield inconsistent phylogenies, which can lead to erroneous conclusions about classification of a given infection. In particular, the highly conserved 5' untranslated region (UTR) yields phylogenetic trees with topologies that differ from the HCV polyprotein and complete genome phylogenies. Phylogenetic trees from the NS5B gene reliably cluster related subtypes, and yield topologies consistent with those of the whole genome and polyprotein. CONCLUSION: These results extend those from previous studies and indicate that, unlike the NS5B gene, the 5' UTR contains insufficient variation to resolve HCV classifications to the level of viral subtype, and fails to distinguish genotypes reliably. Use of the 5' UTR for clinical tests to characterize HCV infection should be replaced by a subtype-informative test
Einstein metrics in projective geometry
It is well known that pseudo-Riemannian metrics in the projective class of a
given torsion free affine connection can be obtained from (and are equivalent
to) the solutions of a certain overdetermined projectively invariant
differential equation. This equation is a special case of a so-called first BGG
equation. The general theory of such equations singles out a subclass of
so-called normal solutions. We prove that non-degerate normal solutions are
equivalent to pseudo-Riemannian Einstein metrics in the projective class and
observe that this connects to natural projective extensions of the Einstein
condition.Comment: 10 pages. Adapted to published version. In addition corrected a minor
sign erro
Getting more from heterogeneous HIV-1 surveillance data in a high immigration country: estimation of incidence and undiagnosed population size using multiple biomarkers
BACKGROUND: Most HIV infections originate from individuals who are undiagnosed and unaware of their infection. Estimation of this quantity from surveillance data is hard because there is incomplete knowledge about (i) the time between infection and diagnosis (TI) for the general population, and (ii) the time between immigration and diagnosis for foreign-born persons. METHODS: We developed a new statistical method for estimating the incidence of HIV-1 and the number of undiagnosed people living with HIV (PLHIV), based on dynamic modelling of heterogeneous HIV-1 surveillance data. The methods consist of a Bayesian non-linear mixed effects model using multiple biomarkers to estimate TI of HIV-1-positive individuals, and a novel incidence estimator which distinguishes between endogenous and exogenous infections by modelling explicitly the probability that a foreign-born person was infected either before or after immigration. The incidence estimator allows for direct calculation of the number of undiagnosed persons. The new methodology is illustrated combining heterogeneous surveillance data from Sweden between 2003 and 2015. RESULTS: A leave-one-out cross-validation study showed that the multiple-biomarker model was more accurate than single biomarkers (mean absolute error 1.01 vs ≥1.95). We estimate that 816 [95% credible interval (CI) 775-865] PLHIV were undiagnosed in 2015, representing a proportion of 10.8% (95% CI 10.3-11.4%) of all PLHIV. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed methodology will enhance the utility of standard surveillance data streams and will be useful to monitor progress towards and compliance with the 90-90-90 UNAIDS target
Yrast line for weakly interacting trapped bosons
We compute numerically the yrast line for harmonically trapped boson systems
with a weak repulsive contact interaction, studying the transition to a vortex
state as the angular momentum L increases and approaches N, the number of
bosons. The L=N eigenstate is indeed dominated by particles with unit angular
momentum, but the state has other significant components beyond the pure vortex
configuration. There is a smooth crossover between low and high L with no
indication of a quantum phase transition. Most strikingly, the energy and wave
function appear to be analytical functions of L over the entire range 2 < L <
N. We confirm the structure of low-L states proposed by Mottelson, as mainly
single-particle excitations with two or three units of angular momentum.Comment: 9 pages, 3 EPS-figures, uses psfig.st
Financial flow diagrams to promote policy-making, based on 20 community management case studies from India
This paper reports the development of ‘Financial Flow Diagrams’ as a means of better communicating
complex financial information, directly inspired by the development of ‘Shit Flow Diagrams’, in this case
highlighting, for policy-makers, donors and service providers financial challenges. We describe the
design considerations investigated during the preparation of visual oriented financial communications.
This includes arguments about the merits and limitations of visuals and associated tools/software that
best display flows of resources (in our case financial). We then present visuals that were submitted for
testing across a panel of informants, some closely related to the Community Water Plus project, a 20
case study, 17 States research project of ‘successful’ community managed water schemes in India, which
provided the source financial information. Finally, we provide a critical analysis and feedback on the
limitations of using Financial Flow Diagrams as a mean to convey messages on funding distribution in
the context rural water supply
Nonergodic Behavior of Interacting Bosons in Harmonic Traps
We study the time evolution of a system of interacting bosons in a harmonic
trap. In the low-energy regime, the quantum system is not ergodic and displays
rather large fluctuations of the ground state occupation number. In the high
energy regime of classical physics we find nonergodic behavior for modest
numbers of trapped particles. We give two conditions that assure the ergodic
behavior of the quantum system even below the condensation temperature.Comment: 11 pages, 3 PS-figures, uses psfig.st
Recombination rate and selection strength in HIV intra-patient evolution
The evolutionary dynamics of HIV during the chronic phase of infection is
driven by the host immune response and by selective pressures exerted through
drug treatment. To understand and model the evolution of HIV quantitatively,
the parameters governing genetic diversification and the strength of selection
need to be known. While mutation rates can be measured in single replication
cycles, the relevant effective recombination rate depends on the probability of
coinfection of a cell with more than one virus and can only be inferred from
population data. However, most population genetic estimators for recombination
rates assume absence of selection and are hence of limited applicability to
HIV, since positive and purifying selection are important in HIV evolution.
Here, we estimate the rate of recombination and the distribution of selection
coefficients from time-resolved sequence data tracking the evolution of HIV
within single patients. By examining temporal changes in the genetic
composition of the population, we estimate the effective recombination to be
r=1.4e-5 recombinations per site and generation. Furthermore, we provide
evidence that selection coefficients of at least 15% of the observed
non-synonymous polymorphisms exceed 0.8% per generation. These results provide
a basis for a more detailed understanding of the evolution of HIV. A
particularly interesting case is evolution in response to drug treatment, where
recombination can facilitate the rapid acquisition of multiple resistance
mutations. With the methods developed here, more precise and more detailed
studies will be possible, as soon as data with higher time resolution and
greater sample sizes is available.Comment: to appear in PLoS Computational Biolog
Direct CP Violation, Branching Ratios and Form Factors , in Decays
The and transitions involved in hadronic B decays are
investigated in a phenomenological way through the framework of QCD
factorization. By comparing our results with experimental branching ratios from
the BELLE, BABAR and CLEO Collaborations for all the B decays including either
a pion or a kaon, we propose boundaries for the transition form factors and depending on the CKM matrix element parameters and
. From this analysis, the form factors required to reproduce the
experimental data for branching ratios are and
. We calculate the direct CP violating asymmetry
parameter, , for and decays, in the case where mixing effects are taken into
account. Based on these results, we find that the direct CP asymmetry for
, ,
, and , reaches its maximum when the invariant mass is
in the vicinity of the meson mass. The inclusion of
mixing provides an opportunity to erase, without ambiguity, the phase
uncertainty mod in the determination of the CKM angles in case
of and in case of .Comment: 74 pages, 15 figures, 8 tables. A few misprints corrected, two
references adde
Stardust in STARDUST - the C, N, and O Isotopic Compositions of Wild 2 Cometary Matter in Al foil Impacts
In January 2006, the STARDUST mission successfully returned dust samples from the tail of comet 81P/Wild 2 in two principal collection media, low density silica aerogel and Al foil. While hypervelocity impacts at 6.1 km/s, the encounter velocity of STARDUST, into Al foils are generally highly disruptive for natural, silicate-dominated impactors, previous studies have shown that many craters retain sufficient residue to allow a determination of the elemental and isotopic compositions of the original projectile. We have used the NanoSIMS to perform C, N, and O isotope imaging measurements on four large (59-370 microns diameter) and on 47 small (0.32-1.9 microns diameter) Al foil impact craters as part of the STARDUST Preliminary Examination. Most analyzed residues in and around these craters are isotopically normal (solar) in their C, N, and O isotopic compositions. However, the debris in one large crater shows an average 15N enrichment of approx. 450 %, which is similar to the bulk composition of some isotopically primitive interplanetary dust particles. A 250 nm grain in another large crater has an O-17 enrichment with approx. 2.65 times the solar O-17/O-16 ratio. Such an O isotopic composition is typical for circumstellar oxide or silicate grains from red giant or asymptotic giant branch stars. The discovery of this circumstellar grain clearly establishes that there is authentic stardust in the cometary samples returned by the STARDUST mission. However, the low apparent abundance of circumstellar grains in Wild 2 samples and the preponderance of isotopically normal material indicates that the cometary matter is a diverse assemblage of presolar and solar system materials
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