X-Ray Bursts from the Galactic X-Ray Transient Source GRS 1915+105

We have analyzed publicly available RXTE/PCAs archival data of GRS 1915+105 during its burst/flaring state. The burst cycle ranges from 30 to 1300 s. These bursts are different from the type I and type II classical bursts seen in Low Mass X-ray Binaries (LMXBs) in terms of their temporal and spectral properties. We have classified these bursts on the basis of properties observed during the quiescent (low flux) phase. The 2 - 10 Hz QPOs are present during the quiescent phase and disappear during the burst phase of all types of these X-ray bursts. The duration of the quiescent phase can be explained assuming an outflow from the post-shock regions and the catastrophic Compton cooling.Comment: 5 pages with two figures, 33rd COSPAR, Warsaw, Poland, July 16-22, 200

Explicit results for all orders of the epsilon-expansion of certain massive and massless diagrams

An arbitrary term of the epsilon-expansion of dimensionally regulated off-shell massless one-loop three-point Feynman diagram is expressed in terms of log-sine integrals related to the polylogarithms. Using magic connection between these diagrams and two-loop massive vacuum diagrams, the epsilon-expansion of the latter is also obtained, for arbitrary values of the masses. The problem of analytic continuation is also discussed.Comment: 8 pages, late

Effect of halo modelling on WIMP exclusion limits

WIMP direct detection experiments are just reaching the sensitivity required to detect galactic dark matter in the form of neutralinos. Data from these experiments are usually analysed under the simplifying assumption that the Milky Way halo is an isothermal sphere with maxwellian velocity distribution. Observations and numerical simulations indicate that galaxy halos are in fact triaxial and anisotropic. Furthermore, in the cold dark matter paradigm galactic halos form via the merger of smaller subhalos, and at least some residual substructure survives. We examine the effect of halo modelling on WIMP exclusion limits, taking into account the detector response. Triaxial and anisotropic halo models, with parameters motivated by observations and numerical simulations, lead to significant changes which are different for different experiments, while if the local WIMP distribution is dominated by small scale clumps then the exclusion limits are changed dramatically.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, version to appear in Phys. Rev. D, minor change

Standardized Outcome Measurement for Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: Consensus From the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM)

Coronary artery disease (CAD) outcomes consistently improve when they are routinely measured and provided back to physicians and hospitals. The International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM) established a Working Group to define a standard set of outcome measures and risk factors of CAD care. Members were drawn from 4 continents and 6 countries. Using a modified Delphi method, the Group defined who should be tracked, what should be measured, and when such measurements should be performed. Thirteen specific outcomes were chosen, including acute complications occurring within 30 days of acute myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass grafting surgery, or percutaneous coronary intervention; and longitudinal outcomes for up to 5 years for patient‐reported health status (Seattle Angina Questionnaire [SAQ‐7], elements of Rose Dyspnea Score, and Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ‐2]), cardiovascular hospital admissions, cardiovascular procedures, renal failure, and mortality. Baseline demographic, cardiovascular disease, and comorbidity information is included to improve the interpretability of comparisons

Gauge invariant derivative expansion of the effective action at finite temperature and density and the scalar field in 2+1 dimensions

A method is presented for the computation of the one-loop effective action at finite temperature and density. The method is based on an expansion in the number of spatial covariant derivatives. It applies to general background field configurations with arbitrary internal symmetry group and space-time dependence. Full invariance under small and large gauge transformations is preserved without assuming stationary or Abelian fields nor fixing the gauge. The method is applied to the computation of the effective action of spin zero particles in 2+1 dimensions at finite temperature and density and in presence of background gauge fields. The calculation is carried out through second order in the number of spatial covariant derivatives. Some limiting cases are worked out.Comment: 34 pages, REVTEX, no figures. Further comments adde

Population policies and education: exploring the contradictions of neo-liberal globalisation

The world is increasingly characterised by profound income, health and social inequalities (Appadurai, 2000). In recent decades development initiatives aimed at reducing these inequalities have been situated in a context of increasing globalisation with a dominant neo-liberal economic orthodoxy. This paper argues that neo-liberal globalisation contains inherent contradictions regarding choice and uniformity. This is illustrated in this paper through an exploration of the impact of neo-liberal globalisation on population policies and programmes. The dominant neo-liberal economic ideology that has influenced development over the last few decades has often led to alternative global visions being overlooked. Many current population and development debates are characterised by polarised arguments with strongly opposing aims and views. This raises the challenge of finding alternatives situated in more middle ground that both identify and promote the socially positive elements of neo-liberalism and state intervention, but also to limit their worst excesses within the population field and more broadly. This paper concludes with a discussion outling the positive nature of middle ground and other possible alternatives

Image Registration and Fusion for Interventional MRI Guided Thermal Ablation of the Prostate Cancer

Abstract. We are investigating interventional MRI (iMRI) guided thermal ablation treatment of the prostate cancer. Functional images such as SPECT can detect and localize tumor in the prostate not reliably seen in MRI. We intend to combine the advantages of SPECT with iMRI-guided treatments. Our concept is to first register the low-resolution SPECT with a high resolution MRI volume. Then by registering the high-resolution MR image with iMRI acquisitions, we can, in turn, map the functional data and high-resolution anatomic information to iMRI images for improved tumor targeting. For the first step, we used a mutual information registration method. For the latter, we developed a robust slice to volume (SV) registration algorithm. Image data were acquired from patients and volunteers. Compared to our volume-to-volume registration that was previously evaluated to be quite accurate, the SV registration accuracy is about 0.5 mm for transverse images covering the prostate. With our image registration and fusion software, simulation experiments show that it is feasible to incorporate SPECT and high resolution MRI into the iMRI-guided treatment.

Search for Neutral Q-balls in Super-Kamiokande II

A search for Q-balls induced groups of successive contained events has been carried out in Super-Kamiokande II with 541.7 days of live time. Neutral Q-balls would emit pions when colliding with nuclei, generating a signal of successive contained pion events along a track. No candidate for successive contained event groups has been found in Super-Kamiokande II, so upper limits on the possible flux of such Q-balls have been obtained.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Submitted to Phys. Lett.

A magic connection between massive and massless diagrams

A useful connection between two-loop massive vacuum integrals and one-loop off-shell triangle diagrams with massless internal particles is established for arbitrary values of the space-time dimension n.Comment: 11 pages, plain latex, 1 figure (in latex); ps file available by anonymous ftp at ftp://vsfys1.fi.uib.no/anonymous/pub/bergen95-07.p

We All Know How, Don’t We? On the Role of Scrum in IT-Offshoring

Part 2: Creating Value through Software DevelopmentInternational audienceOffshoring in the IT-industry involves dual interactions between a mother company and an external supplier, often viewed with an implicit perspective from the mother company. This article review general off shoring and IT offshoring literature, focusing on the proliferation of a globally available set of routines; Scrum and Agile. Two cases are studied; a small company and short process and a large mother company with a long process. The interactions of the set ups shows that global concepts like Scrum and Agile are far from a common platform. The “well known” concepts are locally shaped and the enterprises have mixed experiences